VZCZCXYZ0297
OO RUEHWEB

DE RUEHDM #0099/01 0301316
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 301316Z JAN 07
FM AMEMBASSY DAMASCUS
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 2891
RHEHAAA/WHITE HOUSE WASHDC IMMEDIATE
RUEHAM/AMEMBASSY AMMAN 6546
RUEHLB/AMEMBASSY BEIRUT 4319
RUEHEG/AMEMBASSY CAIRO 2930
RUEHRH/AMEMBASSY RIYADH 7490
RUEHTV/AMEMBASSY TEL AVIV 1543
RUEHAK/AMEMBASSY ANKARA 4884
RUEHJM/AMCONSUL JERUSALEM 1098
RHMFISS/HQ USCENTCOM MACDILL AFB FL//CCPA//
INFO RUEHNC/AMEMBASSY NICOSIA 7222

UNCLAS DAMASCUS 000099 
 
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:  Asad/Mubarak, Syria/EU, Israel, Lebanon, Iraq, Palestinian 
Territories (1/30) 
 
 
¶1.  Summary:  Syrian papers on Jan. 30 reported that President Asad 
had a telephone conversation with President Mubarak on Jan. 29, 
during which the leaders discussed the intra-Palestinian clashes and 
means to stop them. 
 
On Syrian-EU relations, papers reported that VP Shara on Jan. 29 
hailed efforts by Frank Hesske, Head of the European Union 
Commission in Damascus, in pushing cooperation between Syria and the 
European Union forward.  VP Shara met Mr. Hesske on the occasion of 
ending his mission as an Ambassador in Damascus.  Mr. Hesske 
expressed deep thanks to the Syrian government for its cooperation 
during his work in Syria. 
 
Papers also reported that Lucien Peterlien, Chairman of the 
French-Arab Solidarity Association, stressed that Syria is a key 
country in any comprehensive solution in the Middle East.  In a 
statement issued on Jan. 29, Mr. Peterlien called for halting 
foreign interference in the internal affairs of Lebanon, as this 
affects the situation there negatively.  The statement emphasized 
the necessity of reviving the peace process in the Middle East to 
establish just and comprehensive peace in the region. 
 
End of summary. 
 
¶2.  Selected Headlines: 
 
"President Asad discusses mechanism for ending Palestinian 
in-fighting on phone with President Mubarak of Egypt" 
(Government-owned Al-Ba'th, 1/30) 
 
"VP Shara says good-bye to Frank Hesske, Head of the European 
Commission Delegation to Syria, at the end of his mission in 
Damascus.  Shara praises Hesske's effort to boost Syrian-EU 
cooperation" (Government-owned Tishreen, 1/30) 
 
"Member of the Regional Leadership of the Baath Party Sataihi 
attends New Delhi Conference on Peace and Non-Violence:  Ending 
occupation and violence is the basis for security and stability in 
the region" (Government-owned Al-Thawra, 1/30) 
 
"Lucien Peterlien, Chairman of French-Arab Solidarity Association: 
Syria is key country in any comprehensive solution in the Middle 
East" (Government-owned Tishreen, 1/30) 
 
"Iraqi National Security Council reiterates the importance of 
enhancing relations with Syria" (Government-owned Tishreen, 1/30) 
 
"Remarkable Israeli deployment in South Lebanon.  Hizbollah SecGen 
Nasrallah:  The US Administration and its satellites are brewing 
major sedition" (Government-owned Tishreen, 1/30) 
 
"Flying of Israeli poison balloons continues in Lebanon.  Its danger 
reaches Jordan" (Government-owned Tishreen, 1/30) 
 
"Eilat bombing claims the lives of three Israelis.  Olmert threatens 
military action.  Washington denounces the operation" 
(Government-owned Al-Ba'th, 1/30) 
 
"The Israeli government intends to buy thousands of smart bombs from 
the US" (Government-owned Tishreen, 1/30) 
 
"The Maliki government continues to fight gunmen.  More than 40,000 
Americans flee military service in Iraq" (Government-owned 
Al-Thawra, 1/30) 
 
¶3.  Editorial Block Quotes: 
 
------------- 
 
"The US Hand" 
 
------------- 
 
Izz-al-Din al-Darwish, an editorialist in government-owned Tishreen 
wrote (1/30):  "America's tools in the region are engaged in a 
hysterical campaign against everything nationalist, pan-Arab, and 
 
involving resistance against Israel.... 
 
"In Iraq, the Bush administration wants to achieve victory through 
sectarian strife, civil war, and geographic division.  Although it 
is denying this, it is deeply involved in it as revenge against 
Iraqis who refused to surrender to American occupation and control. 
 
"In the Palestinian territories, this administration wants to stop 
the interaction between leaders and grassroots, besiege the 
resistance, and drive a wedge between the elected government and the 
people, in harmony with the Israeli occupation plans.  The result 
has been this fighting among brothers. 
 
"In Lebanon, the US Administration wants to annihilate the 
resistance by tampering with the Lebanese fabric and reviving 
sectarian and denominational strife.  It wants to push traders in 
politics and blood to the forefront and to apply pressure on the 
Arab and international levels to impose them as rulers of 
Lebanon.... 
 
"What is even more dangerous is that the Bush administration wants 
to expand the cycle of its mess in and around the region.  It is 
making threats against this country or that.  It is allocating funds 
for the aggression and preparing the climate for new wars.... 
 
"For all these reasons, Arab and Islamic peoples find themselves 
forced to keep away from and to hate the United States.  The hatred 
towards the Bush administration automatically turns into hatred 
toward the United States.... 
 
"Americans themselves have similar feelings towards their 
administration, as shown by protest demonstrations and the results 
of public opinion polls...." 
 
------------------- 
 
"Unilateral Policy" 
 
------------------- 
 
Muhammad Khayr al-Jammali, an editorialist in government-owned 
Al-Thawrah, wrote (1/30): "There is growing criticism of President 
Bush's unilateral decision-making with regard to sensitive issues 
like the war on Iraq.... 
 
"This policy will greatly endanger American interests, further 
isolate the United States, and push the world toward more tragedies 
and disasters.... 
 
"The Congress must discuss the dangers and repercussions of the 
unilateral policy seriously and put an end to it to save the lives 
of American soldiers in Iraq, maintain the right of the Iraqi people 
to a secure and stable life, end the neoconservatives' threats to 
many countries, and allow the United States to regain world 
confidence...." 
 
------------------------- 
 
"Isn't Baghdad Enough?" 
 
------------------------- 
 
As'ad Abbud, a commentator in government-owned Al-Thawrah, wrote 
(1/30):  "The United States, through its agents in the region, is 
working to divide the Arab and Muslim street and turn the 
Arab-Israeli conflict into an Arab-Iranian conflict. 
 
"The US endeavors to divert Arab hostility toward Iran....  Israel 
and the United States, though militarily superior to Iran, are 
afraid to engage in a military confrontation with it.... 
 
"Instead of Iran being, as it really is, a strategic ally of the 
countries of the region, especially against the Zionist enemy, 
Americans and Israelis want it to be an enemy that the countries of 
the region can confront with Zionist support....  Arab peoples are 
resisting this inclination...." 
 
 
--------------------------------------------- ------- 
 
"Industry of Portraying Tragedies and Catastrophes as Tremendous 
Successes to the Decision-Makers' Minds" 
 
--------------------------------------------- ------- 
Buthaynah Sha'ban, Minister of Expatriate Affairs, wrote in 
government-owned Tishrin:  (1/30):  "There is a big difference 
between the real situation in areas of tension, such as in Iraq and 
the Middle East in general, and the picture that is conveyed to the 
decision-makers in Washington about the situations in these 
areas.... Decision-makers are not aware of, or have illusions about, 
the real sufferings and the true feelings in the region and the 
world.... 
 
"Is there anything more dangerous than insistence by the Vice 
President of the world's superpower that Iraq is recording 'huge 
successes' -- as reported by The Washington Post on 25 January 2007 
-- while the entire world agrees that Iraq is experiencing 'a 
horrible disaster' that has destroyed the essence and purpose of 
life as known by all of humanity...? 
 
"This gap between reality and illusion leads to the vicious racist 
onslaught and wars, occupations, and aggressions that we are seeing 
today...." 
 
-------------------------- 
 
"Between Hammer and Anvil" 
 
-------------------------- 
 
Umar Jaftali, a commentator in government-owned Tishrin, wrote 
(1/30):  "It is regrettable that the warring Palestinian factions 
are ignoring the fact that their clashes serve Israel, which will 
have no mercy on the winning party, although Israel is making 
promises and offering temptations, such as a Palestinian state with 
temporary borders and the release of some Palestinian funds.... 
 
"Some sick people are adding fuel to the fire.... The problem is 
essentially fabricated and has exposed Israeli-American objectives. 
Israel will not recognize any Palestinian right.  It just wants to 
get rid of the largest number of Palestinians, whether through 
aggression, terror, and crimes, or through internecine Palestinian 
fighting.  Thus, Palestinians are the only losers when they insist 
on falling into the Israeli trap...." 
 
Corbin