(Ha'aretz) The UN on Wednesday declined Lebanon's request to protect the country's natural gas reserves by demarcating its maritime border with Israel. UN spokesman Martin Nesirsky said, "Security Council Resolution 1701 does not include delineating the maritime border." The head of petroleum and natural gas exploration in the Israel National Infrastructures Ministry, Dr. Yaakov Mimran, called Lebanese claims "nonsense." He said the latest offshore discoveries, as well as earlier finds, are absolutely within Israeli territory. Senior Israeli officials said it was Lebanon that set the limits on its own territorial waters after it had given out exploration licenses exactly along the current borders. "What are they complaining about now?" asked one official.
2011-01-06 10:43:01Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive