VZCZCXYZ0020
OO RUEHWEB

DE RUEHDM #0121/01 0380709
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 070709Z FEB 07
FM AMEMBASSY DAMASCUS
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 2922
RHEHAAA/WHITE HOUSE WASHDC IMMEDIATE
RUEHAM/AMEMBASSY AMMAN 6557
RUEHLB/AMEMBASSY BEIRUT 4329
RUEHEG/AMEMBASSY CAIRO 2942
RUEHRH/AMEMBASSY RIYADH 7500
RUEHTV/AMEMBASSY TEL AVIV 1556
RUEHAK/AMEMBASSY ANKARA 4894
RUEHJM/AMCONSUL JERUSALEM 1108
RHMFISS/HQ USCENTCOM MACDILL AFB FL//CCPA//
INFO RUEHNC/AMEMBASSY NICOSIA 7232

UNCLAS DAMASCUS 000121 
 
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/Qatar, Syria/Turkey, Mousa, Iran, Iraq, Lebanon, 
Palestinian Territories (2/6) 
 
 
¶1.  Summary:  Syrian papers on Feb. 6 reported a meeting between 
President Asad and Qatar's Crown Prince Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad 
Al-Thani on Feb. 5 which focused on current international and 
regional developments and bilateral relations between the two 
countries. 
 
On Syrian/Turkish relations, papers reported that Turkish Foreign 
Minister Abdullah Gull confirmed on Feb. 5 that the Syrian-Turkish 
relations have been witnessing continuous development.  In an 
interview with monthly Turkish newspaper "Turkey's Bulletin," 
published by Turkey's ruling party "Justice and Development", Gull 
underscored that Turkey's ties with Syria are witnessing a great 
development day after day, pointing to the Free Trade Zone Agreement 
that went into effect between the two countries at the beginning of 
the current year.  "Turkey's final target in developing ties with 
all neighboring countries is to create an atmosphere of peace and 
mutual confidence," Gull noted. 
 
Papers also reported that on Feb. 5 Arab League Secretary General 
Amr Mousa underlined the necessity of reviving the peace process in 
the Middle East on all tracks.  "Excluding any track from the peace 
process will neither serve it nor accomplish any notable result," 
Mousa said in an interview with Russian Television network Visti 24, 
pointing out that the International Quartet Committee for Middle 
East Affairs could never realize any noticeable result.  Mousa 
pointed out Russia's main role in pushing the Middle East peace 
process forward. 
 
End of summary. 
 
¶2.  Selected Headlines: 
 
"President Asad reviews current developments in the region and 
bilateral relations with Qatar's Crown Prince Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad 
Al-Thani" (Government-owned Tishreen, 2/6) 
 
"Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul confirms that Syrian-Turkish 
relations are witnessing continued development" (Government-owned 
Tishreen, 2/6) 
 
"Arab League Secretary General Amr Mousa underscores the importance 
of reviving the peace process in the Middle East on all tracks" 
(Government-owned Al-Thawra, 2/6) 
 
"Fatah and Hamas are for making the Mecca meeting a success.  Israel 
intends to release Marwan al-Baroughti to strike Palestinian 
reconciliation" (Government-owned Tishreen, 2/6) 
 
"A women's sit-in in Damascus in protest of Intra-Palestinian 
fighting" (Government-owned Tishreen, 2/6) 
 
"An Israeli incursion into Marwahin.  Speaker of Lebanese Parliament 
Nabih Berri:  The governing team is targeting the resistance" 
(Government-owned Tishreen, 2/6) 
 
"The US Congress besieges President Bush's Strategy in Iraq" 
(Government-owned Al-Thawra, 2/6) 
 
"Two US soldiers and one British soldier killed in Iraq.  More than 
one hundred Iraqis killed or wounded in Baghdad explosions" 
(Government-owned Tishreen, 2/6) 
 
 
¶3.  Editorial Block Quotes: 
 
--------------------------- 
 
"US Scheme Becomes Obvious" 
 
-------------------------- 
 
Ali Nasrallah, a commentator in government-owned Al-Thawra, said 
(2/6):  "John Bolton's revelation that the White House plans to 
divide Iraq and incite civil war in order to control oil sources, 
reflects unprecedented extremism in the US Administration's way of 
thinking and shows a policy characterized by foolishness and 
 
recklessness.... 
 
"Dividing Iraq is part of the plan to fragment the entire Arab 
region....  If the US Administration has revealed all its hidden 
cards, or what it believed were hidden cards, and decided to remain 
obstinate and stubborn and to wage a tough confrontation with the 
Democratic majority, then this is an American affair that the 
American public and the world public are watching with interest. 
We, too, are watching it with much interest because it has a direct 
impact on our region, which is at the center of the political 
confrontations and wrangling in Congress.... 
 
"What should peoples and governments of the targeted region do? 
Could this inactive and often negative watch be considered an 
acceptable political performance?  Are Democrats alone concerned 
with the confrontation with the administration, or should all the 
official and popular forces in the region wage this confrontation to 
the same extent?  This is a question for all those who are willing 
to be called Arab moderates by Bush and Rice...." 
 
---------------------- 
 
"Syria Plays Its Role" 
 
---------------------- 
 
Ahmad Dawwa, a commentator in government-owned Al-Thawra, wrote 
(2/6):  "Syria does not wait for anyone to tell it to play its key 
role in the region.  It is already doing this perfectly, but not 
based on the American vision, which is built on occupation and the 
theory of creative instability.  Syria is playing the role that 
serves its interests and stability in the Middle East.  This is why 
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, in the press conference of 
the International Quartet, did not repeat the worn-out tune of the 
American demands on Syria, as she had always done. 
 
"It is obvious that the Bush administration is now convinced that 
Syria cannot do anything that runs against its own convictions. 
Syria is not one of the countries or governments that read American 
signals and instructions and implement them without objection or 
complaint.  Rice, therefore, found that it was better for her simply 
to say that 'Syria knows what it should do,' in anticipation, 
perhaps, of another time when the US Administration will be more 
able to revise its positions and listen to the American and 
international voices that call on it to hold dialogue with Syria. 
 
"Unlike statements by other members of the Quartet, Rice's remarks 
clearly expressed Washington's rejection of the achievement of the 
desired peace in the region.  She insisted on talking only about the 
Palestinian-Israeli negotiating track, although facts show that the 
current situation of the Olmert government does not allow it to 
enter into negotiations with Palestinians.  The differences between 
the United States and the other members of the Quartet over the 
position toward Syria clearly appeared, increasing Washington's 
isolation within the committee and, consequently, its inability to 
pursue this policy in the future. 
 
"It is obvious that the  peace sought in the region has still not 
been listed on the agenda of the Bush administration, an agenda rife 
with files that threaten world security and stability.  All American 
statements about peace at this stage are worthless, given American 
support for the sedition plans that seek to set fire to the whole 
region to evade the major problems that the policy of the 
neoconservatives has created in the Middle East. 
 
"But international positions that conflict with and oppose the 
policy of force, and Bush's inability to cover the failure of his 
policy, which receives strong opposition in the American 
decision-making establishments, leave some hope in the middle of 
this dark American picture." 
 
Corbin