From: <a href="http://www.aftenposten.no/spesial/wikileaksdokumenter/article3956324.ece">Aftenposten</a><br>
Date: 21.8.2006

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S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 04 BEIRUT 002717
SIPDIS
NOFORN 
SIPDIS
NSC FOR ABRAMS/DORAN/SINGH/HARDING E.O. 12958:
DECL: 08/21/2026 
TAGS: PTER, PREL, PARM, MOPS, LE, SY, IS 
SUBJECT: NAMBIAR AND LARSEN DISCUSS UNSCR 1701 (AND TERJE DISCUSSES TERJE)
REF: A. BEIRUT 2680 B. BEIRUT 2698
Classified By: Jeffrey Feltman, Ambassador, per 1.4 (b) and (d).

SUMMARY 
-------

1. (S/NF)
On 8/20, UN envoys Vijay Nambiar and Terje Roed-Larsen briefed
the Ambassador on their Lebanon consultations regarding UNSCR
1701. They were impressed with the progress of LAF deployment.
Concerned over UNIFIL Commander Pellegrini's comments about
inadequate LAF-UNIFIL coordination, they brokered a
political-security issue on 8/19, chaired by Prime Minister
Siniora, on a range of security issues. (Patting himself
generously on the back, Larsen claimed that this meeting, held
at his initiative, had revealed information that no one in the
international community had known before. We told Terje that
we had already reported his so-called breaking news.) They
described a "dire need" for equipment, spare parts, and
ammunition for the LAF. The UN envoys admitted that they
failed in one of their goals, getting Siniora to ask for
UNIFIL presence at the seaport and airport. Citing sovereignty
concerns, Siniora (as he has with us) deferred a decision
pending the visit of German experts this week. On larger
issues, Larsen mused about demarcating a "very small" Shebaa
Farms. Nambiar (who mostly deferred to Larsen) fumed about the
Israeli raid in the Biqa' that he said put the GOL on the
defensive vis-a-vis Hizballah. They did not get verifiable
information about the kidnapped Israeli soldiers. Earlier, on
8/18, Larsen met with Ambassador Feltman privately. While
spending most of the time at that meeting discussing UN
politics (and why Larsen insists he is a viable fall back
candidate for SYG), Larsen quoted from Kofi Annan's telephone
call with Iranian President Ahmadinejad in expressing fear
that Iran was going to "punish" the United States. End
summary.

UN ENVOYS IMPRESSED 
BY LAF DEPLOYMENT 
-------------------

2. (C/NF)
Nambier and Roed-Larsen (joined by staffers Lee O'Brien, Imran
Riza, Salman Sheikh, and Fabrice Aidan, with Geir Pedersen
flitting in and out in cameo appearances) briefed the
Ambassador on 8/20, near the end of their Lebanon program and
a few hours before flying to Israel. Larsen, who took the lead
in the briefing, touched briefly on individual meetings but
focused largely on themes. On LAF deployment, Larsen said,
while Nambiar nodded, that the UN envoys had discovered that
the deployment was "more serious than any of us knew." They
noted that, while Deputy Prime Minister and Defense Minister
Murr had initially exaggerated numbers of troops and equipment
to impress the UN, even the actual figures confirmed later by
the Lebanese military representatives and UNIFIL were
impressive and indicated GOL seriousness regarding UNSCR 1701
implementation. What came out in all of their meetings, Larsen
said, is that the LAF has a "dire need" for equipment, spare
parts, and ammunition.

IDF-UNIFIL-LAF COORDINATION GOOD, 
BUT UNIFIL-LAF PARTNERSHIP LACKING 
----------------------------------

3. (C/NF)
Larsen noted that, in his private meeting with the UN envoys,
UNIFIL Commander Alain Pellegrini had given them a mixed
message. On the positive side, Pellegrini expressed
satisfaction with the LAF-UNIFIL-IDF coordination regarding
troop movements in southern Lebanon. Also, Pellegrini
basically praised the LAF's forward movement into the south.
But Pellegrini complained about what he described to as an
overly secretive LAF command structure. The LAF, Pellegrini
told Larsen and Nambiar, seems to see a relationship with
UNIFIL not as one of partners but rather as one by which
UNIFIL provides fuel, supplies, and spare parts to the LAF.
UNIFIL wants to be much better informed about LAF thinking on
coping with threats, force protection, etc.

UN BROKERS SECURITY MEETING 
CHAIRED BY PM 
---------------------------

4. (C/NF)
This comment, Larsen said, sparked a UN-brokered meeting late
on 8/19, chaired by Siniora, that included, besides the UN
envoys, Defense Minister Murr, Acting Interior Minister
Fatfat, LAF Commander Michel Sleiman, Military Intelligence
(G-2) chief Georges Khoury, ISF (national police) chief Ashraf
Rifi, Pellegrini, and others. Discussion on UNIFIL-LAF
cooperation -- the ostensible purpose of the meeting -- was
cut off when Pellegrini contradicted his earlier, private
comments by praising the LAF's cooperation with UNIFIL.
("Pellegrini was star struck by seeing all those people
looking at him," Larsen claimed; "he completely undermined one
of the major purposes of the meeting.")

5. (C/NF)
So instead of focusing on improving UNIFIL-LAF coordination,
the PM-chaired session moved quickly to the second topic, the
GOL's obligations under UNSCR 1701. Larsen marveled to the
Ambassador that he and Nambiar had received information
regarding changes in airport security and deployment of
Lebanese troops to the Syrian border that no one in the
international community would have known, had Larsen not
thought to convene the security meeting. "This is big news,"
Larsen said, melodramatically. He brandished maps, with
hand-written notes of troop numbers, and described the
replacement by LAF officers at the airport with the ISF. The
Ambassador noted that we had passed that information to
Washington already (reftels) but we were still evaluating the
seriousness of it. Larsen argued that, in any case, no one
could deny that the GOL was taking steps toward meetings its
obligations under UNSCR 1701.

6. (C/NF)
Looking to trump the Ambassador, Larsen said that something
new came out of the meeting: Siniora, Murr and Sleiman agreed
that UNIFIL could travel freely to the Syrian border to verify
the deployment trumpeted by the GOL. The Ambassador asked if
UNIFIL would be able to stop and examine the deployment and
what the LAF troops were doing. "My understanding is that it's
more like a road reconnaissance," Nambiar interjected. Also,
Larsen said, the same group that gathered on Saturday night
would meet at least once a week, including with the PM, under
UN auspicies (with both Pellegrini and Geir Pedersen present),
to work out other issues. "This is a good sign."

NO REQUEST TO UNIFIL 
TO HELP AT BORDERS 
--------------------

7. (C/NF)
The Ambassador asked about Lebanon's 1701 obligations to
combat arms smuggling. Had Larsen and Nambiar managed to
extract a request from Siniora to get a UNIFIL presence at the
airport and seaports? Larsen acknowledged that they had pushed
this topic hard, but that Siniora repeated his usual
infringement-of-sovereignty concerns. Siniora seemed
interested in technical solutions to border issues, and he
said that he would listen carefully to what the German team of
experts would recommend this week. Larsen agreed with the
Ambassador that Siniora's answers have not been satisfactory
on this point.

LEBANESE EMPHASIZE 
ARMISTICE AGREEMENT 
-------------------

8. (C/NF)
Moving to the broader issues, Larsen said that he was struck
by the importance the Lebanese place on the 1949 Armistice
Agreement, a framework that the Lebanese find reassuring and
that "allows them to be creative." Aware that the Israelis see
no relevance to the Armistice Agreement, Larsen said that he
would nevertheless explore with the GOI whether there might be
some way to make creative reference to it.

USING PROPERTY DEEDS TO DEFINE 
DIMINUTIVE SHEBAA FARMS 
------------------------------

9. (C/NF)
Not surprising, all the Lebanese interlocutors -- including
the pro-Syrian relics (Omar Karami et al.) the UN envoys
choose to meet to show "balance" -- emphasized the need to
"solve" Shebaa Farms as the key to Hizballah disarmament.
Larsen gave a long briefing of familiar arguments. He said
that he now believes that the only way to demarcate the border
is to use private property deeds, as maps simply aren't clear
or don't support the Lebanese claims in the Shebaa area. By
examining where private property was registered (e.g., Lebanon
or Syria), Larsen predicted that UN cartographers would end up
with a "very small" Shebaa Farms. This is because much of what
is claimed to be Shebaa Farms was actually state land, never
properly documented, and the maps in those areas support
Syrian sovereignty. Larsen said the trick will be to convince
the Lebanese to accept a modest-sized Shebaa Farms as ending
the dispute once and for all -- if Israel could be persuaded
to give up that modest-sized Shebaa Farms in the first place.

10. (C/NF)
The Ambassador asked about Ghajjar village, which Larsen
acknowledged no Lebanese claims. But, yes, Larsen admitted,
even under a "tiny Shebaa" solution, Ghajjar would end up as a
salient, a finger surrounded on three sides by Lebanon, which
could give the Israeli military great pause. The Ambassador
also asked Larsen whether, if the UN started noting when
private property was registered by Lebanese authorities, the
UN would also be looking into Syrian-registered property
deeds, to be able to tell where Lebanon's authorities stopped
and Syria's started -- and to note any overlap. "Interesting
question," Larsen said. "And it gives us another opportunity
to corner Syria, show a lack of cooperation." Larsen closed
the Shebaa discussion by saying that he planned to have a
frank discussion with the Israelis on the issue, even though
he did not expect much receptivity.

BIQA' RAID PROVIDES HIZBALLAH 
ADDITIONAL EXCUSE FOR WEAPONS 
-----------------------------

11. (C/NF)
Nambiar asked the Ambassador his view of the 8/19 early
morning Israeli raid in the Biqa'. The Ambassador said that he
knew only what he had read in the press and what the Lebanese
had told him in multiple, middle-of-the-night, frantic and
angry phonecalls. Nambiar, suddenly animated (while Larsen
studiously maintained a politically correct silence on this
topic), said that the Israelis had almost succeeded in
destroying the cessation of hostilities. Based on everything
he had heard, Nambiar expressed concern that the Israelis had
undermined the Siniora government. By declaring that they
would kill Hizballah officials wherever they could find them,
the Israelis had given Hizballah the perfect excuse to refuse
to disarm. "Who else will protect them?" Moreover, the Israeli
action in the Biqa' would only serve to discourage troop
contributors to UNIFIL. Particularly egregious, Nambiar said,
was the fact that, according to the Lebanese, the Israelis had
come dressed in LAF uniforms, thus making Hizballah suspicious
of the LAF. The Ambassador repeated that it is important for
the GOL to take action against arms smuggling, lest Israel
continue to do so.

NO NEWS ON KIDNAPPED SOLDIERS 
-----------------------------

12. (C/NF)
The Ambassador asked Nambiar and Larsen whether they had found
out anything about the two kidnapped Israeli soldiers. They
said that the ICRC told them of reports that the Israelis were
being "humanely treated." The ICRC had no independent
verification of that. But the ICRC told the UN envoys that,
generally, such reports turn out to be fairly accurate. Larsen
admitted that the ICRC statements were "not much."

EARLIER DINNER WITH TERJE -- WORRIED 
ABOUT IRAN, OBSESSED WITH UN TRANSITION 
---------------------------------------

13. (S/NF)
The Ambassador also had a late night, private dinner with
Larsen two days earlier, just after Larsen's arrival on 8/18.
While much of the dinner revolved around Larsen's proposed
messages to the Lebanese (with the Ambassador urging Larsen to
push Siniora to request UNIFIL help for border monitoring),
Larsen -- please protect -- also talked of "a terribly
frightening" conversation between Kofi Annan and Iranian
President Ahmadinejad, when Annan urged compliance with UNSCR
1701. The Iranian, Larsen said (quoting from a transcript of
the conversation), spoke of "punishing" the U.S. and UK. "He's
crazy, and he's going to attack you," Larsen said. Larsen then
launched into a long discussion of "38th floor politics" at
the UN, while suggesting that none of the names being
circulated as Kofi Annan's successor are acceptable. That
means, Larsen concluded, that he could still very much become
the fall-back candidate. And if Prince Zaid of Jordan becomes
the front-runner, then the U.S. should demand that Prince Zaid
"have a ticket," with -- you guessed it, readers -- Larsen as
Deputy SYG.

COMMENT 
-------

14. (C/NF)
The UN envoys have had no more luck than we have in convincing
Siniora to ask for UNIFIL help at the borders, including
airport and seaports. Since the continued blockade of the air
and seaports does not seem to be sufficient to get Siniora to
ask, we have tried to use the Israeli raid in the Biqa' to
strengthen our argument in favor of such a request: as long as
Lebanon doesn't get international help at its borders, then
Israel will continue to take matters into its own hands. But
most people tell us that the raid has made it harder, not
easier, for Siniora to refute the charge that he is complicit
in a scheme to allow the international community to infringe
upon Lebanon's sovereignty by intrusive, foreign-imposed
border procedures. In short, we aren't there yet on the UNIFIL
request.

FELTMAN 
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