LEBANON: PM GRATEFUL TO RECEIVE PRESIDENT'S STRONG

S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 03 BEIRUT 000251

SIPDIS

NOFORN
SIPDIS

NSC FOR ABRAMS/SINGH/HARDING

E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/12/2018
TAGS: PGOV PREL UNSC PTER SY IS LE
SUBJECT: LEBANON: PM GRATEFUL TO RECEIVE PRESIDENT'S STRONG
LETTER OF SUPPORT

REF: BEIRUT 00175

Classified By: Ambassador Michele J. Sison for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d).

Summary
--------------


1. (C) Under Secretary of Defense Edelman delivered the
President's personal letter to Prime Minister Fouad Siniora
during their meeting in Beirut on February 12. The Prime
Minister was grateful for the letter, saying he was pleased
to see such "strong and firm support on many important
issues." The Prime Minister reached out directly to KSA
officials, who informed him that the Saudi contribution for
the Special Tribunal "had likely already happened." The
Prime Minister asked for the international community to join
together for clear and united statements of support for the
March 14th majority and immediate presidential elections. He
asked for additional economic support and called recent
Israeli actions along the southern border unhelpful.
Finally, he acknowledged that the Palestinian refugee camps
still present a security challenge. He asked for
international donors to support the reconstruction of the
Nahr al-Barid camp in order to provide "a new model for camps
in Lebanon. End Summary.

Grateful for the President's Letter
--------------


2. (C) Prime Minister Siniora paused at the opening of his
February 11 meeting with Ambassador and USD/P Eric Edelman to
carefully read the text of the personal letter from the
President that Edelman had just handed to him. The PM
acknowledged that the letter was coming at an important time,
as March 14th prepares to commemorate the third anniversary
of PM Rafik Hariri's assassination on February 14.


3. (C) The Prime Minister expressed his gratitude for the
letter and said that he had no doubt about the President's
personal commitment to Lebanon. However, he was anxious to
"move forward with a literal translation of this support on
the ground," mentioning the need for continued support for
Lebanon's military and the Special Tribunal.

PM Reaches Out to KSA Officials for Tribunal Funding Update
--------------


4. (C) During his last meeting with the Ambassador (reftel),
the Prime Minister said he would follow up personally with
the KSA for contributions to the Special Tribunal. When
asked by the Ambassador for an update on his efforts, he said
that he had personally spoken with Prince Saud al Faisal, the
KSA Foreign Minister, about the issue and sent a reminder on
February 11. With the U.S. delegation still in the room, he
phoned Saudi Prince Bandar for an update. At the conclusion
of the conversation, he told us that "The Saudis want to do
this, but they want to do it without noise." He did not
elaborate on this comment.


5. (C) He also took a call from Prince Mukrin bin Abdel al
Aziz, Director of Saudi General Intelligence. At the end of
this conversation, Siniora told us that he had been told that
the Saudi transfer of funds had "most likely already
occurred." Siniora asked Prince Mukrin for his assistance in
following up on the pledges from both the Kuwait and the UAE.
(Note: After this meeting, DCM spoke with Hariri senior
advisor, Ghattas Khoury, who said that Saad Hariri planned to
personally call Saudi Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal and Abu
Dhabi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Zayed on the evening of
February 12 to urge formal and rapid tranfer of their
donations into the UN Special Tribunal accounts. End Note.)

Lebanese Majority Has Already Compromised Too Much
--------------


6. (C) As it had been four months since his last conversation
with Ambassador Edelman, PM Siniora provided an overview of
recent events "to put things in a Lebanese perspective." He
said the majority has already sacrificed and compromised too
much. They have shelved the right to use their "50 plus 1"
majority to elect a president and they have agreed to support
a presidential candidate who comes from outside of their own

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cadre of March 14th loyalists. The Prime Minister pointed
out that March 14th had gone along with the French initiative
and said, "We were let down."


7. (C) Siniora reiterated that the opposition still insisted
on obtaining veto power in the new government and they were
holding the presidential election hostage until their demand
was met. "We want the blackmail to end," emphasized Siniora.

Lebanon Needs Allies to Speak with One Voice
--------------


8. (C) In Siniora's opinion, the many "sidebar" consultations
with Syria to date have failed to produce meaningful results.
"The Syrians are masters at seeing light between the cracks
and playing allies against each other. If the Syrians can
see any room for negotiation, they will bring a situation to
the brink in pursuit of the best possible deal for
themselves. We have to stop the blackmail and escalating
accusations. Dialogue should not take the form of violence
in the streets - nobody wants that."


9. (C) Siniora would like the Arabs, Europeans, Russians and
Americans to deliver one coordinated message to the Syrians,
which he admitted is difficult to do. He emphasized the
potential for Russia to play a positive role, stating that
they had perhaps the greatest ability to influence internal
decision-making in both Syria and Iran. Siniora was pleased
with Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Saltanov's statement
earlier this week which contained clear language calling for
an immediate election in Lebanon. King Abdullah had been in
Moscow earlier this week and reported to Siniora that Lebanon
had been an agenda item during his meetings at the Kremlin.


10. (C) Siniora also confirmed that Lebanon had not yet
received an invitation from Syria to the March Arab League
Summit in Damascus, although it is clear that there is no way
for Syria to get around the issue of Lebanon's participation.
The PM doubts that Syria will invite him to participate as
head of state, despite the fact that he is currently carrying
out executive functions in accordance with the Lebanese
constitution. The alternative is that there will be an empty
seat behind the Lebanese flag on the table during the
meeting. Neither option seems palatable to Arab League
member states, Siniora said.

GOL Needs Assistance to Face Challenges
--------------


11. (S/NF) Siniora said that he would shortly be traveling to
Kuwait, London, Paris and Berlin to seek additional political
and economic assistance for Lebanon. He also said he had
approached the KSA and UAE, but told us in a resigned tone,
"I've spoken to them and visited them frequently. These
things take time." He wondered aloud if these allies were
starting to become ashamed of helping Lebanon. "Well, we are
not," Ambassador Edelman emphasized. He told the Prime
Minister that he would be discussing with Deputy Prime
Minister and Defense Minister Murr a new USG donation of USD
7.4 million in additional military assistance. He would also
be providing the first results of some new intelligence
sharing and proposing ways to build on existing LAF training
programs for future cooperative programs.


12. (C) Prime Minister Siniora shared that he had a good
working relationship with both the World Bank and the IMF,
proudly telling us that the GOL was exceeding expectations
despite the current challenges it faces. Siniora, a former
Finance Minister, then launched into some statistics. The
rising price of oil has hit Lebanon hard and the GOL, which
subsidizes electricity production, is losing USD 1.2 billion
per year. After Paris III, the GOL also agreed to reduce
import taxes and Siniora said that they have to contend with
USD 600 million per year on lost fuel excise taxes. He said
he has been speaking with two countries to arrange for less
expensive oil purchasing agreements. Kuwait has agreed to
sell Lebanon oil at the same price it sells to the U.S.,
which Siniora claims "is not cheap." Siniora also plans to
dispatch a delegation to Iraq to negotiate a purchase of
crude oil which could be shipped to Lebanon via Turkey.

"Syrians Use Sheba'a Farms to Justify the Presence of

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Hizballah"
--------------


13. (C) The Prime Minister also raised one of his frequent
talking points -- the need to find a resolution for the
Sheba'a Farms issue. He asked the USG to "do something
helpful. Don't make us have to deal with the Syrians to find
a solution for this. They like having this bleeding wound on
the border. They use it to justify the preence of
Hizballah."

Israelis "Not Helpful" forStability in Lebanon
--------------


14. (C) Ambassador Edelman mentioned that he would shortly be
meeting with Israeli interlocutors who, in general, respected
the work of the Siniora government given the current
difficult challenges that it faces. Siniora said Israeli
actions continued to exacerbate tensions in southern Lebanon,
specifically highlighting the continued illegal overflights,
the lack of cooperation in identifying the location of
cluster munitions from the 2006 war, and the recent
kidnapping of shepherds and shooting death by IDF forces
firing into Lebanese territory. He also said that Israeli
representatives were "unhelpful" in UN-led border
coordination meetings, especially on border demarcation
issues. According to Siniora, all of these tiny things
combined to put great pressure on the GOL's ability to
maintain stability in southern Lebanon.

Palestinian Camps Still Sources of Trouble
--------------


15. (C) In response to Ambassador Edelman's request for
information about the Ayn al Hulwah Palestinian refugee camp,
the Prime Minister acknowledged that this and other camps
continue to be sources of trouble. The Lebanese Armed Forces
(LAF) have been able to exert some control in the camps and
to make offenders aware of the GOL's determination to
maintain order, but the PM said the camps are still, in
reality, microstates.


16. (C) When asked how the GOL would address this issue, the
Prime Minister responded by saying that a new model for camps
was needed in Lebanon. He called on international donors to
contribute to the rebuilding of the Nahr al-Barid refugee
camp. "We must show the people progress and give them a
sense of hope for a better future. We paid a terrible price
to gain control of that camp. We have to make it mean
something."

Conclusion
--------------

17. (C) The Prime Minister ended that meeting by telling
Ambassador Edelman that the current political crisis was
"bigger than Lebanon." He said that, if not resolved
quickly, the Lebanese model will have profound implications
on "societal openess in the rest of the region.
SISON