Lebanese PM says no interest in Israel peace talks
Lebanon”s Western-backed Prime Minister Fuad Siniora said his country has no interest in holding peace talks with neighbouring Israel at the moment.
"I see no interest for us right now to discuss direct negotiations or indirect negotiations with Israel," Siniora said in an interview with the Lebanese Broadcasting Corporation broadcast on Wednesday.
"No one has challenged our claim of authority and ownership of the land that Israel occupies. So we see it as premature to take a decision in this regard as yet," he added.
Israel withrew from south Lebanon in 2000 after more than two decades of occupation, but Lebanon claims it is still occupying land on the border, including Shebaa Farms, a mountainous sliver of land rich in water resources.
Lebanon”s former power broker Syria began Turkish-mediated indirect peace talks with Israel in May, eight years after the previous negotiations broke down over the fate of the strategic Golan Heights plateau.