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O 171541Z MAY 06
FM AMEMBASSY BEIRUT
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 3572
INFO RUEHEE/ARAB LEAGUE COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUCNMEM/EU MEMBER STATES COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC PRIORITY
RHMFISS/CDR USCENTCOM MACDILL AFB FL PRIORITY

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 BEIRUT 001545 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
NSC FOR ABRAMS/WERNER/DORAN/SINGH 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/17/2016 
TAGS: PORG PREL KDEM UNSC LE SY QT KPAL
SUBJECT: MGLE01:  PM SINIORA MEETING WITH A/S SILVERBERG -- 
LEBANON EAGER FOR NEW UNSCR RESOLUTION 
 
Classified By: Jeffrey Feltman, Ambassador.  Reason:  Section 1.4 (b). 
 
¶1.  (C)  Summary:  On May 15, A/S for International 
Organizations Affairs,  Kristen Silverberg, accompanied by 
the Ambassador, met with Prime Minister Fouad Siniora in his 
offices at the Grand Serail in Beirut.  PM Siniora opened the 
meeting by expressing his satisfaction with his visit to 
Washington.  Siniora saw his visit as a positive opportunity 
to work out differences between the two countries.  He denied 
what he called "the clash of civilizations" and promised to 
seek opportunities to cooperate with the West.  Siniora said 
he had just returned from a trip to London where he met with 
the Prime Minister and the Chancellor of the Exchequer.  The 
PM was most impressed by his meetings at the London School of 
Economics and at the Royal Institute of International Affairs 
(Chatham House) where he noted a high interest in Lebanese 
affairs.  In pursuit of an acceptable Security Council 
resolution following on UNSCR 1559, the PM had met with key 
Ambassadors to lobby them for a powerful resolution.  Urging 
him to support the P-3 language, A/S Silverberg cautioned 
Siniora that to suggest language changes at this point could 
be counter-productive.  Siniora said he had received verbal 
agreement from Qatar to support the Lebanese.  Siniora agreed 
with A/S Silverberg that Lebanon should appoint a permanent 
representative for its UN mission in New York.  He said he 
was considering names of appointees outside of the Foreign 
Ministry for that job and for Washington.  Siniora was 
optimistic that his economic reform program would go to 
Parliament in the coming session.  He also said he was 
dispatching ministers to present the plan to the public.  End 
Summary. 
 
PLEASED WITH WASHINGTON, LONDON TRIPS 
------------------------------------- 
 
¶2. (C)   The Ambassador began the meeting with two bits of 
good news.  He delivered to the PM picture from his visit to 
the White House, and a letter from the NSC praising the work 
of the DCM of the GOL embassy in Washington for her work on 
the trip.  PM Siniora was clearly very pleased with the 
letter and photos and they inspired him to once again speak 
favorably of his Washington trip.  Siniora spoke 
enthusiastically about the opportunity to work with the U.S., 
and the West overall, on common issues and to avoid 
conflicts.  He said he did not believe in the clash of 
civilizations, and meetings like his in Washington could help 
alleviate tensions between East and West.  From Washington, 
Siniora turned to his recent trip to London.  He was pleased 
with his reception by the Prime Minister and the Chancellor 
of the Exchequer.  However, the PM was most pleased by the 
interest in Lebanon showed during his visits to the London 
School of Economics and at Chatham House, which he described 
as influential think tanks.  He explained that UK officials 
were interested in helping Lebanon and quizzed him about the 
country's needs. 
 
U.S.-LEBANESE WORK FOR SECURITY COUNCIL RESOLUTION 
--------------------------------------------- ----- 
 
¶3.  (C)  A/S Silverberg asked Siniora what progress he had 
made on garnering support for a new Security Council 
resolution on Lebanon.  The PM said he had met separately 
with the Ambassadors of Russia, China, Argentina, Greece and 
Qatar to ask for their support for a strong resolution.  Of 
special concern to the GOL was a paragraph calling for 
diplomatic relations between Lebanon and Syria.  Siniora said 
he understood that the Russians and the Argentines did not 
like the notion of the UN pressing diplomatic relations on 
two parties.  The PM said there was also considerable 
resistance to language on the delineation of the common 
Syria-Lebanon border.  Urging the PM to stick to the P-3 
draft, A/S Silverberg suggested that continued support for 
the existing language would ensure that we maintained a 
strong negotiating hand.  She emphasized the need for close 
coordination between the P-3 and Lebanon. 
 
¶4.  (C)  Siniora said he had received verbal agreement from 
Qatar to support the resolution, but he admitted that he was 
uncertain of Qatar's resolve in this matter.  He said that he 
would follow up with a call to Qatar's MFA to make sure of 
their support in New York.  He described China as "a mirror," 
difficult to read.  Siniora said that he had delivered his 
demarche to the Chinese Charge d'Affaires.  The PM said both 
Greece and Argentina seem supportive of the GOL's position. 
Russia, Siniora said, "has nice words, and sounds 
supportive."  Siniora offered to meet with additional 
ambassadors to build support for the resolution. 
 
BEIRUT 00001545  002 OF 003 
 
 
 
LEBANON NEEDS HELP ON SHEBAA FARMS SOVEREIGNTY 
--------------------------------------------- - 
 
¶5.  (C)  Still discussing the UN, Siniora said he had raised 
the international tribunal issue and Shebaa farms in his 
meetings with UN SYG Annan.  Siniora said he walked away with 
the impression that the UN was prepared to work with Lebanon 
on the international tribunal, but would not want to do the 
detailed work.  On the issue of Shebaa, Siniora was less 
pleased with the SYG's comments.  He said he asked Annan 
directly, "What must Lebanon do to have sovereignty over 
Shebaa?"  But he received no response.  Siniora said now, 
Syria says that Shebaa is Lebanese, and the international 
community says that Shebaa is Syrian.  Siniora said he was 
worried that if he asked for help solving he Shebaa problem, 
others could dismiss him by saying that the UN considers 
Shebaa to be Syrian. 
 
COOPERATION AT THE UN 
--------------------- 
 
¶6.  (C)  A/S Silverberg asked if Lebanon would soon appoint a 
permanent representative to the UN.  She explained that 
proper representation at the Council was important if Lebanon 
wished to be heard.  PM Siniora acknowledged that New York 
was a key position for the Lebanese given the level of 
activity in the UN.  He told the SYG, "We are becoming your 
best customer."  Siniora said he was equally concerned about 
the Lebanese embassy in Washington.  He is considering names 
for the positions, but he said that these appointments were 
linked to a complex array of local political issues, 
including presidential approval.  (Note:  Here, Siniora was 
clearly speaking about the confessional difficulties of 
replacing Ambassadors while being careful to maintain balance 
between Christians and Muslim appointees.  End note).   He 
said of the GOL, "We need to agree on a name."  In the 
meantime, Siniora has moved the Lebanese Ambassador to 
Mexico, Nouhad Mahmoud, on a short term basis to New York to 
follow the Security Council portfolio.  Siniora described the 
Ambassador as an able and respected man. 
 
IMMINENT PROGRESS ON REFORM AND ELECTION LAW 
-------------------------------------------- 
 
¶7.  (C)  Siniora said the Council of Ministers would be 
meeting on May 17 in special session to discuss the question 
of electrical power generation and the state utility company 
Electricite du Liban.  He promised that in the future, there 
would be more meetings of the council of ministers.  The PM's 
Chief Economic Adviser, Mohamed Chattah, joined the 
conversation by saying that parliamentary committees would be 
discussing the GOL economic reform plan in the coming session 
on May 18.  Chattah added that World Bank experts visited the 
GOL and met with the cabinet to address possible changes in 
the administration of social security.  The experts were 
looking for ways to improve GOL service in social services 
without increasing local costs.  The PM added that these were 
ways in which the GOL was addressing the social costs of 
economic reform.  He added that ministers would be meeting 
with various groups in the coming weeks to present the reform 
plan to the people of Lebanon.  He hoped that public 
presentations would head off the negative rumors circulating 
about the aims and costs of reform. 
 
¶8.  (C)  Continuing on reform efforts, Siniora said the 
national electoral commission might be making a breakthrough 
on the electoral law.  Siniora said the electoral 
redistricting of Lebanon was the most sensitive and important 
part of any new law.  He said the new law must be designed to 
accommodate the diversity of the religious communities.  He 
hoped that any law would allow each community to elect its 
representatives in a transparent manner.  In that way 
constituents would be able to directly influence their 
elected representatives. 
 
HIZBALLAH AND AOUN AGAINST THE GOL 
IN THE NATIONAL DIALOGUE 
---------------------------------- 
 
¶9.  (C)  A/S Silverberg asked Siniora to give her a read-out 
of the national dialogue to date.  Siniora was very pleased 
with progress made on the Palestinian portfolio.  He 
expressed the hope that the international community would 
continue to support the improvements in the Palestinian camps 
inside Lebanon.  Siniora said he had a good meeting with the 
Palestinian Representative in Lebanon, Abbas Zaki. 
 
BEIRUT 00001545  003 OF 003 
 
 
 
¶10.  (C)  The PM said the internal political positions among 
dialogue participants are becoming clearer.  Hizballah sees 
the GOL as trying to disarm it.  The GOL is asserting its 
right to full sovereignty over all Lebanese territory.  All 
parties maintain that Israeli is still an enemy of Lebanon. 
"The remaining question is how do we best defend ourselves 
from this enemy."  Siniora said the GOL was prepared to 
discuss common defense with Hizballah.  The GOL maintains 
that the Taif agreements, which call for respect of the 1949 
armistice agreement with Israel, guide Lebanese policies. 
Siniora said he was ready to give Hizballah credit for 
liberating the south of Lebanon.  However, Lebanon could not 
continue to support Hizballah as a state within a state.  The 
PM explained that Hizballah enjoys the support of two groups 
of Shia supporters: its members, and what Siniora described 
as fans. 
 
¶11.  (C)  Siniora said that a very limited number of Sunni 
support Hizballah; most support the majority and the GOL. 
Many Christians were with this majority.  However, General 
Aoun, fixated on the presidency, is appealing to the fears 
and extremist views of Christians, trying to link himself and 
his supporters to Hizballah.  Siniora explained that 
Lebanon's confessional system encourages groups to take up a 
defensive posture whenever they feel threatened from the 
outside.  To counter Aoun, Christians allied with the March 
14 Group are taking extremist positions so as not to be 
outdone, and outmaneuvered by Aoun, with Christian voters. 
This maneuvering in the Christian ranks distracts politicians 
from the main debate.  He lamented that he is faced with a 
choice of allowing Emile Lahoud to complete the rest of his 
presidential term, or having six years of "misery" with 
Michel Aoun in the presidency.  He said he did not believe 
that Lebanon could survive another president with the 
autocratic leadership style often adopted by military men. 
 
SINIORA AND LAHOUD WILL BE AT 
WORLD ECONOMIC FORUM 
----------------------------- 
 
¶12.  (C)  The PM said he would travel for one day to the 
World Economic Forum at Sharm al Sheikh at the invitation of 
President Mubarak.  He said President Lahoud would be 
attending the same event, but neither man was heading a 
national delegation.  The PM and President had both been 
invited.  Siniora saw no danger of a conflict with Lahoud at 
the meetings.  Siniora joked that Mubarak, when asked why he 
had initially invited Lahoud in February 2006, replied 
"Perhaps he will not be around by then." 
 
¶13.  (U)  A/S Silverberg has cleared this cable. 
FELTMAN