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Last update - 17:24 11/06/2008 Lebanon: Israel must quit Shaba Farms if it wants peace talks By News Agencies Tags: Shaba Farms, Hezbollah  Lebanon on Wednesday dashed Israel's hope that Beirut would follow Damascus in opening peace talks with Israel, saying the state had to withdraw from what Beirut considers its occupied land. Lebanon's response came after Prime Minister Ehud Olmert told his cabinet on Tuesday he hoped Lebanon would consider opening talks on peace with Israel. Advertisement Israel and Syria have been holding indirect talks under Turkish auspices and further meetings in Turkey are expected later this week. The caretaker Lebanese government said Israel had to withdraw from the disputed Shaba Farms region in accordance with UN Security Council resolutions. The region, a small area in the foothills of the Golan Heights, is considered Lebanese by the Lebanese government but the United Nations says it is Syrian land. Israel annexed the area in the 1967 Middle East war, a move not recognized by the international community. "With regards to bilateral issues hanging between Lebanon and Israel, they are dictated by international resolutions concerning Israel, specifically (UN Security Council) resolutions 425 and 1701 and these are not subject to political negotiation," the government's media office said in a statement. "Lebanon seeks to enforce these two decisions completely especially with concerns to the end of the occupation of the Shebaa Farms...." The statement said once Israel withdrew from Lebanese land, Lebanon got back its prisoners and received maps of landmines and cluster bombs which were used in previous wars, "a truce agreement between Lebanon and Israel will be in effect". Israel fought a 34-day war with pro-Iranian Hezbollah guerrillas in Lebanon in 2006. After that conflict Israeli leaders made peace overtures towards Lebanon's Western-backed government but no diplomatic breakthrough ensued. Under a Qatari-mediated deal last month, Hezbollah, which has vowed to keep its weapons until Israel withdraws from all Lebanese land, has guaranteed veto power in a yet to be formed national unity government. Hezbollah rejects bid for UN control of Shaba FarmS The leader of Hezbollah deputies in the Lebanese parliament, Mohammad Raad, rejected an initiative Wednesday to place the Shaba Farms area of the Golan Heights under the control of the United Nations. Raad told the Hezbollah-run al-Manar television channel that such a move would prevent the militant group from achieving its goal of wresting the area from Israeli control. The initiative to place the territory under the control of the UN was reportedly put forward by French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who visited Lebanon last week. Hezbollah officials told Sarkozy that the group wasn't opposed to a diplomatic solution to the Shaba Farms dispute -a departure from their traditional policy advocating force to return the disputed area- according to a report published in the London-based Arabic daily Al-Hayat on Monday. Newly elected Lebanese President Michel Suleiman said Monday that he would provide the world body with documents "that will prove the Shaba Farms belong to Lebanon." Israel captured the land in the 1967 Six-Day War and has refused to return it on the grounds that its status is ambiguous. According to the plan proposed to the UN, the Shaba Farms would be demarcated and returned to Lebanon at some future stage. Related Articles Report: Hezbollah willing to negotiate over Shaba Farms Defense sources: Syria arming Hezbollah, despite Israel talks Doctors identify five IDF soldiers among remains handed over by Hezbollah Bookmark to del.icio.us   Fo shizzle ma nizzle American rapper Snoop Dogg slated to perform in Ramat Gan. Late date Scientists revive 2,000-year-old date seed found at Masada.   1.   UN should do it anyway. Syria claims it too. 16:16  |  Jo 11/06/08   2.   UNFORTUNATELY, WE WILL HAVE 16:28  |  Robert 11/06/08   3.   The Farms are Lebanese and better to return them for peace. 17:13  |  Johnson 11/06/08   4.   Shaba Farms... 17:17  |  Silvienne 11/06/08   5.   don`t worry mad mert will get right on this,another plan of PIECE 18:00  |  glenna 11/06/08   6.   Hezbollah staged violent coup in Lebanon 18:10  |  Gili 11/06/08   7.   Lebanon must return Regev and Goldwasser 18:50  |  peter 11/06/08   8.   AND AFTER ISRAEL HANDS SHEBA FARMS TO LEBANON? 19:33  |  Ian 11/06/08   9.   Sarkozy is no match for Nazarullah! 19:36  |  lakshmi 11/06/08   10.   Galilee Liberation Army 20:26  |  Lebanon Peace 11/06/08   11.   is it or not.. 20:38  |  Realistic Arab 11/06/08   12.   Do all negotiations 20:38  |  Realist 11/06/08   13.   What makes Lebanon think Israel owes them anything? 21:01  |  Raymond in DC 11/06/08   14.   Ben Jabo`s approval is crucial in order to cede Sheba Farms to Le 21:10  |  Aounist 11/06/08   15.   Will you cowboys consider the benefit, please 22:00  |  Shelley 11/06/08   16.   The Golan and Sheeba Farms 22:31  |  Stephen 11/06/08   17.   West bank, Golan, and Shaaba must all be evacuated 22:45  |  Natallie Durson 11/06/08   18.   The Golan and Sheeba Farms 22:47  |  Stephen 11/06/08   19.   The Only Way Out 23:35  |  Cool B 11/06/08   20.   Israel will commit fatal mistakes if :It will not see first 23:40  |  Akram Zekaria 11/06/08   21.   Whats Sauce for the Goose ... 00:20  |  Brad 12/06/08   22.   Polisch 00:28  |  Guy 12/06/08   23.   #9, Raymond in DC... 00:31  |  Silvienne 12/06/08   24.   Olmert Will Offer Any Deal Now To Terrorist 01:03  |  Shepherd 12/06/08   25.   #12 SHELLEY 01:07  |  EGW 12/06/08   26.   raymond in dc 10 01:15  |  potobac 12/06/08   27.   #14 Funny, but peace should be the norm 01:26  |  DesMnsDave 12/06/08   28.   #16 Violence learned from Syria, Lebanon and the Palestinians 01:28  |  DesMnsDave 12/06/08   29.   Cool B they tried using force already 01:41  |  Joe Frazier 12/06/08   30.   Lebanon needs a good interpreter 01:57  |  Cipora Julianna Kohn 12/06/08   31.   land theft 01:58  |  gearoid 12/06/08   32.   "Hezbollah rejects UN control of Shaba Farms" 02:00  |  Cipora Julianna Kohn 12/06/08   33.   Lebanon is obviously following Syria`s lead 02:03  |  Cipora Julianna Kohn 12/06/08   34.   Durson - West Bank belongs to no one. 02:20  |  17 12/06/08   35.   The territories ceded, exchanged etc when peace 02:24  |  17 12/06/08   36.   # 1 Johnson 02:27  |  17 12/06/08   37.   Israel will commit fatal mistakes if :It will not see first 03:25  |  Akram Zekaria 12/06/08   38.   KEEP THE LAND IT`S YOURS. 23:57  |  petra 12/06/08

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