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OO RUEHWEB

DE RUEHDM #0146/01 0451337
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 141337Z FEB 07
FM AMEMBASSY DAMASCUS
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 2965
RHEHAAA/WHITE HOUSE WASHDC IMMEDIATE
RUEHAM/AMEMBASSY AMMAN 6577
RUEHLB/AMEMBASSY BEIRUT 4346
RUEHEG/AMEMBASSY CAIRO 2960
RUEHRH/AMEMBASSY RIYADH 7516
RUEHTV/AMEMBASSY TEL AVIV 1574
RUEHAK/AMEMBASSY ANKARA 4912
RUEHJM/AMCONSUL JERUSALEM 1125
RHMFISS/HQ USCENTCOM MACDILL AFB FL//CCPA//
INFO RUEHNC/AMEMBASSY NICOSIA 7249

UNCLAS DAMASCUS 000146 
 
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/Palestinians, Lebanon, Syria/Norway, Iraq (2/14) 
 
¶1.  Summary:  Syrian papers on Feb. 14 reported a mass rally in 
Damascus on Feb. 13 condemning Israeli excavations near the al-Aqsa 
Mosque.  Papers also reported that President Asad received a letter 
on Feb. 13 from Palestinian National Authority Chairman Mahmud 
Abbas.  The letter was delivered to Vice President Faruq Shara when 
he received Rawhi Fattuh, President Abbas' personal envoy, and the 
delegation accompanying him.  Fattuh briefed Shara on Palestinian 
developments after the signing of the agreement between Fatah and 
HAMAS in Mecca.  In a statement to reporters after the meeting, 
Fattuh expressed appreciation for Syria's support for the 
Palestinian people and cause and briefed Al-Shar'a on the agreement, 
noting that Syria intervened positively in this issue, which paved 
the way for accord and the major agreement in Mecca.  He described 
the current Palestinian situation as good and said all parties are 
adhering to the agreement and will support it on the ground to allow 
the formation of a national unity government. 
 
Papers also reported FM Mouallem's meeting on Feb. 13 with Sevien 
Sevie, the Norwegian Foreign Minister and Special Envoy to the 
Middle East.  The meeting touched on the latest developments in the 
region and efforts to revive the Middle East peace process.  During 
the meeting, the Norwegian Envoy hailed Syria's efforts in achieving 
accord between Hamas and Fatah to form a Palestinian national unity 
government, stressing Syria's important role in realizing security 
and stability in the region. 
 
As for events in Lebanon, papers reported that three Lebanese were 
killed and 24 wounded when two buses exploded in the al-Matn area 
northeast of Beirut.  News reports quoted unnamed Lebanese national 
figures as holding Israel responsible for the explosions.  "The 
explosions aim at upsetting Lebanon's stability and targeting every 
attempt to solve the political crisis the country has been 
undergoing recently," the national Lebanese figures said in a 
statement on Feb. 13.  Papers also quoted the Regional Leadership of 
the Baath Party in Lebanon as saying that "this awful crime aims at 
creating a new status of tension and unrest in Lebanon."  The 
leadership pointed out that the timing of this crime came just when 
a possible solution for the Lebanese crisis appeared:  "This 
confirms the conspiratorial plot which targets every solution and 
initiative that may save Lebanon," the leadership noted in a 
statement.  Papers quoted Michel Aoun, Head of the Free Patriot 
Movement, as saying that the explosion was an attempt to strike at 
Lebanese stability and civil peace. 
 
End of summary. 
 
¶2.  Selected Headlines: 
 
"A message to President Asad from Palestinian President Abbas.  VP 
Shara reiterates Syria's support for Palestinian accord.  Fatouh, 
Special Envoy of Palestinian President Abbas, expresses high 
appreciation for Damascus' positive efforts" (Government-owned 
Al-Ba'th, 2/14) 
 
"Damascus expresses vehement and angry condemnation of Israeli 
aggressions against al-Aqsa mosque in a mass rally" 
(Government-owned Al-Ba'th, 2/14) 
 
"Speaker of Iraqi Parliament al-Mashhadani discusses the situation 
of Iraqi refugees in Syria" (Government-owned Al-Thawra, 2/14) 
 
"Lebanese circles condemn Pekfaia explosions, which claimed the 
lives of 3 Lebanese and wounded 24 others.  Lebanese circles 
consider explosions a response to the climate of relaxation and a 
translation of Feltman's statements" (Government-owned Tishreen, 
2/14) 
 
"Israel denies suspension of excavations at al-Maghariba gate" 
(Government-owned Al-Thawra, 2/14) 
 
"Olmert:  We will be forced to withdraw from the Golan" 
(Government-owned Al-Ba'th, 2/14) 
 
"Norway confirms Syria's important role in ensuring security and 
stability in the region" (Government-owned Al-Ba'th, 2/14) 
 
¶3.  Editorial Block Quotes: 
 
--------------------------- 
 
"A Stone in Stagnant Water" 
 
--------------------------- 
 
Ali Qasim, a commentator in government-owned Al-Thawrah, said 
(2/14):  "The American reaction to Russian President Vladimir 
Putin's criticism of US policy shows that Washington still rejects 
any criticism of its policy even though the majority of the nations 
of the world believe that this policy causes hostility and 
concern...Q 
 
"Putin's statements open the door wide to a new scene in 
international relations and reflect an international desire to see a 
limit to American arrogance, which makes no one feel safe...." 
 
---------------------------- 
 
"Disappointment, or Failure?" 
 
---------------------------- 
 
Dr. Sa'id Musallam, a commentator in governQnt-owned Al-Thawrah, 
wrote (2/14):  "The disappointment that the White House spokesman 
expressed after President's Putin's criticism was a result not only 
of the Russian criticism, but also of American military and 
political failure in the region.... 
 
"Increasing US losses in Iraq have driven Americans to blame Iran 
and Al-Qa'ida, in an attempt to divert attention from the national 
resistance in Iraq.... 
 
"Americans are also disappointed because they have failed to drag 
Palestinians and Lebanese into sectarian and denominational 
fighting....  The intra-Palestinian agreement in Mecca was a painful 
blow to the inclinations of Condoleezza Rice and her allies...." 
 
---------------------- 
 
"Why Wait So Long?" 
 
---------------------- 
 
Umar Jaftali, an editorialist in government-owned Tishrin, 
maintained (2/14):  "Israel will continue to target the Al-Aqsa 
Mosque as part of its attempts to Judaize Jerusalem and change the 
city's geographic and demographic character.... 
 
"Will Arabs wait for action from the Security Council and the 
international quartet or will they wake up to this looming danger 
and act to prevent the loss of the most sacred of rights after the 
loss of most of Palestine...?" 
 
----------------------------------------- 
 
"Bush's Plan to Change Conflict in Iraq!" 
 
----------------------------------------- 
 
¶M. Ajjawi, a commentator in government-owned Tishreen, said (2/14): 
"The Arab region, including Iraq, is witnessing an anti-Iran 
political and information campaign accusing the Islamic Republic of 
interference in Iraq through instigation of sectarian strife!  The 
campaign is coupled with accusations by some Arab regimes and the US 
administration that Iran supports terrorism in Iraq and encourages 
chaos and instability in the Arab country which is under the 
Anglo-American occupation.... 
 
"The parties that are launching this hostile campaign against Iran 
have ignored the reality of the occupation which has brought all the 
chaos, destruction, death and instability to Iraq.... 
 
"It is strange that the ill-intentioned campaign is accompanied by 
the disinformation that the new George Bush plan is a plan for 
rescuing Iraq...! 
 
"The real occupation of Arab lands in Iraq, Palestine and other Arab 
territories in the Golan and South Lebanon becomes a matter of 
secondary interest, whereas the Iranian menace becomes a top 
priority to some regimes that are blessed by Washington and the 
West.  The target behind this distortion of facts is to save US 
policy after its many failures in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere in 
the world.... 
"Observers say Bush and his aides decided to pursue the tactics of 
maneuvering and zigzagging in their political steps and measures 
concerning the Iraq dilemma.... 
 
"Once again, Bush is using the old colonial tactics, as he has 
failed to conquer the Iraqi resistance.  He spares no effort to 
dismember the Iraqis into communities and ethnic groups with the 
objective of controlling the whole country.... 
 
"The partitioning of Iraq into ethnic and sectarian groups will 
reflect negatively in Iran.  It is not in the interest of Iranians 
that Iraq be divided.  On the contrary, it is in the interest of the 
American occupation forces...." 
 
Corbin