Lebanonwire.com | Syria ready to activate electricity agreement with Lebanon

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January 31, 2008

Syria ready to activate electricity agreement with Lebanon

BEIRUT, Lebanon - Electricity du Liban said Wednesday that the Syrian cabinet ratified an agreement under which Damascus will provide Lebanon with electricity until the end of 2008.

According to Naharnet, EDL said in a statement that it "was informed that the Syrian council of ministers ratified the agreement…singed on Thursday December 27, 2007 in Damascus" between Lebanon's main power provider and Syria's electricity institution to provide Lebanon with electricity until the end of 2008. The report added Energy and Hydraulics Minister Mohammed al-Safadi and his Syrian counterpart Ahmed Khaled al-Ali discussed during a telephone conversation ways to improve cooperation in the field of electricity.

Reports following the signing of the agreement indicated Syria would be providing 200 megawatts daily.

With the current cold winter, the electricity crisis in Lebanon is growing. Just earlier this week, eight civilians were killed in Beirut during clashes between Lebanese troops and young Shiite men protesting electricity cuts. The demonstrators said the outages had left them with about six hours of electricity a day, compared with 21 hours for parts of central Beirut.