Hizbullah claims that that the natural gas fields recently discovered in the Mediterranean, belong to Lebanon and warned Israel against extracting gas from them. Iranian English language paper "Tehran Times" quotes Hezbollah's executive council chief Hashem Safieddine as saying that it would not allow Israel to loot Lebanese gas resources.
Earlier this week, Lebanese parliamentary speaker Nabih Berri told "AFP", “Israel is racing to make the case a fait accompli and was quick to present itself as an oil emirate, ignoring the fact that, according to the maps, the deposit extends into Lebanese waters. Lebanon must take immediate action to defend its financial, political, economic and sovereign rights."
Marine law expert Amir Cohen-Dor of the S. Friedman & Co. told "Globes" that the Dalit and Tamar gas fields are within Israel's contiguous economic zone, and that under the 1982 UN Law of the Sea Convention, Israel can exploit resources in its economic zone.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on June 14, 2010
© Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd. 2010