WikiLeaks: Hariri Urged U.S. to Provide Military with Helicopters to Defeat Hizbullah
In a WikiLeaks cable dated May 24, 2008, caretaker Prime Minister Saad Hariri seemed defeated, distressed and still indecisive about announcing his candidacy for the premiership.
Hariri complained how the international community was ignoring Hizbullah’s ability to take control of most of Beirut in May 7, 2008.
“When we were under fire, everyone (international community) was in a coma,” he told then U.S. Charge d'Affaires Michele Sison during a meeting in Qoreitem.
According to the cable, Hariri said the only success that the Doha agreement was able to achieve was bringing a new president, “but Suleiman is facing a huge problem: After he was beloved by all Lebanese, he became hated following his failure to confront Hizbullah.”
The Caretaker PM said that “it’s up to him” to decide who the next prime minister will be. The cable also quoted him as saying that “we will do everything we can to preserve the country’s stability.”
Hariri complained that it was not enough for U.S. officials to make statements that Hizbullah was losing its supporters. “This doesn’t help us… What we need is a Paris 3 conference and an urgent military aid.”
“We need combat helicopters if we want to defeat Hizbullah,” he stressed.
Sison said in the cable that Hariri was determined to face the political challenges in the parliamentary elections in 2009.
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