U.S. team in bid to end water row

A U.S. delegation began preliminary work yesterday in a bid to resolve a dispute between Lebanon and Israel over the government-run Council of the South's project to tap the Wazzani Spings, which feeds the Hasbani river that flows into Israel.

The delegation, which included a hydraulics expert, declined to speak to reporters as they toured the site where construction work is proceeding on a pipeline in southeast Lebanon near the source of the Wazzani Springs.

Asked about the mission of the delegation, Jim Franckiewicz, who is USAID's Jordan Water Engineer, told Gulf News: "just to visit the site."

The dispute began when the Council of the South announced that it was installing a pipeline beside the Wazzani Springs, which feed into the Hasbani River that is a tributary of the Jordan River.

The Hasbani crosses the border into Israel three kilometres south of the Wazzani Springs.

The project aims to pump some 10,000 cubic metres of water a day to supply up to 60 villages in the South.

Lebanon considers such drawing of water from the Wazzani as its right since the 1953 Johnston Plan has granted the country 35 million cubic metres a year to irrigate 3,500 hectares.

Just before the arrival of the American delegation, a Hezbollah member came to the site and planted a large flag there.

Lebanese officials who accompanied the visiting delegation said they have all decided not to speak to reporters. "The issue is very sensitive and very precise," Nasser Nasrallah, the head of the Litani River Authority told Gulf News.

But Hashem Haidar, the Council of the South's deputy president, said: "We're here to show them what we are doing... we're showing them that we're not changing the course of the riverbed as the Israelis have claimed."

Haidar denied that the U.S. delegation's visit was an effort to serve as a mediator between Lebanon and Israel over the Wazzani dispute. "It is just to inspect the area."

He said that Lebanon "welcomes any international delegation to come and see the site." Last week, Israel made diplomatic efforts to convey its point of view regarding the dispute.

According to Jerusalem Post's internet edition on Sunday, the dispute "was a top concern raised by (Israeli) Foreign Minister Shimon Peres in meetings with U.S. officials on Friday."

In addition, Israeli Defence Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer sent his top aide, Noah Kinarti to Washington over the weekend to meet with U.S. officials on the issue.

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon warned last week that diversion of water would constitute a "casus belli," or grounds for war, between the two countries.

But residents of the villages that would benefit from the Wazzani project voiced their concern yesterday, saying the shortage of water has hit them hard.

"We've had no water for 12 days," said Nasser Serhan, who is the mukhtar of Kfar Kila, one of the villages that would benefit from the Wazzani project.

"Every household is compelled to buy 10 barrels every two to three days for domestic use and drinking purposes," he told Gulf News.