LEBANON: CUSTOMS PLANS A COMPLICATED FIGHT AGAINST

S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 02 BEIRUT 002838

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

NSC FOR ABRAMS/DORAN/MARCHESE/HARDING

E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/31/2016
TAGS: PREL PTER PGOV ECON EFIN LE SY IR IS
SUBJECT: LEBANON: CUSTOMS PLANS A COMPLICATED FIGHT AGAINST
ARMS SMUGGLING


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

Summary
--------------


1. (S) Although our GOL senior and political interlocutors
have spoken with less than a unified voice on arms smuggling
into Lebanon, we have heard about both success stories and
chronic problems about this issue from Lebanon's customs
services. While positive developments have been hard to
confirm, it seems that at some level Lebanon is trying to
come to grips with the smuggling issue. Nevertheless, the
task of securing Lebanon's border with Syria is complicated
by both politics and geography. Long-standing smuggling
routes abound, and they are important to some Lebanese as the
cross-border economic, political, and confessional ties
between Syrians and Leanonese often bypass the official
boundary lines. End Summary.

Customs and Arms Smuggling
--------------


2. (C) The head of the Lebanese Customs Brigade Major Ayman
Ibrahim shared with Pol/Econ Chief and FSNs the GOL's recent
efforts to control the border and stop arms smuggling.
Ibrahim expressed optimism that PM Siniora's new directives
will help contain possible arms smuggling via hundreds of
illegal land crossings.


3. (C) Ibrahim noted efforts to crack down on smuggling,
including the PM's formation of a special interagency
committee the third week of August to examine and implement
ways to monitor land, maritime and air borders. Ibrahim
noted that the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) deployment of
8,600 soldiers last week along the land border in the north
and Bekaa region should help to control arms smuggling. The
LAF's role will be to monitor illegal crossings in a variety
of terrain, and to bolster customs brigade personnel at
official crossing points. Customs teams are visiting the
four official land crossings at Arida, Abboudieh, Kaa, and
Masnaa this week to examine the implementation of control
measures on the ground, Ibrahim told us.


4. (C) It is doubtful that smugglers would attempt to pass
weapons via these official crossings, Ibrahim said. It is
far more likely that smugglers would use, or are using,
illegal crossing points including unofficial, unpaved roads
and paths that crisscross the border, as well as the numerous
villages that lie astride the border. These factors, as well
as political and militia interference from at least the time
of the Lebanese Civil War on, have made the border extremely
porous. Further complicating the situation is the fact,
Ibrahim asserted, that, because of the mountainous
topography, travel between many Lebanese villages requires
the use of roads and routes that pass through Syrian
territory. All in all, the task of shutting down the weapons
flow is complex and difficult.


5. (C) Ibrahim showed us several heavily-penciled maps
showing dozens of known or suspected clandestine entry
routes. Many of these appeared to be close enough to
official crossings, highways and towns that they would be
obvious to a careful observer on the ground. The German
technical assistance to Lebanese customs enforcement will not
solve this problem, Ibrahim explained. The equipment and
training the Customs Brigade expects to receive is planned at
seven sites only -- the four official land crossings, the
Ports of Beirut and Tripoli, and the Beirut International
Airport.

Syria's Legacy
--------------


6. (C) Illegal crossings in the areas of Hermel, Baalbek and
Rachaya are most prone to arms smuggling, according to
Ibrahim, because of the local inhabitants' strong ties to the
Syrian regime. He explained that those three areas have
remained uncontrolled and open from the Syrian side of the
border even after the pullout of Syrian troops in spring

2005. By comparison, Syrian forces had constructed sand
berms in Ersal and Anjar -- Lebanese territory according to
Ibrahim -- for fear of weapons smuggling in the opposite
direction; i.e., from Lebanon to Syria to support factions

BEIRUT 00002838 002 OF 002


opposed to the regime in Damascus. To deal with these
complex issues, a joint Lebanese-Syrian committee had been
formed and was looking into improving border control and
addressing irregularities in Syrian procedures when
hostilities broke out between Israel and Lebanon in July.


7. (C) Lebanese Customs' 600 anti-smuggling personnel have
seized no weapons before or since the withdrawal of the
Syrian army, Ibrahim offered. "Weapons were never smuggled
into Lebanon, but rather came through official crossings,
mainly the military road," he said. This military road,
which is situated near the Masnaa crossing, was at no point
under the control of Lebanese Customs. The Syrian army
controlled the road until its withdrawal from Lebanon, at
which point the LAF took control. The road was reportdly
shut completely in December 2005 following the assassination
of Lebanese MP Gibran Tueni.

Comment
--------------


8. (S) A mid-level career official, Major Ibrahim appeared
to offer us a candid and unvarnished view of the practical
problems facing the GOL as it seeks to cut off Hizballah's
arms shipments, and he seemed to be grappling seriously with
his difficult task. Furthermore, he understood the
difference between economic smuggling and arms smuggling and
grasped the importance of the latter. It was refreshing to
hear a pragmatic point of view on the subject, given that
most of our senior interlocutors in the period since the
cessation of hostilities have appeared unwilling to address
the issue head-on. Our discussions with quite a few
political leaders have been marked by their excuses, pleading
for more time or technical assistance, indulgence in
conspiracy theories, and rhetorical comparisons to USG
authorities' inability to control the Mexico border.


9. (S) Yet, even though choking the arms shipments will
ultimately require a feat of political will at the top
levels, there may be signs that the LAF and Customs Brigade
will fight smuggling squarely on the local and operational
level. Assuming some level of discipline, the LAF's mere
presence may make arms smuggling a more costly and difficult
affair at least, and sensitizing Customs to the importance of
arms smuggling can only help. In addition, where they are
stationed, UNIFIL and other foreign observers, technicians
and trainers might deter some smuggling. There have been a
few unconfirmed "success stories" in recent days which have
reached us from the press or from contacts. In short, asking
politicians to take on Hezballah's arms smuggling has been
like asking them to take on Hizballah itself, but Lebanon's
embattled security institutions may yet produce enough
progress on this issue to create some confidence in the
international community.


10. (C) This Embassy has provided USG-sponsored customs
training to GOL officials in the past, including programs
that were carried out in Jordan and Kuwait, and we plan to
continue to do so in the future. On a different subject,
customs officials have been among our best GOL contacts in
trying to crack down on IPR violations. We hope that they
will apply the same diligence they used in reducing the
import of pirated products to combatting arms smuggling. End
Comment.
FELTMAN