(U) Secretary Rice's July 27, 2006 conversation

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E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/28/26
TAGS: OVIP RICE CONDOLEEZZA PREL MY US
SUBJECT: (U) Secretary Rice's July 27, 2006 conversation
with Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah


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(U) Classified by: Arnold Chacon, Deputy Executive
Secretary, S/ES, Department of State. Reason 1.4.(b) and

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(d)


1. (U) July 27, 2006; 4:45 PM; Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.


2. (U) Participants:

U.S.
The Secretary
Amb. Christopher J. LaFleur
U/S Karen Hughes
A/S Chris Hill
NSC Senior Director Dennis Wilder

Malaysia
Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi
Foreign Minister Hamid
Amb. Rajmah Hussein
MFA Deputy Secretary General I Othman Hashim
Abdul Kadir Mohamad, Foreign Policy Advisor to the Prime
Minister


3. (C) Summary: The Secretary reviewed her efforts to
achieve a ceasefire in Lebanon based on a more stable,
permanent solution to the crisis. Prime Minister Abdullah
expressed disappointment with the results of the Rome
Conference and urged the U.S. pressure Israel to implement
a cease fire. He welcomed efforts to shape a peacekeeping
force and reiterated Malaysia's offer to send Malaysian
peacekeepers. In a broader discussion of the Palestinian
issue, Prime Minister Abdullah said he thought that Hamas
could be persuaded to support a two state solution but not
while they were fighting. They agreed that "we could not
lose" Abu Mazen. The Secretary concluded that some
movement had been achieved on Lebanon and the
international community needed Malaysia's support to
strengthen the chances that a ceasefire would be approved
by both sides. End Summary.


4. (C) The Secretary reviewed the results of her recent
discussions in Beirut, Jerusalem and Rome. In
conversations with both sides, she had assessed the
situation and discussed possible bases for a ceasefire.
She left NSC Middle East Senior Director Abrams and
Assistant Secretary Welch behind in the region to continue
discussions.


5. (C) Abdullah said he had been disappointed that the
Rome Conference couldn't agree to call for an immediate
ceasefire. The Secretary said that this was something on
which the parties to the conflict themselves had to agree.
Abdullah asked whether she thought the Lebanese didn't
want a ceasefire. The Secretary said it was not clear if
Hezbollah wanted one. Lebanese Prime Minister Siniora was
not able to extend his authority into the southern part of
the country. We did not want simply to return to the
previous situation. Abdullah said Siniora had told him he
wanted a ceasefire. Siniora was suggesting there be a
simultaneous return of the two prisoners and a ceasefire
monitored by the UN. The European Union could also
participate and Malaysia was prepared to send
peacekeepers.

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6. (C) The Secretary said the way out of the crisis was
to make sure there was a more stable, permanent solution.
The Government of Lebanon should be able to send its army
south with a UN mandate and an international stability
force. Hezbollah had to be moved far enough back from the
border so that it couldn't fire rockets into Israel. When
Hezbollah crossed the border to capture the two Israeli
soldiers, it had also started firing rockets into Israel.
Israel wanted to eliminate that threat; it had no other
reason to be in Lebanon. We wanted to see a ceasefire but
that required that the circumstances on the ground
wouldn't lead to more attacks. We hoped to see
international support for Siniora to extend the Lebanese
government's authority to the south.


7. (C) Abdullah asked whether a ceasefire was dependent on
deployment of international forces. The Secretary said
the key was to get a mandate for the force. Abdullah said
he hoped we would not veto a ceasefire. The Secretary
replied that, on the contrary, this was our proposal. It
was one thing to make statements, another to actually get
the fighting stopped. We can't just talk about it, we
have to do it, she said.


8. (C) Abdullah said the US had the strength to bring
about a ceasefire, and Israel would have to go along. He
hoped the US could wield its power to stop the war. The
situation had become very bad. He had talked to Siniora,
who confirmed that the situation was very bad. He had
also talked to Indonesian President Yudoyono. Indonesia
and Malaysia were not anti-US, but they believed that a
ceasefire would occur if the US wanted one. News that the
US was selling smart bombs to Israel made the public even
more angry about the US role. On the one hand, the US was
vetoing a ceasefire; on the other hand it was sending
smart bombs.


9. (C) The Secretary said the US had not vetoed a
ceasefire. She reminded Abdullah that this crisis had
started with Hezbollah shelling of Israel. Israel must be
convinced that Hezbollah won't be able to continue doing
this. This was why an international force was needed.
She noted that Siniora also didn't want continuation of
the current situation in which Hezbollah could plunge
Lebanon into war at any time. She knew it was difficult
to see the photographs of the destruction in Lebanon. It
would be helpful if other parties in the Islamic world
would help Hezbollah recognize that they must accept a
ceasefire and dissuade the Iranians from interfering. The
long-range missiles that Hezbollah were firing came from
Iran. We hoped that everyone could use our its offices to
rein in the extreme elements.


10. (C) Abdullah said Hezbollah was a manifestation of
the same problem as the Palestinian crisis. There was
anger there also over Israel's illegal walls and borders
and atrocities against Palestinians. The Secretary
replied that PA President Abbas had told her the
Palestinians didn't need Hezbollah to defend them.
Abdullah said Abbas must succeed. But if nothing happened
[to advance the Palestinian cause] he would be in trouble
himself. He recalled President Bush telling him that he
supported the Palestinians people's right to choose their

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would help Hezbollah recognize that they must accept a
ceasefire and dissuade the Iranians from interfering. The
long-range missiles that Hezbollah were firing came from
Iran. We hoped that everyone could use our its offices to
rein in the extreme elements.


10. (C) Abdullah said Hezbollah was a manifestation of
the same problem as the Palestinian crisis. There was
anger there also over Israel's illegal walls and borders
and atrocities against Palestinians. The Secretary
replied that PA President Abbas had told her the
Palestinians didn't need Hezbollah to defend them.
Abdullah said Abbas must succeed. But if nothing happened
[to advance the Palestinian cause] he would be in trouble
himself. He recalled President Bush telling him that he
supported the Palestinians people's right to choose their
leaders in free elections and would work with whomever
they chose. However, we refused to work with Hamas. The
Secretary reminded Abdullah that Hamas was a terrorist

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organization and that US officials were legally barred
from working with them. However, all Hamas had to do was
to renounce terrorism and commit to the peace process.
Abdullah said that we should engage with them first, and
then they could change.


11. (C) The Secretary said that part of the problem was
that the Hamas leadership was divided between those in
Damascus and those in Palestine. Haniya may want to do
some things, bit he doesn't control the military. He
tells others that he doesn't know what Hamas' military is
doing. Under these circumstances, it is very difficult
for their government to function. However, if Hamas
accepted the Quartet principles, there would not be a
problem. But we could not have a peace process if one of
the parties doesn't accept peace as the objective.


12. (C) Abdullah thought that Hamas could come to terms
with a two state solution. They would be happy to secure
a solution after years of fighting. But if we put too
much pressure on them, they would react negatively. He
wanted to help Abbas. But the Palestinian government
couldn't function without money. The Secretary responded
that she was Abbas's chief fundraiser, noting our efforts
to get other governments to live up to their aid pledges.
We had been doing everything we could to assist him.
Abdullah said the problem was that this was not the
perception. He stressed that we could not lose Abbas.
The Secretary agreed.


13. (C) Returning to the Lebanon crisis, the Secretary
said that we were making progress step by step. We needed
help from others as well, especially countries such as
Malaysia, to strengthen the chances that a ceasefire would
be approved by both sides.
RICE

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would be embarrassed if its draft Resolution on
North Korea lingered in the Security Council
while a Resolution on Iran moved forward. The
Secretary noted that China and Russia might be

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convinced to abstain on a North Korea
resolution. The period before the G-8 presented
a good opportunity in the Security Council to
act. France supports Japan's draft resolution
by believes that it will be a good idea not to
force a vote on it. France would like to come
to a consensus on North Korea and agreed that
the period before the G-8 was the best time to
convince the Russians and Chinese not to veto
Japan's resolution.

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IRAQ
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11. (S) The Secretary urged Douste-Blazy to
consider the Iraq Compact, which entails serious
commitments by the Iraqi government. Douste-
Blazy said France "noted with pleasure" that the
Iraqi government was much more inclusive than in
the past, and France is ready to help. Still,
Douste-Blazy said he was preoccupied by the
daily violence, by the corruption, and by the
need for Iraq to create public services. He
emphasized the importance of a regional meeting








on Iraq that would include the Arab League and
countries such as Russia and Turkey. The
Secretary said it was important to include these

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countries, but that the international community
should first concentrate on the Iraq Compact.
Douste-Blazy said France had worked with Iraq on
its debt and on training civil servants, police
and officials in the justice sector. The
Secretary urged Douste-Blazy to consider

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infrastructure projects, given Iraq's great need
in this area. Douste-Blazy said that if the
Iraqi government made a specific request, France
would certainly consider it. Still, he said
France was reticent because of past experiences
in Iraqi mismanagement of assistance funds, and
because of the security situation.

RICE
RICE