NORWAY NOT OPTIMISTIC ABOUT HIZBALLAH DISARMAMENT

C O N F I D E N T I A L OSLO 000003 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/03/2016 TAGS: PREL PGOV LE NO SUBJECT: NORWAY NOT OPTIMISTIC ABOUT HIZBALLAH DISARMAMENT REF: SECSTATE 232383 Classified By: P/E Counselor Mike Hammer, reason 1.4 (b) and (d) (C) We delivered reftel demarche to MFA Advisor Kjetil Halvorsen on January 3. Halvorsen thanked us for our points and, while he could not specify what specific action Norway might take to keep pressure on Syria and Iran, said that Norway fully supports the disarmament of Lebanese militias. Halvorsen was quite pessimistic, however, about the prospects for Hizballah's disarmament, noting that the presence of Shia ministers in the Lebanese government was likely to limit the government's actions against Hizballah. Visit Oslo's Classified website: http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/eur/oslo/index.cf m WEBSTER NNNN