SALLOUKH SKEPTICAL ON ISRAEL-PALESTINE

C O N F I D E N T I A L BEIRUT 001801 SIPDIS DEPT FOR NEA/ELA, NEA ALSO FOR IO A/S HOOK, PDAS WARLICK P FOR DRUSSELL AND RRANGASWAMY USUN FOR KHALILZAD/WOLFF/GERMAIN/SCHEDLBAUER NSC FOR ABRAMS/RAMCHAND/YERGER/MCDERMOTT E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/24/2018 TAGS: PREL PGOV UNSC MASS KPAL IS LE SUBJECT: SALLOUKH SKEPTICAL ON ISRAEL-PALESTINE Classified By: Ambassador Michele J. Sison, for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). ¶1. (C) Visiting NEA Deputy Assistant Secretary David Hale, Ambassador, and visiting NEA Lebanon Desk Officer met Foreign Minister Fawzi Salloukh on December 19. Salloukh noted general respect for the Doha agreement in advance of the 2009 parliamentary elections, which he expected to occur in late May or early June. Salloukh hoped Lebanon and the region would remain calm, but remarked that there were no indications of a "fair deal" emerging from the Israeli-Palestinian negotiations. DAS Hale noted that the UN Security Council had recently passed a resolution (UNSCR 1850) endorsing the Annapolis peace process, that the parties themselves continued to request confidentiality, and that the situation on the ground in the West Bank was improving. Referring to Russia's offer to provide 10 MiG-29 jets to the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF),Salloukh called for more advanced U.S. assistance "like fighter jets." DAS Hale said the LAF had made no such request and that the U.S. would continue to help the LAF build its counter-terrorism mission. ¶2. (U) This message has been cleared by DAS Hale. SISON