BASHAR AL-ASAD IN AMMAN: PROGRESS ON REFORM, MEPP

S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 02 AMMAN 002735

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/08/2014
TAGS: PREL PGOV SY IZ JO
SUBJECT: BASHAR AL-ASAD IN AMMAN: PROGRESS ON REFORM, MEPP
LANGUAGE FOR SUMMIT AMID BORDER FLARE UP

Classified By: Amb. Edward W. Gnehm for reasons 1.5 (b) (d)

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SUMMARY
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1. (S) FonMin Muasher told the Ambassador that Bashar
al-Asad's April 7 visit to Amman had been productive, with
the Syrians assenting to inclusion of positive reform and
MEPP language at the Arab Summit. King Abdullah told a group
of House staffers just before Bashar's arrival that Syrian
firing across the border over three consecutive nights had
wounded a Jordanian soldier, and that the Jordanians had
responded with mortar fire on the third night. Despite the
bizarre firing incident, Muasher was upbeat about the
possibility of bringing Syria to at least accept an Arab
Summit consensus on reform and the peace process. END
SUMMARY.

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BASHAR VISITS AMMAN
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2. (C) Syrian President Bashar al-Asad visited Amman April

7. Foreign Minister Marwan Muasher told the Ambassador and
PolCouns April 7 that King Abdullah had hosted Bashar for
lunch and held a separate one on one meeting. Foreign
Minister Farouq Sharaa accompanied Bashar.

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SUMMIT REFORM AND MEPP LANGUAGE OK?
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3. (S) Muasher commented that the Syrians "came with a
positive attitude." Bashar, he said, had asked the King
about whether an Arab reform document was really necessary.
The King argued that it was necessary for Arabs to seize
control of this agenda and produce a statement of reform
principles. Muasher said Sharaa was "enthusiastic" about
including reform in the Arab Summit agenda, as long as the
Summit is "abstract" and endorses only a "statement of
principles" without specific benchmarks or commitments.
"They're fine with this," Muasher concluded.


4. (S) On MEPP language, Muasher said the Syrians objected
to a reference to the roadmap in the resolution dealing with
the Beirut Summit initiative, but said they would not object
to mentioning the roadmap in a "purely Palestinian"
resolution or as part of the Summit final declaration.
Muasher said Sharaa had also agreed to references condemning
attacks against civilians and calling for an
Israeli-Palestinian cease-fire, again as part of a separate
Summit resolution on Palestinian issues or in the final
communique. "We might have an opening here," Muasher
commented. In a subsequent call to the Ambassador on April
8, Muasher said he had spoken to Nabil Shaath about the
Syrian approach toward accommodating language on the roadmap.
Shaath rejected the approach saying the PA wanted reference
to the roadmap in the resolution on the Beirut initiative
precisely because the Syrians were attempting to undercut
them. Muasher remained optimistic that a compromise could be
found.

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BORDER FIRING INCIDENT MARS VISIT
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5. (S) Just before his meeting with Bashar April 7, King
Abdullah told a group of visiting House staffers that he was
upset that there had been firing along a segment of the
Syrian-Jordanian border for the three previous nights (April
4-6). According to the King, Syrian forces had fired across
the border April 4, and had wounded a Jordanian soldier
during the night of April 5. On April 6, the Jordanians
responded with mortar fire against Syrian positions. Shortly
after the Jordanian mortar fire and in the middle of the
night, the King said, a Syrian official had called Amman and
asked for resumption of the bilateral border demarcation
committee. The King wondered aloud why the Syrians would
fire across the border for three nights before the visit of
the President. "This is not just trouble between guys," he
declared, saying that he would present a strong protest to
Bashar during his visit. (NOTE: Muasher said that the King
did not deliver such a message during the large group
meeting, but might have done it during the tete-a-tete which
Muasher had not attended. END NOTE.)

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COMMENT
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6. (S) Despite the bizarre border firing incidents, Muasher
was upbeat about the chances of gaining Syrian acquiescence
to inclusion of positive language on reform and the MEPP at
the Arab Summit.

7. (U) CPA Baghdad minimize considered.

Visit Embassy Amman's classified website at

http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/nea/amman/

or access the site through the State Department's SIPRNET
home page.
GNEHM