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OO RUEHAG RUEHAST RUEHDA RUEHDF RUEHFL RUEHIK RUEHKW RUEHLA RUEHLN
RUEHLZ RUEHPOD RUEHROV RUEHSR RUEHTRO RUEHVK RUEHYG
DE RUCNDT #0153/01 0462332
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 152332Z FEB 08
FM USMISSION USUN NEW YORK
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 3761
INFO RUEHXK/ARAB ISRAELI COLLECTIVE IMMEDIATE
RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE IMMEDIATE
RUEHGG/UN SECURITY COUNCIL COLLECTIVE IMMEDIATE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 USUN NEW YORK 000153 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL PTER UNSC SY LE
SUBJECT: LEBANON TRIBUNAL: SYG ESTABLISHES MANAGEMENT 
COMMITTEE 
 
REF: A. STATE 14847 
     ¶B. USUN 1150 (2007) 
     ¶C. STATE 10709 
     ¶D. IO/USUN EMAIL (SILVERBERG/WOLFF)-02/12/08 
     ¶E. STATE 14281 
     ¶F. USUN 117 
     ¶G. USUN 103 
 
¶1.  (U) BEGIN SUMMARY:  The UN marked another milestone in 
its efforts to bring the Special Tribunal for Lebanon into 
operation February 13, with the Secretary-General's February 
13 statement confirming his "belief in the irreversibility of 
the establishment of the Tribunal."  He also announced that 
he had established the Management Committee for the Special 
Tribunal and received indications that expected contributions 
to the Tribunal would meet the budgetary requirements for the 
establishment and first 12 months of operation of the 
Tribunal (para 7).  In another positive development, the 
panel for selecting the Tribunal Registrar unanimously 
recommended Robin Vincent (UK) on February 14, and the SYG is 
expected to appoint Vincent shortly.  END SUMMARY. 
 
¶2.  (SBU) Earlier on February 13, the main donors to the 
Special Tribunal for Lebanon (France, Germany, Lebanon, the 
Netherlands, UK, and U.S.) agreed on the Terms of Reference 
for the Management Committee at a meeting hosted by UN Legal 
Counsel Nicolas Michel, after which Michel announced that the 
SYG had authorized him to establish the Committee and the UK 
agreed to chair the Committee.  Without naming names, Michel 
also announced that the UN had received confirmations that 
several states would be making significant contributions to 
the Tribunal (ref A), and the UK and Germany said they would 
be depositing their contributions soon.  (Note:  OLA advised 
USUN on February 14 that Saudi Arabia had deposited a 
contribution of $5 million with the UN.  End Note.) 
 
¶3.  (SBU) The Management Committee's experts are expected to 
meet early next week to discuss the two proposed construction 
packages for the Tribunal building (ref B).  The Committee 
must decide whether to authorize a "basic package" of USD 10 
million to cover the costs of constructing a courtroom and 
holding cells, as well as to carry out minor security 
upgrades to the building or whether to support an "upgraded 
package" costing $16.4 million that would include office 
renovations and other upgrades to bring the building up to 
2008 standards.  The UN advises that the additional upgrades 
in the more expensive package are not required to meet 
building codes. 
 
¶4.  (SBU) Management Committee experts also will review and 
decide upon proposed conditions of service for judges and 
Tribunal staff, and authorize the establishment of a bank 
account controlled by the Tribunal and overseen by the 
Committee to which contributions currently in the UN Trust 
Fund will be transferred (ref C).  OLA plans to present 
Committee members with proposals concerning how best to 
facilitate the meeting of Tribunal judges, once they have 
been appointed, so they can begin work on rules of evidence 
and procedure. 
 
¶5.  (SBU) Before the donors' meeting, France, Germany, the 
Netherlands, the UK, and the U.S. signed a side understanding 
committing to achieve consensus on all decisions before the 
Committee and vote accordingly (refs D-G). 
 
¶6.  (SBU) USUN/MR, representing the main donors, participated 
with Michel and former ICTY Registrar Dorothee Nihgh de 
Sampayo Garrido on a panel tasked with reviewing applicants 
for the Tribunal Registrar's position.  On February 14, the 
selection panel agreed unanimously to recommend that the SYG 
appoint Robin Vincent (UK).  Vincent served from 2002 to 2005 
as Registrar of the Special Court for Sierra Leone.  The SYG 
is expected to announce his selection shortly. 
 
¶7.  BEGIN TEXT: 
 
Statement Attributable to the Spokesperson for the 
Secretary-General 
 
SIPDIS 
 
The Secretary-General today established the Management 
Committee of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon.  This 
Committee, which will inter alia, provide advice and policy 
direction on all non-judicial aspects of the operations of 
the Special Tribunal and review and approve its annual 
budget, is composed of the main donors to the Tribunal.  The 
Secretary-General believes that this step, along with other 
 
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steps announced in December of last year - the selection of 
the judges, the appointment of the Prosecutor, the 
 
USUN NEW Y 00000153  002 OF 002 
 
 
finalization of a headquarters agreement with the Government 
of the Netherlands enabling the Tribunal to be based in that 
country, and agreement on a building near The Hague to house 
the Tribunal - are decisive landmarks in the process of 
making the Special Tribunal a reality. 
 
The Secretary-General also wishes to announce that he has 
today received indications that expected contributions to the 
Special Tribunal will meet the budgetary requirements for the 
establishment and first twelve months of operations of the 
Tribunal.  This will assist greatly in the effort by the 
Secretariat to establish the Special Tribunal in a timely 
 
SIPDIS 
manner as requested by the Security Council in resolution 
1757 (2007).  This development, as well as the others 
previously set out, confirms the Secretary-General's belief 
in the irreversibility of the establishment of the Tribunal. 
 
New York 
13 February 2008 
 
END TEXT. 
WOLFF