Report: Hochstein offers Lebanon economic incentives
U.S. mediator Amos Hochstein has offered Lebanon “economic incentives” during his visit this week to Beirut, a Lebanese source said.
“The incentives are related to U.S. guarantees for importing gas from Egypt and electricity from Jordan, which means exempting Lebanon from the Caesar Act sanctions imposed on Syria’s government and speeding up exploration operations in Lebanon’s waters,” the source told Kuwait’s al-Anbaa newspaper.
“Hochstein will return to the region once the Ramadan truce gets announced in Gaza, to seize the chance and begin negotiation rounds in Naqoura with U.S. presence, and also through shuttle diplomacy between Tel Aviv and Beirut,” the source added.
Hochstein said Monday that a diplomatic solution is key to ending nearly five months of intensifying hostilities between Hezbollah and Israel.
"A diplomatic solution is the only way to end the current hostilities" across the Lebanon-Israel border, Hochstein told reporters after meeting Speaker Nabih Berri in Beirut.
Stressing that “the people of Lebanon and Israel have the right to live in peace and prosperity,” Hochstein said the U.S. is working with its global partners to “consider ways we can leverage our efforts to advance opportunities for prosperity and stability in Lebanon.”
“An important part of any understanding will include international support for Lebanon,” Hochstein said.
| Copyright © 2012 Naharnet.com. All Rights Reserved. | https://www.naharnet.com/stories/en/303764 |