EGYPTIAN President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi called today for a UN-backed coalition to attack Libya, in response to the mass beheading of Egyptian Coptic Christians by Islamist militants in the country.

Mr Sissi claimed air strikes on Islamic State (Isis) positions in Libya were in self-defence.

The former field marshal told French radio: “We have abandoned the Libyan people as prisoners of the militias.

“The militias have to give up their arms.”

The Egyptian attacks drew harsh criticism from Omar al-Hassi, the militia-supported prime minister in the capital Tripoli.

Libya’s elected and internationally recognised parliament and government were forced to convene outside Tripoli when the capital was overrun by Islamist and tribal militias last year.

An older parliament, supported by the militias, declared itself legitimate and formed a rival government.

Heavily armed militias have had the run of the country since a Western-backed uprising overthrew dictator Muammar Gadaffi in 2011.

Nato members including Britain, France and the US pummelled the country with bombs and ship-launched missiles in support of the rebels.

Four years later “the country is on the brink of collapse,” according to Amnesty International.

In Benghazi, where the uprising started, “street battles, assassinations and abductions have become the daily norm,” Amnesty said.

Despite this, British Prime Minister David Cameron insisted the 2011 attacks were “the right thing to do.”

“Do I regret that Britain played our role in getting rid of Gadaffi … when (he) was going to murder his own citizens in Benghazi? No I don’t.”