LEBANON: RETICENT PATRIARCH HINTS AT STRONG

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BEIRUT 001563

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

NSC FOR ABRAMS/SINGH/GAVITO/YERGER

E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/03/2017
TAGS: PGOV PREL LE
SUBJECT: LEBANON: RETICENT PATRIARCH HINTS AT STRONG
COMPROMISE CANDIDATE

REF: LEBANON 1554

BEIRUT 00001563 001.2 OF 002


Classified By: Ambassador Jeffrey D. Feltman for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d
).

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

1. (C) Maronite Patriarch Sfeir continues to receive a
flurry of key visitors attempting to plead their interests,
get his blessing, and squeeze out information from the
tight-lipped yet influential cleric. While he offered little
of his own thinking, he did inquire about MP Hariri's visit
to Washington. Ambassador sought assurances that the
Patriarch was comfortable with U.S. policy regarding the
elections, namely, that the elections be conducted freely and
fairly, in line with Lebanon's constitution, and without
foreign interference. The Ambassador also assured the
Patriarch the U.S. will strongly support a newly elected
President chosen based on these principles. The Patriarch
agreed with those messages. (See septel for the Patriarch's
private comments on presidential candidates.) End Summary.

PATRIARCH IS CURIOUS ABOUT
HARIRI'S WASHINGTON VISIT
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2. (C) Ambassador and POLOFF visited Maronite Patriarch
Nasrallah Boutros Sfeir October 4 to ensure the Patriarch was
comfortable with U.S. policy regarding the elections. Sfeir
inquired about MP Saad Hariri's visit to Washington, taking
place that same day. The Ambassador informed him USG
officials would be stressing during the visit their support
for preserving UNSCR 1559 and for endorsing a new president
who is elected through democratic, constitutional means,
without foreign intervention. The Ambassador briefed the
Patriarch on the differences in language between UNSCRs 1559
and 1701, noting why UNSCR 1559 was so important. When the
discussion turned to the issue of disarming Hizballah, the
Patriarch, agreeing on the need to preserve UNSCR 1559,
responded in unusually (for the enigmatic cleric) clear
terms: "It is not a state when another group has arms. This
is unacceptable."

BUT HOW TO FIND A STRONG
PRESIDENT?
--------------


3. (C) Turning to the election, the Patriarch said it would
be very good to have a strong president, but how do you find
him? He commented on what he perceives to be a marked change
in Christian allegiances - the Christians today are divided
in their support between the Shia-controlled Aoun/Hizballah
bloc and the Sunni-controlled March 14 movement, in contrast
to previous times when there were two prevailing
Christian-dominated but cross-confessional political parties,
from which the president was always chosen. There are no
strong candidates who are able to garner enough support, he
said. The Ambassador responded that, from the perspective of
the U.S., the new president, if chosen according the
principles outlined in the annual Maronite Bishops'
statement, would receive the appropriate presidential
treatment, and in this way, would essentially strengthen the
role of the president.


4. (C) Addressing the Patriarch's suspicions that the
Maronite presidency is permanently marginalized, the
Ambassador assured the Patriarch that, despite our ongoing
boycott of President Lahoud, we understood the need to help
strengthen the role of the President vis-a-vis the prime
minister, whose status has been artificially elevated to de
facto head of state by virtue of the loss of presidential
credibility after President Emile Lahoud's
Syrian-orchestrated extension. In other words, assuming that
the president is a credible figure, the U.S. will again treat
the president as a president and the PM as a PM. This
outcome of course rests on Lebanon's success in choosing a
president democratically, according to the constitution, and
without foreign intervention.

CONSIDERING COMPROMISE CANDIDATES
--------------


5. (C) The Patriarch acknowledged that Parliament Speaker
Nabih Berri had been one of the many visitors soliciting the

BEIRUT 00001563 002.2 OF 002


Patriarch for his position on candidates. This led to a
review of names with the Ambassador. Recognizing the
challenges of getting March 8 to vote for Boutros Harb or
Nassib Lahoud, the Patriarch commented elusively that there
are some people who can be strong compromise candidates. He
thanked the Ambassador for the USG's efforts in getting a new
president in Lebanon. (See reftel for the Patriarch's
private comments on presidential candidates.)

COMMENT
--------------


6. (C) With Hizballah and other pro-Syrians finding ways
each day to denounce UNSCR 1559, we wanted to enlist the
Patriarch in UNSCR 1559's defense. Since all presidential
candidates and would-be candidates parade through Sfeir's
reception room, we wanted him to understand why the
candidates should not readily abandon UNSCR 1559. He seemed
to get the point (although it is not clear whether the
reticent cleric will volunteer this to the candidates, unless
they explicitly ask his advice). We know, too, how
suspicious the Patriarch is that the state of disrepair into
which the Presidency has fallen under the disreputable Emile
Lahoud is permanent. We wanted him to aspire to the best
possible president, in the knowledge that we will be prepared
to help restore the strength and prestige of the office in
the case a credible candidate is elected.
FELTMAN