DAMASCUS DECLARATION MEMBERS DISCUSS NEXT STEPS

C O N F I D E N T I A L DAMASCUS 006697

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

PARIS FOR ZEYA, LONDON FOR TSOU

E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/29/2015
TAGS: PGOV PHUM SY
SUBJECT: DAMASCUS DECLARATION MEMBERS DISCUSS NEXT STEPS

REF: DAMASCUS 5499

Classified By: CDA Stephen Seche for reasons 1.4(b)/(d)


1. (C) SUMMARY: After six weeks of relative silence from
the Damascus Declaration group, members have met again to
discuss further action, according to Joumana Seif, daughter
of Damascus Declaration signatory and jailed MP Riad Seif.
Seif described discussions about a number of controversial
issues within the Declaration, some procedural changes, and
the guarded optimism of group members, referring to the six
months before the next UNIIIC report as a window of
opportunity. Seif said that members felt more relaxed about
the likelihood of a SARG crackdown on them, while at the same
time, anxious about decreased international pressure on the
SARG. END SUMMARY.


2. (C) Joumana Seif, daughter of Damascus Declaration
signatory and jailed MP Riad Seif, told Poloff that a group
of about 20 activists associated with the Declaration from
throughout Syria met on December 27 to discuss what next
steps are necessary for the future of the Declaration.
According to Seif, discussions were held at length regarding
three of the most controversial elements of the Damascus
Declaration: the role of Islam, the role of the West, and the
reference to Syria as an Arab civilization. Each participant
was asked to draft his or her own working paper discussing
these three issues for submission and discussion at a later
date.


3. (C) Seif also noted that the Declaration group has
decided to set deadlines for new individuals or groups to
sign the Declaration, noting that the Declaration would be
open for one or two months and then closed to new signatures
until a later date in order to bring discussions to a
temporary close. Seif also noted that Declaration members
recognize the need for distribution and discussion of the
Declaration among average Syrians and confirmed that the
Damascus Declaration Committee (the members of which she
identified at an earlier meeting in December as George Sabra,
Suleiman Sumeri, Michel Kilo, Hassan Abdul Azim, Riyad
al-Turk, and Fida Akram al-Hourani) would be meeting January
3, as had been reported in the press earlier this week.


4. (C) Seif described the meeting participants as "full of
energy" and guardedly optimistic about the opposition's level
of strength at the moment. Group members see a six-month
window of time until the next UNIIIC report for taking
action. According to Seif, the fear that had seized the
group over the last six weeks following the arrest of Kamal
Labwani and President Bashar al-Asad's November 10 speech to
the nation had dissipated somewhat. However, group members
are looking anxiously towards the January 19 military court
trials of signatories Haithem al-Maleh and Hassan Abdul Azim
as indicators of SARG reaction to the group. Seif noted,
however, that concerns about a decrease in international
pressure following the second interim UNIIIC report
(particularly the rumors about the possible return of
Ambassador Scobey to Damascus) have caused anxiety among
opposition figures.
SECHE