LEBANON: GOL UNLIKELY TO FUND PALESTINIAN

UNCLAS BEIRUT 001009 SIPDIS DEPT FOR NEA/FO, NEA/ELA ALSO FOR IO A/S SILVERBERG AND PDAS WARLICK USUN FOR KHALILZAD/WOLFF/KUMAR/PHEE NSC FOR ABRAMS/SINGH/YERGER/GAVITO E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: KWBG KPAL IS PGOV PREL ECON LE SUBJECT: LEBANON: GOL UNLIKELY TO FUND PALESTINIAN AUTHORITY AT THIS TIME REF: SECSTATE 71463 ¶1. (SBU) PolOff delivered reftel demarche on supporting the Palestinian Authority to Oussama Khachab and Rana Mokaddem, officials at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Acknowledging the financial challenges faced by the PA, the MFA officials said it was nevertheless not financially feasible for Lebanon to provide assistance to the PA at this time. Mokaddem explained that, given that international donors conferences are being held to garner support for Lebanon (citing in particular the Vienna donors conference held last month in support of reconstructing the Palestinian refugee camp Nahr al-Barid),the GOL could not afford to support the PA. ¶2. (SBU) When asked about the outstanding pledge from the 2002 Arab League summit, Mokkadem and contacts at the Ministry of Finance confirmed that the GOL has not made any payments on this pledge or on any other outstanding commitments to the PA. Mokkadem clarified that the amount pledged by Lebanon was actually determined by the Arab League, which sets the pledge amounts for all member states. It is likely that Lebanon never intended to pay this amount, she said. She concluded that the GOL would not be able to meet the pledge, while acknowledging that a smaller, symbolic amount (less than $1 million) could be plausible. She said she would explore this further. GRANT