Suleiman urges Shebaa Farms return
Press TV, Fri, 01 Aug 2008Lebanese President Michel Suleiman says the 'count down'
has begun for Lebanon to take back Shebaa Farms and Kfar-Shouba
hills from Israel.
Speaking a ceremony commemorating the 63rd anniversary of the
establishment of the Lebanese army, Suleiman emphasized that it was
permissible for the Lebanese to use all means to take back the
occupied territories, Press TV's Beirut bureau reported.
Lebanon has called on Israel to withdraw from the disputed Shebaa
Farms and the hills of Kfar-Shouba and return the Lebanese
detainees, held in Israel, as a condition for fully implementing
Resolution 1559.
Suleiman highlighted the recent 'national achievements', referring
to a prisoner swap between Hezbollah and Israel that led to release
of five Lebanese fighters held for years in Israeli prisons.
Lebanon's president also called on the army to suppress violators
regardless of their affiliations with no hesitation, in order to
prevent unrest and to maintain stability.
In May 2000, Israel pulled out its troops from a large territory in
southern Lebanon but the issue of Shebaa Farms, which has been under
Israeli occupation since 1967, remains unsettled.
The mountainous Shebaa Farms area, consisting of 14 farms rich in
water resources, is located on the western slopes of Jabal al-Sheikh
and measures 25 square kilometers (10 square miles).
