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OO RUEHWEB

DE RUEHC #1298 2410358
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 290344Z AUG 07
FM SECSTATE WASHDC
TO RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK IMMEDIATE 0000
INFO RUEHLB/AMEMBASSY BEIRUT IMMEDIATE 0000
RUEHTV/AMEMBASSY TEL AVIV IMMEDIATE 0000
RUEHJM/AMCONSUL JERUSALEM IMMEDIATE 0000

UNCLAS STATE 121298 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL UNSC KPAL IS LE
SUBJECT: GUIDANCE FOR AUGUST 29 UNSC OPEN DEBATE ON THE 
MIDDLE EAST 
 
¶1. (SBU) USUN is instructed to draw from the following 
points in its statement at the August 29 UNSC open debate 
on the Middle East. 
 
Begin points. 
 
--  Mr. President, on July 16, President Bush called for 
an international meeting this autumn of nations that 
support a two-state solution, reject violence, recognize 
Israel's right to exist, and commit to all previous 
agreements among the parties. 
 
--  This meeting on a two-state solution to the 
Israeli-Palestinian conflict will aim to support 
discussions and negotiations between the parties and 
achieve meaningful progress on the path to peace, 
Palestinian statehood, and an end to the conflict. 
 
--  We believe the government of President Abbas and 
Prime Minister Fayyad can be a partner 
for peace. 
The international community has recognized 
this and responded by re-establishing diplomatic and 
economic ties with the Palestinian Authority and 
government led by President Abbas and Prime Minister 
Fayyad.  As President Bush has said, the international 
community must work with the PA to develop a solid 
institutional and economic foundation for a future 
Palestinian state. 
 
--  In that vein, Secretary Rice and Palestinian Prime 
Minister Salam Fayyad signed an $80 million assistance 
package aimed at supporting efforts to reform and 
professionalize the Palestinian security forces.  The 
Framework Agreement formalizes the intention of the United 
States to provide assistance to the Palestinian Authority 
to promote law and order by strengthening and reforming 
the Palestinian security sector.  We believe the ability 
to provide security for the population is a core 
responsibility of any functioning government.  The Rule of 
Law and security must be the foundation of any successful 
Palestinian government. 
 
--  We believe that this assistance package will help 
improve the Palestinian Authority's capacity to deliver 
security for the Palestinian people and fight terrorism, 
build confidence between the parties, and ultimately help 
to meet the security needs of Palestinians and Israelis 
alike.  The United States and the Palestinian Authority 
have worked together closely to design this program and 
will continue to cooperate in its implementation.  This 
security assistance package is in addition to more than $190 
million in U.S. assistance to the Abbas/Fayyad government this 
year.  We encourage others, particularly regional parties, to 
step forward with additional support at this critical time. 
 
 
--  We continue to call on all Palestinians to reject terror, 
and on the PA government to  arrest terrorists, confiscate 
illegal weapons, and confront corruption.  We remain deeply 
concerned by the continuing intransigence and illegal 
occupation of Gaza by Hamas, including recent moves to 
crackdown on freedom of speech there.  We are very concerned 
about Hamas'provision of safe haven to fellow terrorist 
organizations operating in Gaza, and strongly condemn the 
continuing acts of terror, such as recurring indiscriminate 
rocket attacks, being conducted from Gaza against innocent 
civilians in Israel. 
 
--  We welcome the August 6 and 28 meetings between 
Prime Minister Olmert and President Abbas, the second and 
third since late June. We strongly support direct dialogue 
between the parties.  The United States remains committed 
to working with Israel and the Palestinians on day-to-day 
issues that affect the lives of Israelis and Palestinians 
as well as a political horizon for Palestinian statehood. 
 
--  We have always said that bilateral dialogue between 
the parties is the key to realizing the two-state vision. 
We will continue to work with the parties and the 
international community to this end. 
 
--  The development of a viable Palestinian economy and 
institutions remains crucial to the success and prosperity 
of a future Palestinian state.  The United States looks 
forward to the Ad Hoc Liaison Committee meeting in New 
York next month, and to the Quartet meeting where we 
expect to hear about Quartet Representative Tony Blair's 
travel to the region and his recommendations on the 
economic and institutional agenda. 
 
-- We look forward to continued coordination and 
cooperation with the Palestinians, the international 
community and Quartet Representative Tony Blair to lay the 
foundation for President Bush's vision of two states, 
Israel and Palestine, living side by side in peace and 
security. 
 
LEBANON 
 
--  Mr. President, we welcome the unanimous decision of 
the UN Security Council to extend UNIFIL's mandate for one 
year.  We remain committed to a sovereign, democratic, and 
prosperous Lebanon and continue to call for the full 
implementation of all UNSC resolutions pertaining to 
Lebanon, including 1559, 1680, and 1701. 
 
--  We remain deeply concerned by continuous, mounting 
evidence of illegal shipments of weapons into Lebanon.  We 
call on all states, particularly Syria and Iran, to take 
steps to enforce the embargo against the shipment of 
weapons to Lebanon that do not have the approval of the 
Lebanese government or UNIFIL - an embargo that was 
unanimously approved by the Council in resolution 1701. 
 
--  We applaud the peaceful and transparent parliamentary 
bi-elections in Lebanon this month. 
 
--  We congratulate both the Lebanese people for 
exercising their democratic rights in the August 5 
election and the announced winners of the elections, 
Camille Khoury and Mohammed Amine Itani.  We also 
congratulate the Government of Lebanon for carrying out a 
transparent, non-violent election with minimal problems. 
 
--  The Government of Lebanon has shown its ability to 
manage a fair, transparent election process in the face of 
heightened sensitivities due to the fact that these 
vacancies resulted from the brutal assassination of two 
Members of Parliament. 
 
--  The people of Lebanon deserve to live in an 
independent and free country without fear of violence and 
intimidation from those who would seek to undermine 
Lebanese democracy. 
 
--  To that end, we look forward to a similarly free and 
fair, peaceful presidential election this fall that is 
held in accordance with Lebanon's constitution and is free 
of foreign intervention. 
 
End points. 
RICE