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OO RUEHWEB

DE RUEHDM #2899/01 1700647
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 190647Z JUN 06
FM AMEMBASSY DAMASCUS
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 9737
RHEHAAA/WHITE HOUSE WASHDC IMMEDIATE
RUEHAM/AMEMBASSY AMMAN 6037
RUEHLB/AMEMBASSY BEIRUT 3896
RUEHEG/AMEMBASSY CAIRO 2417
RUEHRH/AMEMBASSY RIYADH 7096
RUEHTV/AMEMBASSY TEL AVIV 1083
RUEHAK/AMEMBASSY ANKARA 4471
RUEHJM/AMCONSUL JERUSALEM 0694
RHMFISS/HQ USCENTCOM MACDILL AFB FL//CCPA//
INFO RUEHNC/AMEMBASSY NICOSIA 6833

UNCLAS DAMASCUS 002899 
 
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: Syria/Iran, Syria/Agha Khan 
Foundation, Lebanon, Iraq, Palestinian Territories (6/16-18) 
 
¶1.   Summary: Syrian papers on (6/16) reported President Asad's 
meeting with Syrian official media figures. President Asad 
discussed on Thursday (6/15) with representatives of the 
government-run media the role of information, and mechanisms and 
conceptions that might contribute to its development. Minister 
of Information Dr. Mohsen Bilal attended the meeting. Among the 
topics of the meetings were the importance of initiatives from 
those working in the media, of encouraging dialogue, of 
constructive criticism, and of solutions to obstructions to 
media action. The gathering touched upon the need to invest in 
the information sector, to clarify Syria's interior and exterior 
media policies and to pay attention to the preparation and 
qualification of media professionals. 
 
Papers also reported President Asad's meeting with Ismaili 
spiritual leader Prince Karim Agha Khan, which focused on the 
current investment climate of in Syria. Talks also dealt with 
future projects of the Agha Khan network in Syria. President 
Asad and Prince Karim also discussed the local, regional and 
international economies, according to a Presidential 
statement.  The Agha Khan Foundation for Development recently 
established a national institution for small loans in Syria, 
considered the first in the Middle East. The foundation has made 
about 900 million SP of loans to about 15 thousand persons. The 
spiritual leader of Ismaili Muslims is the head of a large 
network of charitable foundations and companies that operate 
mostly in the third world. 
 
On Syrian-Iranian relations, papers reported that General Hasan 
Turkumani, Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Army and Armed 
Forces and Defense Minister, and his Iranian counterpart, 
Brigadier General Mostafa Mohammad Najjar, have signed a 
memorandum of understanding on defense cooperation between Syria 
and Iran. The memorandum provides for bolstering relations 
between the two countries; maintaining peace, security, and 
stability in the region; freeing the region from weapons of mass 
destruction; and conclusively eliminating tension and 
instability. The memorandum also provides for strengthening 
defense cooperation, speeding up the implementation of relevant 
agreements and contracts, and setting up a joint committee to 
follow up and implement joint efforts and consolidate 
cooperation on defense issues. The Iranian Defense Minister 
stressed that Syria and Iran are two important countries in the 
region and the Islamic world. He pointed out that relations 
between Tehran and Damascus could serve as a model for Islamic 
countries in all fields. 
 
End of Summary. 
 
 
¶2.  Selected Headlines: 
 
"President Asad discusses current climate of investment in Syria 
and future projects with Prince Karim Agha Khan. Talks also touch 
upon local, regional and international economic situations" 
(Government-owned Tishreen, 6/18) 
 
"Lebanese MPs and figures criticize movements by foreign 
Ambassadors against the background of revelation of the Mossad 
network: They serve Israeli interests" (Government-owned 
Tishreen, 6/18) 
 
"In light of confessions by members of the Mossad network 
arrested in Lebanon, Lebanese fear the extent of Israeli 
penetration. The case will be referred to the Security Council. 
Lahoud: Israel seeks revenge against the Lebanese resistance" 
(Government-owned Tishreen, 6/17) 
 
"The Palestinian dialogue makes progress. The EU approves aid to 
Palestinians. Palestinians consider it insufficient" (Government- 
owned Tishreen, 6/18) 
 
"Finally, a European mechanism for helping Palestinians awaits 
the Quartet's approval. Israeli calls for coordination with 
Abbas. Fatah casts doubts on Israeli intentions" (Government- 
owned Tishreen, 6/17) 
 
 
"Italy commences withdrawal of its forces from Iraq. A US soldier 
killed, two reported missing in Iraq" (Government-owned Tishreen, 
6/16) 
 
 
"American annoyance at the Italian withdrawal from Iraq. 11 
Iraqis killed, 25 injured in the Baghdad blast" (Government-owned 
Tishreen, 6/17) 
 
"President Asad discusses role of state and society in the 
current reform process with Assistant Secretary General of UNDP. 
Asad calls for pursuing objectivity and credibility" (Government- 
owned Tishreen, 6/16) 
 
"A memo of understanding for defense cooperation is inked between 
Syria and Iran. Minister of Defense Tourkmani depicts relations 
with Iran as strategic, saying that Iran's force is an asset for 
us" (Government-owned Tishreen, 6/16) 
 
"Revealing the Mossad network in Lebanon boosts the Lebanese 
resistance. Lahoud: Investigations are continuing and saboteurs 
will be punished" (Government-owned Tishreen, 6/16) 
 
 
¶3.  Editorial Block Quotes: 
 
------------- 
 
"Losing Bets" 
 
------------- 
 
Isam Dari, an editorialist in government-owned Tishreen, 
commented (6/17): "The situations in Afghanistan and Iraq prove 
the failure of the US policy drawn up by neoconservatives.... 
 
"It is obvious that the US Administration has not learned from 
the mistakes it has made in more than one place in the world, 
from Somalia to Afghanistan to Iraq. The evidence is that it 
continues to adopt the same military-political approach.... 
Despite the American failure, the US Administration continues to 
rely on the same theories, from Iraq to Palestine to Lebanon, 
and seeks to plunge the Arab region into unconstructive 
instability to please Israel and its expansionist plan and to 
serve the Greater Middle East plan.... 
"Washington, either out of ignorance or arrogance, does not take 
into consideration the factor of peoples, who have managed to 
stand fast and foil foreign plans.... The Bush administration 
today knows that it failed in its wagers on isolating Syria, and 
it will perhaps find out soon that it is unable to subjugate 
Syria or ignore the central role that Damascus plays in the 
region's security and stability, and that dialogue is the only 
way to solve all problems and differences...." 
 
 
--------------------------------------- 
 
"Such Desecration Requires A Response" 
 
--------------------------------------- 
 
Muhammad Ali Buzah, an editorialist in government-owned Al- 
Thawra, wrote (6/16): "Washington's sadistic and despicable 
justification of the Israeli massacre on the Gaza beach and 
subsequent crimes means that there is no longer any hope or 
positive sign that the Bush administration will act rationally 
and turn, during its remaining time in office, into a fair 
mediator, a factor of peace, stability and calm, or a supporter 
of justice in this troubled and volatile part of the world or 
elsewhere.... 
 
"The US Administration has sold itself out to the devil and 
become, just like Israel, a factor of tension, explosion, and 
unrest and an enemy that harbors every evil for this Arab 
nation; it effectively participates in aggression against our 
 
nation and in crimes that seek to annihilate it and regularly 
violate its sanctities.... 
 
"This situation must not remain without an Arab response.... 
What we need today, more than ever before, is the formulation of 
a unified strategy and pan-Arab action capable of causing shock 
and upsetting the equations of balance and the plans and 
calculations of the enemies. This cannot be achieved without the 
adoption and use of the other options, as an alternative to the 
failure and futility of politics and as support for the peace 
option, which is dead as far as Israel and the United States are 
concerned. These other options are numerous, diversified, and 
painful to those who loved the game of gratuitous death, 
belligerence, violation of international law, bargaining, 
blackmail, and bloodshed, and who believed they could get away 
with their appalling crimes for ever and avoid the legitimate 
response and punishment." 
 
----------------------- 
 
"Why Relieve Israel?" 
 
----------------------- 
 
Izz-al-Din al-Darwish, an editorialist in government-owned 
Tishreen, warned (6/16):  "The Palestinian political crisis 
might turn into a national, political, and human disaster at any 
moment if those who add fuel to the fire continue to behave 
irresponsibly.... 
 
"Israel is working to ignite internal strife in the Palestinian 
territories against the background of the results of the recent 
Palestinian elections.... From the beginning Israel expressed 
its dissatisfaction with HAMAS's assumption of power. It 
announced this and launched a campaign to attack HAMAS and 
thwart its overwhelming popular victory. It began by imposing a 
tight siege and withholding aid from the Palestinian people. 
And, through its American ally, it applied pressure on donor 
states to stop transferring funds to the Palestinian Authority 
and, consequently, to the Palestinian employees who are today 
staging demonstrations demanding their salaries.... 
 
"While Israel is feeding Palestinian sedition by all available 
means, some Palestinian factions are working in a way that makes 
Israel more comfortable, through their insistence on creating 
and stoking a Palestinian political problem and, consequently, 
placing hard options before the Palestinian government...." 
 
Seche