ITALY ON SYRIA AND LEBANON

C O N F I D E N T I A L ROME 001732

SIPDIS


E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/18/2015
TAGS: PREL SY LE IZ IT EUN
SUBJECT: ITALY ON SYRIA AND LEBANON

REF: STATE 92750

Classified By: Pol MC Tom Countryman for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d)


1. (U) This is an action request. Please see paragraph 3.


2. (C) Pol MC spoke with Luca Ferrari, MFA Office Director
for the Middle East, on May 19 regarding the upcoming PrepCom
for the US-EU conference on Iraq. Ferrari said that FM
Shara'a had asked Italy whether he could visit Rome May
24-26. The Italian response was that next week was not good,
nor was the whole month of June. On Syrian participation in
the conference, Ferrari said that it was not possible to
squeeze Syria out of everything, to which Pol MC replied that
in this case it was the Iraqis themselves who were asking
that Syria be excluded.


3. (C) Ferrari also mentioned the Friends of Lebanon group
and related donors' conference being discussed in Washington
and Paris. He said it is imperative that Italy, as Lebanon's
number one trading partner and number one provider of
economic aid (exceeding France on both counts),be included
in the core group. Given Italy's efforts -- against, they
tell us, its own natural proclivities -- to support us by
minimizing contact with Syria, and its close relationship
with Lebanon, Post strongly supports this request. Including
Italy in this initiative would encourage the Italians to be
even tougher on Syria, if only because they would view it as
recognition of the important role they can play in the
region. Conversely, exclusion from the Lebanon core group
would cause Italy to question or even challenge the US effort
to isolate Syria. Action requested: Post requests that
Department include Italy in the core group for the
International Conference on Lebanon.

Baghdad Minimize Considered

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2005ROME01732 - Classification: CONFIDENTIAL