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C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 LISBON 001845 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/28/2016 
TAGS: PREL PO IR SY
SUBJECT: PORTUGAL'S FOREIGN MINISTER MEETS WITH SYRIAN 
INFORMATION MINISTER 
 
 
Classified By: Acting Pol/Econ Couns Cari Enav for reasons 1.4 (b) and 
(d). 
 
Summary 
----------- 
¶1. (C)  On August 29, the Foreign Minister's Diplomatic 
Advisor provided Charge d'Affaires with a read-out of Foreign 
Minister Amado's August 24 meeting with Syrian Information 
Minister Mohsen Bilal.  Bilal asserted that the Middle East 
needed to be "reengineered" from the inside and that anything 
imported or imposed was unacceptable.   He reiterated Syria's 
well-known stance that Israel was the stumbling block to 
resolving the Middle East's woes.  Bilal did not deny that 
Syria maintained an active diplomatic and political dialogue 
with Iran, but asserted that Syria promoted the more moderate 
segments of the Palestinian and Iranian societies.  Bilal 
further noted that Syria's isolation was only strengthening 
Iran's influence in the Muslim world.  Amado underscored that 
the region's solution would need to be solved by looking at 
the issues strategically, not from an historical perspective. 
 Clearly, Amado asserted, Iran was not the solution.  Syria 
considered itself a "defender of Lebanese reconciliation" and 
opposed troop deployment along its border, primarily because 
it was a French proposal."  End Summary. 
 
Background 
-------------- 
¶2. (C)  On August 29, the Foreign Minister's Diplomatic 
Advisor Paulo Lourenco provided Charge d'Affaires O'Neal with 
a read-out of Foreign Minister Amado's August 24 meeting with 
Syrian Information Minister Mohsen Bilal.  Lourenco noted 
that Amado had accepted the Syrian meeting request - passed 
to the FM during his August 22 visit to Cairo - because it 
was important to hear the Syrian viewpoint, particularly in 
light of Portugal's commitment to contribute to UNIFIL.  He 
commented that the Israeli air strikes had agitated Syria by 
bolstering Iran's standing in the region and further weakened 
the Syrian regime which suffered from internal turmoil. 
Lourenco also noted that over the last few weeks, Syrian 
officials had met with Italian PM Prodi, the Spanish FM, a 
German official, as well as with officials in Valletta and 
Larnarca. 
 
Israel the Main Stumbling Block 
--------------------------------------- 
¶3. (C)  Bilal asserted that the Middle East needed to be 
"reengineered" from the inside and that anything imported or 
imposed was unacceptable.   He reiterated Syria's well-known 
stance that Israel was the stumbling block to resolving the 
Middle East's woes and underscored that there could be no 
comprehensive solution without the return of the Golan 
Heights.  Bilal explained that Israel had secretly signaled a 
willingness to resume negotiations, commenting that Israel 
had "bought peace with Egypt and Jordan, and that now it was 
time to buy peace with Syria." 
 
¶4. (C)  Amado insisted that Syria had to recognize Israel and 
that any resumption of fighting would be unacceptable and 
extremely detrimental.  In response to Bilal's comment that 
Syria had acknowledged Israel in 1967, Amado countered that 
Syria needed to explicitly recognize the country. 
 
Iran's Increasing Influence 
------------------------------ 
¶5. (C)  Bilal commented that Iran was clearly a powerful 
player in the region, benefiting from its more advance 
economy, from Arab disunity, and from the recent conflict in 
Lebanon.  He did not deny that Syria maintained an active 
diplomatic and political dialogue with Iran, but asserted 
that Syria promoted the more moderate segments of the 
Palestinian and Iranian societies.  He underscored that Syria 
did not support Al-Qaeda but implied that Syria had problems 
with its own extremists, which it could not resolve on its 
own. 
 
¶6. (C)  Amado underscored that the region's solution would 
need to be solved by looking at the issues strategically, not 
from an historical perspective.  Clearly, he asserted, Iran 
was not the solution.  Amado emphasized the need to bring all 
the Middle East parties together, and that Syria could play a 
constructive role by working more consistently through fewer 
channels of communications.  Amado criticized Assad's recent 
comments as "destructive" and urged Syria to play a more 
positive role in the region. 
 
And Syria's Increasing Isolation 
-------------------------------------- 
¶7. (C)  Bilal noted that Syria's isolation was only 
 
LISBON 00001845  002 OF 002 
 
 
strengthening Iran's influence in the Muslim world.  He 
commented that the Syrian government was trying to hold 
itself together, but that things were getting worse. 
Regional animosity was increasing, and the Israeli strikes 
had only strengthened the radicals.   Assad, whom Bilal 
characterized as more flexible than himself, was seeking 
rapprochement through the Barcelona Process (acknowledging 
that the process had evolved since its inception). 
 
Defender of Lebanese Reconciliation 
--------------------------------------------- 
¶8. (C)  With regard to Lebanon, Bilal commented that Syria 
was "a defender of reconciliation."  However, the recent 
events in Lebanon had strengthened Iran's influence, making 
Hezbollah even more problematic to the reconciliation effort. 
 Bilal underscored that Syria would consider troop deployment 
along its border as "a provocation" because of the strong 
"emotional and family-like bond" it shared with the Lebanese. 
 When pressed by Amado, Bilal admitted that Syria opposed 
troop deployment along its border because it was a French 
idea. 
 
Comment 
----------- 
¶9. (C)  Paulo Lourenco characterized the meeting as a "Syrian 
cry for help."  He noted that Iran's regional influence both 
fascinated and scared Syria which felt an increasing 
discomfort with its world standing.  It appeared to him that 
the Syrian regime was looking for a way to hold onto power 
and impede Iran's growing influence.  Lourenco underscored 
that Amado's meeting with Bilal did not signal a departure of 
Portugal's commitment to maintaining pressure on Syria and 
that Portugal remained a staunch ally in the war against 
terror.  However, Amado felt it was important to hear Syria's 
thinking as Portugal prepared to contribute troops to UNIFIL 
in this very volatile region.  Lourenco dismissed any notion 
of Portugal freelancing or lack of solidarity with the US 
position on rogue states.  "When the chips are down," he 
commented, "it is clear who we stand with." 
O'Neal