Arab Nations to Meet over ISIS Takeover of Libya

Defense News describes the meeting as “unpublicized” and featuring not just diplomats, but heads of state or senior military officials from Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Bahrain, and Sudan. Libya is also listed, though it is unclear which officials from the troubled nation would participate– the Islamist Libya Dawn party housed in Tripoli, or the secular House of Representatives, democratically elected and based in eastern Tobruk.

The outlet adds that France and Italy may be involved in any military operation that occurs as a result of plans crafted at that meeting. “France has been asked to supply support with logistics and special forces while Italy has been called to provide naval support,” said the source speaking to Defense News.

Egypt supports the Tobruk government as the “legitimate” wing, which has been kept out of the nation’s capital by Islamist factions generally and the Islamic State particularly. Intervention by an Egypt-led Arab coalition would likely benefit the Tobruk government and work to eradicate the Muslim Brotherhood factions attempting to take hold in Libya, as well as target the Islamic State, which operates separately from Tripoli and is working overthrow that government, as well.

McClatchy reports that the group would also likely help increase support to General Khalifa Hifter, a former general under Muammar Qaddafi who defected and, since Qaddafi’s overthrow, has returned to keep Islamist groups from taking power, in a project he has named “Operation Dignity.” Operation Dignity is allied with the Tobruk government, as well.

It was reported in April that Egypt was planning a unilateral effort to combat Islamists in Libya. While that “large-scale ground and air” assault in Libya has yet to occur, this meeting is a sign that Egypt is strengthening its resolve in working to stabilize the region.

The Islamic State poses a serious threat to Egypt across the border in Syria. It has most prominently challenged the Egyptian government by releasing a video in April showing the mass beheading of 21 Coptic Christians on a beach in Libya, believed to have been kidnapped from Egypt.

A move by Arab coalition states to intervene in Libya would prevent a similar effort by European powers, which are currently contemplating military action to help slow down the influx of migrants attempting to flee the troubled nation across the Mediterranean Sea. Multiple reports indicate that European Union nations are seeking UN approval of military force in order to combat smugglers and potentially destroy vessels used in human trafficking. The death of over 700 migrants as a result of the capsizing of one vessel in April prompted a continent-wide meeting in which nations agreed to triple funding for programs to rescue migrants once they are on high seas.

Concerns that such illicit trafficking would also create avenues for Islamic State terrorists to travel to Europe imperceptibly have also alarmed European officials. In February, a report claimed Italy was preparing a force to combat the Islamic State in Libya, as ISIS supporters on Twitter escalated calls for attacks on Rome.