Hizbullah "will not disarm even if the Israelis withdraw from Shebaa Farms," the party's political bureau member Ghaleb Abu Zeinab said Monday. Abu Zeinab said: "Shebaa Farms do not define the resistance's arms. Even if Shebaa Farms are liberated, Hizbullah's arms are here to protect Lebanon from any Israeli attack and create a balance of terror in the face of Israel." He added: "This matter will be discussed between all Lebanese parties to find the best solution for it. Hizbullah feels that it is a national matter that has to be agreed upon between the Lebanese themselves."Abu Zeinab said Hizbullah constitutes a line of protection for Lebanon, along with the Lebanese Army and the state. On Monday, Shebaa mayor Omar Zouheiri and Hasbaya's mukhtar asserted that Shebaa Farms are Lebanese, in response to comments by UN envoy Terje Roed-Larsen Sunday. Larsen had said from Damascus Sunday that the UN regarded the disputed land as Syrian territory, while Syrian Foreign Minister Farouk Sharaa had no comment. Larsen added: "This issue has been behind us for five years now, and it was decided and resolved by the UN Security Council five years ago in a unanimous decision. I have nothing further to comment on."
Zouheiri said: "Larsen's statement doesn't have any certified basis ... Shebaa Farms are Lebanese because the Israelis didn't occupy it in 1967 as they say, but occupied it in 1985. The owners of the farms still have their deeds to the lands." He added: "There are also Lebanese judiciary rulings as to the ownership of these lands between some Lebanese citizens which date back to Nov. 30, 1944."