Wikileak [23]: 'Siniora wonders if the Saudis & Gulfies were "ashamed of helping Lebanon"...'

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1. (C) Under Secretary of Defense Edelman delivered the President's personal letter to Prime Minister Fouad Siniora during their meeting in Beirut on February 12. The Prime Minister was grateful for the letter,....During his last meeting with the Ambassador (reftel), the Prime Minister said he would follow up personally with the KSA for contributions to the Special Tribunal. When asked by the Ambassador for an update on his efforts, he said that he had personally spoken with Prince Saud al Faisal, the KSA Foreign Minister, about the issue and sent a reminder on February 11. With the U.S. delegation still in the room, he 

phoned Saudi Prince Bandar for an update. At the conclusion 

of the conversation, he told us that "The Saudis want to do this, but they want to do it without noise." He did not elaborate on this comment.

5. (C) He also took a call from Prince Mukrin bin Abdel al Aziz, Director of Saudi General Intelligence.... After this meeting, DCM spoke with Hariri senior advisor, Ghattas Khoury, who said that Saad Hariri planned to personally call Saudi Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal and Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Zayed on the evening of February 12 to urge formal and rapid tranfer...

6. (C) Siniora provided an overview of recent events "to put things in a Lebanese perspective." He said the majority has already sacrificed and compromised too much. They have shelved the right to use their "50 plus 1".... pointed out that March 14th had gone along with the French initiative 

and said, "We were let down. ......We want the blackmail to end," emphasized Siniora.

11. (S/NF) Siniora said that he would shortly be traveling to Kuwait, London, Paris and Berlin to seek additional political and economic assistance for Lebanon. He also said he had approached the KSA and UAE, but told us in a resigned tone, 

"I've spoken to them and visited them frequently. These 

things take time." He wondered aloud if these allies were 

starting to become ashamed of helping Lebanon. "Well, we are 

not," Ambassador Edelman emphasized. He told the Prime Minister ... a new USG donation of USD 

7.4 million in additional military assistance...

14. (C) Ambassador Edelman mentioned that he would shortly be meeting with Israeli interlocutors who, in general, respected 

the work of the Siniora government given the current 

difficult challenges that it faces....