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C O N F I D E N T I A L USUN NEW YORK 000392 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/14/2012 
TAGS: PREL UNSC IQ LE AF SY
SUBJECT: UNSC LUNCH WITH SYG BAN: LEBANON, IRAQ, AFGHANISTAN 
 
 
Classified By: Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad, Permanent Representative, f 
or reasons 1.4 b,d. 
 
¶1. (C) Summary.  Ambassador Khalilzad hosted the monthly 
lunch for Security Council Perm Reps with the 
Secretary-General.  In addition to updating the Council on 
 
SIPDIS 
his discussions on Iraq and Afghanistan, SYG Ban used the 
opportunity to follow-up on Lebanese PM Siniora's letter 
requesting Council action to establish the Hariri Tribunal. 
Ban said that he had come to believe that the Tribunal needed 
to be established in order to ensure political assassins have 
"no impunity".  Following the meeting, Ban repeated the same 
theme to the press.  While Russian PR Churkin responded to 
Ban's comments only by noting that the Lebanese issue would 
be discussed later, South Africa, Indonesia, Qatar and Panama 
expressed reservations about the establishment of a tribunal 
without the consent of the Lebanese. (In addition, Peru 
privately expressed concerns afterwards.)  End Summary. 
 
¶2. (U) Ambassador Khalilzad hosted the Secretary-General 
(SYG), senior members of the Secretariat and the Security 
Council Permanent Representatives for lunch on May 15 as part 
of the U.S. Presidency of the Council for the month of May. 
In introducing the SYG, the Ambassador asked for his views on 
next steps on Lebanon, following receipt of Siniora's letter 
on establishment of a tribunal, on Afghanistan and on Iraq, 
in particular the effort to "close the chapter" on UNMOVIC. 
Prior to the SYG's comments, Russian PR Churkin asked Ban to 
address specifically the issue of the terms of reference for 
the assessment team expected to go to the Lebanese border. 
 
Lebanon 
 
¶3. (C) SYG Ban said that on his visit to Damascus he had 
focused on three issues: establishment of the Special 
Tribunal in Lebanon, cutting off illegal arms flows into 
Lebanon across the Syrian border, and encouraging the 
normalization of relations, including the demarcation of the 
border, between the two countries.  Responding to Churkin's 
question, Ban said that the terms of reference for the border 
assessment team would be finalized soon and sent to the 
Council.  Ban had told Syria to accept the visit of the 
technical assessment team, but "they were very much opposed." 
 The Syrians were, he said, also opposed to the dispatch of 
the team to the Lebanese side of the border but "now accept 
it as a fact of life."  Ban encouraged Assad to reactive the 
border committee "at a senior level," to which he agreed. 
Ban noted that Syria asked him for technical assistance 
related to the border, in particular for German assistance 
with night vision equipment.  Ban said that he had raised the 
issue with the German FM, who was in no position to discuss 
the issue.  Ban said he emphasized to the Syrians that in 
order to enable technical assistance they would need to 
demarcate the border.  Assad had, in his conversation with 
Ban last week, confirmed his readiness to reconvene the 
border committee. 
 
¶4. (C) Ban said that he had been engaged in wide ranging 
consultations to facilitate the early establishment of the 
tribunal in Lebanon.  He said that it was now clear that 
there is "no prospect of a political process in Lebanon to 
allow the Parliament to ratify the Tribunal agreement in the 
near future."  Ban said that he had spoken to Lebanese PM 
Siniora on May 13, and that Siniora had said there was 
"practically zero chance" of the tribunal being ratified. 
Ban noted that he had circulated to all Council members the 
letter from Siniora that called the domestic political route 
"dead" and asked for a binding decision from the Security 
Council.  At this point, Ban noted that when had raised the 
Tribunal with Syria's Assad, he had asked Assad to "use his 
influence" in Lebanon to establish a Tribunal.  Assad 
replied, said Ban, that any action by the Security Council to 
establish the court would "provoke a civil war" in Lebanon. 
 
¶5. (C) Ban then told Security Council members, based on his 
consultations, "As Secretary-General, I am of the conviction 
there should be no doubt that the Tribunal will eventually be 
established."  Ban said that he believed the establishment of 
the Tribunal was critical to insure that there was "no 
impunity for political assassination."  At the same time, the 
lack of certainty about the establishment of the Tribunal 
was, in itself, adding to the political uncertainty in 
Lebanon.  Ban said that he would make the same statement of 
his views to the press following the lunch.  (Note:  To the 
press, Ban said: "I think it is necessary for the Security 
Council to take necessary action.  I hope the Security 
Council members will debate on this matter and take necessary 
action."  When asked what form this action should take, Ban 
replied, "It is up to the members of the Security Council on 
 
what provisions of the Charter they will invoke to establish 
a special tribunal.") 
 
Afghanistan 
 
¶6. (C) Ban told Council members that the UN was concerned 
about the security situation throughout Afghanistan and the 
need for President Karzai to continue to extend his 
authority.  He said that Afghanistan needed a "productive 
dialogue" with Pakistan, and called the recent joint 
statement "encouraging."  At the same time, troop 
contributing countries in Afghanistan need to adopt 
"culturally sensitive tactics." 
 
¶7. (SBU) The UN was trying to increase its presence on the 
ground in Afghanistan.  There were now fourteen UNAMA offices 
nation-wide.  Ban said that sustainable peace would require 
more than military engagement.  He planned to attend a 
conference in Rome this July on the rule of law in 
Afghanistan. 
 
Iraq 
 
¶8. (SBU) The SYG gave Council members a brief readout of his 
participation in the Sharm el Sheik meetings on Iraq.  He 
said that he was "very much heartened" by the response of the 
international community and the strong show of support for 
Iraq.  The UN was in the midst of an ongoing effort to 
increase its role in Iraq and planned to "rebuild our 
headquarters" in Baghdad to provide a safer and more 
comfortable working environment for UN staff. 
 
¶9. (C) Ban emphasized that the Iraqis now "need to do their 
own homework" and engage in a political dialogue to support 
the military and economic assistance being provided by the 
international community.  "I emphasized the importance of 
political dialogue to Prime Minister Maliki," said Ban, "and 
all countries stressed this."  Ban said that "everyone 
appreciated" the meeting between Secretary Rice and Syrian FM 
Moallem.  And while the ministerial bilateral between the 
U.S. and Iran was not realized, the "lower level meeting" 
between the two countries was also "very much appreciated." 
 
¶10. (SBU) On UNMOVIC, Ban noted that the Iraqi Government had 
called for the termination of the mandate and return of 
funds.  "I support the Council's consideration of the 
termination of UNMOVIC," Ban said.  However, the knowledge 
gained by UNMOVIC, particularly in the fields of biological 
weapons and means of delivery "should be retained and used 
for future purposes." 
 
¶11. (U) Ambassador Khalilzad congratulated SYG Ban and the 
Secretariat for their efforts in support of the International 
 
SIPDIS 
Compact for Iraq and their role in developing a "contract 
with benchmarks" between the international community and the 
Iraqi Government.  Now we would all need to pay attention to 
implementation, which would require a continuous effort by 
the UN and others. 
 
Russia: Slowly, Slowly 
 
¶12. (C) Russian PR Churkin responded to Ban's presentation by 
noting that "Lebanon will be something for the Council to 
discuss over the coming days."  On UNMOVIC, while 
understanding that the time had come to draw it to a close, 
he expressed two concerns.  First, it needed to be done 
"properly" and in conformity with the legal role of the 
Council.  Second, there is also an expectation on the 
Government of Iraq to pass legislation declaring itself free 
of weapons of mass destruction.  Churkin said that this was 
"more than a technicality, and not just about money."  Given 
the Parliamentary rules in Iraq, he suggested, it may be a 
while before Iraq met this requirement.  Responding to this 
point, Ambassador Khalilzad noted that the Iraqi Constitution 
includes provisions that declare Iraq to be free of WMD. 
"The commitment of the country is already there," he said. 
 
UK: Expand UNAMI mandate? 
 
¶13. (C) UK PR Jones Parry noted his appreciation for the UN's 
efforts in Iraq and noted that both the international 
community and the Iraqi Government now needed to fulfill 
their role.  The UN, Jones Parry said, is "vital" and the UK 
would support any effort to expand its activities in Iraq, 
"including by expanding UNAMI's mandate."  He too agreed that 
the time had come to end UNMOVIC's mandate. 
 
China: Afghanistan and Iraq 
 
¶14. (C) Chinese DPR Liu commented that he saw Afghanistan and 
Iraq as being in a similar situation.  The main problem, he 
said, in each country is the need for "national 
reconciliation between sectoral groups."  Where Iraq survives 
on oil wealth, the Afghan people are living off the drug 
trade, which is becoming a serious problem.  He asked Ban 
what the UN could do to facilitate political reconciliation 
in these two countries, and whether he would launch personal 
mediation efforts using the SYG's good offices mandate.  In 
closing, Liu also said it was time to wind up UNMOVIC. 
 
Panama: Concern about the Tribunal 
 
¶15. (C) Panama's Arias noted his concern about "the legal 
situation and legal framework" related to the Council's 
consideration of the Tribunal.  Noting that the Council's 
actions to date had been premised on the idea of an agreement 
between the UN and Lebanon, which the SYG now thought "was no 
longer possible", Arias asked if the SYG had thought through 
the details of a different legal framework to establish the 
Tribunal.  (Though Peru's Voto-Bernales did not speak at the 
lunch, he approached Ambassador Sanders afterwards to note 
his agreement with Arias' skepticism about the legal 
approach.  "I did not speak because I did not want to put you 
in a difficult position," he said.) 
 
Belgium: We need the Tribunal 
 
¶16. (C) Belgium's Verbeke took the opposite position, noting 
that too much time had passed since the assassination of 
former PM Hariri.  We need the Tribunal now, he said, in 
order to provide the link to the investigation.  On Iraq, 
Verbeke too stressed the importance of political 
reconciliation, and asked Ban if there was any UN effort to 
help the Iraqi government establish internal power sharing 
arrangements. 
 
Indonesia, Qatar and South Africa: Tribunal Worries 
 
¶17. (C) Indonesian DPR Kleib recalled Assad's comments 
related to the establishment of the Tribunal.  "Assad 
reminded us of the negative impact of imposing the tribunal 
from outside without agreement among the Lebanese actors. 
Are we going to support national unity, or do harm to it?" 
On Iraq, he noted that it was time for the UN to strengthen 
its role.  He proposed enlarging the size of UNAMI and 
creating an institutional unit within the UN Secretariat that 
is solely focused on Iraq. 
 
¶18. (C) South Africa's Kumalo said that it was important for 
the SYG to ensure the Council that if it "overrides the 
sovereign decision" of a country that it is not "opening up a 
can of worms."  Kumalo said that he was uncomfortable with 
the Security Council being asked to interfere in the local 
politics of the country.  "They say the majority of Lebanese 
want the Tribunal, but will it be acceptable to the rest of 
the country?" 
 
¶19. (C) Qatari PR Nasser noted that it now "seems like the 
Council is ready to take action on the Tribunal" though there 
was no agreement among the Lebanese. 
 
France:  "No other option" 
 
¶19. (C) French PR de La Sabliere said that he had been hoping 
that the Lebanese to find a solution that would allow for the 
establishment of the Tribunal.  The Siniora letter is 
important, he said, and there is now "no other option" but 
for the Security Council to take action on this.  "We have to 
live up to our responsibilities." 
KHALILZAD