Global Policy Forum

By Dalal Saoud

Lebanon on Monday sought U.N. help to settle a water dispute with Israel over Beirut's efforts to pump water from a shared border river, and U.S. experts inspected the project, which is expected to be completed in two months.

Lebanese President Emile Lahoud said the United Nations was "the natural place for discussing any dispute with Israel over Lebanon's use of parts of the Wazzani and Hasbani rivers to irrigate its agricultural land and thirsty villages in south Lebanon."

Israel accuses Lebanon of using the projects to divert the course of the Wazzani, but Lahoud rejected those charges. "In fact, Lebanon which was deprived of exploiting its share of the Wazzani River during the long years of the Israeli occupation of south Lebanon, is now working on pulling out a meager percentage of its share," he said.

Israel occupied parts of Lebanon for 22 years. It withdrew in 2000 in accordance with U.N. resolutions, which called on it to pull out after its invasion more than two decades earlier, and guerrilla activities by the militant Hezbollah group.

Lebanon says Israel uses some 150 million cubic meters of water from the Wazzani and Hasbani rivers, while Lebanon uses 7 million cubic meters. The project aims at Lebanon pulling an additional 3 million cubic meters for its southern territories. Lahoud said Lebanon wanted to cooperate with the United Nations to solve the dispute.

House Speaker Nabih Berri called on the world body to draw a "water Blue Line" similar to the U.N.-mandated demarcation that confirmed Israel's withdrawal from south Lebanon in May 2000. Meanwhile, a team of U.S. experts inspected the Wazzani River to check the Lebanese project. The experts took photographs and also inspected an Israeli pump station on the other side of the river during their 3-hour visit.

A U.S. Embassy official told United Press International the U.S. team was "on a technical fact-finding mission." "They are here to figure out what's going on," the official said, and denied U.S. mediation in the dispute. She said similar efforts will be made with Israel.

Israel recently warned Lebanon against increasing its share of water from the Wazzani River, which flows from southern Lebanon into northern Israel. Last week, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said the dispute might be a cause for war, prompting calls for restraint from Washington.

The Wazzani is a tributary of the Hasbani, which flows into the Jordan River, a major source of water for Israel.

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