LEBANON: EAC TO ADDRESS THREATS TO EMBASSY

S E C R E T BEIRUT 000068 SIPDIS NOFORN SIPDIS NSC FOR ABRAMS/DORAN/MARCHESE/HARDING E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/12/2017 TAGS: ASEC PTER CASC PGOV LE SUBJECT: LEBANON: EAC TO ADDRESS THREATS TO EMBASSY REF: TD-314/02407-07 Classified By: Ambassador Jeffrey Feltman. Reason: Section 1.5 (c) an d (d). SUMMMARY -------------- ¶1. (S) On January 12 the DCM convened the Emergency Action Committee (EAC) to review current threats in the wake of the early morning attack against Embassy Athens. EAC members discussed press reports of the Atnens attack, reftel description of an alleged missile threat against Embassy Beirut, and implications for Embassy Beirut of the recent arrest of Iranian personnel in Irbil, Iraq. Beirut EAC concluded that there was no apparent substantive relationship between the Athens attack and threats to Embassy Beirut. The Irbil action, however, raises the question of Embassy Beirut as a possible target of Iranian reprisals. End Summary. ATHENS ATTACK -------------- ¶2. (C) The EAC, after a review of press accounts of the January 12 early morning rocket attack against Embassy Athens, saw no connections between this attack and possible new threats against Embassy Beirut. Terrorist groups in Lebanon, including Hizballah, have long had the capacity to fire rockets into the 17-acre Embassy Beirut compound. ¶3. (C) In the wake of the Athens attack, RSO contacted the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) and the Internal Security Forces (ISF),which added some checkpoints in the vicinity of the Embassy compound and ramped up roving patrols. Neither the LAF nor the ISF had any new threat information, including possible demonstrations against the Embassy. ¶4. (SBU) The EAC noted that on January 10 the full Embassy, including locally-engaed employees, held a duck-and-cover exercise, including retreat to underground bunkers. The RSO plans to lead an emergency destruction drill the week of January 15. The EAC agreed to urge all Embassy personnel to minimize holdings of classified material. MISSILE ATTACK THREAT -------------- ¶5. (S/NF) The EAC reviewed reftel, subject: Alleged Threat of a Possible Missile Attack by Arab Liberation Front and the Iraqi Socialist Ba'th Party against American Embassy Beirut. All members of the EAC agreed that we were unable to assess the credibility of this report, distributed on January 11, ¶2007. POSSIBLE IRANIAN REPRISALS -------------- ¶6. (S) The EAC took note of the recent arrest by U.S. forces of Iranian government personnel in Irbil, Iraq. Discussion of these arrests, including the possible activities of the arrested Iranians, turned to Iran's substantial presence and influence in Lebanon. The Iranian presence here includes a large embassy and well-trained troops of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Forces. Iranian influence centers on Hizballah. The EAC agreed that we should continue to monitor actions against Iranian diplomatic offices in Iraq and be mindful that if Iran were to choose to effect reprisals against U.S. diplomatic facilities, Embassy Beirut would be a plausible target. WARNING TO CITIZENS -------------- ¶7. (C) The EAC agreed that recent threats including those discussed above would be focused on the official U.S. presence in Lebanon rather than the American community at large. In this respect, EAC members considered the existing warden messages and travel warning to be appropriate. FELTMAN