Gulf council retracts criticism of Egypt over airstrikes in Libya

The Gulf Cooperation Council has backtracked on criticism of Egypt in its row with bloc member Qatar over Libya, in a move a Saudi-owned daily said Friday reflected divisions among member states.

GCC Secretary General, Abdullatif al-Zayani had issued a statement on Thursday rebuking Egypt for accusing Qatar of supporting terrorism in Libya because of reservations it expressed about Egyptian air strikes earlier this week.

But late in the evening, Zayani issued a new statement disavowing the earlier one and insisting that all six member states fully supported Cairo in its intervention in Libya, its crisis-gripped neighbour to the west.

"GCC states have stressed their full support to Egypt and its brotherly people in fighting terrorism and protecting its citizens at home and abroad," Zayani said in the later statement.

The Saudi-owned pan-Arab daily, Asharq al-Awsat said Zayani's earlier statement, which was carried by Gulf state media including the official Saudi Press Agency, was issued without consulting all six GCC members.

According to the paper, some members voiced disagreement with the content, and the second statement was issued to express the "real position" of the bloc.

The six GCC member states (Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates) have taken opposing sides in the intensifying conflict in Libya, where rival parliaments and governments have been vying for power since last summer.

Qatar is thought to support the Libya Dawn militia alliance that seized the capital Tripoli last August, pushing the internationally recognised government to the country’s far east.

The United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia have joined Egypt in supporting the recognised government and its main military backer, controversial General Khalifa Haftar, analysts say.

Abu Dhabi is even said to have carried out airstrikes against Libya Dawn last August in an abortive attempt to prevent its seizure of the capital, Washington said at the time.

Egyptian F-16s bombed militant targets in the eastern Libyan city of Derna on Monday, after the Islamic State group released a video claiming to show the beheading of 21 Christians, most of them Egyptian Copts.

Qatar condemned the murders but analysts say the emirate is concerned that Egypt may broaden its intervention to back Haftar against Libya Dawn.

Qatar reportedly expressed its reservations over the airstrikes at a meeting in Cairo of the Arab League, raising the ire of Egypt's delegate, Tariq Adel, who hit back by accusing it of supporting "terrorism".

The Gulf state responded by recalling its ambassador to Cairo for consultations.