US to press Israel to quit Ghajar before Lebanese elections - reports

The Daily Star ^ | March 16, 2009 | Andrew Wander

[forkinsocket]

BEIRUT: Senior US diplomats are planning to persuade the Israeli government to pull troops out of Lebanese territory in the border village of Ghajar before parliamentary elections in June, media reports have said. Jeffrey Feltman, a state department official and former US ambassador to Lebanon, will try to convince the new Israeli government to withdraw from the village before Lebanon goes to the polls, according to a report in the Al-Balad daily.

The newspaper quotes diplomatic sources who describe the planned deal as a "gift to Premier Fouad Siniora" ahead of the polls, which are finely balanced between the March 14 majority and the March 8 opposition.

The US will hope that the withdrawal of Israeli troops from the northern part of the village, which lies on the border between Lebanon and the Golan Heights, will boost the March 14 camp in the polls.

But analysts say that any withdrawal from Lebanese territory would be beneficial to both political blocs, pointing out that both March 14 and March 8 are involved in governing the country at present and would share the political capital such a development would bring.

"I don't think it would have much of impact on the elections," said Paul Salem, from the Beirut-based Carnegie Middle East Center. "But it would give a boost to the government, of which March 8 is a part, and give the sense that there is momentum for different sides agreeing that there is a way to take things forward."

Ghajar has long been a point of contention between Israel and Lebanon. The village was seized by the Israelis in 1967, when they captured the Golan Heights. Over the years, it expanded into Lebanese territory and the control of the northern part was handed to Lebanon when Israel ended its occupation of Lebanon in 2000.

But in the summer war of 2006, Israeli troops again seized control of the northern part of the village and have refused to withdraw, although the UN has noted a willingness to discuss the issue.

In his latest report on the situation on the Israeli-Lebanese border, released earlier this month, UN chief Ban Ki-moon said there was "readiness to enter into technical discussions" on the presence of troops in the village from the Israelis.

The UN has repeatedly called for Israeli troops to withdraw from the Lebanese portion of the village, pointing out that their presence is in contravention of Resolution 1701, which ended the 2006 conflict, but their requests have not borne fruit.

Last week Michael Williams, the UN's special coordinator for Lebanon, said he hoped the formation of the new Israeli government would allow a breakthrough on the issue.

He also said he wanted the Israelis to solve another outstanding issue by handing over the coordinates of cluster-bomb strike sites during the conflict. The UN says the information would speed up the removal of the deadly explosives, which have killed dozens of Lebanese civilians since the conflict ended.

In a separate development, the Lebanese Army announced on Saturday that it had recovered 3.1 million square meters of land while marking the UN-brokered Blue Line, which serves as a functional border between Israel and Lebanon and was breached by the Jewish state is 2006. Some of the Blue Line runs through rugged terrain that has been deserted for decades, prompting the Lebanese Army and UNIFIL to begin the process of clearly marking the boundary to ensure that it was being respected.

"The committee has already marked nine points and will make 12 other markings, including rugged terrain which was reached for the first time since 1949," a Lebanese military statement said.

[forkinsocket]

.