LEBANON: SAAD HARIRI REFUTES SAUDI ARMING OF

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BEIRUT 000959 SIPDIS DEPT FOR NEA/FO, NEA/ELA ALSO FOR IO A/S SILVERBERG AND PDAS WARLICK USUN FOR KHALILZAD/WOLFF/KUMAR/PHEE NSC FOR ABRAMS/SINGH/YERGER/GAVITO E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/01/2018 TAGS: PREL PGOV PTER PINR KPAL SY SA LY AG LE SUBJECT: LEBANON: SAAD HARIRI REFUTES SAUDI ARMING OF SALAFISTS REF: A. BEIRUT 949 ¶B. BEIRUT 942 Classified By: Charge d'Affaires a.i. Michele J. Sison for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). SUMMARY -------------- ¶1. (C) Majority leader Saad Hariri reassured the Charge on July 1 that neither his Future Party nor the Saudis are arming the Sunni Salafists, who are fighting the Alawites in northern Lebanon, as has been rumored (Ref A). The fighting in the north could continue for months to obstruct the spring 2009 parliamentary elections, fears Saad. He sees Hizballah, rather than Syria, behind the Tripoli violence. Hizballah and Free Patriotic Movement leader Michel Aoun are intentionally delaying the cabinet formation, Saad assessed, saying that the majority had made an offer to Aoun that he had no reason to reject. Saad saw President Sleiman later that evening in an unannounced visit. Sleiman is going to become more "active" in cabinet negotiations, Saad and advisor Ghattas Khoury believe. Saad reported that the Saudis and Gulf states will eventually contribute the requested amounts to reconstruct Nahr al-Barid Palestinian refugee camp, and he expressed interest in soliciting Libyan and Algerian support in this regard. End summary. SALAFISTS SELLING PERSONAL EFFECTS TO PURCHASE WEAPONS? -------------- ¶2. (C) The Charge, accompanied by PolOff, met with majority leader and head of Future Movement Saad Hariri and his advisors Ghattas Khoury and Hani Hammoud at Qoreitam on July ¶1. A relatively upbeat Saad, who had just returned from a week-long trip to Jeddah with Hammoud, reassured the Charge that Saudi Arabia is not/not arming the Sunni Salafists fighting in northern Lebanon (Ref A),as has been rumored. He reasoned, "If that were the case, then you would be seeing results on the ground, and you would have seen the Sunnis fighting harder in West Beirut in May. Instead, Sunni women in the north are selling their gold jewelry so the men can purchase weapons." Saad accused Hizballah of arming the Alawites, who are fighting the Salafists, and stated his belief that Syria has nothing to do with the fighting. ¶3. (C) He reported that the Saudis are "very focused" on the region and on Lebanon, and in particular, are concerned about the fighting in north Lebanon. Saad relayed that the Saudis want to see the Doha agreement implemented in its entirety. Should Doha fail, Saad said, the Saudis seem open to holding another Arab meeting. ¶4. (C) He explained that most of the Arab League view the Doha agreement as having been essential to limiting the violence and electing President Michel Sleiman, but at the same time, consider it to be a test of Iranian and Syrian willingness to engage constructively in Lebanon. Believing that Iran and Syria are biding their time until the U.S. presidential elections, Saad assessed that the two countries are instructing Hizballah to "not do too much," while also stalling the formation of a government. "We will have to wait until they see they have to do something, but we do not know when this will be," he concluded. OPPOSITION IS SABOTAGING DOHA -------------- ¶5. (C) "There is no reason to not accept the offer we made to (Free Patriotic Movement leader Michel) Aoun," Saad declared, referring to the March 14 offer to give Aoun the telecommunications portfolio as well as the deputy prime minister position (Ref B). He continued, "It is obvious they (the opposition) are trying to delay the cabinet formation." Saad wondered whether the timing was related to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's July 12 trip to Paris. ¶6. (C) Hammoud interjected to predict that the cabinet would not be formed before the Israeli-Hizballah prisoners' BEIRUT 00000959 002 OF 002 exchange because "(Hizballah SYG Hassan) Nasrallah will not share the limelight." Anticipating Nasrallah's speech scheduled for 1700 local time on July 2, Hammoud surmised there could be problems, including the closure of the airport. (Comment: Embassy Beirut does not anticipate an airport closure. End comment.) Khoury reported that Qoreitam made a statement the previous day expressing its positive view that the Lebanese prisoners will be returning from Israel. ¶7. (C) Cabinet formation is unrelated to the fighting in the north, according to Saad, who believes that even the formation of the new government would not be enough to stop the fighting. Saad predicted that the fighting could continue up until the spring 2009 parliamentary elections, and that Hizballah would use such unrest to prevent people from voting at the polling places. ¶8. (C) (Note: Later on July 1, after the meeting with Charge, Hariri met with President Sleiman about the cabinet between 9 p.m. and midnight. Hariri aide Ghattas Khoury was very upbeat in discussing that meeting, reporting that Sleiman had agreed to "try to push" the parties to agree on a cabinet. March 14 would go resume contact with Aoun's representatives on July 2, possibly with a new offer. Khoury said that Sleiman also will involve others -- he specifically mentioned pro-Syrian opposition figure Suleiman Franjieh -- to try to push for an agreement. Khoury believes these developments gave reason for optimism about agreement on a cabinet soon. "Future Movement is willing to facilitate things as much as possible and within reason to form the cabinet and ensure a good start for the President," Hariri told reporters. Saad added that he, Sleiman and Siniora would launch "fresh talks" with Michel Aoun. End Note.) APPROACHING LIBYANS, ALGERIANS FOR FUNDING ON NAHR AL BARID -------------- ¶9. (C) Referring to a conversation with UAE Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah Bin Zayed, Saad said Abz recommended that Lebanon seek Libyan and Algerian funding. Saad asked about the possibility of the USG pursuing this request with Tripoli, noting that he had spoken with someone close to Qadafi but had had no feedback. ¶10. (C) Mentioning that officials from the Arab Development Fund were planning to meet on July 2 to discuss Lebanon and other funding needs. Khoury said that he thought the $450 million NAB reconstruction estimate had been exaggerated. Saad said that Saudi officials believe Lebanon made an error in pushing for a large contribution up front from the Gulf states. The Saudis purportedly assured Saad that Lebanon would get the money, but should "be patient." TASHNAQ VOTES SHOULD GO TO THE PRESIDENT -------------- ¶11. (C) Saad asserted that the Armenian Tashnaq should align themselves with the President, as is their tradition. Responding to the Charge's comment that Tashnaq feel affronted by Saad's rebuffs at meeting them, Saad insisted that he had not refused to see them. PROBLEMS WITH EVERYONE -------------- ¶12. (C) According to Saad, former PM and minister Najib Mikati, and Mikati's alliance with former PM Omar Karami, are causing problems with Future. He also commented with some sarcasm that "(Caretaker Minister of Transport and Public Works Mohammed) Safadi is 'technically' still with us." He also blasted the French for their unhelpful interventions and the Lebanese Broadcasting Corporation for its "lack of impartiality." Conversely, Saad praised the efforts of Internal Security Forces (ISF) Director General Ashraf Rifi and ISF Information Branch head Wissam Hassan for their performance. SISON