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Gemayel calls for indirect border talks with Israel

Society Materials 29 August 2009 11:44 (UTC +04:00)

Phalange Party leader Amin Gemayel has called for indirect negotiations with Israel to settle the issue of the disputed border between the two countries. Speaking at San Paolo University in Brazil this week, Gemayel stressed that the indirect negotiations would be temporary arrangements to implement the 1949 armistice agreement which was approved in the Taif Accord, rather than peace negotiations, The Daily Star reported.

However, Gemayel stressed that US President Barack Obama's election led to renewed hope in an Israeli-Arab dialogue, since the Israeli government sensed international pressure with regard to its policy on settlements.

Sejaan Azzi, a member of the Phalange's politburo, told The Daily Star that the indirect negotiations could be mediated by the UN or a third party, since Security Council Resolution 1701 called for the demarcation of the Israeli-Lebanese border.

Azzi stressed that indirect negotiations over the demarcation of the border differed from peace negotiations, since the latter necessitated a solution for the Palestinian refugees' right of return.

"Since any peace talks require a solution to the Palestinian refugees' naturalization issue, Gemayel called only for indirect negotiations on the border demarcation and 1949 armistice, rather than peace," Azzi said.

Azzi argued that Gemayel's proposal was in line with demands by several Lebanese parties, particularly Hizbullah, because the party supported the restoration of Lebanese sovereignty over the Shebaa Farms, Kfar Shouba Hills, and the village of Ghajar.

"We urge the resolution of the issue of occupied Lebanese territories which is a demand by all Lebanese groups, but through diplomatic means rather than military resistance, in accordance with Security Council Resolution 1701," Azzi said.

He added that "the Phalange proposal was in line with President Michel Sleiman's declaration on the occasion of Army Day [August 1], when the latter said that the army's deployment in south Lebanon opened the door for diplomatic solutions over the situation in the south."

In a swift response to the former president's proposal, Marjayoun-Hasbaya MP Qassem Hashem said "Gemayel's nostalgia for negotiations has returned to the hero of the May 17, 1983, agreement [peace treaty with Israel]."

"Shebaa Farms and Ghajar do not need negotiations, but rather the implementation of international resolutions," said Qassem, a Baath Party official.

Qassem added that such proposals, at a time in which the country was facing challenges and threats as well as a political deadlock, would not benefit Lebanon's interests, and said that he feared Gemayel's suggestion was a follow-up to peace calls with Israel.

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