Syria blasts Israel over building of Golan Heights reservoir
By Amos Harel, Haaretz Correspondent
Syria has announced its intention to host an Arab conference on water, in light of Israel's construction of a water reservoir in the Golan Heights.
The governor of the Quneitra district, Nawaf Fares, said over the weekend that the water reservoir now under construction in the eastern Golan was "a threat to the lives of the residents of the Quneitra district and to their property, if there are floods or if the dam under construction bursts." Fares was quoted on the Arab Web site site Ilaf.
The Mei Golan association, owned jointly by several Golan communities, is building the reservoir to impound rainwater, which the Syrians say would otherwise flow to the Yarmukh River.
Ilaf says the Syrian Water Ministry has accused Israel of being responsible for the low flow in the Yarmukh, and that impounding Golan rainwater is illegal since the Golan is occupied Syrian territory.
Mei Golan responded that international law allowed any country to impound rainwater falling in its territory, and that the water would not in any case reach the Yarmukh, but rather Syrian reservoirs.
Syria blasts Israel over building of Golan Heights reservoir
