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"
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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"
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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

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protected by Iran and Syria, real political progress was not
possible.

"PALESTINIANS MUST GO"
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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