Libya: Egypt's Support of the LNA

The last time I took a look at Libya, the Libyan National Army was forced to abandon their positions around Tripoli. What was the next move going to be for their allies and what would be the moves made by the Government of National Accord in Tripoli (GNA)? As for the GNA, it looks like they (with Turkey's help) are pushing toward Sirte. This definitely isn't sitting well with Egypt.

Al-Monitor (Jun 25) reports:

President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi's warning that Egypt could intervene militarily in neighboring Libya if Turkish-backed government forces were to advance on the eastern Libyan city of Sirte has drawn mixed reactions from the parties to the conflict in Libya.



The article mentions the obvious support for this move coming from the LNA and the opposition to it coming from the GNA.

Skeptics like Hassan Nafaa, a professor of political science at Cairo University, dismissed Sisi's warning, arguing that it is “highly unlikely” that Egypt would enter a direct war in Libya.

“Cairo, however, will not tolerate an eastward expansion of GNA forces, as it would consider this a victory for Turkey, perceived by Egypt as an 'enemy state' owing to Turkey's support for the Muslim Brotherhood,” Nafaa told Al-Monitor.

As is known, the current Egyptian leadership doesn't exactly approve of the Muslim Brotherhood. So it would seem that Egypt would continue to support the LNA though perhaps not via direct military force.

The Guardian (Jun 26) reports a quote from HA Hellyer, a senior associate fellow at the Royal United Services Institute and the Carnegie Endowment, that puts additional context in what is occurring in Libya:

“It’s important to link this to the wider ‘cold-war’ within the broader Arab world, where over the last few years, there have been two coalitions that have coalesced. Turkey, Qatar and a certain brand of Islamism on the one hand; and Saudi, UAE, and Egypt on the other. The war in Libya cannot be properly understood without appreciating that.”

How exactly, of course, does Russia's role play in this as they align with Saudi Arabia, UAE and Egypt? I wonder if Turkey's Islamism causes issues for Russia's borders? Is this playing into what is happening in Syria?