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Lebanon, Syria to work toward officially demarcating border
By Reuters
Tags: Hezbollah, Syria, Israel 

Syria and Lebanon said on Thursday they had agreed to resume the work of a joint committee to formally demarcate their borders, but Damascus said the boundaries of the disputed Shaba Farms would not be drawn until Israel withdrew from them.

Lebanese President Michel Suleiman and his Syrian counterpart Bashar Assad agreed the step at a summit in Damacsus, according to a joint statement read after their meetings.

Demarcation of the borders between Syria and Lebanon would be a major step towards meeting international demands on Damascus to formalise ties with its smaller neighbor.
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"The two presidents agreed on...the resumption of the work of the joint committee to define and draw the Syrian-Lebanese borders," the sides said in a statement.

Asked whether that would include the Shaba Farms, Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Moallem said: "The definition of the Shaba Farms cannot happen under occupation."

Lebanese group Hezbollah, which is backed by Syria and Iran, cites the occupation of the Shaba Farms as one reason for keeping its arsenal.

Syria and Lebanon agreed Wednesday to establish full diplomatic ties for the first time since they gained independence from France in the 1940s, in a step toward easing tensions between the two countries that have fueled Lebanon's turmoil.

Many Lebanese had long seen Syria's reluctance to establish ties as proof it never gave up historic claims that its smaller neighbor is part of its
territory and that it still aims to dominate Lebanon.

The step is a significant symbolic victory for them, seen as Damascus' formal acknowledgment that Lebanon is an independent nation.

But Syria only agreed to formal ties after its influence in Lebanon was
guaranteed by the creation on Tuesday of a unity government in Beirut that gives Damascus' ally Hezbollah a strong say in decision-making.

Still, the agreement - along with the unity government - could go a long way to easing three years of continuous crisis in Lebanon, where the power struggle between pro-Western and pro-Syrian factions brought the country to the brink of civil war. Much depends now on how well the sides, who remain rivals, get along: An attempt by either to dominate could spark new tensions.

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