The Zouk power station, north of Beirut. (Credit: Philippe Hage Boutros/OLJ)
BEIRUT — A delegation of high-level Lebanese officials is set to head to Syria on Saturday to discuss a potential deal to import gas from Egypt to Lebanon via Jordan and Syria. The official visit is a rare event in the years since the 2011 outbreak of war in Syria, which has sharply divided Lebanon's political factions in their stance on the conflict and regarding relations with Damascus.
Here's what we know so far:
• A ministerial source told L'Orient Today that the delegation will include caretaker Deputy Prime Minister and Acting Minister of Defense and Foreign Affairs Zeina Akar, caretaker Minister of Finance Ghazi Wazni, caretaker Minister of Energy Raymond Ghajar, and General Security chief Abbas Ibrahim. The group is going with the permission of President Michel Aoun, so it is considered an official visit, the source said.
• Our sister publication, L'Orient-Le Jour, reported that the delegation is set to meet with Syrian Foreign Minister Faisal Moqdad.
• Individual Lebanese officials have visited Syria since 2011, including last November, when Social Affairs and Tourism Minister Ramzi Musharrafieh attended a Russian-organized conference on the return of refugees, but the current delegation is unusually high-profile.
• The potential import of energy to Lebanon via Syria is part of a US proposal to address the country's crippling energy crisis, which would entail importing Egyptian natural gas for Lebanon's power plants via the Arab Gas Pipeline, which runs from the Egyptian Sinai Peninsula to Jordan, Syria and Lebanon. A second US plan would involve Lebanon getting power from the Jordanian electrical grid by way of Syria. In addition to technical obstacles, both plans would require a waiver of US sanctions on Syria, as well as an agreement with the government of Bashar al-Assad in Syria.
• The US plan was announced after Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah announced plans to bring Iranin diesel to Lebanon to alleviate the country's fuel crisis. The Iranian fuel, which has not yet arrived, would also potentially open Lebanon up to US sanctions.