OMANI SUPPORT FOR LEBANESE PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS

C O N F I D E N T I A L MUSCAT 001121 SIPDIS SIPDIS DEPARTMENT FOR NEA/ARP, NEA/ELA E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/12/2017 TAGS: PREL KDEM LE SY MU SUBJECT: OMANI SUPPORT FOR LEBANESE PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS AND UN HARIRI TRIBUNAL REF: STATE 163945 Classified By: Gary A. Grappo for Reasons 1.4 (b, d) ¶1. (C) The Ambassador delivered reftel demarche on December 12 during a meeting with Ministry of Foreign Affairs Secretary-General Sayyid Badr al-Busaidi. Sayyid Badr SIPDIS confirmed that Oman supported the holding of timely Lebanese presidential elections without linkage to other issues, but said that he did not think a public statement from Oman's government to this effect would be "helpful," and was therefore unlikely. He further remarked that Oman considered the presidential elections to be an internal Lebanese matter, although he quickly acknowledged that "everyone is meddling in it." ¶2. (C) Regarding the UN tribunal to try suspects in the assassination of former Lebanese PM Hariri, Sayyid Badr stated that the GCC had recently decided that it "cannot set a precedent" by complying with a request for a "joint commitment" to fund a set amount for the creation and operation of the tribunal. GCC countries, he explained, would instead decide "individually and voluntarily" on what financial support, if any, they would contribute towards the tribunal. GRAPPO