VZCZCXYZ0000
OO RUEHWEB

DE RUEHDM #5368/01 3401351
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 061351Z DEC 06
FM AMEMBASSY DAMASCUS
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 2569
RHEHAAA/WHITE HOUSE WASHDC IMMEDIATE
RUEHAM/AMEMBASSY AMMAN 6423
RUEHLB/AMEMBASSY BEIRUT 4215
RUEHEG/AMEMBASSY CAIRO 2812
RUEHRH/AMEMBASSY RIYADH 7395
RUEHTV/AMEMBASSY TEL AVIV 1429
RUEHAK/AMEMBASSY ANKARA 4779
RUEHJM/AMCONSUL JERUSALEM 0994
RHMFISS/HQ USCENTCOM MACDILL AFB FL//CCPA//
INFO RUEHNC/AMEMBASSY NICOSIA 7129

UNCLAS DAMASCUS 005368 
 
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: Golan Prisoners, Palestinian 
Factions, Syria/Turkey, Lebanon, Iraq, Rumsfeld (12/6) 
 
 
¶1.  Summary:  Syrian papers on Dec. 6 reported that on Dec. 5 the 
Syrian Foreign Ministry addressed formal messages to UN SecGen Kofi 
Annan, the Chairman of the Security Council, the High Commission for 
Human Rights, and the Human Rights Council, informing them about the 
poor health of Sitan Nmr Alweli, a Syrian captive in the occupied 
Syrian Golan.  The messages pointed out the humiliating and 
difficult health conditions in which he is held, along with his 
comrades, in Israeli prisons, which led to the death of the prisoner 
Hayel Abu Zeid in June 2005 and are causing the deterioration of the 
health of Alweli.  The messages call on UN commissions to intervene 
promptly to secure the release and save the lives of Alweli and his 
comrades, and stress that the UN must oblige Israel to implement 
UNSC resolution No. 497 and all resolutions of the General Assembly 
and the Human Rights Council. 
 
Papers also reported a meeting of Palestinian PM Ismael Haneih in 
Damascus on Dec. 5 with Palestinian factions in Damascus, during 
which Haneih underlined his government's commitment to protect 
national rights and principles, especially the right of return, and 
its support of resistance to liberate occupied lands.  In a press 
conference with the Chairman of the Politburo of HAMAS, Khaled 
Meshal, and the Assistant Secretary General of the Popular Front for 
the Liberation of Palestine, Talal Naji, Haneih renewed respect for 
the democratic option and the Palestinian national project, and 
rejected foreign intervention. 
 
On Syria/Turkish relations, papers reported that Turkish PM Recep 
Tayyip Erdogan will pay a state visit to Syria on Dec. 6 for talks 
on the latest regional developments. 
 
Papers also featured the Senate Foreign Relations Committee 
confirmation hearing of Defense Secretary-designate Robert Gates on 
Dec. 5, in which he said that a U.S. attack on Syria would unleash a 
wave of anti-Americanism in the Middle East and would have "dramatic 
consequences for the US in the Middle East." 
 
End of summary. 
 
¶2.  Selected Headlines: 
 
"Turkish PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan is to visit Syria today" 
(Government-owned Al-Thawra, 12/6) 
 
"The Foreign Ministry addresses two memos to UN SecGen Kofi Annan 
and to the Human Rights Council to mediate for the release the 
Syrian prisoner Sitan Nmr Alweli and his comrades from Israeli jails 
in occupied Golan" (Government-owned Al-Thawra, 12/6) 
 
"Deputy Foreign Minister Dr. Faisal Miqdad:  We support options of 
the Lebanese people" (Government-owned Al-Thawra, 12/6) 
 
"Palestinian PM Hanieh, Chairman of the Politburo of HAMAS Khaled 
Meshal and Assistant Secretary General of the Popular Front for the 
Liberation of Palestine Talal Naji reiterate the importance of 
dialogue and commitment to Palestinian options" (Government-owned 
Al-Thawra, 12/6) 
 
"Gates calls for direct dialogue with Syria and Iran.  Any military 
assault against Syria will be costly" (Government-owned Tishreen, 
12/6) 
 
"Baker notifies Bush of his Committee's recommendations.  Gates, US 
Defense Secretary designate:  Dialogue with Syria and Iran will be 
useful" (Government-owned Al-Ba'th, 12/6) 
 
"The open sit-in enters its fifth day with strong momentum and 
remarkable popular participation.  Beirut buries the slain 
protestor.  The army warns the government that the Lebanese unrest 
could get out of control" (Government-owned Al-Ba'th, 12/6) 
 
"The Arab Ministerial Committee on Iraq calls for immediate 
dismantling of militias and establishing armed forces on national 
basis" (Government-owned Al-Ba'th, 1/26) 
 
¶3.  Editorial Block Quotes: 
 
--------------------------------------------- - 
 
"Palestine and the Priority of National Unity" 
 
--------------------------------------------- - 
 
Umar Jaftali, an editorialist in government-owned Tishreen, wrote 
(12/6):  "National unity is the first priority for Palestinians.... 
Palestinian divisions would be a gratuitous award for the enemy of 
the Palestinians and the Arab nation.... 
 
"There is an American-Israeli game to incite Palestinians against 
one and other and ignite domestic strife and infighting after the 
Zionist war machine failed to subjugate the Palestinians.... All 
this under the claim that the Palestinian government is responsible 
for the suffering of Palestinians.... 
 
"It is a dirty game, the price of which the Palestinian people are 
paying, in the form of a human disaster that worsens day after day. 
The question is:  Why didn't the Palestinian question see any 
American step showing good American intentions before the HAMAS 
government was established...? 
 
"The problem is not the government, but the colonialist mentality 
and the Zionist ambitions that deny the rights of others, contrary 
to international law and UN resolutions...." 
 
--------------------- 
 
"The US Domino Game" 
 
--------------------- 
 
Isam Dari, a commentator in government-owned Tishreen, wrote (12/6): 
 "How does the Lebanese government explain Israel's concern about 
the protests that the Lebanese opposition is staging...?  Do the 
Lebanese ministers really think they represent the Lebanese people, 
or most of them, while huge anti-government demonstrations are 
continuing for the fifth day running...? 
 
"What is happening in Lebanon is a peaceful popular revolution for a 
simple national objective, namely, a national unity government.... 
 
"But those who are monopolizing power see this popular demand as a 
coup against them.  They are not ashamed to hurt this popular 
Lebanese majority as they portray it as a crowd moving aimlessly to 
implement Syrian-Iranian orders! 
 
"This is not surprising, for those who take instructions from 
ambassadors, consuls, and high commissioners are trying to shake off 
this shame by accusing others of it.... 
 
"The Lebanese government is sticking to its position upon foreign 
instructions, so that the dominoes that the Bush administration and 
the neoconservatives have arranged in this region will not fall, as 
they fell in Iraq.  But we believe that the American domino game has 
reached its final stages.  The people ultimately prevail, no matter 
what price they pay and sacrifices they make." 
 
------------------------ 
 
"Lebanon Says its Word" 
 
------------------------ 
 
Adnan Mahmud, a columnist in government-owned Al-Thawra, wrote 
(12/6):  "The Lebanese people have gone to the streets to defend 
Lebanon's freedom, sovereignty, independence, Arabism, and national 
unity against the Zionist and American invaders and their local 
agents.... 
 
"The people of Lebanon have gone out to chant in the squares of 
Beirut and frustrate the sick dreams of the 'creative instability' 
and the new or greater Middle East, just as the valiant resistance 
did in the south through its historic confrontation of the brutal 
Zionist attack on the Lebanese people, land, and establishments. 
 
The people of Lebanon have gone out to shout in their faces, without 
fear or appeasement, 'we will not sell Lebanon to the 
American-Zionist project no matter what the price,' advising some 
politicians in the region to stop adding their suspicious fuel to 
the Zionist-American fire in Lebanon and the region as part of their 
compliance with the will of the White House, which was miserably 
defeated in the election, and which failed to the bone in its 
invasion of Iraq and its war on Afghanistan...." 
 
----------------- 
 
"Rumsfeld Admits" 
 
----------------- 
 
Ali Qasim, a commentator in government-owned Al-Thawra, wrote 
(12/6):  "US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld's admission that US 
strategy in Iraq was a failure appeared as an attempt to justify 
what cannot be justified, or an effort to tone down the impact of 
the current US crisis.... 
 
"The admission brings to mind what many people have said, namely, 
that Americans are sinking in the Iraqi quagmire.... This dictates 
key changes not only in form but also in content.... 
 
"Syria warned Americans of this end before the invasion and drew 
attention to it after the war, but the drums of war and the joy of 
swift victory did not allow anyone to hear or see the facts at that 
time.... 
 
"Rumsfeld's admission clearly reflects the permanent condition that 
affects American officials when they get ready to leave their posts. 
 They return to their senses when it is too late...." 
 
Corbin