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C. David Welch
Assistant Secretary, Near Eastern Affairs Bureau
April 18, 2007
House Foreign Affairs Committee Subcommittee on Middle East and South Asia
"The Political Situation in Lebanon"

Thank you, Mister Chairman, and other distinguished Members of the Committee for inviting me here today. I welcome the opportunity to discuss the important developments in Lebanon and the ways in which the U.S. and the international community can help resolve the current crisis and create the conditions for a strong, sovereign Lebanon and a lasting peace in the region. President Bush and Secretary Rice have underscored the commitment of the United States to Lebanon on numerous occasions, and we are working with key partners to ensure full implementation of all UN Security Council Resolutions on Lebanon and to assist the Lebanese Government to assert its sovereignty throughout the country.

The democratically-elected Government of Lebanon is currently under siege by Hizballah, its allies, and other pro-Syrian elements. Among their aims are to undermine the democratically elected majority, thwart the implementation of UNSCR 1701, to prevent the establishment of the Special Tribunal to try the suspects involved in the assassination of Rafiq Hariri and other prominent pro-democracy voices, and promote Syrian influence within Lebanon. It is imperative to Lebanon and to regional stability that they not succeed.

The United Nations Security Council voiced its commitment to support the Lebanese people in their goal of a fully sovereign democratic state when it passed UNSCR 1559 (September 2, 2004) and UNSCR 1680 (May 17, 2006). Security Council Resolution 1559, in particular called for foreign forces to withdraw from Lebanon and for the disbanding and disarmament of all Lebanese and non-Lebanese militias. A framework for establishing Lebanese sovereignty goes back even further to the Taif Accord of 1989 and UNSCR 425 (March 19, 1978).

The brutal assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri and 22 others on February 14, 2005 brought the Lebanese people to the streets demanding an end to violence and foreign intervention in Lebanon's internal affairs. Two months later, Syria withdrew its military forces from Lebanon, ending a nearly 30-year occupation. The Security Council expressed its solidarity with the people of Lebanon and passed UNSCR 1595 that established the UN International Independent Investigation Commission (UNIIIC) to assist the Lebanese authorities in their investigation of PM Hariri's murder.

Since August of last year, the United States and our partners have focused on implementation of UNSCR 1701, which created a ceasefire in the conflict between Hizballah and Israel and established the conditions necessary for a lasting peace. We have mobilized an expanded UNIFIL force, over 13,000 troops, that has assisted the Lebanese Army to deploy to the south of Lebanon for the first time in almost forty years, raised large sums of money in the billions of dollars to support the relief and reconstruction efforts of the Lebanese Government, and worked to implement an arms embargo aimed at preventing the Hizballah from rearming.

In the midst of this process Hizballah and its allies, with support from Syria and Iran, have mounted a growing campaign to overthrow Lebanon's legitimate, elected Government. This campaign has effectively paralyzed the Lebanese Government and is further eroding the Lebanese economy. In November 2006, the Hizballah-led opposition engineered the resignation of six members of Prime Minister Siniora's cabinet, including all five Shia Ministers, and charged that the Siniora cabinet had thereby become illegitimate and unconstitutional. A few days later, on November 21, assassins gunned down Minister of Industry Pierre Gemayel. A massive pro-Hizballah rally in Beirut on December 1, 2006 began a sit-in located in the square in front of the Prime Minister's office in Beirut which, although numbers have dwindled, continues today. Lebanon's parliament, which was to open on March 20, has not been convened by the Speaker of Parliament since last year. The campaign has been characterized by escalating rhetoric and occasional outbreaks of violence. Terrorist attacks, like the February 13 bus bombing in Ain Alaq near Beirut which killed three people the day before the two-year commemoration of Rafiq Hariri's assassination, have sown fear throughout Lebanon and have led to growing concerns about a return of civil conflict.

The United States has leveraged significant amounts of economic, military, and diplomatic assistance to support the security, freedom, and independence of Lebanon. We have made progress since August, but still have much work to do.

The United States, European allies, and regional partners have rallied behind the Lebanese Government to provide substantial amounts of economic assistance. President Bush pledged an initial $230 million in support to Lebanon in August, which he followed in February with a request to Congress for approximately $770 million in new assistance for the Lebanese Government. We have used these pledges to generate additional support. An August Conference hosted by Sweden generated $940 million in pledges for the relief and reconstruction phase, while a January conference in Paris generated $7.6 billion aimed at fiscal stabilization and long-term economic reform.

Early reconstruction assistance enabled most of the estimated 980,000 people displaced by last summer's conflict to return to their homes shortly after the cessation of hostilities. However, Lebanon's economy was impacted by the loss of the summer tourist season, and the continuing political stalemate is further slowing the recovery process. The Hizballah-led protests in downtown Beirut have shut down much of Beirut's busiest commercial district. More and more shops are closing. Reconstruction of roads and schools continues, but many Lebanese citizens have delayed rebuilding destroyed homes because they fear another conflict soon. As time passes, more and more Lebanese, especially young adults, are giving up hope and leaving the country to find security and jobs overseas.

In January, the Lebanese Government presented to donors a comprehensive economic reform plan designed to stabilize the Lebanese economy and promote long term growth. We encouraged the Lebanese Government to do this in partnership with the International Monetary Fund, and they have done so. They reached agreement on April 9 on their first-ever IMF program for Emergency Post-Conflict Assistance. The Lebanese reform program includes difficult reforms including budget cuts, tax increases, and privatization of the telecom sector and other key industries. The proposal also contains structural reforms aimed at increasing accountability and transparency, including: the adoption of a fiscal accountability law; adoption of a new procurement code in line with international standards and proper procedures for public sector recruitment; and the establishment of a "Higher Council for Debt Management" and an integrated debt management unit at the Ministry of Finance to improve coordination, debt reporting and transparency. To encourage implementation of this reform plan, the Administration has proposed to Congress that $250 million in U.S. assistance for Lebanon be directed to debt relief, and disbursed to Lebanon's creditors as the Lebanese Government meets milestones in its economic reform plan. We are encouraging other donors to do the same.

This funding will be provided in conjunction with $50 million in USAID project assistance that will strengthen legislative and judicial processes and municipal government operations, to support civil society participation and to improve primary and secondary schools.

In addition to economic support from the U.S. Government, we are leveraging the U.S. private sector with other economic incentives to support Lebanon. American companies like Microsoft, Intel, Cisco, Ghafari, Occidental Petroleum, and Global Impact have created the U.S. Lebanon Partnership Fund to raise awareness and funds to rebuild the country and to create public-private partnerships designed to help the people of Lebanon find the path to long-term stability and economic growth. The Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) has partnered with Citigroup and local banks to provide a $120 million loan facility that will mobilize up to $160 million in private capital for home reconstruction, mortgage financing, and small and medium-sized enterprises in Lebanon.

The Lebanese Armed Forces have deployed to the south of Lebanon for the first time in almost thirty years. New UNIFIL forces, more heavily armed and numerous and with an expanded and robust mandate, are accompanying them. First under French command and now under the command of the Italians, UNIFIL now has 13,000 military personnel from 30 Troop Contributing Countries (TCCs) serving in the south and in a maritime task force.

Overall, this deployment has gone relatively well. UNIFIL has coordinated meetings between the Lebanese Armed Forces and the Israeli Defense Forces, which has overall led to better cooperation along the Blue Line. While Hizballah no longer maintains an overt armed presence in southern Lebanon, we are not convinced that the area has been completely cleared of weapons and fighters, and are urging the Lebanese Armed Forces and UNIFIL to take a more active role in confronting Hizballah operatives and seeking out weapons caches.

UNSCR 1701 imposes a legally binding obligation on all states to prevent the sale or supply in Lebanon of arms and related materiel and related technical training without the authorization of the Lebanese Government or UNIFIL. We have called on all UN member states to act aggressively in enforcing this embargo, ensuring that their territory and airspace are not used to undercut it. The Lebanese Government has deployed thousands of troops to its border with Syria to prevent illegal weapons smuggling, but the border presents difficult terrain to monitor. Germany has begun a pilot program to provide equipment and training at official border crossings. These steps, while notable, are not sufficient.

The border between Lebanon and Syria remains highly porous; in his most recent report to the Security Council on the status of implementation of UNSCR 1701, Secretary General Ban reported that Israel had provided to the UN detailed intelligence which indicate "serious breaches of the arms embargo across the Lebanese-Syrian border."

Ultimately, the disarmament of Hizballah and any other militias within Lebanon, as called for in UNSCR 1559, 1680, and 1701 will continue to be essential to Lebanon's sovereignty and to a lasting peace. Disarmament of Hizballah will also continue to pose a significant challenge.

While we continue to encourage the LAF and UNIFIL to take a more assertive role in stopping smuggling, the U.S. is channeling security assistance to ensure the LAF has the equipment and training it needs to do the job. In the aftermath of the summer war, we increased our security assistance to $40M for FY06 from just under $1M for FY05 to address, in coordination with other donors, the LAF's key equipment and training requirements. U.S. security assistance has already purchased spare parts for vehicles and helicopters to help repair and modernize existing LAF equipment, new vehicles including 20 Humvees to help the LAF patrol the south and the border, small arms and ammunition to augment the LAF's dangerously low stocks, and training for LAF officers. President Bush has requested $220M in FY07 supplemental funds to address remaining equipment and training shortfalls resulting from years of Syrian occupation, help the LAF sustain its robust deployment to the South Lebanon as called for by UNSCR 1701, and improve LAF border security capabilities. The President has also requested $60M for Lebanon's Internal Security Forces (ISF) to fund a comprehensive train and equip program that will allow these forces to take over police functions traditionally carried out by the LAF. Our assistance to the ISF has already borne fruit, with FBI-trained ISF units investigating the February 13 Ain Alaq bus bombings, leading to the quick arrest of five suspects.

In addition to military assistance, we are working with our international partners bilaterally and through the United Nations to maintain pressure on Syria and Iran to abide by the arms embargo. We are also working to identify other diplomatic tools in this effort which could include additional bilateral border assistance and border monitoring and assessment missions.

Moving forward, we must maintain our emphasis on economic and security assistance to Lebanon, targeting it in a way that supports the Government of Lebanon as it works to fulfill its responsibilities under UNSCR 1701.

Clearly, an important component of our strategy in Lebanon will be to maintain pressure on Syria and Iran to cease any weapons shipments and destabilizing tactics. To achieve this, we continue to implement a policy of behavior change through diplomatic isolation and pressure. In the case of Iran, UNSCR 1747, which forbids the export of weapons from Iran, is a good start. In the case of Syria, Syria is clearly eager to court the international community. Nonetheless, we continue to limit diplomatic engagement until the Syrian Government demonstrates a real willingness to end its destabilizing behavior in the region. Specifically, the United States still awaits a signal that the Syrians are ready to renounce their sponsorship of terrorism, to do more to end the flow of foreign fighters into Iraq, expel the leadership of Palestinian terrorist groups, and to improve its domestic civil society record. U.S. sanctions have been imposed on Syria due to their policies.

A United Nations independent investigation into the assassination of PM Hariri and others continues under the leadership of Belgian prosecutor Serge Brammertz. To build cases for future prosecutions, Brammertz is commendably discrete about the results of the investigation. Brammertz has reported to the Security Council, however, that he is making good progress and is nearing the end of the investigation.

The Assad regime, Hizballah, and pro-Syrian elements within Lebanon have been resisting the establishment of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon that will try those implicated in the assassinations of PM Hariri and other Lebanese patriots. Pro-Syrian ministers within the Lebanese cabinet resigned the day the Cabinet was scheduled to give its approval of the agreement between the Lebanon and the UN to establish the Tribunal. Pro-Syrian Lebanese president Emile Lahoud, who has continued to promote Syrian interests well after Syrian withdrawal from Lebanon, and Lebanese speaker of Parliament Nabih Berri have taken all possible measures to block approval of the agreement. Hizballah Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah has also resisted the establishment of the Tribunal; on Easter Sunday he went so far as to call four suspects being held for their involvement in the crime "political prisoners."

The Security Council approved the process of establishing the Tribunal through an international agreement between the United Nations and Lebanon. The Tribunal is intended to be primarily Lebanese in character, with prosecutions under Lebanese law, but with international elements to provide security for judges and witnesses and to ensure impartiality. These international elements were included in the agreement at the request of the Government of Lebanon and include international, as well as Lebanese, judges and prosecutors and a location outside of Lebanon. Although the majority of the members of the parliament have attested, through petition to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, that they support the establishment of the Tribunal, Parliamentary Speaker Berri has refused to reconvene the parliament, previously scheduled to formally open on March 20, and allow it to vote on this important matter.

President Bush and Secretary Rice have been clear about the commitment of the United States to the establishment of this Tribunal. While we would prefer to establish the Tribunal through the agreement between the United Nations and the Lebanese Government, if the Lebanese Government is unable to approve the agreement the Council may need to consider other mechanisms for establishing the Tribunal, including under UN Security Council Chapter VII authority. It is clear that the Lebanese people want to see justice done in this case and to deter future assassinations and bombings, yet a minority within Lebanon is blocking the process, and in doing so is paralyzing Lebanon and holding its democracy hostage.

In all of our efforts we continue to work closely with European and regional allies. European states provide the bulk of the force contributions for UNIFIL and have provided significant monetary assistance for the Lebanese Government. France and the United Kingdom remain key allies on the Security Council. Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and other regional partners have also provided significant financial assistance to Lebanon. We maintain a productive dialogue with the Arab League. Regional leaders Saudi Arabia and Egypt play important roles in mediating the political crisis within Lebanon and the region.

While progress in Iraq and in the Arab-Israeli conflict remain core concerns, our determination to improve the economic and political situation in the broader Middle East remains the only way to create conditions for real change and lasting stability.

We must continue to support moderate Governments like that of Lebanon in their efforts to meet the needs of their people and to encourage genuine freedom to take root. There are few other places where the risks and opportunities are clearer than they are in Lebanon. Our approach must be comprehensive and it must seize opportunities when only dangers seem present.

We are under no illusions, however. Conflict resolution and reform in the region will require a great commitment from the United States, but how we respond will define our relationship with the region for generations to come.

Thank you for your time. I would be pleased to address your questions.