Newsgroup: it.politica.internazionale
Titolo: Israel refuses to open talks with Lebanon over Shaba Farms

Israel refuses to open talks with Lebanon over Shaba Farms  
 
By Barak Ravid, Haaretz Correspondent  
 
 
Israel has refused a recommendation by a United Nations ambassador to
begin negotiations with Lebanon over the disputed Shaba Farms area.
According to the envoy, Geir Pedersen, the United Nations is becoming
increasingly convinced that Shaba Farms belongs to Lebanon. 
During a meeting recently with Amos Gilad, the head of the
Political-Military Bureau at the Defense Ministry, Pedersen said that "the
UN believes that there is merit in the Lebanese claims of sovereignty over
Shaba Farms." 
T Advertisement 
 
he Norwegian diplomat stressed it would be beneficial if Israel initiated
negotiations over this issue. 
During the coming weeks the UN Security Council is expected to receive
another report on the implementation of its Resolution 1701, which brought
the Second Lebanon War to an end. 
Pedersen authored the first report, which made no mention of Shaba Farms
following intense Israeli pressure. 
However, the several months hiatus this pressure bought Israel may be
coming to an end following a series of meetings Pedersen held here
recently with senior officials at the foreign and defense ministries and
with the Israel Defense Forces. 
The Shaba Farms, situated in a sensitive spot where the borders of Syria,
Israel and Lebanon meet, has long been a point of contention but assumed
added significance after Israel withdrew from southern Lebanon, because
Hezbollah insists it is Lebanese territory still under Israeli occupation. 
The farms are part of what was the French Mandate over the territory that
today are Syria and Lebanon. The border was established in a 1923
agreement between Britain and France and was not precisely marked on the
ground. 
Following Israel's withdrawal from southern Lebanon, the Lebanese argued
that Shaba Farms is part of their sovereign territory. However, after the
IDF pulled out of Lebanon in May 2002 the UN maintained that the territory
was part of the Golan Heights (part of Syria) and its future would be
decided in negotiations between Damascus and Jerusalem. 
After last year's war the efforts to clearly mark the border between Syria
and Lebanon began. The two countries claim sovereignty over several border
areas, including Shaba Farms. Since the border marking process began,
Israel's position was that it would not discuss the sovereignty of Shaba
Farms until a decision was made whether the area was Lebanese or Syrian. 
In recent months, both Lebanon and Syria proposed that the disputed land
temporarily be placed under UN control, until the demarcation of the
border is completed. Israel refused. 
During his meeting with Gilad, the UN envoy noted that the evidence boosts
the Lebanese claims. Pedersen said it may be advisable for Israel to agree
to separate negotiations with the government of Lebanon on the Shaba Farms
to resolve the issue. 
Gilad turned down the proposal, saying "we will not agree to resolving
this issue separately. Every agreement with Lebanon will be part of a
single package." 
In recent months, Miklos Pinter, a UN cartographer, has been working on
determining the size of the Shaba Farms area. His report has still not
been completed. 
However, it may be that in the upcoming report on Resolution 1701, some of
the findings of Pinter's report will be included. 
In a report to UN headquarters, Pedersen wrote that Israeli officials,
including Gilad, were critical of Pinter's work claiming "there are
technical mistakes in the UN work on the Shaba Farms issue." 
Nonetheless, in Israel officials are confident that Pedersen's upcoming
report to the Security Council will not require Israel to carry out
significant steps in the matter. 
"From our point of view this issue is off the agenda for good," senior
political sources said. "There is no point in talking about this any more.
We have no room to show flexibility on this matter because that only
strengthen's Hezbollah and does not serve [Lebanon's Prime Minister Fouad]
Siniora." 
 
-- 
visitate 
http://www.comunisti-italiani.it/frames/index.htm
 
http://www.italia-cuba.it/associazione/associazione.htm
questo articolo e` stato inviato via web dal servizio gratuito 
http://www.newsland.it/news
 segnala gli abusi ad 
ab...@newsland.it

 Shaba Farms." 
Un po' a scoppio ritardato. Sono settimane che la Siria ha 
definitivamente rinunciato alla sovranita' sulle sheeba (ma in quanti 
cazzi di modi si scrivono?).
Tb

 oro...
M'č venuta in mente la stessa cosa. Comunque lo Sheba puzza in modo 
inverecondo. 

 Lo hai mangiato in un momento di disperazione?
Ahahahah, sagomaccia... No, ho provato a darlo al mio gatto, ma una volta 
aperto l'ho immediatamente buttato. 

Israel refuses to open talks with Lebanon over Shaba Farms  
Questi territori erano giordani, ma sono stati tenuti dalla Siria per
20 anni e da Israele per 40. Da quelle alture, si possono puntare
cannoni su Israele. Difficilmente questo paese cederà tali alture ai
propri nemici.

 Il gatto?
Ovviamente. 

Ok, avrò capito male io.

 li mangiano.
Conosci per caso Luca Antonini? 

Conosci per caso Luca Antonini? 
E' mio cuggino.
