LEBANON: NAYLA MOAWAD VOWS TO STAND FIRM

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 BEIRUT 002671

SIPDIS

SIPDIS
NOFORN

NSC FOR ABRAMS/ZAROTE/DORAN/SINGH/HARDING

E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/16/2016
TAGS: EAID EFIN PTER PREL SY ISLE
SUBJECT: LEBANON: NAYLA MOAWAD VOWS TO STAND FIRM

Classified By: Jeffrey D. Feltman, Ambassador. Reason 1.4(d).

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


1. (C/NF) During an 8/16 meeting with the Ambassador and
poloff in the Baabda apartment where she is staying, Zgharta
MP and Minister for Social Affairs Nayla Moawad said that,
though she is threatened by the recent speeches by Hassan
Nasrallah and Bashar al-Asad accusing the March 14 movement
of supporting Israel, she would not let that hamper her vocal
stance against Hizballah's arms. She is also intent on
playing an activist role in government construction of the
country, but is concerned that the GOL development
bureaucracy is opaque and rife with corruption and
incompetence. Fearful that Iran and Hizballah are rushing to
fill the vacuum, Moawad urged that the Ambassador get PM
Siniora to focus urgently on organizing the government
reconstruction effort. She also worried that Syria is
funnelling money and possibly arms to other opponents of the
March 14 movement, including her bitter personal rival in the
northern town of Zgharta, Suleiman Frangieh. Urging again
that Emile Lahoud should be removed as president, she added
that the USG needs to "be firm" with Lahoud and should
consider looking into some of his possible financial
improprieties, such as his son's alleged involvement in the
Oil-for-Food scandals. End Summary.

THE COCK'S CROW
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2. (C/NF) Uncowed and highly energized, 'Sitt Nayla' -- who
has moved to her sister's apartment, one floor down from her
own, supposedly for security reasons -- said that the
Israelis had made a mess of things by waiting so long to
start the land invasion of southern Lebanon, and now the IDF
seems eager to leave Lebanon as soon as possible "without
doing anything" to stop Hizballah's filtering back into the
area. (Comment. This is a common refrain we are hearing
from the March 14 crowd. End Comment.) Their poor
performance has emboldened the opponents of the March 14
movement inside and outside Lebanon, primary among them the
Hizballah-Syria-Iran triumverate. In the wake of Hassan
Nasrallah's smug 8/14 speech and Bashar al-Asad's bullying
8/15 speech, the latter accusing the March 14ers of being in
league with Israel, Moawad said that while she is concerned
about her safety, she considers Nasrallah's speech -- and to
a lesser extent Bashar's -- as merely a "cock's crow"
following the "victory" over Israel. She is used to such
things, reminding the Ambassador that she was referred to as
the "Golda Meir of Tripoli" during a Syrian-engineered
campaign against her in 2002 in northern Lebanon.

NEED TO BEAT THE IRANIANS IN REBUILDING
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3. (C) Moawad added that Nasrallah is playing an "obvious
political game" to stem annoyance with Hizballah's war,
particularly by offering a $10,000 handout to every family
that lost a home destroyed in the conflict. Acknowledging
that Nasrallah has done an end run around any GOL-led
rebuilding campaign, Moawad bemoaned the lack of a clear
vision for reconstruction within the Siniora government --
"Fuad does not have a very professional outfit." She singled
out Siniora reconstruction advisor Nabil Jisr and head of the
Higher Relief Council Yehya Raad as especially incapable.
Siniora needs to come up with an overall plan to present to
the nation soon, worried Moawad, otherwise the Iranians and
Hizballah will take control. She asked that the Ambassador
give Fuad a "morale boost." (Note. The PM told the Ambassador
later that he is appointing a new, well-regarded coordinator
of reconstruction efforts and will address the nation on the
evening of 8/16. End Note.)


4. (C) Moawad said that the GOL should concentrate on
rebuilding the South, where they will have more success
penetrating, and should leave Beirut's southern suburbs to
Hizballah. Fairly brimming with ideas for rebuilding --
including low interest loans for housing and microcredit
schemes for small businesses -- Moawad said she has been

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trying to sit down with Siniora and others to discuss the
effort, with no success. (Comment. Moawad's ministry, which
theoretically oversees housing as part of its portfolio, is
known to be in the pocket of Speaker Nabih Berri. End
Comment.) "It's urgent we show the government is here, and
beat the Iranians," urged Moawad, "Yalla! Let's go back to
action." She also suggested the GOL hire a professional
advertising firm -- "like Saatchi and Saatchi" -- to get the
message out to the people about all that the government, as
opposed to Hizballah, is doing to rebuild Lebanon.

SYRIAN ALLIES RECEIVING SUPPORT
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5. (C) Moawad worries that if the March 14 movement does
not get on track, that the internal political balance will
tip back in Syria's favor. She suspects that Defense
Minister Murr, always a fencesitter, is "playing a dirty
game" by stalling on LAF deployment and is in fact moving
closer to his ex-father-in-law, President Lahoud. She
believes that her political rival in the murky world of
northern Maronite politics, Suleiman Frangieh, is in bed with
Hizballah and being armed by Syria. (Note. On the way to
the meeting, we drove past a minibus coming from the North
sporting pictures of Nasrallah and Frangieh. End Note) She
added that Frangieh is also receiving money from the
half-Lebanese, half-Saudi millionaire Prince Walid bin Talal.
She believes that others in the pro-Syrian March 8 camp --
such as Wiam Wahhab, Talal Arslan, and Michel Aoun -- are all
receiving money, and perhaps more, from the Syrians and
Iranians. "There is a flow of Iranian money," warned Moawad,
"The other side is acting, they are one-headed, and they have
the money they want."


6. (C) While the March 8 camp is being buoyed by Syria,
claimed Moawad, the March 14ers are deflated both emotionally
and financially. Claiming that Marwan Hamadeh and Walid
Joumblatt are "both depressed," Moawad feels "like the only
one on the ground." Asking that the Ambassador keep this
information quiet, Moawad said that she has been forced to
sell off the last of her father's property, as well as that
of her assassinated husband, former President Rene Moawad.

GO AFTER LAHOUD
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7. (C/NF) Moawad sees the removal of President Lahoud, a
Syrian proxy and the most constitutionally-powerful Lebanese,
as the solution to what ails Lebanon. She urged that the USG
"be firm" with Lahoud, and also consider investigating some
of his shady financial involvements. She mentioned
particularly the Bank al-Medina scandal in which she believes
Lahoud is deeply involved. (Comment. The extensive
corruption involved in the Bank al-Medina scandal has never
quite come to the surface in Lebanon, perhaps because it
threatens to bring down so many powerful Lebanese. End
Comment) Moawad suggested the USG might be interested in it
from a money laundering or terrorist financing angle, or
could ask Interpol to look further into it. The Ambassador
remarked that the Lebanese Prosecutor-General, Said Mirza,
may have many documents related to Bank al-Medina which he
would have to provide. Moawad also noted the oft-cited
rumors that Lahoud's son Emile Emile was involved in the
Oil-for-Food scandals, and she wondered whether the many
documents related to OFF might be mined for incriminating
evidence against the Lahouds.

COMMENT
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8. (C/NF) We had expected Moawad to be dejected and
frightened by the belligerent speeches of Nasrallah and Asad.
Yet it was clear from the meeting that 'Sitt Nayla' has a
lot of fight left in her. Conspiracy theories abound in
Lebanon, so it is difficult to sift through what is truth and
what is rumor in all that she had to say about Syrian and
Iranian support for opponents of the March 14 movement. But
what is more important now is that the Siniora government
appear organized and responsive to its citizenry, and not
allow Hizballah and Iran to fill the role of primary

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benefactor in the South. Moawad's central point about
needing to rally the GOL reconstruction effort is key to
building up a strong, centralized Lebanese state. We will
continue to ask Siniora and his ministers about his needs for
getting this effort on track, and will have meetings on 8/17
with Sami Haddad, Minister of Economy and Trade, and Mohammad
Safadi, Minister for Public Works and Transport. PM
Siniora's pick for a new reconstruction coordinator, Ghassan
Tahar, has an excellent reputation, and we hope he begins
work immediately.
FELTMAN