LEBANON: NEW MOU WITH TRIBUNAL PROSECUTOR MAY BE

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 BEIRUT 000263

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DEPT FOR NEA/FO, NEA/ELA
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E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/04/2019
TAGS: PREL PGOV PTER PINR UNSC KJUS SY LE
SUBJECT: LEBANON: NEW MOU WITH TRIBUNAL PROSECUTOR MAY BE
DROPPED AS UNNECESSARY

REF: A. BEIRUT 247

B. BEIRUT 240

C. BEIRUT 101

Classified By: CDA William Grant for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d).

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


1. (C) Justice Minister Ibrahim Najjar said that the Special
Tribunal for Lebanon's (STL) Prosecutor asked for an MOU with
the GOL so that he could continue his investigation in
Lebanon. Najjar, a March 14 minister but not known as a
political figure, presented the draft MOU in the February 26
cabinet session without any preliminary preparation,
surprising PM Siniora and others in the cabinet. Hizballah's
single cabinet minister asked for more time to study it
before the cabinet acted. Najjar anticipated that Hizballah
would not ultimately block the MOU, but could request
conditions, a move which Najjar deemed reasonable.
Separately, though, March 14 minister Nassib Lahoud told us
that Najjar made a tactical error and that March 14 figures
were preparing a separate draft MOU with "softer" language
and might also recommend dropping the proposed new MOU as
unnecessary for the GOL to continue to cooperate with the STL
Prosecutor.


2. (C) Najjar suggested that UNIIIC was behind the February
25 release of the three suspects in the Hariri assassination,
and that the STL would request the four generals' transfer to
The Hague "very soon." Najjar proposed that President
Sleiman nominate two or three members of the ten-member
Constitutional Court to avoid the contentious process
delaying their appointment. Najjar and Lahoud both predicted
with confidence that independent MP Michel Murr, who is
allied with March 14, would defeat opposition-aligned Michel
Aoun in the heavily Christian Metn district where Aoun won
all eight seats in the last election. End summary.

HIZBALLAH MULLING OVER
TRIBUNAL MOU; NAJJAR CONFIDENT
MOU WILL BE SIGNED
--------------


3. (C) CDA, accompanied by PolOff, met with Justice Minister
Ibrahim Najjar at his residence on March 4. Najjar was using
crutches as he continues to recover from a serious December
10 automobile accident, although he is working normally.
Explaining why he submitted at the February 26 cabinet a
draft MOU between the GOL and the Special Tribunal for
Lebanon's (STL) Office of the Prosecutor (Ref B),Najjar said
that STL Prosecutor Daniel Bellemare requested a written MOU
defining his rights to continue his investigation in Lebanon.
The argument in favor of a new MOU, Najjar said, was that
Bellemare's investigatory powers in Lebanon ended when he
made the transition from UNIIIC Commissioner to STL
Prosecutor on March 1.


4. (C) According to Najjar, Bellemare drafted a "reasonable"
MOU, which mirrors the MOU previously signed between the GOL
and UNIIIC, and sent it to the Justice Minister on February

26. Najjar did not do any preliminary consultations with
fellow cabinet members on the new MOU, but simply distributed
copies to all ministers at the February 26 cabinet meeting
and asked for action. Najjar reported that Hizballah
Minister Mohammed Fneish requested time to study the
document. One week later, Najjar telephoned Fneish to
inquire about his review, and Fneish reportedly said he
needed a bit more time, and might have a response March 5,
when the cabinet was expected to convene again.


5. (C) No other political leaders, including
opposition-aligned Speaker Nabih Berri, voiced objections to
the MOU, Najjar said. Najjar assessed that Hizballah could
not outright reject the MOU, but could introduce conditions,
for example, requiring that any action be subject to Lebanese
law. This would be a fair condition, Najjar evaluated. In
fact, Najjar added, the language used was not ideal. He
noted that he had already prepared an alternate version and

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anticipated this issue would be soon resolved.


6. (C) Providing a separate version of events, March 14
Minister of State Nassib Lahoud March 5 told CDA and
PolEconOff the next day that Najjar had made a mistake in his
handling of the MOU issue. He argued Najjar should have
realized that the language in the MOU, agreed upon under a
different, non-national unity cabinet, would encounter
problems; some of the wording was inflammatory, he said.
Lahoud said he himself would have requested more time to
review the previously un-coordinated MOU had it covered any
issue besides the STL. Lahoud added that March 14 Minister
of State Khaled Qabbani is preparing the "lighter" version
mentioned by Najjar.


7. (C) Additionally, according to Lahoud, Judge Choucri Sader
-- head of the State Shura Council and a long-time legal
expert on STL issues -- has advised President Sleiman that no
new MOU even is necessary for Bellemare to continue his work.
March 14 is weighing whether to discuss the new version of
the MOU or to drop the issue entirely. Lahoud also expected
the issue to be addressed at March 5 cabinet session.

UNIIIC BEHIND RELEASE
OF THREE SUSPECTS
--------------


8. (C) Najjar indicated that Examining Magistrate Saqr Saqr
released the three suspects in the Hariri assassination on
February 25 (Ref B) after receiving some sort of hint from
UNIIIC, explaining, "The Lebanese judges involved would not
have made this decision themselves." Relaying a conversation
he had with Bellemare the previous day, Najjar said Bellemare
planned to request the transfer of the four generals detained
in connection with the Hariri assassination "very soon,"
implying Bellemare would not wait for additional formalities
at the new STL in the Hague. Najjar assured CDA that he
would comply with any decision taken on the generals.

CONSTITUTIONAL COURT
NOMINATIONS REMAIN STALLED
--------------


9. (C) Emphasizing that the cabinet had not yet discussed the
issue of nominating five members to the ten-member
Constitutional Court (Ref A),Najjar noted that choosing the
president of the Constitutional Court posed the greatest
challenge. From Najjar's perspective, President Sleiman
could nominate the five remaining judges, which would fairly
resolve the problems caused after parliament's contentious
process to name the first five judges.


10. (C) Najjar accused Druze leader Walid Jumblatt of
disrupting the process in parliament after he reneged on a
previous agreement and "forced" the selection of Antoine
Kheir, who "no one had wanted." Najjar said he advised
Sleiman to select two or three judges, and the cabinet would
make the remaining nominations, and this issue could be
resolved soon. "Whoever Sleiman chooses will be good and
widely accepted," he declared.


11. (C) Najjar reported that he was still working on the
appointments for trial judges (Ref C),explaining that while
no cabinet approval is needed, the issue of appointing the
head of the Judicial Inspection unit remained. He attributed
the delay to personal and political animosity between Berri
and Prime Minister Fouad Siniora; "they hate each other",
Najjar said.

MICHEL MURR WILL SWEEP METN
IN PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS
--------------


12. (C) Underlining the importance of holding elections in
one day (as opposed to two, as Free Patriotic Movement leader
Michel Aoun has been suggesting),Najjar said that, if the
voting were on multiple days, Christian voters would react to
early outcomes. That helped Aoun in 2005, he said. Najjar
predicted that MP Michel Murr, allied with March 14, would

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win all eight seats in the Metn district, which would be a
"terrible" defeat for Aoun who won the eight seats in 2005.
Lahoud, who is a candidate from the Metn and who is not prone
to overstatement, was similarly optimistic. He thought a
list headed by Murr and including himself and Amine Gemayel
or his designee, plus other candidates, would win all or most
of Metn's eight seats.



GRANT