Lebanese president for a just, durable peace

President Emile Lahoud of Lebanon has asserted that a just and comprehensive peace in the Middle East will not be attainable unless talks are resumed from the point where they broke off in 1996 and on the ground of principles agreed upon in the Madrid Conference.

In a speech he delivered on Sunday at the Francophonic conference currently being held in Canada, the Lebanese president said the conditions for peace are an immediate and unconditional Israeli withdrawal from all occupied Lebanese territories in accordance with UN resolution 425, Israel's withdrawal from all occupied Arab territories from the whole Golan to the June 4, 1967 border lines and the recognition of the rights of the Palestinian people to self-determination, establishing their own state and solving the issue of the Palestinian refugees.

The Lebanese president reiterated his warning against the dangers that will result from projects such as resettling the Palestinians in Lebanon.

On Saturday night, the Lebanese president and his French counterpart, Jacques Chirac, stressed the importance of giving priority to the Syrian and Lebanese peace tracks.

AFP said this was expressed by the two presidents in their meeting in Moncton, Canada on the sideline of the Francophonic summit.