VZCZCXRO8809
OO RUEHAG RUEHBC RUEHDE RUEHKUK RUEHROV RUEHSR
DE RUEHLB #0007/01 0021629
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
O 021629Z JAN 09
FM AMEMBASSY BEIRUT
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 3893
INFO RUEHEE/ARAB LEAGUE COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUCNMEM/EU MEMBER STATES COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHTV/AMEMBASSY TEL AVIV PRIORITY 1370
RHMFISS/CDR USCENTCOM MACDILL AFB FL PRIORITY
RHEHAAA/NSC WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEHNO/USMISSION USNATO PRIORITY 3535
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK PRIORITY 3328

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BEIRUT 000007 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR NEA/FO, NEA/ELA, PM/FO 
IO FOR A/S HOOK; PDAS WARLICK 
P FOR DRUSSELL, RRANGASWAMY 
USUN FOR KHALILZAD, WOLFF, SCHEDELBAUER 
NSC FOR ABRAMS, YERGER, MCDERMOTT, RAMCHAND 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/02/2019 
TAGS: PREL PGOV PTER PINR UNSC MOPS LE IS
SUBJECT: LEBANON: SINIORA URGES UNSC ACTION USING 1701 MODEL 
 
REF: BEIRUT 1808 
 
Classified By: CDA William Grant for reasons 1.4 (b), (d) 
 
SUMMARY 
-------- 
¶1. (C) On January 2, PM Siniora convoked Ambassadors and 
Charges from UNSC members represented in Beirut and urged 
UNSC action to produce an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.  He 
suggested the Council use UNSCR 1701, which marked the end of 
2006 Lebanon-Israel conflict, as a model.  He argued that 
Israel was repeating with Hamas the same mistake it made with 
Lebanon-based Hizballah in 2006, seeking to eliminate a 
threat but actually making it stronger.  He said he had heard 
that the Secretary would be traveling to the region and that 
he would try to call her when she did.  Siniora was joined by 
FM Fawzi Salloukh, who earlier in the day convoked P-5 COMs 
in a separate meeting with a similar message.  While Salloukh 
urged the P-5 to support the Libyan text of a new UNSCR, 
Siniora did not mention it.  End Summary. 
 
¶2. (C) Ambassadors or Charges from UNSC members met with PM 
Fouad Siniora and FM Fawzi Salloukh on Gaza, at Siniora's 
request, on the afternoon of January 2 in the Grand Serail. 
The P-5 plus Mexico, Japan, Austria and Turkey were 
represented.  Earlier that day, Salloukh called a similar 
meeting for the P-5 only.  The Russian Ambassador missed the 
earlier Salloukh meeting but was present for the Siniora 
meeting. 
 
ISRAEL MAKING SAME MISTAKES IT MADE IN LEBANON, SINIORA SAYS 
------------------------ 
 
¶3. (C) Siniora compared Israel's current "mistakes" with Gaza 
to similar mistakes it has made in Lebanon.  In 1982, he 
said, Israel invaded Lebanon to finish off the PLO, but it 
did not succeed and instead its actions led to the creation 
of a new threat, Hizballah.  In 2006, Israel capitalized on 
the kidnapping of two of its soldiers to go after Hizballah 
but, again, it did not succeed in weakening the threat 
against it.  Beyond that, Israel's actions in Gaza will 
destroy the institutions of the state there and promote 
extremism, Siniora argued.  And they will bring a new set of 
problems for the region. 
 
¶4. (C) While criticizing Israel's "onslaught," Siniora 
acknowledged that a solution must offer "something to 
everyone."  But he was firm that the first step should be an 
immediate ceasefire.  He thought that electoral politics were 
motivating Israel's actions.  He suggested that the UNSC act 
quickly on a resolution to end hostilities based on the model 
of UNSCR 1701, the resolution that marked the end of the 2006 
Lebanese-Israeli conflict. He did not mention the draft 
Libyan UNSCR text on Gaza currently before the Security 
Council.  At the meeting for the P-5 earlier in the day, FM 
Salloukh had urged P-5 support for the Libyan text, and did 
not mention 1701. 
 
HIZBALLAH WILL NOT TAKE ACTION THAT GIVES ISRAEL AN EXCUSE TO 
RETALIATE 
------------------------------- 
 
¶5. (C) Siniora seemed to want to convey that Hizballah 
supported the position he was articulating and would not 
engage in any aggression against Israel.  He made a point of 
saying that he was conveying the position of the government 
of Lebanon (which includes Hizballah and other opposition 
parties) and that it represented a "position of consensus 
among the Lebanese."  He asserted that all Lebanese parties 
agree not to take any actions that would threaten violence in 
southern Lebanon, the area that borders Israel.  We 
"recognize the recent attempts" to cause trouble with Israel, 
meaning the LAF discovery on December 25 of eight Katuysha 
rockets aimed at Israel from southern Lebanon, and will "keep 
our eyes open" to prevent them, he said. 
 
¶6. (C) In the meeting with Salloukh earlier in the day, 
Charge repeated the points Ambassador Sison had made to 
Siniora in a December 31 meeting (reftel) that Lebanese 
 
BEIRUT 00000007  002 OF 002 
 
 
officials should urge Hizballah not to take any offensive 
actions against Israel at this time.  Salloukh, who is close 
to opposition figure Nabih Berri, a Hizballah political ally, 
responded that Hizballah is cautious and does not want to 
pursue aggression as this would give the Israelis an excuse 
to retaliate. 
 
SARKOZY TO EXPAND TRIP TO REGION 
-------------------------------- 
 
¶7. (C) The French Ambassador noted during the meetings that 
President Nicholas Sarkozy had expanded his regional trip 
scheduled for next week and will travel to Egypt, Israel and 
the West Bank, as well as Syria and Lebanon, January 5-6. 
Sarkozy will be in Damascus in the morning of the 6th and 
then travel to Lebanon to meet with Sleiman, Siniora and 
Berri and the French UNIFIL contingent before returning to 
Paris that evening. 
 
 
 
 
 
GRANT