Trump envoy Massad Boulos to visit Libya amid rising tensions

US envoy Massad Boulos is set to make his first official visit to Libya next week amid rising tensions in the capital city of Tripoli and neighbouring Sudan. Egyptian officials complained, saying they wanted him to visit Cairo first. Boulos met Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi and the head of the Egyptian General Intelligence Service, Hassan Rashad, in May. Egypt is one of the main external powers in Libya. Ties between Egypt and the US have become strained over Washington’s reassessment of military aid to Cairo and Trump’s call earlier this year for a forced displacement of Palestinians from Gaza. In Libya, Boulos is expected to visit Tripoli first, home to the United Nations-recognised government, and then travel to Benghazi in eastern Libya, which is controlled by a parallel government backed by General Khalifa Haftar and his sons (Read more at Middle East Eye).