US embassy cable - 05VIENNA719

C O N F I D E N T I A L VIENNA 000719 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR NEA/ELA, EUR/ERA AND EUR/AGS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/07/2015 
TAGS: PREL, SY, LE, AU 
SUBJECT: AUSTRIANS POSITIVE ON NEED FOR SYRIAN WITHDRAWAL 
FROM LEBANON 
 
REF: A. (A) STATE 39018 
 
     B. (B) VIENNA 654 AND PREVIOUS 
 
Classified By: Ambassador W.L. Lyons Brown.  Reasons:  1.4 (b) and (d). 
 
1.  (C) Ambassador presented reftel demarche on March 7 to 
MFA Secretary General (deputy minister equivalent) Johannes 
Kyrle.  Ambassador stressed that what Syrian President Bashar 
al-Asad had said in his March 5 was not enough:  compliance 
with UNSCR 1559 means a full and immediate withdrawal.  The 
Ambassador said it was important that the withdrawal include 
intelligence and security forces, which Asad had not 
mentioned in his speech.  The timing is important, the 
Ambassador said:  Syrian troops and intelligence forces had 
to be out by the time of Lebanon's scheduled April elections 
in order for those elections to be free.  The Ambassador said 
we are also calling on the Government of Lebanon to permit 
international election observers and to fully cooperate with 
the UN enquiry into the assassination of former Prime 
Minister Hariri. 
 
2.  (C) The Ambassador particularly encouraged Kyrle to make 
a public statement to this effect, and to deliver this 
message through the Austrian mission in Damascus. 
 
3.  (C) Kyrle agreed with all of our points.  He undertook to 
look into the matter of a public statement, but said Austria 
would be supportive. 
Brown