Egypt Urges US to Deter Haftar From Ratifying Turkey-Libya Maritime Deal

Egypt has asked Washington to intervene with Libyan commander Khalifa Haftar to prevent Libya’s eastern parliament from ratifying a 2019 maritime demarcation agreement with Turkey, according to regional officials cited by Middle East Eye. Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty raised the issue in a recent phone call with senior White House Africa adviser Massad Boulos, who said he would speak to Haftar, the de-facto ruler of eastern Libya. Cairo fears the pact—which would recognise extensive Turkish claims to an Exclusive Economic Zone across the Eastern Mediterranean—could reignite regional tensions while Egypt is already grappling with conflicts in Gaza and Sudan. Greece, which counters the Turkey-Libya deal with its own 2020 accord with Egypt, is dispatching Foreign Minister George Gerapetritis to Benghazi and Tripoli this week to press its objections. Libyan media report the Tobruk-based parliament may vote on the agreement within weeks; its passage would come on the heels of a June deal allowing Turkey’s state oil company TPAO to survey four offshore blocks, an arrangement Egypt says could infringe on its waters.