Lebanon accuses Israel of stealing border river waters

WAZZANI, Lebanon (AFP) - Lebanese officials and residents of the south accused the Israeli army of stealing water from the Wazzani border river.

Mohammad Ghamlush, the engineer heading the Wazzani river pumping systems, told AFP the Israeli army sabotaged the water pumps on the river last week and installed a pipe to pump hundreds of cubic meters to Israel.

During the last weekly cabinet meeting on Thursday, the government denounced what it called an Israeli violation of UN Security Council Resolution 1701, which ended 34 days of Israeli-Hezbollah hostilities.

Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Siniora discussed the issue over the phone with UN Secretary General Kofi Annan on September 22, according to the national news agency.

In a region where water is scarce, the issue may have dramatic consequences. and the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) has opened an investigation.

UNIFIL patrols went to the Wazzani river.

"We did not yet get information on the water pumps from the patrols dispatched to Wazzani, upon a request from the Lebanese government," UNIFIL spokesman Alexander Ivanko told AFP.

However, he confirmed that Israeli workers and civilians have been repairing water pipes in the nearby village of Ghajar.

Ivanko said the Israelis had violated the UN-drawn border line between the two countries to fix the water pipes.

"We have informed the United Nations headquarters in New York about this," he said.

Asked by AFP in Jerusalem, an army spokesman said the military was investigating the issue.

Ghamlush said that on September 22 an Israeli patrol broke into the pumping station installed by the Lebanese ministry of electricity and hydraulic resources in Wazzani.

The soldiers sabotaged the pumping machines and ordered him to leave the premises, he said.

Ghamlush said the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) helped Lebanese government workers to install two new power generators to restart the pumping systems.

He said the Israeli army has installed two water pumps to transport water from the Wazzani river through two pipes, which run toward villages in Israel.

Ghamlush said the Israels were pumping every day between 200 and 300 cubic meters (7,100-10,600 cubic feet) of water from the Wazzani to Ghajar and to Israeli villages.

Wazzani Mayor Ahmed al-Mohammed has accused the Israelis of giving weak excuses in order to justify the "theft" of water from the river. He said they were claiming that the operation was "legal," as the Israeli pumps were on the Israeli side of the border.

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