WikiLeaks: Khalifeh Says Berri Deceived Nasrallah Who Believes he is Salaheddine

A leaked U.S. Embassy cable published exclusively in Al-Akhbar Wednesday revealed that Health Minister Mohammed Jawad Khalifeh had informed then U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon Jeffrey Feltman that House Speaker Nabih Berri was disputed with Hizbullah Secretary General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah.

The WikiLeaks cable dated August 19, 2006, reported Khalifeh as saying that Nasrallah believes himself to be “greater than Salaheddine and all of us.”

The minister said that Berri was upset with Nasrallah over his victory speech marking the end of the July 2006 war.

The speaker also deceived two Hizbullah ministers when he agreed to the August 16 government decision to deploy the Lebanese army in southern Lebanon, which according to Khalifeh violated some “red lines” that Nasrallah and Berri had agreed upon.

The red lines maintained between the two officials included the rejection of the deployment of NATO forces in Lebanon, as well as the rejection of the deployment of international forces along the Lebanese-Syrian border.

The cable reported Khalifeh as saying that he “recorded a small victory” after his tour of hospitals and clinics in southern Lebanon, which he said restored the Lebanese government’s control over them after Hizbullah tried to occupy them.

The minister estimated that some 300-400 Hizbullah fighters were killed during the war, adding that the “atmosphere of victory” that followed the war will wane when the residents of the South will realize the size of the damage that was incurred in the area.

He stressed however that hatred towards Israel and the United States exists throughout the South and it will never fade.

Khalifeh later denied on Wednesday the WikiLeaks report saying that he sought to record the various meetings he held.

“The Lebanese media is free and every person with a free opinion can analyze the cables,” he told Future News.