LEBANON: MURR SAYS GOL-UNIFIL MARITIME FORCE

S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 03 BEIRUT 002867

SIPDIS

SIPDIS
NOFORN

NSC FOR ABRAMS/DORAN/MARCHESE/HARDING

E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/05/2026
TAGS: PREL PTER MOPS CVIS LE SY
SUBJECT: LEBANON: MURR SAYS GOL-UNIFIL MARITIME FORCE
AGREEMENT IS READY

REF: BEIRUT 2841

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

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


1. (S/NF) During a 9/5 meeting at his Rabieh home with the
Ambassador and poloff, Lebanese Deputy Prime Minister and
Defense Minister Elias Murr said that the GOL and UNIFIL had
worked out the operational guidelines governing international
maritime assistance, adding that Prime Minister Siniora would
send the letter formally requesting assistance to UNSYG Annan
this evening (something that did not, in fact, happen). Murr
provided some atmospherics from the 9/4 Cabinet session
during which the letter was debated. Murr supports the
establishment of a UNIFIL "liaison" office at the airport,
while noting he would like the LAF-UNIFIL-IDF coordination
sessions to continue after the completion of the IDF
withdrawal. The politically acceptable cover should be, he
said, the need to discuss modifying the 1949 Armistice
Agreement. Murr gave the Ambassador some details on the
bombing which had taken place that morning targeting an ISF
colonel, and also mentioned his suspicions as to the
perpetrators. Pleading again for rapid assistance to be
provided to the LAF, Murr said that the most immediate need
is ammunition. As he has before, Murr advised the Ambassador
not to travel outside the immediate environs of Christian
East Beirut (although he denied having specific threat
information). END SUMMARY.

AGREEMENT READY FOR UN MARITIME ASSISTANCE
--------------


2. (S/NF) Noting that Siniora would send a letter later on
9/5 to UNSYG Annan formally requesting maritime assistance
from UNIFIL -- something that did not actually happen yet --
Murr said that the GOL and UNIFIL had already worked out an
agreement governing the roles and the rules of engagement for
the international maritime force and the Lebanese navy. Murr
said that there will be a joint air and sea operation center
and that UNIFIL can maintain maritime command centers in Tyre
and Naqoura. He said that he has also agreed to UNIFIL
presence in Lebanon's other ports (Sidon, Beirut, Jounieh,
and Tripoli) based on logistics needs -- the UNIFIL ships
will occasionally need to pull into those harbors, either for
protection from inclement weather or shore leave needs. Murr
said that the French and Italians can begin interim maritime
patrols, pending the arrival of a permanent force, within two
days of the request being activated (which depends upon the
air blockade being lifted).


3. (S/NF) Describing the 9/4 Lebanese Cabinet meeting to
decide on the letter the UN, Murr said that all the Shi'a
ministers - from both Hizballah and Nabih Berri's Amal - had
been initially opposed to requesting the force. The debate
went on for four hours, according to Murr, with some
ministers arguing that the Lebanese Armed Forces are
completely capable of securing Lebanese territorial waters
without international assistance. Acknowledging that the
diminutive Lebanese navy might not be up to the task, LAF
Chief Michel Sleiman reportedly piped up to say that the army
could secure the coastline and stop all smuggling that way.
Murr chuckled at the vision of LAF soldiers stationed up and
down Lebanon's beaches. At that point, Murr says he asked
Sleiman to keep quiet and to go wait in the vestibule outside
the Cabinet chamber.


4. (S/NF) Finally Siniora, who had conferred with Berri
before the meeting, suggested the Amal ministers should
coordinate with their boss. Health Minister Mohammad
Khalifeh stepped out of the room to call Berri. Coming back
in, presumably much chastened, Khalifeh and the other Amal
ministers voted in support of the letter. However, Hizballah
still did not approve, indicating that there is a break in
the official Shi'a ranks for the first time since the
conflict started. The Ambassador asked Murr if he thought
the whole break had been orchestrated as a kind of theatre.
Noting Khalifeh's phone call to Berri and chastened looks,
Murr said that he did not believe so.

BEIRUT 00002867 002 OF 003



WAYS TO BUILD CONFIDENCE
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5. (S/NF) Murr asked about reopening the airport, and the
Ambassador suggested establishing a "liaison" office there
primarily to support the UNIFIL deployment, but also keeping
a close eye on the airport. Murr liked the idea very much
and suggested that the UN request this from PM Siniora
immediately. Siniora could in turn get Acting Interior
Minister Ahmed Fatfat to assign office space and security to
UNIFIL at the airport, since the Internal Security Forces
(ISF) now head the airport security committee.


6. (S/NF) The Ambassador asked about other ways to increase
international confidence in GOL measures taken to monitor
points of entry. Murr said that the LAF would take UNIFIL
commander Alain Pelligrini on a land and air tour of its
positions in the Biqa' Valley and along the border with
Syria, starting 9/6. He added that the 9/4 LAF-UNIFIL-IDF
coordination meeting in UNIFIL headquarters in Naqoura had
gone extremely well and that he expects the IDF to complete
its withdrawal in "10-15 days". Murr agreed with the
Ambassador's suggestion that the coordination sessions should
continue even after the withdrawal is complete, and suggested
using the Lebanese desire to modify the 1949 Armistice
Agreement -- agreed to and mentioned in Siniora's "Seven
Points" plan -- as a hook for this extension.


7. (S/NF) The Ambassador remarked that it would also help
if the Israelis could have some assurances of the welfare of
the two captured IDF soldiers. Couldn't Hizballah take the
ICRC to visit the prisoners or provide information? Murr
said that the GOL is not involved in the matter, but that
Hizballah is unlikely to take the ICRC to visit the captives
since it would provide the Israelis an idea of their
location. However, Murr suggested that Hizballah could
possibly provide to the UN a video of the prisoners holding
up a copy of that day's paper.

BOMB TARGETING ISF COLONEL
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8. (S/NF) The Ambassador asked about that morning's (9/5)
bomb blast near Sidon targeting and injuring Lieutenant
Colonel Samir Shehata, deputy chief of the ISF's intelligence
bureau. Murr said that the bomb contained 10 kilograms of
TNT and that Shehata was presumably targeted because of the
active role he has played in the investigation into the
Hariri assassination as well as other anti-terrorist efforts.
"From my point of view," assessed Murr, "this attack was a
Hizballah decision but was executed by Palestinian terrorists
from Ain El-Helwe (a Palestinian refugee camp in Sidon)."
Murr said Hizballah has a black list of perceived
anti-Hizballah figures -- Murr mentioned his name, Saad
Hariri, Shehata, and Fuad Siniora as being among the targets.
Shehata had apparently been receiving threatening phone
calls leading up to the attack.


9. (S/NF) As he has done before (reftel),Murr advised the
Ambassador not to travel outside of Christian East Beirut,
and in particular beyond the areas with a heavy army presence
surrounding the Embassy in Awkar and Murr's residence in
Rabiyeh. The Ambassador asked again if Murr has any
particular threat information regarding any Embassy
personnel. Murr replied that he has nothing, just a bad
feeling.

CONFISCATED LAISSER-PASSERS FOR HIZBALLAHIS
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10. (S/NF) Murr said that he had recently discovered that
in January 2006 General Sleiman and LAF Intelligence Director
George Khoury signed 146 laissez-passers for Hizballah
members and their bodyguards to travel armed and unhindered
throughout Lebanon. Murr claims they did this without
informing him. Murr showed two examples of these permits to
the Ambassador (Note. Poloff copied down the two names for
possible Visas Viper referral. End Note). Having uncovered
this special treatment, Murr has now recalled all of the

BEIRUT 00002867 003 OF 003


laissez-passers. Hizballah is miffed by Murr's action, and
has threatened that he will be held personally responsible
for any Hizballah death as a result of their reduced ease of
movement.

LAF NEEDS
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11. (S/NF) Asking again for immediate support for the LAF,
Murr noted that the most pressing need is for ammunition.
Murr said the army is suffering from a lack of morale due to
its unpreparedness, and that several generals have approached
him recently with their concerns. In particular, the special
forces need to be equipped within two months in order to face
down a potential Hizballah-Aounist attempt to foment violence
in early November (reftel).
FELTMAN