MGLE01--CHRISTIAN POLITICIAN FEARS

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BEIRUT 002155 SIPDIS NOFORN SIPDIS NSC FOR ABRAMS/DORAN/SINGH E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/27/2016 TAGS: PGOV PREL PINS KDEM LE SY KPAL IR SUBJECT: MGLE01--CHRISTIAN POLITICIAN FEARS EXTREMISM/BEMOANS CORRUPTION Classified By: Jeffrey Feltman, Ambassador. Reason: section 1.4(b) ¶1. (C/NF) Summary: On June 26, PolChief, accompanied by Pol Assistant, paid a farewell call on Minister of Social Affairs Nayla Mouawad. The Minister was in the mood to send a message to the USG. It was a simple and often repeated refrain: We are worried about extremism in the north of Lebanon. Mouawad wanted the USG to know that the weakness of the government coupled with the economic crisis in the country is providing a positive environment of extremists. Iran is funneling money into the country through Hizballah but also using Christian and Sunni leaders as a springboard for their influence. "We have made many mistakes," Mouwad confessed for her government, "but we need your help." End summary. "THE GOVERNMENT HAS NOT BEEN IDLE" -------------- ¶2. (C/NF) The Minister said that Lebanese were justified in their distrust of the government. She explained that the GOL had inherited a corrupt and ineffective administration. Within her own Ministry for Social Affairs, Mouwad said there were perhaps hundreds of files which revealed some form of malfeasance or fraud. As a concrete example, she produced pictures of a dilapidated building rented by her ministry for a youth center in the Biqa' valley. She said the government was paying easily ten times the appropriate rent for the rental of the building. When she approached the landlord, a well-connected Shia cleric, he told her not to complain to him but rather to the incompetent civil servant who agreed to the contract. Mouawad said there was much to be done before the real job of reform could get underway. ¶3. (C/NF) Mouawad charged that Saad Hariri is inexperienced, even calling him "this boy." But she said that his mistakes are the classic result of the experience he lacks, implying that he can grow out of his shortcomings as a leader. "I was with Hariri in Tripoli," she said. "There, carried away by the crowd, and free to move about, I saw in him a grain of leadership." But she said that Hariri today, forced behind the walls of his palace, or jetting around the world, has no means to learn the basics of Lebanese leadership. She said that all Lebanese live in an artificial world, far from political realities, in which they are prisoners of insecurity. Mouawad said that many, herself included, don't like to go to the staged audiences with Saad in the Hariri family estate. She referred back to Syria as the author of the unnatural situation in Lebanon's politics. "SYRIA IS STILL PULLING IMPORTANT STRINGS IN LEBANON" -------------- -------------- ¶4. (C/NF) Syrian power troubled Mouawad as well. The continued presence of Emile Lahoud, which Mouawad saw as the work of Syria, precluded any attempts to dramatically reform Lebanon. "The President will not sign" was Mouawad's answer to the possibility of a number of fundamental reforms from security service reforms to the appointment of new Ambassadors. "The government looks weak," she said, because the continued support of Syria for key figures stops the cabinet from acting. "Within the government, five ministers obedient to Syria and Hizballah can block everything." She insisted that the government must undertake reform of the security services. Most importantly, she said the government must take its case to the Lebanese people. Mouawad claimed that a number of small, but important reforms were underway. She pointed to the lowering cell phone costs for international calls as a positive step. However, Mouawad admitted that the GOL had done a poor job of presenting its work to the Lebanese people. "They are right to have no faith in us," she proclaimed. She suggested that post take up these issues with Saad Hariri (who, we note, is not in the cabinet). ¶5. (C/NF) The Syrian regime feels comfortable that the U.S. will not confront them directly. Adding to that comfort, Israel is supporting Damascus as long as it does no harm to Israeli security. Hizballah threatens the country's security by maintaining armed struggle that it cannot hope to win against Israel. She said the USG must threaten the Syrian regime so that Lebanon can be free to move forward. Mouawad rejected any notion that Lebanese could strengthen their institutions in preparation for a struggle with Hizballah. She admitted that the majority had made "many mistakes," but with Lahoud in power and Hizballah heavily funded and BEIRUT 00002155 002 OF 002 protected by Iran and Syria, real political progress was not possible. "PALESTINIANS MUST GO" -------------- ¶6. (C/NF) "We must make progress on the Palestinian arms," the Minister said. The consensus reached in the National Dialogue to disarm Palestinians outside of the refugee camps has come to nothing because of President Lahoud, Michel Aoun and Hizballah, Mouawad claimed. She said that when Palestinian extremist killed a Lebanese soldier, Michel Aoun was very slow to come to the defense of the army he had once led. Hizballah was also slow to condemn the assault on the army. She blamed their hesitance on their links to Syria, the party Mouawad is convinced was behind the attacks. "We must deal with the Palestinian issue dispassionately," she suggested. Mouawad said that western countries like the United States should agree, in advance of a middle east peace settlement, to accept a number of the Palestinians residing in Lebanon as refugees. This would reassure the Lebanese population and put to rest any rumors that the refugees would be "implanted" in Lebanon, at the cost of Lebanon's confessional balance. "EXTREMISTS ARE GAINING GROUND IN LEBANON" -------------- ¶7. (C/NF) Nayla Mouawad began her remarks to Poloff by welcoming the dialogue between the USG and Iran. She said it was the interests of Lebanon that Tehran and Washington eventually develop good relations. But Mouawad warned that the Lebanese would look to see that their troubles were prominent on the lists of topics for bilateral discussions. Mouawad said she was worried that Iran, using Hizballah and other proxies, was spreading money around expanding its influence in Lebanon. Mouawad said that in her northern constituency, Shia clerics were building mosques and service centers where none had been before. But, she said, the Iranians were not just giving gifts to their Shia clients. Mouawad claimed Iranian money had been paid to Christian and Sunni leaders in the form of project funding. ¶8. (C/NF) Sunni extremists also worry the Minister. She said the PLO representatives in Lebanon had told her of as many as 150 Palestinians who have been taken to Iraq to fight the coalition. Mouawad told an anecdote about her own district. She said her son stood in for her at a memorial service in the district, and discovered that the young man being honored died fighting for Sunni extremists in Iraq. Mouawad told the same story to then-NEA PDAS Elizabeth Cheney on a visit to Washington. But, now as then, Mouawad could provide no details about the dead man, or his family in Lebanon. She simply made the point that extremist ideas are taking root in Lebanon. Mouawad blamed poverty for part of this, and suggested that Saudis or others might be convinced, by the USG, to contribute funds for the improvement of conditions in the economically under-privileged Sunni sections of the country. COMMENT--"WE CAN'T DO OUR JOB HERE" -------------- ¶9. (C/NF) During our conversations, Mouawad gave the impression of being a frustrated reformer, trapped inside a corrupt ministry. She was frustrated with the leadership shown by Siniora and Saad Hariri, but hesitated to slam the two men. For all the problems she listed, Mouawad had only one solution -- the international community must help us. She appeared to want us to carry her message to Hariri. Other Christians in and out of March 14 have made the same plea on other occasions. End comment. FELTMAN