Leaks reveal Geagea pleaded with Saudi Arabia for money to finance bankrupt party
BEIRUT: Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea pleaded for financial assistance from Saudi Arabia when his party was going bankrupt in 2012, one of more than 60,000 classified Saudi documents published by WikiLeaks Friday revealed.
The document,
a letter from Saudi Ambassador to Lebanon Ali Awad Asiri to the kingdom’s then-foreign minister Prince Saud al-Faisal dated March 17, 2012, recounted a meeting between Faisal and a representative sent by Geagea.
“I have been visited by Elie Abu Assi, sent by Lebanese Forces chief Samir Geagea, and he talked about the difficult financial situation their party is going through, which has reached the point where they can no longer afford the cost of party chief Samir Geagea’s protection,” the letter said.
“They have reached a point where Mr. Samir Geagea is ready to travel to the kingdom to present their deteriorated financial situation to the kingdom’s leadership.”
It added that Geagea felt he was in particular need of beefed up security because his political rival Free Patriotic Movement chief Michel Aoun and Maronite Patriarch Beshara Rai were “sympathizing with the Syrian regime.”
The letter, classified as “very confidential” by the ambassador, recommended providing Geagea with financial assistance since he was the “real power that could be relied on to push back Hezbollah and its allies in Lebanon.”
“In addition, he is the closest of Christian leaders to the kingdom and his positions are solid against the Syrian regime,” he said.
“Above all, he expressed readiness to do what the kingdom asks him to do.”
Asiri also praised Geagea for holding a news conference in which he defended statements by the Saudi Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdul Aziz bin Abdullah al-Sheikh, who said it was religiously legitimate to destroy churches in Kuwait because the Arab Peninsula should not see a “meeting of two religions.”
According to a
second document released by WikiLeaks on the same matter,
Prince Faisal forwarded the letter to then-Saudi King Abdullah with the recommendation of supporting Geagea financially since he pledged to “work under the kingdom’s instructions.”
Geagea could not be reached for comment.
The documents were included in the first batch of about 60,000 released so far, of which several hundred relate to Lebanon.
WikiLeaks said it had obtained more than half a million Saudi Foreign Ministry documents, dubbed "The Saudi Cables," which it plans to release in installments.
Riyadh has not rejected the authenticity of any of the documents, but warned media and citizens from publishing any of them since they could "be untrue" and aimed to "harm the nation."
A
separate document dated Jan. 2, 2013 said Lebanese MP Boutros Harb was planning to split from the March 14 political camp to launch his own political group after the parliamentary elections, which were eventually cancelled that year.
In a meeting with Faisal, Harb “hoped that the kingdom would support this [new political] gathering morally, politically and financially,” according to the document.
It said Harb's condition for receiving Saudi assistance was that “the support does not come through [former] Prime Minister Saad Hariri, who was criticized by the MP (Harb) for being away from Lebanon for a long time.”
The document added that Harb wanted to “leave March 14, which enjoys the kingdom’s support.”
The minister recommended contacting Asiri to ask for his opinion.
Harb declined to comment when contacted by The Daily Star Saturday evening.
Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea pleaded for financial assistance from Saudi Arabia when his party was going bankrupt in 2012, one of more than 60,000 classified Saudi documents published by WikiLeaks Friday revealed.
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