U.S., Egypt reject external manipulation in Libyan crisis - White House

US president Donald Trump spoke with Egypt’s president Abdel Fattah al-Sisi on Thursday about bilateral issues and the ongoing conflict in Libya, according to the White House.

Regarding Libya, the leaders rejected foreign exploitation and agreed that parties must take urgent steps to resolve the conflict before Libyans lose control to foreign actors.

U.S. officials have grown concerned about the intensifying conflict in Libya amid reports of Russian mercenaries backing Khalifa Haftar’s Libyan National Army.

The State Department said in a statement Saturday that the U.S. is concerned “by the LNA’s threat to use foreign-supplied air assets and mercenaries to attack Misrata.”

Libya has been in conflict since 2014, divided into rivaling political and military coalitions. Haftar’s forces, which are backed by Egypt, launched an offensive in April to take Tripoli.

A delegation of senior U.S. officials met with Haftar in November to try to achieve a suspension of fighting and political solution.