Lebanon, Israel, Turkey, UN, Iran, gas, etc.
United Nations to help demarcate Lebanon's maritime border
iloubnan.info - January 21, 2011
The United Nations expressed its willingness to assist Lebanon demarcate its maritime border with Israel to protect the country's gas reserves, adding that Lebanon has the right to benefit from its potential offshore oil and gas resources. The U.N. response followed a request by Lebanon for the international organization to protect the country's economic zone, after a large gas field was discovered by Israel off the Mediterranean coast. Last August, the Lebanese Parliament ratified a draft law that authorizes for the first time offshore oil and gas exploration and drilling. The law provides the basis to apply an international law called Production Sharing Agreement (PSA), essential in the production sharing deals that usually take place between states and international oil companies.
The Ministry of Energy & Water indicated that the first licensing round for offshore gas exploration would take place in 2011. He said that the official announcement about tendering the exploration licenses and for qualified companies to submit their bid will be at the end of November 2011. Last March, the United States Geological Survey (USGS) estimated that the Levant Basin Province has a mean of 1.7 billion barrels of recoverable oil and a mean of 122 trillion cubic feet of recoverable gas. The Levant Basin Province encompasses approximately 83,000 square kilometers of the eastern Mediterranean area off the coasts of Lebanon, Syria, Cyprus and Israel. The USGS stressed that the estimates represent technically-recoverable oil and gas resources, and are not estimates of economically-recoverable resources.
Larijani warns of Israel-US plots
Jan 20, 2011, Press-TV
Iranian Parliament (Majlis) Speaker Ali Larijani warns against Israeli and US plots against Muslims, saying the footprints of Tel Aviv and Washington can be seen in issues of the Muslim world.
Larijani pointed to the latest developments in Tunisia, Palestine and Lebanon and said signs of international opportunistic agents can be easily seen in these countries, IRNA reported on Wednesday.
He added that moves by certain countries aimed at damaging the Lebanese resistance movement, Hezbollah, have turned into an attitude against themselves which brought disgrace on them.
Referring to the US-sponsored Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) on the assassination of Lebanon's former Prime Minister Refiq Hariri, the Iranian Majlis speaker noted that certain countries have made efforts to cause tension in the region for a long time.
“However, vigilant leaders of the Lebanese resistance movement are adopting great measures in line with the interests of the Muslim world,” Larijani went on to say.
“This ignominy is shameful for the United States and Zionists,” he stressed.
The Washington-sponsored tribunal was set up in 2007 to probe the assassination of Rafiq Hariri, who was killed along with more than 20 other people in a massive car bombing in the Lebanese capital of Beirut in February 2005.
The tribunal has been denounced by many political parties in Lebanon, including the Hezbollah resistance movement, for ignoring evidence of the Israeli involvement in the terror case as well as relying on false witnesses regarding the incident.
Reports say that the US-backed court was likely to issue an indictment against some Hezbollah members.
Hezbollah Secretary General Seyyed Hassan Nasrallah has vehemently rebuffed the allegations and described the tribunal as part of dangerous projects, targeting the resistance movement.
Larijani also pointed to ongoing Israeli-US developments in Tunisia and said it is unlikely that the US would be able to take advantage of the situation with regard to the Islamic vigilance of the Tunisian people.
“It is unlikely that Western countries will make a success through deceit,” he mentioned.
The 23-year rule of former Tunisian President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali came to an end after weeks of street protests culminated in the victory of a popular revolution. Ben Ali's era was marred by numerous human rights violations and acts of torture.
SF/HRF
Mediation efforts stalled, Turkey says ball in Lebanon’s court
21 January 2011, Today Zaman
Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu chats with Qatari Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim al-Thani in the lobby of their hotel in Beirut.
Turkey and Qatar have presented rival Lebanese groups with a plan for reconciliation, but they put their mediation efforts on hold when the Lebanese group's plan was met with reservations, Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu said.
“We will always continue to expend efforts for the stability of Lebanon but it is time for the Lebanese to consider [ways for reconciliation], rather than for us to make a new effort,” Davutoğlu said at a press conference with his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, in İstanbul. Davutoğlu returned early on Thursday morning from a two-day visit to Beirut, a trip coordinated with Qatar's Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim al-Thani -- in an effort to mediate between the Lebanese groups to prevent the country from plunging into chaos amid a dispute over an indictment into the killing of Sunni politician Rafik al-Hariri.
The content of the indictment, prepared by a prosecutor in a UN-backed tribunal investigating the 2005 killing, has not been made public yet, but is widely expected to accuse Hezbollah of involvement.
Hezbollah last week brought down the Western-backed government, led by the late Rafik al-Hariri’s son, Saad Hariri, after Hariri refused their demands to cut Lebanon’s links with the tribunal.
Turkish officials told Today’s Zaman that Turkey and Qatar presented a two-page plan to the Lebanese groups but both the Hariri and Hezbollah camps expressed reservations. Hariri, according to officials speaking on condition of anonymity, insisted on keeping his position as prime minister in a new government -- a demand Hezbollah rejects. The Turkish side has said in talks with Hariri that the current crisis stemmed from Hezbollah’s opposition to Hariri becoming the head of the government and called instead for a different formula for the formation of a government, but failed to convince Hariri to change his mind.
Hezbollah, for its part, categorically opposed any compromise formula that would include the public announcement of the indictment. Hezbollah, which is backed by Iran and Syria, denies any role in the 2005 killing and has said it will not allow any of its members to be handed over to the tribunal.
Opposition from both sides to the compromise formula, which Turkish officials say is based on an earlier plan offered by Saudi Arabia and Syria, made a deal impossible for the time being, according to Turkish officials. “Because of some reservations [to the proposals] they have decided to halt their efforts in Lebanon at this time and leave Beirut to consult with their leaderships,” said a Turkish-Qatari joint statement released before Davutoğlu and Sheikh Hamad left Beirut shortly before dawn.
Davutoğlu said he and his Qatari counterpart decided to leave Beirut for “consultations” after they presented their plan and saw that the Lebanese groups responded with reservations. But he held out hopes for reconciliation. “The people of Lebanon have gone through much suffering in the past 30-40 years. We hope this time commonsense will prevail,” he said.
Sheikh Hamad and Davutoğlu held separate talks with Lebanese leaders, including a four-hour meeting with Saad Hariri and a late night meeting with Hezbollah Secretary-General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, who is in hiding for fear of assassination.
In Beirut, a political source close to Hezbollah and its allies said the two-day visit by Qatari and Turkish ministers had failed, and their proposals had been rejected by both sides. But a source close to Hariri said it was too soon to declare the talks a failure. “I think the discussions were being approached in a serious and relatively broad manner and the hope continues to be that there will be a resolution,” he was quoted as saying by Reuters, adding he expected some kind of foreign mediation to continue.
Hezbollah and its allies have said they would treat the political deadlock differently once the indictment was released, suggesting they would take a tougher stance. Fears that Hezbollah might repeat moves of May 2008, when gunmen took over parts of West Beirut, were raised on Tuesday by the deployment of black-clad groups of men across the capital.
Lebanese troops were tightening security around the prime minister’s office and other government buildings on Thursday. A senior security official confirmed the security measures in and around Beirut stemmed from “concerns of movements on the ground by some parties,” the Associated Press reported.
Finance Minister Raya Hassan said a protracted political deadlock or a “security crisis” would hurt the economy, and the cost of insuring Lebanon’s debt against restructuring or default rose sharply on Wednesday to its highest since May 2009.
Consultations to form a new government were postponed for a week on Monday to give regional powers a chance to bring the two sides closer together. But Michel Aoun, a Christian leader allied to Hezbollah, reiterated opposition to Hariri being nominated to lead a new government.
“We have said Hariri should not come back, and he should not come back,” Aoun said. In Lebanon’s power sharing political system, the prime minister must be Sunni Muslim, the president Maronite Christian, and the parliamentary speaker a Shiite.
iloubnan.info - January 21, 2011
The United Nations expressed its willingness to assist Lebanon demarcate its maritime border with Israel to protect the country's gas reserves, adding that Lebanon has the right to benefit from its potential offshore oil and gas resources. The U.N. response followed a request by Lebanon for the international organization to protect the country's economic zone, after a large gas field was discovered by Israel off the Mediterranean coast. Last August, the Lebanese Parliament ratified a draft law that authorizes for the first time offshore oil and gas exploration and drilling. The law provides the basis to apply an international law called Production Sharing Agreement (PSA), essential in the production sharing deals that usually take place between states and international oil companies.
The Ministry of Energy & Water indicated that the first licensing round for offshore gas exploration would take place in 2011. He said that the official announcement about tendering the exploration licenses and for qualified companies to submit their bid will be at the end of November 2011. Last March, the United States Geological Survey (USGS) estimated that the Levant Basin Province has a mean of 1.7 billion barrels of recoverable oil and a mean of 122 trillion cubic feet of recoverable gas. The Levant Basin Province encompasses approximately 83,000 square kilometers of the eastern Mediterranean area off the coasts of Lebanon, Syria, Cyprus and Israel. The USGS stressed that the estimates represent technically-recoverable oil and gas resources, and are not estimates of economically-recoverable resources.
Larijani warns of Israel-US plots
Jan 20, 2011, Press-TV
Iranian Parliament (Majlis) Speaker Ali Larijani warns against Israeli and US plots against Muslims, saying the footprints of Tel Aviv and Washington can be seen in issues of the Muslim world.
Larijani pointed to the latest developments in Tunisia, Palestine and Lebanon and said signs of international opportunistic agents can be easily seen in these countries, IRNA reported on Wednesday.
He added that moves by certain countries aimed at damaging the Lebanese resistance movement, Hezbollah, have turned into an attitude against themselves which brought disgrace on them.
Referring to the US-sponsored Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) on the assassination of Lebanon's former Prime Minister Refiq Hariri, the Iranian Majlis speaker noted that certain countries have made efforts to cause tension in the region for a long time.
“However, vigilant leaders of the Lebanese resistance movement are adopting great measures in line with the interests of the Muslim world,” Larijani went on to say.
“This ignominy is shameful for the United States and Zionists,” he stressed.
The Washington-sponsored tribunal was set up in 2007 to probe the assassination of Rafiq Hariri, who was killed along with more than 20 other people in a massive car bombing in the Lebanese capital of Beirut in February 2005.
The tribunal has been denounced by many political parties in Lebanon, including the Hezbollah resistance movement, for ignoring evidence of the Israeli involvement in the terror case as well as relying on false witnesses regarding the incident.
Reports say that the US-backed court was likely to issue an indictment against some Hezbollah members.
Hezbollah Secretary General Seyyed Hassan Nasrallah has vehemently rebuffed the allegations and described the tribunal as part of dangerous projects, targeting the resistance movement.
Larijani also pointed to ongoing Israeli-US developments in Tunisia and said it is unlikely that the US would be able to take advantage of the situation with regard to the Islamic vigilance of the Tunisian people.
“It is unlikely that Western countries will make a success through deceit,” he mentioned.
The 23-year rule of former Tunisian President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali came to an end after weeks of street protests culminated in the victory of a popular revolution. Ben Ali's era was marred by numerous human rights violations and acts of torture.
SF/HRF
Mediation efforts stalled, Turkey says ball in Lebanon’s court
21 January 2011, Today Zaman
Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu chats with Qatari Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim al-Thani in the lobby of their hotel in Beirut.
Turkey and Qatar have presented rival Lebanese groups with a plan for reconciliation, but they put their mediation efforts on hold when the Lebanese group's plan was met with reservations, Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu said.
“We will always continue to expend efforts for the stability of Lebanon but it is time for the Lebanese to consider [ways for reconciliation], rather than for us to make a new effort,” Davutoğlu said at a press conference with his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, in İstanbul. Davutoğlu returned early on Thursday morning from a two-day visit to Beirut, a trip coordinated with Qatar's Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim al-Thani -- in an effort to mediate between the Lebanese groups to prevent the country from plunging into chaos amid a dispute over an indictment into the killing of Sunni politician Rafik al-Hariri.
The content of the indictment, prepared by a prosecutor in a UN-backed tribunal investigating the 2005 killing, has not been made public yet, but is widely expected to accuse Hezbollah of involvement.
Hezbollah last week brought down the Western-backed government, led by the late Rafik al-Hariri’s son, Saad Hariri, after Hariri refused their demands to cut Lebanon’s links with the tribunal.
Turkish officials told Today’s Zaman that Turkey and Qatar presented a two-page plan to the Lebanese groups but both the Hariri and Hezbollah camps expressed reservations. Hariri, according to officials speaking on condition of anonymity, insisted on keeping his position as prime minister in a new government -- a demand Hezbollah rejects. The Turkish side has said in talks with Hariri that the current crisis stemmed from Hezbollah’s opposition to Hariri becoming the head of the government and called instead for a different formula for the formation of a government, but failed to convince Hariri to change his mind.
Hezbollah, for its part, categorically opposed any compromise formula that would include the public announcement of the indictment. Hezbollah, which is backed by Iran and Syria, denies any role in the 2005 killing and has said it will not allow any of its members to be handed over to the tribunal.
Opposition from both sides to the compromise formula, which Turkish officials say is based on an earlier plan offered by Saudi Arabia and Syria, made a deal impossible for the time being, according to Turkish officials. “Because of some reservations [to the proposals] they have decided to halt their efforts in Lebanon at this time and leave Beirut to consult with their leaderships,” said a Turkish-Qatari joint statement released before Davutoğlu and Sheikh Hamad left Beirut shortly before dawn.
Davutoğlu said he and his Qatari counterpart decided to leave Beirut for “consultations” after they presented their plan and saw that the Lebanese groups responded with reservations. But he held out hopes for reconciliation. “The people of Lebanon have gone through much suffering in the past 30-40 years. We hope this time commonsense will prevail,” he said.
Sheikh Hamad and Davutoğlu held separate talks with Lebanese leaders, including a four-hour meeting with Saad Hariri and a late night meeting with Hezbollah Secretary-General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, who is in hiding for fear of assassination.
In Beirut, a political source close to Hezbollah and its allies said the two-day visit by Qatari and Turkish ministers had failed, and their proposals had been rejected by both sides. But a source close to Hariri said it was too soon to declare the talks a failure. “I think the discussions were being approached in a serious and relatively broad manner and the hope continues to be that there will be a resolution,” he was quoted as saying by Reuters, adding he expected some kind of foreign mediation to continue.
Hezbollah and its allies have said they would treat the political deadlock differently once the indictment was released, suggesting they would take a tougher stance. Fears that Hezbollah might repeat moves of May 2008, when gunmen took over parts of West Beirut, were raised on Tuesday by the deployment of black-clad groups of men across the capital.
Lebanese troops were tightening security around the prime minister’s office and other government buildings on Thursday. A senior security official confirmed the security measures in and around Beirut stemmed from “concerns of movements on the ground by some parties,” the Associated Press reported.
Finance Minister Raya Hassan said a protracted political deadlock or a “security crisis” would hurt the economy, and the cost of insuring Lebanon’s debt against restructuring or default rose sharply on Wednesday to its highest since May 2009.
Consultations to form a new government were postponed for a week on Monday to give regional powers a chance to bring the two sides closer together. But Michel Aoun, a Christian leader allied to Hezbollah, reiterated opposition to Hariri being nominated to lead a new government.
“We have said Hariri should not come back, and he should not come back,” Aoun said. In Lebanon’s power sharing political system, the prime minister must be Sunni Muslim, the president Maronite Christian, and the parliamentary speaker a Shiite.