BEIRUT: Lebanese President Michel Aoun said that the country will not hesitate to resort to international arbitration if the it fails to reach a fair agreement with Israel on maritime border demarcation. Aoun made the remarks on Saturday, reports Xinhua news agency.
In a separate statement on December 2, the President had said that the difficulties of the demarcation of maritime borders with Israel can be solved "through in-depth research based on international rights, articles of the law of the sea and all the legal texts thereof".
"Lebanon maintains its sovereignty over its land and waters, and wants the maritime demarcation negotiations to succeed to enhance stability in the south, and enable the investment in natural resources, such as gas and oil," he had said.
The indirect talks, brokered by the US and the UN aimed to demarcate the maritime borders with Israel which are rich with hydrocarbon energy sources, started on October 14.
The next round of indirect negotiations between Lebanon and Israel over the maritime border demarcation has been postponed following Tel Aviv's rejection of Beirut's demands.
Lebanon and Israel this month said they had agreed to begin the negotiations in what Washington hailed as a "historic" agreement. The announcement came weeks after Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates became the first Arab nations to establish relations with Israel since Egypt in 1979 and Jordan in 1994. (IANS)