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Leb talks focus on Shebaa Farms
 Leaders of Lebanon's rival factions resumed on Monday talks seeking consensus on the biggest issues that divide the country - the status of the Shebaa Farms, the fate of the pro-Syrian president and the UN call for Hezbollah's disarmament. Aljazeera reported that the national dialogue conference resumed in Beirut after a six-day interruption caused mainly by disagreement over the status of the Shebaa Farms - an Israeli-occupied border area that the Hezbollah says is Lebanese but that the UN says is Syrian unless Beirut and Damascus amend their border.Monday's discussions focused on the main points of contention, particularly whether the Shebaa Farms belong to Lebanon or Syria. Druze MP Walid Jumblatt and Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah brought to the meeting documents and maps to buttress their respective viewpoints on the Shebaa case, Aljazeera said. The participants reached an initial agreement to work towards establishing full diplomatic ties with Syria and to disarm Palestinian fighters outside the country's 12 refugee camps, political sources told Reuters. They said the leaders, meeting to head off a political crisis, also edged closer to agreeing on how to address the issue of Shebaa Farms. "The issue of Lebanon's relations with Syria is already behind our backs now," one political source told Reuters on condition of anonymity. Another senior politician said a text was being drafted on the issue for the leaders to sign and announce on Tuesday. Posted by: Fred 2006-03-14 |
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