EGYPTIAN AND ARAB LEAGUE ASSISTANCE FOR LEBANON

C O N F I D E N T I A L CAIRO 005389 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/29/2016 TAGS: PREL PGOV EAID EG LE SUBJECT: EGYPTIAN AND ARAB LEAGUE ASSISTANCE FOR LEBANON RECONSTRUCTION REF: A. STATE 139903 ¶B. CAIRO IIR 6899017300 Classified by Minister Counselor for Economic and Political Affairs William R. Stewart for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). ¶1. (C) According to MFA Cabinet staff member Ezzedine Shukry, Minister for International Cooperation Fayza Aboul Naga will represent Egypt at the August 31 Stockholm donors conference for Lebanon. MFA Deputy Assistant Minister for Arab Affairs Amal Mourad will also attend. Minister Aboul Naga is expected to describe Egypt's current bilateral assistance to Lebanon, but is not expected to announce any substantial new aid contribution. ¶2. (U) To date, Egypt has provided 18 (eighteen) planeloads (C-130's) of relief supplies containing medical and humanitarian items. Egypt also set up a medical field hospital outside Beirut (ref B) and sent teams of engineers to southern Lebanon to assess the electricity grid infrastructure. Egypt is considering sending engineers to repair damaged bridges (ref B),and offered to coordinate donations from Arab states. Egypt reportedly shared a paper on the coordination issue with Lebanon's foreign minister during an August 20 Arab League ministerial in Cairo. The Lebanese representative reportedly agreed to "study" Egypt's offer. ¶3. (C) Post shared ref A demarche with Arab League Secretariat Chief of Staff Hisham Youssef on August 27. The SIPDIS League, Youssef said, had no funds of its own for assistance for Lebanon, although AL Secretary General Amre Moussa was encouraging member states to give maximum relief to Lebanon. The League will be represented at the Stockholm conference by Assistant Secretary General for Economic and Social Affairs Nancy Bakhir. Arab ministers of trade and economy will meet in Cairo in early September to discuss Lebanon's reconstruction; Youssef said they may also decide to hold a special session in Lebanon in the coming weeks. He said that a senior United Nations representative who attended the August 20 AL foreign ministers meeting in Cairo recommended that the Government of Lebanon define a "long-term vision" for reconstruction, to which Arab governments could donate. The League Secretariat is collecting information on Arab contributions to Lebanon's reconstruction and should share this information in Stockholm. The League is also considering convening a meeting of representatives from all Arab specialized agencies to review potential assistance to Lebanon. ¶4. (C) Mohamed Shousha, Economic Researcher in the Cabinet of the Minister for International Cooperation told emboff on August 29 that Egypt will focus its assistance efforts on the construction and electricity sectors. Two delegations, he said, had been to Lebanon, one led by the Ministry of Electricity and the other led by a private Egyptian firm called Arab Contractors. The Ministry of International Cooperation had not yet received a read-out on either delegation's visit, Shousha reported. RICCIARDONE