UNSC LUNCH WITH SYG BAN: LEBANON, IRAQ, AFGHANISTAN

C O N F I D E N T I A L USUN NEW YORK 000392

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E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/14/2012
TAGS: PREL UNSC IQ LE AF SY
SUBJECT: UNSC LUNCH WITH SYG BAN: LEBANON, IRAQ, AFGHANISTAN


Classified By: Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad, Permanent Representative, f
or reasons 1.4 b,d.


1. (C) Summary. Ambassador Khalilzad hosted the monthly
lunch for Security Council Perm Reps with the
Secretary-General. In addition to updating the Council on

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his discussions on Iraq and Afghanistan, SYG Ban used the
opportunity to follow-up on Lebanese PM Siniora's letter
requesting Council action to establish the Hariri Tribunal.
Ban said that he had come to believe that the Tribunal needed
to be established in order to ensure political assassins have
"no impunity". Following the meeting, Ban repeated the same
theme to the press. While Russian PR Churkin responded to
Ban's comments only by noting that the Lebanese issue would
be discussed later, South Africa, Indonesia, Qatar and Panama
expressed reservations about the establishment of a tribunal
without the consent of the Lebanese. (In addition, Peru
privately expressed concerns afterwards.) End Summary.


2. (U) Ambassador Khalilzad hosted the Secretary-General
(SYG),senior members of the Secretariat and the Security
Council Permanent Representatives for lunch on May 15 as part
of the U.S. Presidency of the Council for the month of May.
In introducing the SYG, the Ambassador asked for his views on
next steps on Lebanon, following receipt of Siniora's letter
on establishment of a tribunal, on Afghanistan and on Iraq,
in particular the effort to "close the chapter" on UNMOVIC.
Prior to the SYG's comments, Russian PR Churkin asked Ban to
address specifically the issue of the terms of reference for
the assessment team expected to go to the Lebanese border.

Lebanon


3. (C) SYG Ban said that on his visit to Damascus he had
focused on three issues: establishment of the Special
Tribunal in Lebanon, cutting off illegal arms flows into
Lebanon across the Syrian border, and encouraging the
normalization of relations, including the demarcation of the
border, between the two countries. Responding to Churkin's
question, Ban said that the terms of reference for the border
assessment team would be finalized soon and sent to the
Council. Ban had told Syria to accept the visit of the
technical assessment team, but "they were very much opposed."
The Syrians were, he said, also opposed to the dispatch of
the team to the Lebanese side of the border but "now accept
it as a fact of life." Ban encouraged Assad to reactive the
border committee "at a senior level," to which he agreed.
Ban noted that Syria asked him for technical assistance
related to the border, in particular for German assistance
with night vision equipment. Ban said that he had raised the
issue with the German FM, who was in no position to discuss
the issue. Ban said he emphasized to the Syrians that in
order to enable technical assistance they would need to
demarcate the border. Assad had, in his conversation with
Ban last week, confirmed his readiness to reconvene the
border committee.


4. (C) Ban said that he had been engaged in wide ranging
consultations to facilitate the early establishment of the
tribunal in Lebanon. He said that it was now clear that
there is "no prospect of a political process in Lebanon to
allow the Parliament to ratify the Tribunal agreement in the
near future." Ban said that he had spoken to Lebanese PM
Siniora on May 13, and that Siniora had said there was
"practically zero chance" of the tribunal being ratified.
Ban noted that he had circulated to all Council members the
letter from Siniora that called the domestic political route
"dead" and asked for a binding decision from the Security
Council. At this point, Ban noted that when had raised the
Tribunal with Syria's Assad, he had asked Assad to "use his
influence" in Lebanon to establish a Tribunal. Assad
replied, said Ban, that any action by the Security Council to
establish the court would "provoke a civil war" in Lebanon.


5. (C) Ban then told Security Council members, based on his
consultations, "As Secretary-General, I am of the conviction
there should be no doubt that the Tribunal will eventually be
established." Ban said that he believed the establishment of
the Tribunal was critical to insure that there was "no
impunity for political assassination." At the same time, the
lack of certainty about the establishment of the Tribunal
was, in itself, adding to the political uncertainty in
Lebanon. Ban said that he would make the same statement of
his views to the press following the lunch. (Note: To the
press, Ban said: "I think it is necessary for the Security
Council to take necessary action. I hope the Security
Council members will debate on this matter and take necessary
action." When asked what form this action should take, Ban
replied, "It is up to the members of the Security Council on

what provisions of the Charter they will invoke to establish
a special tribunal.")

Afghanistan


6. (C) Ban told Council members that the UN was concerned
about the security situation throughout Afghanistan and the
need for President Karzai to continue to extend his
authority. He said that Afghanistan needed a "productive
dialogue" with Pakistan, and called the recent joint
statement "encouraging." At the same time, troop
contributing countries in Afghanistan need to adopt
"culturally sensitive tactics."


7. (SBU) The UN was trying to increase its presence on the
ground in Afghanistan. There were now fourteen UNAMA offices
nation-wide. Ban said that sustainable peace would require
more than military engagement. He planned to attend a
conference in Rome this July on the rule of law in
Afghanistan.

Iraq


8. (SBU) The SYG gave Council members a brief readout of his
participation in the Sharm el Sheik meetings on Iraq. He
said that he was "very much heartened" by the response of the
international community and the strong show of support for
Iraq. The UN was in the midst of an ongoing effort to
increase its role in Iraq and planned to "rebuild our
headquarters" in Baghdad to provide a safer and more
comfortable working environment for UN staff.


9. (C) Ban emphasized that the Iraqis now "need to do their
own homework" and engage in a political dialogue to support
the military and economic assistance being provided by the
international community. "I emphasized the importance of
political dialogue to Prime Minister Maliki," said Ban, "and
all countries stressed this." Ban said that "everyone
appreciated" the meeting between Secretary Rice and Syrian FM
Moallem. And while the ministerial bilateral between the
U.S. and Iran was not realized, the "lower level meeting"
between the two countries was also "very much appreciated."


10. (SBU) On UNMOVIC, Ban noted that the Iraqi Government had
called for the termination of the mandate and return of
funds. "I support the Council's consideration of the
termination of UNMOVIC," Ban said. However, the knowledge
gained by UNMOVIC, particularly in the fields of biological
weapons and means of delivery "should be retained and used
for future purposes."


11. (U) Ambassador Khalilzad congratulated SYG Ban and the
Secretariat for their efforts in support of the International

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Compact for Iraq and their role in developing a "contract
with benchmarks" between the international community and the
Iraqi Government. Now we would all need to pay attention to
implementation, which would require a continuous effort by
the UN and others.

Russia: Slowly, Slowly


12. (C) Russian PR Churkin responded to Ban's presentation by
noting that "Lebanon will be something for the Council to
discuss over the coming days." On UNMOVIC, while
understanding that the time had come to draw it to a close,
he expressed two concerns. First, it needed to be done
"properly" and in conformity with the legal role of the
Council. Second, there is also an expectation on the
Government of Iraq to pass legislation declaring itself free
of weapons of mass destruction. Churkin said that this was
"more than a technicality, and not just about money." Given
the Parliamentary rules in Iraq, he suggested, it may be a
while before Iraq met this requirement. Responding to this
point, Ambassador Khalilzad noted that the Iraqi Constitution
includes provisions that declare Iraq to be free of WMD.
"The commitment of the country is already there," he said.

UK: Expand UNAMI mandate?


13. (C) UK PR Jones Parry noted his appreciation for the UN's
efforts in Iraq and noted that both the international
community and the Iraqi Government now needed to fulfill
their role. The UN, Jones Parry said, is "vital" and the UK
would support any effort to expand its activities in Iraq,
"including by expanding UNAMI's mandate." He too agreed that
the time had come to end UNMOVIC's mandate.

China: Afghanistan and Iraq


14. (C) Chinese DPR Liu commented that he saw Afghanistan and
Iraq as being in a similar situation. The main problem, he
said, in each country is the need for "national
reconciliation between sectoral groups." Where Iraq survives
on oil wealth, the Afghan people are living off the drug
trade, which is becoming a serious problem. He asked Ban
what the UN could do to facilitate political reconciliation
in these two countries, and whether he would launch personal
mediation efforts using the SYG's good offices mandate. In
closing, Liu also said it was time to wind up UNMOVIC.

Panama: Concern about the Tribunal


15. (C) Panama's Arias noted his concern about "the legal
situation and legal framework" related to the Council's
consideration of the Tribunal. Noting that the Council's
actions to date had been premised on the idea of an agreement
between the UN and Lebanon, which the SYG now thought "was no
longer possible", Arias asked if the SYG had thought through
the details of a different legal framework to establish the
Tribunal. (Though Peru's Voto-Bernales did not speak at the
lunch, he approached Ambassador Sanders afterwards to note
his agreement with Arias' skepticism about the legal
approach. "I did not speak because I did not want to put you
in a difficult position," he said.)

Belgium: We need the Tribunal


16. (C) Belgium's Verbeke took the opposite position, noting
that too much time had passed since the assassination of
former PM Hariri. We need the Tribunal now, he said, in
order to provide the link to the investigation. On Iraq,
Verbeke too stressed the importance of political
reconciliation, and asked Ban if there was any UN effort to
help the Iraqi government establish internal power sharing
arrangements.

Indonesia, Qatar and South Africa: Tribunal Worries


17. (C) Indonesian DPR Kleib recalled Assad's comments
related to the establishment of the Tribunal. "Assad
reminded us of the negative impact of imposing the tribunal
from outside without agreement among the Lebanese actors.
Are we going to support national unity, or do harm to it?"
On Iraq, he noted that it was time for the UN to strengthen
its role. He proposed enlarging the size of UNAMI and
creating an institutional unit within the UN Secretariat that
is solely focused on Iraq.


18. (C) South Africa's Kumalo said that it was important for
the SYG to ensure the Council that if it "overrides the
sovereign decision" of a country that it is not "opening up a
can of worms." Kumalo said that he was uncomfortable with
the Security Council being asked to interfere in the local
politics of the country. "They say the majority of Lebanese
want the Tribunal, but will it be acceptable to the rest of
the country?"


19. (C) Qatari PR Nasser noted that it now "seems like the
Council is ready to take action on the Tribunal" though there
was no agreement among the Lebanese.

France: "No other option"


19. (C) French PR de La Sabliere said that he had been hoping
that the Lebanese to find a solution that would allow for the
establishment of the Tribunal. The Siniora letter is
important, he said, and there is now "no other option" but
for the Security Council to take action on this. "We have to
live up to our responsibilities."
KHALILZAD