WikiLeaks: Hariri Says Iran Has Taken Control of Lebanon

Syria and Iran will turn Lebanon into a second Gaza, feared Mustaqbal movement leader Saad Hariri on May 15, 2008, revealed a leaked U.S. Embassy cable published exclusively in al-Akhbar newspaper on Monday.

He made his statements during a meeting with then U.S. Charge d’Affaires Michele Sison in the aftermath of Hizbullah’s May 7, 2008, takeover of Beirut, said the WikiLeaks cable.

Hariri said that Iran and Syria had taken control of Lebanon and the May 7 clashes have “reopened deep wounds in Lebanon that will be hard to heal”, said the cable.

Supporting the Lebanese army was the only way possible to confront Hizbullah, he continued.

Furthermore, Sison reported that Hariri seemed pessimistic that the Doha meeting aimed at solving the Lebanese political crisis would achieve its purpose.

He explained that the wounds have become too deep given the recent clashes, noting however that the army succeeded in restoring order and “prevented a massacre from taking place against Sunnis near Tripoli.”

He wondered however how long this reality would last.

Hariri also had some doubts over then Army Commander General Michel Suleiman’s capabilities, but he did not go into any details.

Addressing the May 7 clashes, the Mustaqbal movement leader said that Hizbullah incurred much more losses than it had admitted to, including prominent military commander Abu Fadel.

His death was main instigator for Hizbullah attack on the Chouf region, he added.

“A second round of clashes will take place, but I will not turn my movement into a militia,” he stressed.

Hizbullah agreed to return to the national dialogue in order to remove its fighters off the streets, “which has tarnished its image in the Arab world,” he noted.

In addition, Hariri stated that the army had been equipped properly as it should have, then it would have been more capable to confront the M16 rifles and Russian RPG rockets of the Hizbullah “terrorists.”