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.

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2005ROME01023 - Classification: CONFIDENTIAL