Israel's Foreign Minister, Shimon Peres met U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell Tuesday in New York to discuss the dispute between Israel and Lebanon over the diversion of water from the Hasbani River, which also supplies water to Israel. They discussed the situation in the Palestinian Authority.
According to reports, Powell met with Foreign Minister told Peres that the U.S. government plans to take the Lebanese move "very seriously."
"Our hope is that there will not be a flare up (with Lebanon)" on the water issue, Peres told Israel Radio on Tuesday, before the meeting. He added that Hizbullah and Syria were both playing a role in the conflict, but that the efforts of the U.S. would largely determine the outcome.
On his part, Israel's defense minister warned Tuesday his country would not allow Lebanon to divert water from Hasbani river.
Defense Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer told the Israeli daily newspaper Maariv in remarks published Tuesday that the Hasbani provides 10 percent of Israel's water. "It must be clear that Israel will not ignore a water issue, because it is our elixir of life," Ben-Eliezer said. Diversion of the Hasbani is a "blatant violation of agreements."
A US delegation began preliminary work Monday to resolve the dispute between Lebanon and Israel.
Asked about the delegation’s mission, Jim Franckiewicz, the Jordan Water Engineer at the United States Agency for International Development, said they came “just to visit the site.”
According to US Embassy public affairs officer Candace Putnam, the delegation was a “technical, fact-finding team to take a look at the project being done with the cooperation of the government of Lebanon,” The Associated Press reported.
Just before the delegation’s arrival, a Hizbullah member planted a large yellow Hizbullah flag at the site.
According to The Daily Star, Hizbullah’s official in charge of the South, Sheikh Nabil Qaouk, called Monday for halting US interference, particularly in the water dispute. Speaking to a European group which included Italian and Spanish members, after touring the former Khiyam detention center, Qaouk said: “Washington’s recent interference in the Wazzani water issue was aimed at serving Israeli interests only and not meant to help Lebanon.”
He asked where US interest was “when our land was occupied and our waters and airspace were violated on a daily basis by Israeli ships and aircraft?” (Albawaba.com)
© 2002 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
