Lebanon’s Parliament Deputy Speaker, Elias Bou Saab, said on Tuesday following talks with President Michel Aoun that there are thorny issues in the maritime border demarcation talks between Lebanon and Israel, but are being resolved one after another.
He added that the talks with Israel going in the right direction
“Communication and contacts will intensify in September and we hope we will be able to reach an agreement ,” he said. “We don’t want to let go of optimism, but we don’t want to say that we’re pessimistic,” the Deputy Speaker said.
He said his talks with Aoun focused on recent discussions with US mediator, Amos Hochstein, who is expected to visit Lebanon this week.
“Communication and contacts will intensify in September and we hope we will be able to reach a result,” he said. “We don’t want to let go of optimism, but we don’t want to say that we’re pessimistic,” the Deputy Speaker said.
Despite his optimism he had a warning to Israel:
“The month of September will be decisive. If it turns out that the Israelis are intransigent and do not want a solution, Lebanon will have other choices,” he warned.
There has been a lot of negative speculation by pro Hezbollah media about the talks , but none of that has been confirmed by Hochstein nor the Israeli and Lebanese officials
According to Lebanon Gas and Oil website Hochstein met the French company TotalEnergy last Thursday in the French capital, Paris to discuss its contractual obligations in Lebanon. Total was awarded the drilling rights in Lebanon’s Block No. 9 . Total reportedly told him it is only interested in drilling in the Qana field and not in block 9 because its experience in block 4 was vey discouraging and it thinks Qana field, which is the disputed area between Lebanon and Israel is very promising
Lebanese Al-Akhbar newspaper which is closely linked to Hezbollah said that the US mediator couldn’t obtain Total’s full approval to start the gas extraction in Lebanon before a “clear” border deal is reached and also before receiving security guarantees from all concerned parties
Not Hochstein’s final visit
President Aoun said on Tuesday that TotalEnergies could help his country solve the maritime demarcation issues with Israel, according to a post from the presidency office on Twitter.
President Aoun’s office also said that Hochstein’s visit “does not mean that it carries the final solution, but it is an additional positive step towards the solution” .
Aoun complained last month that some parties don’t want border deal before he leaves Baabda Palace
Aoun’s term end on October 31. He will leave a completely different Lebanon than the one he inherited 6 years ago
Aoun has been described by several Lebanese leaders as the worst president in Lebanon’s history . Under Aoun the whole country collapsed
News Agencies
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.