Aoun Urges Cabinet Session on Oil Exploration: Those Opposing It Want Lebanon's Bankruptcy
إقرأ هذا الخبر بالعربية
Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun urged on Tuesday holding a cabinet meeting to discuss oil extraction, accusing those obstructing a governmental session of “wanting Lebanon's bankruptcy.”
"I call on the president and the (caretaker) prime minister to hold a cabinet meeting and discuss the issue of petroleum extraction,” Aoun said after the weekly meeting of his Change and Reform bloc.
He warned: “This is our last resort to protect the Lebanese people.”
Aoun accused political factions “obstructing” a cabinet session on this issue of subjecting the state to “bankruptcy.”
He explained: “We are committed to this and those opposing oil extraction want to subject the state to bankruptcy because this issue draws an end to the collapse of the financial situation and to chaos.”
Acute discord among Lebanese officials is delaying the awarding of 10 of the oil blocks as Speaker Nabih Berri is calling for the assigning of the 10 offshore blocks for oil exploration at once.
Meanwhile, caretaker Energy Minister Jebran Bassil is calling for designating only two blocks for the meantime.
Lebanese factions are also at odds regarding a cabinet session to endorse two decrees essential to award the oil blocks for the oil companies.
The decrees call for demarcating 10 maritime oil exploration blocks and setting up a revenue-sharing model.
Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Miqati continuously argued that holding a session for the cabinet requires a unanimous political agreement, pointing out that a caretaker cabinet can't approve non-essential decrees.
However, Berri and Bassil call for the caretaker to hold an extraordinary session to approve the two decrees and guarantee Lebanon's rights.
In a related matter, the FPM leader noted that classifying some banks in Lebanon under B and C levels signals bankruptcy.
“The state's expenditures and the financial situation must be controlled,” he stated.
On the situation of the northern city of Tripoli, Aoun said it “has not changed” after the recent truce.
"And the proof is the assassination of Sheikh Saadeddine Ghiyyeh.”
He added: “No security decision will end the clashes in Tripoli and we lament that this topic our main discussion everyday.”
Ghiyyeh, a pro-Syrian regime Islamic Action Front official, was killed on Tuesday after sustaining gunshots wounds to his head when masked men opened fire at him in al-Bahsa in Tripoli.
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12 November 2013, 17:06
Aoun: I call on President Michel Suleiman and caretaker PM Miqati to hold a cabinet meeting and this is our last resort to protect the Lebanese people.
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12 November 2013, 17:05
Aoun: We are committed to the issue of petroleum and others are awaiting to get paid. Those objecting the extraction of oil want to subject the state to bankruptcy because this issue draws an end to the collapse of the financial situation and to chaos.
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12 November 2013, 17:04
Aoun: Classifying some banks in Lebanon under B and C levels signals bankruptcy. Expenditures and the financial situation must be controlled and we wonder what happened to the issue of petroleum.
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12 November 2013, 17:02
Aoun: No security decision will end the clashes in Tripoli and we lament that this topic our main discussion everyday.
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12 November 2013, 17:02
FPM leader MP Michel Aoun: The situation is Tripoli has not change and the proof is the assassination of Sheikh Saadeddine Ghiyyeh.
12 November 2013, 17:46
57
Tuesday Happy Hour with Aoun will all you can eat demaguogue rhetoric & accusations. We will not charge you one Lira of common sense, logic or truth.
12 November 2013, 17:47
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what are you talking about? Aoun and the other MPs have zero legitimacy since june 2013, the day they decided to postpone elections indefinitely. min 3ambyihkeh, we as free people are held hostages of your 'leader' because they want to change the constitution to better suit their personal agendas.
ta3rif chou? rouh l3ab. There might be an 8 year old slave for you waiting in some camp.
12 November 2013, 17:48
67
Aoun : "we wonder what happened to the issue of petroleum."
Hezbollah happened ... M8 happened ... Syria happened ...
Parliamentary elections didn't happen ... Government didn't happen ... Justice didn't happen
Petroleum will not happen before all of the above is settled !
12 November 2013, 18:18
74
Everything is related.
And Roar, I'm not a religious person but there is one quote from the bible I would like to say : "Let he who has not sinned cast the first stone".
If you want to open the door of who steals from others, trust me, Aoun will not be found innocent. It is even a proven fact he stole money. He transfered millions to france before fleeing the country. I wonder how a General / President end up with that much money on a state salary
Even your Charles Ayoub accuses him of stealing $75M http://www.yalibnan.com/2011/11/19/charles-ayoub-accuses-aoun-of-stealing-75-million/
12 November 2013, 19:15
53
Aoun stole at least $58 million, and deposited the money in his personal accounts. After Aoun fled in his PJ's, the Lebanese government was successful in only returning $33 million of the stolen money.
Christian Science Monitor article from 1991 below:
http://www.csmonitor.com/1990/1127/oaoun.html/(page)/2
12 November 2013, 19:20
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@Roar ... simply shut up... you were proven wrong once again. stop it with your double standards already !
I'm not here defending Hariri or saying he did not steal! All i'm saying is that Aoun too has dirty hands, is no better than Hariri and they should all be replaced !
12 November 2013, 19:27
53
"How about you explain how he ended up with $15.5M in his french bank account in 1990 ? On his general or president's salary ?"
at the time of his revenge war against syria he also received money from PLO 14M $ and monthly 6 $ checks by saddam hussein....
anyhow he received several million $....
13 November 2013, 12:16
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@FT :
1- You have shown once again that you insult others and deserve to be banned
2- You are a total demaguogue. Aoun has stollen and the proof is all over the web. The fact that you refuse to accept this is not my problem but yours because you choose to live in ignorance and paint yourself an illusion.
3- My quote isn't about permissiveness. Quite the contrary. It's about you bunch of morons accusing your opponents of crimes that your own leaders have also commited.
Unless your capable of looking at yourself in the mirror, stop publishing nonsense. You want to accuse M14 of corruption, I will accuse them with you. But don't turn a blind eye to your leaders who are at least as corrupt !
Otherwise, you're the ostrich with it's empty head in the ground !
13 November 2013, 12:20
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@FT : again, you show your complete irrelevance in your comments.
I don't "blame" the oil file on Hezb an M8 / Syria This actually doesn't mean anything.
I want the oil file to be tackled more than you. But not by crooks be them M8 or M14...
And about your comment on Lebanon's stagnation, you couldn't be more blind and misleading.
Stagnation is due to : War with Israel, Hezbollah attack on Beirut, Hezbollah Weapons driving and security threat driving investors away, Hezbollah involvement in Syria.
Please tell me how M14 and KSA are the cause of Lebanon's stagnation ? Our economy was actually doing great before Hezbollah messed everything up.
Enlighten me please with your knowledge of economics and politics because all I hear from you is emptiness !
12 November 2013, 17:50
75
Aoun : "Those objecting the extraction of oil want to subject the state to bankruptcy because this issue draws an end to the collapse of the financial situation and to chaos"
Those who hamper our democratic process. Who force our youth to go work abroad. Who force our businesses to close shop or move out of Lebanon. Those who bring war to Lebanon and wage wars in other countries are the ones who are pushing the state to bankruptcy !
Those are your partners Aoun ! Stop misleading your people for they do not know better !
12 November 2013, 18:20
74
And you are a person who posts comments empty of purpose and meaning.
1- I don't steal a username, I parody a username.
2- So what if I parody a username ?
3- If it bothers you, don't read ... move on, nothing to see here ...
4- Laugh it out as much as you can because we all know who will have the last laugh and it won't be you :)
12 November 2013, 18:55
72
You keep amazing me how stupid and utterly irrelevant you are... If I were stealing a name, I wouldn't be called "Catcher" would I ? But your too much of a moron to get that.
Go talk to your 5 year old classmates, mowaten and southern ! Do you teach yourselves irrelevancy or is this part of your hezbollah gene pool ?
12 November 2013, 19:22
65
Again Roar ... your comment is irrelevant. This is the typical "dialogue" you get when you discuss politics with M8.
You try and be serious and discuss issues and M8 losers will evade these issues and attack on completely irrelevant topics or completely false accusations.
There can never be a dialogue with your kind because we need mature people in front of us that can actually argue their point of view and hold a real conversation. People that are open enough to reach a consensus.
You are definitely incapable of that and I'm affraid your leaders are too ... they are much smarter than you but have different agendas than what you believe !
12 November 2013, 19:33
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Is the_roar your own name :) ?
Here you are placing "preconditions" for dialogue ... it makes me laugh :)
I will use my real name if you use your real name !
Hell, we can even have a chat face to face rather than behind keyboards ... i would actually love that !
13 November 2013, 06:40
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This is toooooooo funny the_snore is threatening to "Slap" someone :-)))))))))))))
20 comments in defense of looney Aouny… pitiful.
13 November 2013, 12:24
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@The_Purr : "I slap you into next week" : this is the typical M8 behaviour. When you cannot win in logic or dialogue, revert to violence and assassination.
In any case, I DARE YOU to "slap me into next week". In fact, bring your HA gorillaz with you because you're going to need all the help you can get... I would be happy to teach you all a lesson of humility and humanity and drive the animal behavior out of you.
12 November 2013, 17:54
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@Southern : why do you say the Saudis don't want the oil project to happen ?
Do they have a 40,000 men army in Lebanon to stop it from happening ? So they have 40,000 men in Lebanon who can take control of the country and reap the benefits for themselves ? NO !
So stop your false accusations !
The Saudis on the contrary have the knowledge, money and companies needed to help us extract, sell, distribute the oil & gas ... We can actually learn from their experience.
Do you have billions to invest in building out your infrastructure ?
12 November 2013, 18:58
65
Yes, Saudi has partners in Lebanon. The same way Iran has partners.
But you're still incapable of explaining why the Saudis do not want the oil project to happen ? Where is your proof ?
M14 do not want M8 to control the oil project and jump to make decisions quickly under pressure and mess up the entire oil "file" like they mess up everything they touch. This does not mean the Saudis don't want the oil project.
You do not make any sense !
12 November 2013, 17:59
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and I advise you to go gently on the bottle! excessive drinking is dangerous for the health; alcoholic beverages should be consumed with moderation.
12 November 2013, 18:10
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and you roar perhaps you should practise what you preach, ie; as a lebanese you should have a little more respect to your president and don't call him a "Little Man" like your post on a different page. it's so easy to hide like a coward behind a post on the internet and throw insults right left and center
12 November 2013, 18:24
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@ benzona we can disagree with aoun , but he and tayyar voted against the postponement of the parliament :P
12 November 2013, 18:29
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To all Aoun haters. Pls read his speech and point out a single thing u disagree with. There is none. Both Aoun and Geagea are speaking correctly and their feud is only personal.
12 November 2013, 21:21
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speeches are one things, actions are another. Aoun speaks one thing and then takes actions that are diametrically the opposite.
12 November 2013, 18:31
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Botros, are you sure about it? They were against it, then in favour of it, playing games.... etc. Anyway, they are like Berri and Company....
12 November 2013, 18:34
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you are hilarious,, since you asked for it and started the invitation , it's only right for the host to come out first.
12 November 2013, 19:11
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let there be a gvt then you may tackle this issue... a caretaker gvt cannot take any important decisions just the day to day matters....
and besides there are many more main issues to tackle with before oil!
12 November 2013, 19:16
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"those obstructing a governmental session of “wanting Lebanon's bankruptcy.”"LOL
as if your M8 gvt did anything to improve lebanese economy and tackle corruption at all levels...it starts with simple decisions as to computerize every single public administration so that everything is registered as your friend ....lahoud promised it the day he took the presidency. but we are still waiting for the state reforms to take place! and M8 did nothing for that so far....
12 November 2013, 19:30
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@Southern : there are major problems with your link.
1- The title says "Conspiracy" :) This says it all
2- The source is Al-Akhbar ... It's not worth toilet paper ...
3- This is an opinion from the author. It's a theory ... I don't see facts ! I can write an article that says the exact opposite !
I don't see any "motive" to block Lebanon from exploiting it's oil. They have motives to block a Hezbollah/Iran controlled Lebanon from exploiting the oil but so do I and millions of Lebanese !
12 November 2013, 19:31
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is this your way of chickening in out by using the excuse of multiple names?,, what's the matter? big mouth and no guts
12 November 2013, 19:40
66
Aoun indicts himself again. Maybe he hasn't figured it out, but big Western drilling companies will do the oil exploration and extraction, mainily Exxon/Mobile. If the government does not shape up, the royalty revenue will go to this disfunctional group of leaders who claim to operate the Lebanese Government and to an Energy Minister who is beholden to Hezbollah. Hezbollah has its tentacles in all aspects of Lebanese government. So how willing is the US to allow a US company to start drilling and paying royalties to Hezbollah?? Think about it, Aoun and who you are politically empowering.
12 November 2013, 20:00
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benzona, yeah mate, his party was exclusively against the extension. When it became obvious their tenure was going to be expected, they refused to resign because it would omit their voice in parliament (which every party thinks is divine), and they have a point there really.
12 November 2013, 20:56
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FPMers never said that blocking the parliament and obstructing the gvt for 2 years would lead lebanon to bankruptcy... but here? LOL
double standards applied as usual with these hypocrits!
12 November 2013, 21:45
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and those who work hard for the oil money and not to create a government first are afraid there own pocket will go bankrupt.
Aoun you lowe life. drop dead.
12 November 2013, 22:46
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@-mr.black
It is not that anyone is opposing oil exploration (I think you already knew that).
It is because of lack of trust among the different Lebanese factions with each fearing if the other were to start the exploration they will loos their share of the pie (I think you knew that too ;-))
HA et al closed the parliament fro close to two years and staged a sit in in downtown to stymie the government efforts then and to a large extent succeeded in doing that and in bringing the Lebanese economy to its knees. I am a Christian but I suspect what is happening is a text book case of an eye for an eye...
Short of annihilating the Sunnis, HA effort to get everything its way is doomed to fail because the Sunnis of Lebanon are now feeling that they are the downtrodden.
12 November 2013, 22:55
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@ the1phoenix
While I am in general agreement with your assessment about the Feud (standard Lebanese mafioso style win/loose debacle), I also blame our Christian community. I have friends who are LF supporters and some that are FPM supporters. I often marvel at either supporters' entrenched mind set one way or the other with no logic behind their stances whatsoever. I personally favor Geagea if only because he came out of prison a changed man IMHO whereas Aoun does not appear to have learned anything from his years in manfa.
There was a chance for uniting the Christians in 2005 but Aoun's insistence on the "chair" and allying himself with HA killed it in its nascency. It bears repeating that before Aoun's mistake alliance I was as staunch an Aoun supporters as they come and was devastated by his actions since.
12 November 2013, 23:16
22
m8 are the only one talking about the oil money instead of concentrate about forming a strong independent government. maybe they need to finance the war in syria ?
maybe they don't get t-bagged if they don't support him financial. iran don't have any money left.
12 November 2013, 23:19
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@-mr.black
Appreciate your demeanor buddy. We can agree on somethings and disagree on others and that's the way it should always be, no threats, no takhween etc.
As to HA takeover being completely unrealistic, well, let me point out that Israel's takeover of Palestine was considered unrealistic until more powerful forces shoved it down the Palestinians' throat.
Also, I point you to Kissinger's memoirs whereby he proposed to evacuate the Christians from Lebanon to the West in the early 1970.
Now political pundits, especially Christians, are worked that Lebanon could be the prize for the USA's coming closer to Tehran.
Point is, anything is possible in the Middle East and history bears that out.
13 November 2013, 00:28
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No lebfirst. U might think I am naive. But when one million people took to the streets of Beirut in m14 2005 the west started respecting our kayein as a nation. The message we sent was clear and the west appreciates to see such a civil movement. That is the date Kissinger plan died for good.
So forget abt catastrophe scenarios. Soon the Shiites will become patriotic like Sunnites became in 2005 and like Christians have always been.
13 November 2013, 02:59
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@lebanon_first
I admire your optimism and hope and pray that what you are proposing does come to pass. That said, in my life (and I have many many years under my belt) I have witnessed "political miracles" materialize.
I supported the M14 demonstrations when they took place and still do and it was exhilarating to see that many Lebanese converge on Martyr's square. I also agree that the West did take notice that said demonstrations proceeded with civilized demeanor without violence or the customary shedding of blood. At the same time I noted that without French President Chirac and US's Bush those demonstrations might not have resulted in much.
After all is said and done, hope does spring eternal and I hope what you envision does come to pass as that is the only thing that will save our Lebanon as an entity.
13 November 2013, 00:21
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I know Aoun/Geagea are far from ideal for lebanon. But compare them to Nasrallah/hariri...the perspective is different, the latter are so bad that the formers become ok.
13 November 2013, 07:59
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Everyone perceives the situation from their one prospective.
Our economy without the oil is fine. Lebanon needs stability, accountability and the rule of law.
Without these three criteria, no matter how much wealth is generated from oil, Lebanon and its economy will remain in shambles, look at Iraq and Libya.
HA and all armed functions must abandoned their weopens and foreign adgendes.
Every politician and warlord is not allowed access to government funds or have influence over any financial deals within government. (I grantee that 90% of Politicians will resign)
Hence, problem solved.
Lebanon will once again reclaim its title as the capital of the Middle East.
13 November 2013, 17:27
01
Benzona... We all know that you are a strong supporter of hariri, but you need to diversify your news intake. Aoun and the fpm are the only ones along with the kataeb, that has rejected the extension of parliament! Your mustaqbul was the main parties to approve this illegal extension along with the LF, amal, Hezbollah and co. Please open your mind a little more and you will find that Aoun is not the enemy that is automatically thought of from Sunni Lebanese brethren. The constitution is what they dont want to be ignored and bypassed. Even though the fpm are anti taef accord, at least abide by the constitution is what they are asking for. Starting with the extension of the army command. Hariri and the mustaqbul have breach the constitution countless times in the past 7 years. If you can't find when, I will provide some examples.
