SYRIA/LEBANON: ITALY POSTPONES FM SHARA'A'S VISIT

C O N F I D E N T I A L ROME 001023 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/23/2015 TAGS: PREL SY LE IT EUN SUBJECT: SYRIA/LEBANON: ITALY POSTPONES FM SHARA'A'S VISIT REF: A. STATE 44087 ¶B. ROME 878 ¶C. ROME 976 Classified By: DCM Emil Skodon for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) ¶1. (C) Summary. Italy has decided to postpone the April 6 visit of Syrian FM Shara'a. The MFA delivered the message to Syria's Ambassador in Rome on March 24, on instructions from FM Fini. End summary. ¶2. (C) MFA Director General for the Mediterranean and Middle East, Riccardo Sessa, phoned DCM on March 24 to tell him that, as requested in our previous demarches (Refs B and C), Italy has decided to postpone the April 6 visit of Syrian FM Shara'a to Rome. Sessa had just finished a meeting with the Syrian Ambassador to Italy, whom he had called into his office to deliver this message. Sessa reportedly told the Syrian Ambassador that, in light of the April 7 Lebanese-Syria military committees meeting to discuss Syrian troop withdrawal, FM Fini had decided to postpone the April 6 visit. He added that postponement was not only in the interest of Syrian-Italian relations but also Syria's own interest. ¶3. (C) Sessa told the DCM that the Syrian Ambassador asked him rhetorically, "what if the Lebanese ask us to stay?", to which Sessa replied that it would make no difference, and that Syria would have to withdraw as called for by the international community. Handing him a copy of the March 23 EU statement on Syria, Sessa reportedly also underscored to the Ambassador that there was full solidarity between the US and Europe on this issue. The Ambassador, Sessa believes, got the message. ¶4. (C) Comment. Sessa did not tell the Ambassador that the US had asked Italy to postpone the visit, and the Italians clearly would prefer that we keep a low profile on the issue. Revealing a US hand in the postponement would diminish Italy's credibility both domestically (making it seem like a US pawn) and with Syria and the Arab world (where Italy sees itself as a major interlocutor, both for Europe and the US). End comment. SEMBLER NNNN 2005ROME01023 - Classification: CONFIDENTIAL