Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
06BEIRUT2772
2006-08-26 06:06:00
CONFIDENTIAL//NOFORN
Embassy Beirut
Cable title:  

LEBANON: MURR SWEARS THAT AIRPORT IS SECURE

Tags:  PREL PGOV MOPS EAIR LE SY 
pdf how-to read a cable
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C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 04 BEIRUT 002772 

SIPDIS

NOFORN
SIPDIS

NSC FOR ABRAMS/DORAN/MARCHESE/HARDING

E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/24/2026
TAGS: PREL PGOV MOPS EAIR LE SY
SUBJECT: LEBANON: MURR SWEARS THAT AIRPORT IS SECURE


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

SUMMARY
--------

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 04 BEIRUT 002772

SIPDIS

NOFORN
SIPDIS

NSC FOR ABRAMS/DORAN/MARCHESE/HARDING

E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/24/2026
TAGS: PREL PGOV MOPS EAIR LE SY
SUBJECT: LEBANON: MURR SWEARS THAT AIRPORT IS SECURE


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

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


1. (C/NF) During an 8/25 meeting with Ambassador Feltman
and poloff (notetaker),Deputy Prime Minister and Defense
Minister Elias Murr pleaded with the Ambassador to help get
the Israeli blockade of the airport lifted. He said the
"siege" is perceived by many within the Cabinet as the
US-backed "blackmailing" of Lebanon and could prove
counterproductive in terms of other initiatives, such as the
continuing LAF deployment, while driving Lebanon back into
the arms of Syria. The Ambassador asked Murr if he has a
clear plan for securing and monitoring all points of entry -
airports, ports, and border crossings - into Lebanon. Murr
presented a summary of the steps taken to date at Beirut
International Airport, the Port of Beirut, and along the
Lebanese-Syrian frontier. Taking full responsibility, he
said that the airport is now "100 per cent secure" and can be
reopened, whereas the port needs new scanning equipment but
could be ready soon. Further, the 8/24 Cabinet decision
authorizing PM Siniora to request foreign assistance means
that the GOL can ask the German government to provide
equipment, training, and support (though not supervision)
under a UN flag along the border and at the port. Murr
assured the Ambassador that the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF)
are fully capable and are already flexing their muscles to
inderdict the movement of illicit weapons. He believes that
the Syrian decision on 8/25 to stop supplying electricity to
Lebanon came as a result of this LAF seriousness and also the
Cabinet decision authorizing foreign support on the frontier.
END SUMMARY.

BLOCKADE MOVING LEBANON CLOSER TO SYRIA
--------------


2. (C/NF) Murr said that the blockade is stifling Lebanon,
leaving it with no outlet but Syria so that the only country
truly benefitting from the situation is Syria. (Note. Murr

admitted that he was having to import expensive Italian
furniture for his new house through Damascus airport. End
Note.) Murr warned that some Syria-sympathetic ministers
have even suggested formalizing an arrangement with Syria for
Lebanese goods coming through Damascus airport, pushing the
two countries back together. He said that more and more
people are now blaming the U.S. for the continuation of the
blockade, and many believe that Israel might already have
eased the siege if not for U.S. pressure to sustain it. The
continued blockade, and official and public Lebanese anger,
could undercut support for other initiatives, such as the
ongoing LAF deployment.

AIRPORT IS FIRST PRIORITY
--------------


3. (C/NF) The reopening of the airport, an installation for
which Murr claims he is personally responsible, is the most
pressing issue. Murr says he is absolutely certain of the
new security procedures at the airport. The Ambassador
pressed Murr for specifics. Murr replied that not only has a
key LAF brigade at the airport been replaced by the Internal
Security Forces (ISF),which are close to Saad Hariri, but he
has personally picked "a cell of the best seven Christian
officers" from the LAF's G2 intelligence branch who will be
able to "check anything, anytime at the airport." What about
the suspect Surete Generale (SG),asked the Ambassador, which
would still control immigration and could therefore wave
through suspect travelers? Murr said the SG will still
manage immigration, but that the ISF will check passengers
both "before and after" passport control, and the
"seven-Christian-officers cell" will conduct spotchecks on
the SG. "We can check 100 per cent at the airport," Murr
assured, "I am certain of it. We have to open the airport
this week. Let the people breathe." Quizzed by the
Ambassador, Murr said that, if the airport could be reopened
soon, he believes the GOL could agree to a phased process on
cargo. For example, no cargo flights would be allowed in
from Tehran for the time being.

GERMAN HELP ON THE BORDER
--------------

BEIRUT 00002772 002 OF 004




4. (C/NF) Describing the lead-up to the 8/24 Cabinet
meeting which authorized PM Siniora to request foreign
assistance, Murr said he had received a call from UN envoy
Terje Roed-Larsen in Israel saying that Defense Minister
Peretz "wants 300 Germans under UN flag supervising along the
border." Murr countered with his plan - 30 towers
interspersed every ten kilometers along the 300km border with
sophisticated radar, camera, and computer equipment. Each
tower would have Lebanese and German officers present to
monitor each zone and to call in any suspicious activity. A
special response unit - two brigades of LAF commandoes -
would be always at the ready to respond to these calls.


5. (C/NF) This would not need to be a manpower-intensive
operation (in fact, it would free up 5000 of the current 8600
LAF troops stationed along the border to redeploy to the
South, providing relief to the troops there). However, it
would require sophisticated technology, which the Germans -
under a UN flag - could provide along with training, and
would have to be set up in "2 to 3 months" to allow for the
above-mentioned troop redeployments before they get snowed in
for the winter in the northern mountains. According to Murr,
Larsen reacted positively to the plan.


6. (C/NF) Having spoken to PM Siniora beforehand, Murr
brought his proposal before the Cabinet on 8/24. He said the
atmosphere during the session was poisonous with anti-U.S.
feeling due to the blockade. "For some reason," said Murr,
"Siniora opened the meeting by saying the Israelis and the
U.S. have 'told us' to secure the border." This caused a
furious uproar from the Shi'a ministers and, as Murr tells
it, the session descended into histrionics for a time, with
Siniora pacing back-and-forth red-faced and fuming while -
surprisingly, given his squawky press conferences - President
Lahoud presided quietly over everything.


7. (C/NF) "Then," Murr said, with a touch of bravado, "I
stepped in." Murr told the Cabinet of the Larsen call and
his refusal of the Israeli demand for 300 Germans along the
border, saying he would never except foreigners to "observe"
the LAF. "I told the ministers that I just need
sophisticated equipment and some German support," said Murr,
"I said it should be Germans because they are trusted by
Hizballah (due to German mediation in the Hizballah-Israel
prisoner swap of early 2004)." Hizballah Energy Minister
Muhammad Fneich apparently replied, "Yes, the Germans are
okay with us."


8. (C/NF) The Ambassador asked how quickly the Germans
could move once requested. Murr replied that in his
experience the German military could move fast, though he
isn't sure about the political obstacles. He said he had a
meeting with a German delegation prior to the Cabinet
decision during which they agreed in principle to support the
LAF. Murr stressed that, "They will be under the UN flag,
they will bring equipment, and they are willing to be on the
border." Murr said that the 30 border towers and radar
systems would take "three weeks" to install.

LAF CAPABILITY
--------------


9. (C/NF) Murr asserted that "for the time being" the
frontier is secure with 8600 LAF troops stationed along it as
well as checkpoints set up on the border and further into
Lebanon. He produced a map showing checkpoint locations. In
the flatter North, the checkpoints are concentrated right
along the border. Along the longer, more mountainous eastern
frontier, checkpoints are away from the border at the foot of
the mountains in the Bekaa Valley. The LAF recently stopped
two trucks coming from Syria with eleven rockets. Murr
suspects this was a test by the Syrians to see if the LAF is
serious about its mission, and that there is now "no attempt
to resupply rockets to Hizballah." (Note. Referring to the
Syrian decision on 8/25 to cease supplying additional
electricity to Lebanon, Murr said, "This is why Bashar cut
the electricity. He realized the LAF is serious." Murr also
called the Ambassador after the meeting to tell him that the
Syrians had started blocking and harrassing Lebanese truck
traffic at the border, perhaps as a response to the Cabinet's
decsion. End Note).

BEIRUT 00002772 003 OF 004




10. (C/NF) During the meeting, Murr received a call from
General Sleiman saying that the LAF had just stopped a truck
full of light weapons that Hizballah was trying to ship from
the South to the Bekaa Valley. The LAF confiscated the
weapons and arrested three people. (Comment. This call
might have been staged for our benefit, except that Murr, who
put his phone down when it rang initially, only took the call
at the Ambassador's insistence. End Comment)


11. (C/NF) Murr swears that his orders in the South and
along the border are "being executed perfectly" and that the
LAF is "really checking people." He confided that
Hizballah's field commander in the South, Nabil Qaouk,
recently called the G2 chief George Khoury requesting permits
for pistols for his bodyguards. Khoury refused the request,
he says, and told Qaouk that if his bodyguards were seen
carrying pistols, even with the permit, that the LAF would
arrest them, and confiscate "the pistol and the permit." The
Ambassador expressed some disbelief on this story, which Murr
insisted was true -- and demonstrates, in Murr's view, that
the LAF is doing its job seriously.


12. (C/NF) Murr explained that the LAF has the right to
stop and search any vehicle without a warrant. If they go to
search a private home, they have to get the approval of the
military prosecutor-general, Jean Fahd, who works directly
for Murr. They do not require a warrant from a civilian
court. The LAF can therefore act quickly on any tip-offs.
If the USG has any information, Murr asked that it be passed
officially through UNIFIL, but that the Embassy could
simultaneously call the LAF with the information, "just to
forewarn us."


13. (C/NF) Murr said that the LAF's situation in the South
is not comfortably established, and that there are currently
5,500 soldiers there sleeping "on the roads and in their
tanks," with yet a further 10,000 poised to deploy from north
of the Litani. He hopes the LAF can get the gear it needs
quickly, though he noted that the Saudis have pledged $500
million and the Kuwaitis a further $300 million in support to
the LAF and ISF. Murr told them to hold the money "until I
know exactly what I need."

SEAPORT
--------------


14. (C/NF) Murr assured the Ambassador again that the land
borders and the airport are under control. He admitted that
the seaport is still a week or so away from being secure and
having an effective monitoring system. Once the airport is
open, the GOL hopes to bring in two already-purchased
container scanners - one from Egypt and one from Jordan - to
install at the port of Beirut. Additionally, Murr said the
GOL may request international "UN-hatted" support -
mentioning specifically the French and the Germans - with
patrolling outside of the port and searching suspect vessels.
When the Ambassador asked if the Cabinet had also approved
international support for marine patrols, Murr hesitated a
little before saying that it had.


15. (C/NF) The Ambassador asked if security with the port
is trustworthy. Even with high-tech equipment, a
Hizballah-sympathizer could still simply wave through a
container full of weapons. Murr said this wouldn't be a
problem as he plans to place another G2 cell - like that at
the airport - to watch over the port workers. Further, the
Lebanese customs authority (run by Assaad Ghanem - "a very
honest man") are under the Ministry of Finance
(Hariri-allied) and are widely-regarded as highly scrupulous
and professional. (Note: Certainly, the customs service
employees have been most diligent in stopping pirated goods
at the air and seaports -- customs is one bright spot in
Lebanon's otherwise lackluster IPR regime. But we do not
know if customs officials will henceforth be equally diligent
in stopping rockets. End note.)

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


16. (C/NF) Though clearly embellishing on some of the
details - as is his wont - Murr seems nevertheless firmly

BEIRUT 00002772 004 OF 004


committed to carrying through on his proposals for the
airport, port, and frontier. By most accounts, Murr played a
key role in securing the LAF deployment to the South, as he
promised he would do. Not one to succumb to false modesty,
Murr clearly enjoys the historic role he sees himself as
playing, and that's something that we can use. Murr's
comments on the atmosphere inside the Cabinet give us pause,
as even our Lebanese friends are beginning to ask questions
about why the Israeli blockade has gone on for so long and
average Lebanese unfortunately have the misperception that
the U.S. is prodding the Israelis on.
FELTMAN