VZCZCXYZ0022
OO RUEHWEB

DE RUEHDM #0778/01 2121318
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 311318Z JUL 07
FM AMEMBASSY DAMASCUS
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 3953
RHEHAAA/WHITE HOUSE WASHDC IMMEDIATE
RUEHAM/AMEMBASSY AMMAN 7000
RUEHLB/AMEMBASSY BEIRUT 4685
RUEHEG/AMEMBASSY CAIRO 3344
RUEHRH/AMEMBASSY RIYADH 7814
RUEHTV/AMEMBASSY TEL AVIV 1916
RUEHAK/AMEMBASSY ANKARA 5243
RUEHJM/AMCONSUL JERUSALEM 1445
RHMFISS/HQ USCENTCOM MACDILL AFB FL//CCPA//
INFO RUEHNC/AMEMBASSY NICOSIA 7555

UNCLAS DAMASCUS 000778 
 
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:  Peace Process, Lebanon, Iraq, Palestinian Territories, 
Rice's Tour/US Aid to Israel (7/31) 
 
¶1.  Summary:   Syrian papers on July 31 reported FM Mouallem's 
meeting on July 30 with Norwegian Foreign Minister Special Envoy for 
Middle-East Affairs Sven Sevje.  Discussion centered upon recent 
developments in the Middle East and efforts to revive the peace 
process.  FM Mouallem expressed Syria's keenness to establish a just 
and comprehensive peace in the region and to preserve the unity of 
the Palestinian people, calling on the Palestinian parties to return 
to dialogue in order to end the current crisis and establish an 
independent Palestinian state.  Sevje confirmed his country's 
interest in reviving the peace process in the Middle East according 
to international law, stating that Norway supports the Arab Peace 
Initiative. He also reiterated Syria's important role in achieving 
security and peace in the region. 
 
Papers also reported Spanish FM Miguel Angel Moratinos' arrival to 
Damascus on July 30 as part of his Mideast tour that took him to 
Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Lebanon.  After a visit to the 
politically-stricken Lebanon, Moratinos is scheduled to meet 
President Asad, VP Shara and FM Mouallem to discuss bilateral 
relations and means to solve Lebanon's political quandary.  While 
still in Beirut, Moratinos had pledged his country's keenness to 
offer necessary support to help reach a solution for Lebanon's 
political crisis, foreseeing aspects of a solution satisfactory by 
all powers. 
 
As for the Arab League extraordinary ministerial meeting held in 
Cairo on July 30 to discuss President Bush's call for an 
international conference on Middle Ease peace, papers reported that 
Syrian Representative to the Arab League Yussef Ahmed, who led the 
Syrian delegation at the meeting in absence of FM Moualem, showed 
reservations about Bush's initiative as unsuitable for the time 
being in light of inter-Palestinian divisions and splits.  Failure 
to resolve the current Palestinian situation will lead to the 
liquidation of the Palestinian issue, he said, calling for a 
resolution on Arab commitment towards Palestinian reconciliation and 
national unity as well as territorial integrity in the West Bank, 
Eastern Jerusalem and Gaza.  Lengthy discussions were held over the 
Syrian call, with the Arab foreign ministers having failed to come 
up with a relevant resolution, he said. "They wanted to bypass this 
issue.  So, we showed our reservations about failure to adopt a 
resolution," he said. 
 
End of summary. 
 
¶2.  Selected Headlines: 
 
"Spanish FM Moratinos in Damascus after marathon meetings in 
Lebanon" (Government-owned Tishreen, 7/31) 
 
"FM Mouallem reviews efforts to revive the peace process with the 
Norwegian envoy" (Government-owned Al-Thawra, 7/31) 
 
"Syria expressed reservations and did not withdraw from the Arab 
League Ministerial in Cairo; Arab FMs met to discuss the outcome of 
the Arab Peace Initiative and ended up approving the Bush 
initiative; Bush's call is for peace or to dedicate division?!" 
(Government-owned Tishreen, 7/31) 
 
"The reality of the Syrian position at the Arab Foreign Ministers 
Conference:  It is too early to welcome an initiative that is still 
unclear.  Mousa: Syria is an essential party at any conference. 
Basiti:  The peace process must be activated as whole" 
(Government-owned Al-Thawra, 7/31) 
 
"European move to encourage dialogue.  US pressure to sabotage 
dialogue.  Kouchner's statements reflect French concern regarding 
the US and the Saudi positions on Lebanon" (Independent al-Watan, 
7/31) 
 
"Lebanese nationalist powers:  The governing team is opening fire on 
initiatives" (Government-owned Tishreen, 7/31) 
 
"Seven Palestinians wounded by an Israeli air raid against the 
Maghazi refugee Camp.  Russia recommends a dialogue between Hamas 
and Fateh.  Hanieh welcomes" (Government-owned Tishreen, 7/31) 
 
"The crisis between the Reconciliation Front and the Maliki 
government aggravates.  US troops will remain in Iraq until mid 
¶2009.  Death toll among US forces reaches 3,651" (Government-owned 
Al-Thawra, 7/31) 
 
¶3.  Editorial Block Quotes: 
 
------------------------------------------ 
 
"The New Middle East Plan Is Already Dead" 
 
------------------------------------------ 
 
Izz-al-Din al-Darwish, an editorialist in government-owned Tishreen, 
wrote (7/31):  "In light of the American defeat in Iraq and the 
Israeli defeat in Lebanon last year, the new Middle East plan, which 
the US administration was working hard to implement, has died.... 
 
"Things are heading toward the East that the peoples of the region 
want, an Arab East that is free from Israeli and American 
occupations and hegemonies, the East that can confront challenges 
and fulfill the ambitions of the peoples of the region.  The 
American Middle East, on the other hand, will remain dead.... 
 
"But Israel and the United States are still preparing for new 
political and military rounds in the region and pushing toward 
tension and confrontations in Iraq, Palestine, and Lebanon....  US 
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's Middle East tour comes within 
 
SIPDIS 
this context.... Rice's tour coincided with the announcement that 
the United States will increase its military aid to Israel....  This 
shows how the US Administration deals with the issues of the region 
and raises many questions about the usefulness of the determination 
of some Arabs to rush toward the United States and give it more than 
it asks for with regard to the defeat in Iraq and Lebanon.... 
 
"Yet, everything proves that there is absolutely no chance for the 
success of these new American tours. The opposition to US plans has 
become stronger and the situation has changed.  Everything on the 
ground says that the American era in the region is over." 
 
--------------------------- 
 
"Partnership in Aggression" 
 
--------------------------- 
 
Umar Jaftali, an editorialist in government-owned Tishreen, wrote 
(7/31):  "The announcement that the United States pledged to 
increase its military aid to Israel and maintain Israel's military 
superiority over all the countries of the region shows that 
President Bush is determined not to end his term in office before 
completing his colonial plan in the region in all its aspects and 
burdening the American citizen with the consequences of wrong 
policies that have brought nothing but the indignation of the 
nations of the world and further outrage against US policy, which 
totally evades every legal or ethical logic in its approach to the 
world.... 
 
"The American pledge threatens more aggression, new thuggish acts, 
and further Israeli defiance of the UN resolutions and all human 
rights laws and conventions.... 
 
"The US Administration, through this step, proves that it persists 
in harming the peoples of the region and intends to impose hegemony 
and implement hostile schemes, not to push the region toward a just 
and comprehensive peace....." 
 
------------------------- 
 
"A Mysterious Invitation" 
 
------------------------- 
 
Muhammad Khayr al-Jammali, a commentator in government-owned 
Al-Thawra, wrote (7/31):  "The American delegation's vote against a 
resolution by the UN Economic and Social Council calling for the 
 
revival of the Middle East peace process on the basis of Resolutions 
242 and 338 and stressing the permanent sovereignty of nations under 
occupation, proves that US President George Bush's call for an 
international conference on Middle East peace lacks seriousness and 
credibility.... 
 
"The American call for the conference is a political tactic meant to 
cover the failure that haunts the American policy in the region, 
from Iraq to Palestine to Lebanon to every place in which the US 
Administration has tried to interfere.... 
 
"The conference will be doomed to failure because it lacks clear 
terms of reference and an honest sponsor." 
 
Corbin