Syria drops demand for Israeli withdrawal from disputed Shebaa

Shebaa Farms

Deployment of U.N. peacekeepers a step closer

May 31, 2000
Web posted at: 12:24 p.m. EDT (1224 GMT)

DAMASCUS, Syria (CNN) -- Syria has agreed to accept Israel's withdrawal from Lebanon without demanding that the Israelis hand over the disputed Shebaa Farms area at the foot of the Golan Heights, U.N. envoy Terje Roed Larsen said on Wednesday.

Larsen said that Syria was "in full agreement on every matter," including U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan's report defining the lines of withdrawal, leaving the 18 Shebaa farms still under Israeli occupation.

MESSAGE BOARDS Israeli withdrawal Mideast peace

Syria had originally backed Lebanon's claim that Shebaa, in an area between the borders of Lebanon, Syria and Israel, belonged to Lebanon.

Israel contends that it won the farms from Syria during the 1967 Arab-Israeli war and the area can be a subject of negotiations only with that country. The United Nations concluded that Israel's contention was right, and the area was Syrian territory occupied by Israel in 1967.

Annan's report, Larsen said, "does not prejudice any future border agreement, border arrangements between countries relevant to the withdrawal."

Larsen added that the United Nations would confirm the withdrawal "in not too many days," bringing the deployment of U.N. peacekeepers in the area a step closer.

The U.N. forces will remain to facilitate the region's return to Lebanese sovereignty.

Israel pulled its troops out of south Lebanon last week after occupying at least parts of the region since 1978. The Israelis carved out the so-called "security zone" along the border in 1985 to protect northern territories from guerrilla attacks based across the border.

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak, who had made the withdrawal a cornerstone of his electoral campaign last year, ordered the pullout six weeks ahead of a self-imposed July 7 deadline.

While the Lebanese celebrated the departure of Israeli troops, Syria, Lebanon and the Hezbollah guerrillas based in the area balked at accepting a pullout that did not include Shebaa Farms. A change of heart for Syria -- the region's major power broker in the absence of Israel -- was considered a significant breakthrough.

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