VZCZCXYZ0018
OO RUEHWEB

DE RUEHDM #0120/01 0380708
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 070708Z FEB 07
FM AMEMBASSY DAMASCUS
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 2920
RHEHAAA/WHITE HOUSE WASHDC IMMEDIATE
RUEHAM/AMEMBASSY AMMAN 6555
RUEHLB/AMEMBASSY BEIRUT 4327
RUEHEG/AMEMBASSY CAIRO 2940
RUEHRH/AMEMBASSY RIYADH 7498
RUEHTV/AMEMBASSY TEL AVIV 1554
RUEHAK/AMEMBASSY ANKARA 4892
RUEHJM/AMCONSUL JERUSALEM 1106
RHMFISS/HQ USCENTCOM MACDILL AFB FL//CCPA//
INFO RUEHNC/AMEMBASSY NICOSIA 7230

UNCLAS DAMASCUS 000120 
 
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/Lebanon, Syria/Iraq, Palestinian hostility (2/2-5) 
 
 
¶1.  Summary:  Syrian papers reported Indonesian FM Hassan Wirajuda's 
visit to Syria on Feb. 3 and 4 and his meetings with President 
Bashar al Assad and FM Walid al Mouallem.  Wirajuda delivered a 
letter to President Assad from the Indonesian President Susilo 
Bambang Yudhoyono on means of enhancing bilateral relations between 
the two countries. 
 
The press also underlined the foiling by Syrian customs of an 
attempt to smuggle weapons from Syria to Tripoli, in northern 
Lebanon.  The guns were in a cache on an Iraq-registered truck 
heading for Lebanon via the Al-Arida border crossing, near Homs. 
The vehicle was registered in the restive Iraqi province of 
Al-Anbar, a Sunni bastion west of Baghdad. 
 
      The press reported the Lebanese opposition's intention to 
resume its protest on February 14, the second anniversary of the 
assassination of former Lebanese PM Rafik al Hariri. 
 
 Syrian papers also highlighted Russia's Foreign Minister's 
statement that Syria, Hamas and Iran are keys to any solution of the 
problems of the Middle East.  Lavrov was quoted as saying that 
Russia's views about the Middle East differ from those of the U.S. 
He said that Russia refuses to isolate countries which the US 
doesn't like. 
 
End of summary. 
 
¶2.  Selected Headlines: 
 
"Lavrov:  Syria, Iran and Hezbollah are keys for any solution" 
(Government-owned Al-Ba'th, 2/5) 
 
"The truck is Iraqi, destination is Lebanon:  Syrian customs foils 
an attempt to smuggle weapons" (Government-owned Al-Ba'th, 2/5) 
 
"The PA's obstinacy is due to its alignment with the US project" 
(Government-owned Tishreen, 2/5) 
 
 
"Mashaal:  Dialogue is the solution;  we are working to make the 
Mecca meeting a success" (Government-owned Tishreen, 2/5) 
 
¶3.  Editorial Block Quotes: 
 
---------------------- 
 
"Excuse us Fatah; Excuse us Hamas" 
 
 
---------------------- 
 
Izzidin Darwish , an editorialist in government-owned Tishreen, 
wrote (2/5):  "This strange, anomalous inter-Palestinian fight 
cannot be justified by the adage that the results justify the 
means.... 
 
"Arabs and Palestinians understand that this hostility is Israeli 
made, and that those who rush to be involved in it are doing Israel 
a favor, at the expense of their national cause, and want to trade 
in Palestinian blood for personal and financial benefits. 
 
"Israel has been greatly relieved by this fighting, and the extreme 
Israelis are rubbing their hands in joy.  They do not spare any 
means that may make this fight longer.  And the American 
neo-conservatives, who are endeavoring to create a new Middle East 
and eliminate the Palestinian cause, are finding what they seek in 
this Palestinian hostility, and they are working hard to fuel it, 
secretly and publicly, under the pretext of fighting terrorism.... 
 
SIPDIS 
 
"It is evident that what makes my foe happy should concern me ... 
and (what is happening now) must be halted immediately, just because 
the Israeli enemy wants it." 
 
 
----------------------------- 
 
"US policy in the Region:  One Failure After Another" 
 
------------------------------ 
 
Elias Murad, Chief editor of government-owned al-Ba'th, wrote (2/5): 
 "No US president has managed to bring as much hatred to his country 
as President George W. Bush.  He has united all the world's peoples 
in confrontation with his country.  We thought that his State of 
the Union address this year would be different, but it just brought 
more tensions for the US people and the world's peoples. 
 
"At a time when his administration was marking up one failure after 
another and one defeat after another, its members were on the front 
pages talking about imaginary triumphs.. ." 
 
"The Democrats have said it clearly:  what is going on now is 
nothing other than a threat to American national security.  Why, 
then, does President Bush persist in sending his troops and exposing 
American national security to danger? 
 
"Let us look around us, from Palestine to Lebanon to Iraq.  Let us 
also consider the hidden parts of the new Bush strategy, the most 
catastrophic for the region with what it has in its caches of chaos, 
division, and rupture.  They say this is their project, but where is 
our own project as Arabs?" 
 
Corbin