Israel says it could discuss disputed Shebaa Farms

JERUSALEM, Sep 8 (Reuters) Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said Israel would be willing to discuss the status of the disputed Shebaa Farms if Lebanon disarms the Hizbollah guerrilla group, Israeli media reported today.

The Haaretz newspaper said Olmert made the comments about the Shebaa Farms to visiting Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov yesterday.

The Shebaa Farms is a small patch of land claimed by Lebanon, but occupied by Israel since it captured the Golan Heights from Syria in the 1967 Middle East war.

The United Nations deems the territory Syrian until such time as Syria cedes it to Lebanon.

''If it is decided that the area is Lebanese, not Syrian as the UN secretary general said in the past, and if Lebanon implements resolutions 1559 and 1701 fully, including disarming Hizbollah, we'll agree to discuss it,'' Haaretz quoted Olmert as saying.

UN Resolution 1701 governs the August 14 ceasefire that ended 34 days of war between Israel and Hizbollah, sparked when the guerrillas abducted two Israeli soldiers in a cross-border raid. It contains no explicit call for Hizbollah to disarm.

The other UN resolution, adopted in 2004, called on all Lebanese militias to be disbanded and disarmed. Hizbollah has said it would not give up its weapons.

Reuters PB VV1221