VZCZCXRO7370
PP RUEHAG RUEHBC RUEHDE RUEHKUK RUEHROV RUEHSR
DE RUEHLB #0463/01 1131316
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 231316Z APR 09
FM AMEMBASSY BEIRUT
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 4738
INFO RUEHEE/ARAB LEAGUE COLLECTIVE
RUCNMEM/EU MEMBER STATES COLLECTIVE
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 3682
RUEHNO/USMISSION USNATO 3882
RHMFISS/CDR USCENTCOM MACDILL AFB FL
RHEHAAA/NSC WASHDC
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BEIRUT 000463 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR NEA/FO, NEA/ELA 
ALSO FOR IO ACTING A/S WARLICK 
P FOR DRUSSELL, RRANGASWAMY 
USUN FOR WOLFF/GERMAIN/SCHEDLBAUER 
NSC FOR SHAPIRO, MCDERMOTT 
DOD/OSD FOR FLOURNOY/KAHL/DALTON 
DRL/NESA FOR WHITMAN, BARGHOUT 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/21/2019 
TAGS: PREL PGOV PTER PINR KJUS UNSC AE SY LE
SUBJECT: LEBANON: JUSTICE MINISTER WILL TAKE STL'S CUE ON FOUR GENERALS' DETENTION
 
REF: BEIRUT 263 
 
Classified By: Ambassador Michele J. Sison for reasons 1.4 
(b) and (d). 
 
SUMMARY 
------- 
 
¶1. (C) In an April 22 meeting, Justice Minister Ibrahim 
Najjar confirmed that the GOL had transferred all of its 
files related to former PM Rafiq Hariri's assassination and 
the ensuing political assassinations to the Special Tribunal 
for Lebanon (STL).  He expects to learn by April 27 whether 
STL Prosecutor Daniel Bellemare will choose to request 
continued detention of any of the four generals held in 
Lebanon in connection with Hariri's assassination.  Najjar 
said he would comply fully with STL Pre-Trial Judge Daniel 
Fransen's determination, and was prepared to release the 
generals upon instuctions from the STL. 
 
¶2. (C) Similarly, Najjar aid he would take his cue from the 
STL on whethe to seek former Syrian intelligence officer 
Mohammed Zohair al-Siddiq's extradition from the UAE.  He 
deferred to Emirati law, saying he did not know whether the 
Lebanese or Syrian extradition requests would take 
precedence.  Najjar reported that the cabinet has stopped 
discussion of signing an MOU with the STL, though Bellemare 
was still asking for it in order to continue his 
investigation in Lebanon.  Najjar reported that the cabinet 
has not made progress on appointing five judges to the 
ten-member Constitutional Court, the body that decides 
electoral disputes, but that he did not see it as a major 
obstacle to the June 7 parliamentary elections.  End summary. 
 
GOL TRANSFERRED ALL FILES; 
AWAITING DECISION ON FOUR GENERALS 
---------------------------------- 
 
¶3. (C) In an April 22 meeting at the Justice Ministry, 
Justice Minister Ibrahim Najjar confirmed to DCM and PolOff 
that the GOL had transferred to the Special Tribunal for 
Lebanon (STL) all of its records, totaling ten packages and 
four envelopes, pertaining to former PM Rafiq Hariri's 
assassination and the ensuing political assassinations.  He 
remarked that he did not expect any of the information would 
be new to the STL since the GOL had shared its records with 
UNIIIC, the Tribunal's investigative body. 
 
¶4. (C) He clarified that Pre-Trial Judge Daniel Fransen had 
given STL Prosecutor Daniel Bellemare until April 27 to 
request the continued detention of the four generals detained 
in connection with Hariri's assassination.  If Bellemare does 
not request to continue their detention, then Fransen would 
make a decree to release them, which could be conditioned, 
Najjar added.  He explained that he awaited Fransen's 
instructions, and would carry them out completely, including 
any or all reservations, such as requiring weekly report-ins 
or providing protection.  According to Najjar, it is unlikely 
the GOL will raise its own charges against the generals if 
they are recommended to be released. 
 
¶5. (C) If Bellemare requested continued detention, Najjar 
speculated, Fransen would consider a video conference with 
the generals and their lawyers in order to question them and 
decide whether to permit further detention. 
 
¶6. (C) Najjar disclosed that STL President Antonio Cassese 
was planning a trip to Lebanon and Syria in mid-May.  He 
speculated that the STL would ensure that the issue of the 
generals would be decided well before that trip. 
 
GOL TO TAKE STL CUE 
ON AL-SIDDIQ 
------------------- 
 
¶7. (C) Careful to point out that the UAE has not officially 
confirmed the alleged April 18 arrest of former Syrian 
ntelligence officer Mohammed Zohair al-Siddiq, wanted by 
Lebanon in connection with Hariri's assassination, Najjar 
deduced that the UAE has not formally opened a case and 
therefore is not yet prepared to deal with Lebanon's and 
Syria's extradition requests. 
 
¶8. (C) Najjar said he would defer to the STL for all 
decisions on al-Siddiq.  He said Lebanon would not press for 
al-Siddiq's extradition until instructed by the STL.  If the 
STL wanted al-Siddiq, Najjar surmised that the STL would 
request that Lebanon seek extradition since the STL could not 
ask for extradition itself.  Najjar deferred to UAE law to 
determine whether the Lebanese or Syrian request would take 
precedence.  He said that Syria is charging al-Siddiq with 
giving false testimony pertaining to the trial. 
 
NO PROGRESS ON MOU... 
--------------------- 
 
¶9. (C) Najjar reported that no progress has been made on 
signing an MOU with the STL, requested by Bellemare to allow 
him to continue his investigation in Lebanon (reftel). 
Noting that Bellemare's aide had telephoned him the previous 
day inquiring about its status, Najjar said that both 
President Sleiman and PM Siniora wanted to avoid discussion 
of the issue because it was raising objections from 
Hizballah's single cabinet minister Mohammed Fneish.  Fneish 
reportedly dismissed the necessity of an MOU and requested 
that Najjar stop raising the issue in the media. 
 
...OR THE CONSTITUTIONAL COURT 
------------------------------ 
 
¶10. (C) Najjar repeated his belief that choosing the 
president of the Constitutional Court, the body that decides 
electoral disputes, posed the greatest challenge to resolving 
the current impasse over the Court (reftel).  Given that the 
president must be Maronite, Najjar said he hoped Sleiman 
would appoint the presiding judge.  Najjar recommended 
Raymond Eid, the former president of the Beirut Bar 
Association, to fill the position, noting that Speaker Nabih 
Berri, who opposed a member already appointed by parliament, 
would support this candidate.  However, Sleiman reportedly 
has been refusing to meet with Eid, Najjar said. 
 
¶11. (C) If an agreement is reached on the president, Najjar 
predicted, it would facilitate the remaining four 
appointments, chosen by the cabinet, to complete the 
ten-member Court.  (Note:  Parliament named the first five 
judges.  End note.)  Najjar concluded that it is not a major 
obstacle if the Court is not formed before the June 7 
parliamentary elections, but a failure would be "a real shame 
for democracy."  Nonetheless, it could still be formed after 
the elections, he submitted. 
 
SISON