Reply #16: It's the water!

[eridani]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/2949768.stm

King Hussein of Jordan identified water as the only reason that might lead him to war with the Jewish state.

Former United Nations Secretary General Boutros Boutros-Ghali warned bluntly that the next war in the area will be over water.

From Turkey to Uganda, and from Morocco to Oman, nations with some of the highest birth-rates in the world are all concerned about how to find enough water to sustain urban growth and to meet the needs of agriculture, the main cause of depleting water resources in the region.

All of these countries depend on either the three great river systems which have an average renewal rate of between 18 days to three months, or on vast underground aquifers some of which could take centuries to refill.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/297164.stm

Scarcity of water has contributed to regional tensions and is an aggravating factor in the Arab-Israeli conflict:

Israel and the Palestinians: The conflict between Israel and the Palestinians is about water, as well as land. The West Bank is a major source of water for Israel. But Palestinians complain that, on average, an Israeli uses three times as much water as a West Bank Palestinian.

Lebanon: The Lebanese have long accused Israel of having designs on the waters of the River Litani, suspecting this is one reason why the Jewish state maintains a toehold in southern Lebanon. Israel denies the charge.

Syria: Similarly, Syria accuses Israel of being reluctant to withdraw from the Golan Heights - the strategic plateau it captured in the Arab-Israeli war of 1967 - because of a desire to exploit the Golan's water resources.

Egypt: Cairo warned, in 1991, that it was ready to use force to protect its access to the waters of the Nile. The warning was directed mainly at its neighbours Ethiopia and Sudan. Rapid growth of a population already over 60 million is putting immense pressure on Egypt's water supplies.

Turkey: Turkey's exploitation of the waters of the Euphrates has long been controversial. Since 1984 the Turks have been building a series of dams and hydropower plants in south-east Turkey, as part of an ambitious scheme known as GAP. Syria and Iraq complain the scheme is depriving them of much-needed water. Given the troubled relationship between Syria and Turkey, in particular, the issue has become politically contentious.


http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/2249599.stm

10 September, 2002, 17:39 GMT 18:39 UK
Israel warns of war over water

An alleged Lebanese scheme to divert water from a river feeding Israel's largest reservoir could provoke a war, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has warned.

Israeli army radio quoted the prime minister as saying on Tuesday that the issue constituted a "casus belli", or "grounds for war".

He was addressing senior military and civilian officials after a cabinet meeting.

Lebanon opened a pumping-station on the River Hasbani in the spring of 2001 to irrigate a drought-stricken village but denies that it plans to dam the river.

The river supplies between 20 and 25% of the water flowing into the Sea of Galilee, an official at Israel's Ministry of Agriculture was quoted as saying by the French news agency AFP.

It rises in Lebanon and flows for about 50 kilometres (30 miles) through its territory before joining the River Jordan and emptying into the Sea of Galilee.

Army radio said Mr Sharon had notified the United States that Israel could mount military operations should Lebanon begin pumping water out of the Hasbani or its tributary, the River Wazzani.

The Israeli Transportation Minister, Ephraim Sneh, said Mr Sharon had called for a "good and enlightened way" to settle the issue but was ready to "act".

"If Lebanon put into effect its project to siphon water from the river, it would be serious enough a reason for Israel to act," Mr Sneh told the radio station.