From today's Haaretz:
The United Nations will appoint a cartographer to map the precise location and area of the Shaba Farms, Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni reported to the cabinet on Sunday.
The status of the territory on the slopes of Mount Hermon is disputed by Lebanon, Syria and Israel and its boundaries have never been precisely defined.
Livni said the cartographer would start working in mid-November from UN headquarters in New York, and not conduct surveying at the site itself at this stage.
The move was decided on following the periodical report of UN envoy Terje Larsen about the implementation of Security Council Resolution 1559.
Israel took over the area in 1967 and sees it as part of the Golan Heights. The UN accepted this position following the IDF's pullout from Lebanon in May 2000 but Hezbollah and Lebanon claim that this is Lebanese territory still under Israeli occupation.
During the recent war in Lebanon, Prime Minister Fouad Siniora said Israel should leave the Shaba Farms and place the area in UN custody until the sovereignty issue is settled.
United States Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice tried to persuade Prime
Minister Ehud Olmert to agree to discuss Shaba Farms, but he refused.
1 comment:
I wondered what mechanism Israel would use for their Shabaa farms pullout. Very wise. This represents the end of the line for Hizbollah as a military organisation - which is important. NCF sources (Safavi private meeting with wm) report that Hizbollah had 500 rockets ready to hit Tel Aviv in one night had the cease-fire not been signed. Believable? Yes actually - it echoes Western intelligence reports. And will the return of Shabaa really mean Hizbollah has to step down from a military role? YES. They have no locus for military action with the Lebanese populace if Sheba is returned - unless Israel does something stupid like another incursion into Lebanon. So a horrid chapter in mid east history will at last be closed.
Post a Comment