The United Nations has been "carefully examining" maps which proved that the controversial Shebaa farms area belongs to Lebanon, not Syria, the daily An Nahar reported on Wednesday.

The terse report said the UN had obtained the maps from "concerned French sides."

The disputed territory lies in the mountainous border region between Lebanon, Syria and Israel. It was captured by Israel when it seized the Golan Heights in the 1967 Arab-Israeli war.

When the Israeli army pulled out of southern Lebanon in 2000, ending a 22-year occupation, UN cartographers determined that Shebaa was part of Syria. The UN therefore declared that Israel had fully withdrawn from Lebanon and it drew a border demarcation line known as the Blue Line.

The Shebaa farms are now claimed by Lebanon with the approval of Syria.

Source: Xinhua