VZCZCXYZ0016
OO RUEHWEB

DE RUEHDM #0312/01 0871218
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 281218Z MAR 07
FM AMEMBASSY DAMASCUS
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 3229
RHEHAAA/WHITE HOUSE WASHDC IMMEDIATE
RUEHAM/AMEMBASSY AMMAN 6687
RUEHLB/AMEMBASSY BEIRUT 4433
RUEHEG/AMEMBASSY CAIRO 3046
RUEHRH/AMEMBASSY RIYADH 7583
RUEHTV/AMEMBASSY TEL AVIV 1649
RUEHAK/AMEMBASSY ANKARA 4986
RUEHJM/AMCONSUL JERUSALEM 1194
RHMFISS/HQ USCENTCOM MACDILL AFB FL//CCPA//
INFO RUEHNC/AMEMBASSY NICOSIA 7320

UNCLAS DAMASCUS 000312 
 
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:  Arab Summit, Peace Process, Golan, Rice's Statements, Iraq 
(3/28) 
 
¶1.  Summary:  The Syrian press on Mar. 28 reported President Asad's 
summit meeting with Saudi King Abdullah on Mar. 27 on the eve of the 
Arab summit in Riyadh.  Talks dealt with bilateral relations, 
horizons for consolidating and boosting such relations, and topics 
on the agenda of the Arab Summit.  Both leaders stressed their 
commitment to make the summit a success and to achieve security and 
stability in the region.  They also reviewed the situation in the 
regional arena.  President Asad also met on Mar. 27 with President 
Lahoud of Lebanon, King Hamad Ben Issa Al- Khalifa of Bahrain and UN 
Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and an accompanying delegation.  Talks 
 
SIPDIS 
focused on developments in the regional and international arenas, 
particularly Iraq and the occupied Palestinian territories, the 
peace process, and the UN role in maintaining world peace and 
security. 
 
Papers also reported that Arab League SecGen Amr Mousa stressed, in 
a statement to the Tunisian newspaper al-Chourouq published on Mar. 
27, that "there will be no amendment to the Arab peace initiative 
approved by the Beirut summit, and that the Riyadh summit seeks to 
revive this plan."  "The Arab initiative deals with the Israeli 
conflict as a whole because the initiative talks about the 
withdrawal from all occupied Arab territories, whether the 
Palestinian, Syrian or the Lebanese lands," Mousa noted.  He added 
that the Arab principles and bases are clear regarding withdrawal to 
the June 4th, 1967, line and negotiations on the Palestinian 
refugees and Jerusalem as part of the occupied land. 
 
Papers also featured the Russian Foreign Ministry's annual report 
published on Mar. 27 reiterating the importance of taking a new and 
serious step to resume the peace process in the region on all 
tracks, including the Syrian track.  The Russian Foreign Ministry's 
statement recommended efforts to revive negotiations on all peace 
tracks, to hold an international conference on the Middle East and 
to free the region of WMD.  The report reiterated the importance of 
the Baker-Hamilton report on the situation in Iraq, the significance 
of setting a timetable for the pullout of foreign forces from Iraq 
and the need to open a dialogue with Syria and Iran to find a 
solution to the situation in Iraq and the Arab-Israeli conflict. 
 
Papers also reported that Syrian citizens in the occupied Golan 
addressed a letter on Mar. 27 to UN SecGen Ban Ki-Moon reiterating 
their commitment to Syrian Arab identity, noting that laws issued by 
the Israeli occupation authority regarding the Golan, particularly 
the law of annexation, are null and void.  They charged the Israeli 
occupation with stealing Golan water, transferring it to Israeli 
settlements, then selling it at high prices to Syrian citizens under 
occupation.  They confirmed that Golan detainees and captives in 
Israeli prisons are exposed to political and moral oppression and 
denial of health care, which has led to the death of some of them. 
 
End of summary. 
 
¶2.  Selected Headlines: 
 
"President Asad and King Abdullah Ben Abdul-Aziz 
Al Saud of Saudi Arabia stress commitment to make the Arab Summit a 
success and to achieve security and stability in the region. 
President Asad holds talks in Riyadh with President Emile Lahoud of 
Lebanon, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and King Hamad Ben Issa 
Al-Khalifa of Bahrain.  Saudi TV:  President Asad is a dear guest in 
al-Riyadh" (3/27) 
 
"President Emile Lahoud calls for supporting Lebanon's pan-Arab and 
national positions.  Lahoud in Riyadh emphasizes rejection of 
settling Palestinian refugees and insists on the right of return for 
Palestinians" (Government-owned Al-Ba'th, 3/27) 
 
"Russian Foreign Ministry underlines the necessity for taking a new 
and serious step to resume peace process in the region on all 
tracks, including the Syrian track" 9Government-owned Tishreen, 
3/27) 
 
"US Secretary of State Rice calls on Arabs to be open with Israel, 
and rejects the final status negotiations.  Olmert is angry.  The 
Palestinian Authority finds nothing new in Rice's ideas.  Washington 
diminishes its aid to the Palestinian Authority" (Government-owned 
 
Al-Ba'th, 3/27) 
 
"Citizens of occupied Golan reiterate commitment to their Syrian 
Arab identity" (Government-owned 
Al-Ba'th, 3/27) 
 
"Killing of 5 US soldiers in Baghdad and al-Anbar. Scores of Iraqis 
killed in terrorist attacks in Ramadi and Tel Afar.  Al-Dari 
[Chairman of Muslims Scholars Council]:  All Iraqis reject US 
occupation" (Government-owned Al-Ba'th, 3/27) 
 
"A blow to Bush:  The Senate votes for scheduling pullout of US 
troops from Iraq" (Government-owned Al-Thawra, 3/27) 
 
¶3.  Editorial Block Quotes: 
 
--------------------------------------------- ---- 
 
"Summit of the Minimum: Damascus Awaits a 
Decisive Position on 5 Files; Two Others Will 
Remain Unresolved" 
 
--------------------------------------------- ----- 
 
Thana al-Imam, a commentator in independent al-Watan, commented 
(3/27):  "Syrian political analysts believe Syria is viewing the 
summit with 'realism and rationalism'.  While it does not pin much 
hope on the summit, especially with regard to bridging inter-Arab 
differences, it hopes the gathering will at least be 'the summit of 
the minimum,' adopting a unified position calling on Israel to 
comply with the Arab peace plan.... 
 
Syria also hopes the Riyadh summit will clearly and explicitly 
reject the pressure that Syria is coming under and the attempt to 
isolate Damascus.  According to leaked information, US Assistant 
Secretary of State for Population, Refugees, and Migration Ellen 
 
SIPDIS 
Sauerbrey did not meet with Syrian officials to discuss the pending 
regional issues during her recent visit to Damascus.  She confined 
her visit to the declared objectives, namely, discussing the problem 
of the Iraqi refugees in Syria.  This indicates that the United 
States is proceeding with its policy to isolate Syria.... 
 
"The Arab summit will definitely call on Israel to resume peace 
negotiations and will support the Arab peace plan, especially since 
this plan is originally a Saudi plan.  Many analysts stress that 
there is already a Saudi-American accord to back this plan as a kind 
of American support for the moderate Kingdom and to show that the 
world's only superpower is making efforts to revive the stalled 
peace talks, as Washington is somewhat embarrassed by the suspension 
of these talks.... 
 
"The Arab summit might also meet most of the other Syrian demands, 
though perhaps with a less emphatic tone than Damascus would like to 
see.  But two files will remain unresolved: the Iranian uranium 
enrichment file and the Lebanese file...." 
 
------------------------------------- 
 
"The Arab Peace Plan Will Be Amended" 
 
------------------------------------- 
 
Waddah Abd-Rabbuh, Chief Editor of independent Al-Watan, said 
(3/27):  "We are not optimistic about the results that the Arab 
summit will produce because some Arab leaders will effectively push 
for amending the Arab peace plan, although they are saying they will 
not.... 
 
"The talk by some Arab leaders about the need for Arabs to take 
international developments into consideration when they present the 
plan and about the need to submit the plan to the UN Security 
Council means that the plan will be amended under international 
cover.... 
 
"The mission of the Security Council will be to amend the plan and 
give it an international cover so that no Arab country will be able 
 
to object.... This is part of the American scheme, which seeks to 
bring the Arabs and Israelis to the negotiating table, where nothing 
will be achieved, so that the United States will have enough time to 
deal a painful military strike to Iran...." 
 
------------------------ 
 
"Much Ado About Nothing" 
 
------------------------ 
 
Ghazi al-Dada, a commentator in government-owned Tishrin, wrote 
(3/27):  "Condoleezza Rice can make as much as she wants of her 
misleading statements about Middle East peace.... It is hard to 
believe that these sugar-coated statements indicate a change in US 
positions, which are totally biased toward Israel.... 
 
"Palestinians and Arabs need more that courteous statements for 
media consumption.... What maters is action, not words.... 
 
"Up to this moment the United States, with its current 
administration, is the main contributor to the strict economic and 
political siege on Palestinians.... 
 
"We will see if the US Administration will deal positively and 
seriously with the Arab peace plan, which earned unexpected praise 
from Rice, and if it will do what it should do and apply sufficient 
pressure on Israel to force it to admit that Arabs have rights it 
must return based on international laws...." 
 
Corbin