Land disputes as pretext for arms in Lebanon?

"The question of the Shebaa Farms was invented by Syria and Iran using Hizbullah as a pretense to have an armed presence in Lebanon. This must end," Jumblatt told WND.

Jumblatt is the head of Lebanon's Progressive Socialist Party and is largely considered the most prominent anti-Syrian Lebanese politician.

He said he supports dialogue with Syria and the international community to change the status of the Shebaa Farms from Syrian to Lebanese territory and to work toward an ultimate Israeli withdrawal from the land.

The Shebaa Farms is a small, 200-square-kilometer bloc situated between Syria, Lebanon and Israel. It is the last post held by Israel after its withdrawal in 2000 from positions it took along the Lebanese border.

Israel entered Lebanon in 1978 and occupied a part of the border area to prevent attacks from Palestinian commandos stationed there.

Following Israel's withdrawal from Lebanon, United Nations cartographers ruled the Shebaa Farms fell inside Syrian territory seized by Israel during the 1967 war. Accordingly, the UN declared that Resolution 425, which called on Israel to pull out of Lebanon, had been fully implemented.

Hizbullah leaders have for years claimed their group's armed activities were needed to protect Lebanon from what they called Israeli occupation. After Israel's withdrawal from the country was completed, Hizbullah stated it cannot disarm until Israel vacates the Shebaa Farms as well.

But Israel has been reluctant to make any gesture that could be seen as boasting the Syrian regime.

Recently there has been movement inside Lebanon to ask the U.N. to revisit the Shebaa Farms issue and re-label the territory Lebanese instead of Syrian.

Lebanon's parliament last month passed a resolution announcing the Shebaa Farms are Lebanese.

The country's prime minister, Fuad Siniora, in a visit to London last week asked British Prime Minister Tony Blair for help in resolving the Shebaa Farms dispute. A similar request was made by Siniora last month during a meeting with President George Bush.

'No more excuses'

Siniora's strategy seems to be to first persuade the U.N. the Shebaa Farms are Lebanese territory, then call for an Israeli withdrawal and demand Hizbullah lay down its arms.

Jumblatt said he supported the general initiative.

"There should be dialogue first with Syria on the issue. But the question of Hizbullah shouldn't be tied to the Shebaa Farms. They must disarm now. No more excuses. No bringing other issues, like the conflict with Israel, into Lebanon," said Jumblatt.

Israeli security officials say Hizbullah is unlikely to disarm even if the Shabaa Farms is vacated.

"(Hizbullah is) in Lebanon to do Syria and Iran's bidding and to aid Palestinian terror groups," an official said.

Hizbullah is suspected of passing money to Islamic Jihad and the al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades in the West Bank to finance terror operations, including recent suicide attacks.

In an interview last month with the Lebanese al-Safir newspaper, Hizbullah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah admitted his group provides Palestinian organizations with money to purchase weapons.

According to a translation of the interview by the Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center at Israel's Center for Special Studies, Nasrallah stated that at the beginning of the current Palestinian intifada, Hizbullah provided Palestinian organizations with weapons. But after weapons cashes were caught being smuggled through Jordan, Nasrallah said his group was asked instead to donate money.

"(Palestinian groups asked us) to send them money and they would take care of things by themselves by (purchasing and manufacturing weapons, including rockets)," Nasrallah said.

"They need financial, political and media support. We do not deny that we give it to them,” he added.

Reprinted with permission of WorldNetDaily