QATAR SEEKS MORE INFORMATION BEFORE FUNDING

C O N F I D E N T I A L DOHA 000876 E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/17/2018 TAGS: PREL PTER LE SY UNSC EUN QA SUBJECT: QATAR SEEKS MORE INFORMATION BEFORE FUNDING LEBANESE TRIBUNAL REF: STATE 129978 Classified By: Ambassador Joseph E. LeBaron, for reasons 1.4 (b, d). This is an action request. Please see paragraph 3. -------------- (C) KEY POINTS -------------- -- MFA Assistant Minister for Follow-up Affairs Mohamad Al-Rumaihi told Ambassador December 17 that Qatar is reluctant to make an STC pledge. -- Qatar, he said, does not want to be seen as taking sides in Lebanon. It wants to maintain its ability to act as a good-faith mediator in the follow-up to the June Agreement reached in Doha among the Lebanese parties. -- In response, Ambassador told Al-Rumaihi that Qatar could sidestep that issue by making an anonymous pledge. Ambassador told Al-Rumaihi that at least one other country had done that. -- Al-Rumaihi seemed interested in that approach, and asked for a current list of Arab donors and their pledged amounts. END KEY POINTS. ¶1. (C) Al-Rumaihi added during the December 17 meeting that Qatar was waiting to see what support other Arab states would provide before making a pledge. Ambassador said the USG could supply the list, and urged that Qatar support the STL, using reftel points. Ambassador said Qatar could make an anonymous pledge, in keeping with its need to be seen as a neutral mediator on Lebanese issues. ¶2. (C) MFA Director for European and American Affairs Adel Al-Khal, who attended the meeting along with P/E Chief Rice, said it would speed up Qatar's decision-making process if Embassy Doha could provide him with the list of current Arab League and/or Organization of the Islamic Conference donors to the STC and the respective amounts pledged. ¶3. (C) ACTION REQUEST: Please provide a list of Arab League and/or Organization of the Islamic Conference donors to the STC, and the respective amounts pledged, that could be passed to MFA. Thank you. LeBaron