O 231512Z SEP 05
FM AMEMBASSY BEIRUT
TO SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 9798
INFO ARAB LEAGUE COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
EU MEMBER STATES COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
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C O N F I D E N T I A L  BEIRUT 003084 
 
 
NSC FOR ABRAMS/DORAN/POUNDS; LONDON FOR TSOU; PARIS FOR ZEYA 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/23/2015 
TAGS: IS LE PGOV PREL SY
SUBJECT: MGLE01: SPEAKER NABIH BERRI CALMS DOWN, BUT 
MAINTAINS CRITICAL STANCE 
 
Classified By: Jeffrey Feltman, Ambassador.  Reason: Sections 1.4 (b) a 
nd (d). 
 
¶1.  (C)  SUMMARY:  Coming only a day after his public 
outburst against PM Fuad Siniora and the Core Group meetings, 
the Nabih Berri who met the Ambassador and Poloff on 9/22 was 
notably calm and full of sweet reason.  He insisted his only 
concern in voicing his displeasure was the well-being of 
Lebanon.  He gave a well-prepared (albeit intermittently 
silly) brief on why privatization, particularly of the state 
enterprises mentioned in New York, would be a serious error. 
The speaker went on to criticize at length the prime 
minister's "lack of consultation" in the preparation of his 
Core Group presentations.  Showing a sense of unease, the 
speaker pressed the Ambassador on the content of the latter's 
meetings in Paris last week, as well as the real American 
position regarding a possible presidential succession. 
Nevertheless, he predicted that Lahoud will remain in office 
until the last day of his term, "unless Mehlis has 
something."  At the end of the meeting, The Ambassador gave 
the speaker a letter written by President Lahoud to UNSYG 
Annan in June 2000.  Berri was stunned to the point of 
reading out loud, repeatedly, the letter which stated an 
acceptance "without prejudice" of the provisional LE/IS 
boundary, a position which would sidestep the Shebaa Farms 
imbroglio.  After muttering "this is very bad," Berri said 
that Lahoud would either deny he ever wrote it, or had simply 
unknowingly signed it because it was simply another document 
which had been placed before him.  End summary. 
 
¶2.  (C)  Speaker of Parliament Nabih Berri met with the 
Ambassador and PolOff on September 22 at Ain al-Tine, his 
official residence in West Beirut.  This meeting occurred one 
day after the speaker had strongly and dramatically 
criticized both the prime minister and the "real agenda" of 
the Core Group meetings held in New York earlier this week. 
In his meeting with the Ambassador, however, he was calm, 
reasonable, and well-rehersed.  He spun his heavy criticism 
of the previous day as a civic responsibility to his country, 
that is, he wished only to point out to the Lebanese people 
that the positions offered in New York were not the result of 
consultations and had therefore surprised and dismayed 
various political figures.  He assured the Ambassador that he 
was reasonable and would await the prime minister's return 
before issuing further criticism, even "though the prime 
minister was not following the law" 
 
¶3.  (C)  He then launched into a lengthy defense of 
maintaining state ownership of certain enterprises which had 
been mentioned as possible privatization targets.  He asked 
rhetorically why should the government sell its most valuable 
assets, namely Middle East Airlines, Casino du Liban, and 
Intra, when other less attractive properties were losing 
money every year.  He appeared unconcerned that capital 
markets would place a higher value on the former rather than 
the latter, even though he admitted that "no one would 
invest" in the country's mismanaged electricity sector. 
Rather, he was focused on the revenue stream that would 
disappear once those companies were privatized.  His 
arguments and reasoning -- which, while "old school," were 
well-prepared -- implied that he would fight privatization 
strongly should it come up for debate. 
 
PARIS II..."WHERE WE BROKE ALL OUR PROMISES" 
-------------------------------------------- 
 
¶4.  (C)  Presenting himself as the epitome of civic 
responsibility, he declared that in light of the broken 
promises of the Paris II accord, which hurt Lebanon's 
credibility and credit ratings, he simply wanted an economic 
reform plan that was feasible -- suggesting that PM Siniora's 
proposals were not.  He plaintively complained that, "I do 
not know what the prime minister wants to do."  But he 
promised he would try to work with him and the Cabinet. 
Wrapping himself once again in the flag, Speaker Berri 
claimed that "during the war, I paid a big price in not 
dividing Lebanon and I will not do it now." 
 
¶5.  (C)  Addressing the fact that two Lebanese delegations 
represented the country in New York, the speaker insisted 
there should have been only one.  "President Lahoud is the 
responsible official to represent Lebanon, and as long as he 
is president, he should be president."  Pointing out that 
when President Lahoud met with UNSYG Annan and UN Special 
Envoy Terje Roed-Larsen, the foreign minister could not be 
included because he was with Siniora.  Speaker Berri believes 
that and other instances "said to the world, we are not a 
unified state." 
 
¶6.  (C)  However, he did admit that the were positives, 
specifically that the Core Group showed significant 
international support for Lebanon and gave the government an 
opportunity to speak.  "Do not misunderstand my position" he 
asked, "we appreciate the meetings, but I do not accept 
promises made there that we cannot keep.  I don't want to 
repeat Paris II." 
 
"WHAT DID YOU DO IN PARIS ?" 
--------------------------- 
 
¶7.  (C)  Changing topics, the speaker addressed the political 
situation and directly asked the Ambassador who he spoke with 
last week in Paris.  The Ambassador informed the Speaker 
Berri that he met with Saad Hariri and others and, as he has 
with other political figures, asked them to refrain from 
trying to determine political consequences ahead of the 
completion of the Mehlis investigation.  But if such 
consequences did lead to a presidential selection, the 
Ambassador urged his Paris interlocutors to emphasize the 
leadership qualities sought by the Lebanese people, rather 
than the usual political maneuverings.  Speaker Berri agreed 
that any new president had to come from the Christian 
community, but also appeal to the rest of the country. 
Additionally, any new leader would have to represent the 
sentiments of liberty and transparency demonstrated in the 
March 14 mass demonstrations.  Even though he voiced approval 
of these ideas, Berri could not resist asking the Ambassador 
about the "rumor that the U.S. was really pushing Michel 
Aoun."  The Ambassador responded with a flat "that is simply 
not true."  The Ambassador explained to Berri that the USG 
did not, and would not, have a particular candidate, which 
Berri seemed, upon reflection, to accept (for now). 
 
"HE WILL STAY UNTIL THE LAST DAY" 
--------------------------------- 
 
¶8.  (C)  Despite his engagement in this discussion of 
leadership qualities, Speaker Berri finished with the 
comment, "I think he (Lahoud) will stay until the last day of 
his term," then -- following a long pause -- "unless Mehlis 
has something.  On that day I told Walid (Jumblatt) we have 
to talk, but we will wait until then."  He then repeated to 
the Ambassador a rumor he recently had received that "Mehlis 
really has nothing." 
 
¶9.  (C)  As the conversation wound up, the ambassador 
presented the speaker with a June 2000 letter written by 
Emile Lahoud to UNSYG Kofi Annan in which the Lebanese 
president offered to accept for now -- without prejudice to 
future negotiations -- the UN demarcation in the Shebaa Farms 
region.  The Ambassador asked Speaker Berri if this could 
somehow be used to creatively deal with that difficult issue. 
 The speaker took out his reading glasses and intently 
studied the letter, then reading the Arabic version out loud, 
repeatedly (and in increasing volumes), as if not able to 
believe its text.  Again, the Ambassador inquired as to 
whether this could change anything.  Speaker Berri chuckled 
in a bemused way and softly said, "This is very bad." 
Recovering his poise, Berri replied that he could arrange for 
the Ambassador a presentation of various documents dating 
back to the Ottoman regime which he believes clearly proves 
Lebanese ownership of the disputed area, to which the 
Ambassador asked why the Lebanese had not made the claim on 
Shebaa when the area was first occupied in 1967.  Speaker 
Berri declined to answer and said at any rate, Lahoud would 
say he never authored the letter, that it was simply one of 
the many documents placed in front of him that he had 
unknowingly signed. 
 
COMMENT 
------- 
 
¶10.  (C)  Speaker Nabih Berri displayed his usual agility and 
quickness in coming up with plausible explanations for 
implausible actions/events.  Although he played with the name 
Jean Obeid as a potential occupant of Baabda Palace, it is 
clear that he has not yet decided to withdraw his own support 
from Lahoud, given that his political fortunes are tied to 
the president's.  Berri may not be entirely comfortable with 
the prospect of Lebanese political figures removed from 
office before the end of their terms.  End comment. 
 
 
FELTMAN