Annan denies calling Sharon to withdraw from Shabaa farms

The UN was careful on Thursday to deny that the UN chief Kofi Annan had called on the Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon to withdraw from the occupied Shabaa farms, as stated by the Israeli Ma'ariv daily on Wednesday.

The spokesman for Annan, Stevan De Jarik, was asked on whether the UN chief and Sharon discussed during their meeting on the sideline of New York World Summit last week the question of withdrawal from Shabaa, he said "in the framework of a friendly and fruitful meeting with Sharon, the UN chief recalled the work achieved by the UN concerning the UN Security Council resolution 426, including defining the withdrawal line (from Lebanon, better known as the blue line)."

De Jarik added that Annan "indicated that Shabaa farms is still one of the issues that should be solved."

Replying to a question on whether an international arbitration should be carried out over Shabaa, De Jarik said that Annan and the UN Security Council explained in "the year 2000 that Israeli had fulfilled its obligations according to UN resolution 426 when it withdrew" from south Lebanon.