Rice, Ban Discuss Shebaa
U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon have discussed the Shebaa Farms issue and the situation in the Palestinian territories, An Nahar daily reported Friday.
It said the meeting took place at the U.N. headquarters in New York on Thursday.
Rice, during a visit to Beirut on Monday, said that it was time for U.N. action on the Shebaa farms, a disputed Lebanese border district occupied by Israel.
"The United States believes that the time has come to deal with the Shebaa farms issue… in accordance with (U.N. Security Council Resolution) 1701," Rice said.
Lebanon, supported by Syria, claims sovereignty over the zone while the Jewish state says it is part of the Syrian Golan Heights which Israel seized in 1967 and unilaterally annexed.
Meanwhile, State Department Deputy Spokesman Tom Casey said during a press briefing before the Rice-Ban meeting that the U.S. has "not been asked to play a direct role" in any talks between Lebanon and Israel.
"We”d be looking to have the U.N. and the Secretary General use his good offices to help resolve" the Shebaa farms issue, he said.