WikiLeaks: Suleiman Says Hizbullah Acted Like a Militia during May 2008 Incidents
Hizbullah committed a major mistake during the May 2008 incidents, said then Army Commander Michel Suleiman, revealed a leaked U.S. Embassy cable published exclusively in Al-Akhbar on Wednesday.
The May 12, 2008, WikiLeaks cable spoke of a meeting between Suleiman and then Charge d’Affaires at the U.S. Embassy Michele Sison during which the former accused Hizbullah of militia activity.
“This is not a resistance, but a militia,” he stressed.
He added that its takeover of Beirut sparked a Sunni-Shiite conflict in the whole Middle East, revealing that he had relayed a message to Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah through a Hizbullah MP that “through your recent action, you have created Sunni terrorists.”
Sison then said that a Lebanese officer had complained that Lebanese politicians “dragged us into this mess and the army is not obligated to protect them,” to which she responded by saying that the Grand Serail and the houses of political leaders should be protected.
Suleiman also denied reports that several resignations were recorded in the army in light of the May 7, 2008, incidents.
He said that a few officers had resigned “with tears in their eyes … after being humiliated by the recent developments.”
The army commander informed the U.S. official that the diversity of sects in the neighborhoods of West Beirut made it impossible for the army to deploy in these areas, noting that the Shiites were preparing for the takeover for a long time where they managed to acquire weapons much more efficiently than the Sunnis.
“Once the clashes reach the neighborhoods of mixed sects, then Hizbullah will infiltrate Shiite buildings where it will set up base and it will then spread to other buildings like cancer,” Suleiman said.
“The only way to combat such a development lies in evacuating the residents and then attacking the fighters who would have remained in their positions, just like the tactics employed in the Nahr al-Bared camp,” he continued.
During another meeting later that day, the cable spoke of a telephone conversation between Suleiman and then U.S. Undersecretary of Defense Eric Edelman during which the latter issued a strongly worded message to the army commander, highlighting the American administration’s expectations from the Lebanese army and politicians.
After the conversation, Suleiman issued ordered the army “to defend the Grand Serail, Qoreitem, and Clemenceau to the death.”
“The enemy will have to cross over your dead body in order to reach these areas, so fire if you are attacked,” he added.
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