VZCZCXRO1028
OO RUEHAG RUEHROV
DE RUEHDM #0665/01 1831304
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
O 021304Z JUL 07
FM AMEMBASSY DAMASCUS
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 3794
INFO RUEHXK/ARAB ISRAELI COLLECTIVE
RUCNMEM/EU MEMBER STATES COLLECTIVE
RUEHGB/AMEMBASSY BAGHDAD 0488
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 0270

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 DAMASCUS 000665 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
PARIS FOR WALLER; LONDON FOR TSOU 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/12/2015 
TAGS: PGOV PREL SY
SUBJECT: DEMARCHE DELIVERED TO SARG ON FOREIGN FIGHTERS 
 
REF: STATE 91551 
 
Classified By: Charge d'Affaires Michael Corbin, per 1.4 b,d. 
 
 ¶1.  (C) Summary:  Charge delivered reftel points on the 
foreign fighter issue July 2 to FM Walid Mu'allim's office 
director, Bassam Sabbagh.  Sabbagh did not offer any official 
response but noted this was not a new issue and that the SARG 
did not want to cooperate on a few limited issues without a 
broader "political umbrella."  He also complained about USG 
failure to follow-up after the Sharm talks, USG criticisms of 
the presidential referendum, the recently announced 
Presidential proclamation on visas, and the incident 
involving the family of Syrian Permrep Jafari.  Separately 
Charge pressed Bassam for an answer on the delayed visas for 
teachers for the Damascus Community School (the U.S. Embassy 
school).  Charge noted this was turning into a major issue 
which we counted on the MFA to resolve.  Bassam promised to 
work on the issue.  End Summary. 
 
¶2.  (C) Charge delivered reftel points July 2 to Bassam 
Sabbagh, FM Mu'allim's chef de cabinet.  Charge strongly 
underlined the problem that foreign fighters posed in Iraq, 
killing large numbers of civilians and coalition forces while 
undermining stability, and underscored the to date 
half-hearted efforts the SARG had made to address the 
problem.  Referring to demarche points, Charge listed the 
steps Syria could take to show it was serious about stopping 
the flow of foreign fighters.  He noted particularly the need 
for the SARG to implement entrance requirements that would 
stop the entrance into Syria of single male travelers from 
the Arab world and Pakistan who enter Syria without a valid 
reason for travel. 
 
¶3.  (C) Sabbagh responded initially by inquiring whether the 
demarche was being delivered in other capitals which served 
as the sources for foreign fighter, which Charge confirmed. 
He noted that he did not have an official response to deliver 
but committed to getting back to Charge after he had briefed 
the FM if there was to be an official response.  Speaking 
unofficially, Sabbagh raised several issues.  First, he noted 
that at the April Sharm talks between the FM and the 
Secretary the Syrian side had insisted on the need for "a 
 
SIPDIS 
political umbrella," to prevent inconsistencies where Syria 
cooperated with the U.S. on certain issues and the U.S. 
criticized and made accusations against Syria at the same 
time on other issues.  (He noted that the FM had also called 
for the return of a U.S. Ambassador to Damascus.)  Since 
Sharm, according to Sabbagh, the U.S. had not followed up. 
He insisted for example that the SARG had invited senior 
State officials to come to Damascus to further discuss Iraq 
issues and had heard nothing further. 
 
¶4.  (C) Sabbagh also took issue with USG statements on the 
late May presidential referendum, pointing for example to one 
which described it as "vanilla" and called these statements 
inappropriate and insulting to Syria's dignity, and 
representing an unacceptable  interference into Syria's 
internal affairs.   In addition, Sabbagh raised the recent 
Presidential proclamation restricting entry into the U.S. for 
persons undermining Lebanon's sovereignty.  Raising a 
separate issue, Sabbagh lifted a copy of the most recent 
Trafficking in Persons reports, complaining about the 
critical language on Syria, especially regarding Iraqi 
refugees.  Finally, Sabbagh raised the issue of the June 22 
treatment of Syrian Permrep Bashar Jafari's family at JFK, 
which the Charge said was under investigation. 
 
¶5.  (C) Specifically on the foreign fighter issue, Sabbagh 
said "this is not a new issue," and claimed that while the 
Syrian side had taken action, others in the region, including 
Iraq itself, had not.  The Charge pushed back, asking Sabbagh 
why the Syrians were not allowing the border security working 
group to convene and urged the SARG to follow up with an 
official response and actions on the ground. 
 
¶6.  (C) On a separate issue, the Charge raised with Sabbagh 
the SARG's refusal to date to issue residency visas for some 
30 teachers at the Embassy-affiliated Damascus Community 
School (DCS), emphasizing that the SARG needed to take action 
soon or it would in effect be closing down an international 
school that had operated in Syria for the past 50 years. 
Such an action would not only impact on Embassy operations, 
but would also reverberate negatively for Syria in the wider 
diplomatic and international business communities in Syria. 
 
DAMASCUS 00000665  002 OF 002 
 
 
Sabbagh expressed personal sympathy on the school issue. 
Unofficially he raised as issues both the Ministry of 
Education wanting more control of the school and the fallout 
from the death of a Syrian student on a school trip in 2006. 
The Charge reiterated the importance of the school and urged 
the SARG to move quickly on the visa issue to signal that it 
did not intend to close the school.   Bassam promised to 
personally work to resolve this issue. 
 
¶7.  (C) COMMENT:  In the current state of Syrian retrenchment 
on all fronts, it is interesting that Sabbagh would cite our 
public statements on the referendum as one of their main 
issues of concern.  Despite multiple critical statements over 
the past year, our pointed statements on the referendum seem 
to have really hit home.  It shows how much the issues of 
image, respect, and dignity are important for the Bashar 
regime.  And even with this criticism, it was not so much the 
substance of the criticism but what Sabbagh called an 
inappropriate, ridiculing tone, the reference to vanilla or 
vanilla as illustrative of the lack of political choice, that 
really bothered the Syrians. 
 
 
CORBIN