VZCZCXYZ0000
OO RUEHWEB

DE RUEHDM #0126/01 0391249
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 081249Z FEB 07
FM AMEMBASSY DAMASCUS
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 2929
RHEHAAA/WHITE HOUSE WASHDC IMMEDIATE
RUEHAM/AMEMBASSY AMMAN 6561
RUEHLB/AMEMBASSY BEIRUT 4333
RUEHEG/AMEMBASSY CAIRO 2946
RUEHRH/AMEMBASSY RIYADH 7504
RUEHTV/AMEMBASSY TEL AVIV 1560
RUEHAK/AMEMBASSY ANKARA 4898
RUEHJM/AMCONSUL JERUSALEM 1112
RHMFISS/HQ USCENTCOM MACDILL AFB FL//CCPA//
INFO RUEHNC/AMEMBASSY NICOSIA 7236

UNCLAS DAMASCUS 000126 
 
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, Syria/Tajikistan, Syria/Vatican, Palestinian 
Territories, Iraq, Lebanon (2/8) 
 
¶1.  Summary:  Syrian papers on Feb. 8 reported President Asad's Feb. 
7 address at the start of a two-day conference of the Ba'ath Party 
Central Committee, in which he called for maintaining Syrian 
national unity, pointing out the complementary nature of Islamic 
thought and pan-Arabism.  He called on Syrians to "maintain the 
internal front, enhance national unity and cast away extremism."  He 
added that pan-Arab thought must make the pan-Arab stance "more firm 
and optimistic."  Asad reiterated Syria's support for the 
intra-Palestinian dialogue and for cessation of intra-Palestinian 
fighting, "because it won't serve the Palestinian cause or the 
Palestinian people who aspire to their legitimate rights."  He 
welcomed any "initiative that can unify the Lebanese," confirming 
that Lebanese unity must be preserved.  Asad stressed commitment to 
maintain best relations with Iraq, as a government and people, in 
the interest of both countries, and confirmed Syria's keenness for 
Iraq's independence, stability, security and territorial integrity. 
He warned against the danger of sedition in Iraq and its negative 
repercussions on Iraq and in the region, noting that Iraqi national 
reconciliation is the guarantee to bury such sedition. 
 
Papers reported the visit to Damascus by 
President Imomali Rakhmanov of Tajikistan on Feb. 7 upon President 
Asad's invitation.  Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem and other 
Syrian Ministers received President Rakhmanov at Damascus 
International Airport. 
 
Papers also reported that the Vatican has selected Syria as the site 
for the 5th Dialogue Conference between the Vatican and Eastern 
Churches next year.  The Vatican said in a statement published Feb. 
7 at the end of the 4th Dialogue Conference with the Eastern 
churches in Rome that the next conference is scheduled to be held in 
Sydnayah, near Damascus, next year.  Well informed sources at the 
Vatican noted that the selection of Syria as a place to hold the 
conference was a clear indication of its stability and security and 
an appreciation for its important role in achieving peace and 
boosting the culture of dialogue. 
 
Papers continued to report Arab, Islamic and international 
condemnations of Israeli excavations around the al-Aqsa Mosque. 
Headlines featured a gathering by citizens of the occupied Golan on 
Feb. 7 denouncing Israeli actions.  In a statement, the gathering 
underlined that Israel's violations of Islamic sanctities, without 
any deterrent by the international community in general or the 
Islamic community in particular, constitute an aggression against 
Muslim beliefs.  It called on Islamic and Arab countries and the 
world community to shoulder their full responsibilities regarding 
Islamic sanctities. 
 
End of summary. 
 
¶2.  Selected Headlines: 
 
"President Asad's convening of the Central Committee of the Ba'ath 
Party.  President Asad calls for improving the economic situation, 
shouldering responsibility and solving citizens' problems.  Asad: 
Recent developments have proved correctness of Syrian positions.... 
People must be alert to calls for unrest and division.  Syria fully 
supports Palestinian dialogue and formation of a national unity 
government.... Syria wants to establish best relations with Iraq. 
Syria supports Lebanese concord and all initiatives that aim at 
unifying their ranks" (Government-owned Al-Thawra, 2/8) 
 
"At President Asad's invitation, Tajik President Imomali Rakhmanov 
commences a state visit to Syria" (Government-owned Al-Thawra, 2/8) 
 
"The Vatican selects Syria for the 5th Christian Dialogue Conference 
between the Vatican and Eastern churches.  The Pope:  Syria is a 
symbol of tolerance and constructive relations" (Government-owned 
Al-Thawra, 2/8) 
 
"An Iraqi delegation visits Syria to conduct a comprehensive review 
of deals concluded with Syria before occupation.  The UN calls on 
the world community to support Syria in extending aid to Iraqi 
refugees" (Government-owned Al-Thawra, 2/8) 
 
"Putin and Mousa confirm that political settlement is the only 
 
solution for the region's issues" (Government-owned Al-Thawra, 2/8) 
 
"The Guardian: The Future Block is buying arms and training its 
members outside Lebanon.  The Lebanese army confronts Israeli forces 
at Maron al-Rass town" (Government-owned Al-Thawra, 2/8) 
 
"The Palestinian dialogue commences in Mecca against the background 
of Israeli assaults against the al-Aqsa Mosque" (Government-owned 
Tishreen, 2/8) 
 
"Abbas and Meshal:  We will not depart Mecca before reaching an 
agreement" (Government-owned Al-Ba'th, 2/8) 
 
"Seven US soldiers killed in Baghdad.  A fifth helicopter is downed. 
 The Baghdad plan is launched.  The Pentagon does not rule out an 
alternate plan" (Government-owned Al-Ba'th, 2/8) 
 
¶3.  Editorial Block Quotes: 
 
------------------------------------------ 
 
"US Security Approach to Political Issues" 
 
------------------------------------------ 
 
Khalid al-Ashhab, a commentator in government-owned Al-Thawra, wrote 
(2/8):  "The Bush administration adopts pure security thinking in 
its approach to most world problems....  This is why the solutions 
and strategies that this administration invented, including, 
naturally, the recent Iraq strategy that Bush announced, were also 
of a security nature.... 
 
"The US Administration knows that these problems are essentially 
political and must have political solutions, but it ignores this 
fact and insists on giving security solutions precedence over 
political solutions, in order to realize its ambitions and mislead 
and delude the world into thinking that the intensive American 
military presence in the region is meant to maintain security and 
resolve conflicts that had already existed.... 
 
"The new applications of Bush's Iraq strategy do not indicate that 
his Administration will be able to regain the initiative in Iraq or 
produce any victory from the series of failures that the American 
occupation is facing in this country.  The Bush administration will 
continue to sink in the Iraqi quagmire until political thinking 
prevails over security thinking in the US mind." 
 
---------- 
 
"Sedition" 
 
---------- 
 
Adnan Ali, a commentator in government-owned Al-Thawrah, said (2/8): 
 "The United States and Israel and their followers are working to 
ignite sedition and civil wars in the region now that their plans 
for the Middle East appear to be heading toward failure as a result 
of the resistance that some forces in Palestine, Lebanon, and Iraq 
are putting up, supported by a few countries that have agreed to pay 
the price of their positions in the form of siege, isolation, 
sanctions, and endless threats.... 
 
"The Arab position is largely satisfied with the repeated US 
intimidations about the alleged Iranian plans to control Iraq, while 
it is definite that Iraq, which has been under foreign occupation 
for years, is today facing, due to this occupation, a looming threat 
to its territorial integrity, the unity of its people, and the 
future of its entity, as the occupation has opened all doors for the 
winds of evil to blow on Iraq, including the infiltration of forces 
of darkness that either deliberately or ignorantly mix the 
legitimate resistance against foreign presence with the mad 
terrorist attacks that target innocent civilians and places of 
worship.... 
 
"Many interesting reports stress that Israeli intelligence agents 
stand behind such attacks with a view to stoking sectarian sedition, 
 
which is primarily an Israeli interest. 
 
"The sectarian mentality, which might turn at any moment to 
sectarian violence, is the greatest threat to Iraq and Arab 
countries;  it is more serious than foreign aggression and 
occupation." 
 
-------------- 
 
"Why Custody?" 
 
-------------- 
 
Umar Jaftali, a commentator in government-owned Tishrin, wrote 
(2/8):  "It was no coincidence that President Bush called for 
punishing Hizbollah, nor it was a slip of the tongue that the French 
Foreign Minister rejected the Lebanese opposition's demand for 
one-third of the cabinet seats. 
 
"President Bush and the French Minister's statements expose the 
American and French positions as political piracy and flagrant 
interference in domestic Lebanese affairs....  The ruling team in 
Lebanon dances to the tunes of American-French instructions and 
guidance, allowing the country not only to be governed by a series 
of international resolutions and the decisions of the Paris 3 
conference, but also to be controlled by American and French remote 
control.... The majority of Lebanese reject this situation;  they 
want the national decision to be independent...." 
 
Corbin