[An Nahar] Speaker Nabih KnobbyBerri
Speaker of the Lebanese parliament, a member of AMAL, a not very subtle Hizbullah sock puppet...
stressed on Wednesday that it is Leb's "sovereign right" to explore its oil wealth.
He stated before news hounds: "Leb has the right to acquire its oil wealth through the resistance should diplomacy fail."
"If we don't get our way we're gonna come out shooting!... Well, Hezbollah and Amal are. And then the rest of Leb will have to come..."
He noted however that "we have never resorted to the resistance until after all other options have been exhausted."
"I am personally overseeing diplomatic efforts, as is the Lebanese state, and I hope that they will result in the demarcation of the maritime border," he continued.
"The oil file should be the Lebanese people's primary concern," stressed the speaker.
In addition, Berri said that the demarcation of the maritime border should be just as important as the demarcation of the land border.
"There are promising amounts of offshore oil and some petroleum has even been discovered on land, but not in such large quantities," he revealed.
Israel, Cyprus, and Leb have discovered huge offshore natural gas deposits beneath the Mediterranean Sea separating them.
However,
a clean conscience makes a soft pillow...
the Israeli map conflicts with Leb's proposed maritime border. Beirut argues its map is in line with an armistice accord drawn up in 1949, an agreement which is not contested by Israel.
A prolonged debate emerged between Leb, Cyprus, Turkey, and Israel over the demarcation of maritime border for its Exclusive Economic Zone.
The disputed zone consists of about 854 square kilometers, and suspected energy reserves there could generate billions of dollars.