ARABS-UN - July 25 - Syria Says Golan Town Must Not Be Divided.

The Syrian foreign ministry says Syria has asked the UN to take control of Ghadjar, a partitioned town near the Golan Heights, rather than giving part to Lebanon and leaving the rest under Israeli occupation. (Ghajar, on the edge of the Golan seized from Syria by Israel in the 1967 war, has been cut in 2 by the frontier drawn by the UN to determine whether Israel has ended its occupation of Lebanon following its troop pullout in May.)

A ministry spokesman says FM Shara had stressed during a phone call with UN Secretary-Gen. Annan, on July 24, that Ghajar was a Syrian town. The spokesman says: "Mr. Shara stressed the necessity of avoiding the partition of the Syrian town of Ghajar. He told Annan the UN, represented by its UNIFIL and UNDOF forces, should shoulder its full responsibilities to ensure the unity of the town and its people far from the Israeli forces", adding: "The UN chief expressed support for this humanitarian request and promised to exert his goodwill efforts to keep the town undivided and under the control of the UN peacekeeping forces until the implementation of UN resolutions 242 and 338 calling for Israeli withdrawal from the Golan Heights to the (pre-war) June 4, 1967 line".