Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
07STATE121298
2007-08-29 03:44:00
UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
Secretary of State
Cable title:  

GUIDANCE FOR AUGUST 29 UNSC OPEN DEBATE ON THE

Tags:  PREL UNSC KPAL IS LE 
pdf how-to read a cable
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UNCLAS STATE 121298 

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREL UNSC KPAL IS LE
SUBJECT: GUIDANCE FOR AUGUST 29 UNSC OPEN DEBATE ON THE
MIDDLE EAST

UNCLAS STATE 121298

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREL UNSC KPAL IS LE
SUBJECT: GUIDANCE FOR AUGUST 29 UNSC OPEN DEBATE ON THE
MIDDLE EAST


1. (SBU) USUN is instructed to draw from the following
points in its statement at the August 29 UNSC open debate
on the Middle East.

Begin points.

-- Mr. President, on July 16, President Bush called for
an international meeting this autumn of nations that
support a two-state solution, reject violence, recognize
Israel's right to exist, and commit to all previous
agreements among the parties.

-- This meeting on a two-state solution to the
Israeli-Palestinian conflict will aim to support
discussions and negotiations between the parties and
achieve meaningful progress on the path to peace,
Palestinian statehood, and an end to the conflict.

-- We believe the government of President Abbas and
Prime Minister Fayyad can be a partner
for peace.
The international community has recognized
this and responded by re-establishing diplomatic and
economic ties with the Palestinian Authority and
government led by President Abbas and Prime Minister
Fayyad. As President Bush has said, the international
community must work with the PA to develop a solid
institutional and economic foundation for a future
Palestinian state.

-- In that vein, Secretary Rice and Palestinian Prime
Minister Salam Fayyad signed an $80 million assistance
package aimed at supporting efforts to reform and
professionalize the Palestinian security forces. The
Framework Agreement formalizes the intention of the United
States to provide assistance to the Palestinian Authority
to promote law and order by strengthening and reforming
the Palestinian security sector. We believe the ability
to provide security for the population is a core
responsibility of any functioning government. The Rule of
Law and security must be the foundation of any successful
Palestinian government.

-- We believe that this assistance package will help
improve the Palestinian Authority's capacity to deliver
security for the Palestinian people and fight terrorism,
build confidence between the parties, and ultimately help
to meet the security needs of Palestinians and Israelis
alike. The United States and the Palestinian Authority
have worked together closely to design this program and
will continue to cooperate in its implementation. This
security assistance package is in addition to more than $190

million in U.S. assistance to the Abbas/Fayyad government this
year. We encourage others, particularly regional parties, to
step forward with additional support at this critical time.


-- We continue to call on all Palestinians to reject terror,
and on the PA government to arrest terrorists, confiscate
illegal weapons, and confront corruption. We remain deeply
concerned by the continuing intransigence and illegal
occupation of Gaza by Hamas, including recent moves to
crackdown on freedom of speech there. We are very concerned
about Hamas'provision of safe haven to fellow terrorist
organizations operating in Gaza, and strongly condemn the
continuing acts of terror, such as recurring indiscriminate
rocket attacks, being conducted from Gaza against innocent
civilians in Israel.

-- We welcome the August 6 and 28 meetings between
Prime Minister Olmert and President Abbas, the second and
third since late June. We strongly support direct dialogue
between the parties. The United States remains committed
to working with Israel and the Palestinians on day-to-day
issues that affect the lives of Israelis and Palestinians
as well as a political horizon for Palestinian statehood.

-- We have always said that bilateral dialogue between
the parties is the key to realizing the two-state vision.
We will continue to work with the parties and the
international community to this end.

-- The development of a viable Palestinian economy and
institutions remains crucial to the success and prosperity
of a future Palestinian state. The United States looks
forward to the Ad Hoc Liaison Committee meeting in New
York next month, and to the Quartet meeting where we
expect to hear about Quartet Representative Tony Blair's
travel to the region and his recommendations on the
economic and institutional agenda.

-- We look forward to continued coordination and
cooperation with the Palestinians, the international
community and Quartet Representative Tony Blair to lay the
foundation for President Bush's vision of two states,
Israel and Palestine, living side by side in peace and
security.

LEBANON

-- Mr. President, we welcome the unanimous decision of
the UN Security Council to extend UNIFIL's mandate for one
year. We remain committed to a sovereign, democratic, and
prosperous Lebanon and continue to call for the full
implementation of all UNSC resolutions pertaining to
Lebanon, including 1559, 1680, and 1701.

-- We remain deeply concerned by continuous, mounting
evidence of illegal shipments of weapons into Lebanon. We
call on all states, particularly Syria and Iran, to take
steps to enforce the embargo against the shipment of
weapons to Lebanon that do not have the approval of the
Lebanese government or UNIFIL - an embargo that was
unanimously approved by the Council in resolution 1701.

-- We applaud the peaceful and transparent parliamentary
bi-elections in Lebanon this month.

-- We congratulate both the Lebanese people for
exercising their democratic rights in the August 5
election and the announced winners of the elections,
Camille Khoury and Mohammed Amine Itani. We also
congratulate the Government of Lebanon for carrying out a
transparent, non-violent election with minimal problems.

-- The Government of Lebanon has shown its ability to
manage a fair, transparent election process in the face of
heightened sensitivities due to the fact that these
vacancies resulted from the brutal assassination of two
Members of Parliament.

-- The people of Lebanon deserve to live in an
independent and free country without fear of violence and
intimidation from those who would seek to undermine
Lebanese democracy.

-- To that end, we look forward to a similarly free and
fair, peaceful presidential election this fall that is
held in accordance with Lebanon's constitution and is free
of foreign intervention.

End points.
RICE