SPAIN/UNIFIL: POLITICAL AFTERMATH OF CAR BOMB

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 MADRID 001276 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/28/2017 TAGS: PREL MOPS SP LE AF SUBJECT: SPAIN/UNIFIL: POLITICAL AFTERMATH OF CAR BOMB ATTACK REF: MADRID 1265 MADRID 00001276 001.2 OF 002 Classified By: DCM Hugo Llorens for reasons 1.4 b & d. ¶1. (C) SUMMARY. After allowing 48 hours of respectful calm in which to bury the victims, President Zapatero and opposition Popular Party (PP) leader Mariano Rajoy pummeled each other in Parliament over responsibility for the car bomb deaths of six Spanish soldiers serving under UNIFIL in Lebanon (reftel). The Ambassador and DCM are engaging GOS and PP contacts to encourage unity on the Afghanistan and Lebanon missions, given USG interest in the strategic success of those missions. Defense Minister Alonso has decided to focus his July 2 appearance before the Parliamentary Defense Committee on the Lebanon deaths and thus will not ask at that time for permission to send 52 military trainers to Afghanistan, as planned. DCM called MOD Policy Director Luis Cuesta on June 28 to emphasize the importance of deploying the trainers as soon as possible. Cuesta said that the delay does not indicate a change in Spanish Government policy, but rather reflects Alonso's desire to avoid mixing the Lebanon and Afghanistan issues in Parliament. He told DCM that Alonso intends to get Parliamentary approval for the deployment in July. END SUMMARY. ¶2. (U) The Spanish military command has ordered the army to immediately deliver to its forces in Lebanon four armored personnel carriers (APCs) of the type destroyed by the car bomb on June 24 but equipped with frequency inhibitors. Three additional APCs, as well as 30 frequency inhibitors for installation in other vehicles, will follow as soon as they are available. According to press reports, this equipment had been destined for Spanish forces in Afghanistan. Meanwhile, Spanish troops in Lebanon have been ordered to avoid unnecessary movements. -- PARLIAMENTARY CONFRONTATION OVER LEBANON DEATHS -- ¶3. (U) During the June 27 Parliamentary question-and-answer session in which President Zapatero addressed the attack in Lebanon, Zapatero and PP leader Rajoy harshly criticized each other. Rajoy blamed Zapatero for deaths in both Lebanon and Afghanistan that he said were caused by Zapatero's lack of a serious commitment to the safety of the troops evidenced by the absence of frequency inhibitors on Spanish military vehicles. He pressed Zapatero to acknowledge that Spanish troops are serving in a combat role rather than a humanitarian role, attempting to draw a parallel between former president Aznar's deployment of forces to Iraq and Zapatero's deployment of forces to Afghanistan and Lebanon. ¶4. (U) Zapatero said that Spanish troops are better equipped now than they were under Aznar, and claimed that whereas Spain began implementing a frequency inhibitor installation program in November 2005, no other country's troops in Lebanon have such equipment. Zapatero said that "the Ministry of Defense and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs will provide comprehensive information about the circumstances, the political situation, and the consequences of the Spanish military presence in Lebanon in the immediate future." Lebanese PM Fuad Siniora paid a surprise visit to Madrid June 28 to meet with President Zapatero, with the focus of the meeting expected to be the investigation into the attack against the Spanish soldiers. -- LEBANON DEATHS DELAY AFGHANISTAN OMLT APPROVAL -- ¶5. (C) Defense Minister Alonso was scheduled to address the Parliamentary Defense Committee on June 26 to get approval to deploy two Spanish training teams (OMLTs) to Afghanistan, but the session was postponed because of the official funeral for the soldiers killed in Lebanon. Alonso's session was rescheduled for July 2, and the press initially reported that Alonso would discuss both Lebanon and the OMLTs during the session. Alonso, however, has decided to focus the July 2 session exclusively on Lebanon. MOD Policy Director Cuesta told DCM that the Minister had decided that, because the deaths in Lebanon were such a serious issue, it would show bad taste and bad political strategy to try to address the OMLTs during the same session. Cuesta emphasized that Alonso was not under pressure from Zapatero and that the decision does not reflect a change in GOS policy towards the OMLTs. He said that Alonso intends to go to the Defense Committee in July to get the necessary approval. (NOTE. Parliament begins its summer recess at the end of this week, but it would be a relatively easy, common step to reconvene the Defense MADRID 00001276 002.2 OF 002 Committee in order to hold the needed vote. END NOTE.) -- COMMENT -- ¶6. (C) Ambassador and DCM are talking with senior GOS officials and top PP leaders - including Aznar, with whom Ambassador has a previously scheduled dinner - to encourage a united front on key strategic issues such as Lebanon and Afghanistan. AGUIRRE