"I do not believe that the Shabaa Farms fall under Lebanese sovereignty."

"I will return and stress this point of disagreement (at the dialogue meeting) and let the decisions be reached by a majority vote, not a consensus," he said.

"We do not want a new Fatah-land, Iran-land or Syria-land in the Shabaa Farms," Jumblatt said.

"Lets wait to discuss this matter on Monday calmly and I call on Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and Speaker Nabih Berri to work out a gentlemen's agreement," he added.

Last month, the Druze leader said a Lebanese army map dating back to 1962 showed the farms outside Lebanon's border.

He said that the Syrian-Lebanese security apparatuses had altered the map by pushing the borderline to include the Shabaa Farms into the Lebanese territory. By doing so, the security apparatuses had given a reason for Hezbollah to continue its military activity against Israeli troops supposedly occupying Lebanese land, according to Jumblatt.

Jumblatt is near the end of his week long trip to the United States, and has met with US officials including Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in an attempt to seek their support to Lebanon against Syria.

In response to a question, the prominent anti-Syrian politician said he was not ashamed of an American support to his positions regarding contentious issues in Lebanon.

Annan endorses roundtable talks, urges Jumblatt to lead

U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan has called on Jumblatt to play a positive and leading role at a national dialogue meeting among Lebanon's top rival leaders, when the two met on Wednesday. A U.N. spokesman said that Annan asked the March 14 leader to relay a message of support to the participants of the large-scale conference held to discuss the country's most contentious issues.

Nasrallah briefs Assad on roundtable?

Meanwhile, Jumblattt ally MP Akram Shehayeb accused Hezbollah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah of meeting with Syrian president Bashar Assad directly after the National Roundtable talks adjourned. Hezbollah MP Hussein Hajj Hassan vehemently denied that such a meeting took place, and voiced his displeasure with Jumblattt’s trip to the U.S.

"Jumblatt could have postponed his trip, because Lebanon is more important than America," said Hajj Hassan.

International tribunal for Hariri killers to be lead by U.N.

Telecommunications Minister Marwan Hamadeh confirmed that the United Nations will help in setting up an international tribunal to try the suspected killers of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, who was killed in a massive bombing on Feb. 14, 2005 in Beirut.

Hamadeh said that senior Lebanese Judges have agreed with UN legal advisor Nicholas Michel that the trial will take place outside Lebanon. The head of the tribunal will not be a Lebanese Judge but there will be a significant Lebanese presence among the judges looking into the assassination.

Hamadeh, who has accompanied Jumblatt to the United States, said that Michel and the Lebanese judges have decided to put the death penalty aside.

Hariri and at least 20 others were killed on February 14, 2005, by a bomb blast in Beirut that Mehlis has said "could not have been taken without the approval of top-ranked Syrian security officials," in collusion with their Lebanese counterparts.

More recently, defected former Vice President of Syria Abdul Halim Khaddam, pointed the finger directly at Assad, clarifying his claims regarding the Hariri murder and said: "Bashar Assad is the one who killed Hariri with cooperation of Lebanese nationals who despised Hariri".

Lahoud is unconstitutional

Jumblatt, who is part of the anti-Syrian opposition trying to oust Emile Lahoud, said Security Council resolution 1559 adopted in September 2004 aimed called for free and fair presidential elections under a constitution drafted without foreign interference. But hours after it was approved, Lebanon's Parliament changed the constitution to give Lahoud a second term.

"Lahoud, according to 1559, is unconstitutional," Jumblatt told a news conference at the UN Correspondents Association. "So when I'll go back to Lebanon, I have to consult with my allies and to see how to fulfill one day - I hope the sooner the better - a new candidate according to free elections, free presidential elections, not imposed by the Syrians."

Sources: Ya Libnan, AP, Reuters, Naharnet