NAMBIAR AND LARSEN DISCUSS UNSCR 1701 (AND TERJE DISCUSSES TERJE)

S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 04 BEIRUT 002717

SIPDIS
NOFORN
SIPDIS
NSC FOR ABRAMS/DORAN/SINGH/HARDING

E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/21/2026
TAGS: PTER PREL PARM MOPS LE SY IS
SUBJECT: NAMBIAR AND LARSEN DISCUSS UNSCR 1701 (AND TERJE DISCUSSES TERJE)
REF: A. BEIRUT 2680

B. BEIRUT 2698

Classified By: Jeffrey Feltman, Ambassador, per 1.4 (b) and (d).

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


1. (S/NF) On 8/20, UN envoys Vijay Nambiar and Terje
Roed-Larsen briefed the Ambassador on their Lebanon
consultations regarding UNSCR 1701. They were impressed with
the progress of LAF deployment. Concerned over UNIFIL
Commander Pellegrini's comments about inadequate LAF-UNIFIL
coordination, they brokered a political-security issue on
8/19, chaired by Prime Minister Siniora, on a range of
security issues. (Patting himself generously on the back,
Larsen claimed that this meeting, held at his initiative, had
revealed information that no one in the international
community had known before. We told Terje that we had
already reported his so-called breaking news.) They
described a "dire need" for equipment, spare parts, and
ammunition for the LAF. The UN envoys admitted that they
failed in one of their goals, getting Siniora to ask for
UNIFIL presence at the seaport and airport. Citing
sovereignty concerns, Siniora (as he has with us) deferred a
decision pending the visit of German experts this week. On
larger issues, Larsen mused about demarcating a "very small"
Shebaa Farms. Nambiar (who mostly deferred to Larsen) fumed
about the Israeli raid in the Biqa' that he said put the GOL
on the defensive vis-a-vis Hizballah. They did not get
verifiable information about the kidnapped Israeli soldiers.
Earlier, on 8/18, Larsen met with Ambassador Feltman
privately. While spending most of the time at that meeting
discussing UN politics (and why Larsen insists he is a viable
fall back candidate for SYG),Larsen quoted from Kofi Annan's
telephone call with Iranian President Ahmadinejad in
expressing fear that Iran was going to "punish" the United
States. End summary.

UN ENVOYS IMPRESSED
BY LAF DEPLOYMENT
--------------


2. (C/NF) Nambier and Roed-Larsen (joined by staffers Lee
O'Brien, Imran Riza, Salman Sheikh, and Fabrice Aidan, with
Geir Pedersen flitting in and out in cameo appearances)
briefed the Ambassador on 8/20, near the end of their Lebanon
program and a few hours before flying to Israel. Larsen, who
took the lead in the briefing, touched briefly on individual
meetings but focused largely on themes. On LAF deployment,
Larsen said, while Nambiar nodded, that the UN envoys had
discovered that the deployment was "more serious than any of
us knew." They noted that, while Deputy Prime Minister and
Defense Minister Murr had initially exaggerated numbers of
troops and equipment to impress the UN, even the actual
figures confirmed later by the Lebanese military
representatives and UNIFIL were impressive and indicated GOL
seriousness regarding UNSCR 1701 implementation. What came
out in all of their meetings, Larsen said, is that the LAF
has a "dire need" for equipment, spare parts, and ammunition.

IDF-UNIFIL-LAF COORDINATION GOOD,
BUT UNIFIL-LAF PARTNERSHIP LACKING
--------------


3. (C/NF) Larsen noted that, in his private meeting with
the UN envoys, UNIFIL Commander Alain Pellegrini had given
them a mixed message. On the positive side, Pellegrini
expressed satisfaction with the LAF-UNIFIL-IDF coordination
regarding troop movements in southern Lebanon. Also,
Pellegrini basically praised the LAF's forward movement into
the south. But Pellegrini complained about what he described
to as an overly secretive LAF command structure. The LAF,
Pellegrini told Larsen and Nambiar, seems to see a
relationship with UNIFIL not as one of partners but rather as
one by which UNIFIL provides fuel, supplies, and spare parts
to the LAF. UNIFIL wants to be much better informed about
LAF thinking on coping with threats, force protection, etc.

UN BROKERS SECURITY MEETING
CHAIRED BY PM
--------------


4. (C/NF) This comment, Larsen said, sparked a UN-brokered
meeting late on 8/19, chaired by Siniora, that included,
besides the UN envoys, Defense Minister Murr, Acting Interior
Minister Fatfat, LAF Commander Michel Sleiman, Military
Intelligence (G-2) chief Georges Khoury, ISF (national
police) chief Ashraf Rifi, Pellegrini, and others.
Discussion on UNIFIL-LAF cooperation -- the ostensible
purpose of the meeting -- was cut off when Pellegrini
contradicted his earlier, private comments by praising the
LAF's cooperation with UNIFIL. ("Pellegrini was star struck
by seeing all those people looking at him," Larsen claimed;
"he completely undermined one of the major purposes of the
meeting.")


5. (C/NF) So instead of focusing on improving UNIFIL-LAF
coordination, the PM-chaired session moved quickly to the
second topic, the GOL's obligations under UNSCR 1701. Larsen
marveled to the Ambassador that he and Nambiar had received
information regarding changes in airport security and
deployment of Lebanese troops to the Syrian border that no
one in the international community would have known, had
Larsen not thought to convene the security meeting. "This is
big news," Larsen said, melodramatically. He brandished
maps, with hand-written notes of troop numbers, and described
the replacement by LAF officers at the airport with the ISF.
The Ambassador noted that we had passed that information to
Washington already (reftels) but we were still evaluating the
seriousness of it. Larsen argued that, in any case, no one
could deny that the GOL was taking steps toward meetings its
obligations under UNSCR 1701.


6. (C/NF) Looking to trump the Ambassador, Larsen said that
something new came out of the meeting: Siniora, Murr and
Sleiman agreed that UNIFIL could travel freely to the Syrian
border to verify the deployment trumpeted by the GOL. The
Ambassador asked if UNIFIL would be able to stop and examine
the deployment and what the LAF troops were doing. "My
understanding is that it's more like a road reconnaissance,"
Nambiar interjected. Also, Larsen said, the same group that
gathered on Saturday night would meet at least once a week,
including with the PM, under UN auspicies (with both
Pellegrini and Geir Pedersen present),to work out other
issues. "This is a good sign."

NO REQUEST TO UNIFIL
TO HELP AT BORDERS
--------------


7. (C/NF) The Ambassador asked about Lebanon's 1701
obligations to combat arms smuggling. Had Larsen and Nambiar
managed to extract a request from Siniora to get a UNIFIL
presence at the airport and seaports? Larsen acknowledged
that they had pushed this topic hard, but that Siniora
repeated his usual infringement-of-sovereignty concerns.
Siniora seemed interested in technical solutions to border
issues, and he said that he would listen carefully to what
the German team of experts would recommend this week. Larsen
agreed with the Ambassador that Siniora's answers have not
been satisfactory on this point.

LEBANESE EMPHASIZE
ARMISTICE AGREEMENT
--------------


8. (C/NF) Moving to the broader issues, Larsen said that he
was struck by the importance the Lebanese place on the 1949
Armistice Agreement, a framework that the Lebanese find
reassuring and that "allows them to be creative." Aware that
the Israelis see no relevance to the Armistice Agreement,
Larsen said that he would nevertheless explore with the GOI
whether there might be some way to make creative reference to
it.

USING PROPERTY DEEDS TO DEFINE
DIMINUTIVE SHEBAA FARMS
--------------


9. (C/NF) Not surprising, all the Lebanese interlocutors --
including the pro-Syrian relics (Omar Karami et al.) the UN
envoys choose to meet to show "balance" -- emphasized the
need to "solve" Shebaa Farms as the key to Hizballah
disarmament. Larsen gave a long briefing of familiar
arguments. He said that he now believes that the only way to
demarcate the border is to use private property deeds, as
maps simply aren't clear or don't support the Lebanese claims
in the Shebaa area. By examining where private property was
registered (e.g., Lebanon or Syria),Larsen predicted that UN
cartographers would end up with a "very small" Shebaa Farms.
This is because much of what is claimed to be Shebaa Farms
was actually state land, never properly documented, and the
maps in those areas support Syrian sovereignty. Larsen said
the trick will be to convince the Lebanese to accept a
modest-sized Shebaa Farms as ending the dispute once and for
all -- if Israel could be persuaded to give up that
modest-sized Shebaa Farms in the first place.


10. (C/NF) The Ambassador asked about Ghajjar village,
which Larsen acknowledged no Lebanese claims. But, yes,
Larsen admitted, even under a "tiny Shebaa" solution, Ghajjar
would end up as a salient, a finger surrounded on three sides
by Lebanon, which could give the Israeli military great
pause. The Ambassador also asked Larsen whether, if the UN
started noting when private property was registered by
Lebanese authorities, the UN would also be looking into
Syrian-registered property deeds, to be able to tell where
Lebanon's authorities stopped and Syria's started -- and to
note any overlap. "Interesting question," Larsen said. "And
it gives us another opportunity to corner Syria, show a lack
of cooperation." Larsen closed the Shebaa discussion by
saying that he planned to have a frank discussion with the
Israelis on the issue, even though he did not expect much
receptivity.

BIQA' RAID PROVIDES HIZBALLAH
ADDITIONAL EXCUSE FOR WEAPONS
--------------


11. (C/NF) Nambiar asked the Ambassador his view of the
8/19 early morning Israeli raid in the Biqa'. The Ambassador
said that he knew only what he had read in the press and what
the Lebanese had told him in multiple, middle-of-the-night,
frantic and angry phonecalls. Nambiar, suddenly animated
(while Larsen studiously maintained a politically correct
silence on this topic),said that the Israelis had almost
succeeded in destroying the cessation of hostilities. Based
on everything he had heard, Nambiar expressed concern that
the Israelis had undermined the Siniora government. By
declaring that they would kill Hizballah officials wherever
they could find them, the Israelis had given Hizballah the
perfect excuse to refuse to disarm. "Who else will protect
them?" Moreover, the Israeli action in the Biqa' would only
serve to discourage troop contributors to UNIFIL.
Particularly egregious, Nambiar said, was the fact that,
according to the Lebanese, the Israelis had come dressed in
LAF uniforms, thus making Hizballah suspicious of the LAF.
The Ambassador repeated that it is important for the GOL to
take action against arms smuggling, lest Israel continue to
do so.

NO NEWS ON KIDNAPPED SOLDIERS
--------------


12. (C/NF) The Ambassador asked Nambiar and Larsen whether
they had found out anything about the two kidnapped Israeli
soldiers. They said that the ICRC told them of reports that
the Israelis were being "humanely treated." The ICRC had no
independent verification of that. But the ICRC told the UN
envoys that, generally, such reports turn out to be fairly
accurate. Larsen admitted that the ICRC statements were "not
much."

EARLIER DINNER WITH TERJE -- WORRIED
ABOUT IRAN, OBSESSED WITH UN TRANSITION
--------------


13. (S/NF) The Ambassador also had a late night, private
dinner with Larsen two days earlier, just after Larsen's
arrival on 8/18. While much of the dinner revolved around
Larsen's proposed messages to the Lebanese (with the
Ambassador urging Larsen to push Siniora to request UNIFIL
help for border monitoring),Larsen -- please protect -- also
talked of "a terribly frightening" conversation between Kofi
Annan and Iranian President Ahmadinejad, when Annan urged
compliance with UNSCR 1701. The Iranian, Larsen said
(quoting from a transcript of the conversation),spoke of
"punishing" the U.S. and UK. "He's crazy, and he's going to
attack you," Larsen said. Larsen then launched into a long
discussion of "38th floor politics" at the UN, while
suggesting that none of the names being circulated as Kofi
Annan's successor are acceptable. That means, Larsen
concluded, that he could still very much become the fall-back
candidate. And if Prince Zaid of Jordan becomes the
front-runner, then the U.S. should demand that Prince Zaid
"have a ticket," with -- you guessed it, readers -- Larsen as
Deputy SYG.

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


14. (C/NF) The UN envoys have had no more luck than we have
in convincing Siniora to ask for UNIFIL help at the borders,
including airport and seaports. Since the continued blockade
of the air and seaports does not seem to be sufficient to get
Siniora to ask, we have tried to use the Israeli raid in the
Biqa' to strengthen our argument in favor of such a request:
as long as Lebanon doesn't get international help at its
borders, then Israel will continue to take matters into its
own hands. But most people tell us that the raid has made it
harder, not easier, for Siniora to refute the charge that he
is complicit in a scheme to allow the international community
to infringe upon Lebanon's sovereignty by intrusive,
foreign-imposed border procedures. In short, we aren't there
yet on the UNIFIL request.
FELTMAN