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An Israel Defense Forces post on Mount Dov. (Ancho Gosh / Jini)
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UN chief: Debate on Shaba Farms ownership is premature
By Barak Ravid, Haaretz Correspondent and News Agencies

United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon said Wednesday that the discussion of ownership of the disputed Shaba Farms area on the Lebanese border is premature.

The UN chief spoke in London, following a meeting with British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, in response to a Haaretz report earlier Wednesday saying the UN had asked Israel to hand the land over to UN peacekeepers in Lebanon.

UN officials later denied the report, saying "the UN has not asked the government of Israel to hand over the Shaba Farms to the UN."
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"The UN's cartographer continues his work and will be visiting the area shortly. The secretary-general remains engaged on the issue," a UN official said.

Ban later told journalists in London "I have submitted my report on this issue. My senior cartographer has made good progress but this report is not mentioning anything about ownership or sovereignty yet."

Jerusalem also denied the report.

According to the Haaretz report, printed on Wednesday, the United Nations transmitted messages to Israel in recent weeks that the organization's mapping experts have determined that the Shaba Farms on Mount Dov, now controlled by Israel, is Lebanese territory.

The report said that the UN, which has communicated to Israel that the disposition of the Shaba Farms should be dealt with as soon as possible, has proposed to senior government officials that Israel withdraw from the area and that it be considered international territory to be controlled by UNIFIL.

Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni and Prime Minister Ehud Olmert oppose the idea, Haaretz said. The size of, and sovereignty over, the Shaba Farms has been a matter of controversy due to the way the border between Syria and Lebanon was marked during the French Mandate between the two world wars.

When the UN marked the border between Israel and Lebanon after Israel's withdrawal in May 2000, the Shaba Farms were said to be part of Syrian territory, and that Israel therefore did not need to withdraw from it in the absence of an agreement with the Syrians.

Lebanon did not accept the line of demarcation, and has since claimed that the Shaba Farms are in its territory. Hezbollah took advantage of the controversy to justify attacks on Israeli forces in the area.

Government officials in Jerusalem said the UN cartographer handling the matter in recent months has determined that the area is indeed Lebanese, said the report.

Haaretz also wrote that the officials added that Syria and Lebanon also agree that the area is Lebanese. Therefore, the UN has said there is no reason for Israel not to relinquish control over the area.

Government officials are treating the matter with kid gloves out of concern that a public statement by the UN could lead to renewed conflict in the North.

Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon apparently transmitted the UN's conclusions in the meeting between himself and Olmert in New York last month, part of which was private. Another message is said to have come through the UN's special coordinator for the Middle East, Michael Williams, in a meeting with Livni a few weeks ago.

France and the United States are also ratcheting up their pressure on Israel, in the belief that a withdrawal from the Shaba Farms will strengthen the government of Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Siniora. U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who will be coming to the region next week, pressed Olmert during the Second Lebanon War to withdraw from Shaba to bolster Siniora. Olmert refused, saying the move would be viewed by Hezbollah as a victory.

Israel and the UN discussed Shaba ahead of the release two weeks ago of the periodic report on the implementation of Resolution 1701. The UN wanted to include a clause stating that Shaba was Lebanese and urging a solution. This would have been a departure from 1701, which states that the fate of the farms is to be resolved in the determination of the border between Lebanon and Syria.

On Livni's instructions, senior Foreign Ministry officials pressured UN officials to remove the clause.
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  1.   More Borderline For Hezbollah Attacks? 03:36  |  Dyinglikeflies 11/07/07
  2.   the wheels of fortune turns against Israel yet again 03:46  |  Jonathan 11/07/07
  3.   MAKE A DEAL 03:47  |  Brant 11/07/07
  4.   Great News 03:47  |  Slibovitz 11/07/07
  5.   What took them so long 03:52  |  Abe 11/07/07
  6.   Resistence 04:01  |  ali 11/07/07
  7.   Uh oh! Does this mean. . . ? 04:02  |  Mark Lincoln 11/07/07
  8.   Israel Must Leave Shaba Farms ASAP 04:07  |  Mr. Knowitall 11/07/07
  9.   All right, can anyone explain 04:12  |  Richard 11/07/07
  10.   first Syrian, now Lebanese...they dont even know! 04:13  |  Ryan 11/07/07
  11.   wrong its a fix. no way give in to this fix. what next all border 04:18  |  ralph 11/07/07
  12.   israel getting weaker 04:29  |  David King 11/07/07
  13.   UN at it again 04:37  |  TWogunz 11/07/07
  14.   Israel need a state of war to exist 04:37  |  cc 11/07/07
  15.   My recomendation to MarkLincoln is to leave ASAP 04:39  |  Sal 11/07/07
  16.   A Jew started this 04:43  |  Dude 11/07/07
  17.   It is Israeli territory plain and simple 04:45  |  Bill 11/07/07
  18.   #3 Bad idea 04:46  |  Donna 11/07/07
  19.   Later they will discover that it is Syrian territory 04:47  |  Bill 11/07/07
  20.   Well Mark at least got it half right 04:51  |  Jacob Blues 11/07/07
  21.   Why, has Syria been misbehaving lately? 04:52  |  Jake 11/07/07
  22.   international territory to be controlled by UNIFIL 04:53  |  vik 11/07/07
  23.   To Mr. Knownothing, #8 04:54  |  Jake 11/07/07
  24.   Mark Lincoln and playing nice 04:55  |  Jacob Blues 11/07/07
  25.   shaba farms 04:55  |  luke 11/07/07
  26.   Mr. Know it none 04:57  |  Jacob Blues 11/07/07
  27.   Gee David, the UN ruling against Israel, there`s a new trend 04:59  |  Jacob Blues 11/07/07
  28.   Not really CC, the radicals are the norm when it comes to bashing 05:01  |  Jacob Blues 11/07/07
  29.   UN has *no* credibility in this matter 05:03  |  Raymond from DC 11/07/07
  30.   Land for Peace 05:04  |  Ken 11/07/07
  31.   Mark Lincoln, no. Hizbullah attacked Israel in uncontested zones 05:06  |  Jake 11/07/07
  32.   The Syrians just do not want Israel to have the land 05:11  |  Steven 11/07/07
  33.   Hizbullah didn`t even attack Shebaa farms in 2006 05:13  |  Jake 11/07/07
  34.   The UN Admits weapons are smuggled from Syria into S Lebanon 05:17  |  Mike 11/07/07
  35.   Am I the only one who sees it this way? 05:19  |  Che 11/07/07
  36.   The Problem With Leaving the Farms Is ... 05:19  |  Bernie 11/07/07
  37.   Jacob Blues, Why do you call the Soldiers Civilians? 05:24  |  Bernie 11/07/07
  38.   Raymond from DC raises a key point 05:25  |  Jacob Blues 11/07/07
  39.   Jacob That Is Lebanon`s Position 05:27  |  Bernie 11/07/07
  40.   Ken You Don`t UnderStand 05:32  |  Bernie 11/07/07
  41.   #14 CC 05:33  |  Jon 11/07/07
  42.   Jerusalem next 05:35  |  cc 11/07/07
  43.   PRESSURE ISRAEL GO AHEAD NO SUCH ISRAEL RIGHT ??? 05:41  |  M. Segal 11/07/07
  44.   So ends Israels brief love affair with Ban Ki Moon 05:45  |  Natallie Durson 11/07/07
  45.   THEY REALISED IT SINCE BARAK IS DEFMIN.HE IS WILLING TO GIVE MORE 05:46  |  VOICE of MOSHIACH))) 11/07/07
  46.   UN to Israel 05:52  |  Edifice 11/07/07
  47.   Israel Will have only one choice 05:54  |  dale 11/07/07
  48.   What about the previous UN investigation into the matter 05:54  |  RA 11/07/07
  49.   Solving the real Problem 05:54  |  Atoo 11/07/07
  50.   If Syria and Lebanon agree... 05:55  |  Peter 11/07/07
  51.   Absentee landowners 05:59  |  DJStahl 11/07/07
  52.   Well it sure ain`t Israeli. 06:00  |  Reader 11/07/07
  53.   The writing is on the wall 06:06  |  wibism 11/07/07
  54.   It`s not Israel`sw 06:09  |  wibism 11/07/07
  55.   Syria must first renouce its claim 06:14  |  Robert 11/07/07
  56.   The U N can not be trusted 06:22  |  Kyle 11/07/07
  57.   #54 You are so wrong 06:42  |  Adrian de Klerk 11/07/07
  58.   No need to discuss as soldiers not yet released 06:47  |  bernard ross 11/07/07
  59.   Dangor 07:11  |  UN is to blame 11/07/07
  60.   answer is no no no. the fix is in nothing to do with markers so n 07:12  |  ralph 11/07/07
  61.   Israel should not back down and give Shaba back to either country 07:13  |  Shepherd 11/07/07
  62.   #5 What took them so long? 07:16  |  Johnboy 11/07/07
  63.   Shaba NOW! Good riddance! 07:21  |  Esther 11/07/07
  64.   Jacob Blues - nice, as in a nation 07:25  |  Mark Lincoln 11/07/07
  65.   response to MIKE # 34 07:25  |  Shepherd 11/07/07
  66.   #7 Mark Lincoln 07:27  |  Johnboy 11/07/07
  67.   It`s not Israeli land, so get out 07:28  |  Esther 11/07/07
  68.   GIVE BACK ISREALI SOLDIERS ....... DISARM 07:30  |  JON FEIGENBAUM 11/07/07
  69.   how long... 07:35  |  ravi 11/07/07
  70.   Shabaa Farrns 07:37  |  Angie 11/07/07
  71.   Oh no , Bernie, I don`t think so. 07:37  |  Jake 11/07/07
  72.   #13 TWogunz thinks ISRAEL gets to decide! 07:47  |  Johnboy 11/07/07
  73.   wibism, on the contrary, the Israel is behind the BLUE line 07:48  |  Jake 11/07/07
  74.   Revisionist history 07:53  |  Gili 11/07/07
  75.   Atoo, what Arabs would allow Israel to keep?? 07:57  |  Jake 11/07/07
  76.   Borders of Israel 07:58  |  Yohan Dahal 11/07/07
  77.   They promised to controll the border but let Islamist Hisbula in 07:58  |  PETER SM 11/07/07
  78.   I called this last year 08:01  |  Pablo B 11/07/07
  79.   Natallie Dursson, don`t count your chickens, baby 08:04  |  Jake 11/07/07
  80.   Just say no to UN`s b.s. 08:04  |  Fortuna Benmayor