Bulgarian President Rumen Radev, left, stands next to the Lebanese President Michel Aoun as they review the honor guard and listen to their national anthems, at the presidential palace, in Baabda east of Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, April 9, 2019. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
April 09, 2019 - 5:54 AM
BEIRUT - Lebanon's president says U.S. recognition of Israeli sovereignty over the occupied Golan Heights undermines Lebanon's claim to disputed territory also annexed by Israel.
Michel Aoun spoke Tuesday during a press conference with visiting Bulgarian President Rumen Radev.
Arab countries unanimously rejected the recent U.S. recognition of Israeli control over the Golan, seized from Syria in 1967 and annexed in 1981, calling the Trump administration's policies unfairly biased toward Israel.
But for Lebanon, there are fears over its claim to the Chebaa Farms and adjacent Kfar Chouba hills, which Israel occupied alongside Golan in 1967.
Israel had occupied south Lebanon, but despite withdrawing in 2000, remained in these strategic areas. The U.N., which doesn't recognize Israel's sovereignty over Golan, has said Lebanon's claim is to be settled with the Golan's fate.
News from © The Associated Press, 2019