Egypt's parliament has approved a troop deployment to Libya amid fears that Turkish military intervention there will undermine its security.
The House of Representatives voted unanimously in favour of the deployment "to defend national security... against acts of criminal and armed militias and foreign terrorist elements," state media reported.
The move could bring Egypt and Turkey, which back rival sides in Libya, into direct confrontation with one another.
Egypt supports Khalifa Haftar, head of the self-styled Libyan National Army, who has since April 2019 waged an offensive to seize the capital Tripoli from the internationally recognised Government of National Accord (GNA), which is supported by Turkey.
A Libyan rebel soldier holds a RPG launcher at a road check point, near the city of Ajdabiya, Eastern Lybia. Source: EFE
Mr Haftar is also supported by the United Arab Emirates and Russia, while the GNA has the backing of Qatar.
Last week, Libya's parliament in the east of the country, which is allied with Haftar, called on the Egyptian army to intervene to "safeguard both countries' national security" in light of Turkish support for the rival GNA.
Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi told a group of Libyan tribal leaders on Thursday that Egypt will not stand idle in the face of threats to Egyptian, Libyan and regional security.
Mr Al-Sisi also warned that Libya's strategic city of Sirte is a red line that should not be crossed.
The GNA called his warnings a "declaration of war".
GNA fighters advanced towards Sirte several weeks ago in a bid to capture it from Haftar's loyalists, who have controlled it since January.
Egypt's parliament has approved a troop deployment to Libya amid fears that Turkish military intervention there will undermine its security. Source: EFE
The coastal city is a key gateway to the country's major oilfields in the east.
On Monday, President Al-Sisi spoke with US President Donald Trump.
The two leaders agreed to "avoid escalation as a prelude to starting talks and political solution", according to a statement by the Egyptian presidency.
Libya has been mired in chaos since the 2011 uprising that ousted and later killed Kadhafi.
