Try
/usr/java/jre1.3.1/bin/java -cp . RunLime

If that works you can edit LimeWire/runlim.sh and change the line that says:
java -classpath . RunLime
to the above and use 'sh runlime.sh'

At least this worked for me on Mandrake 8, i was having the same problems.

You might also need do this first:
'export J2SE_PREEMPTCLOSE=1'