Friday, April 21, 2006

Fuad Siniora Moving in the Right Direction

See my earlier post on this below. Reuters reports that Lebanese PM Siniora is asking Secretary General Kofi Annan to "confirm the specific steps required by the UN to recognize Lebanese sovereignty over the territory of the Shaba Farms." The farms are currently occupied by Israel, which, like the rest of the world, recognizes their status as SYRIAN territory. Syria has (not surprisingly) declared that negotiations over the territory should be conducted only after an Israeli withdrawal. Typical prevarication on their part. How should Israel react? I think it would be a good move to announce Israel's willingness to return the territory to Lebanon as part of a peace settlement. By the way, I read an article in Ha'aretz a long time ago by someone who studied all the old maps, and it appears as if the farms should actually be Lebanese territory.

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