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Lebanon: Geagea calls for action to demarcate maritime border with Syria

April 1, 2021 at 1:55 pm

Christian Lebanese Forces party leader Samir Geagea at his house in Maarab, northeast of Beirut, on 26 April 2012. [JOSEPH EID/AFP/GettyImages]

The head of the Lebanese Forces Party, Samir Geagea, called on his country to correspond with the United Nations to demarcate its maritime borders with Syria, or resort to the International Court of Justice if Bashar Al-Assad’s regime is not satisfied with international arbitration.

During a press conference north of Beirut, Geagea accused the Syrian regime of trying to infringe on 750 square kilometres of Lebanese waters, after Damascus’ agreement with a Russian company for oil and gas exploration in the Mediterranean.

He pointed out that “the government of the President of the Syrian regime, Bashar Al-Assad, objected to Lebanon’s proposal for oil and gas exploration in 2014.”

“In 2017, the Lebanese government sent a memorandum to the Assad government, asking for communication to unify the view regarding the borders … and there was no answer until two days ago when we were surprised to discover a Russian company had been entrusted by the Assad government to explore for oil and gas.”

He added that the existing maps show “the overlapping of the Syrian demarcation with the Lebanese demarcation, and the attempt of the Syrian side to annex 750 square kilometres.”

Geagea called on Lebanese President Michel Aoun, Prime Minister Hassan Diab, and the political forces to assign a law firm to send a warning to the Russian company.

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