VZCZCXRO2859
OO RUEHAG RUEHDF RUEHIK RUEHLZ
DE RUEHDM #3700/01 2081339
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 271339Z JUL 06
FM AMEMBASSY DAMASCUS
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 0615
INFO RUEHXK/ARAB ISRAELI COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUCNMEM/EU MEMBER STATES COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHGB/AMEMBASSY BAGHDAD PRIORITY 0151
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC PRIORITY
RHMFISS/CDR USCENTCOM MACDILL AFB FL PRIORITY

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 DAMASCUS 003700 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
PARIS FOR WALLER, LONDON FOR TSOU, AMMAN FOR KANNESHIRO, 
CAIRO FOR CHEYNE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL PGOV PHUM LE SY
SUBJECT: TFLE01: SYRIA DAILY SITREP 11 THURSDAY JULY 27, 
2006 
 
 
¶1. (U) Summary:  The head of Iran's Supreme National Security 
Council, Ali Larijani, arrived in Damascus July 26 for talks 
with SARG officials on the crisis in Lebanon and the Rome 
Conference, according to Arab regional media.  DAO reports 
increasing displays of pro-Hizballah Arabic-language banners 
and paraphernalia and anti-American graffiti in downtown 
Damascus.  The American Citizen Services unit received 145 
walk-in AmCits on July 26, down from 168 the previous day. 
The Syrian Pound continues its slide on the black market, 
reaching 52.5 Syrian pounds to the U.S. dollar, its weakest 
point this summer.  The Syrian Arab Red Crescent was 
scheduled to send a convoy of humanitarian assistance to 
Lebanon on July 27.  End Summary. 
 
Political/Security 
 
¶2. (SBU) The following are political updates: 
 
-- Secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, Ali 
Larijani arrived July 26 in Damascus to meet with SARG 
officials on the Israel-Hizballah conflict and the Rome 
Conference, according to Arab regional media. Unconfirmed 
reports by one of the less credible Arab media outlets 
indicated that Larijani would meet with Syria's President 
Bashar al-Asad and Hizballah's Sheikh Nasrallah in Damascus, 
and stretching rumor even to the breaking point, that 
Nasrallah had fled Lebanon and now lives incognito in Syria. 
 
-- Syrian media is increasingly attributing the 
responsibility for and origination of Israeli operations in 
Lebanon to the U.S.  In two different editorials, SARG-owned 
newspaper, Tishreen, declared: "Israel is waging an American 
war with clear objectives." and "President Bush opened 
Pentagon assets wide to the Israeli aggression machine to 
kill and destroy the Lebanese." 
 
-- Charge met July 26 with Andrew Goledzinowski, an 
Australian assistant secretary for counter-terrorism and the 
head of a small team of Australian officials from the Dept. 
of Foreign Affairs and Trade who are standing up an operation 
in Damascus for the duration of the conflict in Israel and 
Lebanon.  Goledzinowski said he has five colleagues with him, 
most of them consular or immigration officials.  They are 
working temporarily out of the Canadian Embassy but will 
likely have to find office space of their own.  Australia 
closed its Embassy in Damascus in 2000 and have been covering 
Syria from Cairo ever since. 
 
-- A Norwegian envoy was expected to arrive July 26 in Syria, 
according to a Reuters report.  The envoy, Sven Sevje, was 
formerly Norwegian ambassador to Damascus and is now an 
Oslo-based regional emissary. 
 
¶3.  (SBU) DAO reports increasing amounts of pro-Hizballah 
banners and paraphernalia (in Arabic) and anti-American 
graffiti (in English) in downtown Damascus. FSNs report 
growing anti-American sentiment in Damascus and sharpened 
criticism of them as American "agents" in the past week. 
 
Consular 
 
¶4. (U) The following are consular updates: 
 
-- ACS received 145 walk-in American citizens requesting 
assistance on July 26, down from 168 inquiries on July 25 
 
-- The Consular Section will begin processing new, immediate 
IV petitions from "clearly approvable" Lebanese who have not 
previously filed an application in Beirut.  Most applications 
so far have come from Lebanese spouses of American citizens. 
 
Economic 
 
¶5. (U) The following are economic updates: 
 
-- UNHCR staff monitoring four major crossing points from 
Lebanon to Syria reported fewer arrivals yesterday (8000-9000 
total), compared to 12,000 the previous day and around 20,000 
earlier.  It remains unclear how many displaced persons have 
arrived in Syria since the start of the conflict, but the UN 
estimates that figure at between 150,000-200,000.  An 
estimated 50 shelters for those displaced from Lebanon exist 
 
DAMASCUS 00003700  002 OF 002 
 
 
in temporary locations in and around Damascus and Syrian Arab 
Red Crescent has established two camps, each hosting 1,000 
people, according to Reuters. 
 
-- UNHRC has supplies in Syria for more than 20,000 people, 
which have yet to be delivered, including: 20,000 mattresses; 
20,000 blankets; 5,000 family tents; 5,000 bales of plastic 
sheeting; 10,000 jerry cans; 5,000 stoves and 5,000 cooking 
sets, according to Reuters.  UNHCR has additional supplies 
available from regional stockpiles in Jordan, Kuwait and 
Iraq. 
 
-- The SARG General Directorate of Customs has donated goods 
previously confiscated along the Syrian-Lebanese border to 
the Syrian Arab Red Crescent to deliver in a July 27 
humanitarian convoy to Lebanon, according media accounts. 
The Syrian Arab Red Crescent, in association with the 
Lebanese Red Crescent, has coordinated the arrival of the 
convoy with the belligerent parties in Lebanon. 
 
-- The Syrian Pound continues its devaluation on the black 
market, reaching 52.5 Syrian pounds to the U.S. dollar, its 
weakest point this summer.  The decline of the Syrian 
currency, which initially held steady after the 
Israel-Hizballah crisis erupted, may reflect a decision by 
Lebanese refugees to refrain from spending their hard 
currency in anticipation of longer-than-expected stays in 
Syria. 
 
-- Syrian media reports long lines at blood centers after the 
SARG publicly called for Syrians to donate blood.  (Comment: 
The long lines, however, may be more a function of a limited 
capability to process blood donations than an overwhelming 
desire by Syrians to give blood.) 
 
-- Anecdotal reports from Embassy FSNs suggest that 
Lebanon-sourced goods are no longer reaching Syrian markets 
as the violence and destruction of transportation 
infrastructure in Lebanon severely inhibits trade between the 
countries. 
SECHE