Wikileaks: Tareq Mitri on Hezbollah & Al Akhbar: "Outsourcing trash..."

Thanks AngryArab:

C O N F I D E N T I A L BEIRUT

SUBJECT: INFORMATION MINISTER PRESSURED TO ATTACK ANTI-HIZBALLAH HR 2278

Classified By: Ambassador Michele J. Sison

1. (C) SUMMARY: Minister of Information Tareq Mitri informed the Ambassador on January 27 that President Sleiman continues to be personally interested in the issue of House Resolution 2278 regarding satellite providers broadcasting channels carrying anti-American incitement to violence. Mitri said that most Arab League Information Ministers fear that such a bill would only serve to strengthen the radicals in their calls to violence. Mitri revealed that he has been pressured by Hizballah to take a more active, public role in attacking the resolution. Mitri also offered insights to the workings of the new Lebanese cabinet, but said that its true tests remain in front of it.

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2. (C) The Ambassador and PAO met with Information Minister Mitri at the ministry on January 27. He had recentlyreturned from the Arab League Information Ministers meeting in Cairo on January 24, where the topic of HR 2278 and its proposed sanctions on satellite companies was the main topic of debate. Mitri said that most ministers felt that proposed legislation such as HR 2278 would "make their lives more difficult," giving radicals another weapon in their arsenal to radicalize others. He offered that all of the ministers needed to be seen as defending the freedom of their satellite 

companies even though, as Mitri opined, "the content of these 

broadcasts do more harm here than in the United States."...

3. C) While his fellow ministers had harsh criticism for the bill, Mitri asserted that he was the main drafter of the statement released after the January 24 meeting and was the one responsible for adding the mitigating language in the second part of the statement, condemning all media that incites violence and terror. Mitri explained that most of his fellow ministers present were committed to fight against extremism and elements in their countries that incite violence, while maintaining a caveat for "legitimate resistance." (Note: He specifically excluded the Syrian information minister. End note.) Mitri expects that the issue of HR 2278 will be on the agenda of the Arab League Heads of State summit, scheduled for March in Libya.

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4. (C) Mitri met recently with the Lebanese parliament´s media committee, which is chaired by Hizballah MP Hassan Fadlallah, to discuss the GOL´s reaction to HR 2278. Mitri relayed that he was "ridiculed" by the Hizballah deputies in 

a "silly way" for holding a view that Obama´s election would 

mean an improvement for U.S.-Arab relations. Mitri also 

talked in detail on how Hizballah had approached him in his role as information minister to enlist his help in their campaign against HR 2278. Mitri said that he was under great pressure to go to Washington to hold consultations with the USG regarding Lebanon´s objection to the resolution. He 

noted that he really did not "want to go, but Hizballah folks 

are really very smart about this." Mitri described a 

three-phase strategy Hizballah employed with him..... Third, Hizballah officials suggested to Mitri that since he "knew the Americans" he could use his friends and contacts in the U.S. to advocate on Lebanon´s behalf on this issue. They even went so far as to ask if he would look into contacting a lobbyist firm to act on Lebanon´s behalf... However, he opined, Hizballah has begun to "outsource its trash" to other media outlets in Lebanon, especially the pro-Hizballah newspaper, Al-Akhbar. Mitri could not disguise his disgust for Al-Akhbar, describing it as "without ethics or guidelines."......"