VZCZCXYZ0000
OO RUEHWEB

DE RUEHDM #1362/01 0870712
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 280712Z MAR 06
FM AMEMBASSY DAMASCUS
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 7947
RHEHAAA/WHITE HOUSE WASHDC IMMEDIATE
RUEHAM/AMEMBASSY AMMAN 5842
RUEHLB/AMEMBASSY BEIRUT 3724
RUEHEG/AMEMBASSY CAIRO 2212
RUEHRH/AMEMBASSY RIYADH 6934
RUEHTV/AMEMBASSY TEL AVIV 0855
RUEHAK/AMEMBASSY ANKARA 4298
RUEHJM/AMCONSUL JERUSALEM 0525
RHMFISS/HQ USCENTCOM MACDILL AFB FL//CCPA//
INFO RUEHNC/AMEMBASSY NICOSIA 6668

UNCLAS DAMASCUS 001362 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR PA, NEA/ARN, INR/IC/CD, INR/S:STHIBEAULT AND 
JMCCARTER, 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: Arab Summit, Syria-Iran, 
Lebanon, Palestinian Territories, Iraq (3/24-27) 
 
¶1. Summary: The Syrian weekend papers reported a statement by 
Sudanese President Omar Hasan al-Bashir prior to the imminent 
Arab summit in Khartoum, that "it is necessary that the Arab 
summit support Syria and reject pressures on it and on other 
Arab countries."  Papers also reported the preliminary 
ministerial meetings by Arab Foreign Ministers with the 
participation of Foreign Minister Walid al-Mouallem. The 
Ministers endorsed a draft resolution that stressed Arab 
countries' firm support of Syria's right to restore the occupied 
Syrian Golan to the 4th of June, 1967, line. The draft 
resolution also asserted that all the measures taken by the 
Israeli authorities to change the legal, natural and demographic 
situation in the occupied Golan are illegal and constitute a 
violation of international agreements, the UN charter and 
international resolutions. The Ministers also endorsed a draft 
resolution on supporting peace, development and unity in Sudan 
and making the Middle East a zone free of weapons of mass 
destruction, especially nuclear weapons. 
 
End of summary. 
 
¶2.  Selected Headlines: 
 
"On the eve of the Khartoum Summit, Sudanese President Al-Bashir: 
We trust the wisdom and diplomacy of the Syrian leadership. The 
Arab street is awaiting decisive decisions from the summit. The 
continued US occupation of Iraq is a provocation to its people. 
The Arab leaders who will not attend the Summit have their own 
reasons" (Government-owned Al-Thawra, 3/27) 
 
"Arab Foreign Ministers approve a number of the Arab Summit draft 
resolutions. Arab FMs support Syria's demand to restore the 
occupied Syrian Golan, reject US sanctions on Syria, back the 
Palestinian Authority, reject unilateral Israeli measures, 
support Lebanon's efforts to restore Shebaa farms, and support 
the unity and sovereignty of Iraq, the activation of the Arab 
peace initiative and forcing Israel to implement international 
resolutions" (Government-owned Tishreen, 3/27) 
 
"Vice President Al-Shara conveys a message from President Asad to 
President Mubarak and wishes success to the Lebanese national 
dialogue, saying that Syria has accomplished what is required of 
it by UNSC resolution 1559" (Government-owned Al-Thawra, 3/24) 
 
"A message from President Asad to Iranian President Ahmadinejad 
on developments in the region conveyed by Vice President Al- 
Shara. Al-Shara discusses with Iranian President Ahmadinejad and 
senior Iranian officials situation in the region and stresses 
that Iraq's interest lies in its territorial integrity, its 
stability and ending the foreign occupation of its land" 
(Government-owned Al-Thawra, 3/26) 
 
"Al-Shara conveys a message from President Asad to the Saudi 
King. Intense talks on current developments in the Middle East, 
particularly in Lebanon and ways of enhancing joint Arab action" 
(Government-owned Tishreen, 3/25) 
 
"At the end of his mission at the UN, Deputy Foreign Minister 
Faysal Mikdad meets with Jan Eliasson, President of the UN 
General Assembly, who confirms that Syria has worked in a 
credible way with the international organization and respected 
its resolutions and boosted its role" (Government-owned Tishreen, 
3/25) 
 
"On the eve of resuming the Lebanese dialogue, Lebanese circles 
emphasize commitment to resistance. Lebanese MP Michel Aoun 
emphasizes: Failure of the Lebanese dialogue will topple the 
government" (Government-owned Tishreen, 3/27) 
"One Palestinian martyred, four injured by Israeli assaults. 
Olmert derives power from the world community to support his 
unilateral disengagement plan. Amr Mousa, SecGen of the Arab 
League, denies legitimacy of such a unilateral step" (Government- 
owned Tishreen, 3/27) 
 
"Abbas suggests secret negotiations leading to a settlement. 
 
Leader of Israeli party, Israel Is Our Home, Avigdor Lieberman 
calls for substituting the West Bank settlements for A'ra 
Valley" (Government-owned Tishreen, 3/26) 
 
"Lebanese dialogue resumes today amid criticisms over selectivity 
of the tours of Larsen --UN SecGen Envoy to the Middle East. 
Former Lebanese MP al-Ferzali: Larsen's statements on borders 
constitute interference in our internal affairs.... Temor Goksel, 
Spokesman of the UN International Interim Forces in South 
Lebanon, has spoken the truth" (Government-owned Tishreen, 3/26) 
 
"Israeli violations of Lebanese airspace and sovereignty 
continue during the tours of Terje Roed-Larsen, the UN Middle 
East envoy. Meetings prior to the resumption of the Lebanese 
national dialogue emphasize rejection of foreign hegemony" 
(Government-owned Tishreen, 3/25) 
 
"Deaths and casualties in assaults in Baghdad, Samurra and Al- 
Mahmoudieh. A Congressional delegation in Iraq expresses 
frustration" (Government-owned Tishreen, 3/26) 
 
"US forces kill about 20 Iraqis praying in Husseinieh and arrest 
40 members of Iraqi security forces" (Government-owned Tishreen, 
3/27) 
 
¶3.  Editorial Block Quotes: 
--------------------------------------------- ----------------- 
 
"Mechanisms for Implementing the Summit Resolutions Come First" 
 
--------------------------------------------- ----------------- 
 
Izz-al-Din al-Darwish, an editorialist in government-owned 
Tishreen, wrote (3/26): "The Arab summit is held this year under 
highly extraordinary circumstances and in a situation that 
requires the highest degree of seriousness, not only in reaching 
decisions but also in setting the mechanisms for implementing 
them.... 
 
"Big challenges are facing the Arab nation.... This dictates a 
change in the performance of the summit.... There is a military, 
economic, and cultural onslaught against Arab citizens, land, 
and wealth. There is direct American-Israeli targeting of 
Arabism and Islam. The examples to prove this are numerous and 
can be seen with the naked eye.... This is in addition to the 
occupations in Palestine and Iraq and the interferences in other 
places. There are public American plans and statements about 
further actions entailing sectarian divisions, civil wars, and 
secondary conflicts. All these dictate that the Arab summit must 
be different this time...." 
 
Israeli Elections/Plans 
 
-------------------------------------------- 
 
"Programs of Extremism and Ethnic Cleansing" 
 
-------------------------------------------- 
 
Ali Nasrallah, an editorialist in government-owned Al-Thawrah, 
wrote (3/26): "The fever of extremist programs has become 
fiercer a few days before the Israeli elections.... The acting 
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's unilateral disengagement 
plan is racist, as it fragments and isolates Palestinian cities 
and regions and prevents the establishment of a Palestinian 
state, on the one hand, and involves massive ethnic cleansing in 
East Jerusalem, on the other.... 
"Has the international community heard Israeli leaders saying 
that Israel will draw its border unilaterally, as if 
Palestinians and the United Nations do not exist...? Why wasn't 
there any international comment on this, while the United States 
interferes and tries, in cooperation with some of its cheap 
tools in Lebanon, to fabricate a crisis between Syria and 
Lebanon over the identity of the Israeli-occupied Lebanese 
 
Shebaa Farms?" 
 
--------------------------------- 
 
"Olmert in Sharon's Footsteps" 
--------------------------------- 
 
Ahmad Dawwa, an editorialist in government-owned Al-Thawrah, 
wrote (3/26): "Acting Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's 
statement that Mahmud Abbas, Chairman of the Palestinian 
Authority, is not a peace partner, threatening to assassinate 
Khalid Mish'al if he returns to Gaza, and linking establishment 
of a Palestinian state to Palestinians' acceptance of the border 
that he will unilaterally draw, can only be seen as 
electioneering slogans. They are part of a clear political 
program.... 
 
"Olmert's program torpedoes every possibility for the 
establishment of a Palestinian state.... Israel is imposing a 
new fait accompli, taking advantage of international silence, 
American support and sponsorship, and, more importantly, Arab 
weakness and the absence of mechanisms that could be used, at 
the least, to draw the attention of the world to the grave 
impact of the Israeli measures on the security and stability of 
the region and the world.... 
"The United Nations is applying double standards.... It is 
incomprehensible and unacceptable that the international 
organization turn its attention to the implementation of certain 
resolutions to the exclusion of others, thus serving, 
theoretically and practically, as a tool in the hands of 
domineering forces that see the world only through their own 
interests and international ambitions...." 
 
--------------------------------------------- -- 
 
"Arabs Are More Cognizant of their Own Affairs" 
 
--------------------------------------------- -- 
 
Isam Dari, an editorialist in government-owned Tishreen, 
criticized, on (3/25), UN envoy Terje Roed-Larsen's statements 
in Beirut calling for the demarcation of the Syrian-Lebanese 
border and the establishment of diplomatic relations: 
 
"American encroachment upon Arabs and disdain for their will and 
sovereignty have emboldened many who walk under the American 
banner and live under the American cloak, to dare to encroach 
upon the Arab nation and its countries and peoples and install 
themselves as legislators, deciding on behalf of other countries 
and governments the nature of relations among the Arab countries 
(Syria and Lebanon for example), and ordering demarcation of 
borders and the establishment of diplomatic relations.... 
 
"The time has come for the Arab nation to wake up and join ranks 
to confront this American and international disdain for it and 
its will and sovereignty.... 
 
"Arabs can solve their problems by themselves, and they do not 
need advice from foreigners. The relations between Syria and 
Lebanon are to be determined by the two countries, not by those 
who come for recreation and to issue orders and make statements 
that express the American vision...." 
 
Seche