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DE RUEHDM #0324/01 1271134
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O 071134Z MAY 09
FM AMEMBASSY DAMASCUS
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 6321
INFO RUEHLB/AMEMBASSY BEIRUT PRIORITY 5139
RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON PRIORITY 0546
RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS PRIORITY 0515
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEHUNV/USMISSION UNVIE VIENNA PRIORITY 0032
RHEHAAA/WHITE HOUSE WASHDC PRIORITY

C O N F I D E N T I A L DAMASCUS 000324 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR CA/OCS/ACS/NESA, CA/OCS/CI 
LONDON FOR TSOU, PARIS FOR WALLER 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/07/2019 
TAGS: CASC KOCI KJUS PREL SY MURAD MAYA AND OMAR
SUBJECT: MURAD CUSTODY CASE: CONSUL GENERAL PRESENTS 
BACKGROUND TO SYRIAN DIRECTOR OF CONSULAR AFFAIRS 
 
REF: DAMASCUS 00245 
 
Classified By: CDA Maura Connelly for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). 
 
¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY: The Consul General met with the Syrian 
Director of Consular Affairs Haitham Maashfej on May 5, in 
order to provide him with additional information about the 
Murad child custody case.  Director Maashfej was given a copy 
of the diplomatic note and supporting background information. 
The note reiterated the USG's request for assistance from the 
SARG on locating the Murad children and reuniting them with 
their mother.  The Consul General also reminded Maashfej that 
Acting Assistant Secretary Jeffrey Feltman had raised the 
case with Foreign Minister Walid al-Muallim in the past and 
would probably do so again on May 7, adding he hoped Maashfej 
would brief the FM on the meeting so that the FM would be 
made aware of the case.  Maashfej received the information 
and promised he would share it with the relevant officials 
and that he would provide us with an update if/when they 
learned something about the case.  END SUMMARY. 
 
------------------------------ 
Following Feltman's Initiative 
------------------------------ 
 
¶2. (SBU) The Consul General met with Director of Consular 
Affairs Haitham Maashfej on May 5, in a follow-up to a March 
26 meeting between Maashfej,Charge d'Affaires, the Consul 
General (ref A).  Post had sought the March 26 meeting to 
follow up on A A/S Feltman's query to FM Muallim on March 7. 
Muallim had told Feltman he was unfamiliar with the Murad 
case before and asked for more information.  The Embassy took 
Muallim's request as an opportunity to meet with Maashfej and 
provide documents showing the history of our appeals to the 
SARG for assistance. 
 
------------------------------------ 
The Dipnote and Supporting Documents 
------------------------------------ 
 
¶3. (SBU) The Consul General presented Maashfej with a copy of 
a diplomatic note that requested SARG aid in the case and 
additional supporting documents describing the history of the 
Murad case.  The supporting documents and the diplomatic 
note, the Consul General explained, detailed USG efforts on 
behalf of the Murad family dating back to 2001 and included 
(1) a letter from 2007 signed by 16 Senators, including 
then-Senators Barack Obama and Joseph Biden, asking President 
Asad to assist in locating the Murad children and returning 
them to their mother; (2) a chronology of letters sent to the 
offices of the President and the Foreign Minister requesting 
SARG action on the case; (3) information on rulings by 
Lebanese and U.S. courts, including a judgment rendered under 
Sunni Sharia law, that granted Ms. Murad full custody of the 
two children; (4) the last known information on the 
children's U.S. and Lebanese passports; and (5) the GOL 
statement that the two children and their father had crossed 
from Lebanon into Syria in November 2001. 
 
-------------- 
Media Concerns 
-------------- 
 
¶4. (C) After reviewing the contents of the diplomatic note 
and supporting documents, the Consul General reiterated the 
USG's appeal to the SARG for support in returning the two 
children to their mother.  Ms. Murad, the Consul General 
noted, had not gone to the U.S. press recently on this issue. 
 Were she to do so in the future, he said, the case could 
attract a lot of attention in the press, adding that "she 
could say the USG had asked the Syrians for help in locating 
the children for a long time.  If something like that 
happened, I don't see how it would help the situation as we 
try to improve bilateral relations."  The Consul General 
reminded Maashfej of their previous conversation with the 
Charge in which they had said getting the Murad case "off the 
table" would be viewed positively by the USG. 
 
--------------------- 
Maashfej Noncommittal 
--------------------- 
 
¶5. (SBU) Maashfej, for his part, had little to say during the 
 
meeting.  Following the explanation of the diplomatic note, 
he asked, "What was the response from officials in the past 
when you brought this up?  I'm not familiar with the case." 
The Consul General responded, "On some occasions, the 
government officials said 'thank you' for the information and 
then never replied to us; other times they asked for more 
information, but no action resulted.  President Asad had said 
he would look into it and 'assist where he could,' but we are 
unaware of any action on his part." 
 
¶6. (C) Maashfej assured us he would be certain to send the 
information to those authorities who might help us and that 
he would respond to us at some point in the future.  The 
Consul General asked Maashfej to brief the FM prior to the 
FM's May 7 meeting with Feltman.  He also told Maashfej that 
it was certain the U.S. would pursue the case until it was 
resolved.  The problem, Maashfej replied, was that the 
children were Lebanese citizens.  "If they were Syrian, we 
could locate them easily, but this (their Lebanese 
citizenship) will make it difficult."  The Consul General 
quickly reminded Maashfej that the children were U.S. 
citizens as well and that citizenship was the most important 
in our view. 
 
¶7. (C) COMMENT:  Despite Muallim's apparent lack of 
recollection, the Embassy has raised the issue with him in 
the past.  The SARG's lack of response on this case has been 
longstanding and we can only speculate as to their reasons. 
END COMMENT. 
CONNELLY