Puisque le nom de Tammam Salam circule pour être le prochain Premier ministre libanais, j’ai effectué une recherche dans les #cablegate de #Wikileaks. A priori, rien de bien intéressant.
05BEIRUT654, Lebanon Biographies of Potential Prime Ministers, 3 mars 2005
▻http://wikileaks.org/cable/2005/03/05BEIRUT654.html
Tammam Salam, former Member of Parliament
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¶7. Salam was born in Beirut in 1945. The Salam family is one of the prominent traditional Sunni political families of Beirut. His late father was one of the heroes of Lebanon’s independence in 1943. Hariri’s political and financial powers undermined the role of the Salam family in Beirut. He is the son of former Prime Minister Saeb Salam.
Salam was elected a Member of Parliament in 1996. He lost his seat in 2000 because of the late Prime Minister Hariri’s efforts against him. Salam was trying to mend fences with the Hariri camp in early 2005, ahead of the Spring Parliamentary elections. When Speaker Berri launched his response to the Bristol opposition group meetings, Salam participated in Berri’s counterpart conclave known as “Ain Tineh.” Salam abstained from attending the subsequent meeting “Ain Tineh II” after Hariri’s assassination.
08BEIRUT1699, Lebanon: Jumblatt peased with his U.S. visit, 28 novembre 2008
▻http://wikileaks.org/cable/2008/11/08BEIRUT1699.html
¶13. (C) Jumblatt worried that the recent wave of Lebanese officials visiting Syria would continue indefinitely. Hamadeh noted that President Sleiman asked Defense Minister Elias Murr to visit his counterpart in Damascus, but wondered why Culture Minister Tammam Salam needed to go now as well. “We should not send too many at one time,” said Hamadeh.
09BEIRUT495, Lebanon: UNRWA director says Nahr al-Barid reconstruction must begin now, 30 avril 2009
▻http://wikileaks.org/cable/2009/04/09BEIRUT495.html
HISTORY HOLDS UP CONSTRUCTION
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¶7. (C) Another issue that has come up recently is the discovery of an archaeological site on the grounds of the Nahr al-Barid camp. Two, 3,000 year-old sarcophagi were discovered on the camp site. According to Lebanese law, the GOL is responsible for preserving the site. There exists a number of options on how to do this. However, UNRWA favors leaving the site as is and building around/above the archaeological find (known as back-filling), as it is the quickest and easiest option. Minister of Culture, Tammam Salam’s recommendation on how to preserve the site is needed before construction can begin. Lombardo asked the Ambassador to speak with Salam to urge him to support this option.
09BEIRUT967, Legal challenge adds delays to Nahr al-Barid reconstruction, 27 août 2009 ▻http://wikileaks.org/cable/2009/08/09BEIRUT967.html
LATE-BREAKING LEGAL CHALLENGE FROM AOUN
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¶2. (C) In mid-August, Michel Aoun filed a lawsuit with the Shura court requesting an injunction against the backfilling of recently discovered Roman ruins underneath areas of the Nahr al-Barid (NAB) Palestinian refugee camp near Tripoli. The basis for the suit is how to best preserve the remains of the Roman village discovered during rubble and UXO removal. The Directorate General of Antiquities (DGA) earlier in the year carried out a extensive survey at the site and, with cabinet approval, agreed that construction could continue if the ruins were “backfilled” with compressed soil at least one meter above the tallest portion of the ruins after UXO and rubble removal. Caretaker Culture Minister Tammam Salam told us on August 25 that Aoun was demanding the GOL relocate the camp to new land, an option already studied and rejected due to the cost and procedural delays in appropriating the land. Salam described Aoun’s demand as disingenuous since, were the GOL to appropriate new land, Aoun would accuse the GOL of instituting a permanent resettlement plan or “tawteen” for the refugees, a policy universally rejected across the Lebanese political spectrum. One of the issues being considered by the court is whether Aoun has legal standing for the suit, either as a private citizen or an MP.
¶3. (C) The GOL filed an appeal to Aoun’s lawsuit, caretaker Justice Minister Ibrahim Najjar confirmed to Ambassador on August 14. Najjar said that both Aoun and the GOL had one month to prepare their cases. Meanwhile, on August 25 caretaker PM Siniora met with Salam, the DGA, the secretary general of the cabinet and a Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) representative to “consolidate” the government’s position before presenting their appeal to the court later in September. Salam, who underscored earlier acceptance by some members of the opposition of the DGA’s proposal, noted that two of the three judges on the State Council, which must rule on the appeal, are Aoun supporters. On August 26 UNRWA’s Deputy Director for Lebanon Roger Davies told the Ambassador the court had ordered the previously agreed-upon work on backfilling to cease while the case is adjudicated. Only archeological surveying, rubble and UXO removal will continue. Davies said that Siniora had advised UNRWA on August 26 to obey the instruction, which asserting that the GOL was “100 percent behind” the NAB reconstruction project. Davies told us August 27 that UNRWA planned to order its contractor to cease backfilling operations on August 31. According to Regional UNRWA Director Filipo Grandi, the end of October was previously the projected date to complete the clearance work and begin constructing building foundations.
09BEIRUT973, With cabinet negotiations stalled, Hariri hints at brinkmanship, 28 août 2009
▻http://wikileaks.org/cable/2009/08/09BEIRUT973.html
AOUN THE PROBLEM?
OR HARIRI?
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¶4. (C) The General does not fold easily, however, and underscored that his demands are firm and he will not “visit” anyone, adding cheekily that if “someone” wants to negotiate, he can visit the broad terrace of Aoun’s house. Caretaker Minister of Culture and Future Party stalwart Tammam Salam told the Ambassador August 25 that despite being “unstable,” Aoun is extremely intelligent, a political animal who does his homework and commits himself to a plan. “Even his allies can’t reel him in,” said Salam. “With or without the blessing of Syria, he will do what he wants.” Alain Aoun explained to PolChief August 26 that the General’s obstinacy was the result of Hariri’s marginalizing him (reftel) and insisted Hariri will need to find a way to meet with the General in order to move forward.
¶5. (C) Hariri has remained stoic in his responses to Aoun’s recent rants, winning praise from his allies, including Salam, who assessed that his performance has been “perfect” to date. Nonetheless, Hariri’s attempts to isolate Aoun have brought criticism from the opposition (reftel). Opposition MP Yassine Jaber, who is closely allied to Nabih Berri’s Amal party, suggested Hariri should have started negotiating with Aoun from the beginning instead of expecting Hizballah to push him. Indeed, Raad has insisted consistently in his public comments that Hizballah is Aoun’s ally, but not his mediator.
[…]
OUTSIDE FORCES
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¶9. (C) Many contacts still contend that the Hariri-Aoun spat cannot be the only thing holding up the government and that outside pressures are the real source of stalemate. Salam suggested that Syria, working from a strengthened regional and international position, must be working to freeze the process. Jaber assessed that the Egyptians had been interfering in Lebanon’s cabinet formation to serve its own regional interests. Numerous Embassy interlocutors insist that nothing can move forward in Lebanon until the Saudis and Syrians return to the negotiating table. The mood of many is summed up by Jumblatt’s comment to the Ambassador that Lebanon cannot form a government “while Saudi Arabia and Iran are fighting from Yemen to Iraq.”
09BEIRUT1214, New lebanese cabinet announced, 10 novembre 2009
▻http://wikileaks.org/cable/2009/11/09BEIRUT1214.html
¶7. (U) The following ministers were not returned in the new cabinet: Prime Minister Fouad Siniora, Deputy Prime Minister Issam Abou Jamra, Finance Minister Mohammad Chatah, Social Affairs Minister Mario Aoun, Industry Minister Ghazi Zoayter, Tourism Minister Elie Marouni, Culture Minister Tammam Salam, Environment Minister Antoine Karam, Minister of the Displaced Raymond Audi, Administrative Reform Minister Ibrahim Shamseddine, Youth and Sports Minister Talal Arslan, Education Minister Bahia Hariri, Foreign Affairs Minister Fawzi Salloukh, Energy and Water Minister Alain Tabourian, Agriculture Minister Elie Skaff, State Minister Ali Qanso, State Minister Khaled Qabbani, and State Minister Nassib Lahoud.