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BEIRUT, Lebanon — Lebanon needs talks to demarcate its maritime border with Syria, in order that it will possibly start offshore fuel extraction after reaching the same settlement with Israel, its prime negotiator advised AFP.
Final month, regardless of the nations technically remaining in a state of conflict, Israel and Lebanon struck a US-brokered sea border settlement that can doubtlessly open up profitable offshore fuel fields.
Beirut now needs to outline its maritime borders with Syria, to the north, and Cyprus, to the west, to consolidate its offshore rights.
“The Lebanese authorities should have interaction instantly and publicly with the Syrian authorities… and publicly demarcate our sea borders,” Elias Bou Saab advised AFP in an interview Tuesday.
“Any future authorities should undertake this process and put Lebanon’s curiosity first,” he insisted, whereas “leaving regional political conflicts out of this matter.”
Syria, which as soon as had a controlling hand in Lebanon’s affairs, has repeatedly refused to delimit land and sea borders with its neighbor.
Minister of Training Elias Bou Saab speaks throughout a press convention in Beirut, Lebanon, September 21, 2015. (AP Photograph/Hussein Malla)
In accordance with Bou Saab, the disputed maritime space between Lebanon and Syria is “maybe greater than 800 sq. kilometers (310 sq. miles).”
It may very well be “bigger than the disputed space with Israel,” he added.
Lebanon can not start fuel exploration within the northern a part of the waters off its Mediterranean coast with out first resolving its border dispute with Syria, Bou Saab stated.
And Lebanon additionally wants an settlement with Syria to have the ability to hint its Unique Financial Zone (EEZ) with Cyprus.
The Lebanese presidency introduced in late October {that a} delegation would journey to Damascus to debate the difficulty, however the journey didn’t happen.
Syria’s ambassador to Beirut, Ali Abdel Karim Ali, spoke of “confusion” across the date.
However Bou Saab, the deputy speaker of parliament and near outgoing President Michel Aoun, stated Syria had “calls for and reservations.”
A common view image reveals Hezbollah supporters wave their group flags, as they attend an election marketing campaign, within the southern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, Might 10, 2022. (AP Photograph/Hussein Malla)
Lebanese safety officers and politicians have made a number of visits to Syria lately, however virtually solely of their private capability or on behalf of political events that assist President Bashar al-Assad, together with the highly effective Hezbollah terror group, supported by Iran.
The Shiite motion’s navy wing has been combating alongside Assad’s forces for the reason that early phases of the battle.
Lebanese officers are betting on the potential revenues from the nation’s offshore vitality reserves to attempt to revive its devastated financial system, which has been mired in disaster since 2019.
However Lebanon has been with out a president for the reason that starting of the month, with lawmakers unable to agree on a successor.
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