Parliament endorses law on maritime borders
August 05, 2011 01:29 AM
By Wassim Mroueh
The Daily Star
BEIRUT: Lebanon’s Parliament endorsed Thursday a draft law demarcating the county’s maritime borders with Israel and Cyprus during the second day of a two-day legislative session.
The move, which Prime Minister Najib Mikati praised as a “great achievement,” comes amid a dispute between Lebanon and Israel over territorial waters, believed to be rich with oil and natural gas resources.
Last month the Israeli government proposed maritime borders which Lebanese officials argue infringe on the country’s Exclusive Economic Zone by 854 square kilometers.
The draft law was endorsed after introducing an amendment to Article 6, as proposed by Mikati. The article specifies the borders of Lebanon’s Exclusive Economic Zone.
“We discussed this matter with international legal experts … a company specializing in topographic matters will determine the coordinates of the [Exclusive Economic Zone] next week,” he said, adding that the EEZ coordinates would be stipulated in a Cabinet decree.
Metn MP Sami Gemayel complained that there had not been adequate time to go through the draft law distributed to lawmakers Wednesday.
But Speaker Nabih Berri said the law was “special, ” adding, “It has been discussed for a period of time, and Israel and Cyprus have already started to extract [offshore] oil and gas. We are trying to get this law done.”
For his part, Tyre MP Nawwaf Mousawi called for mentioning in the draft law that disputed point 23, the point on the extreme southwest of Lebanon’s proposed borders, lies in Lebanon’s EEZ.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Politi ... z1U8hrME4d
