Steve Quayle News Alerts

Oct. 10, 2002
David Rudge

Lebanese technicians reportedly added a second pipe Thursday to the controversial Wazzani Springs pumping project, a day after testing the pumps despite warnings from Israel.

Israel Radio said the Lebanese have also begun paving an asphalt road from the pump to a nearby village in addition to other preparations for a planned October 16 dedication ceremony of the site to which thousands of guests have been invited.

Wednesday's four-minute test of pump was described by supervisory officials as "very successful."

Israel objects to the project and has sought US mediation to prevent it, because it will drain water from a main source of the Jordan River, which flows into Lake Kinneret, Israel's principal water reservoir.

Experts estimate that the Hatzbani, of which the Wazzani is a tributary, provides about a third of Lake Kinneret's water.

Hizbullah described the test as "a great victory."

"Real victory will come when we take all that is ours and no one can ask anything of us," a senior Hizbullah official said.

In Jerusalem, Israeli officials played down the trial pumping, saying it was not large-scale and that efforts to reach a compromise are continuing.

Reports in the Lebanese press said an official document arguing Lebanon's legal right to use the Wazzani waters has been sent to UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, but not to the US.

The reports noted, however, that Annan might well decide to distribute the document to members of the UN Security Council so that the US would receive a copy.

Lebanon says that should mediation prove necessary, it should be left to the UN.

In Paris, Foreign Minister Shimon Peres discussed the diversion of the Wazzani with French President Jacques Chirac on Wednesday.

Peres reportedly told Chirac that Israel will not accept the diversion of the Wazzani. Chirac said he will bring up the matter at an upcoming meeting with Nabih Berri, speaker of the Lebanese parliament.

The United States expressed its disapproval of the Lebanese move and hoped the Lebanese will not start pumping in earnest, a US official said on Wednesday.

"We want them to refrain from taking any unilateral steps, and to begin pumping would certainly be one," said the State Department official.

"Our message is 'Don't do anything that changes the status quo right now. Let's not take any unilateral steps, let's take it one step at a time.' If both sides agree to change the status quo that's fine, but not right now," he added.

The US official said that any Israeli attack on the Lebanese water installations on the Wazzani River would also constitute an unacceptable unilateral act.

Israel is under pressure from the US not to take use force to stop the project while the US administration focuses on Iraq.

US State Department spokesman Richard Boucher on Tuesday urged both sides not to escalate the dispute.

"It is not in the interest of either side for this to become a source of escalation or provocation, or for an issue like basic water needs to be politicized. We continue to urge both sides... to avoid unilateral steps," Boucher told reporters.

The US has reportedly presented a two-stage compromise proposal under which Lebanon would draw six million cubic meters of water a year from the Wazzani to meet the needs of nearby villages.

Under the plan, this amount could subsequently be increased to 10 million cubic meters through US-brokered negotiations which could also be under the auspices of the UN.

Lebanon has shown no willingness to agree to US mediation or the compromise proposal, with officials reiterating that the matter should be handled by the UN.

Lebanon says the water is essential to meet domestic and agricultural requirements in the country's south, and that it is entitled under international treaties to draw 50 million cubic meters from the Wazzani each year.

The project is being run by the Council of the South, a body affiliated to the Amal movement, which is headed by Lebanese Parliament speaker Nabih Berri, and has the full backing of the Syrian-controlled government in Beirut.

Council head Kabalan Kabalan on Wednesday expressed satisfaction with the tests, according to news agency reports.

"The project can provide between two to four million cubic meters of water a year, depending on whether the pumps are used 12 or 24 hours a day," Kabalan said.

Water experts here, however, believe that this amount would only be for starters and that Lebanon ultimately intends to draw around 50 million cu. m. a year from the Wazzani, which would have a very detrimental effect on the Jordan River and the waters of Lake Kinneret.

http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/A/JPArticle/PrinterFull&cid=
1034014726256