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PP RUEHAG RUEHBC RUEHDE RUEHKUK RUEHROV
DE RUEHLB #0771/01 1511614
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P 311614Z MAY 07
FM AMEMBASSY BEIRUT
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 8359
INFO RUEHEE/ARAB LEAGUE COLLECTIVE
RUCNMEM/EU MEMBER STATES COLLECTIVE
RUEHNO/USMISSION USNATO 1177
RHMFISS/CDR USCENTCOM MACDILL AFB FL
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BEIRUT 000771 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
NSC FOR ABRAMS/SINGH/MARCHESE/HARDING 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/31/2017 
TAGS: PGOV PREL LE
SUBJECT: LEBANON: SPEAKER BERRI LASHES OUT AFTER TRIBUNAL 
PASSAGE 
 
Classified By: Ambassador Jeffrey D. Feltman.  Reason:  Sections 1.4 (b 
) and (d). 
 
SUMMARY 
------- 
 
¶1. (C)  Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri lashed out at CODEL 
Leahy and the Ambassador during a meeting on 5/31, the day 
after Chapter VII adoption of UNSCR 1757 to create an 
international tribunal.  Berri's advisor, before the meeting, 
highlighted to Emboffs the communique Berri had just issued, 
which denied that he had obstructed establishment of the 
tribunal, and accused the March 14 group and its supporters 
of sowing sectarian tensions.  The tribunal changes nothing, 
Berri told the CODEL, responding to their attempts to 
convince him to convene parliament or present a new plan for 
resolving the political impasse.  Berri implicitly criticized 
the United States, saying that March 14 would not have 
remained in power without the help of foreign allies.  He 
asked that the U.S. urge March 14 to compromise with the 
opposition, and that the U.S. expand its dialogue with Iran 
to encompass Sunni extremist threats in Afghanistan, the 
Gulf, and the Palestinian territories.  End Summary. 
 
BERRI LASHES OUT, DENIES 
HE OBSTRUCTED TRIBUNAL PASSAGE 
------------------------------ 
 
¶2. (C)  Speaker Berri and his Amal advisor Ali Hamdan held a 
nervous and emotional meeting with CODEL Leahy on May 31 
following passage of UNSCR 1757 to create an international 
tribunal to try suspects in the assassination of former Prime 
Minister Rafiq Hariri and others.  The meeting came on the 
final day of the official parliamentary session that Berri 
refused to convene.  Despite being responsible for the 
closure of parliament, Berri has expressed fear that 
President Lahoud would call for the dissolution of Parliament 
and the removal of Berri as Speaker if he did not convene the 
parliament before the end of its spring session. 
 
¶3. (C)  Before the meeting began, Hamdan highlighted to 
Emboffs the communique Berri had issued earlier in the day 
denying Ambassador Khalilzad's and the British Ambassador's 
charges that Berri had misused his position as Speaker to 
obstruct Lebanon's constitutional process for establishing a 
tribunal.  The communique went on to accuse March 14 and its 
supporters of "sowing sedition" and provoking sectarian 
tensions in Lebanon.  Hamdan further tried to play on fear, 
predicting that passage of the tribunal will usher in a more 
destructive era in Lebanese politics.  He compared the ten 
days following passage of the tribunal to the last ten days 
of the July-August war with Israel; Lebanon suffered 
one-third of its war damage during the last ten days of 
conflict. 
 
BERRI STILL REFUSES 
TO CONVENE PARLIAMENT 
--------------------- 
 
¶4. (C)  The tribunal changes nothing, Berri told the 
delegation, responding to their attempts to convince him to 
convene parliament or present a new plan for resolving the 
political impasse.  Senator Leahy asked whether Berri 
intended to convene parliament to allow the Lebanese 
constitutional process to proceed through a review the 
tribunal legislation before the UNSCR activates it 
automatically on June 10.  Berri once again blamed the March 
14 majority for refusing to form a new national unity 
cabinet, and asserted that he was ready to solve all 
Lebanon's problems within 14 days, including the tribunal, as 
soon as the GOL formed such a new cabinet. 
 
¶5. (C)  Senator Cardin reminded Berri that the international 
community had given Lebanon one more chance to put together 
an internal process to pass the tribunal, and asked whether 
Berri preferred external imposition to Lebanese creation of 
such an inevitable tribunal.  Berri could only summon yet 
again his argument that he could not convene the parliament 
and allow it to recognize an illegitimate cabinet that did 
not reflect a national consensus and the participation of all 
sects.  Berri blamed the March 14 majority for not giving the 
opposition adequate time to review tribunal documents last 
November, thus prompting their resignation.  Berri denied 
that the resigned ministers, whose resignations have never 
been accepted, are still cashing their paychecks.  He also 
criticized foreign officials who met with those ministers 
 
BEIRUT 00000771  002 OF 002 
 
 
acting in place of the resigned officials. 
 
BERRI LASHES OUT AT 
US SUPPORT TO MARCH 14 
---------------------- 
 
¶6. (C)  Berri implicitly criticized the United States, saying 
that March 14 would not be in power to this day without the 
help of foreign allies.  He reminded the CODEL that he had 
helped negotiate the release of over 100 Americans on a 
hijacked TWA flight in 1983 but was later accused of 
complicity with the hijackers.  His bitterness at that 
incident has kept him from traveling to the United States 
since then, Berri told us.  (Note:  Other sources tell us 
that Berri, once a green-card holder, allowed anti-American 
sentiment in his Amal party to forestall any travel to the 
U.S. for several years, thereby compromising his status as a 
legal permanent resident.  End Note.) 
 
¶7. (C)  Seantor Leahy asked Berri:  does your resentment of 
U.S. interference extend to the $770 million in aid the 
Congress approved and the President signed earlier this week? 
 Berri, who stated that he was completely unaware of the 
large aid package, ardently defended his right to criticize 
U.S. policy while accepting U.S. military and economic aid, 
and even technical assistance to his closed parliament. 
 
BERRI URGES LESS SUPPORT TO 
MARCH 14, MORE DIALOGUE WITH IRAN 
--------------------------------- 
 
¶8. (C)  Berri was unable to lay out any plan for moving 
Lebanon forward.  Despite the efforts of several senators to 
draw out his thoughts, Berri could only urge the CODEL not to 
back what he implied is a Sunni-dominated government, and 
instead to pressure that government to compromise with the 
opposition.  Recent history shows that societies that allow 
one sect to rule prompt terrorism and confrontation, Berri 
argued.  In addition, Lebanon's democracy, more than others, 
requires consensus among all sects.  Finally, such consensus 
could also be the model for the multi-sectarian countries of 
Israel and Iraq. 
 
¶9. (C)  Responding to Senator Salazar's attempt to refocus 
Berri on how to reach our common goal of a peaceful and 
prosperous Middle East, Berri argued that the U.S. should 
work for national reconciliation in Lebanon and, more 
importantly, expand its dialogue with Iran.  Talking about 
Iraq is not enough, Berri argued, and the U.S. has a common 
interest in working with Iran against Sunni extremists in 
Afghanistan, the Gulf, and in the Palestinian community.  It 
is most dangerous for a state to cut off dialogue with those 
parties with whom it disagrees, Berri opined, as they are the 
one with whom dialogue is most needed. 
 
¶10. (C)  CODEL Leahy did not have a chance to clear this 
cable before departing post. 
FELTMAN