Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
08BEIRUT1542
2008-10-29 16:33:00
CONFIDENTIAL//NOFORN
Embassy Beirut
Cable title:  

LEBANON: FATE OF SYRIAN-LEBANESE HIGHER COUNCIL

Tags:  PREL PGOV PTER PINR UNSC LE SY 
pdf how-to read a cable
VZCZCXRO8268
PP RUEHAG RUEHBC RUEHDE RUEHKUK RUEHROV
DE RUEHLB #1542/01 3031633
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 291633Z OCT 08
FM AMEMBASSY BEIRUT
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 3392
INFO RUEHEE/ARAB LEAGUE COLLECTIVE
RUCNMEM/EU MEMBER STATES COLLECTIVE
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 3096
RUEHNO/USMISSION USNATO 3305
RHMFISS/CDR USCENTCOM MACDILL AFB FL
RHEHAAA/NSC WASHDC
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 BEIRUT 001542 

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

DEPT FOR NEA/FO, NEA/ELA
ALSO FOR IO A/S HOOK, PDAS WARLICK
P FOR DRUSSELL AND RRANGASWAMY
USUN FOR KHALILZAD/WOLFF/SCHEDLBAUER/GERMAIN
NSC FOR ABRAMS/RAMCHAND/YERGER/MCDERMOTT

E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/26/2018
TAGS: PREL PGOV PTER PINR UNSC LE SY
SUBJECT: LEBANON: FATE OF SYRIAN-LEBANESE HIGHER COUNCIL
UNDETERMINED

REF: BEIRUT 1516

Classified By: Ambassador Michele J. Sison for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d).

SUMMARY
---------

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 BEIRUT 001542

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

DEPT FOR NEA/FO, NEA/ELA
ALSO FOR IO A/S HOOK, PDAS WARLICK
P FOR DRUSSELL AND RRANGASWAMY
USUN FOR KHALILZAD/WOLFF/SCHEDLBAUER/GERMAIN
NSC FOR ABRAMS/RAMCHAND/YERGER/MCDERMOTT

E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/26/2018
TAGS: PREL PGOV PTER PINR UNSC LE SY
SUBJECT: LEBANON: FATE OF SYRIAN-LEBANESE HIGHER COUNCIL
UNDETERMINED

REF: BEIRUT 1516

Classified By: Ambassador Michele J. Sison for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d).

SUMMARY
--------------


1. (SBU) The future of the Syrian-Lebanese Higher Council
remains unknown after Lebanon and Syria formally established
diplomatic relations October 16, 2008. The Higher Council is
the umbrella organization created under a 1991 treaty to
administer and implement coordinated foreign, economic, and
security agreements between the two countries. Many of our
Lebanese interlocutors view the treaty and its related
entities as favoring Syria, especially in economic matters.
Contacts from across the political spectrum anticipate some
changes to the mandate of the Higher Council will be
necessary to de-conflict its role with that of the new
embassies and ambassadors. However, political and legal
disagreements remain as to whether the Higher Council should
be dismantled, and if so, how. End summary.

STRUCTURE OF THE COUNCIL
--------------


2. (SBU) The Syrian-Lebanese Higher Council was created by
the 1991 "Fraternity, Cooperation and Coordination Treaty"
between Lebanon and Syria. The treaty was the outgrowth of
the 1989 Taif Accord that ended Lebanon's 1975-1989 civil war
and placed Lebanon under Syrian tutelage. The treaty became
the umbrella entity that covered all Lebanese-Syrian
bilateral agreements. According to the treaty, Lebanon and
Syria agreed to "work to achieve the highest level of
cooperation and coordination in all political, economic,
security, cultural, scientific and other fields." Under the
aegis of the treaty, several entities were established,
including:

- the Higher Council represented by the presidents, speakers
of parliament, prime ministers, and deputy prime ministers of
both countries to chart strategic policy;
- the Executive Body, responsible for implementation of

bilateral agreements, headed by the prime ministers and
consisting of other relevant ministers;
- a Foreign Affairs Committee charged with the coordination
of foreign policy with respect to their relations with other
countries;
- the Economic and Social Affairs Committee responsible for
economic and social affairs coordination and headed by the
relevant ministers;
- the Defense and Security Affairs Committee, headed by the
defense and interior ministers, responsible for studying
measures to secure both countries and to coordinate efforts
to respond to outside threats or aggression; and
- a General Secretariat.

LEBANESE PERCEPTIONS OF THE
AGREEMENTS AND THE HIGHER COUNCIL
--------------


3. (SBU) When Syria signed its decree establishing diplomatic
relations with Lebanon on October 16, Syrian Foreign Minister
Walid Moallem said the council was still being used and that
it was operating under prior agreements. However, Lebanese
Foreign Minister Fawzi Salloukh said that all past bilateral
agreements would be "under review" and possibly subject to
change. We believe the number of bilateral treaties that
come under the purview of the council exceed 100. (Note: The
exact number of agreements is not clear; we have heard
estimates as low as 32 and as high as 120. Most legal
analyses we have heard peg the number at more than 100, but
without consensus. End note.) There is a general perception
among our Lebanese interlocutors that many of the bilateral
agreements between Lebanon and Syria, especially the ones
focused on economic issues, such as access to water
resources, favor Syria. This, they say, makes an argument
for dismantling, or at least renegotiating, the Higher
Council's mandate, given the new status of formal diplomatic
relations. However, there is general disagreement as to

BEIRUT 00001542 002 OF 003


whether the treaties must be renegotiated before the Higher
Council is dismantled, or vice versa.


4. (SBU) Several of our March 14 coalition contacts said
that March 14 would campaign to have the Higher Council
dismantled. However, the coalition did not believe the
campaign would be successful, saying dismantling the council
would require "political will" that would be impossible to
achieve in the near future. Minister of State Khaled
Qabbani, a March 14 minister and a constitutional expert who
participated in the Taif conference, said that the final
communique of the Syrian-Lebanese summit held August 13-14
clearly stated "the need to revise the bilateral agreements."
However, Qabbani noted that under international law, the
treaty would require the agreement of both countries before
it could be amended. Yet, the establishment of diplomatic
relations would require some change to avoid an overlap of
responsibility between the new embassies and the council,
Qabbani said. Mohammad Mattar, a lawyer and independent Shia
figure close to March 14 leader Saad Hariri, told us October
29 that the 1991 treaty, the Higher Council, and all of the
bilateral agreements should be reviewed. However, he
reiterated that the decision to review the status of these
entities requires a political decision. Mattar also
suggested that any decision about the Higher Council or the
agreements should come under the Office of the Prime Minister
to avoid becoming politicized.


5. (C) In separate conversations October 23 with two of
Michel Aoun's advisors, MP Ibrahim Kenaan and Alain Aoun,
both noted that the Syrian-Lebanese Higher Council was
"unconstitutional" (reftel). Kenaan called the council a
"joke," while Aoun recalled that when the council was
created, several MPs and supporters of Michel Aoun were
against the Higher Council's formation. Aoun specifically
pointed to a 1992 press statement made by then-MP Albert
Mukheiber (now deceased, he was a close ally of Michel Aoun)
in which he said the Higher Council impinged on Lebanese
sovereignty and independence and stripped the parliament of
its authority.


WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?
--------------


6. (C) Many of our interlocutors -- majority and pro-Syrian
opposition figures alike -- said it was important that the
process to deal with the Higher Council moves slowly.
Oussama Khachab, head of the Americas desk at the Foreign
Ministry, told us October 17 President Sleiman expressed his
desire, in talks with his advisors, to handle the issue
calmly and to avoid any action that could be construed as a
"provocation" by the Syrians. In discussions between the
Lebanese and the Syrians, Syria made it clear it was "making
a big concession" by agreeing to open an embassy in Beirut
and is opposed to the abolition of the Higher Council,
Khachab said. However, senior officials at the Foreign
Ministry and at Baabda have begun to discuss how to
de-conflict the role of the embassy and the council. Justice
Minister Ibrahim Najjar (March 14) stated publicly that the
Higher Council and the embassies to be established in Beirut
and Damascus should not have the same capacity or be tasked
with the same "administrative functions." He added that the
issue is political, not legal.


7. (C) Ali Hamdan, senior advisor to Speaker of Parliament
Nabih Berri, said October 23 he expected the new embassies
would assume the role of "implementor" of existing and future
bilateral agreements, while the Higher Council would remain
the entity that would formulate strategic policy. Longtime
legal advisor to ex-president Emile Lahoud and opposition
figure, Salim Jereissati, believed Syria would not allow the
Higher Council to be dismantled. Jereissati also surmised
that the new Lebanese Ambassador to Syria would compete with
the head of the council for authority on the "Syrian file."
(Note: Jereissati said he turned down an offer from the
Presidency to become Lebanon's Ambassador to Syria for this
reason. End note.)


BEIRUT 00001542 003 OF 003


COMMENT
--------------


8. (SBU) The fate of the Syrian-Lebanese Higher Council
remains unknown. It is not likely any decisions about the
future of the Higher Council, or the bilateral treaties, will
be decided anytime soon.
SISON