VZCZCXYZ0008
OO RUEHWEB

DE RUEHDM #0557/01 1581135
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 071135Z JUN 07
FM AMEMBASSY DAMASCUS
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 3636
RHEHAAA/WHITE HOUSE WASHDC IMMEDIATE
RUEHAM/AMEMBASSY AMMAN 6860
RUEHLB/AMEMBASSY BEIRUT 4571
RUEHEG/AMEMBASSY CAIRO 3215
RUEHRH/AMEMBASSY RIYADH 7713
RUEHTV/AMEMBASSY TEL AVIV 1797
RUEHAK/AMEMBASSY ANKARA 5129
RUEHJM/AMCONSUL JERUSALEM 1333
RHMFISS/HQ USCENTCOM MACDILL AFB FL//CCPA//
INFO RUEHNC/AMEMBASSY NICOSIA 7456

UNCLAS DAMASCUS 000557 
 
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/Spain, Syria/Pakistan, Syria/Cuba, Golan, Lebanon, 
Palestinian Territories, Iraq (6/7) 
 
¶1.  Summary:  Syrian papers on June 7 reported that FM Mouallem will 
leave for Spain today at the invitation of Spanish FM Miguel Angel 
Moratinos.  Mouallem will convey an oral message from President Asad 
to King Juan Carlos I and will hold talks with Moratinos regarding 
bilateral relations and the latest developments in the region. 
 
On Syrian-Pakistani relations, papers reported the visit to 
Islamabad by a Syrian media delegation and its meeting on June 6 
with Riyad Ahmed Khan, Undersecretary of the Pakistani Foreign 
Ministry, who confirmed his country's support of Syria's positions 
and its right to restoration of the occupied Golan.  Khan described 
Syrian-Pakistani relations as "deep and friendly."  The Pakistani 
official expressed his country's concern over the latest 
developments in the Middle East, particularly in the Palestinian 
territories, Iraq and Lebanon, saying, "the current conditions have 
negative repercussions not only on regional states but on Pakistan 
too". 
 
Papers also reported Information Minister Mohsen Bilal's meeting on 
June 6 with Fidel Castro Jr., son of the Cuban President and the 
scientific advisor to Cuba's State Council.  Talks focused on 
bilateral relations and mutual cooperation.  Bilal underlined the 
strong relations between both countries in all fields, hailing 
Cuba's support of just Arab causes.  The Minister pointed out the 
important role of media in clarifying the truth and conveying 
accurate information.  The son of the Cuban President reiterated his 
country's support of Syria's positions and defended its right to 
restoration of the occupied Golan. 
 
Papers also reported that the Syrian Foreign Ministry on June 6 
forwarded memoranda to the UN Secretary General, UN General Assembly 
Chairwoman, UN Security Council Chief, member states, and the High 
Commissioner for Human Rights on the deteriorating health situation 
of Syrian captive Sitan Nimr al-Wali in solitary confinement in the 
Israeli desert prison of Nafha.  The memoranda called on the UN and 
human right officials to intervene to compel Israel to provide 
medical care, send specialist doctors to examine the health 
condition of the Syrian captive and release him, along with his 
fellow Syrian detainees who have been under arrest for more than 
twenty years", the memos said. 
 
End of summary. 
 
¶2.  Selected Headlines: 
 
"Mouallem heads to Spain today carrying a message from President 
Asad to King Carlos" (Government-owned Al-Ba'th, 6/7) 
 
"Olmert:  Israel does not seek war with Syria.  Israeli forces 
conduct maneuvers on attacking a Syrian village" (Independent 
al-Watan, 6/7) 
 
"The Syrian Foreign Ministry calls for UN intervention to release 
Syrian prisoners in Israeli jails" (Government-owned Al-Thawra, 6/7) 
 
 
"The Lebanese army tightens siege on Fath al-Islam fighters. 
Lebanese nationalist figures warn of an internationalization scheme 
starting with the conversion of Nahr al-Bared into a US base. 
Efforts continue to reach a ceasefire, secure the return of refugees 
and reach agreement on a new formula for Palestinian refugees" 
(Government-owned Al-Ba'th, 6/7) 
 
"Olmert and Hanieh discuss peace in press articles published by the 
'Guardian'.  Israel speaks of 'painful concessions'" (Independent 
al-Watan, 6/7) 
 
"250 European MPs call for acknowledging the democratically elected 
Palestinian government and immediately releasing its frozen aid" 
(Government-owned Al-Ba'th, 6/7) 
 
"The EU reiterates support for maintaining Iraq's territorial 
integrity" (Government-owned Al-Ba'th, 6/7) 
 
"Killing of four US soldiers in Iraq" (Government-owned Al-Thawra, 
6/7) 
 
 
"AFP Report:  The morale of US State Department employees is on 
decline" (Independent al-Watan, 6/7) 
 
¶3.  Editorial Block Quotes: 
 
----------------- 
"Devils of Chaos" 
 
----------------- 
 
Isam Dari, Chief Editor of government-owned Tishreen, commented 
(6/7):  "The American-Israeli plan to redraw the Middle East map is 
being conducted through the promotion of chaos in the region.... 
 
"Stability in any country constitutes a serious challenge to the 
devils of chaos and their plans and schemes.  Likewise, the 
resistance option is a challenge to these plans and schemes.... 
 
"This might explain the American hostility toward Syria and the 
attempts to isolate and besiege it, distort its image, and direct 
accusations against it.  And here one can understand the reasons of 
the multi-shaped American-Israeli aggression against the Lebanese 
and Palestinian resistance...." 
 
------------------------------------------- 
 
"The 40th Anniversary of June 4, 1967 War; 
A New Generation that never Accepts Defeat" 
 
------------------------------------------- 
 
Mahdi Dakhlallah, former Information Minister, commented in 
government-owned Tishreen on (6/7):   "Arabs, who suffered two major 
defeats in 1948 and 1967, will not suffer a new one because there is 
now a new factor in the Arab reality, a factor that did not exist 
before, namely, the armed popular resistance in Iraq, Palestine, and 
Lebanon.... 
 
"The resistance has forced Israelis to build walls to hide behind 
and has made the Arab peoples strongly believe that it is impossible 
for the Israeli plan to succeed in the region.... 
 
"Before the resistance, Arabs had to record their defeats while 
Israel could record its victories.  After the resistance, the 
Israeli record contained defeats as well, defeats in Lebanon and 
Gaza, and soon in the Golan.... 
 
"Israel and the United States, therefore, are working to eliminate 
the resistance at any price.... But the Arab resistance is indeed 
growing.... The resistance generation is not used to defeat and it 
has not tasted it, because it was not there during the June 1967 
war.... 
 
"Today, defeat is impossible because the resistance generation is 
the generation of the age and because the people are always the 
decision-makers of resistance...." 
 
------------------------------------- 
 
"Will Resistance Be the Sole Option?" 
 
------------------------------------- 
 
Sulayman Haddad, a commentator in government-owned   Al-Thawra, 
wrote (6/7):  "Forty years have passed since the occupation of the 
Golan and more than half a century since the occupation of 
Palestine.... 
 
"No matter how long it takes, we will always remember that you 
Israelis have been looting the resources of our land for 40 years. 
These resources belong to us and to our children and grandchildren. 
We will leave it to them to regain these resources if we cannot do 
it ourselves.  You will pay the price no matter how long the 
occupation lasts.  You will withdraw from the occupied territories 
 
whether you like it or not.... 
 
"The Arab peoples are becoming more and more convinced that Israel 
understands only the language of resistance.... There is no doubt 
that the land will return, if not through the peace we want, then in 
some other way.  Our people will not remain silent forever about the 
occupation and all of them will turn into resistance.... 
"It is better for you Israelis to talk peace and not to force our 
peoples to wage a destructive war, the price of which Israel will be 
the first to pay.... Do not waste the chance offered by the Arab 
peace plan and do not push us toward the resistance option." 
 
------------------------------------- 
 
"US Democracy with a Lebanese Accent" 
 
------------------------------------- 
 
Khalid al-Ashhab, a commentator in government-owned Al-Thawra, wrote 
(6/7):  "It is ridiculous for President Bush to talk about democracy 
and human rights while the blood flows and the heaps of rubble rise 
here and there.... 
 
"Occupations, detention camps, genocide and ethnic cleansing, and 
sectarian and political seditions are being planned and financed by 
the CIA to overthrow a government here and a political regime there 
and install alternatives to this or that.  International resolutions 
are being fabricated and drafted by American pens and Washington's 
willing and unwilling allies are required to vote for them 
(democratically) at the Security Council so that they turn into 
weapons, explosives, and booby-traps.  These are some of the 
translations of the democratic texts that Bush reads to us and to 
the rest of the world day and night...." 
 
Corbin