Wikileaks: Geagea' to Feltman: "Hariri causing discord, ...an 'unreliable' Mufti Qabbani, ..Ghassan Touma an 'accidental torturer'"

C O N F I D E N T I A L  BEIRUT 002221

"...  Ja'Ja said that bringing in Aoun would still be worth it. Ja'Ja even admitted that it was March 14 who excluded Aoun when he returned to Lebanon, not the other way around. Aoun would be like Hizballah: out of government they were always critical, but once inside "they shut up.".................... he saw the issue of Internal Security Forces (ISF) appointments as a serious one representing Christian concerns that Sunnis were taking more than their fair share of government jobs. "It just adds to the Christian losses of the last 15 years" and drives Aoun crazy, asserted Ja'Ja. 8. (C/NF) Ja'Ja was alarmed that Hariri wanted to appoint his own man, Lt. Col. Wissam al-Hassan, to head the ISF intelligence branch. Ja'Ja is worried that Hariri intends to expand the size and mission of the traditionally Sunni ISF intelligence branch to make it into a peer competitor with the traditionally Christian Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) G-2 and the traditionally Shia Surete General..... 9. (C/NF) Hariri's appointment of someone so close to him to head the ISF intelligence branch, as well as his proposal to expand it to a section, is causing serious discord and anxiety in the ISF and LAF, according to Ja'Ja. He was concerned that the LAF will feel threatened and draw closer to President Lahoud. .... 10. (C/NF) Ja'Ja added that he has talked with Maronite ministers Pierre Gemayel and Nayla Mouawad, and they agree that Hariri is very stubborn. They are paying a high political price with their Christian constituents because of Hariri. ... 

 

11. (C/NF) Ja'Ja said that Hariri was very upset about Mufti of the Republic Qabbani's charges that the ISF was mistreating those arrested after the February 5 riots (reftel). According to Ja'Ja, Hariri called Qabbani and told him that if he has a concern, to call Hariri, and not make a public statement. Ja'Ja added that he does not envy Hariri on this issue because Qabbani is unreliable, but it is too difficult to remove from his position as Mufti of the Republic..... 13. (C/NF) At the close of the meeting, Ja'Ja and Khoury asked the Ambassador to look into the case of Ghassan Touma, the chief of Lebanese Forces intelligence during the civil war. Ja'Ja said that Touma is living in the U.S. but has no legal status. He cannot take airline flights because he is on a TSA no-fly list, according to Ja'Ja. Touma was convicted of war crimes in a Lebanese court in 1993, so he cannot return to Lebanon. Ja'Ja and Khoury disputed reports that Touma had tortured prisoners during the civil war, which they said came from Canadian intelligence. "He sometimes did only what was necessary to take confessions...but he is not that type," said Ja'Ja, adding that Touma was held to standards of conduct, "as if this were Switzerland." Khoury unhelpfully added: "Sometimes there is accidental torture, but I don't think Touma did it." The Ambassador said he would look into the case, but emphasized he could not make any guarantees."