Lebanon Tells Damascus it is Ready to Begin Border Demarcation
Lebanon has informed Damascus its readiness to begin border demarcation.
The daily An Nahar on Tuesday said Lebanon”s foreign ministry has informed Damascus that the official delegation assigned to hold talks with Syrian officials on border demarcation between the two countries was ready to assume its mission.
It said Acting Secretary-General of the foreign ministry Ambassador William Habib heads the 5-member delegation.
An Nahar had earlier quoted diplomatic sources as saying that intensive global efforts would be launched throughout December and early next year to pressure Syria into facilitating border demarcation with Lebanon and settling the issue of missing Lebanese citizens in Syria.
It said these efforts aim at pressuring Syria into honoring commitments made by its President Bashar Assad to his Lebanese counterpart Michel Suleiman last August, that also include implementation of U.N. Security Council resolutions.
UNSCR 1701, which ended a 34-day war between Israel and Hizbullah in the summer of 2006, bans cross-border smuggling of weapons into Lebanon.
The report said concerned parties, particularly the United Nations and France, await the setting up of diplomatic ties between Damascus and Beirut before end of the year to activate implementation of other topics, especially border demarcation and the fate of Lebanese citizens missing in Syria.
The United Nations has officially announced that Damascus failed to provide the international organization with documents required to define borders of the Israeli-occupied Shabaa Farms to establish Lebanon”s sovereignty over the terrain.
U.N. special coordinator for Lebanon Michael Williams on Thursday said he would visit Damascus early in January to discuss with Assad UNSCR 1701 and renew the request for documents supporting Lebanon”s sovereignty over Shabaa Farms.
Williams said border demarcation should be achieved to facilitate efforts aimed at combating smuggling.