LEBANON: HARIRI ADVISOR TELLS HALE SLEIMAN READY

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BEIRUT 001467 SIPDIS DEPT FOR NEA/FO, NEA/ELA ALSO FOR IO ACTING A/S HOOK AND PDAS WARLICK USUN FOR KHALILZAD/WOLFF/SCHEDLBAUER NSC FOR ABRAMS/RAMCHAND/YERGER/MCDERMOTT E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/12/2018 TAGS: PGOV PREL ECON EFIN ETRD LE SUBJECT: LEBANON: HARIRI ADVISOR TELLS HALE SLEIMAN READY TO TAKE ACTION AGAINST PALESTINIAN MILITANT CAMPS WITH SYRIAN CONCURRENCE Classified By: Ambassador Michele J. Sison for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). SUMMARY -------------- ¶1. (C) Saad Hariri's senior advisor Ghattas Khoury told visiting NEA Deputy Assistant Secretary David Hale that President Sleiman appeared unconcerned with recent Syrian troop movements in the north. Khoury said Sleiman told him that Syrian President Asad had no objection to the GOL acting against longstanding Palestinian militant bases in Lebanon near the Syrian border. Khoury also discussed arming the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF),his concerns with Syria's reengagement with the international community, and his thoughts on the new election law. DAS Hale reaffirmed the USG's commitment to the LAF and stressed that there was no change in USG policy towards Lebanon or Syria. End summary. ¶2. (C) On October 7 NEA DAS David Hale, accompanied by Ambassador and ConOff, met with MP Ghattas Khoury, senior advisor to majority leader Saad Hariri, who was out of the country. End summary. SLEIMAN READY TO ACT AGAINST PALESTINIAN MILITANTS? -------------- -------------- ¶3. (C) Khoury, who met with President Sleiman earlier the same day, said the President reassured him on Syria's recent troop mobilization near the northern border. According to Khoury, Sleiman had talked to Syrian President Asad, who said the Syrian troop mobilization was meant to secure the Lebanese/Syrian border, as advocated in UNSC resolution 1701. ¶4. (C) Khoury also discussed Sleiman's conversation with President Assad on the issue of Palestinian militant bases in Lebanon in the Bekaa Valley near the Syrian border. According to Khoury, Sleiman said that President Asad would not object if the GOL dismantled these Palestinian bases. Sleiman told Khoury that the GOL would act against these sites as soon as the LAF was ready to use force to do it. Khoury inquired if the USG was ready to support the LAF as it prepared to possibly use force against Palestinian militants. DAS Hale welcomed any attempts to remove these bases. HALE: U.S. COMMITTED TO LONG TERM RELATIONSHIP WITH LAF -------------- -------------- ¶5. (C) Responding to Khoury's question of USG support, DAS Hale reiterated the message he delivered to LAF commanders earlier in the week: that the USG is committed to a long-term relationship with the LAF. He noted that, contrary to recent press reports, the weapons and aviation assets that the LAF receives will be based on technical considerations of what the LAF needs and can use rather than POLITICAL considerations. The Ambassador added that the LAF's short-term and long-term requirements would be discussed in the broader context of the USG's relationship with the LAF. ¶6. (C) Khoury said that while he could never trust the Syrians, he also said he did not object to Lebanon having some sort of security cooperation arrangement with Syria. He added that a certain working relationship with Syria was necessary as long as it met the needs of Lebanon. Because of what he considered certain Damascus involvement in the assassination of former Prime Minister Hariri, rapprochement between March 14 and Damascus was impossible, Khoury said. He added that the only person who could impartially managed the delicate Syrian/Lebanese relationship would be President Sleiman, whom Khoury praised. SYRIA AND THE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY -------------- ¶7. (C) Khoury asked if the U.S. had changed its policy on Syria. He was alarmed by recent visits of high-ranking French officials to Damascus, Secretary Rice's conversation with Syrian Foreign Minister Moallem, and other attempts by the international community to reengage with Syria, which Khoury described as a "crisis" for the March 14 bloc. Khoury BEIRUT 00001467 002 OF 002 warned that Syria had to deliver on its obligations before it could be brought out of isolation. ¶8. (C) DAS Hale said USG policy towards Syria and Lebanon was still the same. Our message to Syria was straightforward: it had to meet clear benchmarks on a range of objectionable policies if it wanted to be regarded as a normal country. In addition, DAS Hale emphasized that in all USG conversations with the Syrians, Lebanon's independence was articulated as non-negotiable. ELECTION LAWS AND ELECTIONS -------------- ¶9. (C) Khoury said that some parts of the new election law were good, but that they would be hard to enforce. He added that many of these provisions, such as limits on campaign spending, would work only against the majority coalition, and not against Hizballah. Because Hizballah receives most of its funding in cash from Iran, monitoring Hizballah's election spending would not be possible, he asserted. ¶10. (C) The challenge for March 14, Khoury explained, would be to convince all the disparate coalition members to buy into one platform. There were already disagreements between two Christian parties in March 14, Lebanese Forces and Kataeb, concerning the March 14 candidate in the city of Batroun. There were also issues in Beirut concerning Armenian representation. March 14 would not oppose increasing the number of seats allocated to Armenian candidates if it could be assured that the Armenians candidates would not defect to the opposition. ¶11. (U) DAS Hale has cleared this message. SISON