UNITED NATIONS, April 21 (UPI) -- Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora says he has asked the United Nations to help delineate his nation's disputed border in the Shaaba Farms area.
In a closed-door meeting at U.N. World Headquarters in New York Friday, Siniora requested U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan's assistance to define the disputed Shaaba Farms area of southern Lebanon, the premier told reporters after the meeting. He said the secretary-general promised U.N. legal advisors would undertake a study on the issue.
The roughly 16 square mile area adjacent to southeast Lebanon was first defined by the United Nations as Israeli-occupied Syrian territory but was claimed by the Lebanese.
Syria and Lebanon recently agreed it should be regarded as Israeli-occupied Lebanese territory when the border between Lebanon and Syria was demarcated.
The meeting between Annan and Siniora followed a U.N. Security Council meeting Friday in which Siniora outlined the latest developments in Lebanon.
He told members the "great historic transition the Lebanese people started a year ago is not yet complete," but said the country has made important progress towards sovereignty and full independence since neighboring Syria's military forces retreated from the nation last year.
Syrian Ambassador Milad Atieh told the council his country was willing to demarcate the border line of the Shaaba farms, saying that Syrian Prime Minister Mohammed Naji Otri had sent a letter to Siniora on the subject.
Siniora told reporters after the council session that Damascus "says verbally that it is Lebanese, but they are short of doing any other effort" to ensure the land becomes Lebanese.
