President Michel Aoun stressed on Tuesday that Lebanon adheres right for compensation for environmental and economic damages from the oil spill caused by the 2006 Israeli war.
President Aoun remarks were during a meeting with Deputy Special Coordinator in Lebanon and Officer in Charge of the UN Special Coordinator Office Najat Rushdie.
The Lebanese president requested Rushdie to include the issue of oil leakage from the shores of occupied Palestine to Lebanese shores in a report that will be discussed by the UN Security Council on March 18 on Resolution 1701.
President Aoun handed Rushdie a copy of the initial report deposited by Lebanon, on the damages caused on environmental and water wealth, after the field and aerial survey was conducted on Lebanese waters, National News Agency reported.
Aoun affirmed that “Lebanon adheres to its rights in compensating for environmental and economic damages, especially as it is still suffering from the repercussions of the oil slick which resulted from the Israeli bombing in the 2006 war”.
Furthermore, he requested that the report includes the repeated Israeli violations of Lebanese sovereignty by land, sea and air, which have recently increased, according to NNA.
The Lebanese president, on the other hand, raised the issue of displaced Syrians in Lebanon, and the need for UN assistance to facilitate their return to Syria.
President Aoun expressed hope that the step which Denmark took a week ago, to return a hundred displaced Syrians to their country, will drive the issue of safe return of the refugees, with support from the international community.
In this context, he noted that there are safe areas in Syria including Damascus and its countryside.
Source: NNA
