AMBASSADOR KHALILZAD MEETS WITH IIIC COMMISSIONER

S E C R E T USUN NEW YORK 001034 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/04/2018 TAGS: PREL PTER UNSC LE SY SUBJECT: AMBASSADOR KHALILZAD MEETS WITH IIIC COMMISSIONER BELLEMARE NOV 4 Classified By: Ambassador Z. Khalilzad for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) ¶1. (C) Summary. Ambassador Khalilzad met with IIIC (International Independent Investigation Commission) Commissioner Daniel Bellemare November 4 to discuss the status of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) at Bellemare's request. The discussion focused on Bellemare's request that the start date for the STL be delayed until March. The discussion also involved the progress the IIIC has made and the need it still has for analysts. End Summary. ¶2. (C) Bellemare clearly stated that he would be asking for an extension of the IIIC, not for substantive reasons, but to organize a smooth transition to The Hague to continue forward momentum on the investigation. He also said that the STL's Registrar is not ready to receive all of the personnel from the IIIC on January 1. Bellemare said that the UN's Office of Legal Affairs and the STL's Registrar are working together to determine whether the STL's start date will be March 1 or at some point later in March. Either way, Bellemare said, the start date will be before April 1 and there will be no future extensions or adjustments. The Ambassador expressed support for a definitive, one-time extension so that the Tribunal could start before the spring Parliamentary elections in Lebanon and urged Bellemare to be clear in his report to the Council on the reasons for the extension. ¶3. (S) Regarding the progress the IIIC has made since last summer, Bellemare stressed the level of effort of the investigation is at its all-time highest, but its outputs do not yet reflect its inputs. Nevertheless, Bellemare said he is confident even though there are major hurdles to overcome. He plans to go to Syria this month and said that he will then be better able to assess its cooperation. If potential interviewees disappear and try to "wait out" the end of the IIIC's mandate, Bellemare said he may come to the UN Security Council to exercise his Chapter VII powers in the waning days of the mandate. His view of the Government of Lebanon's (GOL) cooperation is that it is good, although he said the process of submitting a request to the Lebanese authorities for every aspect of the investigation in Lebanon is cumbersome. Bellemare also conveyed that he is still having trouble getting access to southern Beirut. ¶4. (S) The Ambassador asked Bellemare about the status of the four (4) Lebanese Generals in custody. Bellemare responded that the generals might be released or they might be transferred to The Hague, in which case he'd have to assess whether to ask the STL for their release. Bellemare implied that the evidence regarding the generals that he has been sharing with the GOL is not sufficient. He added that he is still, however, looking at financial records. ¶5. (C) When the Ambassador suggested that the STL's budget could be reduced by secondments from states, Bellemare pressed for U.S. analysts to work in The Hague in support of the investigation, even while the IIIC still exists and afterwards under the STL. He said that he has been in contact with Bruce Swartz in the U.S. Department of Justice, but has not yet received any definitive offers of analyst secondments. Bellemare said that Canada, France and the U.K. have supported the IIIC with secondments and dismissed one USG TDY this past summer as temporary and not representative of a "real" secondment. ¶6. (SBU) The Ambassador made a pitch for Americans to be hired by the STL and recommended that Bellemare hire a specific American candidate for the D1/D2 Chief of Prosecution position. Bellemare responded that there are many applications for that position but understood the idea that the U.S. needs some Americans in key positions at the STL in order to facilitate extensive and sensitive assistance from the U.S. Khalilzad