US advisor expresses 'cautious optimism' on Libya after talks with Egyptian FM

Egypt's Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty met with the US President's Senior Advisor on Arab and African Affairs in Cairo on Sunday to discuss the situation in Libya.

At a joint press conference after their meeting, Massad Boulos said recent cooperation between the country's two competing authorities is grounds for hope:

“There is a cautious optimism, an optimism, I'm sorry, but it's an cautious optimism because for the first time, we're seeing that the two sides, the east and the west (of Libya), are meeting on a number of points and topics," Boulos said.

Boulos cited recent joint military manoeuvres carried out with the US as well as the country's first unified national budget in 13 years.

Libya's top governing bodies agreed Thursday on a roadmap for holding long-awaited presidential and parliamentary elections within eight months.

The oil-rich North African country has struggled to recover from the chaos that followed the 2011 NATO-backed uprising that toppled longtime ruler Muammar Gaddafi.

It remains divided between a UN-recognised government headquartered in the capital Tripoli and an eastern rival administration operating from Benghazi and Tobruk.

Palestinian cause

Abdelatty also held a separate press conference early on Sunday following a meeting with his counterparts from Turkey, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia.

“There is a very important topic that has been discussed today, which is the centrality of the Palestinian cause,“ Abdelatty said.

He added that “it is impossible to talk about a stable regional security order in the province without obtaining the Palestinian people's full legal rights and the establishment of the Palestinian state on the borders of June 4, 1967, and its capital is Eastern Jerusalem."