LEBANON: PM SINIORA WARNS NEA ACTING A/S FELTMAN

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BEIRUT 000269

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR NEA/FO, NEA/ELA
ALSO FOR A A/S WARLICK
P FOR DRUSSELL, RRANGASWAMY
USUN FOR WOLFF/GERMAIN/SCHEDLBAUER
NSC FOR MCDERMOTT, SHAPIRO

E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/05/2019
TAGS: PREL PGOV PTER UNSC LE SY IS IR
SUBJECT: LEBANON: PM SINIORA WARNS NEA ACTING A/S FELTMAN
THE U.S. SHOULD NOT ENGAGE SYRIA WITHOUT CONDITIONS

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

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


1. (C) Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora cautioned
visiting Near Eastern Affairs Acting Assistant Secretary
Jeffrey Feltman, NSC Senior Director for the Middle East and
North Africa Daniel Shapiro, and the Ambassador against U.S.
engagement with Syria without conditions. He believed Syria
would always have two objectives: protecting the regime and
maintaining a role in Lebanon. Acting A/S Feltman assured
Siniora that the U.S. was committed to "sustained and
principled" engagement with all countries in the region,
including Syria and Iran. The U.S. objective, he said, was
to raise concerns and work towards achieving goals, rather
than to talk for the sake of talking.


2. (C) On Iran, Siniora argued that Iranian influence
continued to expand and was partially helped by U.S. military
actions in Afghanistan and Iraq. By taking on these burdens,
the U.S. had effectively removed the buffers that had
traditionally kept Iran's influence from growing, he said.
Iran was also exploiting the Arab-Israeli conflict, and
Siniora pressed the U.S. to find a solution soon. Acting A/S
Feltman said the U.S. was committed to supporting initiatives
that would bring a two-state solution. Siniora suggested
Middle East Special Envoy George Mitchell should visit
Lebanon in April or May to signal the importance of his
mission and the important role of Lebanon in any solution to
the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. End summary.


3. (U) NEA Acting A/S Jeffrey Feltman, NSC Senior Director
for the Middle East and North Africa Dan Shapiro, and the
Ambassador met with Prime Minister Fouad Siniora at his
office in the Grand Serail on March 6. Siniora senior
advisor Roula Noureddine, NEA Staff Assistant, Pol/Econ
Chief, and Poloff also attended the meeting.

SYRIA
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4. (C) Siniora told his visitors that Lebanon continued to
pay the price for regional conflicts. Therefore, he did not
support the isolation of Syria, he said. On the contrary,
U.S. engagement with Syria would be good for Lebanon and was
necessary to curb Iran's increasing influence in the region.
Syria, however, was apt to "cash in" on the same product
several times and would take only minimal steps to appease
its interlocutors, he assessed. He cautioned the U.S. to
approach its engagement with Syria without making any
"advanced payment."


5. (C) Siniora suggested the U.S. and Syria should both
define what is most important and establish measurable goals,
such as progress on securing the Lebanon-Syria border.
Naturally, he said, Syria would welcome greater contact with
American officials, but the Syrians would always have two
priorities in the back of their minds: protecting the regime
and maintaining a role in Lebanon. Siniora advised that the
U.S. should make clear that Syria's role in Lebanon must be
positive, otherwise Syria could become a regional nuisance
rather than part of the solution. Acting A/S Feltman said
the new U.S. administration had made clear that Lebanon's
sovereignty and independence were non-negotiable.


6. (C) NSC Senior Director Shapiro said he expected
engagement with Syria to proceed slowly, unless Syria had
significantly changed its orientation, which he doubted. He
added that the U.S. does not give away anything by talking to
Syria to raise its concerns, even if a U.S. ambassador was
assigned to Syria in the future. Acting A/S Feltman
concurred and added that the U.S. was not interested in
talking with Syria just to talk. The new administration, he
said, was committed to "sustained and principled" engagement
in the entire region, to include Syria and Iran.


7. (C) An immediate concern, however, was reports that Syria
was preparing to transfer SA-8 anti-aircraft missiles to

BEIRUT 00000269 002 OF 002


Hizballah, Acting A/S Feltman said. If this were to occur,
it could bring preemptive military action from Israel to
Lebanon. PM Siniora said this should be a concern, but
Lebanon was "at the receiving end." The GOL, he said, has no
control over Hizballah, no control over the possible points
of entry, and no control over Syria.

IRAN
--------------


8. (C) Iran, Siniora said, was using Syria and taking
advantage of the Arab-Israeli conflict to increase its
regional influence, expand its borders outside of Iran, and
"export the revolution." Furthermore, Siniora accused the
U.S. of playing a role in this. He argued that the U.S. had
assisted Iran by removing its historical headaches of Iraq
and Afghanistan through U.S. military actions. U.S. actions
had eliminated the natural buffers that have traditionally
inhibited Iran's regional growth, he explained.


9. (C) Siniora worried that Iran's rhetoric portraying itself
as the defender of Islam and the continued quagmire between
Arabs and Israelis was pushing Shia and Sunni fundamentalists
closer together. These extremists, Siniora lamented, were
pushing the entire region backwards.

ARAB-ISRAELI PEACE
--------------


10. (C) The PM intimated that time was becoming short to
achieve a solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Moderate Arab governments, he said, were beginning to
question the value of their efforts, while Israel rejected
the 2002 Arab Peace Initiative (API). Continued Israeli
settlement building and the tense situation in Jerusalem
pushed the region further towards radicalization, he
continued.


11. (C) Acting A/S Feltman said Secretary Clinton's
attendance at the March 2 Gaza conference was intended not
only to show support for Gaza, but to send a message to the
Arab world and Israel that the U.S. was fully committed to
achieving a two-state solution. He acknowledged that the
situation had become worse and worried that time was slipping
away, but the U.S. was encouraged and supportive of
initiatives, such as the API, that would bring the region
closer to a solution.


12. (U) NEA A A/S Jeffrey D. Feltman and NSC Senior Director
for the Middle East and North Africa have cleared this
message.
SISON