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Aoun chairs meeting of technical committee for maritime demarcation: Mikati says position united for Lebanon’s interest, Berri says atmosphere positive

NNA - The meeting called for by the President of the Republic, General Michel Aoun, at Baabda Palace, was attended by Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri and Prime Minister Najib Mikati, to discuss the offer of the American mediator Amos Hochstein, on demarcate the southern maritime borders, has led to the adoption of the observations made by the Technical Committee for Demarcation of the Borders, which affirmed the Lebanese constants that have been adopted since the start of negotiations, preserves Lebanon's rights and secures its interests.  

It was an affirmation of the unity of the Lebanese position regarding Hochstein's offer, which will be delivered to the American mediator within the next few hours. 

In accordance with these observations, amendments were made to the American offer, which will be received by Hochstein and transferred to the Israeli side.

A meeting early afternoon at 1:00pm in Baabda Palace was chaired by President Aoun in preparation for his meeting with Speaker Berri and PM Mikati, which joined members of the Technical Committee for the Demarcation of Maritime Borders, consisting of: Deputy Speaker of Parliament Elias Bousaab, former Minister Salim Jreissati, Director General of General Security Maj. Gen. Abbas Ibrahim, Director General of the Presidency of the Republic, Dr. Antoine Choucair, Adviser to Parliament Speaker Ali Hamdan, Member of the Petroleum Sector Administration, Wissam Shabat, Head of the Hydrography Department in the Navy, Lt. Col. Afif Ghaith.  

During the meeting, the remarks of Presidents Aoun, Berri and Mikati on the presentation of the American mediator dealt with technical and legal points througj a unified position.

At 3:00 pm, PM Mikati and Speaker Berri met at Baabda Palace with the President of the Republic, then were joined by the members of the Technical Committee who presented the consolidated version of the remarks adopted by President Aoun Speaker  Berri and PM Mikati.

Speaker Berri, told reporters on his departure in response to their question: "The position is one and united, and this is what is important." adding that the atmosphere is positive. 

PM Mkati said after the meeting: “ we had some remarks, turns out that the technical committee has dealt all of them and we will have a response to the American mediator.

Deputy Speaker Bou Saab told journalists aftet the meeting: "We are proud that this meeting, which everyone was waiting for, consolidated a unified Lebanese position, and was one of the strength factors that Lebanon enjoyed during the negotiation period that brought us to the current situation. 

The  technical team who that met  today was also unified om all the remarks. It was clear to us that we all have the same stands, and they were unified to submit a report soon and send it to the American mediator as a response to the last proposal.  

The report is ready to be submitted, and I expect that it will be ready tomorrow at the latest, to be received by the American mediator, and in light of that he will make amendments to present to the other side.

We hope to get the final answer before the end this week, after which the unified final Lebanese position will be issued.”

Answering a question, Mr. Bou Saab said: “Yes, today we gave an answer to the proposal submitted with the unified amendments and remarks, thus, we await the final presentation, which will take into account our remarks.  We did not expect and never said that we would immediately accept the offer that we will receive and sign, but as it is said,-the devils lie in the details.

Asked if Israel has will receive compensation from the Qanafield, and the Presidency of the Republic has rejected this matter.  Can the other party modify these things?

Deputy Speaker Biu Saab answered: “ nothing has changed regarding the President’s position on the issue.

Question: If things go as they should, will the signing of a treaty or agreement be to present it to the Council of Ministers and then the Parliament?  There is a message from Lebanon to the United Nations about a disputed area south of the 23rd line. Is this message still valid?

Mr. Bou Saad answered: “I do not want to go into details, but the disputed areas remain a subject of dispute until a decision is made.  As for the issue of signing, we do not recognize the Israeli enemy and therefore there is no treaty or agreement. This is a subject that has certain arrangements, and the American mediator was keen on the privacy of Lebanon from this point of view and his proposal takes into consideration this privacy.

There is a clear and explicit mechanism in the terms that deals with this issue with clear guarantees  .

Question: Are there American guarantees in light of the Israeli statements in the past couple of days ?

Mr. Bou Saab said: I do not wish to comment on what the Israelis are saying, but they all know the strength of Lebanon.

Question: What is the strength of Lebanon?

He replied: The source of strength is known. We have been in conflict with the Israeli enemy for a long time, and I do not wish to speak from this podium because my words represent me personally and stem from a conviction of what brought us here during the negotiations.  There is a balance in the interaction between Lebanon and the Israeli enemy, whether we like it or not, and this balance was established in a period of time by the equation of the army, the people and the resistance, this matter exists, but the negotiation proceeded in a diplomatic manner and we did not provoke anyone, and we do not want to negotiate out of force because it undermines the negotiations. The other party considers that it has the power to take what it wants in the negotiations.  

As for the second reason that gave strength to Lebanon, it is the unity of the position. Today, His Excellency the President was keen on it during today’s meeting.

Our unity and unified position are a major source of strength that has been translated into the result we have reached.

He concluded: “Sovereignty over the exclusive economic zone of Lebanon belongs to Lebanon. As for the Qana field, we have no coordinates to know where this line ends on the other side, but with regard to the wealth it contains, Lebanon will get its full share.”--Presidency Press Office 

 

 

 

 

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