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PP RUEHAG RUEHBC RUEHDE RUEHKUK RUEHROV
DE RUEHLB #0698/01 1362011
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 152011Z MAY 08
FM AMEMBASSY BEIRUT
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 1897
INFO RUEHEE/ARAB LEAGUE COLLECTIVE
RUCNMEM/EU MEMBER STATES COLLECTIVE
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 2301
RUEHNO/USMISSION USNATO 2603
RHMFISS/CDR USCENTCOM MACDILL AFB FL
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 BEIRUT 000698 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR NEA/FO, NEA/ELA 
ALSO FOR A/S SILVERBERG AND PDAS WARLICK 
USUN FOR KHALILZAD/WOLFF/KUMAR/PHEE 
NSC FOR ABRAMS/SINGH/YERGER/GAVITO 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/14/2018 
TAGS: PREL PGOV PTER PINR ASEC UNSC EAIR SA IR LE
SUBJECT: LEBANON: JUMBLATT WANTS TO BE READY FOR THE "NEXT 
ROUND" 
 
REF: A. BEIRUT 677 
     ¶B. BEIRUT 618 
     ¶C. BEIRUT 690 
     ¶D. BEIRUT 688 
 
Classified By: Charge d'Affaires a.i. Michele J. Sison for reasons 1.4 
(b) and (d). 
 
SUMMARY 
-------- 
 
¶1. (C) March 14/Progressive Socialist Party (PSP) leader 
Walid Jumblatt told us on May 15 that he wants to prepare his 
Druze PSP fighters by secretly supplying them with weapons, 
in order to be ready for the "next round" of fighting with 
Hizballah.  He originally planned to delay going to Doha by 
three or four days for the Arab League-hosted round of talks 
(scheduled for May 16) with Lebanon's political leaders so 
that he could visit his Druze constituents in the north (19 
of whom were killed in the clashes with Hizballah) and make a 
quick stop to see his friends in Saudi Arabia and Egypt. 
However, Jumblatt later called Charge to report that he had 
received the Saudis' blessing to go to Doha and planned to 
depart the following day with Saad Hariri. 
 
¶2. (C) Jumblatt is willing to accept a ten-ten-ten cabinet 
division, with March 14 leader Saad Hariri as the Prime 
Minister.  The Minister of Finance is the most important 
post, followed by the Minister of Interior, according to 
Jumblatt, who expects that the majority will not be able to 
choose both the Finance and Defense Ministers.  He suggested 
the U.S. could help by providing assistance to open up the 
Kleyate/Rene Mouawad airport in the north, though not 
immediately, and by urging Israeli leaders to refrain from 
public statements of support for the GOL.  End summary. 
 
ARAB LEAGUE DELEGATION 
MAKING ITS ROUNDS 
---------------------- 
 
¶3. (C) The Charge, accompanied by Defense Attache and PolOff, 
met with March 14/Progressive Socialist Party (PSP) leader 
Walid Jumblatt and Druze Minister of Information and MP Ghazi 
Aridi at Jumblatt's well-fortified Clemenceau residence at 
1400 local time on May 15.  Jumblatt, who was better-rested 
and in stronger form than when we last saw him on May 12 (Ref 
A), said he would be leaving Clemenceau for the first time in 
days for a one-on-one meeting with Qatari Prime Minister and 
Foreign Minister Hamad bin Jassim, who is heading the Arab 
League's delegation to Beirut.  Jumblatt noted that Jassim 
had met with Hizballah Deputy Secretary General Naim Qassem 
earlier in the day, followed by a meeting with Prime Minister 
Fouad Siniora. 
 
¶4. (C) Jumblatt told us that last night (May 14) he was 
prepared to rescind the Cabinet's May 5 controversial 
decisions to transfer the head of airport security and 
declare Hizballah's fiber optics network illegal (Ref B), but 
March 14/Future Movement leader Saad Hariri wanted to delay 
revocation until today.  Wissam Hassan, from the Internal 
Security Forces' information (intelligence) bureau, passed on 
a message from Wafiq Safa, Hizballah's liaison with the GOL, 
that if the decisions were not revoked that night (May 14), 
it would appear to Hizballah that the Cabinet changed its 
mind.  (Note:  Ultimately, the Cabinet did rescind the 
decisions as expected, Ref C.  End note.) 
 
¶5. (C) The statement would call for a National Dialogue to 
agree on a new electoral law and on a national unity cabinet, 
Jumblatt said.  It also contains a sentence that all parties 
agree "not to use weapons to solve internal conflicts." 
(Note:  We heard this sentence has been a sticking point. The 
final statement reads, "All parties must promise to refrain 
from returning to arms or violence to achieve political 
ends."  End note.) 
 
WILL DELAY GOING 
TO DOHA 
---------------- 
 
¶6. (C) Aware that the Arab League delegation is planning to 
 
BEIRUT 00000698  002 OF 003 
 
 
host a round of talks in Doha tomorrow (May 16), Jumblatt 
said that he will go, but not until Monday or Tuesday (May 
19, 20) because he first needed to go see his constituency in 
the Chouf, and then he wanted to  see his allies in Saudi 
Arabia and Egypt.  He added that his interlocutors in Saudi 
Arabia feel frustrated and isolated.  He said in the 
meantime, he would send Telecommunications Minister Marwan 
Hamadeh to represent him.  (Note:  In a subsequent meeting, 
septel, Future Movement leader Saad Hariri assured the Charge 
that he would get Walid on board, literally and figuratively. 
 End note.) 
 
¶7. (C) At 2230 Walid Jumblatt telephoned Charge to say he had 
clearance to go to Doha from the Saudis.  The Saudi 
relationship was very important, he said.  King Abdullah had 
been a good friend of his father, Kamal Jumblatt.  He had had 
telephone conversations since he last saw the Charge at 1400 
with Prince Bandar and Saudi Ambassador to Lebanon Khoja 
(still in Riyadh).  Walid had asked to see King Abdullah of 
Saudi Arabia, but Prince Bandar told him there was no need, 
he had the Saudis' blessing to go to Doha; "we want you to go 
to Doha."  Prince Faisal told him in a separate conversation 
that, "We are with you.  Go ahead, go to Qatar."  Walid said 
he had only met the Arab League delegation head Qatari Prime 
Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim (HbJ), 
whereas with the Saudis his family had a longstanding 
friendship.  HbJ seemed friendly, Walid reported, but he had 
wanted to check with the Saudis first.  He planned to go the 
next morning to the Chouf to tour villages affected by recent 
fighting there, with large press coverage, before departing 
for Doha at 1730 with Saad. 
 
NEED TO "COOL DOWN" 
HIS DRUZE FIGHTERS 
------------------- 
 
¶8. (C) Jumblatt was anxious to see his fellow Druze, who lost 
19 fighters during the clashes against Hizballah (and 50-60 
Druze were wounded).  Jumblatt said, "Everyone was mutilated. 
 Girls, boys, and women took up knives because they had no 
weapons and were fighting rockets."  He reported that their 
morale was good, but he has to go to "cool things down."  He 
told us that four to five of his men who had been kidnapped 
were still held, but were expected to be released today. 
 
PREPARING FOR ROUND TWO 
----------------------- 
 
¶9. (C) "Looking ahead," he said, "we have to prepare for 
another round.  We have to be covert about it and 
well-organized."  He conceded that Hizballah won "the first 
round," adding that while hoping for a second round, his 
Druze supporters in the Chouf were afraid.  He said he did 
not know yet how he will get the needed supplies, noting that 
Lebanese Forces MP Tony Zahra wants to work with Saad Hariri 
to see if the Saudis would be willing to supply weapons. 
 
¶10. (C) Jumblatt said he does not want to provoke Hizballah, 
but stated that he and his PSP fighters need time to breathe 
and resupply.  He suggested he needed land mines, but the 
Charge and Defense Attache strongly discouraged this idea. 
He said the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) needed a redeployment 
strategy, and even recommended conscription because the LAF 
needs to be everywhere but currently lacks the manpower. 
 
NEW CABINET FORMULATIONS 
------------------------ 
 
¶11. (C) Jumblatt said he will try to participate in the new 
Cabinet.  A 10-10-10 division, with Saad as the Prime 
Minister, is acceptable, he said, as is a 13-7-10 division. 
He added that the opposition had used force to try and secure 
a blocking minority, so "Let's give them 11 seats and keep 16 
or 17 for the majority" (meaning only one position will be 
chosen by the president).  (Note:  In the subsequent meeting 
with Saad Hariri, Saad's advisor and cousin Nader dismissed 
the possibility of 10-10-10, stating, "We will not give Berri 
this pleasure.  End note.) 
 
FINANCE, INTERIOR 
MINISTRIES ARE KEY 
 
BEIRUT 00000698  003 OF 003 
 
 
------------------ 
 
¶12. (C) Noting that he had not yet heard the opposition's 
demands on specific posts, Jumblatt initially said, "The 
Ministry of Defense is not that important."  (Note: 
Yesterday, May 14, we heard Defense Minister Elias Murr plead 
that the Defense Ministry is the most important post, Ref D. 
End note.)  As for the Ministry of Interior, Jumblatt said, 
LAF Commander Sleiman can choose a candidate, adding that he 
did not have any idea who Sleiman would designate.  Later in 
the meeting, he said that a strong individual should be 
chosen as the Interior Minister. 
 
¶14. (C) Jumblatt reconsidered and agreed that the Defense 
Ministry is important, and said that its current minister, 
Elias Murr, should remain in this post.  He reported that he 
had not heard who was being considered as the next LAF 
Commander, though he knew Georges Khoury, the Director 
General of the LAF G-2 (military intelligence) was "willing" 
to serve in this role.  (Comment:  We are well aware of 
Khoury's designs on becoming the next LAF Commander.  End 
comment.) 
 
¶15. (C) Minister Aridi chimed in to argue that the Ministry 
of Finance is very important, from the perspective of the 
Prime Minister.  Aridi supposed that the majority could not 
choose both the Finance and Defense Ministers, and that Free 
Patriotic Movement leader Michel Aoun would ask for the 
Finance post if the majority controlled the Defense Ministry. 
 Aridi predicted that the next Foreign Minister would be a 
weak figure from the opposition, "another Salloukh" (current 
yet supposedly resigned FM). 
 
¶16. (C) Jumblatt expressed his fear about a sectarian war 
erupting in Beirut, arguing for the government to be presided 
by a moderate Sunni -- Saad Hariri as the next prime minister 
-- so that "we don't have Zarqawis (leader of Al Qaeda in 
Iraq) in Beirut and Tripoli." 
 
USG SHOULD HELP OPEN 
UP NORTHERN AIRPORT 
-------------------- 
 
¶17. (C) Jumblatt supported opening up the Kleyate/Rene 
Mouawad airport in the north, suggesting that the U.S. could 
assist with technical improvements for cargo and passenger 
planes.  He thought it was a good idea in case another 
escalation occurred which closed down Beirut International 
Airport (BIA).  He cautioned that this idea not be pursued 
immediately because he did not wish to convey the message 
that the majority is "abandoning BIA." 
 
¶18. (C) His final message to us was a strong plea to ensure 
no Israeli leaders make any statements of support for the GOL 
or the Arab League Foreign Ministers' initiative. 
SISON