Posted on 09/05/2011 12:07:30 PM PDT by Eleutheria5
Lebanon complained again to the UN on Monday that Israels setting a maritime border in the resource-rich triangle between Israel, Lebanon, and Cyprus threatens peace and security in the region.
The move comes as Lebanon rotates into its September presidency of the Security Council at the world body, giving it the power to raise the issue for discussion.
Israels cabinet on July 10 approved the demarcation of the northern maritime border with Lebanon, in an effort to protect economic rights in offshore territories that Lebanon is claiming as its own. Israel submitted its map to the UN to counter a map that Lebanon submitted last year.
The area of the Mediterranean Sea in question is close to an area where US and Israeli firms have discovered two massive natural gas fields.
"Foreign Minister Adnan Mansour has sent a letter to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon rejecting geographic coordinates Israel submitted to the United Nations concerning the northern part of the waters it claims," a Lebanese statement said.
The statement added that Israel's claim infringes on Lebanon's Exclusive Economic Zone, a sea zone that would give Beirut the right to search the area for natural resources.
"This is a clear violation of Lebanon's rights... over an area of some 860 square kilometers, and puts international peace and security at risk," it said, adding, "We urge the secretary general to take all necessary measures to avoid conflict."
However, the map Israel submitted to the United Nations is nearly identical to the temporary international boundary The Blue Line set by the United Nations when Israel withdrew from Lebanon, while the map Beiruts submitted previously differs substantially, establishing the maritime boundary well-south of the Blue Line.
(Excerpt) Read more at israelnationalnews.com ...
But Israeli officials say Lebanese threats to take the issue to the Security Council are merely a smokescreen to camouflage the fact that Lebanon violated international maritime line by unilaterally demarcating the border last year.
According to the official, borders cannot be demarked unilaterally, but rather must be agreed upon by both countries, or if they cant agree must be sent to an arbitrator that both sides agree upon. Since Lebanon has refused to do either its unilateral boundary has no basis in law.
Once Lebanon did set such a boundary, officials say, Israel had no choice but to do the same in order to protect its interests.
Hizbullah, the force behind the Mikati government in Beirut, previously said it will enforce Lebanons rights by force if need be. The move prompted Israel to deploy UAVs to observe and protect Israeli economic interests in the region.
So we’ll have Hamas and Egypt in the South, and so much of Hizbollah to the North as is not busy shooting Syrians for Assad, who will be too busy to join. Perhaps Turkey will fill in the gap left by Syria? Oops. My Ottoman just fell. Gotta go.
hezbollah doesn’t observe laws,
so why the charade about laws?
But, you see, the onus is always on those that do. I’m utterly lawless, but if you don’t respect the law I just made up, you’re no better than me, so I’m just as good as you. Same thing with free speech. I kill anyone who disagrees with me. But you believe in free speech, so let me come to your country and radicalize a few Mosque goers into Jihaad, or you’re no better than me, which means I’m just as good as you, so why shouldn’t I be allowed to foment Jihaad? It’s not democracy you’re protecting, just your own power. So why shouldn’t I come to power? I’m more honest than you, because I have no democratic pretensions. That means I’m better than you. And so the song goes. It’s like the John, Jacob, Jingleheimerschmidt song.
................Lebanon rotates into its September presidency of the Security Council at the world body...............
??Lebanon???
You gotta be sh###ing me!
??Lebanon?? No wonder the UN is so totally F##ked up.
I like Leben on...bread, fried onions, and salad.
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