Sean Mathews
Cairo is concerned that if Libya’s eastern parliament ratifies the deal it could spark tensions in the Eastern Mediterranean.
Egypt has asked the United States to intervene to prevent Libya’s eastern parliament from ratifying a maritime deal with Turkey, multiple regional officials have told Middle East Eye.
An Egyptian official told MEE on Wednesday that Cairo is concerned that if Libya’s eastern parliament ratifies the deal, initially inked by eastern Libya’s rival western government in 2019, it could spark tensions in the Eastern Mediterranean at a time when Egypt grapples with the fallout from the wars in Gaza and Sudan.
One Egyptian official and one official in the region told MEE that Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty raised the topic of US intervention in a phone call with Massad Boulos, the US’s senior adviser on Africa, last month.
They said that Boulos said he would call Khalifa Haftar, the de-facto ruler of eastern Libya, to discuss the issue.
MEE reached out to the State Department for detailed information on what was discussed in the call but did not receive a response by time of publication.
Several Libyan media outlets have reported that the country’s eastern parliament could ratify the 2019 maritime agreement in the coming weeks, which would recognise Turkey’s claim to an Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) over a wide-swath of the Eastern Mediterranean.
Libya’s eastern parliament, based in Tobruk, is de-facto controlled by Haftar who has been supported by various regional actors at different times since 2011, including the United Arab Emirates, the US, Egypt, France and Russia.
The 81-year-old dual Libyan-US citizen wields considerable power in eastern Libya and in mid-2019 launched a failed attempt to topple the country’s UN-recognised government in Tripoli.
At the time, the UN-recognised government, which counts Turkey as its major backer, signed the maritime demarcation agreement with Ankara which sparked anger from Greece and other regional actors over claims they were excluded.
Greece countered the deal by signing their own with Egypt.
Libya’s eastern parliament initially opposed the deal, but in recent months, and despite intensive lobbying by Athens and Cairo, Haftar appears to be close to endorsing the pact.
Greece’s Foreign Minister George Gerapetritis is expected to travel to Benghazi and Tripoli this week to address the maritime dispute, one of the regional sources told MEE.
Meanwhile, the sources told MEE that Cairo was wary of a change in the status quo on the maritime dispute and was actively aiming to secure reliable gas supplies.
In June, Libya’s National Oil Company based in Tripoli signed an agreement with Turkey’s state oil company TPAO to conduct surveys for oil in four maritime blocs that the Egyptian official said may infringe on Egypt’s EEZ.
Old fault lines dissipate
Eastern Libya’s pivot on the issue reflects a broader shift in the region where the old ideological fault-lines that defined conflicts after the 2011 Arab Spring uprisings are dissipating.
After sending arms, mercenaries and soldiers to combat Haftar’s army, Turkey has shown a new willingness to work with its former foe.
The Turkish Ministry of Defence hosted three military delegations from Haftar’s self-styled Libya National Army (LNA) in June, and Haftar’s youngest son, Saddam, visited Ankara in May after visiting Qatar earlier this year.
Sources told MEE that Saddam Haftar’s growing contacts with Ankara, including in the military sphere, had irked Egypt.
An Egyptian official and a Libyan official said that Egypt believed Saddam was responsible for a cross-border raid into Sudan and that his fighters had helped the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) against the Sudanese military.
Although Egypt and Turkey are on opposing sides in Libya, they both back the Sudanese army in its fight against the UAE-backed RSF.
Egypt has deep interests in Libya and shares a long and porous 1,115km long border with the country’s east.
Earlier this week, Sisi hosted Khalifa and Saddam Haftar in El Alamein to discuss border security.
Whilst Libya remains bifurcated with clashes between rival militias, generally there has been no return to major fighting.
The Trump administration enjoys good ties to the Haftar family and during his first term in office, US President Donald Trump held a phone call with Haftar during the height of fighting in the country.
Meanwhile, MEE previously revealed that Saddam met Boulos in Washington DC earlier this year and also discussed regional security with senior US intelligence officers.
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