Dr Ibrahim Yusri, a former Egyptian ambassador and international lawyer is accusing South Cyprus of claiming Egyptian territorial waters as part of Cyprus’ EEZ.
He described the area of Cyprus’ EEZ as unfair and added that the surface area “stolen” by the South as being greater than the Nile Delta. He claims that a secret agreement had been signed between the deposed former President Mubarak of Egypt and the South in 2003. The Egyptian former ambassador added that he had filed a lawsuit to stop the implementation of this agreement, however, his lawsuit has, so far, not been heard by the judiciary.
Former President Mubarak appeared in a private court hearing on Saturday, accused of killing protesters in the 2011 upheaval and exporting gas to Israel at prices lower than that of the international market rate.
Dr Yusri accused Nicosia of being in league with Israel to claim Egypt’s territorial seabed for itself. He points out that the gas field lies only 90 miles away from the port of Damietta (Dumya) while it, in fact, is 270 miles away from Israel.
In 2008, the South Cyprus government signed a production-sharing agreement with American Energy company, Noble to undertake exploration activities in an economic zone southeast of the island which borders Israeli waters.
