SYRIA/LEBANON: ITALY GETS OFF THE FENCE ON

C O N F I D E N T I A L ROME 000878

SIPDIS


EB/ESC/TFS:NELSON, S/CT:KUSHNER, IO/PSC:SCHWEITZER,
EB/EPPD:THOMPSON, EUR/ERA, EUR/PGI
TREASURY FOR JUAN ZARATE, OFAC FOR ROBERT WERNER)

E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/14/2015
TAGS: KTFN PREL SY LE IT EUN
SUBJECT: SYRIA/LEBANON: ITALY GETS OFF THE FENCE ON
HEZBOLLAH DESIGNATION, SAYS "TRUST US" ON SHARA'A'S VISIT
TO ROME

REF: A. STATE 44087

B. STATE 44347

C. ROME 197

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


1. (C) Summary. Italian MFA officials agreed to forward our
"strong and important" message on the April 6 visit of Syrian
FM Shara'a to Rome to FM Fini, who will make the decision.
One official argued, though, that it is in the United States'
broader interest to have the meeting take place in order to
make it clear to Damascus that Rome shares Washington's
opposition to Syria's continued interference in Lebanon.
Meanwhile, Italy, supported by a growing number of EU
partners, actively pushed for a Hezbollah designation at the
15 March EU Clearing House. End summary.


2. (C) Pol MC and Poloff delivered Ref A and B demarches to
Luca Ferrari, the head of the MFA's Office for the Eastern
Mediterranean, and Giorgia de Parolis, desk officer for
Syria, on March 14. Ferrari promised that Italy would give
the "utmost consideration" to our "strong and important"
message but that it was up to FM Fini (and PM Berlusconi) to
make the decision on whether to cancel FM Shara'a's April 6
visit to Rome. Ferrari said the visit had been in the works
since February and had already been rescheduled once when
Shara'a had to cancel. Italy took the February 14
assassination of former PM Hariri into consideration but
decided to go forward with the visit so that it could send
the Syrians a strong message. In the end, Ferrari said, the
pros of being able to pressure the Syrian regime directly and
show Damascus that Rome is just as serious about this issue
as the Washington outweighed concerns that the Syrians would
misrepresent the visit or that it would send the wrong
message.

"Trust Us"
--------------


3. (C) Ferrari argued that Italy has a stronger position than
its EU partners vis-a-vis Syria. FM Fini issued a statement
before his January visit to Damascus (Ref C) in which he
called Hezbollah a terrorist organization in order to make
Italy's position clear to the Syrians. Italy was the only
country to include the disarmament of Hezbollah -- in
addition to Syrian withdrawal -- in its declaration on
Lebanon. Commenting that the French are weakening on the
withdrawal issue, Ferrari said that Italy does not want to
leave this issue in the hands of Paris and instead believes
it can play a valuable role.


4. (C) Ferrari further argued that, because of Italy's
special advantage of being close to both Israel and the
Palestinians and thus "embedded" in the Peace Process,
because Italy has a direct interest in the stability of the
Eastern Mediterranean, and because Italy is one of the best
friends of the US, especially on Middle East issues, Italy
can help promote the message that the US and Europe are
serious and united on this issue.


5. (C) Italy's goal, he continued, is to help the Syrians
understand that Hezbollah will eventually be disarmed, either
voluntarily, by integration with the national military, or by
force, and that it is in their own interests to take a
long-term view and stay in the game rather than be isolated.
The Italians will stress that President Bush is serious about
peace in the Middle East, and that Syria's time will come,
but it needs to help create the conditions for that peace by
acting responsibly.

6.(C) Finally, Ferrari said that Washington needs to
understand that this is a new Italy, with a new Foreign
Minister, and a new foreign policy, willing to back US Middle
East policies. Italy has maintained its troops in Iraq
despite significant domestic opposition and recent uproar
over the Calipari case, for example. The US, he said, has
two main partners on Middle East issues in Europe, the UK and

Italy, and should allow Italy some autonomy. If the Italian
government can demonstrate to its own public that the US
values Rome's role in the Middle East, Italy can be an even
more effective partner.

Leading the Charge in the EU on Hezbollah
--------------


7. (C) On Hezbollah, Ferrari noted that Italy had been
isolated during the expert-level drafting of the conclusions
for the March 16 GAERC in Brussels when it insisted that they
refer not only to Syrian withdrawal from Lebanon, but also to
UNSCR 1559,s other requirement: the disarmament of the
militias. The most the Italians were able to get from their
colleagues was a demand for implementation of 1559 "in its
entirety."


8. (C) MFA PolDir Terzi phoned Pol MC March 15 to say that
Italy had been strongly supportive of the designation of
Hezbollah as a terrorist organization at the just-concluded
meeting of the EU Clearing House. Terzi said that the
opposition to designation had shrunk to the usual two
suspects (France and an unnamed other) and a new opponent,
surprisingly, Poland. (Comment. This is a significant
change in the Italian position, from one of passive sympathy
for the US position to actively supporting an EU designation.
End comment.)


9. (C) Pol M/C also delivered Ref A and B demarches to Alain
Economides, Deputy Chief of Staff in FM's office. Economides
commented that it would not be easy to cancel or postpone the
meeting at such a late stage and noting that "talking to
people can be useful," said he would pass the message to
Fini. Econoff delivered Ref B demarche to Giampaolo Cantini,
MFA Office Director for G8 and Global Issues.


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2005ROME00878 - Classification: CONFIDENTIAL