Lebanese President Aoun Hails People’s Defiance, Resistance in Maritime Boundaries File

By Al-Ahed News

Lebanese President Michel Aoun, stressed Lebanon's position by agreeing to adopt the final formula prepared by the American mediator to define the southern maritime boundaries, terming the indirect document as a response to the Lebanese demands which preserves their rights in full.

Aoun hailed "Everyone who stood by Lebanon in this achievement, which would not have been achieved without the unity and solidity of the Lebanese position in resisting all pressures, and for not making any substantial concessions, and for not engaging in any kind of rejected normalization [with the ‘Israeli’ entity].”

Additionally, Aoun reviewed the stages that the delimitation file has gone through since 2010 until today, with all the domestic and external obstacles and difficulties that he faced, and the obstacles that were placed in his face for political reasons. 

Concurrently, Lebanon had to activate the process of defining its maritime boundaries, especially the southern ones, and to correct errors that occurred in the delimitation with Cyprus, according to the president.

On the other hand, the President indicated that Lebanon has the right to consider what was achieved yesterday as a historic achievement, because we were able to recover a disputed area of 860 square kilometers, while Lebanon did not concede any one kilometer to the ‘Israeli’ entity.

“We also obtained the entire Qana field without any compensation paid by us. Our land borders have not been touched, and Lebanon has not recognized the buoyancy line that ‘Israel’ created after its withdrawal from our lands in the year 2000, nor has any normalization occurred with ‘Israel,’ nor has any direct talks or agreements been concluded with it” Aoun underlined.

Moreover, the President revealed that the document stipulates how to resolve any disputes in the future, or if any other common oil reservoir appears on both sides of the boundaries, which gives reassurance and a stronger sense of stability on both sides of the boundaries.

“This is what is right for us and for the future generations, who we hope will live in a better time than that we lived in, and that a sovereign fund will be established that preserves the proceeds for them according to the proposed law presented in this regard” the president added.