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PP RUEHAG RUEHROV
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P 010558Z MAY 08
FM AMEMBASSY DAMASCUS
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 4909
INFO RUEHXK/ARAB ISRAELI COLLECTIVE
RUCNMEM/EU MEMBER STATES COLLECTIVE
RUEHAK/AMEMBASSY ANKARA 5552
RUMICEA/USCENTCOM INTEL CEN MACDILL AFB FL
RHMFISS/HQ USCENTCOM MACDILL AFB FL
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 0389

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 DAMASCUS 000299 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/27/2018 
TAGS: PGOV PREL SY
SUBJECT: CORRECTED COPY: SYRIANS ACCUSE U.S. OF FABRICATING 
STORY OF NUCLEAR COOPERATION WITH N. KOREA 
 
Classified By: CDA Michael Corbin, American Embassy Damascus, Reasons 1 
.4 b and d. 
 
Corrected copy - renumbering of last paragraph. 
 
¶1. (C)  Summary:  The current Syrian focus in press 
statements and government-owned publications is on refuting 
USG public revelations of Syrian-N.Korean nuclear 
cooperation.  We sense a shift from the Syrian focus on the 
¶N. Korean angle to recognition that U.S. information could be 
negatively impacting Syrian interests.  End Summary 
 
¶2.  (SBU)  PUBLIC STATEMENTS:  Several Syrian official 
statements have flatly denied USG revelations of 
SARG-N.Korean nuclear cooperation, the majority of which have 
appeared in the Arab press. 
 
--  In an April 24 CNN interview and a Washington Post 
article, the Syrian Ambassador in Washington accused the U.S. 
of making false claims of Syrian-N.Korean cooperation to 
justify Israel's September 6 military strikes against Syria. 
 
-- The Syrian Embassy in Washington issued an April 24 
statement regretting and denouncing "the campaign of false 
allegations that the current United States administration 
continually launches against Syria, claiming the presence of 
nuclear activity."  The statement accused the USG of 
"misguiding the U.S. Congress" in order to justify Israel's 
September 6, 2007 bombing raid. 
 
-- An April 25 SANA press release repeated these themes, 
quoting an unnamed senior official as saying, "This 
administration as it seemed was a party in carrying out the 
raid, and it is clear that such a move by the American 
administration comes in the framework of the negotiations 
connected with the Korean nuclear file." 
 
-- In an April 26 press statement carried by al Arabiya, 
Syria's UN Permrep Bashar al-Jafari said his country would 
fully cooperate with the IAEA in the ongoing investigation of 
his country's nuclear activities. 
 
-- In an April 26 report by KUNA, Ambassador Moustafa pledged 
Syria's intent to "deconstruct" the American allegations, 
contending "We are not in this business now and we do not see 
Syria acquiring nuclear technology in the foreseeable 
future."  He also added that one purpose of General Hayden's 
briefings was to undermine members of Congress who favored 
restoring U.S.-Syrian relations. 
 
-- In an April 27 statement to London Quds Press, Chairman of 
the Syrian Assembly International Affairs Committee, Sulayman 
Haddad said "We suspect the intentions of the United States. 
It has massed its forces in the region for several months. 
It wants to achieve its aims in Lebanon through various means 
and it wants to emerge from its predicament in Iraq."  Haddad 
also suggested that the Syrian-N. Korean revelations were 
part of a U.S.-Israeli plot to "mislead international public 
opinion," and he questioned the seriousness of reports of an 
Israeli announcement that the GOI  desired to evacuate the 
Golan. 
 
3,  (SBU)  EDITORIALS:  The Syrian Government daily 
"Tishreen" ran an April 26 article rejecting USG revelations 
of Syrian-N.Korean nuclear cooperation and accusing the U.S. 
of attempting to undermine Turkish-brokered talks between 
Israel and Syria. 
 
¶4.  (SBU) Government-owned "Al Thawrah" published two 
articles on April 27 accusing the U.S. of mounting a campaign 
of "lies" in a likely replay of the 2003 Iraq scenario.  The 
author calls on the international community to respond in a 
human and effective manner and prevent this "farce, the price 
of which the world is paying with its security, stability, 
and peace."  In the second article, the author accuses the 
U.S. of fabricating lies to hide its "continuous failure in 
all the alternative plans they have so far devised." 
 
¶5.  (C)  TWO LOCAL REACTIONS:  The normally well-informed Al 
Hayat Bureau Chief Ibrahim Hamidi (protect) claimed April 27 
that he was largely ignorant of the subject.  Pressed, he 
said his personal belief was that the U.S. briefing on 
Syrian-N.Korean nuclear cooperation was inaccurate.  Asked 
what additional evidence it would take to persuade him that 
 
DAMASCUS 00000299  002 OF 002 
 
 
the allegations were true, Hamidi replied he was not a 
military expert; his view was based on his analysis of "how 
the Syrian government works and how Syrian officials think." 
 
¶6.  (C)  Hamidi accused the USG of mounting the campaign to 
keep the SARG on the defensive and to stigmatize it so that 
future U.S. administrations could not restore normal 
bilateral relations.  Parroting a line expressed by President 
Asad, Hamidi said it was all but inconceivable that the SARG 
would seek to construct a nuclear reactor in cooperation with 
North Korea, knowing full well its military activities were 
under constant surveillance by Israel and others. Hamidi did 
not think the U.S. revelations would weaken Bashar's regime 
internally or externally, as most Syrians would support the 
right of Syria to defend itself. 
 
¶7.  (C)  Ihsan Sanker (strictly protect), a former MP and 
prominent businessman, opined that the re-opening of the 
Syrian nuclear file had come at an bad time for the Syrian 
regime.  President Asad had survived the Arab League summit 
and was trying to improve Syria's image by traveling in the 
region.  Sanker said his personal view was that Syria was 
involved in military cooperation with N. Korea.  Up until the 
April 24 briefings, he had been dubious of claims that Syria 
was constructing a nuclear reactor.  But the pictures were 
hard to deny.  Now, Sanker suggested, Syria would face 
continuing allegations until it took steps to refute them. 
"Of course Syrian officials are denying" the evidence 
presented by U.S. officials, he said.  "What did you expect?" 
 Sankar argued that Bashar's internal position would not 
likely suffer too much damage.  Externally, however, Syria 
would have to explain its position over and over again to 
Europeans and Arabs.  Even if America's credibility had 
suffered as a result of the 2003 Iraq presentation to the UN 
Security Council, Syria's credibility would also come into 
question. 
 
¶8.  (C) Comment:  Asad and his circle appear to be struggling 
to find a coherent public relations strategy.  For the time 
being, the MFA and others are attempting to refute U.S. 
information directly, though Western media coverage of 
Syria's side of the story appears to be notably thin.  We are 
starting to sense a shift in Syria's focus on the North 
Korean angle to recognition that U.S. information may be 
negatively impacting Syrian interests. 
 
 
CORBIN