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OO RUEHWEB

DE RUEHDM #0015/01 0081306
ZNR UUUUU ZZH (508)
O 081306Z JAN 07
FM AMEMBASSY DAMASCUS
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 2737
RHEHAAA/WHITE HOUSE WASHDC IMMEDIATE
RUEHAM/AMEMBASSY AMMAN 6476
RUEHLB/AMEMBASSY BEIRUT 4258
RUEHEG/AMEMBASSY CAIRO 2864
RUEHRH/AMEMBASSY RIYADH 7435
RUEHTV/AMEMBASSY TEL AVIV 1481
RUEHAK/AMEMBASSY ANKARA 4817
RUEHJM/AMCONSUL JERUSALEM 1042
RHMFISS/HQ USCENTCOM MACDILL AFB FL//CCPA//
INFO RUEHNC/AMEMBASSY NICOSIA 7165

UNCLAS DAMASCUS 000015 
 
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/Europe, US/Syria, Bush's Iraq Strategy, Palestinian 
Territories, Lebanon, Iran (1/8) 
 
¶1. Summary:  Syrian papers on Jan. 8 reported the Jan. 7 visit to 
Damascus by a British-European parliamentary delegation headed by 
Former European Commission President Jacques Santier.  The 
delegation met President Asad.  Talks focused on developments in 
Iraq, Lebanon, and the occupied Palestinian territories as well as 
the Middle East peace process and the reasons behind its suspension. 
 The prospects for the EU-Syrian Association Agreement under the 
currently prevailing situation were also discussed.  President Asad 
stressed Syria's firm positions regarding support for the ongoing 
political process in Iraq, and its support for what Palestinians and 
Lebanese agree upon without foreign influences.  President Asad also 
stressed the importance of peace for the region, saying it will help 
achieve security and stability, and development and prosperity for 
its peoples.  The meeting was also attended by Foreign Minister 
Walid al-Mouallem. 
 
The delegation was also received by Vice-President Shara.  Talks 
dealt with current regional developments and relations between Syria 
and the EU and the importance of signing of the EU-Syrian 
Association Agreement.  The meeting was attended by Assistant 
Foreign Minister Ahmed Arnous and the Directors of the Europe and 
Foreign Media Departments at the Foreign Ministry.  Later the 
delegation conferred with Dr. Mahmoud al-Abrash, Speaker of the 
People's Assembly, who stressed that the solution for all regional 
problems depends on solving the Arab-Israeli conflict and 
establishing a Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital. 
 
End of summary. 
 
¶2.  Selected Headlines: 
 
"President Asad discusses current developments in the region and the 
EU-Syrian partnership with a European delegation.  President Asad: 
'Syria supports the political process in Iraq and what Palestinians 
and Lebanese agree upon.... Peace achieves security and stability in 
the region and development and prosperity for its peoples'" 
(Government-owned Tishreen, 1/8) 
 
"VP Shara to the European delegation:  Some superpowers' 
interventions have escalated tension in the region" 
(Government-owned Al-Thawra, 1/8) 
 
"The EU delegation:  Syria enjoys a substantive role in the region" 
(Government-owned Al-Ba'th, 1/8) 
 
"In anticipation of the Bush strategy, the Pentagon:  22 US troops 
injured in Iraq.  British daily 'The Independent':  President Bush's 
governmental changes reflect his catastrophic policy.  Nancy Pelosi, 
Speaker of US House of Representatives:  Democrats will not give 
Bush a blank check"  (Government-owned Tishreen, 1/8) 
 
"A US opinion poll:  Americans do not trust Bush; Bush's strategy 
will increase troops in Iraq and will focus on an economic plan" 
(Government-owned Tishreen, 1/8) 
 
"Security measures tightened in Najaf and Kofa.  Five American and 
British soldiers killed in Iraq" (Government-owned Tishreen, 1/8) 
 
"Lebanese circles and figures support the trade unions' strike on 
Tuesday, calling for the largest participation and warning the 
governing team against creating crises:  No withdrawal until all 
nationalists' demands have been fulfilled" (Government-owned 
Tishreen, 1/8) 
 
"An Israeli scheme to blow up Iranian nuclear establishments.  Iran: 
 Will make aggressors regret attacking us" (Government-owned 
Al-Thawra, 1/8) 
 
"Israel intensifies the campaign of arrests in the West Bank. 
Tension among Palestinian factions continues" (Government-owned 
Al-Thawra, 1/8) 
 
¶3.  Editorial Block Quotes: 
 
----------------------- 
 
"Strategy and Approach" 
 
----------------------- 
 
Izz-al-Din al-Darwish, an editorialist in government-owned Tishreen, 
commented (1/8):  "Pending the announcement of Bush's new strategy 
toward Iraq tomorrow or the day after, as US sources mentioned, the 
picture is becoming complete and certainty is replacing speculation. 
 There are, however, more than enough indications and statements to 
say that the expected new situation might not be better for Iraq and 
the region in general, that matters might get worse.... 
 
"US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi said:  'We want to 
reform the bad image the United States is leaving in Iraq, and we 
want to involve Syria and Iran in a regional conference in Iraq.' 
This means that Bush's measures and strategy are not sufficiently 
approved of by the Democrats.... 
 
"Up to now, it does not seem that Bush is likely to change this 
approach;  on the contrary, all the positions he has expressed 
indicate a change in method, not approach.  Here lies the danger in 
the new upcoming strategy of Bush.... 
 
"US sources affirmed that he was continuing to pressure Israel to 
prevent it from holding peace talks with Syria.  Is it possible 
after all this to rely on a new strategy from the Bush 
administration?  Or is it only the faces and names that will change, 
while the old approach will continue to dominate the US foreign 
policy, especially in the Arab region?" 
 
------------------- 
 
"Bush Is the Worst" 
 
------------------- 
 
Ali Nasrallah, an editorialist in government-owned Al-Thawra, said 
(1/8):  "President Bush, through his stubbornness, desperate logic, 
and arrogant approach, insists on being the worst US president.... 
Although a number of prominent neoconservatives, who strongly 
supported the Iraq war, now publicly admit that the war decision was 
wrong..., Bush remains stubborn and is talking about patience and 
steadfastness in the field and about sending 40,000 more soldiers to 
Iraq.... 
 
"Bush is in a strange state of denial, ignoring the Baker-Hamilton 
report and forgetting that the defeat of his party in the 
Congressional midterm elections was the result of his policy and the 
bad performance of his administration.... 
 
"President Bush, who is now drafting a new strategy in Iraq and 
warning Democrats that a partisan performance in Congress would only 
lead them to a deadlock, must realize that his strategy of imposing 
hegemony on the world is an act of the past that must be forgotten. 
It is high time he stopped being arrogant and extremist in his 
approach to sovereign states and realized that the concept of a 
dominant single power has become meaningless, indeed an illusion." 
 
-------------------------- 
 
"A Card Burned in Advance" 
 
-------------------------- 
 
Ahmad Dawwa, a commentator in government-owned Al-Thawra, wrote 
(1/8):  "Unfortunately, the Bush administration still believes it 
can change Syria's constant policy on regional and contentious 
issues between the two countries through measures that never served 
their purpose in the past.  It can be said that this administration 
has lost its credibility in this regard on both the US and 
international levels after confirmation of the falsehood of the 
series of accusations that the United States leveled against several 
countries, including Syria, with regard to weapons of mass 
destruction.... 
 
"Allegations by the Bush administration regarding purely civilian 
 
organizations that operate within the framework of enhancing the 
current development process in Syria, and consequently its efforts 
to impose sanctions on them, are an invalid excuse to play in 
advance the last burnt card with Syria, in a bid to pressure it on 
sensitive and critical issues that must be dealt with through 
dialogue and cooperation in order to reach useful solutions, and not 
by threatening, menacing, or imposing sanctions that only widen the 
gap between the two sides, contrary to extensive American and 
international calls that urge this administration to open direct 
dialogue with Syria in light of its important and pivotal role in 
achieving security and stability in the region. 
 
"Talk by the US Department of the Treasury about information that 
prompted it to adopt this measure is a figment of the imagination. 
If there is any information, then it is wrong and its source is 
Israel, which is the only party in the region that possesses a 
nuclear arsenal, one that threatens security and stability under US 
protection.... 
 
"The US measure is fresh evidence of the Bush administration's false 
allegations about supporting progress and scientific development. 
If this were true, it would not have resorted to such measures, 
especially since Syria is committed to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation 
Treaty, unlike Israel, which has refused to join it and has begun to 
flaunt its nuclear weapons publicly." 
 
---------------------------- 
 
"US Aid to Nurture Sedition" 
 
---------------------------- 
 
Ahmad Suwwan, a political analyst in government-owned Tishreen, 
commented (1/8):  "The US announced that it will offer $86.4 million 
to support the security forces of the Palestinian Presidency.... 
 
"This aid announcement followed an agreement between Palestinian 
President Mahmud Abbas and Palestinian Prime Minister Isma'il 
Haniyah to remove armed men from Gaza streets and continue the 
dialogue between Fatah and HAMAS to form a national unity 
government.... 
 
"This means that the United States does not accept such an agreement 
between Fatah and HAMAS, and indeed does not accept a national unity 
government.  It has always worked and tried to maintain the 
Palestinian crisis on the political level and to escalate domestic 
differences to the point of infighting and domestic strife in the 
field.... 
 
"The US has never been for the higher interest of the Palestinian 
people.... Through its support for the forces of the presidency, the 
United States seeks to keep the Palestinian arena in rifts and 
differences.  It also wants to continue to punish the Palestinian 
people -- but this time through gratuitous death and domestic 
fighting -- for their free and democratic decision to bring HAMAS to 
the Legislative Council and then to the Palestinian government...." 
 
Roebuck