Cablegate: New Kfc in Syria Witnesses Its First Anti-American

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PP RUEHWEB

DE RUEHDM #0393/01 0331512
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 021512Z FEB 06
FM AMEMBASSY DAMASCUS
TO SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 6843

UNCLAS DAMASCUS 000393

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

NEA/ELA
NSC - EABRAMS/MSINGH
TREASURY FOR GLASER/LEBENSON
EB/ESC/TFS FOR SALOOM

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: ECON ETRD EINV SY
SUBJECT: NEW KFC IN SYRIA WITNESSES ITS FIRST ANTI-AMERICAN
PROTEST

NOT FOR INTERNET OR WEBGRAM DISTRIBUTION

1. (SBU) Summary: Having opened only recently with generous
media coverage, demonstrators associated with the Committee to
Boycott U.S. Products staged a protest against the new KFC
restaurant in Damascus this week. The organizers of the protest
are not affiliated with the Central Boycott Office, but have
conducted similar protests on various occasions since 2003.
Though press reports have suggested that KFC has received only a
lukewarm reception in Syria, the local agent for KFC told us he
has received timely support from the Syrian government to open
the new KFC restaurant and though he expects to experience
similar future protests, he still plans to open additional
American fast-food chains throughout Syria. End Summary.

2. (U) Local, regional, and international media reported widely
on the opening of Syria's first KFC the first week of January.
Most news stories report that KFC has received only a lukewarm
reception by Syrians. According these reports, while some
Syrians are willing to purchase American brands such as KFC, many
are concerned about the timing of the opening of the KFC
restaurant, especially given the tense political relationship
between the U.S. and Syria. Syrians have also been quoted as
expressing concern that the restaurant's opening as a further
step toward U.S. cultural imperialism. KFC, the first U.S. fast-
food franchise in the country, is owned and operated by Kuwait
Food Company (Americana). The restaurant follows other U.S.
brands that have recently entered the Syrian market, such as Coca-
Cola and Pepsi.

3. (SBU) On January 28, fifty to sixty youthful protesters
affiliated with the Committee to Boycott U.S. products gathered
outside KFC to demand closure of the restaurant because of its
affiliation with the U.S. The Syrian and Palestinian protesters
told Al Hayat newspaper that the "U.S. continues to threaten and
target Syria and does not stop in its attempt to make Syria
kneel...why would we reward it and finance its wars against Iraq
and Palestine by promoting its companies such as KFC, Coca-Cola,
and Pepsi?" While no violence ensued during the protest, Embassy
sources are uncertain whether the restaurant will witness
additional demonstrations.

4. (SBU) According to Embassy contacts, the Committee to Boycott
U.S. Products, a private entity headed by Ahmad Abdul Karim,
former Minister of Rural and Civil Affairs (now Ministry of Local
Administration) and retired Major General in the Syrian military,
has been in existence since the beginning of the war in Iraq.
The Committee routinely organized low-profile protests targeting
U.S. products until about two months ago. Its activities
included distributing pamphlets encouraging Syrians to boycott
listed U.S. companies and products, as well as burning empty
Marlboro cigarette cartons as a protest against U.S. foreign
policy. Syrian sources indicate that the group is not affiliated
with the Central Boycott Office (Arab League) or the Syrian
Israel Boycott Office (Syrian Ministry of Defense). However,
sources state that the Committee to Boycott U.S. Products likely
has the approval and blessing of the Syrian government.

4. (SBU) Mohamad Raeef Al-Kouwatli, the Syrian agent for KFC,
told us that he felt unthreatened by the protesters who he viewed
as simply misguided youths upset over U.S. policy in Iraq and
Lebanon with no connection to the SARG. Kouwatli commented that
he gave his security guards strict instructions not to use
physical force with the protesters even if they started to break
things. He further stated that he faced no opposition from the
Syrian government when establishing and opening his KFC
restaurant, and in fact felt that he has the full support of the
Ministry of Tourism. Koulwatli expects future similar protests
but is still optimistic that his KFC restaurant in Damascus
represents the beginning of American fast-food in Syria and hopes
to open additional Americana food chains (e.g. KFC, Hardees,
Pizza Hut, and Baskin Robbins) throughout all of the country's
governorates.

5. (SBU) Comment: Though both Coca-Cola and Pepsi were
introduced legally into the Syrian market in 2005 (both had been
illegally smuggled into Syria previously) and experienced no
negative reaction, the opening of the KFC restaurant provides
Syrians who harbor a dislike of the U.S. and its policies a
physical location at which their opposition can be aired. Still,
Koulwatli is undeterred and seems more concerned about the affect
avian flu will have on his business than the threat of any future
protests. Though Koulwatli readily points out that his
restaurant is the clearest and most accessible symbol of America
in the capital of a country with increasingly problematic
relations with the U.S., he is equally dismissive of politics

adversely affecting his business, in spite of the fact that a
similar venture run by the then Vice President's son, Jamal
Khaddam, failed some five or six years ago.

SECHE

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