LEBANON: SINIORA FOCUSED ON SHEBAA FARMS AND NAHR

C O N F I D E N T I A L BEIRUT 000847

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR NEA/FO, NEA/ELA, PM/FO, PRM/FO-WITTEN
NSC FOR ABRAMS/SINGH/YERGER/GAVITO
DOD FOR OSD USDP EDELMAN, ASD LONG, DASD KIMMITT

E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/30/2018
TAGS: MARR MCAP PTER PINR PREF IR UNSC LE
SUBJECT: LEBANON: SINIORA FOCUSED ON SHEBAA FARMS AND NAHR
AL-BARID RECONSTRUCTION WITH USDP EDELMAN

REF: BEIRUT 00812

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

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


1. (C) In a May 31 meeting with Under Secretary of Defense
for Policy Eric Edelman, Prime Minister-designate Fouad
Siniora was frank, blunt,and used strident language about
the need to focs on a solution for Shebaa Farms. Siniora
said hat he has raised this issue with high-level USG
officials for three years, but the time has come for action.
"You can either help us or maintain the status quo, which
means continued violence and instability for Lebanon. We
have suffered enough already."


2. (C) Saying he preferred to leave details on future USG
military support to Acting Defense Minister Elias Murr,
Siniora kept circling back to Lebanon's macro-issues. He
said he was in the process of querying the international
community to determine who are "the true friends of Lebanon."
He spoke at length about the need for concrete donor pledges
at the upcoming conference for Nahr Al-Barid (NAB)
reconstruction, to be held in Vienna June 23. "I need a
success because I gave my word to the Palestinians. The
refugee camps are ticking time bombs in Lebanon which keep
'hatching' new extremist groups."


3. (C) Finally, Siniora indicated his wish to focus on
border security issues, which he said he cares deeply about
but has neglected during the political turmoil of the last
few months. He may have commented on this because German FM
Steinmeier was due in Lebanon the following day and several
international donors have complained about Germany's
management of the current border control pilot project on
Lebanon's northern border with Syria. End Summary.

Moving Forward After Doha
--------------


4. (C) Prime Minister Siniora confirmed that he has been
quite busy focusing on selection of the new cabinet. He has
met with the various political groups and consultations will
continue. "This is a new model for Lebanon," Siniora said.
"Now the president has a specific role to play and will be
held accountable for his actions and those of his 'inner
circle.' This is good, though. This is democracy."


5. (C) He said that negotiating the Doha Agreement had been
useful in "sorting out a number of issues." Siniora said
Lebanon now has a president, strong language condemning the
use of Hizballah weapons, and international agreement that
the Lebanese state needs to have sole control over military
and security matters. On the down side, March 14 had
conceded on a point it had long opposed, giving the
opposition a one-third blocking minority of the seats in the
new cabinet.


6. (C) Siniora said the Lebanese people want to move forward
towards a peaceful and democratic future. The parliamentary
elections in 2009 will be a key way to ensure that political
progress continues "at the ballot box and not at gun point."
A key priority for the new government, according to Siniora,
will be to reshape the public's perception of the state.
"The state must be viewed as the protector of the people --
no organization should be allowed to compete with that
image."

Continued U.S. Support for Lebanese National Institutions
--------------


7. (C) USDP Edelman said his mission in Beirut was to explore
concrete ways in which the USG could support Lebanese
national institutions. He informed PM Siniora that Lebanon
is the second largest recipient, per capita, of U.S. military
assistance in the region. USDP Edelman reiterated the USG's
respect and admiration for Siniora and his government, saying
that the hardships they have faced in the last few years have
been noted by many in Washington.


8. (C) USDP Edelman said the President Sleiman's inauguration
speech had been well received in the U.S. With the election
of President Sleiman, Assistant Secretary of Defense Mary
Beth Long will now lead the effort to establish a formal
U.S.-Lebanon Bilateral Defense Committee (BDC) to examine
Lebanon's strategic military planning process. (Note: This
initiative had been placed on hold while there was a
presidential vacuum. End Note.)


9. (C) USDP Edelman also informed Siniora that he would
explore the possibility of 1207 funding to expand support for
the Internal Security Forces (ISF) so that the ISF could
become a more effective partner for the Lebanese Armed Forces
(LAF) and shoulder difficult domestic security issues.
Siniora expressed appreciation for this last item, saying the
LAF could not be expected to do everything on its own. "It
is not possible and if they fail, the country will lose
respect for the LAF. We need to keep them in reserve as our
'big stick' against our enemies."

U.S. Must Act on Shebaa Farms
--------------


10. (C) Siniora argued that recent political downturns can be
linked directly to the Shebaa Farms issue. "There are five
entities which combine to do harm to Lebanon: Israel, Syria,
Iran, Hizballah, and the United States. This is 45 square
kilometers of barren land which is not benefiting Israel, but
continues to do great harm to my country. It is used as an
excuse by extremists who want to destroy Lebanon's moderate
character. It is the cause of years of instability."


11. (C) Despite attempts to steer the conversation back to
defense-related topics, Siniora persisted. "This is the real
problem -- there is nothing more important to discuss.
Please convey this message to President Bush, although I have
raised this issue in every conversation I have ever had with
him and Secretary Rice. The time has come for action -- not
friendly statements or checks. I want frankness and clarity
rather than diplomatic assurances. We are being left as
hostages to Iran and Syria. You can either decide to be part
of the solution or not. If a solution cannot be found, Syria
will return to Lebanon, Iran will become the dominant power
in the region, and we will be overrun by fundamentalists and
extremists as bad as Osama bin Laden."

"The Camps are Ticking Time Bombs"
--------------


12. (C) Turning to the issue of Palestinians in Lebanon,
Siniora said he had spent three years trying to find
solutions to enable the refugees to lead dignified lives.
"But I cannot make up for the wrongs done to them decades
ago."


13. (C) Siniora said that he had worked hard to gain the
trust of the Palestinian refugees living in Lebanon. He
personally met with a variety of Palestinian leaders within
24 hours of the beginning of summer 2007 fighting in Nahr
al-Barid (NAB). Sternly, he told them they could trust the
government and maintain calm in the other camps in Lebanon or
the LAF would take control. "It took less than 15 minutes to
convince them that I was serious."


14. (C) Siniora spoke of the need for generous international
donor support at the June 23 conference for Nahr al-Barid
reconstruction to be held in Vienna. "The rubble and ruins
of this camp, a year after the hostilities broke out, is a
real weakness for us. Various political opponents, both
Palestinian and Lebanese, are using this against the
government."


15. (C) The time has come to rebuild NAB, according to
Siniora. "I need help to complete this task and I need the
U.S. to play a direct and indirect role in marshaling
international support and contributions for this cause."
Siniora believes that successful reconstruction of the camp
will defeat extremist propaganda and show the refugees that
they will be dealt with fairly. "They are watching very
carefully. Right now, the camps are ticking time bombs. I
cannot afford a failure. We either do something proactively
now, or they will continue to 'hatch' terrorist franchises.
On the other hand, a rebuilt camp under the sovereign control
of the Lebanese government could serve as a model for a new
level of security and social cooperation."

Back to Border Security
--------------


16. (C) Siniora ended the meeting by saying that he wanted to
spend some time to carefully consider border security
programs again, as it is an issue he cares deeply about. He
said that he had had high hopes for the German-led Northern
Border Pilot Project (NBPP),hoping it would truly serve as a
pilot for expanded programs throughout the country.


17. (C) German Foreign Minister Steinmeier was due to meet
with Siniora the following day (June 1) and the future of the
NBPP was likely on the agenda. Perhaps referring to the
longstanding concerns of the U.S. and other donors to the
NBPP about the German-led effort (reftel),Siniora said, "You
can decide what you want to do and I won't be angry. But if
you promise to help me, I expect you to keep your word." The
Charge informed Siniora that the USG was continuing to
explore a variety of options for border security cooperation.

Comment
--------------


18. (C) Siniora is often blunt in his manner, and he
displayed this trait on May 31, noting, "you say you will
help, but when Lebanese troops were dying in NAB, you had us
filling out forms to figure out who would pay for the
bullets. We have done more to confront extremism than any
other Lebanese government and you should remember that!"
Under Secretary Edelman responded that although the U.S. was
sometimes frustratng to deal with as a supplier, the U.S.
provided ammunition and equipment (especially .50 caliber
sniper rifles) which had been critical to the LAF's success
at NAB. Siniora grumpily conceded the point.


19. USDP Edelman, ASD Long, CENTCOM J-5 Allardice, CDA
Sison, DATT, and Emboff joined the meeting in Siniora's
office. The PM's senior advisor, Mohammed Chatah, and
niece/advisor, Roula Nouruddine, also joined.


20. (U) USDP Edelman has cleared this cable.

SISON