In fact, Mubarak’s Libya policy was driven largely by economic and security concerns, and rarely took US interests into consideration. More than one million Egyptians worked in Libya, which was also a large export market. And Qaddafi was eager to help Mubarak subdue Islamist threats to the Egyptian regime. Unlike neighboring Sudan, which harbored Egyptian radicals, like al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri, who were bent on destabilizing the country, Libya turned them over to Mubarak.
事实上，穆巴拉克的利比亚政策在很大程度上都是由自身的经济和安全因素所驱动的，很少考虑到美国的利益。有100万埃及人在利比亚工作，对埃及来说也意味着一个庞大的出口市场。同时卡扎菲也愿意协助穆巴拉克镇压对其构成威胁的伊斯兰极端势力。在苏丹这样的邻国为埃及极端势力提供庇护所时，对基地组织领导人艾曼·扎瓦赫里这样一心要颠覆埃及政权的人，利比亚都会将其押解回埃及。