UN Special Coordinator for Lebanon Michael Williams said that he would visit Syria in January 2009 to continue talks on the implementation of UNSCR 1701. Williams said there was no official indication that proved that Syria was implicated in the flow of weapons into Lebanon. He added that it was crucial to delineate borders between the two countries in order to stop smuggling.

In an interview with LBC on Thursday, Williams said that the UN had continuously demanded that Israel stop violating Lebanese air space. He said the situation in the South had improved in the last two years due to many efforts. Moving from a cessation of military operations to cease-fire would not be very easy, Williams said.

Williams said that Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Mouallem assured him that Shebaa Farms was Lebanese, and that UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon had sent a letter to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad asking him for the documents to prove it. However, he said, he was disappointed that Syria had yet to respond.

Williams said that there was progress on the al-Ghajar village issue after UNIFIL Commander General Claudio Graziano presented a plan that the Lebanese cabinet agreed on. Williams said that he was heading to Israel in the coming few days to continue negotiations on the matter.

-NOW Staff