Sisi Meets Haftar on Libya Unification as US Pushes 2026 Budget-Backed Deal

3 articles · Updated · Al Jazeera English · Aug 20

Cairo hosted Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi and eastern Libyan commander Khalifa Haftar on Wednesday for talks on reunifying Libya, the latest diplomatic push to bridge the country’s rival administrations.
The effort comes as Washington intensifies a plan to form a single government, dangling US investment in Libya’s oil sector and proposing Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dheibah stay on while 35-year-old Saddam Haftar becomes president.
Haftar’s camp appears more receptive after Saddam Haftar reportedly met US Secretary of State Marco Rubio in July, but no formal unity talks or agreement on a joint government have emerged.
A unified 2026 national budget signed in April — the first in more than a decade — has given mediators a rare point of progress as Libya’s central bank warns of a worsening economic situation.
Egypt’s outreach follows Dheibah’s earlier Cairo visit and parallel mediation by Turkiye and Qatar, underscoring a broader regional push for a Libyan-led settlement and eventual national elections.