Source : Reuters (AI-generated illustration)
TRIPOLI, November 7, 2026 — Egypt reopened its embassy in Libya’s capital Tripoli on Saturday after a 12-year absence, marking a rapprochement with the country’s western-based administration, the foreign affairs ministry in Cairo said in a statement, according to Reuters.
Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty reopened the historic headquarters of the embassy in the presence of El-Taher El-Baour, Libya’s Acting Minister of Foreign Affairs, Egypt Today reported.
Abdelatty was quoted in the ministry statement as saying that the historical significance of the embassy building “aligns with the deep-rooted human and cultural ties that characterize Egyptian-Libyan relations”. He also expressed Egypt’s appreciation for the support provided by the Libyan state and its institutions in carrying out maintenance and renovation work on the building.
Libya’s Tripoli-based Government of National Unity said in a statement that the move represents “a step reflecting the development of bilateral relations between the two countries”, Xinhua reported.
Shift for Cairo
According to Reuters, the move marks a shift for Cairo, which has been one of the most prominent backers of eastern-based military commander Khalifa Haftar, a rival of the Tripoli-based government.
Egypt closed its Tripoli embassy in 2014, when many foreign missions there closed amid an escalating conflict that saw rival governments set themselves up in the capital and in the east.
Egyptian foreign ministry spokesman Nader Zaki told Al Jazeera that talks covered the maritime border file, and that Abdelatty met Government of National Unity Prime Minister Abdulhamid Dbeibah and raised the situation of the Egyptian community in Libya.
Since the 2011 fall of Muammar Gaddafi, Libya has been split between the UN-recognised Government of National Unity in Tripoli and the eastern administration backed by the Libyan National Army.
Source: Reuters’ X; Egypt Today; Xinhua; Al Jazeera
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