MGLE01: NOTABLE LEBANESE SHIA INTELLECTUALS

C O N F I D E N T I A L BEIRUT 002707


NSC FOR ABRAMS/DANIN/POUNDS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/22/2015
TAGS: EAIR ENRG KISL LE SENV
SUBJECT: MGLE01: NOTABLE LEBANESE SHIA INTELLECTUALS

REF: BEIRUT 2487

Classified By: Charge d'Affaires Christopher W. Murray. Reason: Section 1.4 (d).


1. (C) Summary: During a luncheon on August 21, Shia
clerics gave the Charge and emboffs their views on the
situation of the Shia community in the south. They addressed
practical views on the problems facing the Shia community in
southern Lebanon, namely the lack of access to water and
reliable electricity. One sheikh said that electricity
service has improved recently in the south, and that
Hizballah member and new Minister of Energy and Water
Mohammed Fneish was reaping the credit for this. He viewed
Sunni extremism as a grave threat to Shia across the Middle
East. He did not believe that Shia hold any ingrained
hostility to the U.S., arguing that Shia militancy was for
self-defense. Another sheikh, speaking so as not to be
understood by others present, confided to poloff that most
Shia politicians did not truly represent the Shia community
in Lebanon. End summary.

Water and power are our issues
--------------


2. (C) On August 21, the Charge d'Affaires, polchief, and
emboffs met with Shia clerics who had traveled to Michigan to
establish a moderate Islamic center. The lunch was sponsored
by Ali Hamdan, the Foreign Affairs advisor to Speaker of
Parliament Nabih Berri, and attended by Sayyed Mahdi al-Amin,
Sheikh Mohammed Kanaan, and Lebanese-American businessmen who
had facilitated the delegation's visit to Michigan. Al-Amin,
who is from Bint Jbeil in south Lebanon, said that the main
problems facing southern Lebanon are lack of water and lack
of reliable electricity. Currently, the only viable crop in
his area of the south is tobacco, because tobacco does not
require large amounts of water. If water can be conveyed
uphill from the Litani River to the Bint Jbeil area, then
southern farmers could diversify their crops and raise their
standards of living. The planned, and oft-delayed, Litani
River Authority project would meet this need, he said.


3. (C) Over lunch, al-Amin said that the lack of reliable
electricity was stunting economic development and increasing
the misery of the people. Frequently, power outages last for
as long as ten hours a day. According to al-Amin,
electricity service has improved since the formation of Prime
Minister Fouad Siniora's government. Southerners are
attributing the sudden rise in quality of service to the
eforts of new Energy and Water Minister Mohammed Fneish, the
first Hizballah party member to join a Lebanese cabinet.
Al-Amin speculated that Fneish was able to use Hizballah's
connections and influence to improve service in the south.
(Note: In a separate meeting with econoff on August 10,
President of the Nabatiye Merchant's Association Abdallah
Bitar also noted an improvement in electricity service in the
south. He attributed Fneish's perceived success to the fact
that extensive maintenance work on the power grid happened to
be completed just as Fneish was assuming his cabinet seat.
End note.)

Even Sunni fear Sunni extremism
--------------


4. (C) When asked for his opinion on Iraq, Al-Amin said
that most Lebanese Shia recognized that Saddam Hussein was a
tyrant and an enemy of the Shia and thus appreciated US
efforts in Iraq. He then launched into a review of how the
Sunni in the Middle East threatened the Shia, and not vice
versa. Saddam's invasion of Iran, Al-Qaeda, and the Sunni
insurgency in Iraq were examples given by Al-Amin. He did
not believe that Iranian and Arab Shia had any real hostility
to the U.S. The Shia militarize only in a defensive manner
and only if threatened, he argued. Hizballah's militia was
formed as a Shia self-defense force, according to Al-Amin.
The Shia in Lebanon do not see Hizballah as an aggressor,
Al-Amin said, but rather as a defender of a long-deprived
community. He said that the Shia community has taken a faxed
Jund al-Sham threat against its leaders (reftel) seriously.
Shia are taking responsibility for their own safety,
according to Al-Amin, and fears of a Sunni-Shia conflict have
intensified.


5. (C) Sheikh Mohammed Kanaan also described the threat of
Sunni extremism as serious. He said that extremist,
anti-western, Salafi and Wahabi sermons are preached daily in
Sunni mosques. Kanaan said a Sunni mufti had approached him,
voicing his own fear that extremists were among this mufti's
own confessional brothers. According to Kanaan, Sunni
extremism will present an increasing threat to the U.S. in
the future. He suggested that the USG should begin direct
dialogue with the Shia community now. He called for more USG
involvement with the Shia community and more mutual
understanding. It is in the U.S. interest to "ally" with the
Shia throughout the Middle East, he argued.

The guy sitting next to me does not represent us
-------------- ---


6. (C) Kanaan gave poloff an unfiltered, candid view of the
main Shia parties Amal and Hizballah. Sitting next to
Berri's foreign affairs adviser Ali Hamdan, Kanaan, born and
raised in the Lebanese Shia community in Venezuela, recounted
in Spanish his opinion of Berri's Amal Movement and
Hizballah. Kanaan said, "The Shia political parties in
Lebanon don't represent us. They have the backing of maybe
ten percent of the Shia population here. Only ten percent
actually support them, but the politicians go out to the
communities and say nice words and tell people what they want
to hear. But we know they don't represent our real
interests. We don't want arms and weapons; we don't care
about politics. We want to live in peace and have the right
to practice our religion." Hamdan, evidently a non-Spanish
speaker, nervously craned his neck over the conversation but
was unable to understand.


7. (C) Kanaan continued that Lebanon has parallels with
Iraq, where the dominant Shia political parties don't have
the support of most Iraqi Shia. Kanaan continued to draw
parallels between Iraq and Lebanon while making a veiled jab
at Hizballah. Kanaan explained that Iraqi Shia groups are
Iranian backed political organizations with a relatively
small following in Iraq. Iran gives them money and guns, so
they're organized and have clout. They don't represent the
people.


8. (C) Comment: This was our first encounter with Sheikhs
Al-Amin and Kanaan, who may or may not have been coached on
how to present themselves to us. We will continue to follow
up issues that they raised, including Hizballah Minister of
Energy and Water Mohammad Fneish's improvement of electricity
service in Shia areas. We have heard from other sources that
Hizballah sought this portfolio to demonstrate its
capabilities as a contrast to the poor performance of prior
Amal ministers who held the energy account. End Comment.

MURRAY