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Bou Saab: Delimitation ’Agreement’ Is an Accomplishment, Lebanon Should Benefit from This Int’l Opportunity

Bou Saab: Delimitation ’Agreement’ Is an Accomplishment, Lebanon Should Benefit from This Int’l Opportunity
folder_openLebanon access_timeone year ago
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By Staff

Deputy Speaker of the Lebanese Parliament, Elias Bou Saab, who was appointed by the President to follow up the file of the negotiations for the maritime boundary delimitation, revealed the expected date for the completion of the boundary delimitation and the mechanism by which this document will be signed.

Bou Saab said that the American mediator Amos Hochstein has comprehended the Lebanese situation and the inability to conclude an international treaty with “Israel” because it is an enemy to Lebanon. The deputy speaker added that Hochstein took this into consideration and initiated an agreement between the US and both sides, “as they’ll figure out points of agreement”. He said that the US will then send a message to “Israel” and Lebanon regarding these points, to receive their written acceptance later.

“Messages are set to be delivered between the 26th and 27th of this month under the United Nation’s flag in Naqoura,” Bou Saab explained, adding, “This decision is made by the President, and he will choose the team that will go to Naqoura to deliver the message.”

By the same token, the deputy speaker emphasized that the call between US President Joe Biden and his Lebanese counterpart President Michel Aoun was “important and long”. Bou Saab said that the US will be keen to ensure that the “Israeli” side respected the signed agreement. He concluded that “this agreement” would open future foreign investments in Lebanon raising employment chances for Lebanese.

Biden, according to Bou Saab, praised Aoun’s efforts and expressed the US’s support to Lebanon to ensure its transition to a new stage.

The Lebanese official acknowledged the priority Biden has given this process saying it is a historical accomplishment on his part. He went on to say, “Although the agreement is the basis, but what’s beyond is much more important as it’s related to gas extraction and openness to the world. On Monday or Tuesday, we’ll receive a statement from the Security Council welcoming what has been accomplished and stressing on that it is an opportunity of hope for the Lebanese, their economy and their prosperity.”

The deputy parliament speaker considered that “a war or an escalation” might have been the alternative to this agreement, noting that Benjamin “Netanyahu’s threat to cancel the agreement if he won the coming elections is just an electoral propaganda and that any breach of the agreement will be directed against the US and its credibility before the world.” Bou Saab emphasized that “the agreement also guarantees that that there will be no provocation on the border, neither by Hezbollah nor anyone else.”

“After the president declared Lebanon’s intention to reconsider the border demarcation with Cyprus, the Lebanese minister of foreign affairs received a message from his Cypriot counterpart to start Lebanese-Cypriot borders negotiations,” the Lebanese official said.

Amid demarcation chaos, Bou Saab talked about demarcation of the northern borders with Syria urging other Lebanese parties “to keep their discords with Syria aside” and start negotiations concerning the return of refugees as well as maritime boundary demarcation, taking into consideration the economic interest this may reflect on both countries and the facilitations Lebanon will get out of it such as the import of   Egyptian gas and Jordanian electricity.

“This agreement is an accomplishment, as we have been dreaming for years of Lebanon as a gas and oil producing country. We should now benefit from this international opportunity amid the recent crisis in Europe.” Bou Saab concluded while adding, “This accomplishment is for all Lebanese, and we should not neglect President Aoun’s insistence on bringing this file to its conclusion.”

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