The Egyptian National Action Group has condemned what it called “the coup regime’s attempt to plunge the Egyptian army into the ongoing battles in Libya, with the complicity of some army commanders against the general position of the Egyptian armed forces.”
The Egyptian National Action Group (ENAG) condemned on Thursday attempts of the Egyptian regime, under Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, to involve the Egyptian army into the battles that are currently taking place in Libya with the complicity of some army commanders against the general position of the Egyptian armed forces, according to a statement released by the group.
The statement explains that the ruling regime in Egypt has been pushing for such military interventions for years, “in favor of a rogue putschist group that has moved in violation of legitimacy, fighting against the legitimate government that has been produced by the Skhirat Agreement, sponsored by the United Nations and recognized by the whole world, including Egypt.”
It goes on: “The Egyptians feel ashamed when they see their army fighting alongside a rogue putschist group, Russian mercenaries, and others; directing their weapons at their Libyan brothers, military and civilian. On the other hand, dozens of Egyptian officers and soldiers, claimed by army commanders to be killed in Sinai, are in fact killed in Libya, a truth that everyone in Egypt knows.”
The statement explains that, in the view of the group, previous interventions, including those carried out by other countries such as France, Russia and the UAE, have left Libya’s fate to be determined by the Libyans themselves. It goes on to make a comparison with Syria, which “poses a significant threat to the Egyptian national security, mainly caused by the current Egyptian political system use of our armed forces and exploitation of our children”, the statement reads.
The ENAG, also condemned “the disgraceful position of the Arab League which has become a tool in the hands of a small group of its member-states that always take stances against the interest of the Arab peoples. Although the Arab League had remained silent for years on the other external interventions that have been supporting Libyan putschists, which aggravated the situation in Libya, opened the way for more civil wars and bloodshed, and brought Libya to the brink of partition, it has suddenly shown such immediate response.”
The statement concludes: “The various Egyptian political forces that have formed the Egyptian National Action Group strongly reject such practices, and refuse the al-Sisi regime attempt to turn the Egyptian armed forces into a group of mercenaries fighting outside Egypt’s borders in ill-calculated adventures, which reminds us of the painful memories of the consequences of the Egyptian army’s intervention in Yemen (1962) and the subsequent defeat of 1967. We call on the commanders of the Egyptian army to immediately stop these practices to avoid endangering our national security as well as the lives of our officers and soldiers and to focus only on the army’s role in protecting Egypt and the integrity of its territory.”
Launch of ENAG
The Egyptian National Action Group announced on 29 December that “it has been launched by a team of politicians from various Egyptian political spectrums both inside and outside Egypt, with representation that brings together figures having vast political experience along with promising youth.”
According to a press release issued by ENAG, “The Egyptian National Action Group has been established in light of a consensus on the principles and priorities of national action in the coming stage, realizing the great danger the nation is going through under the military dictatorship system of governance which has abandoned all principles and constants: maintaining its policy of waiver of the nation’s territory, resources and potentials; impoverishing, humiliating and repressing Egyptians from all orientations; and getting involved in adventures and violations that have endangered the country’s national security.”
The Egyptian National Action Group pledged to “express its political position on various issues whenever necessary, keeping in mind the popular consensus, hoping that it can honestly and sincerely reflect the principles of the Egyptian people, its rejection of the regime’s repressive practices, and its aspiration for a radical and comprehensive change of the catastrophic conditions to which our dear Egypt is currently subjected.”
On 28 December 2019, Mohamed Ali, the Egyptian businessman and actor, announced the “Egyptian Consensus Document”, which he said was agreed on by a broad Egyptian opposition spectrum, stating some governing principles, including:
1- The system of governance in Egypt is a democratic, civil system based on justice and the rule of law, where the people is the ultimate source of powers, ensuring separation of the three executive, legislative and judicial powers in addition to independence of the media, supervision over each other, and peaceful transfer of power.
2- Consolidation of the right to citizenship; male and female citizens, minorities who are geographically and historically marginalized; such as the people of Sinai, Nubia, and the Bedouins have equal rights and duties, with prohibition of discrimination based on gender, color, race, origin, faith, or social class.
3- Respect of civil, political, economic, social, and cultural human rights in accordance with international covenants and international law as minimum requirement; ensuring freedom of opinion, thought, expression, belief, worship, and movement, as well as freedom of communication, peaceful assembly, demonstration, and strike.
4- Ensuring the freedom to establish and operate political parties, syndicates trade unions, student unions, religious institutions and all civil society and non-governmental organizations based on notification, through laws that guarantee their independence and regulate the relationship between them and the State. Political parties and their programs can be criticized without invoking any religious, ideological, or other reasons.
The document also stated the priorities for action, including:
1- Consensus on a comprehensive national project that includes all the Egyptian streams for achievement of the principles of the January 25 revolution (2011): Bread, freedom, social justice and human dignity.
2- Changing the ruling regime that is responsible for all the repression, corruption, sale of land, waste of water and natural resources, and economic and social collapse, and led to an unprecedented state of deterioration under the current regime.
3- Release of all political prisoners and detainees pending fabricated cases as well as prisoners of opinion, removal of these cases, cancellation of all unfair arbitrary decisions of dismissal or confiscation of money and property; and pursuing achievement of transitional justice.
4- Reviewing the external agreements signed by the current regime regarding waiver of Egyptian territory and waste of the natural resources or the Nile waters.
Here is the text of the press release, issued by the Egyptian
National Action Group on 2 January 2020 on the situation in Libya:
Proceeding from the principles adopted by the Egyptian National Action Group (ENAG), including supporting the will of peoples and backing legitimate governments that express such will, ENAG condemns the attempt of the Egyptian regime, under Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, to plunge the Egyptian army into the ongoing battles in Libya, with the complicity of some army commanders against the general position of the Egyptian armed forces.
The ruling regime in Egypt has been pushing for such military interventions for years, in favor of a rogue putschist group that has moved in violation of legitimacy, fighting against the legitimate government that has been produced by the Skhirat Agreement, sponsored by the United Nations and recognized by the whole world, including Egypt.
The Egyptians feel ashamed when they see their army fighting alongside a rogue putschist group, Russian mercenaries, and others; directing their weapons at their Libyan brothers, military and civilian. On the other hand, dozens of Egyptian officers and soldiers, claimed by army commanders to be killed in Sinai, are in fact killed in Libya, a truth that everyone in Egypt knows.
These interventions, including those carried out by other countries such as France, Russia and the UAE, are the ones that have enshrined the principle of interference in the Libyan internal affairs; which would not have happened if the countries that supported Haftar took their hand off Libya, and left Libya’s fate to be determined by the Libyans themselves. Meanwhile, we are heading towards a scenario like the Syrian scenario on our western border, which poses a significant threat to the Egyptian national security, mainly caused by the current Egyptian political system use of our armed forces and exploitation of our children.
We also condemn the disgraceful position of the Arab League which has become a tool in the hands of a small group of its member-states that always take stances against the interest of the Arab peoples. Although the Arab League had remained silent for years on the other external interventions that have been supporting Libyan putschists, which aggravated the situation in Libya, opened the way for more civil wars and bloodshed, and brought Libya to the brink of partition, it has suddenly showed such immediate response.
The various Egyptian political forces that have formed the Egyptian National Action Group strongly reject such practices, and refuse the al-Sisi regime attempt to turn the Egyptian armed forces into a group of mercenaries fighting outside Egypt’s borders in ill-calculated adventures, which reminds us of the painful memories of the consequences of the Egyptian army’s intervention in Yemen (1962) and the subsequent defeat of 1967. We call on the commanders of the Egyptian army to immediately stop these practices to avoid endangering our national security as well as the lives of our officers and soldiers, and to focus only on the army’s role in protecting Egypt and the integrity of its territory.
Egyptian National Action Group
2 January 2020
