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Grant to save Syrian seas

the European Union (eu) will grant Syria us $406,200 to help the country protect its territorial seas and coasts from accidental oil pollution, an eu official said recently. He said the grant, part of the eu 's Life Third Countries (ltc) programme for 1999, will be implemented by the Regional Marine Pollution Emergency Centre (rmpec) for the Mediterranean.

The project aims to set up and develop a comprehensive national system to prevent and respond to accidental oil pollution affecting, or likely to affect territorial seas and coasts of Syria, the official said.ltc is eu 's financial instrument that provides support to the environment in countries on the Mediterranean and the Baltic Sea. For 1999, 21 projects were selected. Of these, 17 projects concerned the Mediterranean region, the eu official said.