HARIRI SATISFIED WITH PACE OF UN EFFORTS TO SET UP

C O N F I D E N T I A L USUN NEW YORK 000856 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/10/2017 TAGS: PREL PTER UNSC SY LE SUBJECT: HARIRI SATISFIED WITH PACE OF UN EFFORTS TO SET UP TRIBUNAL REF: USUN 852 Classified By: Ambassador Alejandro D. Wolff, per 1.4 (b) and (d). ¶1. (C) Summary. During an October 8-9 visit to New York, Lebanese MP Sa'ad Hariri held meetings with UN SYG Ban Ki-Moon, other Secretariat officials, and UNSC members that focused largely on the need to speed up the set up of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon. Ambassador Khalilzad met Hariri on October 9. After these discussions, however, Hariri expressed satisfaction with the pace of UN efforts to select a prosecutor, appoint judges, and secure a venue for the tribunal. He agreed that convincing member states to donate sufficient funds for the tribunal remains the most pressing challenge to operationalize the tribunal, and undertook to urge Arab and European governments -- especially Saudi Arabia, France, and the European Union -- to contribute their fair share. USUN subsequently heard from the French Mission that France will announce its contribution to the tribunal very soon. End Summary. UN Says Tribunal Setup on Track -------------- ¶2. (C) According to Hariri advisor Amal Mudallali, Hariri left his October 8 meeting with UN Legal Counsel Nicolas Michel and his October 9 meeting with SYG Ban satisfied that the UN is on track to select a prosecutor by early November 2007 and judges soon thereafter (reftel). Michel also told Hariri that the UN is moving forward to negotiate a headquarters agreement with the Dutch Government to host the tribunal, although this effort has been complicated by Dutch requests for assurances that those convicted by the tribunal will not/not be incarcerated in the Netherlands. During his meeting with Hariri, French DPR LaCroix reportedly stressed that the UN has moved faster to set up the tribunal than most Council members thought possible when resolution 1757 was adopted and that Lebanon had to be realistic about the pace of progress. After reviewing the state of play on the tribunal with Ambassador Khalilzad, Hariri said he had no issues or complaints to raise about the UN's efforts so far. Money is the Big Obstacle -------------- ¶3. (C) Ambassador Khalilzad underscored that securing the necessary funding for the tribunal -- USD 35 million in cash and another USD 85 million in pledges for the first three years of operations -- will be necessary before the SYG can declare the court operational. With the U.S. and Lebanon both contributing USD 5 million, we now had to focus on raising the other USD 110 million. Ambassador Khalilzad noted that under the tribunal agreement, Lebanon is expected to contribute 49 percent of the tribunal's costs. Arab and European states, especially Saudi Arabia, France, and the European Union, should be persuaded to contribute generously. In this regard, Ambassador Khalilzad told Hariri that the U.S. had demarched countries around the world urging contributions. Lebanon should do the same. ¶4. (C) Noting that it might be difficult for Lebanon to contribute more than USD 5 million because of the impasse in parliament, Hariri said he would talk to "friendly governments" about contributing on Lebanon's behalf. He said he would travel to France on October 10 and would urge French Foreign Minister Kouchner to make a large contribution and would soon press Javier Solana to do the same on behalf of the EU. (Note: USUN subsequently learned that France plans to announce its contribution to the tribunal within the next few days. End Note.) Hariri said he would be in Saudi Arabia on October 11 and would urge King Abdullah to make a large contribution. Noting that he had met with the Chinese and Russian PermReps during his visit to New York, Hariri suggested he might also be able to persuade those countries to make token contributions to fund the tribunal. KHALILZAD