BEIRUT: President Michel Sleiman has warned those negotiating the Israeli-Palestinian peace talks that his country will not accept a deal which compromises Lebanese priorities, raising the specter of wider Arab obstinacy towards negotiations. During a speech at the United Nations in New York Thursday night, Sleiman hinted at the troublesome issue of Palestinian refugees in Lebanon. “Lebanon will not accept any solution to the Middle East if it contradicts its supreme national interests,” he told the Security Council. “Lebanon is still looking forward to a just and comprehensive peace in the Middle East on all tracks on the basis of the Madrid Conference and. resolutions of international legitimacy and the Arab Peace Initiative.” Lebanon currently has more than 400,000 Palestinian refugees registered with the UN Relief Works Agency (UNRWA) and Sleiman has said before that their naturalization will not be considered. Many thousands inhabit camps across the country, excluded from Lebanese society and barred from all but the most menial jobs. Israeli-Palestinian talks, mediated by United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, are under increased scrutiny as the shadow of September 26 – the day on which the temporary moratorium on Israeli West Bank settlement building is due to expire – looms ever larger. But Lebanon's insistence that refugees be granted a right to return could signal longer-term problems with Arab-Israeli peace, with countries such as Syria and Iraq still housing several thousand Palestinians. Several militant Palestinian groups, including the Al-Qaeda inspired Fatah al-Islam, operate in and out of camps within Lebanon. Fighting between Fatah al-Islam and the Lebanese Army killed more than 160 soldiers and 220 insurgents during clashes at the northern Palestinian camp of Nahr al-Bared in 2007. The violence saw thousands of civilians lose their homes as 95 percent of camp buildings were razed. The UN has repeatedly called for the disarmament of violent Palestinian factions within Lebanon. Sleiman also asked the Security Council to put an end to Israeli violations of Resolution 1701, which was drafted to end the July 2006 War and stipulates Lebanese sovereign territory not be breached. “Israel's constant threats against Lebanon and planting spy networks require a firm and a deterrent stance from the international community,” the President said. He is due to meet with Barack Obama in the coming days.
