NATO should help leaderless Libya, says Egypt’s president

NATO should help prevent Libya being “held hostage” to extremists in the wake of the overthrow of Colonel Muammar Gaddafi, Egypt’s president has said ahead of talks with British Prime Minister David Cameron. Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said the Nato-led campaign to remove the nation’s long-term leader in 2011 was “not completely accomplished” and the country had been left “without leadership”. Britain and other Nato members should “help the Libyan people and the Libyan economy”, he told the Daily Telegraph.

Libya is a danger that threatens all of us. If there is no government then this only creates a vacuum where extremists can prosper.

Abdel Fattah al-Sisi

“Now we have a situation where the will of the Libyan people is being held hostage by militant groups,” he said. "We need to stop the flow of funds and weapons and foreign fighters to the extremists. All the members of NATO, including Britain, who took part in the mission to overthrow Gaddafi need to give their help.“ Sisi said more also needed to be done to tackle the spread of Islamic State militants in Iraq and Syria. "The map of extremism and instability is expanding and not retreating. We need to reassess our priorities,” he said.

Africa al Sisi