Lebanese PM says no interest in Israel peace talks

BEIRUT-Lebanon's Western-backed Prime Minister Fuad Siniora said his country has no interest in holding peace talks with neighbouring Israel at the moment."I see no interest for us right now to discuss direct negotiations or indirect negotiations with Israel," Siniora said in an interview with the Lebanese Broadcasting Corporation broadcast on Wednesday."No one has challenged our claim of authority and ownership of the land that Israel occupies. So we see it as premature to take a decision in this regard as yet," he added.Israel withrew from south Lebanon in 2000 after more than two decades of occupation, but Lebanon claims it is still occupying land on the border, including Shebaa Farms, a mountainous sliver of land rich in water resources.Lebanon's former power broker Syria began Turkish-mediated indirect peace talks with Israel in May, eight years after the previous negotiations broke down over the fate of the strategic Golan Heights plateau. However, the talks have been suspended since Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert announced in July that he would step down.On Monday, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said his country would eventually embark on direct peace talks with Israel, but that they must be based on UN Security Council resolutions."We are closely following what the Syrian Arab Republic is undertaking, but that is the decision of the Syrian Arab Republic... we in Lebanon have to look at our situation very carefully," Siniora said."We always have said it is in Lebanon's interest to be the last country to enter into a peace process (with Israel)," he added.Siniora also welcomed the imminent opening of the first-ever Syrian embassy in Beirut after the two countries agreed to reestablish ties for the first time since independence 60 years ago."It is a very important and fundamental step that lays the groundwork for other steps," the Lebanese premier said. Relations between the two neighbours have been tense since 2005 when Syria was forced to withdraw from its tiny neighbour after an almost 30-year military presence in the aftermath of the killing of former Lebanese premier Rafiq Hariri.Syria is still believed to wield considerable political power in Lebanon through its local allies.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20081225/wl_mideast_afp/mideastconflictlebanondiplomacy_081225115006

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