EGYPT: Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora reiterates call for international al-Hariri tribunal and suggestion for placing Shebaa farms under U.N. control

Record ID: 644819

  • Title: EGYPT: Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora reiterates call for international al-Hariri tribunal and suggestion for placing Shebaa farms under U.N. control
  • Date: 24th April 2007
  • Summary: SINIORA AND ARAB LEAGUE SECRETARY GENERAL AMR MOUSSA WALKING TO PRESS CONFERENCE CAMERAMAN SHOOTING PRESS CONFERENCE (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) LEBANESE PRIME MINISTER FOUAD SINIORA SAYING: "We are now facing a crisis because of the absence of cooperation from our Syrian brothers regarding the Shebaa farms issue. We made a very constructive suggestion, that this land, over which we and the Syrians have a dispute -- do we or do we not draw a border? Is it Lebanese or is it Syrian? -- in any case, it is not one of the occupied territories of Palestine, it is not as the Israelis say. So, we agree on this, and if things are this way, why do the Israelis not withdraw, and until we settle the situation between Syria and Lebanon it should be under the protection of the United Nations." WIDE SHOT OF PRESS CONFERENCE
  • Embargoed: 9th May 2007 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Egypt
  • Country: Egypt
  • Topics: Crime / Law Enforcement,International Relations
  • Reuters ID: LVAC1XONT286D0K52LSBTX5XO23V
  • Story Text: Lebanese prime minister Fouad Siniora reiterates in Cairo his call for setting up an international tribunal to investigate the assassination of former prime minister Rafik al-Hariri. Siniora had earlier met with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. Following a meeting with head of the Arab League, also in Cairo, Siniora repeated his government's suggestion for placing the disputed Israeli-occupied Shebaa farms under United Nations control if Israel were to withdraw.

    Lebanon's Prime Minister, Fouad Siniora, reiterated calls for establishing an international tribunal to investigate the death of former prime minister Rafik al-Hariri. Speaking in Cairo on Monday (April 23), Siniora also repeated a suggestion that the disputed Shebaa farms be placed under U.N. control.
    A dispute between Siniora's government and its opponents over plans for a UN tribunal to try al-Hariri's suspected assassins is now serving as a flashpoint for persistent sectarian and ideological tensions in Lebanon.
    On Wednesday (April 18), a Hezbollah representative said any UN Security Council move to impose a special tribunal on Lebanon could plunge the country into strife.
    In Cairo Siniora said the wave of assassinations to hit his country in recent years had to be confronted.
    "Since the assassination of the minister Marwan Hamadi and after that of the President and martyr Rafik al-Hariri and Basil Fleihan and all the other assassination attempts that happened - it's not enough for us to only know this but also to prevent any other operations that may happen. Especially as Lebanon suffered from these for thirty years in the past," Siniora said.
    Hamadi, a former minister, was injured in a car bomb explosion in late 2004, and Fleihan, also a former minister, died from injuries sustained during the same February 14, 2005 attack which killed al-Hariri.
    Without Lebanese approval, the UN Security Council may decide unilaterally to set up the tribunal.
    The US and France, along with Lebanon's ruling coalition, are the court's staunchest proponents. Government supporters accuse Syria of orchestrating al-Hariri's 2005 assassination and subsequent killings. Damascus denies it.
    Siniora had earlier in the day met with the Egyptian President to discuss the continuing political turmoil in Lebanon.
    Also on Monday, Siniora met with the head of the Arab League, Amr Moussa, after which he repeated his government's suggestion for placing the Shebaa farms area in South Lebanon, occupied by Israel, under international trusteeship if Israel were to withdraw.
    "We are now facing a crisis because of the absence of cooperation from our Syrian brothers regarding the Shebaa farms issue. We made a very constructive suggestion, that this land, over which we and the Syrians have a dispute -- do we or do we not draw a border? Is it Lebanese or is it Syrian? -- in any case, it is not one of the occupied territories of Palestine, it is not (Israeli) as the Israelis say. So, we agree on this, and if things are this way, why do the Israelis not withdraw, and until we settle the situation between Syria and Lebanon it should be under the protection of the United Nations," Siniora said during a joint press conference with Moussa.
    The United Nations says the Shebaa Farms is Syrian territory captured by Israel in the Middle East war of 1967. Syria and Lebanon say it is Lebanese and the Lebanese villagers show visitors their deeds to land in the area.
    But Damascus has not signed an agreement with Beirut to demarcate the frontier, which Lebanon's Hezbollah militia has used as a "resistance" front to end Israeli occupation there.
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