BEIRUT: Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblatt Monday urged Lebanese lawmakers to remove Lebanon from the dispute over the Shebaa Farms by drawing clear borders with Syria.
In his weekly statement to Al Anbaa newspaper, Jumblatt urged lawmakers to resolve disputes in an attempt to protect the country from falling prey to regional and domestic conflict.
Lebanon, backed by Syria, maintains that the Shebaa Farms, a small plot of land where Israel, Syria and Lebanon intersect, and occupied by Israel since 1967, is Lebanese territory and therefore a point of dispute with Israel. Israel claims the land was formerly in Syrian territory. Syria has agreed with the Lebanese view, but has rejected official demarcation.
“Linking Lebanon’s fate with the liberation of the Shebaa Farms and linking [Lebanon’s] future with regional conflicts is unacceptable. Therefore, we should draw the borders,” Jumblatt said.
According to Jumblatt, the resolution to the issue of Hezbollah’s arms, which the March 14 coalition describe as illegal and outside the jurisdiction of the state, lies in drawing a national defense strategy capable of “absorbing Hezbollah’s arsenal within the framework of the Lebanese state” in a bid to reinforce the states’ ability to fend off Israeli aggression.
The PSP leader also touched upon Maronite Patriarch Beshara Rai’s recent comments that changing the current Syrian government could threaten Christians in the country and the region.
“If some elements are concerned for the Christian presence in Lebanon, then the best method that the patriarch should adopt … is to form a committee of Christian investors to prevent land selling and maybe use the Church’s property for the sake of the Christian poor who have to emigrate to live in better conditions,” Jumblatt said.
Jumblatt also reiterated his stance regarding the situation in Syria, rejecting foreign intervention while urging speedy implementation of political reforms.
No comments:
Post a Comment