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

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 DAMASCUS 006077 
 
SIPDIS 
 
PARIS FOR ZEYA; LONDON FOR TSOU 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/12/2015 
TAGS: PGOV PREL SY
SUBJECT: THE VIEW FROM PARLIAMENT: MEHLIS, THE ASAD SPEECH, 
AND LABWANI 
 
 
Classified By: Charge d'Affaires Stephen A. Seche, per 1.4 b,d. 
 
¶1.  (C) Summary:  In separate meetings November 15-16, three 
non-Ba'athist Syrian MP's sounded off about the Mehlis 
investigation, President Asad's November 10 speech, and the 
recent imprisonment of opposition figure Kamal Labwani.  In 
their first meetings with Polchief, they hewed closely to the 
SARG line on these issues, questioning Mehlis' independence, 
highlighting the positive in Asad's speech, and rejecting the 
statements on Labwani as not helpful.  One of the MP's, 
moderate Islamist Mohammed Habash, noted that the U.S. cannot 
succeed with its policy objectives in Syria if it tries to 
engage with civil society and the opposition, while ignoring 
the government.  End Summary. 
 
¶2.  (C) MEHLIS SEEN AS NOT PLAYING FAIR WITH SYRIA: 
Regarding the UN investigation into the Hariri assassination, 
Lattakia MP Noumeir al-Ghanem, head of the Foreign Relations 
Committee of the Parliament, questioned Mehlis's 
independence, and, hinting at U.S. involvement, observed that 
many of his decisions seemed "directed" by a foreign power. 
PolChief countered the notion and noted that USG officials 
were often caught scrambling, trying to anticipate where 
Mehlis is heading with his investigation.  Ghanem also 
pointed to Mehlis's refusal to negotiate an MOU with Syria 
and to meet even briefly with the Syrian judicial commission 
investigating the Hariri killing as additional signs that 
UNIIIC is out to humiliate Syria and force the SARG into a 
non-cooperative response. 
 
¶3.  (C) Ghanem said that he would head a small Parliamentary 
delegation that would travel to UNSC capitals soon and noted 
his interest in traveling to Washington to meet with 
Congressmen.  (Note:  Ghanem is a professor of  architecture 
at Tishrin University, in the coastal city of Lattakia.  His 
father played a formative role in the political mentoring of 
the young Hafez al-Asad.) 
 
¶4.  (C) Damascus MP Baha Eddin Hassan, a businessman, told 
Polchief the Syrian street is convinced that the regime "is 
innocent of the blood of Hariri."  (Comment:  Actually the 
fluid street consensus that developed after Asad's speech 
leaned more to the view that Mehlis had not proven any 
involvement by Syrian officials and should not be allowed to 
humiliate Syria.) 
 
¶5.  (C) THE ASAD SPEECH:  These representatives spoke in 
generally positive terms about Asad's November 10 speech. 
Hassan said the speech had helped ease the concerns of people 
and give them renewed hope, after a month-long period when 
Syria had been subjected to intense international pressure 
and criticisms.  Like Hassan and others, Ghanem acknowledged 
that parts of the speech "were rough," especially the 
President's remarks on Lebanon and PM Siniora.  In attempting 
to explain some of the harshness, Ghanem said there is a 
sense in Syria that the Lebanese "are egging on Mehlis." 
Both men said that Siniora had not kept commitments he had 
made to Asad. 
 
¶6.  (C) WHY NO RESPONSE FROM U.S. ON IRAQ SIGNALS:  Ghanem 
also noted that Asad had made clear in the speech that he was 
ready to cooperate with the U.S. on Iraq and other issues and 
asked PolChief why the U.S. continually refuses to open a 
channel to explore how a deal could be worked out. Liberal 
Islamist MP Dr. Mohammed Habash said that increasing U.S. 
pressure, creating the perception that the U.S. wants regime 
change, had allowed Asad in his speech to forge a strong bond 
between the regime and the Syrian people.  (Comment:  Until 
Asad's speech, a street consensus had been emerging that 
Syrians should not have to pay for the mistakes of a handful 
of senior regime officials.  That view has not disappeared, 
but has been stifled by Asad's emotional appeal to Syrians' 
strong feelings about national pride and dignity.) 
 
¶7.  (C) BRISTLING AT LABWANI:  Hassan bristled at the recent 
USG statements in support of opposition figure Kamal Labwani, 
which he described as indicative of a "grudge against Syria." 
 Hassan attempted to dismiss Labwani as "completely unknown" 
in Syria and questioned why the U.S. attempted to make "major 
figures" out of people like Labwani and Farid al-Ghadry. 
Habash also maintained that the USG statements on Labwani 
were not helpful.  Echoing the sentiments of many Syrians 
(and a view that SARG has successfully propagated), Habash 
claimed that Labwani "crossed a red line" when he decided to 
meet with senior USG officials at a time when Syria was being 
subjected to intense U.S. pressure and hostility.  That 
decision had allowed the SARG to portray Labwani as "a 
collaborator" and to undercut his credibility.  (Note: 
Habash is known as the most prominent liberal Muslim cleric 
in Syria.  He heads an Islamic Studies Center and clearly has 
quiet regime endorsement of his views.  His observations on 
Islam and fundamentalism in Syria are reported septel.) 
 
¶8.  (C) More broadly, Habash noted that the U.S. cannot 
succeed with its policy objectives in Syria, especially in 
the area of democratization and strengthening civil society 
and respect for human rights, if it tries to engage with 
political reformers and the opposition, while ignoring the 
government.  Like many moderate reform-minded figures in 
Syria, Habash says it is essential to support the reform 
efforts of President Asad.  Proceeding without SARG 
engagement will not be productive for civil society or for 
the U.S., he added.  On a separate note, Habash pointed out 
that while the USG was pushing for passage of UNSCR 1636 and 
insisting on full Syrian compliance, Israeli PM Sharon issued 
a statement saying that "he would ignore UN resolutions on 
the Golan Heights and would build new settlements there." 
Finally, Habash expressed support for the Damascus 
Declaration and regret that the SARG had not responded more 
positively to the initiative. 
 
¶9.  (C) Comment:  All three of these MP's, while listed as 
Independents rather than Ba'athists, are government 
supporters to one degree or another.  Habash and Ghanem 
offered more nuanced views that betray private reservations 
about the limited scope and pace of political and economic 
reform in Syria.  Habash is a provocative and independent 
thinker in his chosen field of Islamic theology.   However, 
most of the handful of independent political figures who were 
in Parliament are now in prison or chose not to run for 
re-election to a body they felt the government was using as a 
sham to cover the lack of real democratic development in 
Syria. 
 
 
 
SECHE