VZCZCXRO9345
OO RUEHAG RUEHAST RUEHDA RUEHDF RUEHFL RUEHIK RUEHKW RUEHLA RUEHLN
RUEHLZ RUEHPOD RUEHROV RUEHSR RUEHTRO RUEHVK RUEHYG
DE RUCNDT #0484 1542302
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 022302Z JUN 08
FM USMISSION USUN NEW YORK
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 4362
INFO RUEHXK/ARAB ISRAELI COLLECTIVE IMMEDIATE
RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE IMMEDIATE
RUEHGG/UN SECURITY COUNCIL COLLECTIVE IMMEDIATE

UNCLAS USUN NEW YORK 000484 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL PTER UNSC SY LE
SUBJECT: LEBANON TRIBUNAL:  MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE CONTINUES 
TO DISCUSS STAFFING, FUNDING 
 
REF: A. USUN 468 
 
     ¶B. USUN/IO EMAIL (WILCOX/REINEMEYER)-05/27/08 
     ¶C. USUN 171 
     ¶D. STATE 1170 (2007) 
     ¶E. USUN 1185 (2007) 
     ¶F. USUN 384 
 
¶1.  (SBU)  BEGIN SUMMARY:  At its tenth meeting on May 29, 
the Management Committee for the Special Tribunal for Lebanon 
(STL) agreed to adopt a phased approach to approving the 
STL's first-year budget, briefly considered staffing for the 
STL, heard more about STL Registrar Robin Vincent's plan to 
assemble a ten-person advance team to handle critical set-up 
tasks, and discussed whether to hold a meeting in The Hague. 
The Management Committee agreed to approve an initial budget, 
providing for staffing costs, by July 11, followed by a 
revised budget that would reflect operational costs, which 
the Committee would approve during the fall of 2008.  END 
SUMMARY. 
 
¶2.  (SBU) Committee members agreed to STL Register Vincent's 
proposal to create the STL's first-year budget in two phases 
(ref A).  The Committee would approve Vincent's initial 
budget by July 11, reflecting projected staffing needs, which 
would enable Vincent to begin recruiting staff.  Vincent 
would then refine the budget, particularly projected costs 
for operational expenses relating to witnesses, travel, 
acquisition of equipment (informational technology, security, 
and communications), or short-term consultancies, and submit 
a revised, final budget to the Management Committee for 
approval by October 31. 
 
¶3.  (SBU) STL Prosecutor-Designate Daniel Bellemare, who 
heads the UN International Independent Investigative 
Commission (UNIIIC), will brief the Committee soon on his 
requests for staffing the STL's Office of the Prosecutor. 
Bellemare has requested 109 staff members for his office, 100 
of whom would be assigned to The Hague and nine of whom would 
be assigned to Beirut. 
 
¶4.  (SBU) Vincent also provided details on the ten-person 
advance team with whom he plans to staff the STL in the next 
few months (ref B).  Anticipating that the STL will not begin 
operating until January 1, 2009, after the UNIIIC mandate 
expires, Vincent said he would not issue permanent contracts 
for staff until 2009.  In the meantime, he plans to bring 
only four staff members with him from UN Headquarters in New 
York to The Hague (one administrative officer, one legal 
officer, one associate legal officer/special assistant, and 
one human resources officer).  All four are currently working 
on the Secretary-General's STL Task Force, and, although 
their initial appointments would be for two months, Vincent 
hopes some could remain longer.  A building manager (seconded 
from the International Criminal Tribunal for the former 
Yugoslavia) and a security officer (on loan from the Sierra 
Leone Special Court) would join the team in The Hague on a 
temporary basis (approximately two months), and the STL would 
reimburse the ICTY and the SCSL for their services.  Vincent 
would then hire a finance/budget officer and an information 
technology and communications officer in The Hague on 
short-term consultancy contracts.  Finally, a liaison officer 
would serve on a temporary contract in New York. 
 
¶5.  (SBU) The Committee Chairman solicited views on whether 
the members of the Committee should travel to The Hague to 
visit the building that will house the STL and then meet in 
The Hague.  Many members preferred to have their counterparts 
in The Hague meet informally instead.  Formal and informal 
Committee meetings will continue to be held in New York. 
 
¶6.  (SBU) The Management Committee will meet again on June 6, 
and the Chairman expects to meet with interested states 
during the week of July 16. 
Khalilzad