Lebanon delegation to visit Syria for maritime border talks

By Wassim Seif El-Din
BEIRUT, Lebanon (AA) – Lebanon said a delegation will visit Syria on Wednesday for talks on demarcating their maritime border.

A statement by the Lebanese Presidency said the delegation, led by Parliament Deputy Speaker Elias Bou Saab, will hold talks with senior Syrian officials on delineating maritime border between the two countries.

A dispute emerged last year between Beirut and Damascus over their border after Syria granted a license to a Russian energy company to begin maritime exploration in an area claimed by Lebanon.

Lebanon is set to sign a US-brokered deal for maritime border demarcation with Israel on Thursday.

Lebanon and Israel have been locked in a dispute over a maritime area of 860 square kilometers (332 square miles) rich in gas and oil, according to maps sent by both countries to the UN in 2011.

Negotiations over the territory in the Mediterranean Sea, which contain part of the Karish gas field and Qana, a prospective gas field, have been ongoing since 2020.

*Ikram Imane Kouachi contributed to this report