Wikileaks citing Bassil: Kidnapping of Israeli soldiers was a mistake

A cable leaked from the U.S. embassy in Beirut on 09/12/2006 and posted on the Wikileaks website as cable number 3801 revealed that Energy Minister Gebran Bassil said that the kidnapping of the Israeli soldiers and the ensuing 2006 war were Hezbollah’s mistake.

According to the same document published by “al-Mustaqbal” newspaper, Gebran told the Americans that he does not care if Hezbollah walks out on the Change and Reform bloc in case the latter pressured the party to give up its arms. “We don’t care, we don’t need them”, he said.

On the fact that Hezbollah broke its promise to ensure a calm summer in 2006, Bassil said that the party can only be trusted when addressing the Lebanese people directly, and not when addressing the national dialogue table.

According to the cable, Bassil told a US official on 8/12/2006 that he and Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun refused Hezbollah’s campaigns against the U.S. and do not allow for anti-US speeches to be made in their presence.

“The Free Patriotic Movement is Washington’s best friend in Lebanon, always watching over U.S.interests”, Bassil said.