Libya Gas Deal : Egypt, Greece Say It’s Illegal

Egypt and Greece have rejected the Monday, October 3, 2022 memorandum of understanding (MoU), signed in Tripoli between Libya’s Government of National Unity and Turkey for gas and oil exploration in Libyan waters. In a statement made public by the Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry and his Greek counterpart Nikos Dendias on Sunday, both diplomates said, the agreement is “illegal and inadmissible,” as it violates their economic rights in an area suspected to contain vast natural gas reserves. The two diplomatic officials said at the end of a meeting in Cairo that, “We will use all legal means to defend our rights because Tripoli does not have the necessary sovereignty over this area.” 
The dispute between Egypt and Greece on one side and Turkey on the other dates back to November 2019, when the Turkish government and the Libyan Government of National Unity (GNU), signed a MoU on sovereignty over the maritime areas in the Mediterranean. After a series of wrangling, tension heightened again last week after the GNU headed by Abdel-Hamid Dbeibah signed the hydrocarbon deal with Turkey in the Libyan capital. In a joint press conference after the signing, the GNU Foreign Minister Najla El-Manqoush and his Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu stressed the importance of the deal which may also include exploration in Maritime areas. 
Meanwhile, the Speaker of the Libyan House of Representatives Aguila Saleh has said, &ld...