Libya’s Presidential Council, headed by Mohammed al-Menfi, has joined the interim unity government in rejecting Egypt’s demarcation of the maritime borders.
Abdullah al-Lafi, member of the Presidential Council, noted that the border demarcation was not “a matter of unilateral action, as it is regulated by stable rules in international law, and is governed by recognized mechanisms that preserve the rights of all countries.”
His comments came during his meeting on Tuesday with the head of the Land and Maritime Borders Committee, Mohammed al-Harari.
Al-Lafi stressed that the Libyan state, like all member states of the African Union, was committed to the (former) Organization of African Unity’s decision to respect the borders inherited from the colonial period.
He added that the council “attaches the utmost importance to this issue, which is related to sovereignty and national security.”
Last month, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi signed a decision to demarcate Egypt’s western maritime borders in the Mediterranean, but the Libya unity government rejected it, offering to “hold official talks between the two countries.”
The Libyan House of Representatives also rejected Egypt’s announcement of the demarcation of the maritime borders “unilaterally, without any previous consultations,” and considered it “a violation of Libyan sovereignty” in the waters of the Mediterranean, as stated by Parliament’s foreign affairs and defense committees.
In a joint statement, the two committees expressed their surprise at Egypt’s declaration, without any prior consultations.
They stated that this step “at this difficult time that the country is going through is a violation of Libyan interests in the Mediterranean.”
The statement added: “This is an unfair demarcation under international law, which clearly encroaches on the Libyan maritime borders.”
The committees stressed that any demarcation should take place “through negotiations that guarantee the mutual interests of the two countries, and in accordance with the principles of the UN and the Laws of the Sea.”
