VISITING UNIFIL OFFICER DESCRIBES SITUATION IN

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 USUN NEW YORK 000190 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/06/2017 TAGS: PREL KPKO UNSC IS SY LE SUBJECT: VISITING UNIFIL OFFICER DESCRIBES SITUATION IN SOUTHERN LEBANON REF: USUN 175 Classified By: Ambassador Alejandro D. Wolff, per 1.4 (b) and (d). ¶1. (C) Summary. Visiting UNIFIL political advisor Cornelia Frank (please protect) told USUN March 8 that while UNIFIL takes Israeli reports of arms smuggling and Hizballah refortification south of the Litani river seriously, it has thus far found little evidence to fully substantiate these allegations. UNIFIL and the LAF have searched many of the "no-go areas" briefed by IDF BG Baidatz (ref),but have seen little evidence of recent Hizballah activity. One exception is the Saluki wadi highlighted in that briefing, which UNIFIL is now preparing to address. She also said that the LAF has set up checkpoints all along the Litani river, but that the quality of LAF inspections does not meet UNIFIL standards. Given the number of UNIFIL patrols in the area and the heavy traffic on roads large enough to support arms convoys, Frank opined that it would be difficult for Hizballah to easily smuggle arms into the south. But Frank reported that Hizballah has a visible and active presence north of the Litani river. She also said that reports of arms smuggling into Lebanon north of the Litani river appeared credible, but suggested those arms seemed designed for sectarian fighting within Lebanon rather than attacks against Israel, and added that it is commonly understood that Lebanese factions other than Hizballah are also re-arming. She urged donors to focus on efforts to train as well as equip the LAF, but cautioned that such offers needed to be handled diplomatically given LAF pride. She assessed the tripartite coordination mechanism to be working well, although noted its terms of references had not been formally agreed due to the political situation in Lebanon. The UNIFIL Force Commander, she noted, would welcome a direct line to the IDF Northern Command in the event of an emergency (vice the current link to a liaison officer). End Summary. UNIFIL: AOR Mostly Quiet -------------- ¶2. (C) Visiting UNIFIL political advisor and former DPKO Lebanon desk officer Cornelia Frank (please protect) told USUN on March 8 that while UNIFIL takes Israeli reports of arms smuggling and Hizballah refortification in south Lebanon seriously, it has thus far found little evidence to fully substantiate these allegations. Frank is currently based in Naqoura and travels often to Tyre and Beirut. Frank reported that UNIFIL and the LAF have visited several valleys in south Lebanon which the Israelis had claimed were "no-go areas" because of Hizballah activity, but said in most cases movement was constrained only by pre-existing minefields or cluster bombs. In a few cases, UNIFIL and the LAF had found small caches of weapons that were set up before last summer's war. In one case, UNIFIL found an underground bunker that had recently been re-painted. (Note: Other DPKO contacts based in New York have told USUN that the Israeli information is useful and much of it has checked out. End Note.) Frank explained that the LAF had set up checkpoints at every crossing along the Litani river. While this presence is helpful, she said the quality of inspections does not meet UNIFIL standards. Given UNIFIL patrols that number nearly 300 every day and the heavy local traffic on roads of sufficient size to support armed convoys, she reasoned that it is unlikely that armed elements could move weapons easily into south Lebanon. ¶3. (C) She cautioned that UNIFIL and the LAF had yet to visit the Saluki wadi, one of the sites mentioned by IDF BG Baidatz as a "no-go area" (ref) which UNIFIL agrees is an area of concern, because they were still deciding how to manage local sensitivities over UNIFIL/LAF search operations. Asked about the December 2006 incident in which a Spanish battalion discovered a weapons cache only to find that it had been booby-trapped a few hours after the LAF was notified, Frank said that Hizballah had reportedly instructed its operatives not to resist weapons seizures in south Lebanon in the future, although she added she had no way to verify this order or its implementation. But Arms Smuggling North of Litani -------------- ¶4. (C) Frank readily acknowledged reports of arms smuggling into Lebanon outside the UNIFIL AOR, but said UNIFIL was only in a position to see what was happening just north of the Litani river. She said UNIFIL can see a visible and active Hizballah presence north of the Litani. She raised news reports that Hizballah is setting up training camps and weapons caches north of the Litani, but speculated that these USUN NEW Y 00000190 002 OF 002 efforts seemed to be preparations for communal fighting within Lebanon rather than a new attack against Israel. In this vein, she warned that Hizballah is not the only group that seems to be re-arming in Lebanon, and that March 14 figures like Sa'ad Hariri, Walid Jumblatt, and Samir Ja'ja appear to be preparing for a new civil war as well. ¶5. (C) Noting that the LAF often does not know how to use the equipment it receives from donors, Frank emphasized that it is essential to continue to train as well as equip the LAF even if the Lebanese resist outside training. UNIFIL continues to offer on-the-job training to LAF units in the south, she said, but the LAF's response has often been that such offers can be accepted only if both sides are considered equal -- that the Lebanese help train UNIFIL and vice versa. She reported that informal coordination meetings among LAF train and equip donors in Beirut appeared to be going well, and that UNIFIL would continue to participate in that forum. In closing, she shared UNIFIL's view that the tripartite mechanism is working well, although explained that due to the current political impasse in Lebanon the formal terms of reference had not yet been ratified. She said that the UNIFIL Force Commander had "hit the ground running." She noted he would prefer a direct link to the IDF force commander in the north rather than the current link to a liaison officer. Comment: Just One View, But Fairly Typical -------------- ¶6. (C) Although Frank's assessment of the situation south of the Litani is just her own, it seems fairly typical of the rather defensive DPKO/UNIFIL posture that the UNIFIL area of operations is mostly under control, but that arms may be flowing into Lebanon north of the Litani river. WOLFF