VZCZCXYZ0002
OO RUEHWEB

DE RUEHDM #0958/01 0651355
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
O 061355Z MAR 06
FM AMEMBASSY DAMASCUS
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 7518
INFO RUEHXK/ARAB ISRAELI COLLECTIVE
RUEHGB/AMEMBASSY BAGHDAD 0678
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC

C O N F I D E N T I A L DAMASCUS 000958 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
PARIS FOR ZEYA; LONDON FOR TSOU 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/12/2015 
TAGS: PGOV PREL LB SY
SUBJECT: ASAD CALLS ON HAMAS NOT TO RECOGNIZE ISRAEL, 
DEFENDS LAHOUD 
 
REF: FBIS GMP 20060305504001 
 
Classified By: Charge d'Affaires Stephen A. Seche, per 1.4 b,d. 
 
 ¶1.  (SBU) Summary:   In a March 4 speech at the opening of a 
pan-Arab conference in Damascus, Syrian President Bashar 
al-Asad urged Hamas not to recognize Israel, criticized 
efforts to oust Lebanese President Lahoud, and labeled U.S. 
actions in Iraq as part of a plan to divide and conquer the 
country and the region.  He also mentioned the cartoon 
controversy, noting that boycotts were a far more effective 
tool than outrage.  Asad's speech echoed themes from his 
November 10 and January 21 addresses, which highlighted the 
need for renewed pan-Arab unity against foreign efforts to 
divide and remap the region and which stressed the 
geopolitical importance of Syria as a "spearhead" in the 
struggle against such efforts.  Asad's March 4 speech, 
however, stressed the need for the U.S. to urgently withdraw 
its troops from Iraq, a point he avoided making so explicitly 
in the past.   Asad sharpened the rhetoric and spoke at 
greater length about his criticism of the U.S. invasion of 
Iraq.   His rhetoric on Lebanon also represented a further 
softening from the extremely bellicose language he used in 
the November speech.  He avoided attacking the current work 
of UNIIIC head Serge Brammertz.  End Summary. 
 
¶2.  (U)  President Asad urged Hamas March 4 not to recognize 
Israel until it restores the rights "to all Arabs, Syria, 
Lebanon, and Palestine."  Asad made his remarks in Damascus 
to representatives of over 100 political parties from 15 Arab 
countries participating in the three-day Arab Parties General 
Conference.  Regarding Hamas, Asad noted that Syria has 
engaged in peace negotiations for years with Israel but had 
not recognized the country.  He also pointed to what he 
called a double standard, noting that Israel is not being 
required to recognize Hamas or to disarm.  He called Hamas's 
electoral victory "an election for resistance" that "proves 
the correctness of the Syrian position," saying it vindicated 
Syria's long-standing support for the Palestinian 
rejectionists based in Damascus, despite all the pressure put 
on Syria.  The Hamas victory also demonstrated that Syrians 
understood earlier than others that "the path of resistance 
expresses the option of the Palestinian people."  Asad added 
that Syria wants good relations with all Palestinian groups, 
including that led by current President Abu Mazen.   On the 
peace process, Asad said it is not an option for the 
foreseeable future since Israel is has demonstrated a lack of 
interest in peace and the U.S. has not taken an active role 
in re-starting the negotiations. 
 
¶3.  (U) IRAQ: A "TOLD YOU SO" TONE:  A tone of vindication 
also crept into Asad's remarks on Iraq, as he noted that he 
had warned American officials that they would "sink into the 
Iraqi quagmire" despite winning the war.  Asad expressed his 
belief that the "withdrawal of the U.S. troops has become 
urgent" and urged Iraqis to express a united view on this 
issue.  Regarding the recent attacks on mosques in Iraq, Asad 
said the attacks were aimed at destroying the unity of Iraq 
and its "national and pan-Arab identity." He placed such 
attacks in a wider context of developments in Iraq aimed at 
"diminishing the Iraqi citizen's affiliations" from national 
and pan-Arab ones into narrow tribal, sectarian, and 
religious attachments and said the objective was the division 
of the country.  Early in his remarks, Asad alluded to what 
he referred to as two goals of the war in Iraq, including 
"re-drawing" the map of the Middle East, and obtaining oil, 
adding that Israel "remains a fundamental factor" in all such 
developments in the Middle East.  Asad mentioned briefly the 
possibility of sending Arab peace-keeping forces in Iraq, but 
noted that an Iraqi official who visited Damascus had told 
him such troops would be treated as part of the occupying 
forces as long as U.S. troops remained in Iraq.   He insisted 
that Syria has tried to support the political process in 
Iraq, including efforts to re-establish diplomatic relations, 
but that U.S. pressure had prevented the Iraqis from moving 
to improve relations. 
 
¶4.  (U) LAHOUD: Asad spoke at length about the political 
events in Lebanon since the passage of UNSCR 1559 that have 
led to the current "attacks" against President Lahoud, 
defending the Lebanese leader as "a staunch defender of the 
resistance."  He described the attacks as "a plot that aims 
to get Lebanon away from Syria."  Without referring to the 
March 14 group by name, Asad accused the bloc of "working 
under the command of others who are concocting plots against 
Syria."  Interestingly, the official English version of the 
speech provided by the Syria News Agency (SANA) and reprinted 
in the Syria Times, deleted Asad's positive characterization 
of the national dialogue underway in Lebanon.  Asad was 
quoted (in other versions) saying that "the dialogue 
currently ongoing in Lebanon is a positive step toward the 
return to reason if there is a desire to do so."  However, 
Asad also noted that "dialogue in itself does not lead to the 
return to reason; the interlocutors must have the will to 
return to reason."   (Note: The SANA version also deleted 
Asad's remark that "I will not defend President Lahoud," 
which he used to preface that very defense.) 
 
¶5.  (U) THE "CARTOONS" CONTROVERSY:  Asad alluded briefly to 
the controversy over the caricatures of the prophet Mohammed, 
noting that the "outrage" in the Arab and Islamic worlds was 
justified.  He did not refer directly to the mob actions in 
Damascus or other capitals, but pointed out that boycotts 
were a more effective tool than mere outrage and should 
continue to be used in the future against those who insult 
Islam. 
 
¶6.  (SBU) Throughout his speech, Asad cloaked his points in a 
pan-Arab rhetoric reminiscent of his January 21 speech, 
noting for example at one point that "what happens against an 
Arab country can't be isolated from the rest of the Arab 
countries."  Events in Iraq, Palestine, Syria, and Lebanon 
"are interrelated."  However, he toned down his January 
accusations that attempts to blame Syria for the killing of 
Hariri were an attempt by the West to target not merely Syria 
but the entire Arab and Islamic world.  His speech referred 
briefly to Islam as a pillar of strength for the Arabs and 
for the pan-Arab cause but did not make repeated Islamic 
references as he did in January. 
 
¶7.  (C) Comment:  Asad's speech echoed themes from his 
November 10 and January 21 addresses, which highlighted the 
need for renewed pan-Arab unity against foreign efforts to 
divide and remap the region through actions in Palestine, 
Iraq, Lebanon and Syria and which stressed the geopolitical 
importance of Syria as a "spearhead" in the struggle against 
such efforts.  Asad's March 4 speech, however, stressed the 
need for the U.S. to urgently withdraw its troops, a point he 
has avoided making so explicitly in the past, either publicly 
or privately.  He also sharpened considerably his language 
about Syria having been criticized unfairly for opposing the 
war and about having been vindicated for warning the U.S. 
that it was stepping into a quagmire.  Asad largely avoided 
attacking the current work of the UNIIIC investigation into 
the assassination of former PM Hariri, a sharp departure from 
those previous two speeches, an indication perhaps that the 
regime feels the pressure is off now and that relations with 
Brammertz and his team have improved dramatically over the 
relationship the SARG experienced with Mehlis.  He continued, 
however, to attack UNSCR's 1559 and 1636 as elements in a 
plot to destabilize Syria. 
SECHE