Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
06BEIRUT1996
2006-06-19 09:26:00
CONFIDENTIAL//NOFORN
Embassy Beirut
Cable title:  

MGLE01: IRAN AND SYRIA ATTEMPT TO MAKE INROADS

Tags:  ECON IR KISL LE PGOV PTER SY 
pdf how-to read a cable
VZCZCXRO2991
PP RUEHAG RUEHBC RUEHDE RUEHKUK
DE RUEHLB #1996/01 1700926
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 190926Z JUN 06
FM AMEMBASSY BEIRUT
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 4131
INFO RUEHEE/ARAB LEAGUE COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUCNMEM/EU MEMBER STATES COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC PRIORITY
RHMFISS/CDR USCENTCOM MACDILL AFB FL PRIORITY
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC PRIORITY
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 BEIRUT 001996 

SIPDIS

NOFORN
SIPDIS

NSC FOR ABRAMS/DORAN/WERNER/SINGH

E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/16/2016
TAGS: ECON IR KISL LE PGOV PTER SY
SUBJECT: MGLE01: IRAN AND SYRIA ATTEMPT TO MAKE INROADS
INTO POVERTY-STRICKEN AKKAR REGION


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

SUMMARY
--------

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 BEIRUT 001996

SIPDIS

NOFORN
SIPDIS

NSC FOR ABRAMS/DORAN/WERNER/SINGH

E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/16/2016
TAGS: ECON IR KISL LE PGOV PTER SY
SUBJECT: MGLE01: IRAN AND SYRIA ATTEMPT TO MAKE INROADS
INTO POVERTY-STRICKEN AKKAR REGION


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

SUMMARY
--------------


1. (C) On June 14, econoff and FSN political specialist
made an official visit to Akkar, the poorest and northernmost
district in Lebanon. Local religious and municipal leaders
reported that Iran is attempting to support Sunni extremist
views in the poverty-stricken region. Syria still maintains
some influence with the Alawi minority in the area, but Akkar
residents say Syrian influence dissipated after the Syrian
troops withdrawal in 2005. The Akkar residents also reported
that the mostly Sunni people of Akkar still owe their
allegiance to Saad Hariri's Future Movement despite continued
GOL neglect of the region. The Embassy delegation was warmly
welcomed. The only signs of hostility were posters of Syrian
President Bashar Asad newly plastered along the highway only
a few kilometers from the Syrian border. A surprised mayor
said this must have been the work of the small Alawi
minority. In other meetings, Embassy contacts told us that
Iran, through Hizballah, was actively supporting a Sunni
extremist movement in Akkar. End summary.

GENERAL OBSERVATIONS
--------------


2. (SBU) On June 14, econoff and FSN political specialist
visited Akkar, the poorest district in Lebanon, to meet with
local religious and municipal leaders. Akkar, with a Sunni
majority and Greek Orthodox minority, borders Syria. Driving
through the villages of Akkar in the middle of the business
day confirmed the poverty of the area. The roads, houses,
and shops appeared shabby and old. There was little economic
activity, as at least half of the storefronts remained
shuttered at mid-morning. What shops were open had groups of
men and boys milling around, drinking coffee and tea. The
conservative nature of the area was evident in the fact that

there were virtually no women or girls in public. What few
women were out were dressed conservatively with their hair,
but not face, covered. The Embassy delegation was warmly
received at each stop.

IRAN IS KNOCKING...
--------------


3. (C) The first stop was the Sunni Endowments of Akkar, a
religious and charitable association of moderate Sunni
clerics. The president, Sheikh Malik Hedeide, told econoff
that Iran is trying to make inroads into Akkar by paying off
local Sunni clerics to issue extremist, anti-Western
statements and sermons. Hedeide's organization is trying to
combat this growing extremism threat. He said that, to date,
extremists in Akkar have made only limited progress.
Membership in the Iranian-sponsored, Sunni extremist
organization al-Tawhiid is so minimal in Akkar that "you can
count their membership on one hand," asserted Hedeide with
some poetic license. He continued that there are no armed
Sunni militias in Akkar. Hedeide insisted that Americans are
welcome in Akkar, and proved it by calling the press to have
econoff's picture taken with him and his top clerics.
Hedeide admitted that people are disappointed with what they
see as a USG double standard in favor of Israel, but this
does not translate into hatred of Americans.


4. (C) Hedeide said that the vast majority of clerics and
Sunni residents in Akkar have resisted Iranian meddling. He
said the vast majority of clerics and Sunni residents of
Akkar remain loyal to Saad Hariri and Prime Minister Fouad
Siniora. This loyalty, Hedeide declared, in front of the
press, was in spite of long-standing GOL neglect of Akkar,
especially in the lack of agricultural assistance. Hedeide
cited the example that Siniora canceled two meetings with a
delegation of the mayors of Akkar and has not rescheduled
them, while President Emile Lahoud is always ready to receive
them. (Comment: The fact that Lahoud is so isolated and
thus has a fairly open schedule may be lost on the residents
of Akkar. End comment.)

...BUT THE GOL IS NOT
--------------


5. (C) A perceived sense of GOL neglect was a recurring
theme in Akkar. Omar Hayek, the mayor of a small Sunni

BEIRUT 00001996 002 OF 003


village only a few kilometers from the Syrian border, said
that all his village receives from the GOL is USD 10,000 a
year. This stipend covers virtually none of the municipal
expenses. There is no local secondary school, electricity
and phone service is spotty, and there is no potable water.
The village's septic tanks were installed right next to the
only well in town. Now the citizens, mostly poor and
unemployed, must buy bottled water for drinking and cooking.
Hayek insisted, however, that despite the poverty,
unemployment, GOL neglect, and proximity to Syria, the people
are not extremist. A local cleric told us that he and other
Sunni clerics owe their allegiance to Dar al-Fatwa, the
mainstream, pro-Hariri Sunni religious organization headed by
Mufti of the Republic Qabbani. We were widely and warmly
received by much of the male population of the village,
though this was unfortunately made possible by the fact that
so many were unemployed.


6. (C) Another Akkar municipal leader, Fawaz Zakaria of
Tell Humari, also said that the area seems all but forgotten
by the GOL. He said that virtually no one has a regular job
in his village (again allowing most of the male population to
show up to greet the Embassy delegation). According to
Zakaria, the average household income is USD 200 a month,
which goes to support an average family size of nine people
(two adults and seven children). He denied any extremist or
armed activity in the area, but admitted that the poverty has
led to a disturbing increase in street crime. Nonetheless,
the 90 percent of the residents who are Sunni remain loyal to
Hariri. The approximately ten percent of his village that is
Alawi are suspected of keeping ties to Syria, Zakaria said.
When econoff mentioned that the delegation's convoy passed by
several newly plastered posters of Syrian President Bashar
Asad on the way into the village, the surprised mayor at
first denied it. After consulting with his police chief,
Zakaria said that the village Alawis had plastered the
posters to protest the Embassy delegation's visit, but he
dismissed this sentiment as being in the minority.

HIZBALLAH, AGENT OF
IRANIAN MISCHIEF
--------------


7. (C/NF) The visit to Akkar on June 14 was at the
invitation of Sheik Mohammad Fares, a moderate Sunni cleric
close to Minister of Social Affairs Nayla Mouawad. Fares had
approached econoff and FSN political specialist in May with
alarming news of Iranian initiatives in Akkar. Fares said
that Iran is funding, though Hizballah, the al-Tawhiid
Movement as well as Palestinian extremists located in the
Palestinian refugee camps outside of Tripoli. Iran and
Hizballah "are throwing money" at the north, he said.
Hizballah is offering Sunni clerics a stipend of up to USD
50,000 annually to work with them in increasing Sunni
extremist sentiment in Akkar, according to Fares. Hizballah
has also delivered small arms and rocket propelled grenade
(RPG) launchers to al-Tawhiid, whose members receive
rudimentary military training in Iran. Despite the Iranian
money and support, al-Tawhiid enjoys very little popular
support in Akkar and its membership is small in number, Fares
said.


8. (C/NF) Fares said that no Iranian officials operate in
Akkar, though there have been a few visits by the Iranian
Embassy. Rather, the Iranian money and arms are disbursed by
Hizballah officials. They are based out of several small
Shia villages in the area. There are other Sunni extremist
groups -- based on Wahabi and Salifi ideologies -- but they
are small, disorganized, and would not work with Hizballah
because they hate Shia Muslims. They receive funding from
private donations from Saudi Arabia and the Gulf states,
according to Fares. These Gulf-supported groups offer local
sheikhs up to USD 5,000 annually to give anti-American, Sunni
extremist sermons in their mosques. None of the Wahabi or
Salifi groups maintain militias, according to Fares.


9. (C/NF) To verify Fares' information, econoff met
separately with Abbas Sabbagh, a Shia journalist with good
access to Hizballah. Sabbagh confirmed that Iran and
Hizballah are making alliances with al-Tawhiid and other
Sunni extremists in Akkar. He also confirmed that there are
approximately two to three thousand Shia living in small
villages in Akkar, which Hizballah can use as a base.
Sabbagh said that Iranian and Hizballah efforts have thus far
had a minimal impact on promoting Sunni extremism in the

BEIRUT 00001996 003 OF 003


north.

COMMENT
--------------


10. (SBU) Public reaction to the Embassy visit was
overwhelmingly positive, both in and out of Akkar. The
Arabic language daily newspaper "An Nahar" ran an article
with a picture showing econoff standing side by side with the
clerics of the Sunni Endowment of Akkar. Even Shia contacts
of the Embassy praised the trip. All felt it important that
the Embassy show interest in the situation of Akkar. End
comment.
MURRAY