Lebanon's militant Hezbollah movement blasted the involvement of a US official in trying to cool tension with Israel over the use of the waters of a southern border river. "The interference of the Americans in this issue is a mistake. Asking the Americans to deal with this problem is equivalent to telling the Israelis to do it," Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah told a gathering in the historic city of Baalbek.

US State Department hydraulics expert Charles Lawson left Beirut Saturday after holding talks since mid-week with Lebanese officials in a bid to avert an escalation on the southern border after Israel threatened that diverting Wazzani River waters could be grounds for war.

"Resorting to American mediation or accepting it is an error," added the hardline cleric, whose movement has controlled south Lebanon since the Israeli army ended its 22-year occupation in May 2000.

However, Israeli and Lebanese officials welcomed the US offer to help avert a crisis by sending Lawson, although one Lebanese official made clear that he was not on a mediation mission but would simply hold consultations.

Besides Lawson, a US team of experts has been in Lebanon evaluating the project to divert some Wazzani waters to several southern border villages.

Hezbollah's number two Sheikh Naim Qassem on Saturday also took a swipe at Lawson, saying there was "no point" to his visit.

Israel opposes Lebanon's plans to divert water from the Wazzani, a tributary of the Hasbani River, which provides between 20 and 25 percent of the Sea of Galilee, the Jewish state's main source of drinking water.

Lebanon started pumping water from the Wazzani to two villages in March 2001 and has begun work on installing a pipeline to supply water to some 40 more.

Beirut says it will be drawing no more than 10 million cubic meters (325 million cubic feet) per year, way below the 35 million (1.235 billion) granted to it under the unratified 1955 Johnston agreement.

PHOTO CAPTION

A Lebanese soldier stands guard at the Wazzani river during a tour by U.S. water experts, near the border with Israel in south Lebanon, September 16, 2002. REUTERS/Jamal Saidi
- Sep 16 9:39 AM ET