WHAT DOES LEBANON HAVE TO DO WITH HEZBOLLAHSTAN?:

Israel Offers to Talk Peace With Lebanon (ETHAN BRONNER and ROBERT F. WORTH, 6/17/08, NY Times)

Israel offered on Wednesday to start direct peace talks with Lebanon... [...]

Israel is also very close to a prisoner swap with Hezbollah, the Lebanese guerrilla group that it fought a war against two years ago.

The disputed piece of land that will be under negotiation is known as the Shabaa Farms . When Israel withdrew from the occupation of southern Lebanon in 2000, the United Nations Security Council stated that the withdrawal was complete despite its holding onto the disputed area of land because Shabaa, the United Nations said, was part of the Syrian Golan Heights occupied by Israel.

But Lebanon and Hezbollah say the land is Lebanese and Syria has not contradicted them. Moreover, Hezbollah has used the Israeli hold over Shabaa as a pretext for keeping its men under arms despite United Nations resolutions calling for the disarming of all Lebanese militias.

Hezbollah says that as long as part of the Lebanese homeland is occupied, it needs its weapons because the national army is weak.

But the West, especially the United States and France, wants to reduce the power of Hezbollah, a client of both Syria and Iran, and has been looking for ways to strengthen the pro-Western government of Lebanon. On her visits to Jerusalem and Beirut earlier this week, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice spoke to both the Israeli and Lebanese governments about Washington’s desire to find a solution to the land dispute as a catalyst to solving bigger issues in the region, including strengthening the Beirut government of Prime Minister Fouad Siniora, a senior Israeli official said, and Mr. Olmert agreed to this.

Hezbollah made no immediate official statement on Wednesday. However, Al Manar television, which is run by Hezbollah, said "the real target behind Rice’s position on Shabaa Farms is the resistance’s weapons."

Next month, United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon is due to brief the Security Council on the implementation of Resolution 1701, which ended the 2006 war between Israel and Hezbollah. In that report, it is likely that he will announce a revised or clarified stand on the sovereignty of Shebaa.

For Israel, the main concern in Lebanon is Hezbollah’s increasing power. Israeli military officials say that Hezbollah has far more rockets and far deadlier ones today than it did two years ago when the two fought a month-long war after Hezbollah guerrillas crossed the border to kidnap and kill Israeli soldiers.

It is unclear whether Shebaa and Hezbollah have been discussed by Israeli and Syrian officials negotiating in their talks, which are being mediated by Turkey. But the Israelis and Syrians say their latest round of talks went well and there is now the possibility that Mr. Olmert and Syria’s president, Bashar al-Assad, will find themselves at a table together in France next month. Both men have accepted an invitation to a regional conference there on July 13 on immigration, security and the environment, and French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner has said they will be seated at the same table.

In the past, the Lebanese government has consistently ruled out negotiations with Israel.

It's a waste of time talking to anyone other than Hezbollah, which represents South Lebanon.

Posted by Orrin Judd at June 18, 2008 7:59 AM