LEBANON: UNIIIC CHIEF OF INVESTIGATIONS SAYS

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BEIRUT 003460

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

NSC FOR ABRAMS/DORAN/MARCHESE/HARDING

E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/26/2016
TAGS: PGOV PREL PTER SY LE IS
SUBJECT: LEBANON: UNIIIC CHIEF OF INVESTIGATIONS SAYS
SOLID PROGRESS BEING MADE

Classified By: Charge d'Affaires Christopher W. Murray. Reason: Secti
on 1.4 (b)

SUMMARY
--------------


1. (C) UNIIIC Chief of Investigations Peter Nicholson
stated that UNIIIC's investigation is making solid progress
along several lines of inquiry. Now that the Commission's
full staff is back in residence in Beirut, Nicholson said the
remaining work has been organized so that Brammertz and his
staff will complete their work in the March-June 2007
timeframe. Nicholson indicated that the next scheduled
report, due in mid-December, will be similar to the September
report -- focused on process and compliance by the applicable
parties, with little revealed concerning specific findings.
Nicholson said that both he and Commissioner Brammertz have
been asked by the UN Secretariat to remain at their positions
until the Commission has completed its work. Although
Brammertz has not yet committed himself to an extension,
Nicholson said that if Commissioner Brammertz could receive
assurances from the ICC that such a move was acceptable, he
would readily do so, because he felt the Commission's work
was proceeding extremely well. End summary.


2. (C) Emboff met with UNIIIC's Chief of Investigations
Peter Nicholson and Investigator Rosemary Nidiry at the
Commission's headquarters in Monteverde on October 25.
Commissioner Brammertz stopped by the meeting for a few
minutes and expressed his confidence that with the return of
his staff from Cyprus (where they had temporarily moved
during the July-August conflict in Lebanon),the
investigation was making solid, steady progress and was on
track to complete its work in spring 2007. Although the
meeting was principally taken up with new UNIIIC requests for
USG assistance, both Nicholson and Nidiry also discussed the
Commission's progress and remaining challenges. (Note:
UNIIIC requests for technical assistance were sent to the
Department earlier by other means. End note.)


3. (C) Peter Nicholson echoed the confidence of
Commissioner Brammertz in stating that UNIIIC investigators
were making solid progress in narrowing down the realm of the
possible into hard conclusions supported by multiple lines of
evidence. When asked for a timetable, however, he
unexpectedly said the Commission's next report (due in
mid-December) would be similar to the September document --
focused on compliance and process, rather than substantive
conclusions or discussion of specific lines of inquiry.
Nicholson did, however, state that Commissioner Brammertz is
aiming to complete the investigation by spring 2007,
specifically March-June, with the emphasis on March.


4. (C) In addition to tightly narrowing down its
investigation, Nicholson said the Commission's staff are also
carefully compiling the evidence according to prosecutorial
standards, so that when the Special Tribunal is established,
the transfer of the case and related documentation will be of
a quality such that the Tribunal will be able to focus almost
exclusively on prosecutions. He said that Brammertz is
anticipating a careful, detailed handover when that time
comes, but does not expect the UNIIIC itself to last much
beyond the Tribunal's "fully operational" date. Nicholson
said there is little appetite for the UNIIIC to remain as a
long-term support function for the Tribunal.


5. (C) Concerning personnel matters, Nicholson and Nidiry
said that almost to a person, UNIIIC's staff is energized and
wants to see this through, even though that means several
staff members are "holding off" their home offices.
Nicholson said that both he and Commissioner Brammertz have
been asked to stay on until the job is finished, but he also
indicated that their parent organization, the International
Criminal Court, may have to be persuaded of the need.
Rosemary Nidiry likewise said her home organization, the U.S.
Attorney's Office in New York, will have to be convinced of
the desirability of allowing her to remain in Beirut until
spring.


6. (C) The bulk of the meeting was spent discussing the
Commission's new requests for technical assistance that
covered a range of disciplines. Both Nicholson and Nidiry
emphasized that although several of their requests will
admittedly be difficult to fulfill, such assistance would

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greatly facilitate the end game of their investigation, and
improve the confidence level of their findings. Nicholson
stated that if there were sensitive issues of "releasibility"
involved, Commissioner Brammertz was open to any practical
solution. Nidiry did not know whether it was applicable, but
she wanted to remind us that she held a USG security
clearance through her former position at the Department of
Justice.


7. (SBU) Either Peter Nicholson or Rosemary Nidiry are
available to visit Washington in mid-November to hold talks
with appropriate USG agencies. Nicholson asked whether this
timing would be convenient and stated either he, or Nidiry,
or both, could make the trip.
MURRAY