US embassy cable - 05BEIRUT1322

S E C R E T BEIRUT 001322 
 
 
LONDON FOR GOLDRICH, PARIS FOR ZEYA 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/19/2015 
TAGS: LE, MOPS, PTER, SY 
SUBJECT: MGLE01: SYRIAN INTELLIGENCE MAY HAVE WORKED WITH 
HIZBALLAH ON UAV LAUNCHINGS 
 
REF: BEIRUT 1194 
 
Classified By: Ambassador Jeffrey D. Feltman.  Reason:  Section 1.4 (d). 
 
1.  (S)  Introduction and summary.  Tyre businessman Qassim 
Daoud (strictly protect) provided econoff on April 19 with 
further details on Hizballah's "Mirsad-1" Unmanned Aerial 
Vehicle (UAV) flight into Israeli airspace on April 11 
(reftel).  Daoud has well-placed contacts in the southern 
Shia community, sustained in part on the basis of his late 
brother's service as a senior Amal military commander in the 
1980's.  Daoud spoke recently with Amal security officers and 
Lebanese Army officers.  His sources said that Syrian 
intelligence was involved in the decision to launch the 
Mirsad-1 over Israel, though Hizballah also had its own 
reasons for the overflight.  Hizballah has received a total 
of three Mirsad-1 UAVs from Iran, but only one is 
operational.  Shia residents near the Blue Line strongly 
support Hizballah's militia, according to another source, 
Shia journalist Kassem Kassir.  End introduction and summary. 
 
Sources: Mirsad-1 launched with Syrian approval; one of three 
--------------------------------------------- ---------------- 
 
2.  (S)  Sources in Amal and the Lebanese Army reported to 
Qassim Daoud that the joint Syrian intelligence/Hizballah 
security committee for coordinating operations was still 
active.  Syrian intelligence officers prompted the launching 
of the Mirsad-1 on April 11 in order to coincide with Israeli 
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's meeting with the U.S. 
President.  Hizballah had its own interests as well:  to 
demonstrate for the Lebanese people the effectiveness of its 
militia amid discussion of disarmament; and to maintain the 
"balance of terror" with Israel. 
 
3.  (C)  These sources also reported that Hizballah had 
received three Mirsad-1 UAVs from Iran.  Only the UAV that 
overflew Israel on April 11 and safely returned to base is 
operational.  The first Mirsad-1 that flew over Israel on 
November 7 crash landed along the southern Lebanese coast and 
is no longer functional.  The remaining Mirsad-1 arrived from 
Iran with a mechanical defect.  The defect can be repaired, 
our sources said, but the needed repair is beyond Hizballah's 
technical capability. 
 
4.  (C)  The Mirsad-1 flight on April 11 was seen and heard 
clearly by the residents of Khiam and Kfar Killa in southern 
Lebanon.  The Mirsad-1 flew low and its noisy engine was 
described as very loud.  Residents saw the Mirsad-1 flying 
about 800m north of the Blue Line, but were not able to 
observe it entering Israeli airspace. 
 
Locals support Hizballah air incursion 
-------------------------------------- 
 
5.  (C)  Hizballah's military wing and its aerial operations 
are especially popular in Shia villages near the Blue Line, 
according to Kassem Kassir, a Shia journalist and former 
Hizballah member.  Despite the danger of Israeli retaliation, 
residents near the Blue Line perceive that Israel has stepped 
up its violations of Lebanese airspace recently (the UN 
cannot confirm this generalization).  Many Lebanese in the 
area also believe that Israel is threatening the Al-Aqsa 
mosque in Jerusalem.  Any Israeli retaliation would increase 
Hizballah's legitimacy.  The Shia who live in the former 
Israeli-occupied "security zone" are very protective of 
Hizballah's arms, according to Kassir. 
 
Comment 
------- 
 
6.  (C)  Daoud moves freely in both Amal and Hizballah 
circles in southern Lebanon.  People still come up to him and 
kiss him out of admiration for his late brother.  His 
brother, Daoud Daoud, fought against the Israeli occupation 
of southern Lebanon but also tried to forge a path 
independent of Syria.  Daoud believes that Amal leader Nabih 
Berri, with Syrian complicity, ordered his brother's 
assassination.  Daoud Daoud was gunned down in his car near a 
Syrian roadblock in 1988.  End comment. 
 
FELTMAN