ITALY SEES HRC LEBANON SESSION AS UNPRODUCTIVE

UNCLAS ROME 002258 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: IS LE MOPS PHUM PREL PTER IT SUBJECT: ITALY SEES HRC LEBANON SESSION AS UNPRODUCTIVE REF: STATE 130145 ¶1. (SBU) August 9 Poloff delivered reftel points to MFA Acting Office Director for Human Rights Francesco De Stefani, stressing that a UN Human Rights Council (HRC) Special Session on Lebanon would be a distraction that could undermine UN Security Council (UNSC) efforts to bring about a cessation of hostilities. Poloff urged the GOI to oppose the Special Session. De Stefani responded August 10, noting the GOI shared U.S. concerns and viewed a UN HRC session on Lebanon as unhelpful. Pointing out that Italy was not currently a member of the HRC, De Stefani said the GOI would nevertheless work with its EU partners to register European concerns with the Special Session. ¶2. (SBU) August 10 Sebastiano Cardi, MFA Directorate General for Political Multilateral Affairs, told A/Pol MC that Italy agreed the UN HRC Special Session was not helpful, but that the GOI believed it would be difficult to stop it without a breakthrough at the UNSC. According to Cardi, the draft HRC resolution was "bad" and he hoped the EU countries on the council would vote against it, as they had on the last draft resolution on the Palestinian situation. He noted that the GOI was actively engaging on the issue within the EU. SPOGLI