President of the Republic, General Michel Aoun, expressed his hope that ongoing negotiations to demarcate the southern maritime borders will bear fruit, and that Lebanon will restore all rights based on international laws.
President Aoun’s positions came while receiving UNIFIL Commander, General Stefano Del Col, today at the Presidential Palace.
The President told General Del Col that “The demarcation of southern maritime borders is achieved on the basis of the line which starts overland from the point of Ras Al-Naqoora, according to the general principle known as the median line, without taking into account any impact on the occupied Palestinian coastal islands”.
President Aoun then stressed the need to correct the “Blue Line” so that it conforms to the internationally recognized land borders, informing General Del Col that Lebanon thanks the assistance provided by UNIFIL after the Beirut Port explosion, especially in terms of helping preserve the heritage character of Mar Mikael region, removing around 500 tons of rubble, protecting the Foreign Ministry building, and helping clean the Port in addition to the storage of 150 tons of reusable stone and wood facades.
While appreciating UNIFIL efforts in hosting the tripartite mechanism meetings which are taking place in Ras El-Naqoora, the President also presented Lebanon’s observations on the report issued two days ago by UN Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, about the implementation of Resolution 1701 issued by the Security Council, stressing the importance of strengthening coordination between the Lebanese Army and UNIFIL forces, to assure proper implementation of all the tasks which are required of both Lebanese Army and International forces.
For his part, General Del Col made a presentation on the current situation in the area of UNIFIL operations, in addition to what the international forces in Beirut had achieved in helping clean the port, asserting on the existing cooperation between UNIFIL and the Lebanese Army. Del Col also expressed his satisfaction with the ongoing negotiations in demarcating southern maritime borders.
Moreover, President Aoun received congratulatory telegrams on the 77th occasion of Lebanese independence anniversary from Presidents and Kings of brotherly and friendly countries.
In this regard, the Syrian President Bashar Assad stressed the long colonial era which Lebanon and Syria lived in the past, and the current attempts to interfere in the internal affairs of the two countries by the modern colonial countries, clearly show the intentions of these countries towards our region and their plans to return our countries to the era of mandate, but in different ways and methods.
For his part, the Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi, “I benefit from this good occasion to pay tribute to the solid historical relations between Egypt and Lebanon, and I assure that we have always been keen to strengthen and consolidate these relations in all fields in order to achieve common interests of our two brotherly countries.”
“I also express full Egyptian support, Government and people, for our brothers in Lebanon in order to achieve the aspirations of the brotherly Lebanese,” Sisi added.
Source: NNA
