Lebanese President Michel Suleiman said to get back the occupied Shebaa Farms from Israel would be through diplomatic means, but he did not rule out the possibility of military operations in case of diplomatic failure, local Al-Anwar daily reported on Monday.
"Liberating Shebaa farms should be through diplomatic means and implementation of UN resolution 1701. If diplomacy fails, the military operations would be used," Suleiman told reporters after meeting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon in Paris Sunday.
France's President Nicolas Sarkozy welcomes his Lebanese counterpart Michel Suleiman (R) as he arrives at the Elysee Palace in Paris July 12, 2008. He said Lebanon is committed to regaining its full sovereignty over the Shebaa Farms, a mountainous sliver of land measuring 25 square km, located at the junction of southeast Lebanon, southwest Syria and northern Israel.
When asked about peace talks with Israel, Suleiman said Israel is expected to implement UN Security Council resolutions, mainly resolution 1701 adopted two years ago, noting that Israel still did not pull out of the Shebaa farms.
UN resolution 1701 was adopted in August 2006 following a 34-day-long devastating war between Israel and Lebanon's Shiite militant group Hezbollah.
The Shebaa Farms rich in water resources were occupied by Israel during the 1967 Mideast war along with the Syrian Golan Heights. Israel pulled out of south Lebanon in 2000, but kept control over the disputed Shebaa Farms.
The Lebanese president, who left Saturday for Paris to join the Union of Mediterranean summit, met for the first time after he took office with the Syrian president.
They agreed to establish diplomatic relations between the two countries and open embassies in each other's capital for the first time in 64 years since Syria and Lebanon got their independence from the French mandate.
Source:Xinhua
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