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### Viewing cable 06BEIRUT1001, MGLE01: MINISTER OF JUSTICE EXPLAINS DECISION ON

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Reference ID | Created | Released | Classification | Origin
--- | --- | --- | --- | ---
06BEIRUT1001 | 2006-03-30 05:37 | 2011-07-21 00:00 | CONFIDENTIAL | Embassy Beirut

Appears in these articles:
http://www.al-akhbar.com/node/16545
http://www.al-akhbar.com/node/16461
http://www.al-akhbar.com/node/16545
http://www.al-akhbar.com/node/16546
http://www.al-akhbar.com/node/16605
http://www.al-akhbar.com/node/16606
http://www.al-akhbar.com/node/16703
http://www.al-akhbar.com/node/16793
http://www.al-akhbar.com/node/16794
http://www.al-akhbar.com/node/16636
http://www.al-akhbar.com/node/16635
http://www.al-akhbar.com/node/17148
http://www.al-akhbar.com/node/17149
http://www.al-akhbar.com/node/17150
http://www.al-akhbar.com/node/17152
http://www.al-akhbar.com/node/17155
http://www.al-akhbar.com/node/17156
http://www.al-akhbar.com/node/17157
http://www.al-akhbar.com/node/17158
http://www.al-akhbar.com/node/17159
http://www.al-akhbar.com/node/17160
http://www.al-akhbar.com/node/17161
http://www.al-akhbar.com/node/17163
http://www.al-akhbar.com/node/17164
http://www.al-akhbar.com/node/17165
http://www.al-akhbar.com/node/17166
http://www.al-akhbar.com/node/17167
http://www.al-akhbar.com/node/17169
http://www.al-akhbar.com/node/17170
http://www.al-akhbar.com/node/17171
http://www.al-akhbar.com/node/16723
http://www.al-akhbar.com/node/16635
http://www.al-akhbar.com/node/16636
http://www.al-akhbar.com/node/16637
http://www.al-akhbar.com/node/16638
http://www.al-akhbar.com/node/16639
http://www.al-akhbar.com/node/16640
http://www.al-akhbar.com/node/16641
http://www.al-akhbar.com/node/16642
http://www.al-akhbar.com/node/16643
http://www.al-akhbar.com/node/16644
http://www.al-akhbar.com/node/16645

`

    VZCZCXYZ0016
    OO RUEHWEB

    DE RUEHLB #1001/01 0890537
    ZNY CCCCC ZZH
    O 300537Z MAR 06
    FM AMEMBASSY BEIRUT
    TO RUEAWJA/DEPT OF JUSTICE WASHDC IMMEDIATE
    RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 2823
    INFO RUEHRL/AMEMBASSY BERLIN PRIORITY 0134
    RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC PRIORITY
    RHMFISS/CDR USCENTCOM MACDILL AFB FL PRIORITY

` `

    C O N F I D E N T I A L BEIRUT 001001

    SIPDIS

    SIPDIS

    NSC FOR ABRAMS/DORAN/WERNER/SINGH

    E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/23/2016
    TAGS: LE PGOV PREL PTER
    SUBJECT: MGLE01:  MINISTER OF JUSTICE EXPLAINS DECISION ON
    HAMADEI EXTRADITION

    REF: A. SECSTATE 12817

         ¶B. BEIRUT 00286

    Classified By: Ambassador Jeffrey Feltman.  Reason: Section 1.4 (b).

    ¶1.  (C)  On March 22, Minister of Justice Charles Rizk and
    Judge Chukri Sadr discussed with the Ambassador the MOJ's
    deliberations regarding the U.S. extradition request for the
    four terrorists -- Mohammod Ali Hamadei, Hasan Izz-al-Din,
    Ali Atwa, and Imad Mughniyah -- responsible for the hijacking
    of TWA 847.  Passing a non-paper prepared by Sadr and
    Prosecutor General Said Mirza, Rizk said that the MOJ had no
    choice but to advise the GOL to deny the USG request.  But,
    Rizk emphasized, he was providing us the legal rationale
    before passing it to the MFA.  "Please demolish our
    arguments," Rizk said, expressing deep sympathy for the
    victims of the hijacking.  "Show us how we can comply with
    your request."  Rizk said that he would postpone forwarding
    his ministry's findings to the MFA for now, in hopes that the
    USG would come back to him with questions and objections.

    ¶2.  (C)  Sadr said that the principal legal obstacle is the
    penal code's prohibition against the extradition of Lebanese
    citizens.  This was a "sacred principle" in Lebanon, and an
    especially sensitive issue since both Israel and Syria had
    seized Lebanese citizens and incarcerated them abroad.  Given
    this history, no cabinet would violate Lebanese law and
    custom by extraditing Lebanese citizens.  The Ambassador
    asked whether there was any precedents for rendering Lebanese
    citizens to another country under a form that would not be
    defined legally as extradition.  Sadr said that there may be
    some examples under a 1950 protocol with Syria, but the
    Syrian case is special and shouldn't serve as a precedent for
    others.

    ¶3.  (C)  Unprompted, Sadr said that he had also considered,
    as an alternative, trials in Lebanon for the four fugitive
    felons.  He had ruled out this option as well, because of the
    ten-year statute of limitations in Lebanese law.  This
    ten-year statute of limitations also hindered further the
    GOL's ability to comply with the USG extradition request.
    Emphasizing that he was not a lawyer, the Ambassador asked
    whether a statute of limitations really applied when it came
    to crimes that would fall under international air piracy and
    terrorism protocols signed by Lebanon and when there
    outstanding interpol notices on which Lebanon had never
    acted.  Neither Sadr or Rizk knew the answer.

    ¶4.  (C)  Sadr also noted the USG proposal to Lebanon to sign
    an Article 98 agreement on a reciprocal basis.  In legal
    reasoning that escaped this non-lawyer Ambassador's
    understanding, Sadr argued that the philosophy behind the
    Article 98 proposal was contrary to the USG extradition
    request.  The Ambassador responded that the Article 98
    proposal was designed to ensure that neither Lebanon nor the
    United States would render citizens of the other state to a
    third party without the agreement of the home state.  It did
    not, in the Ambassador's mind, contradict the extradition
    request.  Moreover, as the GOL and USG have not concluded an
    Article 98 agreement in any case, it appears entirely
    irrelevant.  (Both Sadr and Rizk expressed support for an
    Article 98 agreement, a topic we will pursue separately.)

    MINISTRY'S LEGAL ARGUMENTS
    --------------------------

    ¶5.  (SBU)  Justice Sadr's written analysis follows:

    Begin Embassy informal translation:

    Main outcomes of the study by the Prosecutor General of
    Lebanon and the Legal Department of the Ministry of Justice,
    as drafted by Justice Chukri Sader, Head of the Council of
    Legislation and Advice:

    In the absence of any extradition agreement between Lebanon
    and the United States of America, Article 30, and the
    following, must be implemented taking into account the
    presence of the fundamental conditions for extradition.

    The crime of hijacking on TWA flight 847 was committed by
    Lebanese citizens, therefore, it falls under the jurisdiction
    of Lebanese law.

    The international agreement mentioned in the US Bill of
    Indictment does not reject the legal jurisdiction of the
    (accused persons') country of origin, especially when the

    (accused persons) are present on its territory.

    With regard to the theory of reciprocity, the United States
    of America does not allow its citizens to be prosecuted in
    front of foreign courts, and insists that such prosecutions
    occur before U.S. courts.

    In addition, the United States of America suggested to
    Lebanon that it sign a bilateral convention whereby both
    sides would refuse the extradition of their citizens to the
    International Criminal Court, and recognize the competence of
    the US courts for judging US citizens and the competence of
    Lebanese courts for judging Lebanese citizens.  Although this
    convention has not been signed, it reflects a principle in
    international law that each country (should) judge its
    citizens for crimes they commit in foreign territories,
    applying the law of the country where the crimes took place.

    Since the persons subject to the request of this extradition
    have already been prosecuted since the 1985 TWA hijacking,
    the prosecution has exceeded the 10-year prescription
    (statute of limitations), as defined by Article 10 of
    Lebanon's penal code.

    The competence of the courts to judge the crimes of the
    Lebanese hijackers is given (only) to Lebanese courts, as
    defined by Article 20 of Lebanon's penal code.

    Article 32 of Lebanon's penal code does not permit
    extradition for crimes related to Lebanese personal
    competence, as described in Articles 15, 16, 17, 18, 19 and
    21 of the Lebanese penal code.

    Since the conditions requested for the extradition of the
    four Lebanese citizens mentioned above have not been
    fulfilled, the Lebanese authorities cannot agree to the
    extradition as requested by the US authorities.

    End Embassy translation.

    COMMENT
    -------

    ¶6.  (C)  Rizk and Sadr were at pains to demonstrate that they
    are not rejecting the USG extradition request out of hand but
    are taking the issue seriously.  We are not lawyers, but we
    believe that the political obstacles (with the four
    terrorists being Hizballah members) are stronger than the
    legal arguments.  Rizk is trying to be helpful, in sharing
    with us the MOJ's thinking before providing it to the MFA for
    formal transmission to us.  Before the MOJ arguments evolve
    into a formal GOL denial of our extradition requests, we
    would welcome Washington's views on how to refute the GOL
    legal arguments.  For example, is it true that the USG never
    extradites its citizens?  We believe that the single most
    difficult legal issue to overcome is the legal prohibition on
    extraditing Lebanese citizens.  If there are ways to use the
    international conventions Lebanon has signed to get around
    this and the statute of limitations question, we would like
    to make the case.
    FELTMAN

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