The Arab summit's final statement issued Wednesday stressed Arab "support for Lebanon's natural right to resistance and right to free all its occupied territories." The statement also identified the Shebaa Farms and Kfar Shouba Heights as occupied Lebanese territories, and expressed the support of the Arab states for "the Lebanese government's calls to confirm the Lebanese identity of Shebaa Farms and demarcate it according to acceptable UN procedures."The regional backing came on the heels of an argument between Lebanon's President Emile Lahoud and Premier Fouad Siniora over Hizbullah's military wing. The argument reportedly erupted after Siniora, who participated in the Khartoum meeting independently of the Lebanese delegation headed by Lahoud, demanded the removal of a clause pledging support to the armed "Lebanese resistance." Lahoud protested Siniora's request, which led to an argument between the two leaders, according to one diplomat who requested anonymity. "I am president of the official delegation, and I speak in the name of Lebanon," Lahoud reportedly said. The president also accused Siniora of trying to destroy any Lebanese consensus on the resistance.
Speaking to reporters Wednesday from the Sudanese capital before returning to Beirut, Lahoud said: "The way Siniora spoke before Arab leaders gave the impression that the Lebanese people disagreed on the natural right of the Lebanese resistance to carry on its struggle until the rest of Lebanon's occupied land is freed, and this is not the case." In a separate news conference, Siniora said his words had been intentionally misinterpreted by Lahoud in order to achieve "imaginary goals."