This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 DAMASCUS 005971 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR PA, NEA/ARN, INR/IC/CD, INR/S:STHIBEAULT 
VOA NEWS CA, NEA/PPD:CBOURGEOIS, DBENZE AND AFERNANDEZ, 
IIP/G/NEA-SA RWINCHESTER 
WHITE HOUSE FOR NSC 
CENTCOM FOR CCPA 
 
E.O.12958:  N/A 
TAGS: KMDR PREL KPAO OPRC SY
SUBJECT: Damascus Media Reaction: Syria/China, Syria/US, 
Iraq, Palestinian Territories (11/16) 
 
¶1. Summary:  All Syrian papers reported the visit to Bejing 
of a Syrian MFA delegation and cited a statement by a 
Chinese Deputy FM rejecting politicization of the 
International Investigation Commission report and rejecting 
any economic sanctions on Syria. 
 
Government-owned Al-Thawra reported an AFP interview with 
Egyptian FM Abul-Ghait encouraging Syria and Mehlis to show 
more flexibility about the place to question Syrian 
witnesses, saying that there would be no problem about this 
issue if there were good will between Syria and Mehlis. The 
same paper reported a statement by US Ambassador to Cairo 
Ricciardone, following his meeting with Arab League SecGen 
Amr Mousa, that cooperation between Syria and the UN is what 
counts, regardless of the location and the way the IIC 
handles the investigation. 
 
All papers reported a statement by Yemeni President Saleh 
subsequent to his visit to Japan, France and the US, 
emphasizing the importance of the continuing dialogue with 
Syria, which has confirmed Syria's cooperation with the 
International Investigation Commission. 
 
End of summary. 
 
¶2. Selected Headlines: 
"Egyptian FM Abul-Ghait and US Ambassador in Cairo confirm: 
No problem about the place of questioning Syrian witnesses" 
(Government-owned Al-Thawra, 11/16) 
"China rejects any politicization of the international 
investigation commission. Yemeni President Saleh reiterates 
the importance of dialogue between Syria, France and the US" 
(Government-owned Al-Ba'th, 11/16) 
"Speaker of the People's Assembly Mahmoud al-Abrash and 
Information Minister Mahdi Dakhlallah discuss parliamentary 
and media cooperation with a delegation representing the 
Brazilian Communist Party led by its Chairman Renato Rabilo, 
who emphasizes full support for Syria" (Government-owned 
Tishreen, 11/16) 
"Iranian FM Mottaki reiterates the strength of Syrian- 
Iranian relations: Iranian government, Iranian President and 
Iranian people support Syria" (Government-owned Tishreen, 
11/16) 
"In a message of support and solidarity, the Algerian 
National Council rejects pressure on Syria: It reflects the 
influence of Zionist lobby and Israeli strategy" (Government- 
owned Tishreen, 11/16) 
"Kuwaiti Information Minister Al-Rasheed stresses 
credibility of Syrian policy in dealing with regional and 
international changes: What is circulated in some of our 
media doesn't represent the whole Kuwaiti people" 
(Government-owned Tishreen, 11/16) 
"Abbas accuses Israel of enflaming a civil war among 
Palestinians. Israel and the Palestinian Authority reach an 
agreement on opening the border crossings. Hamas rejects the 
agreement" (Government-owned Al-Thawra, 11/16) 
"Al-Jaafari participates in the preliminary meeting for the 
Iraqi reconciliation conference in Cairo. Killing of three 
US marines and scores of gunmen in Al-Abidi" (Government- 
owned Al-Thawra, 11/16) 
¶3. Editorial Block Quotes: 
 
"Adopting US Discourse" 
 
Ahmad Dawwa, an editorialist in government-owned Al-Thawra, 
commented: "Some Lebanese politicians are not ashamed to 
adopt publicly the US discourse toward Syria, yet they 
express surprise at President Asad's remark, in his recent 
speech, that Lebanon, under the current government, has 
turned into a passageway, a base, and a factory for 
conspiracies against Syria. 
 
"A Lebanese politician said that the problem is not with the 
Syrian people but with the Syrian regime; this is exactly 
what the US Secretary of State and other American officials 
are saying. Let this politician visit any part of Syria and 
he will find that his problem is with all the Syrian 
people.... 
 
"There is no doubt that there isn't any problem between the 
Syrian people and the Lebanese people and their nationalist 
forces, which have begun to express their rejection of the 
attempt to place the country under foreign trusteeship which 
has cost Lebanon its ability to control its political 
decisions. This increases the dangers that threaten Lebanon 
and the whole region. Regrettably, many Lebanese officials 
realize this, but they try to mislead their people by making 
statements that cause them to sink deeper into the American 
and Western schemes day after day.... 
 
"The Syrian people know full well that the Lebanese 
parliamentary majority does not represent the popular 
majority, and that the Lebanese nationalist forces, which 
are known for their national and pan-Arab positions, will 
always be on the side of Syria, which joined them in 
confronting the Israeli invasion of Lebanon and the siege of 
Beirut and contributed to the liberation of the south." 
 
"The attempt to harm cohesion between the Syrian people and 
leadership is a conspiracy aimed at serving the foreign 
pressure on Syria...." 
 
"US Record of Human Rights" 
 
Muhammad Ali Buza, an editorialist in government-owned Al- 
Thawra, wrote: "The United States, under the current 
administration of neoconservatives and Zionist rightists, 
should be the last to speak of democracy and human 
rights.... 
 
"The US Administration is committing serious human rights 
violations, systematic mass killings, genocides, arrests, 
and brutal torture in Iraq and Afghanistan and in the 
prisons of Abu-Ghurayb, Bagram, Guantanamo, and other secret 
detention centers in some Eastern European countries.... 
 
"No one in Syria, the region, or the world needs the 
democracy of Bush, Rice, Rumsfeld, Bolton, and the other 
hawks. No one needs their advice, dictates, and fatal 
humanism, which they revive when they need and employ in the 
service of their belligerent plans, with or without the 
cover of international legitimacy. None of these peoples, 
certainly not the Arabs, is indebted to the United States or 
to this administration. It is this administration that owes 
them not only an apology -- as this would not be enough -- 
but also an effort to atone for all its crimes and wrong 
policies and to stop interfering and tampering with 
security, stability, and peace...." 
 
"Forging of Facts" 
 
Muhammad Khair al-Jammali, a commentator in government-owned 
Al-Thawrah, commented: "President George Bush has accused 
Syria of threatening and destabilizing the Lebanese 
government and called on Damascus to cooperate fully with 
the international investigation commission into the Al- 
Hariri assassination and to stop exporting violence and 
begin importing democracy. 
 
"US officials and their allies in Paris and London are 
accusing Syria of things that they themselves are 
practicing: violence, terrorism, spread of destructive 
chaos, intimidation of the countries of the region, and 
sponsorship of the agents who implement their orders and 
serve their destructive colonialist plans.... 
 
"When President Asad discussed the Lebanese, Iraqi, and 
Palestinian situations in his speech, he put the Arab 
peoples in the picture of developments and explained the 
dangers Syria and the Arab nation are facing. He did not 
threaten anyone or try to export violence and instability. 
 
"The real violence and intimidation is represented by the US 
Administration's threats to change governments, impose 
sanctions, and invade countries.... The US Administration 
will continue to accuse Syria of pursuing policies that it 
itself is pursuing -- policies that threaten regional and 
international stability -- as long as it is under the 
pressure of its domestic and foreign crises, which were 
caused by its hypocrisy, its big mistakes in the war on 
Iraq, and its endeavors to dominate the world and support 
Israel in its aggression against the Arabs and their rights 
and international legitimacy. 
 
"As for Syria, it will stick to its human and pan-Arab 
positions. Through the cohesion of its people, the firmness 
of its leadership, and the support of free men in the Arab 
nation and the world, Syria will be able to confront the 
pressure and speak the truth about all the campaigns of 
intimidation against it and all the policies of forgery 
pursued by the forces that have ambitions in Syria, Lebanon, 
Iraq, Palestine, and all the Arab land...." 
Seche