Libya’s Maritime Deal With Turkey New Hurdle to Ending War

  • Salame says outrage over accord may cloud a Berlin peace meet
  • UN is trying to push peace efforts as fighting intensifies

Photographer: Mahmud Turkia/AFP via Getty Images

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Efforts to end Libya’s war face another hurdle after its internationally recognized government signed a preliminary maritime agreement with Turkey, angering neighboring states that see it as a brazen Turkish bid for dominance over gas-rich Mediterranean waters.

Ghassan Salame, the United Nations envoy to OPEC member Libya, said the recriminations sparked by the accord finalized in Istanbul last week risked complicating a Dec. 10 gathering in Berlin of parties to the conflict that was supposed to pave the way for a full peace summit in early January.