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O 140619Z FEB 07
FM AMEMBASSY DAMASCUS
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 2956
RHEHAAA/WHITE HOUSE WASHDC IMMEDIATE
RUEHAM/AMEMBASSY AMMAN 6572
RUEHLB/AMEMBASSY BEIRUT 4343
RUEHEG/AMEMBASSY CAIRO 2957
RUEHRH/AMEMBASSY RIYADH 7513
RUEHTV/AMEMBASSY TEL AVIV 1571
RUEHAK/AMEMBASSY ANKARA 4909
RUEHJM/AMCONSUL JERUSALEM 1122
RHMFISS/HQ USCENTCOM MACDILL AFB FL//CCPA//
INFO RUEHNC/AMEMBASSY NICOSIA 7246

UNCLAS DAMASCUS 000139 
 
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:  Mousa, Iraq, Lebanon, Palestinian Territories (2/13) 
 
¶1.  Summary:  Syrian papers on Feb. 13 reported President Asad's 
meeting with Arab League Secretary General Amr Mousa on Feb. 12. 
Talks focused on Arab developments, particularly in Iraq, the 
Palestinian territories, and Lebanon.  The President stressed that 
national accord is the only way to achieve stability and national 
unity free from foreign interference.  He reiterated Syria's support 
for any sincere effort leading to the realization of this objective. 
 President Asad stressed the importance of activating Arab 
solidarity and creating an effective Arab position against current 
challenges that the entire Arab nation is facing.  Mousa and FM 
Mouallem held a press conference in which they avoided going into 
the details of suggested solutions for the Lebanese crisis.  Mousa 
said that he hopes to resolve the complications one by one," adding 
that "everybody is working to solve the problem in Lebanon."  For 
his part, Mouallem said:  "Syria wants stability and security to 
prevail in Lebanon," adding that the solution "must be Lebanese; 
Syria will support what the Lebanese decide." 
 
On the issue of Iraqi refugees, papers reported that Sweden urged 
the EU to support Syria, Jordan and Iran, who have received hundreds 
of thousands of Iraqi refugees since the US-led invasion on Iraq in 
¶2003. 
 
End of summary. 
 
¶2.  Selected Headlines: 
 
"President Asad reiterated the importance of activating Arab 
solidarity and national accord without foreign intervention.  AL 
Secretary General Mousa:  The meeting with President Asad was very 
 
SIPDIS 
important...  FM Mouallem:  The solution is emerging from Lebanon" 
(Government-owned Al-Thawra, 2/13) 
 
"Foreign Minister Mouallem:  We hope to find a solution to the 
Lebanese crisis soon.... We are exerting efforts to make Iraqi 
reconciliation a success.  Mousa:  The Lebanese crisis is 
complicated and needs much consultation" (Government-owned Al-Ba'th, 
2/13) 
 
"Russia:  The international tribunal must be under the roof of the 
Lebanese constitution" (Government-owned Al-Thawra, 2/13) 
 
"Confrontations in Jerusalem.  Hanieh is to form the national 
government today.  The EU promises to study the Mecca Accord openly. 
 Israel suspends excavation under the al-Aqsa Mosque" 
(Government-owned Tishreen, 2/13) 
 
"Israeli PM Olmert:  The whole world knows we must withdraw from 
occupied Golan" (Government-owned Al-Thawra, 2/13) 
 
"The US Congress debates objection to dispatch of US forces to Iraq. 
 Sweden urges support for Syria, which has received Iraqi refugees" 
(Government-owned Al-Thawra, 2/13) 
 
"As a first challenge to the new security plan, over 100 Iraqis 
killed in explosions in Baghdad" (Government-owned Tisheen, 2/13) 
 
¶3.  Editorial Block Quotes: 
 
------------------------------ 
 
"Until the Opposite Is Proved" 
 
------------------------------ 
 
Izz-al-Din al-Darwish, an editorialist in government-owned Tishrin, 
wrote (2/13):  "It was not surprising for the international Quartet, 
which is completely under Israeli and US influence, to adopt the 
Israeli position toward the Mecca agreement between Fatah and HAMAS, 
by calling on the upcoming Palestinian government to renounce 
violence and recognize Israel as a condition for dealing with it. 
 
"The Quartet did not ask the Israeli government to do anything in 
return.... Why doesn't Israel recognize the Palestinian government, 
or international law itself...?  No country in the world takes 
international law and UN resolutions as lightly as Israel. 
"The international Quartet is supposed to demand, first, that Israel 
recognize national Palestinian rights, stop committing crimes 
against Palestinians, and accept Security Council resolutions as the 
basis of the solution.  When Israel does all this, there will be no 
Palestinian resistance or reactions, and the situation will 
definitely stabilize.  It will then be said that the Quartet 
represented international legitimacy and indeed played its role. 
But as it stands now, the Quartet, very regrettably, represents the 
Israeli will only.  We will continue to say this until the opposite 
has been proved." 
 
--------------------------- 
 
"A Call for an Active Move" 
 
--------------------------- 
 
Muhammad Khayr al-Jammali, a commentator in government-owned 
Al-Thawrah, wrote (2/13):  "Verbal Arab and Islamic condemnations of 
Israel's excavations around Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem will not 
deter Israel or prevent it from Judaizing Arab lands and 
obliterating their Arab and Islamic character.... 
 
"The new Israeli crime must be confronted by a new policy and a move 
of a new kind on the part of Arabs, Muslims, and the Palestinian 
people:  A new Intifadah that makes Israel understand that the 
al-Aqsa Mosque, Jerusalem, and all the occupied territories 
constitute a red line that settlements and Judaization plans cannot 
cross, and effective Arab and Islamic action that begins with 
severing all forms of relations with Israel by the Arab countries 
that have relations with it.  Arab and Islamic activity must also 
include work inside the United Nations to get the international 
organization to impose its laws and resolutions on Israel, which has 
repeatedly violated these laws and resolutions in the occupied 
territories.... 
 
"If Israel insists on disrespecting principles of international law, 
Arab and Islamic activity must focus on the implementation of 
Chapter Seven of the UN Charter to maintain the Arab and Islamic 
identity of the occupied territories and their holy places and to 
protect world peace and security from the serious threat they are 
facing as a result of the Israeli occupation and its settlement and 
Judaization activities." 
 
--------------------------- 
 
"Unconvincing Coincidences" 
 
--------------------------- 
 
Ali Nasrallah, an editorialist in government-owned Al-Thawra, 
commented (2/13):  "Israeli Minister Binyamin Ben Eliezer spoke of 
the need for Israel to be prepared for a new war on Lebanon. 
Meanwhile, Israeli Minister Avi Dichter admitted that Israel carried 
out four or five operations inside the Blue Line similar to those 
which were carried out on Thursday night near the Marun al-Ras town. 
 It is not a coincidence for these two statements to be made at the 
same time. 
 
"Also, it may be unreasonable to say that the confiscation of a 
truckload of weapons of the [Lebanese] national resistance was a 
sheer coincidence that cannot be linked to developments on the other 
side of the Palestinian-Lebanese border.... 
 
"Surely, any justification by the [Lebanese] authority to cover up 
the landing of a plane coming from Ben-Gurion Airport at Beirut 
International Airport will not be convincing.  Also, there can be no 
justification for the docking of a ship that deals with Israel at 
the port of Beirut without official approval by the team in 
authority.... 
 
"Things in Lebanon have been clear for some time now. One team 
believes in the need to resist occupation, protect sovereignty and 
independence, and preserve national unity, domestic peace, and 
coexistence, while another team operates in line with plans drawn up 
in Washington and Tel Aviv for Lebanon and the region.... 
"It is naive to say that Israeli violations against the Blue Line in 
South Lebanon that are met only with an expression of concern, and 
the shamelessly announced positions in Beirut in support of the 
enemy's plots that are coupled with unconstitutional practices on 
the ground, are  sheer coincidences.  Also, it is naive to say that 
they are not part of moves to continue the July war and an attempt 
to achieve what that war failed to achieve." 
 
Corbin