Libya declares contiguous zone of 24 nautical miles

In the latest reshuffling of the pack in the Eastern Mediterranean, the Tripoli government in Libya has informed the United Nations of the Council of Ministers' decision, led by Prime Minister Abdul Hamid al-Dbeibeh, to declare a 12 nautical mile territorial waters zone and then, to declare a contiguous zone extending 24 nautical miles northward, as permitted by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.

In actuality, the move is mainly aimed at the decree defining the western boundaries of Egypt's exclusive economic zone (EEZ), which was another initiative of Abdel Fattah el-Sisi's government in order to cancel collateral problems created by the 2019 Turkey-Libya Memorandum of Understanding (MoU).

All of the lines are drawn in accordance with Libyan perceptions, and so extend eastward to the Egyptian border. Of course, Cairo is likely to respond to this...