Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi's scathing remarks on the situation in Libya have added a new dimension to the ongoing crisis.
Last month, el-Sissi said that Libya's Sirte and al-Jufra air bases were a "red line" and that he would arm Libyan tribes in his country to fight alongside the ranks of East Libya-based warlord Khalifa Haftar.
He also suggested that Cairo could launch "external military missions" into Libya "if required," saying that "any direct intervention in Libya has already become legitimate internationally."
Plans have been made to settle Libyan-origin bedouin tribes, who live in the northwest of Egypt, in Libya, and to increase the population density in the east of the country.
However, historical hostilities among tribes of Libyan origin show that el-Sissi's plan is unlikely to be implemented.
There are many Libyan-origin tribes in Egypt. The largest is known as the Awlad Ali tribe, with a population of over a million. This tribe were forced to flee from Libya to Egypt in 1890, after facing defeat in a war that broke out between the Awlad Ali and Abidat tribes in Libya's Brega region.
Most members of the Awlad Ali settled in the Egyptian city of Marsa Matruh, located between the city of delta city of Alexandria and the al-Sellum district on the Libyan border.
The coexistence of these two tribes is considered a weak possibility due to historical tensions.
The United Arab Emirates and Egypt are planning to substitute Haftar with Aguila Saleh Issa, speaker of the pro-Haftar House of Representatives in the eastern city of Tobruk. However, Issa, who backs Haftar, belongs to the Abidat tribe.
Therefore, Awlad Ali tribe, which mostly resides in the regions close to the Libyan border, would not be expected to send its members to Libya to fight in the ranks of Haftar.
Other Libyan-origin tribes living in Egypt include the Barasa, Fawaid, Hanadi, Furjan, Bahja, Jamiat, Qatan, Jabaliye, Rimah, Habbun, Awlad Sheikh, Jalalat, Majabira and Al-Jawazi.
Pasha Yusuf Karamanlı (1795-1832), the most famous figure among the Karamanli dynasty which ruled Tripoli from 1711 to 1835, was responsible for exiting the latter tribe. According to Egyptian sources, members of the Al-Jawazi tribe mostly settled in Zagazig and Tanta in the country's northeast.
Members of the Al-Jawazi tribe do not see themselves as bedouins, as they are well integrated into Egyptian society.
Libyan-origin tribes would probably refrain from taking part in the war in Libya on the side of Haftar, as this move would mean "helping those tribes which exiled their ancestors from their lands."
