London proposes arbitration on Shabaa Farms issue

The British minister of state for the Middle East affairs, Kim Hawalz, on Thursday called for bringing the issue of Shabaa Farms, which is occupied by Israel, to international arbitration.

He said in a statement to the Arabia satellite TV "I think this case should be brought before international arbitration and even the UN," adding "I am careful to have a sort of civilized international arbitration and discussions over it. I am confident that this is not a main problem and it can be solved."

Hawalz announced that he talked on Wednesday about this issue with the Lebanese foreign minister Fawzi Salloukh who explained to him the large implications about this to the region.

Hawalz quoted Salloukh as saying "when the Israelis occupied it (Shabaa farms) they were thinking it was a Syrian territory" and that the Lebanese minister confirmed "these are Lebanese lands and simply the Syrians were used to renting it (from the Lebanese)."