Cablegate: Damascus Media Reaction: Syria/Uae, Syria/Iraq, Golan,

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FM AMEMBASSY DAMASCUS
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 2483
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UNCLAS DAMASCUS 005320

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT FOR PA, NEA/ARN, INR/IC/CD, INR/S:STHIBEAULT AND
JMCCARTER, VOA NEWS CA, NEA/PPD:CBOURGEOIS, DBENZE AND AFERNANDEZ,
IIP/G/NEA-SA RWINCHESTER
WHITE HOUSE FOR NSC
CENTCOM FOR CCPA

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: KMDR PREL KPAO OPRC SY
SUBJECT: Damascus Media Reaction: Syria/UAE, Syria/Iraq, Golan,
Calls for Peace/Dialogue with Syria, Lebanon, Palestinian
Territories (11/20)

1. Summary: Syrian papers today reported that President Asad
received on Sunday (Nov. 19) a letter from Sheikh Khalifa bin Zaied
Al Nahyan, President of the United Arab Emirates, concerning
bilateral relations. The letter was delivered by the UAE Ambassador
in Damascus Yousef al-Medfaei.

On Syrian-Iraqi relations, papers reported that Syrian FM Walid
al-Mouallem started a visit to Baghdad yesterday (Nov. 19), which is
the first of its kind since the US invasion of Iraq in 2003.
Al-Mouallem held talks with Iraqi President Talabani, Iraqi PM
al-Maliki, and Iraqi FM Zebari, as well as other officials. The
talks focused on the latest developments in Iraq and the region. In
a joint press conference with Iraqi FM Zebari, Al-Mouallem said that
Syria "supports the political process, the Iraqi government, and
efforts to achieve national reconciliation." He added that Syria
cares about Iraq because security in the two countries cannot be
separated. "We repeat our condemnation of all terrorist acts," he
said. "We support the elected government and national
reconciliation....We support the unity of Iraq, and we think that a
timetable for pulling U.S. occupation forces out of Iraq will
reduce violence in Iraq." Syrian sources had expected that the
ministers would announce resumption of diplomatic ties, but that did
not happen. Al-Mouallem's visit concurred with calls by UK PM Tony
Blair and former US Secretary of State James Baker for talks with
Syria and Iran to improve the situation in Iraq. However, Syrian
sources said that the visit was not meant to satisfy anybody, but
came out of a Syrian desire to increase cooperation between the two
countries. Al-Mouallem said that setting a timetable to withdraw
U.S. troops "will contribute to limiting violence." Zebari said the
sides discussed re-establishing diplomatic ties, which were cut in
1982. No certain time was given for this, however.

End of summary.

2. Selected Headlines:

"President Asad receives a letter from Sheikh Khalifa Bib Zayed
Al-Nahyan, President of the United Arab Emirates, on bilateral
relations" (Government-owned Tishreen, 11/20)

"Foreign Minister al-Mouallem carries a message of amity from
Damascus to Baghdad: We didn't come to gratify any one.... Syria is
dedicated to the Iraqi people's concerns.... Setting a timetable for
withdrawal of US troops from Iraq will contribute to the achievement
of stability.... Zebari: The visit paves the war for good relations
between the two countries" (Government-owned Al-Thawra, 11/20)

"Deputy Foreign Minister Miqdad receives a delegation of the UN Fact
Finding Commission on the Golan: Syria is determined to regain her
occupied land by all possible means" (Government-owned Tishreen,
11/20)

"More US Congressmen call for dialogue with Syria. Prodi reiterates
the importance of achieving peace in the region" (Government-owned
Tishreen, 11/20)

"British 'The Independent' daily: Seeking Syria's and Iran's help
to get out of the Iraqi impasse is London's and Washington's top
priority" (Government-owned Al-Thawra, 11/20)

"Nasrallah, Hizbollah Chief, reiterates call to form a national
unity government or hold early parliamentary elections. Nasrallah's
new promise: Toppling the Feltman government" (Government-owned
Al-Thawra, 11/20)

"The Olmert government considers the UN General Assembly's
resolutions denouncing the Bait Hanoun massacre as hypocrisy! More
than two Palestinians martyred, eight injured by the continuing
Israeli aggression against Gaza" (Government-owned Tishreen, 11/20)

3. Editorial Block Quotes:

------------------

"Candles of Peace"

------------------

Abd-al-Fattah al-Awad, Chief Editor of government-owned Al-Thawra,
maintained (11/20): "Israel and the party that supports it are
neither willing nor able to achieve peace in the Middle East....
Israel quickly rejected the Spanish peace initiative....

"All of this is happening in the absence of a supportive US role for
the Middle East peace process.... The US has chosen to be an unfair
and biased sponsor of the peace process....

"There is confusion in the statements of US officials concerning
dialogue with Syria. This is evidence of American disinterest in
peace.... Sometimes you hear one person calling for dialogue,
another denying and rejecting it, and a third setting conditions.
Perhaps you can hear these conflicting statements from the same
official over a short period of time!

"It does not take much effort to explain this. This is not only the
confusion that follows the difficult problems that the Bush
administration is facing. It is also an attempt to contain the
repercussions of the Republicans' loss, which was a result of
American policies in the region....

"If Syria believes in and always calls for dialogue, it does not
believe that dialogue for the sake of dialogue is the goal that
everyone seeks. Though important and significant, dialogue is not
an end in and of itself. In order not to be misunderstood, it is
important to stress the need for dialogue, but the dialogue must
have an objective. The time of diktat has passed. The right and
useful dialogue is the one that respects 'common interests', the
sacred term in the language of politics....

"Syria never talked about conditions for dialogue, but it always
insists that Syrian national and pan-Arab interests must be taken
into consideration. These interests focus on peace as a noble
objective that returns rights to their owners and paints a new
future for the region."

-------------------

"After US Failures"

-------------------

Izz-al-Din al-Darwish, an editorialist in government-owned Tishreen,
wrote (11/20): "Europe is dissociating itself from the United
States as a direct result of the deception that the Bush
administration practiced and of the haughtiness it adopted in its
foreign policy, and, then, of the humiliating failure it reaped as a
result of these positions, especially in the Arab region....

"Europe is now formulating new positions, especially with regard to
the war on Iraq and the Arab-Israeli conflict.... The European moves
toward the region and Syria in particular are part of these new
European policies....

"Influential European countries like Spain, Italy, Belgium, and
Norway responded to the somewhat timid position of the British
Government toward Syria when they stressed the importance of Syria's
role and the need to coordinate with Syria as an indispensable party
if security and stability were to prevail in the region and if the
peace process were to take its full course....

"Some European countries did their part. They sent envoys to Syria,
learned its positions, asked its opinion, and expressed willingness
to continue contacts with it. Others are awaiting more American
failures to make similar contacts. But in any case, it can be
stressed here that Syria has adhered to its policy. It did not give
in to pressure or bow to the despotism of the American adventurism
that was led by President Bush and his neoconservative team, and
which has been defeated at home and abroad....

"This, naturally, does not mean that things have reached a point
where Syria can feel reassured and non-skeptical, especially since
the US Administration has not yet stopped its campaign against Syria
or abandoned accusations against it. American officials do not
cease slandering Syria, and their insolence sometimes reaches the
point of blaming Syria for all the problems of the region, although
everyone in the region and beyond realizes and knows with certainty
that the region is experiencing occupations, killings, and terrorism
because of Washington's wars and unlimited support for Israel, the
head of terror. American officials, from the president down to the
most junior White House employee, know this fact, but they insist on
ignoring it for Zionist reasons, the most important of which is that
most of them are more loyal to Israel than to their own country, the
United States."

-------------

"Europe Anew"

-------------

Ahmad Dawwa, a commentator in government-owned Al-Thawrah, said
(11/20): "It is not surprising that Israel rejected the European
peace initiative. What is surprising is that this swift rejection
passes without comment or query from the international community....
We wonder how the world would react if the Palestinians were the
party that rejected the peace plan.

"The European effort to resolve the Arab-Israeli conflict is an
important step, but it needs support in order to produce the
required result. Had Israel thought its rejection of the Spanish,
Italian, and French initiative would result in penalties, it would
not have taken such a step, or at least it would have asked the
three countries about the content of the initiative and the way to
deal with it....

"If Europeans want to make a difference, they need to change their
political performance and move from the role of a financier to the
role of direct contributor to peacemaking...."

Corbin

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