VZCZCXRO1541
OO RUEHAG RUEHDF RUEHIK RUEHLZ
DE RUEHDM #3660/01 2071104
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 261104Z JUL 06
FM AMEMBASSY DAMASCUS
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 0568
INFO RUEHXK/ARAB ISRAELI COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUCNMEM/EU MEMBER STATES COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHGB/AMEMBASSY BAGHDAD PRIORITY 0144
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC PRIORITY
RHMFISS/CDR USCENTCOM MACDILL AFB FL PRIORITY
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC PRIORITY

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 DAMASCUS 003660 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
PARIS FOR WALLER, LONDON FOR TSOU, AMMAN FOR KANESHIRO, 
CAIRO FOR CHEYNE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL PGOV PHUM LE SY
SUBJECT: TFLE01:  SYRIA DAILY SITREP 10 FOR WEDNESDAY, JULY 
26, 2006 
 
REF: DAM 3655 
 
¶1.  (U) Summary:  Spain will present the Syrian position at 
the July 26 Rome conference on the Israel-Hizballah crisis, 
according to regional media, citing two visits this week by 
the SARG's Minister of Information to Madrid.  Palestinian 
rejectionist groups in Damascus, including Hamas and 
Palestinian Islamic Jihad, met in Damascus and agreed "to 
place all of their capabilities and resources alongside 
Hizballah and the heroic Lebanese people," according to Maher 
al-Taher, deputy SYG of the Palestinian Liberation Front for 
the Liberation of Palestine, in a statement quoted by Arab 
regional media.  The Consular Section received 168 walk-in 
requests for American Citizen Services (ACS) on July 25, down 
from 184 the previous day.  Little immediate economic 
fall-out has manifested itself here in reaction to the 
ongoing conflict, although recent reports indicate a 
20-percent spike in gasoline consumption and a continued 
upward creep in the exchange rate of the Syrian pound.  End 
Summary. 
 
POLITICAL/SECURITY 
 
¶2.  (U) The following are political updates: 
 
-- Spain will present the Syrian position at the July 26 Rome 
conference, according to press reports.  Syrian Minister of 
Information Mohsen Bilal traveled to Madrid, where he 
recently served as the Syrian Ambassador, for the second time 
this week to "explain the Syrian point of view over what is 
taking place," according to one report in the Arab regional 
press.  Syria is calling for an unconditional halt to Israeli 
attacks, a prisoners' exchange, and implementation of all 
international resolutions regarding the Israeli occupation of 
Arab territories, according to regional reports. 
 
-- Leaders of the 10 Palestinian rejectionist groups based in 
Damascus, including those of Hamas and Palestinian Islamic 
Jihad, held a meeting and agreed "to place all of their 
capabilities and resources alongside Hizballah and the heroic 
Lebanese people," according to Maher al-Taher, deputy SYG of 
the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, in an 
interview with Al-Safir newspaper.  The groups also formed a 
committee to support the Lebanese resistance in its battle 
against Israel, in a statement quoted by Arab regional media. 
 A separate AP story on July 25 quotes a member of Hamas' 
political bureau in Damascus, Mohammed Nazal, as raising the 
possibility of teaming up with Hizballah to negotiate a 
prisoners' exchange, while ruling out any military 
coordination because of differences in the groups' agendas. 
 
-- The Damascus-based office representative of Iraqi Shiite 
cleric Moqtada al-Sadr met Syria's State Minister for Red 
Crescent Affairs July 25 in Damascus to discuss the delivery 
of humanitarian aid to Lebanon, including via the Syrian Arab 
Red Crescent, according to the official Syrian Tishreen 
newspaper. 
 
-- Official Syrian media continued to criticize the U.S. 
Administration for its regional policies and the absence of 
support for an immediate cease-fire between Israel and 
Hizballah.  The official Syrian Al-Thawra newspaper said that 
the U.S. Secretary of State's visit to the region incites 
Israel to continue its aggression, while aiming to draw up a 
joint U.S.-Israeli plan for a new Middle East "whose end 
results will be another quagmire of death and destruction." 
 
-- Syrian authorities banned earlier this week the 
circulation of the Saudi-owned dailies, Asharq al-Awsat and 
al-Hayat, according to the UPI news agency.  Al-Hayat is 
publishing a series of interviews with Arab intellectuals who 
express views not in line with the SARG position on the 
Israel-Hizballah conflict, while Asharq al-Awsat published 
earlier this week an opinion piece that reiterated the Saudi 
government's earlier criticisms of Hizballah adventurism. 
 
-- The MFA has yet to respond to a demarche early July 25 
(reported reftel) about steps the SARG must take to cut off 
support for Hizballah. 
 
¶3.  (U)  The RSO office reported that two small, non-violent 
demonstrations occurred the evening of July 24 in Damascus. 
In the first instance, about 200 women and children carrying 
 
DAMASCUS 00003660  002 OF 002 
 
 
Syrian flags and candles held a vigil on behalf of Lebanese 
and Palestinian children in the Abu Roumaneh neighborhood, 
later boarding buses for the UNDP office in the Damascus 
neighborhood of West Mezzeh.  In the second instance, about 
20 men carrying Syrian and Syrian Communist Party flags held 
a non-violent, 20-minute demonstration on behalf of the 
Lebanese people in Rawda Circle a block from the Embassy. 
 
CONSULAR 
 
¶4.  (U) The following are consular updates: 
 
-- The ACS unit received 168 walk-in requests for services on 
July 25, down from 184 the previous day. 
 
-- Most e-mail and telephone inquiries to the Non-Immigrant 
Visa unit were from potential Lebanese applicants.  The 
Immigration Visa (IV) unit is receiving requests for 
immediate-category IVs for Lebanese spouses of U.S. citizens. 
 Post is awaiting a response to an e-mail request to the 
Consular Affairs task force for guidance on the issue. 
 
ECONOMIC 
 
¶5.  (U) The following are economic updates: 
 
-- Little immediate economic fall-out has surfaced here in 
reaction to the ongoing conflict, although recent reports 
indicate a 20-percent spike in gasoline consumption.  The 
SARG is reportedly trying to compensate by lifting quotas for 
gas stations, and no long lines have been observed in the 
Damascus area. 
 
-- The Syrian pound has crept up since the start of the 
crisis, from its previous low of 50.20 to one U.S. dollar, to 
where it now hovers at around 52 on the black market.  This 
upward trend may also be linked to a SARG decision earlier 
this summer to allow the currency to move to a more 
sustainable rate. 
SECHE