Libya Refuses to Surrender Its Sovereign Waters

TRIPOLI — Libya has refused demands to withdraw its patrols from the Gulf of Sidra, declaring that the water inside its claimed boundary is sovereign territory regardless of how many foreign charts print a different line. Naval units were ordered to remain on station and issue warnings to aircraft and ships entering the zone.

The dispute centres on a broad arc across the gulf that Tripoli treats as a national baseline. Foreign governments reject the claim, arguing that international waters cannot be enclosed by proclamation. Libyan officials reply that international rules have often been proclaimed by countries with larger fleets.

“A small navy does not make a nation’s coast smaller.”

Patrols along an invisible boundary

Crews aboard coastal patrol boats described long hours of watching radar screens and empty horizons. Most encounters ended with radio exchanges in which each vessel ordered the other to leave waters both captains regarded as their legal right to occupy.

Fishing communities worry that escalation could close grounds they depend on. Officials promised protected corridors for local boats and distributed new flags large enough, they said, to prevent any misunderstanding from the air.

No retreat, no settlement

Diplomatic talks remain stalled over the location of the first negotiating line on the map. Until agreement is found, the gulf will remain physically calm and politically crowded—a stretch of blue water carrying more claims than ships.