Sixty-first session Agenda item 117 Programme budget for the biennium 2006-2007 Letter dated 3 May 2007 from the Permanent Representative of the Syrian Arab Republic to the United Nations addressed to the Secretary-General I have the honour to transmit herewith a letter addressed to the Secretary-General that contains the Syrian remarks on the logical framework of the Special Envoy of the Secretary-General for the implementation of Security Council resolution 1559 (2004) under agenda item 117 (see annex). I would greatly appreciate it if these remarks were to be taken into consideration and the present letter and its annex circulated as a document of the General Assembly under agenda item 117. (Signed) Bashar Ja’afari Ambassador Permanent Representative Annex to the letter dated 3 May 2007 from the Permanent Representative of the Syrian Arab Republic to the United Nations addressed to the Secretary-General [Original: Arabic] On the basis of General Assembly resolution 61/252 of 22 December 2006, which refers in section VII, paragraph 7, to the concerns expressed by Member States about the lack of consistency between the logical frameworks for special political missions and the legislative mandates of the General Assembly and the Security Council; On the instructions of my Government, and in the context of the review by the Secretariat of the logical frameworks for all the programmatic aspects and resource requirements of all the special political missions, and reaffirming the concerns expressed by the delegation of the Syrian Arab Republic during the discussion of the logical framework for the budget for the Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for the implementation of Security Council resolution 1559 (2004) mentioned in document A/61/525/Add.1, which contains the report of the Secretary-General on estimates in respect of special political missions, good offices and other political initiatives authorized by the General Assembly and/or the Security Council; I wish to bring to your attention the observations of the Syrian Arab Republic concerning the logical framework for that mission, which is proposed for review, in order to assist the Secretariat to avoid the errors that were made in the preparation of the above-mentioned document: 1. The logical framework for that mission, proposed for review, expands the mandate of the Special Envoy of the Secretary-General for the implementation of Security Council resolution 1559 (2004) to include elements of the provisions of Security Council resolution 1701 (2006); such an expansion leads not only to the duplication of work in the United Nations Secretariat — as another Special Envoy of the Secretary-General concerned with implementation of resolution 1701 (2006) has been appointed — but also to the interpretation of resolution 1701 (2006) outside its context and principal substance, which is the cessation of the Israeli aggression against Lebanon. 2. The logical framework, proposed for review, for some indicators of achievement goes beyond the role of the Secretariat in that it is contrary to the commitments set forth in the Charter of the United Nations, particularly Article 2, paragraph 7, which prohibits any intervention by the United Nations in matters which are within the domestic jurisdiction of any State. The issues of diplomatic relations and the delineation of borders between the Syrian Arab Republic and Lebanon, which are mentioned in the logical framework proposed for review, are bilateral matters bearing on national sovereignty and are to be resolved by agreement between the Syrian and Lebanese Governments. They thus fall outside the framework of resolution 1559 (2004) and outside the mandate of the Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for the implementation of Security Council resolution 1559 (2004). 3. It is difficult to understand why the logical framework, proposed for review, should ignore Israel’s ongoing occupation of parts of southern Lebanon, its continued breaches of Lebanese airspace, and its threat to United Nations forces in southern Lebanon, despite the fact that they all constitute a threat to, and a genuine violation of, Lebanon’s sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity and are therefore an ongoing violation by Israel of resolution 1559 (2004). The logical framework, proposed for review, also disregards the undercover activities of Israel in Lebanon, indications of which were discovered by the Lebanese Republic through the dismantling by its security forces of a number of networks that were working on behalf of the Israeli Mossad and were responsible for explosions and assassinations in Lebanon. 4. The presentation of expected accomplishments and indicators of achievement in the logical framework, proposed for review, and the linkage between them, are not in accordance with the arrangements and principles governing programme planning, the preparation of the programme budget, the monitoring of implementation and the methods of evaluation. Nor do they measure the performance of the Secretariat in implementing the programme, but rather the performance of individual States. This is at variance with resolution 55/231. We therefore emphasize resolution 61/252, section VII, paragraph 8, in which the General Assembly requested the Secretary-General to present his future budget proposals in full compliance with its resolution 55/231. In this context, we stress what was affirmed by the General Assembly to the effect that paragraph 9 of resolution 55/231 must be complied with and that the expected accomplishments and indicators of achievement must measure the performance of the Organization in programme implementation and not the programmes of individual States. 5. We emphasize the decision of the General Assembly to the effect that the purpose of the review of the logical framework must be to ensure that programmatic aspects and resource requirements are in conformity with the relevant legislative mandates. 6. In conclusion, the Syrian Arab Republic states that, by withdrawing its military forces and the related security installations, it has implemented all the obligations incumbent on it under resolution 1559 (2004). The Syrian Arab Republic expects the United Nations Secretariat, in reviewing the logical framework for the budget of the Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for the implementation of Security Council resolution 1559 (2004), to implement faithfully the mandate defined by the General Assembly and to treat the above concerns with the required seriousness by amending the logical framework in an objective and non-selective manner so as to ensure its conformity with the provisions and requirements of resolution 1559 (2004).   sss1 \* MERGEFORMAT A/61/894 sss1 \* MERGEFORMAT A/61/894 FooterJN \* MERGEFORMAT 07-33173 \* MERGEFORMAT 2 \* MERGEFORMAT 3 FooterJN \* MERGEFORMAT 07-33173 United Nations A/61/894 General Assembly Distr.: General 9 May 2007 Original: English jobn \* MERGEFORMAT 07-33173 (E) 110507 110507 Barcode \* MERGEFORMAT *0733173*