Lebanese President slams WikiLeaks, says relation with Hezbollah based on cooperation

Lebanese President Michel Sleiman slammed on Sunday leaked US diplomatic cables, known as WikiLeaks, which he said lacked “accuracy and credibility.”
Sleiman stressed his relation with Hezbollah was based on cooperation and warned against what he called attempts to deepen divisions among Lebanese parties through the US cables.

According to leaked US cables published in Al-Akhbar newspaper, Sleiman reportedly said in 2007 that he believed Hezbollah had supported his nomination for president to destroy his chances of reaching Lebanon’s top post. “Sleiman believed Hezbollah was supporting him with the aim to burn his chances of securing the presidency,” then-US Ambassador to Lebanon Jeffrey Feltman said in a 2007 cable.

In another cable filed by the US embassy in Lebanon on April 6, 2009, then defense Minister Elias Murr quoted Sleiman as saying he would fight Hezbollah until the end and that the only gift granted by the Resistance party to him was the presidency. Murr attributed the President’s stance to his dismay with Hezbollah’s support for the Free Patriotic Movement candidate in the Byblos area during the 2009 parliamentary elections, in which pro-president candidate Nazem al-Khouri was competing.

Sleiman said some of the leaks were in line with an organized campaign aimed at dividing ranks and widening the rift among Lebanese citizens and political factions. “President Michel Sleiman warns against publications based on WikiLeaks documents, which lack accuracy and credibility in many aspects as most documents are based on assumptions, selectivity, or third-party reporting,” the presidency’s press office said. Some of these leaks are part of a systematic campaign aimed at causing divisions and deepening the rift among citizens and political groups, the statement added.

The statement highlighted that Sleiman’s positions and acts were based on principles and convictions aimed at serving the country’s higher national interests. “The president stresses that his stances on the national issues stem from his beliefs, principles and role in preserving the homeland's highest interest,” it said.

“The president’s ties … with all parties and factions including Hezbollah are good and based on cooperation and coordination rather than rivalry and enmity,” the statement stressed.

The statement also described Sleiman's relation with former president Emile Lahoud as “built on admiration and appreciation.”