WikiLeaks: Hariri Said MiG Deal Would Prevent Hizbullah from Repeating May 7

Caretaker Prime Minister Saad Hariri has reportedly said that Russian MiG-29 fighter jets would strengthen the March 14 forces and prevent Hizbullah from overtaking Sunni Western Beirut as it did on May 7.

According to a WikiLeaks cable published by al-Akhbar daily on Friday, Hariri said during a meeting with U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State David Hale on December 17, 2008 that the ownership of MiG jets by the army would most probably complicate Israeli overflights.

Hariri told Hale that the planes would further “weaken one of Hizbullah’s excuses to hold onto its arms.”

“Hizbullah is feeling threatened by the MiG deal and the party’s al-Manar TV station dealt with it (the issue) negatively,” he said, according to the cable.

But then U.S. Ambassador Michele Sison noted in the cable that there was no negative reaction from the Shiite group on the MiG deal.

“A Hizbullah representative has stressed in an official statement his support to arm the Lebanese military to confront Israel,” Sison wrote.

During his meeting with Hale, Hariri also stressed the importance of delivering MiG fighter jets to Lebanon to “fight terrorism in the Palestinian camps.”