VZCZCXYZ0022
OO RUEHWEB

DE RUEHDM #0679/01 1841319
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 031319Z JUL 07
FM AMEMBASSY DAMASCUS
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 3809
RHEHAAA/WHITE HOUSE WASHDC IMMEDIATE
RUEHAM/AMEMBASSY AMMAN 6922
RUEHLB/AMEMBASSY BEIRUT 4617
RUEHEG/AMEMBASSY CAIRO 3267
RUEHRH/AMEMBASSY RIYADH 7756
RUEHTV/AMEMBASSY TEL AVIV 1850
RUEHAK/AMEMBASSY ANKARA 5175
RUEHJM/AMCONSUL JERUSALEM 1382
RHMFISS/HQ USCENTCOM MACDILL AFB FL//CCPA//
INFO RUEHNC/AMEMBASSY NICOSIA 7497

UNCLAS DAMASCUS 000679 
 
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/Denmark, Syria/Japan, Golan, Palestinian 
Territories, Iraq, Lebanon, Bush/Putin (7/3) 
 
¶1.  Summary:  Syrian papers on July 3 reported Foreign Minister 
Mouallem's meeting on July 2 with Danish Foreign Minister Per Stig 
Moeller, who reiterated the importance of the pivotal role Syria 
plays in achieving security and stability in the region, 
particularly supporting efforts to restore Iraq's full sovereignty, 
territorial integrity and national reconciliation.  Talks also dealt 
with the latest developments in the Middle East, particularly in 
Iraq, Palestine and Lebanon.  FM Mouallem reiterated Syria's support 
for efforts to hold a Palestinian dialogue aiming at realizing 
Palestinian unity to confront continued Israeli occupation, and at 
ending intra-Palestinian fighting.  FM Mouallem also stressed the 
need to back Lebanese concord within a framework of respect for 
Lebanese constitutional institutions. 
 
Papers also featured a statement by General Ali Habib, Chief of 
Staff of the Syria Army and Armed Forces, at a graduation ceremony 
held on July 2 for a group of graduate officers from the Political 
Military College.  General Ali Habib reviewed current dangers in the 
region, noting that "the prevailing chaos, instability, and 
subservience are the result of the single power domination of 
decision-making centers and control of political tracks in a way 
that serves US interests by interfering in the affairs and countries 
of the region and implementing plans and programs that seek to 
conquer the Arab will, exploit Arab resources, and control their 
potentials."  General Habib stressed that the colonialist US-Zionist 
policy in the region is today "facing a real crisis as a result of 
the successive failures it is suffering in Palestine, Iraq, and 
Lebanon." 
 
On Syrian-Japanese relations, papers cited a statement by Japanese 
Foreign Minister Taro Aso on July 2 expressing satisfaction over 
developments in bilateral relations between Syria and Japan in the 
political, economic and cultural domains.  During a meeting with 
Syria's ambassador in Tokyo, Dr. Qahtan al-Syoufi, Aso reiterated 
the importance of Syria as a pivotal country which has political 
weight in the region and a key role in helping to achieve stability 
and comprehensive peace in the Middle East. 
 
End of summary. 
 
¶2.  Selected Headlines: 
 
"The Israeli army conducts military maneuvers in the Golan" 
(Independent al-Watan, 7/3) 
 
"A graduation ceremony is held for a new batch of graduate officers 
of the political college under President Asad's patronage.  General 
Habib, Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces:  A dangerous stage of 
chaos prevails in the region due to a single-polar policy" 
(Government-owned Al-Thawra, 7/3) 
 
"Foreign Minister Mouallem confers with Danish Foreign Minister Per 
Stig Moeller.  Moeller:  Syria is concerned about security in the 
region" (Government-owned Al-Thawra, 7/3) 
 
"Japanese Foreign Minister:  Syria is a pivotal state in the region" 
(Government-owned Al-Thawra, 7/3) 
 
"Europeans see America as the major source of danger for peace in 
the region.  Attacks against US forces are on the rise in Iraq" 
(Government-owned 
Al-Thawra, 7/3) 
 
"A hot July still at the beginning... Five US soldiers killed in one 
day.  After Diyala, US forces take revenge in al-Diwanieh" 
(Government-owned Tishreen, 7/3) 
 
"Warnings continue of the consequences of Israeli blackmail of the 
Palestinian Authority.  Martyrdom of Palestinian activist as Israeli 
assaults continue" (Government-owned Tishreen, 7/3) 
 
"Israeli attacks continue in the West Bank and Gaza Strip" 
(Government-owned Al-Thawra, 7/3) 
 
"More than 40 Saudis fought under Fateh al-Islam.  Lahoud warns 
against the governing team's adventures to reach the presidency" 
 
(Government-owned Al-Ba'th, 7/3) 
 
"Difference over the Iranian nuclear file and the missile shield 
persist in the Bush-Putin meeting" (Government-owned Al-Ba'th, 7/3) 
 
¶3.  Editorial Block Quotes: 
 
---------------------------------- 
 
"History Records But Has No Mercy" 
 
---------------------------------- 
 
Izz-al-Din al-Darwish, an editorialist in government-owned Tishreen, 
wrote (7/3):  "Arabs' failure to act to prevent the construction of 
the separation wall in the West Bank, despite the ruling against the 
wall from the International Court of Justice, encouraged Israeli 
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to propose that Europeans fund two 
similar walls on the borders with Lebanon and Syria.... 
 
"The walls entrench Israel's racist policy and perpetuate its 
occupation.... This is how Olmert thinks, and it is in this 
provocative and haughty manner that he deals with Arab impotence and 
tries to take as much advantage of it as possible.  In this, he also 
benefits from the positions of some Arabs, who not only keep silent 
on and submit to what Israel wants, but also help, in one way or 
another, to advance Israel's plans, justify its practices, and lay 
the blame on the Arab resistance and opposition. 
 
"History, which is recording all these Arab absurdities, will have 
mercy on no one. 
 
--------------------------------------------- --------- 
 
"Relinquishing Palestine and Combating its Resistance" 
 
--------------------------------------------- --------- 
 
Nasr Shamali, a columnist in government-owned Tishreen, wrote (7/3): 
 "The official Arab order is contributing to the attempt to bury and 
wipe out Palestine and Palestinians.  If Palestinians raise their 
voices, fists, and guns to reject this burial and disappearance, the 
official Arab order labels them terrorists and agents for Syria and 
Iran.  Support for Palestine and the Palestinian people has become a 
big crime.... 
 
"But things will not stop at this point.  The alignment process 
continues in the region, and it will result in the emergence of two 
fronts:  The front of Americans and Israelis and their allies, such 
as the Lebanese government and its supporters, and the front of Arab 
and Islamic resistance, which is supported by the overwhelming 
majority of the Arab nation and by countries like Syria and Iran. 
As the resistance makes constant progress, like that which we see in 
Iraq in particular, and as the earth continues to shake under the 
feet of the rulers of Washington and their wild usurious companies, 
we will certainly see American and Israeli forces fighting shoulder 
to shoulder with the forces of their regional allies!  What is so 
strange here?  It is already happening in Iraq, and it is almost 
happening in Lebanon, and also in Palestine...! 
 
"But the thing that we must realize is that these horrible and 
almost unbelievable phenomena indicate that the decisive round, the 
round of victory and salvation, is drawing nearer." 
 
--------------------------------------- 
 
"Channels of Dialogue Must Remain Open" 
 
--------------------------------------- 
 
Muhammad Suwwan, a commentator in government-owned  Al-Ba'th, wrote 
(7/3):  "The formation of the Palestinian emergency government was a 
step toward achieving security and political stability in the 
occupied Palestinian territories, and especially toward the removal 
of the stifling economic siege on the Palestinian people.... 
 
"The continuation of dialogue and contacts among Palestinian 
factions is an inevitable and essential option for all parties to 
establish one legitimate authority, one law, and one resistance 
weapon in all the Palestinian territories...." 
 
-------------------------------------- 
 
"Palestine and an Inevitable Dialogue" 
 
-------------------------------------- 
 
Khurshid Dalli, an editorialist in independent al-Watan, wrote 
(7/3):  "Despite all the pains and wounds that the Gaza incidents 
have left, national dialogue remains the only way to resolve 
intra-Palestinian differences.... 
 
"Palestinians must be aware of the dangers of political and 
geographic splits.....  Palestinian factions must agree on a 
national program, share responsibilities, set common priorities, and 
adopt the people's ambitions and concerns as programs and 
strategies...." 
 
-------------- 
 
"Wrong Vision" 
 
-------------- 
 
Muhammad Khayr al-Jammali, an editorialist in government-owned 
Al-Thawra, wrote (7/3):  "President Bush has a very mistaken vision 
about Israel's democracy.... Israel is a racist state that, since 
its establishment, has pursued a policy of perpetrating racist 
genocide against Arabs, destroying their culture, settling on their 
land, killing them mercilessly, isolating them, and preventing them 
from interacting in their villages and areas.... 
Israel also excludes Eastern Jews from the influential centers of 
power.... 
 
"President Bush's love for Israel's democracy stems from his 
ignorance of the real history of Israel and the countries of the 
region....  This ignorance is a result of a flagrant bias toward 
Israel and a racist hatred toward Arabs and Muslims." 
 
------------------------ 
 
"Democracy of Massacres" 
 
------------------------ 
 
Umar Jaftali, a commentator in government-owned Tishreen, wrote 
(7/3):  "When the American army kills 350 Iraqi citizens in Diyala 
in what looks like a mass killing and kills 26 others in Al-Sadr 
City in one day, and when President George Bush then comes to say he 
will make Iraq a model of democracy in the region, no sensible man 
can be fooled by these lies and this colonialist political 
charlatanism on the part of the US Administration.... 
 
"Iraq is experiencing a real disaster as a result of the policy of 
President Bush and the Zionist gang in his administration...." 
 
Corbin