Aoun rejects Israel's threats, says Lebanon keen on negotiations

President Michel Aoun on Monday said that Lebanon rejects Israel’s latest threats while stressing that the country is keen on the resumption of talks over sea border demarcation.

“We reject the threats of the Israeli enemy, which is acting in violation of international laws and resolutions,” Aoun said, in a meeting in Baabda with reformist MPs Melhem Khalaf, Ibrahim Mneimneh, Rami Fanj, Mark Daou, Waddah al-Sadek, Yassine Yassine and Najat Aoun.

“Lebanon is keen on the return of indirect negotiations with Israel, which stopped after the enemy refused to consider Line 29 a negotiations line,” the President added.

Noting that Lebanon had rejected “the Israeli line, or Line 1, and the Hoff Line,” Aoun emphasized that the country “will not renounce its right to utilize its oil and gas resources.”

“The President is leading the negotiations, and after an agreement is reached, Cabinet will have to approve it and refer it to parliament according to norms, which has not yet happened as to Line 29,” Aoun went on to say.

Explaining why drilling has stopped in Lebanon’s offshore block 4, the President said the drilling company “offered unconvincing justifications,” noting that “it faced international pressures that forced it to stop drilling.”

Responding to a question from the delegation, Aoun pointed out that there is no link between border demarcation and the issue of importing gas and electricity from Egypt and Jordan, nor with the negotiations with the International Monetary Fund.”

Speaking in the name of the delegation, MP Khalaf urged Aoun to “endorse Line 29 and not to hesitate to press on with amending Decree 6433/2011 and informing international authorities of it.”

Aoun also held talks Monday with U.N. Special Coordinator for Lebanon Joanna Wronecka, who expressed U.N.'s readiness to "contribute to anything that can reactivate the indirect negotiations,” while lauding “President Aoun’s wisdom and role in this critical period,” the Presidency said.

“Lebanon will inform (U.S. mediator Amos) Hochstein of the unified Lebanese stance regarding the suggested proposals for resuming indirect negotiations, which would preserve Lebanon’s rights,” Aoun told Wronecka.

The President also hoped that a PM-designate will be named as soon as possible in light of “the junctures that are awaiting the new government.”

He also stressed to Wronecka that “the post-parliamentary elections democratic course will continue with the (binding) parliamentary consultations (to name a new PM) and the formation of a new government.”