MP says Egypt’s airstrikes in Libya accordant with law

CAIRO – 29 May 2017: Member of the Egyptian parliament's Foreign Affairs Committee Tarek Al-Khouly has stated that Egypt’s retaliatory airstrikes against terrorist posts in eastern Libya following a terrorist attack against a bus carrying Copts are consistent with international law.

Khouly further added in a Sunday statement to Egypt Today that international law gives every state the right to defend itself against threats of terrorist organizations.
Egypt’s air forces launched six airstrikes in eastern Libya late Friday in retaliation to an attack by masked gunmen who killed 29 Coptic Christians in Minya, the military announced in a video statement.

The MP affirmed that Egypt is extra vigilant in its operations outside of state borders in respect to international law, pointing out Article 51 of the U.N. Charter that gives countries the right to defend themselves.

Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry told his U.S. counterpart Rex Tillerson that jihadis who attacked a Christian convoy had trained in Libyan milita camps, a statement said on Saturday.

In a harshly-worded speech on Friday, President Abdel Fatah Al-Sisi denounced the attack and vowed to wage war against “extremist forces” on behalf of the whole world.
The attack comes one month after the Egyptian leader declared a three-month state of emergency in the aftermath of two church bombings that killed at least 44 people in Tanta and Alexandria.

Additional reporting by Mostafa Al-Sayed