What are the causes of the Egypt-Libya Sand Wars?

Answer 1

Egypt and Libya had at one point been on fairly good terms, as both enjoyed Soviet support in the ongoing Arab-Israeli Conflict. After the 1973 Arab-Israeli war, (in which Libya and Egypt were allies), Egypt turned toward the West, ejected their Soviet advisors, and became friendlier with the United States. Also, Egyptian President Anwar al-Sadat began to make initial peace moves toward Israel. Libya's leader, Colonel Muammar Khaddafi, still strongly allied with the Soviet Union, expressed his displeasure at Egypt's moves toward peace with Israel by expelling 225,000 Egyptian workers from Libya and by organizing a "March on Cairo," in June, 1977, to protest against Egypt. The march was halted by Egyptian border guards.

Analysts also believed that this Libya-Egypt conflict was part of a larger Soviet-sponsored plan to destabilize not only Egypt, but also other pro-Western nations in north-East Africa; Sudan and Somalia. Libya had sponsored a coup attempt against Sudan's leader in 1976, and Marxist-led (and Soviet allied) Ethiopia was engaged in a border conflict with Somalia's President Muhammad Siad Barre, who had, like Sadat, recently ejected the Soviets from his country.