ITALIAN FM CALLS ON HIZBALLAH TO AVOID CREATING A

C O N F I D E N T I A L ROME 000621 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/19/2018 TAGS: PGOV PREL LE SY IR IT SUBJECT: ITALIAN FM CALLS ON HIZBALLAH TO AVOID CREATING A "STATE WITHIN A STATE" REF: STATE 52061 Classified By: Acting Political Minister Counselor Jonathan Cohen for r easons 1.4 b and d. ¶1. (C) In the absence of the FM, who was in Peru attending the EU-Latin America Caribbean Summit, we delivered reftel points May 16 to the PM's Diplomatic Advisor for the Middle East Marco Carnelos, to MFA Near East Office Director Carlo Formosa, and to Lebanon desk officer Michele Tommasi, who promised to pass them to the FM's cabinet. Carnelos will pass the points to NSA equivelent Bruno Archi and told poloff May 16 that Italy agrees with the U.S. position supporting Arab League mediation efforts and condemning Hizballah's recent actions. However, he said that although Italy is under no illusions about Hizballah's actions, Italy would probably shy away from supporting a designation of Hizballah as a terrorist entity out of concern for the safety of Italian UNIFIL troops, and more significantly, doubts as to whether such a declaration would aid Siniora or simply complicate an eventual political solution by isolating one of the necessary parties. He noted that a designation would have to come from the EU where other troop-contributing nations (i.e., Spain and France) might be reluctant to provoke Syria. However, Carnelos did not rule out a designation and said the newly installed Italian government was still finalizing its position and would take the U.S. request into very serious consideration. ¶2. (C) MFA Lebanon desk officer Michele Tommasi echoed Carnelos' comments adding that FM Frattini had already made press statements on May 15 expressing strong support for the Arab League's mediation efforts and cautioning that Hizballah should not be permitted to become a "state within a state." ¶3. (C) On UNIFIL mandate renewal, Tommasi said that despite some comments early-on in the new government's tenure, the GOI had decided that now was not the right time to try to change UNIFIL's mandate. He added that the French had been particularly opposed to the idea and that the Lebanese were also against any changes for now. SPOGLI