LEBANON: MURR SAYS GERMANS ARRIVING IN A FEW DAYS

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BEIRUT 002775

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

NSC FOR ABRAMS/DORAN/MARCHESE/HARDING

E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/26/2026
TAGS: PREL PTER EAIR MOPS LE SY
SUBJECT: LEBANON: MURR SAYS GERMANS ARRIVING IN A FEW DAYS

REF: BEIRUT 2772

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

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


1. (C) During an August 26 meeting with Representative Tom
Lantos (D-CA),Mrs. Lantos, Ambassador Feltman, senior
staffer Alan Makovsky, and poloff at his home in Rabieh
overlooking Beirut, Deputy Prime Minister and Defense
Minister Elias Murr reiterated what he told the Ambassador
the previous day (reftel) of the GOL's intent to establish
and maintain - with German support under the United Nations -
sophisticated monitoring towers along the Lebanese-Syrian
frontier to help interdict arms smuggling. Murr said he is
not concerned by a threatened Syrian blockade of Lebanon in
retaliation for the international presence on the border
since this would control the border even more and turn the
Lebanese against Syria. Murr discussed his reform of the
Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF),including a significant
reduction in the number of Shi'a troops, and his plan for
achieving Hizballah disarmament through solving the Sheba'a
"pretext," exchanging prisoners, and beefing up the LAF.
Murr noted that, ultimately, he would hope to arrange and
participate in official discussions with Israel but only in
the context of the 1949 Armistice Agreement. Murr said he
would like to travel to Washington "next month" for official
meetings. END SUMMARY.


2. (C) Murr prefaced his comments with some background.
Noting that he had fallen out of favor with the Syrians since
his time as Interior Minister from 2000 to 2004 due to his
effort to block the movement of jihadis from northern Lebanon
to Iraq, Murr said that the Syrians had asked that he be
given a new portfolio following President Lahoud's extension
and the formation of a new government under Omar Karameh in
September 2004. Murr refused the "humiliation" and only
returned to government, as Deputy PM and Defense Minister,
when Najib Mikati formed a new Cabinet in April 2005. Then
followed a harrowing near-miss attempt on his life - using
100 kilograms of C4 - in July 2005. Following a recovery
period, Murr returned to the Defense Ministry early this
year. "At that point, I decided that since they've tried to
keep me out of government, and now they've tried to kill me,
well then I might as well get to work."

LAF REFORM
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3. (C) Discussing his reform of the LAF, which had been
"managed by the Syrians for 15 years," Murr said that he
launched a recruiting drive with the goal of reducing the
Shi'a content of the army. When he started recruiting, he
claims, Shi'a still composed "60 per cent" of the military.
After bringing in 18,000 new troops, Shi'a composition is now
only "15 per cent." He has ensured that the officer corps
receives its training in the West; in the past six months,
according to Murr, 2000 officers have gone for training in
the U.S. and Europe. Murr assured Rep. Lantos that the LAF's
generals - who are 50 percent Christian, 25 percent Sunni, 5
percent Druze, and 20 percent Shi'a - are highly trustworthy,
and that Murr has made sure to place brigades led by Shi'a
generals in Sunni northern Lebanon to avoid Israeli
accusations that sympathetic army officers may be abetting
Hizballah in the South (Note. All units in the LAF,
considered the one true non-sectarian national institution,
are multi-confessional. End Note).


4. (C) Murr noted that he has made the Shi'a composition of
the LAF artificially low as he hopes the LAF can eventually
absorb some of Hizballah's militants into its ranks, thereby
increasing the Shi'a content to a more equitable one-third of
the force. Ideally, according to Murr, the LAF's
confessional breakdown should be one-third Christian,
one-third Sunni and Druze, and one-third Shi'a.

REMOVE HIZBALLAH'S PRETEXTS
--------------


5. (C) To achieve this goal, Murr says that the GOL needs
to "take all the cards from Hizballah." Hizballah defends
its right to maintain its arms on four issues: prisoners,

BEIRUT 00002775 002 OF 002


mine maps, Sheba'a Farms, and the inability of the LAF to
defend Lebanon. Murr believes the first two are the easiest
since the prisoners can be solved through a swap and the LAF
already has some of the IDF's maps of mine placements (which
are inaccurate anyway since the mines have shifted over the
years). On Sheba'a, Murr urged that the UN place the area
under trusteeship, and that Syria be cornered into providing
an official letter stating that Sheba'a is Lebanese.


6. (C) Murr sees the last of Hizballah's pretexts - the
LAF's inability to defend Lebanon - as the key issue. The
GOL is working with the international community to build up
the LAF within "three months." Murr asked for a "green
light" from the USG to begin purchasing heavy weaponry from
Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the UAE, and Kuwait using a recent $800
million handout from the Saudis and Emiratis. (Note: As we
understand, this money was intended for reconstruction, not
assistance to the LAF. End note.) When the LAF is equipped
and capable, then it can challenge Hizballah to show its true
colors; either it is a nationalistic Lebanese organization
that would be willing to deliver its weapons to the LAF, or
it is simply a Syrian-Iranian proxy uninterested in
preserving Lebanon's unity.

BORDER MONITORING
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7. (C) Rep. Lantos and the Ambassador asked what the GOL
intends to do to monitor its border with Syria and stop the
resupply of arms to Hizballah. Murr replied that there are
currently 8600 LAF troops stationed along or near the border.
Further, the Cabinet decided to request foreign "support"
and that German technicians would arrive in a few days "with
equipment and under the UN flag" to help set up monitoring
towers - with "radar, infra-green cameras, computer sytems,
and detection systems" - all along the 380km frontier with
Syria. The Germans will help train the LAF, and will remain
in an operational capacity - though under the umbrella of
"training" - in support of the Lebanese.

THREATS OF A SYRIAN BLOCKADE
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8. (C) Rep. Lantos asked what Murr expected the Syrian
reaction would be to this stepped-up border monitoring. Does
the GOL fear a Syrian blockade on the border, as President
Asad is threatening? "That would be good," Murr replied;
"that will help us control the border even more." Murr said
that a Syrian blockade would also give the GOL leverage in
getting the Israeli blockade eased, while it would turn the
Lebanese against Syria.

TALKS WITH ISRAEL?
--------------


9. (C) Playing to Murr's ego and sense of his historic
role, Rep. Lantos said that "this was one of the most
impressive meetings I have had in a very long career." He
pressed Murr on his willingness to engage Israel further.
Murr said that now would not be the right time as rumors and
sensitivities within Lebanon about collusion with Israel are
running very high. However, Murr hopes that, as a "next
step" in "two or three months," the Lebanese and Israeli
political-military leadership might begin discussions, under
UN auspices, on modifying the 1949 Armistice Agreement. Murr
did not indicate whether these would be direct, face-to-face
talks or follow the awkward LAF-UNIFIL-IDF indirect
triangulation currently being employed, but he did signal his
willingness to participate personally. The Ambassador pointed
out that, if Israel would agree to talking about the
Armistice Agreement (which is far from certain, we
understand),any revision of the 1949 agreement would have to
address the annex which limits troops numbers in the
Lebanon-Israel border zone.


10. (U) Rep. Lantos did not have an opportunity to clear
this cable.
FELTMAN