LEBANON: SPEAKER BERRI ON WIRETAPPING, BUDGETARY

C O N F I D E N T I A L BEIRUT 000153 SIPDIS DEPT FOR NEA/FO, NEA/ELA ALSO FOR IO/PDAS WARLICK P FOR DRUSSELL AND RRANGASWAMY USUN FOR WOLFF/GERMAIN/SCHEDLBAUER NSC FOR MCDERMOTT E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/05/2019 TAGS: PREL PGOV PTER PINR UNSC LE SY SUBJECT: LEBANON: SPEAKER BERRI ON WIRETAPPING, BUDGETARY DISPUTES REF: BEIRUT 141 Classified By: Ambassador Michele J. Sison for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). SUMMARY -------------- ¶1. (C) Speaker of Parliament Nabih Berri told the Ambassador that applying existing laws was the "easy solution" to the current fiery disputes over wiretapping and the budget for the Council of the South. However, he was not optimistic that this would occur. On the parliamentary elections, Berri said he was not concerned about his Amal party's success in Shia-dominated south Lebanon, but was worried about escalating tensions in Sidon and West Bekaa. Berri claimed he would wait until "the very end" of the National Dialogue sessions to present his defense strategy. End summary. BERRI: APPLY EXISTING LAWS TO WIRETAP ISSUE.... -------------- -- ¶2. (C) In a February 5 meeting with the Ambassador, Pol/Econ Chief, Poloff, and Senior Political LES, Speaker of Parliament Nabih Berri was adamant that applying existing laws was the best way to solve the current disputes over alleged illegal wiretapping by the Internal Security Forces and Ministr of Telecommunications and the debate over the bdget for the Council for the South. The wiretapping issue, Berri said, is a "long story" that began before the 2005 assassination of former PM Rafiq Hariri. ¶3. (C) According to Berri, GOL Laws 140 and 158 stipulate that requests for wiretaps must come first from the respective investigative judge in a criminal case, or from the Defense or Interior ministers, with approval from the Prime Minister, if there are national security concerns, before wiretaps can be initiated. Yet, he said 22,000 cases were discovered where wiretaps were placed without meeting either legal threshold. In Berri's view, if the current laws were actually applied, then this problem could have been avoided. He told us that Interior Minister Ziad Baroud would meet him February 6 to discuss the matter. (Note: Druze leader Walid Jumblatt has levied accusations against Minister of Telecommunications Gebran Bassil that Bassil was not cooperating with requests for information coming from the UN International Independent Investigation Committee. End note.) �0A;...AND ALSO TO COUNCIL FOR THE SOUTH -------------- ¶4. (C) The same logic also applied to the Council for the South, Berri said. The Council for the South has been part of the existing budget since its inception and should be funded as usual, Berri said. He did not understand why Prime Minister Fouad Siniora chose to debate and hold up approval on the Council's budget in recent days over the issue. Berri boasted that the Council for the South operates with significantly less budget than the Council for Development and Reconstruction (CDR),yet has completed five times the number of reconstruction projects in the south and West Bekka. (Note: The Council for the South, commonly assumed to be used for Berri's own political patronage, initially began as a fund for reconstruction of the south after Israeli operations there in the late 1970s -- reftel. West Bekaa also benefits from the Council as the result of later Israeli operations. End note.) ¶5. (C) Berri expressed his aggravation with Siniora by calling him "more stupid than ever." He argued that, contrary to Siniora's belief, withholding the budget for the Council gives more support to Hizballah, not less. Hizballah, Berri said, would go out and pay its people and pay for projects, while residents waiting on the state to foot the bill via the Council would suffer. However, Berri claimed that all of the contractors working on projects for the Council for the South trust him and he could convince them to continue work with the promise of deferred payments, for 10 to 15 years, if necessary, he said. Instead of southern residents moving to Beirut, they should have the "option" to stay in the south, which is only enabled by the work of the Council, he continued. This, Berri called, was "the real resistance." ¶6. (C) If Siniora did not want to fund the Council for the South, then it, and other similar funds, such as CDR and the Fund for the Displaced, should all come under a single Ministry of Planning, he suggested. (Note: Berri noted he had submitted a proposal to create a new Ministry of Planning to MP Robert Ghanem, head of parliament's Administration and Justice Committee. Ghanem, a March 14 MP told DCM and Econoff February 3 that he was perplexed by Siniora's move. It is worth giving Berri the amount he seeks for the Council for the South to assure "saving the nation," he said. Ghanem's committee will take up the proposal the week of February 15. End note.) If the budget was not approved as usual, then this was the only other, but more difficult, alternative, Berri said. Berri revealed that Siniora had asked Shia Mufti and head of the Higher Shia Council Sheikh Abdel Amir Qabalan to intervene with Berri. Berri claimed he had pointed out to Qabalan that the Shia council had not yet received its budget, either. ELECTORAL CONCERNS: SIDON AND WEST BEKAA -------------- ¶7. (C) Berri asserted that neither the wiretapping nor budgetary disputes were related to the upcoming parliamentary elections. He was also confident that his dispute with Siniora over the Council of the South would not have a negative impact on his, or his Amal party's, electoral chances, especially in the south. However, he admitted he was worried that escalating tensions in Sidon and West Bekaa could create poor outcomes. In Sidon (2 Sunni seats),Berri said he was pushing Minister of Education Bahiya Hariri to work with him to find consensus candidates. In his view, this was the only way to keep tensions low. Berri asserted that if PM Siniora chose to run as a candidate in Sidon, this would be "the best publicity" for Berri and would lead to Siniora's defeat. He was also concerned by tensions in the Palestinian refugee camps of Ain el-Hilweh (Sidon) and Rashidieh (Tyre). In West Bekaa (6 seats, mixed confessions),the best outcome, Berri predicted, would be for the opposition parties and the majority to split the six seats evenly. However, majority leader Saad Hariri was the obstacle, he said, because Saad was convinced his candidate list could win all of the seats. NATIONAL DIALOGUE: JUST BIDING TIME -------------- ¶8. (C) Berri revealed he would "wait until the end" of the National Dialogue sessions before presenting his national defense strategy. He said he did not believe that Saad's March 14 coalition had any enthusiasm for actually continuing the dialogue until after the elections. The military committee tasked with discussing various defense proposals was unnecessary, in Berri's view, and he has thus decided not to appoint a representative to the committee. The defense strategy is a political issue and should be solved at the level of political leadership, he said. COMMENT -------------- ¶9. (C) We do not believe for a minute Berri's assessment that neither the wiretapping nor the budget issues are politically motivated. Even the head of parliament's Media and Telecommunications Committee, MP Hassan Fadlallah (Hizballah),told the press February 5 that he was angered by some MPs' desire to exploit the wiretapping issue to gain political leverage. Berri's long-standing aniosity towards Siniora is well-known. Other interocutors, including former Siniora advisor and curent Finance Minister Mohammad Chatah, have expressed their own bewilderment with Siniora's decision to challenge Berri on the Council for the South (reftel). Siniora defended his budget moves in an impromptu encounter with DCM on February 4. He said that Berri had sought an increased budget for "his" Council for the South, which, according to a formula, would trigger proportionate increases for other funds. Lebanon could not afford the increased spending and so, he, Siniora, took a stand against Berri's "blackmail." ¶10. (C) Berri's reputation will likely not be harmed by either the current budgetary or wiretapping debates. On the contrary, he and his opposition allies, including Hizballah, could gain electoral advantages because of a perception that they are advocates for the people of the south, as well as public support for opposition-allied Minister of Telecommunications Gebran Bassil by Minister of Defense Minister Elias Murr in the wiretapping case. End note. SISON