LEBANON: DISCOVERY OF HIZBALLAH ARMS CACHE, SOUTH

C O N F I D E N T I A L BEIRUT 000819

SIPDIS

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E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/19/2019
TAGS: PREL PGOV PTER PINR UNSC MARR MOPS IS LE
SUBJECT: LEBANON: DISCOVERY OF HIZBALLAH ARMS CACHE, SOUTH
LEBANON TENSIONS

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

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


1. (C) In a July 17 meeting, Defense Minister Elias Murr
provided an account of the July 14 explosion in the south,
saying that a small munitions warehouse, containing material
stored by Hizballah since the July 2006 war, had caught on
fire due to a cooking incident. He reported that the
Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) responded immediately, and that
UNIFIL arrived a few hours later. On July 18, UNIFIL Deputy
Force Commander BG Kumar Bardalai and Chief of Staff Oliver
de Bavinchove provided a different account to us, accusing
the LAF of stalling UNIFIL to give time for Hizballah
operatives to move unexploded ordinance to a different
location. French and Italian UNIFIL peacekeepers encountered
resistance from protesting local residents on July 18 as they
attempted to continue their investigation. As of July 20,
the situation is "quiet but tense," according to UN sources.
End summary.

MURR OUTLINES WHY U.S.
ASSISTANCE IS CRUCIAL FOR LAF
--------------


2. (C) The Ambassador and visiting Congressional Staff
Members Paul Grove, Senate Appropriations Committee; Paul
Rademacher, State Department Legislative Affairs; and Lauren
Frese, Subcommittee for State and Foreign Affairs, met
Defense Minister Elias Murr on July 17. Murr expressed his
appreciation for United States' support in line with the
Lebanese Armed Forces' (LAF) five-year plan for training and
equipment. Assistance from the United States has been
critical in bolstering the LAF, Murr said, especially during
the fighting in Nahr al-Barid in 2007. He commended the
strong working relationship he and the LAF have with the USG.



3. (C) Warning that Hizballah's goal was to disrupt this
cooperation and allow Iran to interfere in Lebanon, he
stressed that the LAF still needed considerable U.S.
assistance. He noted that he understood the Saudis would
provide $500 million to the LAF, saying Saudi financing could
reach $1.5 billion after the cabinet is formed. He suggested
this money be used to purchase American-made weapons. (Note:
In a July 20 meeting with Ambassador, Saudi Ambassador Ali
Awad Asseri noted that the KSA would continue to support the
LAF but specified no amount. End note.)


4. (C) Grove underlined the need for the United States to
follow through with its support for Lebanon, beyond the
five-year plan. He commented positively on Murr's idea to
use the financial assistance to purchase U.S.-manufactured
equipment. Noting that the large budget deficit was forcing
Congress to carefully examine its foreign assistance, Grove
raised the idea that the GOL pursue a Memorandum of
Understanding (MOU) with the United States on out-year
military assistance.


5. (C) Murr outlined several scenarios under which Hizballah
would be weakened and the LAF called to duty. For example,
he said, an Israeli strike against Iranian nuclear facilities
could provoke Hizballah into launching rockets against
Israel, and the LAF would need to respond. Alternatively, he
conjectured that the Special Tribunal for Lebanon could issue
arrest warrants for Hizballah officials, and the LAF could be
tasked with executing the warrants. In these scenarios, he
said, the LAF must be strong and prepared.

LAF RESPONSE TO EXPLOSION
IN HIZBALLAH'S WEAPONS CACHE
--------------


6. (C) Regarding the July 14 explosion in southern Lebanon,
Murr said the location in question was a small warehouse

containing a "small" collection of munitions, including
approximately 12-14 Katyusha rockets. Murr assessed that the
munitions had likely been stored prior to the July 2006 war,
and were slated to be transferred to Baalbeck, out of the
disarmament zone established by UN Security Council
Resolution 1701.


7. (C) He believed that some individuals in the building were
making coffee and started a gas fire, which set off the
explosions. According to Murr, there were no casualties,
though some individuals initially remained in the building at
the outset of the fire. The LAF arrived within minutes
because they were patrolling nearby, Murr recounted. He said
the fire prevented the soldiers from entering the building
immediately, and that there were onlookers, but no one
interfered with the LAF.


8. (C) Murr added that UNIFIL troops heard the explosion and
promptly called the LAF. Murr said the UNIFIL peacekeepers
arrived on the scene a few hours later because they were not
stationed in the vicinity. In a telephone conversation he
had with UN SYG Ban Ki Moon, Murr reported he relayed that he
had condemned the incident as a violation of UNSCR 1701.
Murr further reported that he had requested a joint LAF-UN
investigation, leveraging UN forensic and technical expertise
to determine precisely what was in the warehouse.


9. (C) While Murr downplayed the size and threat of the
cache, he said he intended to use it as a card against
Hizballah. He criticized the French UNIFIL contingent,
believing they either ignored the building or were delinquent
in not discovering the cache.

UNIFIL'S ACCOUNT
--------------


10. (C) On Saturday, July 18, the visiting delegation and
PolOff met UNIFIL Deputy Force Commander BG Kumar Bardalai
and Chief of Staff Colonel Olivier de Bavinchove at UNIFIL's
headquarters in Naqoura. In contrast to Murr's account,
Bardalai said the LAF had asked that UNIFIL not move
immediately. He said a joint LAF-UNIFIL search team did not
start until three hours after the explosion, and was then
stalled for over an hour by local civilians.


11. (C) De Bavinchove displayed photos showing small
arms/rifle ammunition, artillery rounds, 82mm mortars,
uniforms, and cluster bombs. He added that his troops also
discovered a fiber optic cable. He believed two
Hizballah-affiliated persons were killed in the explosion and
six were wounded.


12. (C) De Bavinchove was highly critical of the LAF, and
accused the LAF of protecting Hizballah operatives while they
tried to remove unexploded ordinance. Recounting how UNIFIL
had cordoned off the area along with the LAF, he said his
team observed Hizballah operatives moving unexploded
ordinance to another building, but did not search the second
site because of orders to "remain in surveillance mode." De
Bavinchove called for a stronger UNIFIL mandate to search and
seize weapons and also said UNIFIL needed required additional
authorities and equipment.

UNIFIL PEACEKEEPERS INJURED BY
PROTESTORS WHILE INVESTIGATING
--------------


13. (SBU) Also on July 18, fourteen UNIFIL peacekeepers were
lightly injured by protestors as they attempted to
investigate a second site in Khirbet Selm. Approximately 100
residents gathered and threw stones at the troops while
French peacekeepers, in conjunction with the LAF, tried to
inspect a house two kilometers east of site of the July 14
explosion, where they believed Hizballah operatives ferried
items after the explosion. Italian UNIFIL troops were called
in when the situation became tense to extract the LAF and

French contingent, according to UN and diplomatic contacts.


14. (SBU) Col. Bardali told us that the UNIFIL investigators
departed the scene of the initial explosion at approximately
1400 hours local time and that a few hours afterwards, two
additional small explosions occurred in the area, lightly
wounding one LAF soldier. As of July 20, UNIFIL troops are
surveilling the second building and report that the LAF is
also deployed (separately) in the vicinity. UN Special
Coordinator for Lebanon Michael Williams told the Ambassador
on July 20 that the situation was now "quiet but tense."


15. (SBU) PM-designate Saad Hariri, speaking to the press on
July 20, confirmed Lebanon's commitment to UNSCR 1701 and
called for continued coordination between UNIFIL and the LAF.
He stressed that UNIFIL's basic mission is securing
Lebanon's sovereignty. He also rejected Israeli calls for
amending UNIFIL's mandate.

TENSIONS LOWERED
IN KFAR SHOUBA
--------------


16. (C) Nader Hariri, advisor to Saad Hariri, told the
Ambassador on July 20 that tensions were lower in Kfar
Shouba, also in southern Lebanon, after Lebanese civilians
had earlier protested the raising of Israeli flags and laying
of concrete at its military outpost in the disputed territory
the previous week. According to UNIFIL, an Amal MP led a
protest on July 17 during which residents had cut the barbed
wire laid by the Israeli army and were threatening further
action. (Note: In June 2009, Israelis put up flags near the
border in an area outside of UNSCR 1701's mandate. Though it
was not considered a violation, UNIFIL troops approached the
local Israeli commander, who agreed to remove the flags
because they could become a provocation. On July 17, a truck
deposited a cement base and the beginning foundations of a
pre-fabricated water tower in the same area. End note.)
UNIFIL sources told us it was the "first time in three years
that the Israelis had built anything beyond the technical
fence." Though the Israeli Commanding General said the
tower/cement was an initiative of the local commander, UNIFIL
sources doubted this after the flag-raising in June.
According to Nader Hariri, Speaker Berri told Saad Hariri
July 20 that he had met the mayor of Kfar Shouba, who said
that the residents would not take any further action against
the post at this time.
SISON