House Speaker Nabih Berri stressed on Wednesday that, regarding the maritime border demarcation file, the ball is in the US mediator’s court, adding that Amos Hochstein has not visited Beirut since one month.
“We are not interested in engaging in wars, but we will defend our rights if Lebanon’s sovereignty gets threatened,” Speaker Berri said while addressing Amal Movement’s ceremony on the forty-forth anniversary of Imam Sayyed Moussa Sadr’s disappearance.
Speaker Berri emphasized that the Lebanese will defend their maritime resources (gas and oil) just as they have defended their lands.
Speaker Berri indicated that the parliament is concerned with rescuing Lebanon by observing the Constitutional dates, adding, “We remind those trying to take Lebanon back to the pre-Taef era that parliament is the only side entrusted with interpreting the constitution.”
“It is unacceptable to manipulate the constitution or rebel against it to meet the ambitions of this or that candidate, and it is illegitimate to surrender to some malicious wills that are seeking to plunge the country into the cycle of vacuum,” the Speaker added.
On the occasion, Speaker Berri denied the veracity of the reports which claimed that Imam Al_Sadr and his two companions left Libya.
Imam Sadr founded the Lebanese Amal (Hope) Movement in 1974. The cleric who is of Iranian descent came to Lebanon in 1959 to work for the rights of Shia Muslims in the port city of Tyre, located about 80 kilometers (50 miles) south of Beirut.
His eminence disappeared on August 31, 1978, during an official visit to the Libyan capital Tripoli.
He was accompanied by Sheikh Mohammad Yaqoub and journalist Abbas Badreddine.
Lebanon still holds former Libyan authorities under rule of dictator Moammar Gaddafi responsible for the disappearance of the trio.
Since Gaddafi was deposed and killed in 2011, Lebanon and Iran have repeatedly called on the Libyan government to launch an investigation into Sadr’s disappearance.
Source: Al-Manar English Website
