VZCZCXYZ0012
OO RUEHWEB

DE RUEHDM #0248/01 0711500
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 121500Z MAR 07
FM AMEMBASSY DAMASCUS
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 3125
RHEHAAA/WHITE HOUSE WASHDC IMMEDIATE
RUEHAM/AMEMBASSY AMMAN 6636
RUEHLB/AMEMBASSY BEIRUT 4396
RUEHEG/AMEMBASSY CAIRO 3011
RUEHRH/AMEMBASSY RIYADH 7557
RUEHTV/AMEMBASSY TEL AVIV 1617
RUEHAK/AMEMBASSY ANKARA 4955
RUEHJM/AMCONSUL JERUSALEM 1166
RHMFISS/HQ USCENTCOM MACDILL AFB FL//CCPA//
INFO RUEHNC/AMEMBASSY NICOSIA 7294

UNCLAS DAMASCUS 000248 
 
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/US, Baghdad Conference, Syria/Iran, ICG, 
Syria/Belgium, Abbas-Olmert Summit, Arab Summit, Bush's Visit to 
Latin America (3/12) 
 
 
¶1.  Summary:  Syrian independent al-Watan on Mar. 12 reported that 
Ellen Sauerbrey, US Assistant Secretary of State for Population, 
Refugees and Migration, arrived to Damascus late Mar. 11 for talks 
on the issue of Iraqi refugees.  Earlier, Washington noted that 
Sauerbrey would talk only about the Iraqi refugee issue.  Sauerbrey 
declined to give any statement upon her arrival in Damascus, but 
al-Watan learned that she will meet Faisal Miqdad, Vice Minister of 
Foreign Affairs, and other senior Syrian officials. 
 
Al-Watan also quoted informed Syrian sources as saying that the 
American and Syrian delegations exchanged views during the Baghdad 
Conference.  The sources expressed Syria's conviction that a 
dialogue between them is in the interest of both sides and "that any 
Syrian-American dialogue must include all regional issues and not 
only Iraq, due to the importance of these issues, all of which are 
intertwined." 
 
On Syrian-Iranian relations, Syrian papers reported that President 
Asad reviewed on Mar. 11 with Iranian Defense Minister Mustafa 
Mohammad Najjar the latest regional developments, cooperation 
between the Syrian and Iranian armies and means of bolstering the 
ties of friendship between the two sides. 
 
Papers also reported that President Asad received on Mar. 11 a 
delegation of the International Crisis Group (ICG) headed by former 
Australian Foreign Minister Gareth Evans.  President Asad reviewed 
Syria's vision of current events in the region and the peace process 
in the Middle East, reiterating the importance of continued 
communication between the two sides to crystallize mechanisms and 
means that will help achieve the aim of a just and comprehensive 
peace based on international resolutions and the land-for-peace 
formula.  The ICG also held talks with Vice President Farouk Shara. 
Shara confirmed that "the tension and crisis the region and the 
world are witnessing nowadays are because of the defect in 
international relations caused by unilateral policy and ignoring of 
international resolutions."  Shara renewed Syria's determination to 
cooperate with efforts aiming to achieve security and stability in 
the region. 
 
All papers featured an interview on al-Jazeera TV with Belgium's 
Foreign Minister Karel de Gucht on Mar. 12, in which he said that 
Syria contributed to the agreement to form a Palestinian National 
Unity Government.  De Gucht added that Syria is cooperative with 
respect to Iraq and insuring Iraqi stability, pointing out that 
Syrians have welcomed more than one million Iraqi refugees and given 
them the help they need.  On the other hand, de Gucht underlined 
that Serge Brammertz, head of the International Investigation 
Commission, praised Syrian cooperation in the probe into the 
assassination of the former Lebanese PM Rafik al-Hariri, adding that 
the Syrians also feel at ease with his way of investigating. 
 
End of summary. 
 
¶2.  Selected Headlines: 
 
"President Asad discusses cooperation between the Syrian and Iranian 
armies with Iranian Defense Minister Mustafa Mohammed Najjar and 
confirms to members of the Executive Bureau of the Palestinian 
Writers Union the importance of activating the Palestinian cause, 
starting from the refugees' right of return" (Government-owned 
Al-Ba'th, 3/12) 
 
"President Asad reviews with the International Crisis Group Syria's 
vision of current events in the region and the peace process in the 
Middle East" (Government-owned Al-Thawra, 3/12) 
 
"Former US Secretary of State James Baker:  Including Syria in 
Middle East issues has become imperative today" (Government-owned 
Al-Ba'th, 3/12) 
 
"Belgian Foreign Minister Karel de Gucht:  Syria is a cooperative 
country" (Government-owned Tishreen, 3/12) 
 
"Abbas and Olmert fail to achieve any progress.  Israeli endeavors 
to fragment the Arab Peace Initiative" (Government-owned Al-Ba'th, 
 
 
3/12) 
 
¶3.  Editorial Block Quotes: 
 
------------------------------------ 
 
"Crucial, Regardless of the Results" 
 
------------------------------------ 
 
Muhiddin Mohammad, a columnist in government-owned Tishreen, wrote 
(3/11):  "Regardless of the consequences of the international 
conference on Iraq which is being hosted by Baghdad, it is an 
important event for the future of Iraq and the region, in both 
positive and negative directions, for many reasons: 
 
"One:  This meeting, which is attended by representatives of 
neighboring countries including Syria and Iran and the five 
permanent members of the UNSC, was the result of an American desire, 
after American hopes to decide the conflict militarily and impose 
the occupation as a status quo, evaporated.... 
 
"Two:  Syria and Iran's active participation in this conference is 
not in response to American or any other international pressure.  It 
is, rather, an old demand by the two countries to activate political 
option to resolve the crisis, because they are, as they have always 
stressed, part of the solution and not the problem, as the American 
and Western media try to imply.... 
 
"Three:  The conference reflects a change, although limited, in the 
American strategy in Iraq, which has actually conceded to the 
'Baker-Hamilton Report' on Iraq regarding engagement with Iran and 
Syria and involving them politically in any political process that 
aims to resolve Iraqi and regional problems.... 
 
"We are confident that the American Administration's listening to 
the voice of reason will change its blind outlook on the problems of 
the region and its view of Syria, which was and still is concerned 
about regional security out of its concern about its national 
security...." 
 
---------------------- 
 
"A Significant Chance" 
 
---------------------- 
 
Ahmad Dawwa, an editorialist in government-owned Al-Thawrah, wrote 
(3/12):  "Failure of the US plan in the region, the defeat of Israel 
in Lebanon, and the steadfastness of some countries in the face of 
American and Western pressure grant Arabs a significant opportunity 
to regain the role that they have abandoned to others for 
decades.... 
 
"The key forces in the region are called upon at this important and 
decisive juncture to take a different view of the situation and 
abandon reliance on forces that have done nothing other than spread 
horror and death in the Arab and Islamic world and attempt to revive 
denominational conflicts and political differences to serve their 
own interests and the interests of Israel.... The upcoming Arab 
summit is required to introduce this change.... Arab leaders are 
called upon to make decisions that take into consideration political 
developments and the new American and European positions toward the 
inclusion of the governments of the region in solutions to the 
problems of the region.  Any failure to approach this with a great 
deal of responsibility, shrewdness, seriousness, and self-confidence 
will pose a big threat to the entire region.... 
 
"There is an opportunity to regain the Arab role.  This opportunity 
was created thanks to the efforts and sacrifices of the Arab popular 
majority and a minority of Arab governments.  Those who are talking 
about the danger of the growth of certain roles in the region need 
to trust their capabilities and have confidence in their peoples in 
order to fill the vacuum that their absence created...." 
 
 
-------------------- 
 
"Anger of Millions" 
 
-------------------- 
 
Ali Nasrallah, an editorialist in government-owned Al-Thawrah, wrote 
(3/12):  "President Bush was received with angry protests in Latin 
America.... 
 
"The world and its peoples do not hate the United States or its 
people.  They hate the Bush administration and its stupid policies. 
The world sympathized with the American people over the 9/11 
attacks.  And the world can, by instinct, distinguish between 
stupidity and sensibility and between recklessness and good 
judgment.  Otherwise, what is the meaning of the broad welcome of 
the Baker-Hamilton recommendations and the Democrat's proposals on 
Iraq? And why does Bush provoke the anger of millions in this 
world?" 
 
Corbin