Sharaa: Damascus never claimed Shabaa Farms as Syrian

Syrian Vice President Farouq al-Sharaa told reporters Thursday that that the Syrian authorities "had never pretended" that the occupied Shabaa Farms belonged to Syria, following a meeting with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak at the Red Sea resort of Sharm al-Sheikh.

Lebanon has repeatedly asked Syria to provide the UN with written evidence to Lebanon's sovereignty over the Farms presently occupied by Israel.

Sharaa also denied his country was trying to impede the Lebanese internal dialogue, which he described as "a Lebanese matter," and reiterated that Syria had already implemented the relevant clauses of UN Security Council Resolution 1559.

Asked whether there would be meetings on the sidelines of the Arab Summit between Syria and Lebanon, Sharaa said "It would depend on who will head Lebanon's delegation since the Syrian president only meets with a president."

In his meeting with the Egyptian president, Sharaa handed Mubarak a letter from Syrian President Bashar al-Assad "regarding the latest developments in the region." The meeting was "completely not linked to Siniora's talks with the Egyptian president," the official Syrian news agency reported.

Sharaa was expected to travel on to Riyadh for talks with Saudi officials.