VZCZCXYZ0004
OO RUEHWEB

DE RUEHDM #0458/01 1361103
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 161103Z MAY 07
FM AMEMBASSY DAMASCUS
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 3476
RHEHAAA/WHITE HOUSE WASHDC IMMEDIATE
RUEHAM/AMEMBASSY AMMAN 6803
RUEHLB/AMEMBASSY BEIRUT 4528
RUEHEG/AMEMBASSY CAIRO 3151
RUEHRH/AMEMBASSY RIYADH 7672
RUEHTV/AMEMBASSY TEL AVIV 1748
RUEHAK/AMEMBASSY ANKARA 5083
RUEHJM/AMCONSUL JERUSALEM 1289
RHMFISS/HQ USCENTCOM MACDILL AFB FL//CCPA//
INFO RUEHNC/AMEMBASSY NICOSIA 7414

UNCLAS DAMASCUS 000458 
 
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:  OIC Conference, Palestinian Territories, Lebanon, Cheney, 
Iraq (5/16) 
 
 
¶1.  Summary:  Syrian papers on May 16 reported Foreign Minister 
Mouallem's speech at the meeting of the Organization of the Islamic 
Conference in Islamabad on May 15.  Mouallem said that the only way 
to end violence and realize peace in the Middle East is by Israel's 
recognition of relevant international resolutions, which guarantee a 
comprehensive settlement that ends occupation of Arab territories, 
including the Syrian Golan.  He noted the negative repercussions of 
continued Israeli occupation of Arab territories and its racial 
campaigns against holy symbols, including the excavations around the 
al-Aqsa Mosque.  On Iraq, he referred to the waves of terrorism and 
bloodshed of innocents there, confirming that Syria supports the 
current political process.  He encouraged the Iraqi government to 
take necessary steps to achieve national reconciliation.  He 
reiterated the importance of establishing a national army in Iraq, 
withdrawing foreign troops, and preserving Iraq territorial 
integrity and Islamic and Arab identity. 
 
End of summary. 
 
¶2.  Selected Headlines: 
 
"Musharaf inaugurates the Organization of Islamic Conference in 
Islamabad.  Mouallem:  Peace can be achieved by making Israel abide 
by international resolutions" (Government-owned Tishreen, 5/16) 
 
"Gaza is a closed city.  11 Palestinians killed in clashes between 
Hamas and security elements of the Palestinian Presidency.  Olmert 
confers with Jordanian Monarch:  We are ready to meet moderate Arabs 
without preconditions" (Government-owned Al-Ba'th, 5/16) 
 
"Welch in Beirut to discuss the International Tribunal.  Welch meets 
the governing majority in the US Embassy in Beirut" (Independent 
al-Watan, 5/16) 
 
"Killing and injury of 3 US soldiers in Baghdad and al-Anbar. 
Scores of Iraqis killed in various explosions in Iraq.  Democrats 
replace draft resolution on financing war on Iraq with another draft 
resolution avoiding presidential veto" (Government-owned Tishreen, 
5/16) 
 
"US troops detain Iraqis in search for missing US soldiers" 
(Government-owned Syria Times) 
 
¶3.  Editorial Block Quotes: 
 
------------------------ 
 
"In the Right Direction" 
 
------------------------ 
 
Ali Nasrallah, an editorialist in government-owned  Al-Thawra, wrote 
(5/15):  "The campaign by Iraqi parliamentarians for a timetable for 
American withdrawal from Iraq is a real step in the right direction, 
though late.... 144 Iraqi members of parliament have signed a 
petition calling for American withdrawal....  This indicates that 
more than 50 percent of the Iraqi people reject the occupation and 
call for its removal, something that the Iraqi government and the 
international community cannot ignore.... 
 
"The parliamentarians' step needs to be taken seriously....  Their 
colleagues who have not signed the petition must do the same thing 
because this would end the cycle of violence and terrorism in 
Iraq...." 
 
--------------------------------------- 
 
"Effective Palestinian Move to Confront 
Israeli Deception" 
 
--------------------------------------- 
 
Ibrahim Shuqayr, a commentator in government-owned 
Al-Ba'th, wrote (5/16):  "There must be effective Palestinian 
political action to confront the American-Israeli attempts to 
obliterate and circumvent final solution issues through the talk 
 
about security arrangements and the reduction of the Palestinian 
question to a number of roadblocks here and there.... 
 
"This Palestinian action must also encourage Arab countries to lift 
the siege on Palestinians and to reject any compromise with regard 
to the Arab peace plan.... 
 
"Full Israeli withdrawal from the occupied Arab territories, 
assertion of the right of return, and establishment of a Palestinian 
state constitute one package that Israel must either accept or 
reject in full...." 
 
--------------------------------------------- -------- 
 
"Does Cheney's Tour Mean Loss of Confidence in Rice?" 
 
--------------------------------------------- -------- 
 
Khurshid Dalli, a commentator in independent Al-Watan, wrote (5/16): 
 "US Vice President Dick Cheney's tour of the region followed 
shortly after Condoleezza Rice's visit.  Does this indicate that the 
US Administration has lost confidence in the ability of the 
Secretary of State to promote US plans?  If this is the case, it 
 
SIPDIS 
means that the crisis has reached the head of the US Administration 
and its neoconservatives.... 
 
"Cheney began his tour with a visit to Iraq....  Does this mean that 
it has to do with the fate of Al-Maliki's government in light of the 
failure of the Baghdad security plan and the fact that a number of 
countries in the region are not happy with Al-Maliki's 
performance...? 
 
"Cheney's tour shows a crisis of a US Administration that has begun 
to sense a real failure in Iraq and to miss the appropriate 
opportunities for dealing with the issues of the region...." 
 
Corbin