The morass of Lebanese politics and nationhood is looking somewhat brighter. A calm election has passed, a government is being formed by Saad Hariri at the head of the March 14 Alliance, and the borders may finally be delineated with Syria, and thus Israel. The last outstanding piece of the Israeli-Lebanese border yet to be demarcated is the Shaba farms area strattling Israel, Lebanon and the Golan Heights. Drawing the borders of Lebanon can only help set the table for an eventual engagement between Israel, Lebanon and Syria. In Haaretz:
Lebanese sources said recently that they expected Syria to agree to mark the border in an effort to win favor with both the United States and Egypt; Lebanon engaged in a diplomatic confrontation with the latter during Israel’s operation in Gaza earlier this year.
The border delineation may occur after a new American ambassador is appointed to Syria. One of the leading candidates for the post is Daniel Kurtzer, a former U.S. ambassador to Israel.
Talks over the border issue began before the June 7 election in Lebanon, when acting U.S. assistant secretary of state Jeffrey Feltman and Daniel Shapiro, a Middle East expert with the National Security Council, presented the request to Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Moallem. Moallem rejected the request, telling them, “Until the Farms are liberated from Israeli occupation, we won’t mark the border.”
Nonetheless, Moallem seems to have changed his position in recent days, announcing that the border mapping would begin in two months, but that demarcation would begin at Syria’s northern frontier.
Meanwhile, Syria is also feeling pressure from Saudi Arabia, as King Abdullah has begun reaching out to Damascus after long-strained relations. Reports from Saudi Arabia indicate Abdullah is scheduled to travel to Damascus on Monday, and may convene a limited summit of Saudi, Syrian, Lebanese and Egyptian officials in the Egyptian resort town of Sharm el-Sheikh.
interesting material, where such topics do you find? I will often go