Preliminary work on finding a resolution to a water dispute that threatens to escalate into a military conflict between Lebanon and Israel began today.
A US team, including a hydraulics expert, drove to an area of southeast Lebanon near the source of the Wazzani river, which feeds another river flowing into Israel.
Flags of Lebanon and the Shiite Muslim guerrilla group Hezbollah were flying at the site as the team inspected pipework laid by Lebanese engineers designed to supply local villages.
The inspection was made ahead of the arrival in the region of a US state department envoy to discuss the problem with Lebanese and Israeli officials.
The US embassy in Beirut said both countries had agreed to the mission, although a Lebanese official stressed it was not a mediation bid.
"If there is conflict, it should be settled within the framework of the United Nations in line with international conventions," he said.
A Lebanese diplomat, meanwhile, said the mission was decided after talks between US Secretary of State Colin Powell and Lebanese Foreign Minister Mahmoud Hammud.
Tensions have flared between the neighbours during the past week over Lebanon's diversion of water from the Wazzani, a tributary of the Hasbani which flows from Lebanon into Israel.
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon warned last Tuesday that diversion of water would constitute a casus belli(grounds for war).
Lebanon started pumping water from the Wazzani to two villages in March 2001 despite Israeli anger and is going ahead with a new project to supply some 20 villages.
Israel is concerned because the Hasbani supplies between 20 and 25 per cent of the Sea of Galilee, Israel's main source of drinking water.
Speaking after a meeting with US Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage Friday, Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres described Lebanon's pumping from the Wazzani as an "unnecessary provocation".
AFP