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OO RUEHWEB

DE RUEHDM #5428/01 3550950
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O 210950Z DEC 06
FM AMEMBASSY DAMASCUS
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 2661
RHEHAAA/WHITE HOUSE WASHDC IMMEDIATE
RUEHAM/AMEMBASSY AMMAN 6458
RUEHLB/AMEMBASSY BEIRUT 4245
RUEHEG/AMEMBASSY CAIRO 2847
RUEHRH/AMEMBASSY RIYADH 7422
RUEHTV/AMEMBASSY TEL AVIV 1467
RUEHAK/AMEMBASSY ANKARA 4805
RUEHJM/AMCONSUL JERUSALEM 1027
RHMFISS/HQ USCENTCOM MACDILL AFB FL//CCPA//
INFO RUEHNC/AMEMBASSY NICOSIA 7155

UNCLAS DAMASCUS 005428 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR PA, NEA/ARN, INR/IC/CD, INR/R/MR:STHIBEAULT AND 
JMCCARTER, VOA NEWS CA, NEA/PPD:CBOURGEOIS, AZAIBACK, AND 
AFERNANDEZ, IIP/G/NEA-SA MDAVIDSON 
WHITE HOUSE FOR NSC 
CENTCOM FOR CCPA 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KMDR PREL KPAO OPRC SY
SUBJECT: Syria/Russia, Brammertz Report, Palestinian Territories, 
Iraq (12/20) 
 
 
¶1.  Summary:  On Dec. 20 Syrian papers focused on President Asad's 
Dec. 19 visit to Russia and his meeting with President Putin. 
Headlines featured this portion of Asad's statement in a news 
conference after meeting President Vladimir Putin. "We want to have 
a dialogue but you have to differentiate between dialogue and giving 
instructions.  We are open for dialogue but we will not take 
instructions."  Asad also said he is always ready for talks with the 
US provided that there is a suitable topic. "Any dialogue," he said, 
"is useful as long as you are discussing joint interests, not only 
others' interests and forget yours."  President Asad denied Israeli 
media reports that Syria had sent secret proposals to Israel 
proposing talks on the disputed Golan Heights and offering help on 
releasing an Israeli soldier captured by Hamas. "There is no such 
proposal -- nothing," he said.  He said that Syria wants peace but 
the Israeli government is not capable of achieving such peace. 
 
Papers also reported that on Dec. 19 the UN Security Council 
listened to a statement from Serge Brammertz, chairman of the 
international investigation commission into the assassination of 
former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq al-Hariri, on his recent 
report, in which he stressed Syria's cooperation with the 
investigation. Bashar al-Ja'fari, Syria's representative to the 
United Nations, stressed to the Council that Syria continues to 
cooperate with the commission and provide it with any information 
that becomes available to it on this issue. He said that Brammertz' 
report clearly shows that Syria's cooperation was satisfactory and 
on time.  He added that Syria is committed to continuing its 
cooperation with a professional and neutral investigation out of its 
full eagerness to reveal the truth.  At the same time, he warned 
against the exploitation of the investigation by some parties in our 
region and beyond to serve political purposes. 
 
Syrian commentators on Dec. 20 warned Palestinians that their 
clashes serve only their Israeli enemy. They criticized the foreign 
parties that support one Palestinian group against another and the 
local parties that count on this foreign support. 
 
End of summary. 
 
¶2.  Selected Headlines: 
 
"The Syrian-Russian summit: a success reflecting developed 
relations.  Presidents Asad and Putin hold fruitful and constructive 
talks focusing on bilateral relations and regional issues. President 
Asad:  Russia enjoys an important position and plays an effective 
role in the world and the region" (Government-owned Al-Ba'th, 
12/20) 
 
"President Asad:  We are open for dialogue but we will not take 
instructions.  We want to achieve peace, but the appropriate 
conditions are still unavailable. 
President Putin: Syria's role is important" (Government-owned 
Al-Thawra, 12/20) 
 
"Foreign Minister al-Mouallem to the Washington Post: Peace, 
stability and prosperity are Syria's main goals... Attempts to 
isolate Syria have failed and the American administration must adopt 
a new method based on dialogue. Restoring occupied Golan is a 
priority for Syrian policy... We support stability in Lebanon and 
Iraq, but we do not do bargains" (Government-owned Tishreen, 12/20) 
 
"Syria's Representative to the UN Security Council:  The Brammertz 
Report indicates Syria's cooperation in exposing the truth on the 
Al-Hariri assassination" (Government-owned Tishreen, 12/20) 
 
"In a new defiance of international legitimacy, Israel accelerates 
settlement activities in the Golan" (Government-owned Tishreen, 
12/20) 
 
"AL Secretary General Mossa returns to Beirut.  Al-Saniora 
government reiterates rejection of early elections" 
(Government-owned Al-Thawra, 12/20) 
 
"Hamas and Fatah agree on ceasefire and withdrawing militiamen from 
the street.  Hanieh:  There is a US decision to topple the 
Palestinian government" (Government-owned Al-Ba'th, 12/20) 
 
 
¶3.  Editorial Block Quotes: 
 
--------------------------------------- 
 
"A Tour in Extraordinary Circumstances" 
 
--------------------------------------- 
 
An unsigned editorial in government-owned Al-Ba'th, said (12/20): 
"President Al-Asad's current tour of some Arab countries and Russia 
enjoys a great importance.... 
 
"Syria is a main player in the region and it has its opinion, 
position, and vision toward every issue and file.  But above all, it 
has occupied territory and it adheres to the restoration of every 
inch of it.  This is a fact that the Europeans and the Americans 
know. Syria's position will not change despite all the pressure and 
attempts to isolate Syria that were practiced in the past two years. 
These facts and situations explain the importance of the talks that 
President Asad will hold with Russian President Vladimir Putin in 
light of the US Administration's crisis in Iraq and its 
determination to continue interfering in the affairs of the region 
and the world." 
 
--------------------------------------------- ---- 
 
"Strategic Failure and the Policy of Pressure on Syria" 
 
--------------------------------------------- ---- 
 
Fayiz Izz-al-Din, a political analyst in government-owned Al-Thawra, 
wrote (12/20):  "President Bush is applying pressure on Syria 
instead of discussing his and his army's predicament in Iraq.... 
 
"Syria is under pressure because it defends Arab rights and adopts 
an independent foreign policy whereby it rejects foreign 
dictates.... The political and geo-strategic crisis of the current 
US Administration might lead to the launching of new aggressions 
against other countries, including Syria, in an attempt to come out 
of this crisis.... 
 
"Bush's demands that Syria release political detainees and stop its 
efforts to destabilize the region are flagrant interference in 
Syria's domestic affairs.... They reflect an imperial tendency that 
refuses to admit failure and that gambles with the future of 
humanity to serve its illegitimate and inhuman purposes...." 
 
------------------------- 
 
"Who Is the Beneficiary?" 
 
------------------------- 
 
Umar Jaftali, an editorialist in government-owned Tishreen, said 
(12/20):  "The inter-Palestinian clashes represent a gift to Israel, 
which dreams of dragging the Palestinians into a civil war on behalf 
of its army, which was exhausted in the aggression on Lebanon, and 
its government, which was worn out politically and economically as a 
result of that aggression.... 
 
"It is true that a cease-fire was arranged yesterday, but it is also 
true that tension remains between the presidency and the government. 
 Some parties are adding fuel to the fire by taking the side of this 
party or that, as Tony Blair did yesterday, and as the American and 
EU reactions showed when they imposed a collective punishment on the 
Palestinian people for their democratic option and election of their 
government. This deluded some Palestinians into thinking that only 
the removal of this government would end the siege, the collective 
punishment, and the Israeli practices and allow the resumption of 
the settlement process.... 
 
"There is an American-Israeli conspiracy against the Palestinian 
people.... We regret that some Palestinian parties dealt with this 
plan in good faith in the hope they would overcome the difficult 
situation....  There is a need to contain Palestinian differences 
 
and activate all efforts on the basis of national priorities." 
 
----------------------- 
 
"Where Is the Way Out?" 
 
----------------------- 
Ghazi al-Dada, a commentator in government-owned Tishreen, wrote 
(12/20):  "President Bush is not listening to the growing voices 
that call on him to change his Iraq policy.... 
 
"Bush knows that he is up to his ears in the Iraqi quagmire, but he 
denies it out of stubbornness, nothing else. He is looking for a 
face-saving way out of this quagmire, into which his confused and 
stupid policies pushed him.  He can find this exit in the 
Baker-Hamilton recommendations, but it seems the shackles that tie 
his hands -- and most of them are Zionist -- are too powerful to 
enable him to free himself and implement the recommendations...." 
 
Roebuck