LEBANON: BERRI PESSIMISTIC ON IMMINENT COMPROMISE;

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BEIRUT 000631

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR NEA/FO AND NEA/ELA; ALSO FOR A/S SILVERBERG AND
PDAS WARLICK
NSC FOR ABRAMS/SINGH/YERGER/GAVITO
USUN FOR KHALILZAD/WOLFF/KUMAR/PHEE

E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/07/2018
TAGS: PGOV PREL PTER PINR SA IR USUN LE
SUBJECT: LEBANON: BERRI PESSIMISTIC ON IMMINENT COMPROMISE;
SHIA CLERIC WARNS AGAINST "UNDERMINING THE RESISTANCE"

REF: A. BEIRUT 627

B. BEIRUT 618

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

SUMMARY
--------------


1. (C) On May 8, the Charge urged Parliament Speaker Nabih
Berri, in a morning phone call before senior Shia cleric
Sheikh Qabalan was to convene the Higher Islamic Shia
Council, to use his influence with Qabalan to present a
moderate stance in his scheduled press conference. Berri
cited senior Sunni cleric Mufti Qabbani's "inflammatory"
statements the previous night to justify why Qabalan could
not be moderate. Berri called the Cabinet's decision to
remove the Shia head of Beirut airport security, Brig. Gen.
Choucair, "unacceptable," saying he was an honest man who
should be given a fair investigation. The Charge encouraged
Berri to use his good offices as the Parliament Speaker to
calm Qabalan and other Shia figures. A pessimistic Berri
doubted a compromise could be reached unless the Cabinet
revised its decision on Choucair. The Higher Islamic Shia
council met at length on May 8, delaying Sheikh Qabalan's
televised press conference by two hours. When Qabalan spoke,
he warned that "decisions that affect vital weapons of the
Resistance, such as the (Hizballah) communications system,
are undermining the Resistance." End summary.

ASKING BERRI TO TAKE
RESPONSIBILITY
--------------


2. (C) On the second day of opposition-run demonstrations
which closed the Beirut International Airport and the airport
road, the Charge spoke with Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri
shortly before senior Shia cleric Sheikh Qabalan was to
convene the Higher Islamic Shia Council. Noting the previous
evening's sporadic gunfire in downtown Beirut and continuing
skirmishes in parts of the Hizballah-held Bekaa Valley, she
urged Berri to use his influence with Qabalan to present a
moderate stance in his press conference after the meeting.


3. (C) Berri expressed concern that after the previous
night's "inflammatory" statements (Ref A) by senior Sunni
cleric Mufti Qabbani, Qabalan would be forced to respond with
harshness. Berri blasted Qabbani for being "crazy" and
accused him of being "on Saad Hariri's payroll." He noted
that a number of senior Shia clerics had met late into the
previous night to discuss Qabbani's words and had expressed
great upset at the content and tone of the Sunni's
statements.

HEAD OF AIRPORT SECURITY
"DESERVES AN INVESTIGATION," SAYS BERRI
--------------


4. (C) Berri mentioned that he, Sheikh Qabalan, and Hizballah
SecGen Hassan Nasrallah had individually spoken to Lebanese
Armed Forces Commander (LAF) Michel Sleiman earlier in the
week. Berri said he was convinced that Sleiman personally
opposed the transfer of the head of airport security
Brigadier General Wafiq Choucair (Ref B). Berri described
Choucair as an "honest man who may have made some mistakes."
He added that Sheikh Qabalan was from the same village as
Choucair and was therefore certain to support the general.


5. (C) Berri then reported that he and Qabalan had both
spoken separately to Prime Minister Fouad Siniora prior to
the ten-hour May 5 Cabinet meeting (Ref B). Insisting that
Siniora had assured him the Cabinet would recommend that
Choucair's case be forwarded for investigation, Berri said it
was "unacceptable" that the Cabinet had decided instead to
transfer him back to the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) without
an investigation. It was wrong to "punish the general," said
Berri. Charge noted that the transfer was actually back to
Brig. Gen. Choucair's home LAF unit, hardly a "punishment."


6. (C) Charge impressed upon Berri the USG view that the
opposition and his party, Amal Movement, needed to take

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responsibility for the street barricades and clashes. She
appealed to him as Parliament Speaker to use his good offices
to urge Qabalan and other key Shia figures to calm the
situation. She referred to the State Department spokesman's
May 7 comments, which expressed concern over the violent
demonstrations' impact on the Lebanese people and economy.


PESSIMISTIC ABOUT A COMPROMISE
--------------


7. (C) The Charge asked if there was room for a compromise to
be found, to which Berri replied that he was pessimistic.
Without a revision to the Cabinet's decision to remove the
head of airport security, he did not believe the situation
could be resolved. Speaking in French, Berri added that the
media coverage on the upcoming POTUS-Siniora meeting (which
appeared on Hizballah-run al-Manar television) would be a
"piston" or boost, for Siniora.

SHIA CLERIC CRITICIZES EFFORTS
TO "UNDERMINE THE RESISTANCE"
--------------


8. (U) Although the public had been expecting Higher Islamic
Shia Council Acting Chairman Sheikh Abdel Amir Qabalan to
speak at 1100, his press conference was delayed for nearly
two hours as the Council met in an emergency session. In the
end, he and a spokesman issued statements and invited
concerned Shia to express their views. First, Sheikh Ali Al
Khatieb read a statement which noted that "what is happening
now is the continuation of the Israeli-American war against
Lebanon." Khatieb stated that "responsibility for this
serious situation is with whoever took the wrong decision on
behalf of foreign powers...withdrawal of these decisions will
defuse the situation, while continuing with these decisions
will taken Lebanon into the unknown." Khatieb alluded to
"options" discussed during the meeting with senior Shia
clerics, but did not specify what these options were. The
Council's statement also condemned "any talk that harmed the
role and standing of the Iranian government, which had stood
by the Lebanese people." Khatieb read out that "calls to
oust the Iranian Ambassador fall under the methodical
incitement by the Americans and the Israelis against the
forces of Resistance in the region and in the world."


9. (U) Sheikh Qabalan then spoke, noting that "decisions that
affect the vital weapon of the Resistance (Hizballah),the
communications system, are undermining the Resistance. Those
decisions are serving Israel's objectives...Islam calls for
careful preservation of unity...Beirut is the capital of
Lebanon and has always been protected by the Resistance."
Qabalan hinted that "at least two Arab nations" were
implicated in this "uprising." (Many took this to be a
reference to Jordan and Saudi Arabia.) Qabalan called on all
to act responsibly and to avoid falling into the trap of
"internationalization" of Lebanon's problems.


10. (U) Qabalan asked whether "a government whose legitimacy
is not recognized" has the right to place the Resistance in a
position that could get them killed at the hands of the
enemy. Media accounts also report that the Higher Council
meting had decided that the most recent decisions undrtaken
by the Cabinet (transfer of Brig. Gen. Choucair from his
Beirut Airport security position and the government's having
made public the existence of the Hizballah fiber optic
communications network) were part of an "Israeli-American
war, a war whose military aspect was won by Lebanon in 2006;
a war they want to continue via a political war, through,
regrettably, Lebanese hands, hands that are supported by
known Arabic entities."

SISON