BEIRUT —
Lebanon wants direct talks to
demarcate its maritime border with Syria so it can begin offshore gas
exploration, weeks after reaching a similar agreement with Israel, its top
negotiator told AFP.
اضافة اعلان
The US-brokered sea border deal with Israel
guarantees “stability” in a volatile region, where the two enemy states seek to
exploit potentially gas-rich Mediterranean waters, Elias Bou Saab said.
Beirut now wishes to define its maritime borders
with Syria to the north, and
Cyprus, to the west, to consolidate its offshore
rights.
“The Lebanese government must engage directly and
publicly with the Syrian government ... and publicly demarcate our sea
borders”, Bou Saab, who is also Lebanon’s deputy speaker of parliament, said
Tuesday.
“Any future government must undertake this task and
put Lebanon’s interest first,” he insisted, while “leaving regional political
conflicts out of this matter”.
Syria, which once had a controlling hand in
Lebanon’s affairs, has repeatedly refused to delimit land and sea borders with
its neighbor.
In recent years, Lebanese politicians have been
deeply divided over relations with Damascus.
Lebanese security officials and politicians have
made several visits to Syria, but almost exclusively in their personal capacity
or on behalf of political parties that support the Syrian regime.
The powerful Shiite organization Hezbollah, which
has backed Syrian President
Bashar Al-Assad’s forces since the early stages of
the conflict, has been advocating for rapprochement with Damascus.
‘Demands and reservations’
Bou Saab said the disputed
maritime area between Lebanon and Syria is “perhaps more than 800sq.km.”.
It could be “larger” than the area that had been
disputed with Israel, he added.
Lebanon cannot begin gas exploration in its northern
waters near Syria without first resolving its border dispute with Damascus, Bou
Saab said.
The Lebanese presidency had announced last month
that a delegation would visit Damascus for sea border talks, but that trip has
since been postponed.
The Syrian ambassador in Beirut, Ali Abdel Karim
Ali, said it was due to “confusion” over the proposed dates.
But after years of Lebanese distancing, Bou Saab
said that Syria had “demands and reservations”.
Lebanese officials are betting on the potential
revenues from the country’s offshore energy reserves to revive its devastated
economy, mired in crisis since 2019.
Already ruled by a caretaker government since May,
Lebanon has been without a president since the beginning of the month, with
political paralysis compounding the country’s economic woes.
Lebanon also needs an agreement with Syria to be
able to map its
Exclusive Economic Zone with Cyprus.
One day after the agreement with Israel, Lebanon and
Cyprus agreed to move ahead with sea border talks, but the two countries have
yet to strike a deal.
“In a single day, we agreed to change our border
with Cyprus,” based on the new coordinates with Israel, Bou Saab said.
Under the agreement with Israel, Lebanon gained full
rights to operate and explore the Qana or Sidon reservoir, parts of which fall
in Israel’s territorial waters.
Israel will receive a compensation by the firm
operating Qana.
French giant
TotalEnergies and Italian energy giant
Eni has been licensed to explore the field.
Russia’s Novatek was initially part of the
consortium but later withdrew, with Qatar stepping up to join, Bou Saab said.
“Qatar will have a 30 percent after an agreement
between the three companies, while Eni and Total will each have 35 percent,” he
said.
The companies are expected to start operating in
three to four months, Bou Saab added.
Other Arab Gulf states are interested in investing
in Lebanon’s offshore resources, he said.
There are still no proven gas reserves in the Qana
reservoir, and analysts have cautioned that it will take years for production
to start in Lebanese waters.
The deal was welcomed by both Israel and the country’s
arch-foe Hezbollah.
Common financial interests at the border mean that
conflict is less likely between the two enemy states, Bou Saab said, as
European demand for gas soars after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
“This deal brings stability and hope on a regional level,”
he said.
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