BEIRUT CORE EAC MEETING FEBRUARY 21, 2008

S E C R E T BEIRUT 000285 SIPDIS NOFORN SIPDIS STATE FOR DS/CC; DS/DSS/ITA; DS/IP/NEA; NEA/EX POSTS FOR RSO E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/21/2018 TAGS: ASEC PTER LE SUBJECT: BEIRUT CORE EAC MEETING FEBRUARY 21, 2008 Classified By: DRSO Michael Coady for reason 1.4 (d) ¶1. (S) At 1730 hours of February 21, 2008, Charge Sison convened a meeting of the Core Emergency Action Committee (EAC). Present were DCM, RSO and GRPO. ¶2. (S) Core EAC discussed the anonymous phone threat to the Embassy of Kuwait in Beirut. On the morning of Thursday, February 21, 2008 an anonymous called telephoned the Embassy of Kuwait and stated that two rockets would be fired at the Embassy and that all occupants should leave immediately. Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) and Lebanese Internal Security Forces (ISF) responded to the scene. The Embassy of Kuwait is under renovation and was not fully occupied. Contacts within ISF told Embassy officers that the call was a hoax and that the call may have been prompted by the incident in Kuwait where a commemoration was held for Imad Mugniyeh. Some Shiite Members of Parliament are being sued by four Kuwaiti lawyers regarding the commemoration ceremony. The ISF will investigate the hoax to determine who made the call. ¶3. (S) Core EAC also discussed a letter that was sent to Embassy Beirut's Public Diplomacy Section on Thursday, February 21, 2008 by the Al Anwar newspaper. Al Anwar received a letter in Arabic from a group that calls themselves "The Sons And Those Who Love Hajj Radwan in Lebanon (NOTE: Hajj Radwan was an alias for Imad Muniyeh). The letter states "February 12 is not like February 14 or 15 or any other day after February 12. We are now standing before a decision and a pledge we took. ISRAEL and its interests are our target, the US, its centers, its citizens and its Embassy will only encounter, after today, anger and fire particularly this area which is over our chests in Awkar. Let them start packing their things and prepare to leave. We do not want those who are killing us and those who are assisting them over our land. After today, we will not allow them to move freely in our areas and allow them to spread their poison among our families. This is a promise and a pledge. Death is coming and burning fire will burn the land under their feet. We have warned them" The group is not known to the Embassy. GRPO and RSO are in contact with their respective counterparts to further investigate this unknown group. Given that threat is not yet substantiated and credibility of the group is unknown, Core EAC decided not to upgrade security procedures at this time. Embassy Beirut already operates at a high level of readiness. Core EAC will monitor the situation as more information becomes known. ¶4. (SBU) RSO expressed concern that with the current restrictions on unofficial moves, some travel patterns were becoming too familiar. For example, there were many moves to the City Mall shopping complex and to shopping areas north of the embassy. RSO recommended that the area for unofficial moves be extended south to the ABC Mall in Ashrafiye. This will be for the mall only; travel to other sites in Ashrafiye such as restaurants and bars is still not an available option for unofficial moves. This area is located approximately 10 kilometers from the US Embassy in Awkar. The action will mean Embassy staff are moving in different directions for shopping and movements are less predictable. Core EAC approved this recommendation effective the weekend of February 23-4. SISON