AMBASSADOR WOLFF RAISES HIZBALLAH RE-ARMAMENT WITH

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 USUN NEW YORK 000144

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E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/20/2017
TAGS: PREL PTER UNSC KPKO IS SY LE
SUBJECT: AMBASSADOR WOLFF RAISES HIZBALLAH RE-ARMAMENT WITH
UN DPKO U/SYG GUEHENNO

Classified By: Ambassador Alejandro D. Wolff, per 1.4 (b) and (d).


1. (C) Summary. During a meeting with UN Under
Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations Jean-Marie

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Guehenno on February 20, Ambassador Wolff and IO A/S
Silverberg raised strong USG concerns of arms smuggling into
Lebanon and claims by Hizballah SYG Nasrallah that his
organization is secretly transferring weapons "to the front."
Underscoring that such transfers are a blatant violation of
UNSCR 1701 and pose a substantial risk of renewed hostilities
between Israel and Hizballah, Ambassador Wolff urged Guehenno
to ensure that UNIFIL responds in a way that shows it will
not permit a return to the status quo ante. SYG Ban should
issue a statement responding to Nasrallah's speech and the UN
should provide the Council with any and all information on
arms smuggling as it becomes available, as well as including
this information in the SYG's next report on 1701 (expected
in late March) so that the Council can take appropriate
action. While acknowledging reports of arms smuggling into
Lebanon generally, U/SYG Guehenno insisted that UNIFIL had
its area of operations (AOR) between the Blue Line and the
Litani river under control. He added that UNIFIL would
prevent Hizballah from moving its weapons into south Lebanon.
Separately, a DPKO officer told Poloff that the Secretariat
planned to send a team of civilian police experts to Lebanon
by February 23 to follow up on a technical assessment they
completed last year on measures the GOL and bilateral donors
could take to secure Lebanon's border with Syria. DPKO also
said it plans to address Nasrallah's speech in the 1701
report. End Summary.

Hizballah Re-Armament and Nasrallah's Speech
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2. (C) Ambassador Wolff and IO A/S Silverberg raised strong
USG concerns about reports of arms smuggling into Lebanon and
Hizballah re-armament during a meeting February 20 with UN
Under Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations
Jean-Marie Guehenno, Assistant Secretary-General Hedi Annabi,
and DPKO officer Susan Allee. Recalling Hizballah
Secretary-General Nasrallah's public assertion on February 16

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that Hizballah continues to secretly transfer weapons "to the
front," Ambassador Wolff underscored that such transfers
represent a blatant violation of UNSCR 1701 and pose a
significant risk that hostilities could break out again soon
between Israel and Hizballah. The new UNIFIL force was
established in south Lebanon to ensure that the mistakes of
the past are not repeated, but Nasrallah's comments and
continuing reports of arms smuggling challenge UNIFIL and the
UN's credibility.


3. (C) Ambassador Wolff argued that the SYG should release a
statement responding to Nasrallah's speech that makes clear
that UNIFIL will not permit Hizballah to re-arm in its area
of operations. The Secretariat should also ensure that all
available information about weapons smuggling into Lebanon is
made available to the Council, including in the SYG's next
report on UNSCR 1701, so that the Council can follow up with
appropriate measures. The U.S. also looks to the UN to
develop proposals to counter weapons smuggling both inside
and outside UNIFIL's area of responsibility as well as ideas
to help secure the Syria-Lebanon border.

Guehenno: No Arms Moving into South Lebanon
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4. (C) While acknowledging reports of arms smuggling into
Lebanon generally, U/SYG Guehenno insisted that UNIFIL had
its area of operations (AOR) between the Blue Line and the
Litani River under control. UNIFIL had not observed arms
smuggling into its AOR, and given that it has more than
10,000 troops in the zone, was confident that it would be in
a position to observe such transfers if they were happening.
While Guehenno did not discount reports of arms smuggling
north of the Litani river, he argued that UNIFIL would stop
Hizballah if it tried to move those weapons into south
Lebanon. On this point, Ambassador Wolff underscored that by
the time Hizballah tries to move these weapons into the
UNIFIL AOR, a war with Israel would most likely already have
started. UNIFIL had to act now to ensure that the conditions
that might give rise to renewed hostilities do not take root
again.


5. (SBU) Separately, DPKO officer Susan Allee (protect) told
Poloff that the Secretariat planned to send a team of
civilian police experts from New York back to Lebanon by
February 23 to follow up on a technical assessment they
completed in September 2006 on how the GOL could secure its
border with Syria. The September 2006 assessment focused on

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how to improve the GOL's technical surveillance capability,
the effectiveness of LAF patrols at the border, and how
international assistance (provided bilaterally rather than
through UNIFIL) could supplement this effort. During this
visit, Allee said the experts would check if/how the GOL
planned to implement its previous recommendations and how
bilateral assistance efforts have progressed in the past six
months. The group's findings would be integrated into the
SYG's next report on UNSCR 1701, which is expected in late
March. Allee also told Poloff that DPKO planned to address
Nasrallah's speech in the draft report on 1701 that it sends
to the SYG for his review.
WOLFF