Shebaa farms

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Map of the Shebaa Farms.
Map of the Shebaa Farms.

The Shebaa Farms (Arabic: مزارع شبعا‎, Mazāri‘ Šib‘ā; Hebrew: חוות שבעא‎, Havot Sheba‘a or הר דוב, Har Dov) is a small area of disputed ownership located on the border between Lebanon and the Golan Heights. The area is located about 3 to 12 km (2 to 7.5 mi) southwest of the Lebanese village of Shebaa and about 7 km (4 mi) northwest of the Druze village of Majdal Shams on the slopes of the Golan Heights. It is on the south side of a long ridge descending to the southwest of Mount Hermon.

The area is about 10 km (6 mi) in length, and averages 2.5 km (2 mi) in width, coming to about 25 km² (10 sq mi). Altitudes range from about 250 to about 1,500 m (825–4,940 ft).

Contents

[edit] Summary of the current dispute

Israel captured the Shebaa Farms concurrent to capturing the Golan Heights from Syria in 1967 during the Six Day War. Lebanon was not an active participant in the war. Israel considered the Shebaa Farms to be part of the Golan Heights,[1] and subsequently extended Israeli law to the region when it annexed the Golan Heights in 1981.[2] The United Nations Security Council declared this extension of "[Israeli] laws, jurisdiction and administration... null and void and without international legal effect" in the non-binding Resolution 497.

The controversy arose following the withdrawal of Israeli troops from occupied territory in Southern Lebanon on May 25, 2000. On June 18, 2000, the United Nations affirmed that Israel had withdrawn its forces from Lebanon, in accordance with Resolution 425.[3] Syria and Lebanon disputed the United Nations certification that Israel's withdrawal from Lebanon was complete. Hezbollah cites the ongoing occupation of the Shebaa farms as the basis for its continued attacks on Israel.

For decades members of the international diplomatic community have repeatedly requested that Syria and Lebanon take steps to determine the exact boundary between them in the Shebaa Farms region and elsewhere, including officially registering the demarcated border with the United Nations. However, recently President Bashar al-Assad of Syria has refused to do so until Israeli troops withdraw.[citation needed]

[edit] Background (1923-2000)

[edit] The French Mandate through the Six Day War (1923–67)

The dispute over the sovereignty of the Shebaa Farms resulted in part from the failure of the French Mandate administrations, and subsequently the Lebanese and Syrian governments, to properly demarcate the border between Lebanon and Syria.

Documents from the 1920s and 1930s indicate that some local inhabitants regarded themselves as part of Lebanon, for example paying taxes to the Lebanese government. But French officials at times expressed confusion as to the actual location of the border.[4] One French official in 1939 expressed the belief that the uncertainty was sure to cause trouble in the future.

The region continued to be represented in the 1930s and 1940s as Syrian territory, under the French Mandate. Detailed maps showing the border were produced by the French in 1933, and again in 1945.[5] They clearly showed the region to be in Syria.

After the French Mandate ended in 1946, the land was administered by Syria, and represented as such in all maps of the time.[6]

The maps of the 1949 Armistice Agreements between Syria and Israel also designated the area as Syrian.

Border disputes arose at times, however. Shebaa Farms was not unique; several other border villages had similar discrepancies of borders versus land ownership. Syria and Lebanon formed a joint Syrian-Lebanese border committee in the late 1950s to determine a proper border between the two nations. In 1964, concluding its work, the committee suggested to the two governments that the area be deemed the property of Lebanon, and recommended that the international border be reestablished consistent with its suggestion. However, neither Syria nor Lebanon adopted the committee's suggestion, and neither country took any action along the suggested lines. Thus, maps of the area continued to reflect the Farms as being in Syria.[6] Even maps of both the Syrian and Lebanese armies continued to demarcate the region within Syrian territory.[6]

A Lebanese military map, published in 1966, showing the Shebaa Farms as being on the Syrian side of the border.
A Lebanese military map, published in 1966, showing the Shebaa Farms as being on the Syrian side of the border.

A number of local residents regarded themselves as Lebanese, however. The Lebanese government showed little interest in their views. The Syrian government administered the region, and on the eve of the 1967 war, the region was under effective Syrian control.

In 1967 most Shebaa Farms landowners and (Lebanese) farmers lived outside the Syrian-controlled region, across the Lebanon-Syrian border, in the Lebanese village of Shebaa. During the Six Day War in 1967, Israel captured the Farms from Syria. As a consequence, the Lebanese landowners were no longer able to farm it.[7]

[edit] UN Resolution 242 (1967)

In 1967, following the termination of the Six Day War, the United Nations Security Council passed Resolution 242 (1967),[8] later reaffirmed by UN Security Council Resolution 338 (1973),[9] calling for all four of the following:

  1. The "withdrawal of Israel armed forces from territories occupied in the recent conflict." Some dispute whether the language requires withdrawal from "all" occupied territories. The drafting process was in English, and the version of the text that was voted on was the English text. The UN practice is that the binding version of any resolution is the one voted upon. (See statement by Arthur Goldberg, US Ambassador to the United Nations at that time, and an author of the Resolution: "The notable omissions in regard to withdrawal... are the words 'all,' 'the' and 'the June 5, 1967 lines'... There is lacking a declaration requiring Israel to withdraw from all of the territories occupied by it on, and after, June 5, 1967... On certain aspects, the Resolution is less ambiguous than its withdrawal language. Resolution 242 (1967) specifically calls for termination of all claims or states of belligerency..." (Columbia Journal of International Law, Vol. 12, no. 2, 1973)). Still, an inaccurate translation in the French text, which was supposed to be a translation of the authoritative English text, has spawned some controversy. The French text uses "des territoires occupés," meaning "from the occupied territories." The authoritative English text deliberately omits "the." In any event, the UN regards Shebaa Farms as Syrian territory occupied by Israel, not Lebanese territory subject to Resolution 242.
  2. The recognition by Israel, Egypt, Syria, and Jordan of each other.
  3. The termination of all claims or states of belligerency.
  4. The establishment of defensible boundaries for all parties.

All of the involved states, arguably, have failed to satisfy one or more of the four cornerstones of the resolution.

In 1981, the area was officially annexed by Israel, as part of the Golan Heights.[10] This unilateral annexation is not recognised by the UN.

[edit] Coastal Road massacre, Operation Litani, and UN Resolution 425 (1978–2000)

From 1968, the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) established a quasi-state in southern Lebanon. On March 11, 1978, PLO members infiltrated Israel from Lebanon, and killed 37 Israeli civilians riding in a bus in the Tel Aviv area, as well as an American nature photographer on an Israeli beach and injured 76 Israelis, in what became known as the Coastal Road massacre. The attack was the most deadly in a string of attacks that the PLO had launched from Lebanon. It triggered Israel's Operation Litani against PLO bases in southern Lebanon three days later.

Five days after Operation Litani began, UN Security Council Resolution 425 (1978) called upon Israel to: "withdraw forthwith its forces from all Lebanese territory." The phrase "all territory" was used in Resolution 425, contrasting with the language in Resolution 242 (1967).

On May 22, 2000, Israel completed its withdrawal from the southern Lebanon in accordance with UN Security Council Resolution 425.[11] The UN certified the completion of Israel's pullout.[3]

[edit] The current dispute

[edit] Lebanon's position

The disputed territory was not mentioned by the Lebanese government after the 1967 Six Day War, or the 1973 October War, as an occupation issue.

In 2000, Lebanon disputed Israel's compliance with UN Resolution 425 (1978). Lebanon claimed that the Shebaa Farms area was actually Lebanese, and demanded that the Israelis should therefore withdraw from there as well. Lebanon asserted that the UN certification of the Israeli withdrawal was "invalid," because of Lebanon's claim to the Farms.[12]

Lebanese officials point to land deeds, stamped by the Lebanese government, that were held by a number of area residents in the 1940s and 1950s.

The Lebanese claim to this area is asserted by Hezbollah for its continuing conflict with Israel, and its cross-border attacks after the Israeli withdrawal. Senior Lebanese officials also linked the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Shebaa to Hezbollah’s disarmament. "If the U.S. and friendly countries help us achieve the withdrawal of Israel from Shebaa farms, this would make it possible for the Lebanese forces to be the sole owner of weapons and arms in the country," Lebanese Prime Minister Foaud Seniora said. Those comments were echoed by Lebanese President Emile Lahoud who said that "the resistance should be kept until a just and comprehensive peace is achieved in the region", adding that "if the Lebanese army were deployed along the borders (with Israel) ... it would be turned into a police force to protect Israel's borders, and this is not acceptable."[13]

Lebanese politician Walid Jumblatt has stated that Lebanon has no valid claim to the Shebaa farms area.[14]

On 28 August 2006, Hezbollah fighters withdrew from positions facing Israeli lines in the Shebaa Farms area.[15]

Maps published on the Lebanese army website show different versions of the Lebanese southern border. While the Shabaa Farms themselves are not marked on the maps, it is evident from one map [1] that the border runs north of the Shabaa Farms, while another map [2] demarks the border south of the Farms.

[edit] Lebanese media reaction

A Lebanese newspaper, however, described the land deed of one Shebaa resident as "handwritten and signed on a yellowing piece of paper in pencil and ink." Moreover, it is quite common for Lebanese to own land in Syria, and vice versa.[16]

According to an Arab newspaper, Al-Hayat, most Lebanese, in fact, had never heard or read about the Farms, even in their national school curricula.[17] "The issue over these farms was created to justify resistance operations from Lebanon after the UN had created the Blue Line following Israel's withdrawal from Lebanon. The Shebaa farms were placed inside Syrian territory. It should be noted that Syria, which claims that the farms are Lebanese, has not presented a single document to the UN to prove it. More than that, Syria refuses to demarcate its borders with Lebanon."[18]

[edit] Syrian position

Syria has at times supported Lebanon's claim that the Shebaa Farms are part of Lebanon and not Syrian territory at the UN and in official government press releases. But at times it has made contrary statements.

In August 1972, Syrian president Hafez al-Assad said, "Syria and Lebanon are a single country."[19] Syria does not maintain an embassy in Beirut, which would indicate recognition of Lebanese independence.[19] Similarly, a professor of political science at the Hebrew University, Daniel Pipes (Editor of Middle East Quarterly),[19] and others have written about Syria's failure to establish diplomatic relations with Lebanon. In addition, Lebanon does not appear as an independent state in maps in Syrian textbooks, but rather as part of Greater Syria.[20][21][22][23][24][25][26]

The Shebaa Farms also appear as part of Syria on the large-scale map on the Syrian Ministry of Tourism's website.[27]

In 2002 Israeli officials noted that Syria treated the area as its own over the years. They pointed to the fact, for example, that a Syrian census in 1960 included the residents of the Farms.

On May 16, 2000, the Syrian Foreign Minister, Farouq al-Shara, indicated to Annan in a telephone conversation that Syria supported Lebanon's claim.[28] This was made public in the UN Press Release SC/6878 of 18 June 2000 which stated "Concerning the Shab'a farmlands, both Lebanon and Syria state that this land belongs to Lebanon."[3]

Support for the Lebanese claim was reiterated in January 21, 2006, by the President of Syria in a speech before the convention of the Arab Lawyers Union in Damascus and translated into English by SANA, the official state news agency of Syria. President Bashar al-Assad stated that there are two legal requirements for demarcating the border: first, the complaint must be registered with the UN; and second, engineers must precisely define the border. As neither Syria nor Lebanon have access to the area, Assad argues that resolution is waiting on Israeli withdrawal from the occupied territory.[29] Nevertheless, so far Israel has not idicated that it would refuse to allow an official Lebanese, Syrian or international contingent to enter the Shebaa Farms territory in order to demarcate the border, were an official request to do so be made at some point.

On August 15, 2006, however, Syria said it would not object to the deployment in Shebaa of UNIFIL soldiers, but would not allow the Lebanese Army to patrol or set up positions there.[citation needed]

In an interview with Assad reported by SANA on August 24, 2006, Assad flatly refused demarcation of the Syrian/Lebanese border near Shebaa Farms before a withdrawal of Israeli troops.[30]

[edit] UN position

The United Nations agreed with Israel that the area is not covered by United Nations UN Security Council Resolution 425, which governed the withdrawal from Lebanon, inasmuch as the Farms are not Lebanese territory, and the UN certified Israel's pullout.[3] At the same time the UN noted that its decision was "without prejudice to future border agreements between the Member States concerned," referring to Israel, Syria, and Lebanon.

The UN stated: "On 15 May 2000, the United Nations received a map, dated 1966, from the Government of Lebanon which reflected the Government's position that these farmlands were located in Lebanon. However, the United Nations is in possession of 10 other maps issued after 1966 by various Lebanese government institutions, including the Ministry of Defense and the army, all of which place the farmlands inside the Syrian Arab Republic. The United Nations has also examined six maps issued by the Government of the Syrian Arab Republic, including three maps since 1966, which place the farmlands inside the Syrian Arab Republic."[28]

In a June 18, 2000 statement, the Security Council noted that Israel and Lebanon had confirmed to the Secretary General, that identification of the withdrawal line was solely the responsibility of the UN and that both sides would respect the line as identified. Moreover, the Security Council took note, "with serious concern," of reports of violations - by Hezbollah[31] - that had occurred since June 16, 2000, and called upon the parties to respect the line drawn by the United Nations.

On a fact-finding visit to the region, Terje Rød-Larsen, the UN special envoy to the Middle East, noted that the 1923 Anglo-French demarcation and the 1949 Armistice line clearly designated the area as Syrian territory.[16]

UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, in remarks to the press with U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell, Foreign Minister of Spain Josep Pique, Foreign Minister of Russia Igor Ivanov, and European Union Senior Official Javier Solana in Madrid, Spain, on April 10, 2002, said: "With reference to the disturbances along the Blue Line emanating from Lebanese territory, I call on the Government of Lebanon and all relevant parties to condemn and prevent such violations. The Security Council itself confirmed in June 2000 that Israel had withdrawn from southern Lebanon in compliance with UN Security Council resolutions 425 and 426. Attacks at any point along the Blue Line, including in the Shebaa Farms area in the occupied Golan Heights, are violations of Security Council resolutions. Respect for decisions of the Security Council is the most basic requirement of international legitimacy."

More recently, the January 20, 2005 UN Secretary-General's report on Lebanon stated rather emphatically: "The continually asserted position of the Government of Lebanon that the Blue Line is not valid in the Shab'a farms area is not compatible with Security Council resolutions. The Council has recognized the Blue Line as valid for purposes of confirming Israel’s withdrawal pursuant to resolution 425 (1978). The Government of Lebanon should heed the Council’s repeated calls for the parties to respect the Blue Line in its entirety."[32]

The BBC quoted Timur Goskel, a spokesman for the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) as saying that "no-one disputed that the village of Shebaa itself was in Lebanon, but most of the farms fell into an undefined area that may be either in Lebanon or Syria" and although the UN was not a "boundary marking authority [...] on all maps the UN has been able to find, the farms are seen on the Syrian side [of the border]."[33]

On May 19, 2005, an off-the-record discussion with an unnamed senior diplomat from an unidentified country at the Washington DC-based Brookings Institution luncheon reported that: "in drawing the 'Blue Line' in 2000, the United Nations looked at more than ninety different maps of the region. Only one of them — which was deemed a forgery — showed the Shebaa Farms as Lebanese."[34]

[edit] Israeli position

Israel's position emphasises that the area is not covered by UN Security Council Resolution 425, which governed Israel's withdrawal from Lebanon, stating that the Farms were not Lebanese territory. In support of that view, Israel points to the fact that the UN certified Israel's pullout from Lebanon as having been completed.[3] Israel is of the view that the land was Syrian at the time that Israel conquered it during the Six Day War. Israel alleges that this new dispute raised by Hezbollah is a further excuse to continue violent actions, and even if Israel withdrew from Har Dov then Hezbollah would find a new "disputed area".

[edit] US position

Along similar lines, John Bolton, the United States Ambassador to the United Nations, said on April 26, 2006: "I think the overwhelming preponderance of the evidence is that Shebaa Farms is Syrian territory."[35]

Nancy Soderberg, the former United States Ambassador to the United Nations, made a similar observation on July 21, 2006. She wrote that: "When it was clear the Israelis were going to withdraw fully from Lebanon, Syrian and Lebanese officials fabricated the fiction that this small, sparsely populated area was part of Lebanon. They even produced a crudely fabricated map to back up the dubious claim. I and United Nations officials went into the map room in the United Nations and looked at all the maps of the region in the files for decades. All showed the Shebaa Farms clearly in Syria."[36]

[edit] Other reactions

The Arab League backed Lebanon's claim with a communique issued at Arab League's 13th session in 2001, asking for "complete Israeli withdrawal from all occupied Palestinian territory, including Jerusalem, from the occupied Syrian Golan Heights to the line of 4 June 1967 and from the remaining occupied Lebanese territory up to the internationally recognized borders, including the Shab`a farmlands".[37]

In 2002, a fellow from the Harry S. Truman Research Instititute at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Dr. Asher Kaufman, came across documents in French government archives while researching the issue. In one, French litigants in a private dispute, and their arbitrators, entered into a private commercial agreement that suggested that the border should put the Farms in Lebanon. Two other documents, from 1937 and 1939, were reports from the administrative councillor of south Lebanon and the head of the Services Speciaux in the Syrian town of Quneitra. They noted a discrepancy between the border, as determined by the 1:200,000 Ottoman map, and their view of the "reality" in the region. Collecting "unofficial information" from "various sources," they concluded that in their view the area was Lebanese. Their conclusion, however, was based on the facts that: a) some area residents paid taxes to Lebanon; and b) 3 or 4 sheep pens in the Farms belonged to residents of the Lebanese village of Shaba. After Kaufman published his findings, an editorial in the Lebanese newspaper "the Daily Star" chided the Lebanese academic community, indicating that it was embarrassing that the discovery had been left to an Israeli researcher.[38]

Former US president Jimmy Carter suggested in the Washington Post on August 1, 2006, that: "Israel should withdraw from all Lebanese territory, including Shebaa Farms."[39]

Former Vice President of Syria Abdel-Halim Khaddam, in an interview with the Lebanese Future Television on August 27, 2006, speaking of Syria's most recent comments regarding Shebaa Farms, said: "Saying that the farms are occupied, and hence cannot be demarcated, is nothing but a pretext. The demarcation would not take more than an hour if there was a political will."[40]

[edit] Miscellaneous

  • Israelis refer to the northern, higher part of the area as Har Dov (Mount Dov) named after Captain Dov Rodberg of the IDF who was killed there in 1970).[41] Lebanese press and officials often refer to this area, just southeast of the Lebanese village of Kafr Shuba, as the Kafr Shuba Hills. This area on old maps is also labelled as Jebal ar Ru'us Jebel Rous or Jabel Rous.[42]
  • Marah El-Malol مراح الملول
  • Brachta برختــا
  • Kafr Dorah كفـر دورة
  • El-Borak House (Beet El-Borak) بيت البـراق
  • El-Rabia الربعـة
  • Al-Mashhaad المشهـد
  • Rmta رمتـا
  • Kfooh قفـوة
  • Zobideen زبيدين
  • Kelat Kazalah خلـة غـزالة
  • Al-Karn القـرن
  • Fashkool فشكول
  • Al-Moieaz المعـز
  • Bastrah بسـطرة (added on 1992)

[edit] References

  1. ^ The Legal Status of the Shabaa Farms. Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs (2002-04-08). Retrieved on 2006-08-08.
  2. ^ Golan Heights Law. Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs (1981-12-14). Retrieved on 2006-08-16.
  3. ^ a b c d e Security council endorses secretary-genereal's conclusion on Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon as of 16 June. United Nations Security Council (2000-06-18). Retrieved on 2006-09-29.
  4. ^ Kaufman, Asher (2004). "Understanding the Sheeba Farms dispute". Palestine-Israel Journal 11 (1). Retrieved on 2006-07-22. 
  5. ^ "Beyrouth" 1:200,000 sheet NI36-XII available in the U.S. Library of Congress and French archives.
  6. ^ a b c Kaufman, Asher (Autumn 2002). "Who owns the Shebaa Farms? Chronicle of a territorial dispute". Middle East Journal 56 (4): 576–596. 
  7. ^ Nasser, Cilina. "The key to Shebaa", Al Jazeera, 25 April 2005. Retrieved on 2006-07-23.
  8. ^ Resolution 242 (1967) of 22 November 1967. United Nations Security Council (1967-11-22). Retrieved on 2006-09-29.
  9. ^ Resolution 338 (1973) of 22 October 1973. United Nations Security Council (1973-10-22). Retrieved on 2006-09-29.
  10. ^ Bard, Mitchell G (2006-03-13). Myths and Facts: A Guide to the Arab-Israeli Conflict (PDF), 3rd edition, American-Israeli Cooperative Enterprise. ISBN 0-9712945-4-2. 
  11. ^ Resolution 425 (1978) of 19 March 1978. United Nations Security Council (1978-03-19). Retrieved on 2006-09-29.
  12. ^ United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan (2000-06-16). "Report of the Secretary-General on the implementation of Security Council resolutions 425 (1978) and 426 (1978)". S/2000/590. United Nations Security Council. Retrieved on 2006-07-23.
  13. ^ "Shebaa farmers view Hezbollah as their savior", islamonline.com, 2006-05-27. Retrieved on 2006-07-23.
  14. ^ Waked, All. "Lebanese leader: Mount Dov not ours", Ynetnews, 2005-03-15. Retrieved on 2006-09-29.
  15. ^ Wright, Jonathan. "News analysis: Hezbollah seen surviving UN troop expansion", The Gazette, 2006-08-29. Retrieved on 2006-09-29.
  16. ^ a b Gambill, Gary C (May 2001). "Syria and the Shebaa Farms Dispute". Middle East Intelligence Bulletin (Vol. 3, No. 5). Retrieved on 2006-09-29. 
  17. ^ Haydar, Hassan. "Persian Borders", Dar Al Hayat, 2006-08-10. Retrieved on 2006-09-29.
  18. ^ Dergham, Raghida. "Only Constructive Negotiations Can Bring about a Ceasefire", Dar Al Hayat, 2006-07-28. Retrieved on 2006-09-29.
  19. ^ a b c Rubin, Michael. Lebanon's Tenuous Transformation. Middle East Form. Retrieved on 2006-08-11.
  20. ^ Rabinovich, Abraham. Disputed farms suggested as key to peace. The Washington Times. Retrieved on 2006-08-11.
  21. ^ "Chapter V: The portrayal of Israel and Israelis", Jews, Zionism and Israel in Syrian Textbooks. Center for Monitoring the Impact of Peace. Retrieved on 2006-09-29. 
  22. ^ Pipes, Daniel [1992-05-26]. "Introduction: A Neglected Topic", Greater Syria: The History of an Ambition. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-506022-9. Retrieved on 2006-09-29. 
  23. ^ Rabinovich, Abraham. "Seeds of peace in ceding farms", The Australian, 2006-07-29. Retrieved on 2006-09-29.
  24. ^ Rabinovich, Abraham. "Disputed farms suggested as key to peace", The Washington Times, 2006-07-31. Retrieved on 2006-09-29.
  25. ^ Stahl, Julie. "'Real American Pressure' Still Needed on Damascus", Cybercast News Service, 2005-02-25. Retrieved on 2006-09-29.
  26. ^ Butcher, Tim. "People power brings down Lebanese government", The Daily Telegraph, 2005-03-01. Retrieved on 2006-09-29.
  27. ^ Syrian Ministry of Tourism's Map of Syria. Retrieved on 2006-08-09.
  28. ^ a b United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan (2000-05-22). "Report of the Secretary-General on the implementation of Security Council resolutions 425 (1978) and 426 (1978)". S/2000/460. United Nations Security Council. Retrieved on 2006-08-08.
  29. ^ al-Assad, Bashar (2006-01-21). President Bashar Assad's speech before the annual convention of the Arab Lawyers Union, Damascus. Campaign for Good Governance in Lebanon. Retrieved on 2006-09-29.
  30. ^ "President Bashar al-Assad Gives an interview to Dubai Satellite TV. Channel", Syrian Arab News Agency, 2006-08-24. Retrieved on 2006-09-29.
  31. ^ Statement by the President of the Security Council. United Nations Security Council (2000-06-18). Retrieved on 2006-09-29.
  32. ^ Security Council condemns violence along blue line between Israel and Lebanon, extends mandate of UNIFIL until 31 July. United Nations Security Council (2005-01-28). Retrieved on 2006-09-29.
  33. ^ "In focus: Shebaa farms", BBC News, 2000-05-25. Retrieved on 2006-09-29.
  34. ^ Freeing Lebanon. Saban Center for Middle East Policy (2005-05-19). Retrieved on 2006-09-29.
  35. ^ Bolton, John R. Interview. "Remarks on UN Reform, Lebanon and Sudan.", New York. 2006-04-26. |Error on call to Template:Cite interview: Parameter subject (or last) must be specified }}
  36. ^ Soderberg, Nancy. "U.S. must use influence to cool tensions in volatile Middle East", The Florida Times-Union, 2006-07-21. Retrieved on 2006-09-29.
  37. ^ Letter dated 6 April 2001 from the Permanent Representative of Jordan to the United Nations addressed to the Secretary-General. United Nations Security Council (2001-04-10). Retrieved on 2006-09-29.
  38. ^ Pearlman, Jonathan. "Long-forgotten papers may offer a new road map for peace", The Age, 2006-08-03. Retrieved on 2006-09-29.
  39. ^ Carter, Jimmy. "Stop the Band-Aid Treatment", Washington Post, 2006-08-01. Retrieved on 2006-09-29.
  40. ^ "Khaddam reiterates charge that Damascus killed Hariri", The Daily Star (Lebanon), 2006-08-29. Retrieved on 2006-09-29.
  41. ^ Erlich, Reuven (2006-08-09). "Raising the issue of the Sheba’a Farms in the proposed American-French Security Council draft resolution for ending the fighting: background information and significance": 7. Retrieved on 2006-09-29. 
  42. ^ Jebel Rous, Syrian Arab Republic. EarthSearch.net. Retrieved on 2006-09-29.

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