Cairo in talks with Tripoli over Turkish maritime boundary deal, Egyptian FM says

Cairo and Tripoli have agreed to hold talks following Egypt's concerns over Libya's maritime memorandum of understanding with Turkey, a deal that could threaten Israel's ability to develop underwater infrastructure connections and pose broader maritime security challenges, Egyptian Foreign Ministry spokesman Ambassador Nader Zaki told Egypt's Alghad TV on Monday.The agreement, signed in 2019 by the Tripoli-based, internationally recognized Libyan government, was approved by the eastern Libyan parliament, the House of Representatives, last month, drawing criticism from Cyprus, Egypt, Greece, and Israel.The interview came two days after Egypt reopened its embassy building in Tripoli, which had been closed for more than 12 years, during a visit by Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty. Egypt had shut the embassy following the abduction of five Egyptian diplomats and embassy staff.Abdelatty's visit also included significant discussions on trade and energy cooperation. In a statement on Saturday, he said Egypt aimed to accelerate joint energy projects with Libya, including gas pipeline links, the refining of Libyan crude oil in Egypt, and an electricity interconnection. He also called for greater cooperation on petroleum products and the completion of projects to refine Libyan oil in Egypt for re-export.Zaki said Egypt had stressed that the agreement between Turkey and Libya was not binding on other countries, adding that the memorandum affected Egyptian maritime borders in the exclusive economic…