Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
02AMMAN6699
2002-11-14 19:05:00
SECRET
Embassy Amman
Cable title:  

MUASHER ON CAIRO AL MINISTERIAL: SHARA, IRAQ AND

Tags:  PREL PGOV IZ SY JO 
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S E C R E T AMMAN 006699 

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/14/2012
TAGS: PREL PGOV IZ SY JO
SUBJECT: MUASHER ON CAIRO AL MINISTERIAL: SHARA, IRAQ AND
THE QUARTET ROADMAP

Classified By: Amb. Edward W. Gnehm for reasons 1.5 (B) and (D)

S E C R E T AMMAN 006699

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/14/2012
TAGS: PREL PGOV IZ SY JO
SUBJECT: MUASHER ON CAIRO AL MINISTERIAL: SHARA, IRAQ AND
THE QUARTET ROADMAP

Classified By: Amb. Edward W. Gnehm for reasons 1.5 (B) and (D)


1. (C) NEA DAS David Satterfield called on Foreign Minister
Marwan Muasher November 13. Ambassador, PolCouns, Muasher's
personal aide Ali al-Ayed, and private office staffer Ashraf
Zeitoun also attended.

--------------
ARAB LEAGUE PRESSES IRAQ TO ACCEPT 1441
--------------


2. (S) Muasher said that the Cairo Arab League ministerial
meeting had dealt mostly with Iraq. Most delegations had
urged Iraqi FonMin Sabri to announce official Iraqi
acceptance of UNSCR 1441 at the meeting, but Sabri said he
had no specific guidance from Baghdad. His only substantive
comment on 1441 was that "Iraq has always accepted the return
of inspectors -- the rest of the resolution is technical
detail that we are studying." Muasher said Saudi FonMin
Prince Saud pressed hard for quick Iraqi acceptance of 1441,
arguing that if Iraq did so, the AL could "lend support and
make Iraq's case."

--------------
SHARA ON SYRIA'S UNSC VOTE ON IRAQ
--------------


3. (S) Muasher commented that Syrian FonMin Shara gave a
long intervention explaining Syria's UNSC vote for 1441.
Shara said Syria had worked within the tight "margins of
movement" set by UNSC members, and had tried to improve the
resolution as much as possible. Shara claimed that Syria had
gotten assurances from (unnamed) permanent UNSC members that
this resolution would not be used as a pretext to launch
military action against Iraq. Syria voted for the resolution
because it needed to remain within the international
consensus on Iraq. Shara, Muasher said, concluded by asking
Iraq to comply with 1441.

--------------
SYRIA ON 1441 EQUATES TO JORDAN ON ROADMAP?
--------------


4. (S) Muasher commented "We are always under pressure from
Syria for giving in to less than perfect initiatives." He
said that, following Shara's statement, he spoke and compared
Syria's efforts in the UNSC to improve UNSCR 1441 with
Jordan's efforts with the Quartet to improve the MEPP
Roadmap. Muasher said he argued that the Roadmap will not be
perfect from an Arab point of view, but Jordan, like Syria in
the UNSC, must work within externally imposed boundaries. In
the end, however, Jordan had had "the time to coordinate with
our Arab brothers that Syria did not have."


5. (S) This comment, an obviously amused Muasher said, made
Shara "climb right up the wall." Shara responded that there,
in reality, was no such thing as a road map -- he had asked
A/S Burns to see a copy when he last traveled to Damascus and
had gotten no response. Muasher said he shot back that the
Roadmap, once publicly announced and endorsed by the Quartet,
would be the considered opinion of the international
community on the Peace Process and Syria would have to accept
it. "Don't pretend it doesn't exist," Muasher said he
argued, "Try to improve it." Muasher ended by observing that
the Ba'ath party in general -- and the Syrian Ba'ath in
particular -- fostered a mentality that was very hard to
reconcile with reality.


6. (U) Amb. Satterfield has cleared this message.
GNEHM