WLO reaction to negociations 
WLO ADDRESSES THE SYRO-ISRAELI DISCUSSIONS
1) SYRIAN WITHDRAWAL BASED ON UN RESOLUTION 520
2) LEBANESE CHRISTIAN DELEGATION TO THE PEACE TALKS
3) CONSULTING THE POPULATION OF SOUTH  Commenting on the announcement that Israelis and Syrians are initiating Peace Talks under Euro-American auspices with Arab backing, the Executive Committee of the World Lebanese Organization (WLO) issued the following statement:
The World Lebanese Organization (WLO), as it evaluates the renewal of the Syrian-Israeli peace talks, expresses the following concerns: 1) While international pressures are applied on Israel to withdraw from the Golan height and the security zone in south Lebanon, no serious pressures are applied on Syria to withdraw from Lebanon. To the contrary, Syria is offered Lebanon as a prize for its acceptance of a Peace agreement with Israel. The WLO considers Syria's occupation of Lebanon as a major obstacle for peace in the region and must be addressed by the international community, and by the Israeli-Syrian negotiators. The WLO strongly opposes a Syro-Israeli deal which would address the Golan and security zone issues and leave 40,000 Syrian troops in Lebanon. The WLO considers the UN resolution 520 as a legal and legitimate basis for a Syro-Israeli simultaneous withdrawal from Lebanon, all of Lebanon. Therefore the WLO calls on the United States and its European allies to pressure Syria to withdraw from Lebanon as a main factor in the ongoing negotiations. 2) The WLO has particular concerns about the fate of the Christian community in Lebanon, in light of the maintaining of Syrian occupation as a potential result of the ongoing Syro-Israeli discussions. The Christians of Lebanon, who have been targeted politically throughout the 1990s, needs to be addressed as an ethnic community in jeopardy. We urge the sponsors of the current discussions to include representatives of the Christian community, particularly the exiled opposition, to express the opinions and vision of the community. 3) Finally, the WLO expressed deep concerns about the future of the civilian populations of the security zone, particularly the Christian community, in light of a potential transfer of that area from Israeli responsibility to Syrian-backed Lebanese authorities. In view of the past persecution by both Syrian-backed and Hizbollah radicals, the Christians of south Lebanon, who have been at peace with the Israeli society, are in great danger of oppression and ethnic cleansing. Since the fate of the community has not been yet on the agenda of negotiations between the Israeli government and the Syrian and Lebanese regimes, the WLO urges the governments of the United States, the United Kingdom, France and Russia, to invite representatives of the south Lebanon population for consultations, prior or in parable to the Syro-Israeli negotiations. The fate, future, security and rights of the south Lebanon populations must be on the agenda of the ongoing discussion, to avert additional human tragedies, which would remind the international community of similar dramatic developments in Kosovo and East Timor. The World Lebanese Organization (WLO), in consultation with the main Lebanese exiled groups offers its assistance to the negotiators and their sponsors as a way to find the best solutions to the above mentioned crisis.