Lebanon's president on Monday warned Israel against "unilateral decisions" in the demarcation of a shared maritime border, as a feud over offshore gas reserves between the two states deepens.
Lebanon
's
president on Monday warned
Israel
against "unilateral decisions" in the demarcation of a shared
maritime border, as a feud over offshore gas reserves between the two states
deepens.
"President Michel Sleiman warns against any unilateral decisions
Israel
may
take on maritime borders which would be a breach of international law, as is
Israel
's
habit," Sleiman's office said in a statement.
Sleiman also said the issue would be up for talks at the first meeting of
Lebanon
's new
government, which last Thursday won a vote of confidence in parliament.
While Prime Minister Najib Mikati's government is dominated by Shiite militant
group Hezbollah, the last Western-backed Lebanese government had taken a
similar stand in the growing conflict over offshore gas reserves.
Israel
's
cabinet on Sunday approved a map of the country's proposed maritime borders
with
Lebanon
to be
submitted for a U.N. opinion.
The proposed map lays out maritime borders that conflict significantly with
those suggested by
Lebanon
in
its own submission to the United Nations.
Lebanon
's
Energy Minister Gebran Bassil said
Beirut
will
not give up its maritime rights and accused
Israel
of
"violations of [Lebanese] waters, territory and airspace, and today our
oil rights."
Israel for months has been moving to develop several large offshore natural gas
fields in the eastern Mediterranean, some shared with Cyprus, that it hopes
could help it to become an energy exporter.
But its development plans have stirred controversy with
Lebanon
,
which argues the gas fields lie inside its territorial waters.
Israel
doesn't have officially demarcated maritime borders with
Lebanon
, and
the two nations remain technically at war.
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