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.
Kaddáfí navíc Mubarakovi ochotně pomáhal oslabovat islamistické hrozby egyptskému režimu. Na rozdíl od sousedního Súdánu, který poskytoval útočiště egyptským radikálům snažícím se destabilizovat zemi, jako byl vůdce al-Káidy Ajmán Zavahrí, Libye tyto lidi předávala Mubarakovi.