Egypt denies maritime demarcation with Palestine

By Rabia al-Sokkary

CAIRO (AA) - Egypt has denied reports about negotiations with the Palestinian Authority with a view to demarcating their maritime border.

Speaking to Anadolu Agency, Foreign Ministry spokesman Ahmed Abu Zeid described the border demarcation reports as “unfounded”.

“There is no Egyptian position regarding maritime border demarcation with Palestine,” he said on Sunday.

Media reports earlier cited Palestinian ambassador to the UN Riad Mansour as saying that negotiations had started between the Palestinian Authority and Egypt for demarcating the maritime border of a future Palestinian state.

He said the talks between the two sides are at the preliminary stage, having begun recently with Egypt at the foreign minister level and then continued at the expert level.

Palestine gained an observer status at the United Nations in November 2012 and have since joined several UN treaties.

In April, Egypt signed a controversial agreement regarding maritime border demarcation with Saudi Arabia, under which Cairo has ceded two Red Sea islands to the Gulf monarchy.

The agreement has triggered public outcry in Egypt and prompted accusations for Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi of selling Egyptian territory to Saudi Arabia, which has been a main backer of his regime following the ouster of the country's first democratically elected President Mohamed Morsi in a 2013 military coup.