Miqati Stresses Lebanon Right to Defend Borders Against Any Violation
Prime Minister Najib Miqati on Wednesday stressed “Lebanon’s right to protect all its borders and defend them against any violation.”
Miqati also emphasized that Lebanon has the right to benefit from its natural resources.
During a ministerial meeting dedicated to discuss the issue of demarcating Lebanon’s maritime borders, the premier noted that “the issue of the maritime borders will be discussed in cabinet tomorrow in order to take the appropriate decision concerning the strategy to confront the Israeli ambitions and threats.”
The conferees were briefed during the meeting on the process of demarcating Lebanon’s maritime borders and the steps that should be taken to follow up on this issue with the relevant international organizations and the Republic of Cyprus, “in order to stress Lebanon’s right to defend its borders and preserve its rights,” state-run National News Agency reported.
Ministers Jebran Bassil, Adnan Mansour, Ghazi Aridi, Shakib Qortbawi, Fayez Ghosn and Nicolas Nahhas attended the meeting.
Miqati’s sources told As Safir daily in remarks published Wednesday that during the meeting the prime minister would give instructions to prepare a file to submit it to the U.N., after Israel's cabinet approved a map of the country's proposed maritime borders with Lebanon that conflicts significantly with those suggested by Lebanon in its own submission to the world body.
Foreign Minister Adnan Mansour said that the conferees would “seriously and responsibly follow the issue and come up with a comprehensive national plan to confront the Israeli aggression on Lebanon’s rights.”
The plan would later be submitted to the cabinet to take the appropriate decision, he told As Safir.
For his part, Energy and Water Minister Jebran Bassil hailed Wednesday’s meeting at the Grand Serail as a “very important step.”
“It reflects the importance of maritime borders and the keenness on Lebanon’s right,” he told the newspaper. “We asked during the (tenure of the) cabinet of Saad Hariri for such meetings more than seven times but no one met our request.”
“We should immediately resort to the U.N. to confirm not only Lebanon’s right to its oil and gas resources and the recognition of its maritime and economic borders but also to request it to respect its decisions and international law,” Bassil said.
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