REPORTED QATARI MEDIATION IN FORMATION OF LEBANESE

C O N F I D E N T I A L DOHA 000664 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/08/2019 TAGS: PREL PGOV LE QA SUBJECT: REPORTED QATARI MEDIATION IN FORMATION OF LEBANESE CABINET Classified By: Ambassador Joseph E. LeBaron, for reasons 1.4 (b, d). -------------- (C) KEY POINTS -------------- -- The GOQ, according to the nephew of former Lebanese Prime Minister Omar Karami, continues to mediate political disputes in Lebanon. -- According to Talal Karami, Shaykh Jaber bin Yousef Al Thani, the Qatari prime minister's former office director, recently traveled to Lebanon and quietly brokered a deal on the formation of a Lebanese government. -- Except for March 14 alliance members close to the center of power, Karami maintains that the Lebanese have a favorable opinion of Qatar's involvement, which does not extend -- unlike Iran and Saudi Arabia -- to paying Lebanese for their votes, he said. -------------- (C) COMMENT -------------- -- We doubt that Shaykh Jaber is the sole, or even the major, broker in any deal on the formation of Lebanese government. Especially if no money is involved. But we pass these comments along to be added to the latest theories, assertions, and rumors about the ever-fascinating and wide-open political process in Lebanon. End Key Points and Comments. ¶1. (C) Talal Karami, the nephew of former Lebanese Prime Minister Omar Karami, told P/E Chief Rice November 6 over dinner that the GOQ remains actively involved behind the scenes in mediating Lebanese political conflicts. He reported that Qatar's Prime Minister, Hamad bin Jassim Al Thani, himself served as Qatar's first mediator, dating back to before the June 2008 agreement brokered in Doha on holding Lebanese presidential elections. According to Karami, Shaykh Hamad has since given the mediation portfolio to his former office director (and current head of Qatar News Agency) Jaber bin Yousef Al Thani. ¶2. (C) Karami said that Shaykh Jaber discreetly traveled to Lebanon in the last ten days and helped mediate disputes on the formation of a new Lebanese government. According to Karami, this mediation made possible the recent reports in the press that the Lebanese had agreed on a new government. ¶3. (C) According to Karami, ordinary Lebanese hold positive views of Qatar and its mediation efforts. Politicians in the March 14 coalition do not share this view, but March 14 supporters farther away from the center of power are more favorably inclined to Qatar, he said. ¶4. (C) On Lebanese politics more generally, Karami lamented that the current generation of Lebanese politicians cannot come together for the good of Lebanon itself. As Lebanon has become poorer, he said, "the Lebanese have become cheaper." Lebanese now vote, he said, based on how much money they are paid for their vote. He said the Saudis and Iranians are the largest purchasers of votes. Karami said Qatar, to his knowledge, is not buying votes with cash. LeBaron