Egypt reopens embassy in Libya as it seeks to rebuild energy ties with Tripoli

Egypt’s foreign minister Badr Abdelatty was in Tripoli on Saturday to reopen his country’s embassy.

The mission has been closed since 2012, when chaos swept Libya following the ouster of long-time leader Muammar Gaddafi.

The country is now divided between two governments vying for power in the oil rich nation. Cairo previously backed military commander Khalifa Haftar's administration in the east. But it is now mending fences with Tripoli and looking to strengthen energy cooperation.

"All we want now is to begin, on the technical level, the implementation phase," Abdelatty said at the embassy's opening ceremony.

"There are promising projects, particularly the laying of a gas pipeline linking Libya to Egypt, considering that Egypt is the only country in the eastern Mediterranean, in the southern Mediterranean, that possess the facilities required for the liquefaction of natural gas.”

Abdelatty also called to speed up a proposed project to refine Libyan oil in Egypt for re-export, restore Libya’s own refineries and reestablish electricity links between the two countries.

Cairo’s shift away from Khaftar's administration comes after it ratified a disputed maritime agreement with Turkey. Egypt says it infringes on its maritime zone.