BEIRUT, Lebanon, Oct. 8 (UPI) -- The United States plans to dispatch a water expert to Lebanon this week to help resolve a tense water dispute with Israel over the Wazzani River, the U.S. Embassy in Beirut announced Tuesday.
Carol Kalin, the embassy's deputy chief of mission, said she informed Lebanese President Emile Lahoud that a water expert from Washington would arrive in Beirut this week "to go into details of this matter."
Kalin said she relayed a message to Lahoud, confirming that the U.S. administration wants to solve the water dispute through diplomatic channels.
She said Washington recognizes the legitimate water needs of both Lebanon and Israel and was coordinating with the United Nations and other concerned parties to reach "a satisfactory settlement."
Lahoud re-emphasized that recent Israeli threats would not prevent Lebanon from "obtaining its legitimate rights" in the Wazzani waters.
"Contrary to what Israel claims, Lebanon is not the aggressor, but is ... (the victim of) aggression according to international resolutions," he said.
Lahoud accused Israel of trying to "impose a de-facto (resolution) and to monopolize all the waters by relying on its military strength," while acting as if it were still occupying southern Lebanon.
He said Israel controlled all the Wazzani waters and "ignored the thirst and drought that affected the (Lebanese) border villages and their inhabitants" during its 22-year occupation of south Lebanon that ended in May 2000.
He called on the United States, European Union and the United Nations to "deter Israel from such an aggression and force it to stop its daily threats" against Lebanon.
Last month, the United States cautioned both Israel and Lebanon that it would not tolerate any escalation in their dispute over water rights that would distract from its priority in the region -- dealing with Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.
The U.S. warning came after Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon threatened that a Lebanese project to divert more water from the tributary of the Hasbani River that flows from southern Lebanon into the sea of Galilee -- Israel's largest water reservoir -- would be a cause for war.
Lebanon reacted swiftly by rejecting Sharon's threats, insisting on its right to the Wazzani waters and went ahead with a project to pull out an additional 3 million cubic meters of water from the river.
Lebanese officials have maintained that Israel was using some 150 million cubic meters of waters from the Lebanese rivers of Wazzani and Hasbani compared to Lebanon's current total of 7 million cubic meters.
Despite Israeli pressure to stop work on the Wazzani Springs project, Lebanese House Speaker Nabih Berri affirmed Monday that he would attend the inauguration of the new pump on Oct. 16.
However, a trial run for the pumping station, which was scheduled to take place Monday, was postponed. Berri's aides said the delay was due to technical reasons.
On Sunday, Sharon ignored U.S. calls to negotiate a compromise and reiterated threats to strike the pumping station.
In the meantime, Lebanon was preparing a legal report on its utilization of the Wazzani waters.
The report, due to be sent to the United Nations this week, will include information on Lebanon's claim to the Wazzani waters and the need to use the water for drinking purposes and for irrigation. It will also argue that the amount to be utilized constitutes a very small portion of the country's share in the Wazzani as allowed by international agreements.
