Damascus Media Reaction: Syria/Saudi Arabia,

UNCLAS DAMASCUS 000148

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT FOR PA, NEA/ARN, INR/IC/CD, INR/S:STHIBEAULT AND
JMCCARTER, VOA NEWS CA, NEA/PPD:CBOURGEOIS, DBENZE AND
AFERNANDEZ, IIP/G/NEA-SA RWINCHESTER
WHITE HOUSE FOR NSC
CENTCOM FOR CCPA

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: KMDR PREL KPAO OPRC SY
SUBJECT: Damascus Media Reaction: Syria/Saudi Arabia,
Syria/Egypt, Junblatt, Iraq, Palestinian Territories (1/6-9)

1. Summary: Syrian papers reported President Asad's summit
meetings in Jeddah with King Abdullah and in Sharm al-Sheikh with
President Mubarak. The goal of Asad's surprise trips to Saudi

Arabia and Egypt was apparently to seek support from Arab leaders
as he faces a U.N. probe into alleged Syrian involvement in the
assassination of a former Lebanese leader. Asad is seeking
stronger Arab support for Syria, including convening an Arab
summit to discuss Syria's strained relations with the West,
according to some Arab diplomats.
Papers also reported that President Asad received two telephone
calls, from Iranian President Ahmadinejad and Libyan President
Qaddafi, that focused on current developments in the region.

On Iraq, papers reported a statement by British FM Jack Straw
that Britain will withdraw its forces from Iraq in a few months.
Headlines featured the killing of 17 US marines, 5 in Fallujah,
and 12 in a helicopter crash in Tal Afar.
Commentators criticized a statement by Lebanese Druze leader
Walid Junblatt calling on the United States to invade Syria, as
it did Iraq. Isam Dari in government-owned Tishreen charged that
Junblatt's anti-Syria campaign is not the result of a dispute
with the political regime in Syria, but is part of the role that
he has been assigned to play in the American-Zionist scheme in
the region.
End summary.


2. Selected Headlines:

"A long day of Arab solidarity. President Asad holds two summits,
in Jeddah and Sharm al-Sheikh, with King Abdullah and President
Mubarak. The Jeddah statement reiterates the importance of an
Israeli withdrawal from the Golan, the Palestinian territories,
and the Lebanese Sheba Farms and reactivation of the joint Saudi-
Syrian committee. King Abdullah: We are keen to enhance Syrian-
Lebanese relations. Talks in Sharm al-Sheikh focus on the outcome
of the Jeddah summit and President Mubarak's consultations in
Saudi Arabia and France" (Government-owned Tishreen, 1/9)

"President Asad receives two phone calls, one from the Iranian
President and the other from the Libyan leader, on the situation
in the region. President Asad receives a phone call from Saudi
King Abdullah on the latest developments in the region"
(Government-owned Al-Thawra, 1/6)

"A US entry visa is issued for Junblatt as the price for his
escalation against Syria and Lebanese nationalist forces"
(Government-owned Al-Ba'th, 1/9)
"Britain seeks to use Lebanon for secret tombs for CIA and
Scotland Yard prisoners. Straw carries a security deal to deport
British prisoners to Lebanon" (Government-owned Al-Ba'th, 1/8)
"US forces attack headquarters of the Association of Moslem
Scholars and arrest five Iraqis. Killing of 17 US marines, 5 in
Fallujah, 12 in a helicopter crash in Tal Afar" (Government-owned
Tishreen, 1/9)
"Jack Straw in Baghdad: Britain is to withdraw its forces from
Iraq in a few months. Washington negotiates with leaders of
militants and contemplates modification of its strategy in Iraq"
(Government-owned Al-Ba'th, 1/8)
"Syria strongly condemns terrorist escalation against civilians
in Iraq, calling on Iraqis to enhance national unity" (Government-
owned Al-Ba'th, 1/7)
"The White House refuses to talk about post-Sharon stage. Israel
prepares to announce Sharon's death" (Government-owned Al-Ba'th,
1/8)
"Sharon's case becomes more critical. Israel submerged in
political chaos" (Government-owned Al-Ba'th,

"Israeli forces continue assaults against the Gaza Strip. Israel
confirms continued assassinations" (Government-owned Al-Ba'th,
1/6)


3. Editorial Block Quotes:
--------------
"The Syrian People Cannot Be Deceived"
--------------
Izz-al-Din al-Darwish, an editorialist in government-owned
Tishreen, commented (1/8): "The problem of the Lebanese







assassination of a former Lebanese leader. Asad is seeking
stronger Arab support for Syria, including convening an Arab
summit to discuss Syria's strained relations with the West,
according to some Arab diplomats.
Papers also reported that President Asad received two telephone
calls, from Iranian President Ahmadinejad and Libyan President
Qaddafi, that focused on current developments in the region.

orchestra, and the one who joined it in Paris former VP
Khaddam, is that the Syrian people have a high sense of
patriotism and political knowledge, a strong memory, and powers
of perception which are sufficient not only to confront the
hatred the orchestra promotes, but also to place them where they
deserve to be placed.
"... The conspiracy against Syria is now clear, and so are its
instruments. The Syrian popular and official position toward this
conspiracy is also clear, and it is embodied in the solid
national unity.
"How could this not be the conviction of the Syrian people when
the trumpet of that orchestra Lebanese Druze leader Walid
Junblatt calls on the Americans, despite their enmity toward
Arabs and Muslims, to occupy Syria, while his follower in Paris
praises him and his positions, spreads poison, and flatters
nonobjective media so that they publish his rancorous statements,
in which he claims that the Syrian people eat from garbage
containers?
"It is historically known that ordeals harden the Syrian people
and render them unbreakable. They are now showing the most vivid
images of national unity behind their leadership, a leadership
that rejects humiliation and joins its people against the plan of
Americanization and internationalization, the plan of the Broader
Middle East. At the same time, the Syrian people say to those who
have abandoned their ranks and to the promoters of the American
occupation: You will reap nothing but more failures.
"We ask the leader of the rancorous orchestra: Do you want to be
a tool in the hands of the Israelis?
"Your problem is with the Syrian people, not the Syrian
leadership. You can be sure about that. There is no problem
between Lebanon and Syria as two countries and peoples. The
problem is between the Syrian people and persons like you,
persons who trade even in homelands. You know that the Syrian
people cannot be deceived or subjugated. They do not fear
threats, and their heads will remain high."
--------------
"Conspiracy Unveiled"
--------------
Isam Dari, an editorialist in government-owned Tishreen,
commented (1/7): "Lebanese Druze leader Walid Junblatt's call on
the United States to invade Syria, as it did Iraq, shows
Junblatt's ugly face and malicious intentions against
Damascus....
"We desperately needed such statements, through The Washington
Post, which is close to the American decision-making circles, so
that the Lebanese and Arab public will discover the true nature
of this person, who has violated every Lebanese and Arab
obligation, and will realize that his campaign against Syria is
not a result of a dispute with the political regime in Syria, but
is part of the role that he has been assigned to play, along with
a Lebanese team that trades in al-Hariri's blood and sheds
crocodile tears for the martyrs of Lebanon, whose blood has been
used as fuel for the American-Zionist plan and as a bridge for
the plan to enter the Arab heart.
"The enemies of Syria are no longer able to hide their hatred and
dirty roles. They are saying it loud and clear: One [Junblatt]
wants his American masters to occupy Syria, and the other
[Khaddam] wagers on breaking the strong national unity and
publicly says he wants to incite the Syrian public, drawing
strength from foreigners and driven by a lust for power and
dollars.
"Plans are being drafted in Western capitals for a vicious war
against Syria and its policies and positions.... But Syria is in
very good shape, and its national unity will not be shaken, no






assassination of a former Lebanese leader. Asad is seeking
stronger Arab support for Syria, including convening an Arab
summit to discuss Syria's strained relations with the West,
according to some Arab diplomats.
Papers also reported that President Asad received two telephone
calls, from Iranian President Ahmadinejad and Libyan President
Qaddafi, that focused on current developments in the region.

matter what the ordeals and the conspiracies."
--------------
"The Last Mask"
--------------
Khalid al-Ashhab, an editorialist in government-owned Al-Thawrah,
commented (1/6): "Lebanese Druze leader Walid Junblatt has called
on the United States to invade Syria as it did Iraq....
"Junblatt is searching to redeem himself, to wash away his
violations, to correct his foolish acts, to vent his hatred, and
to remove his complexes through the destruction of Syria and
perhaps the entire Arab region....
"It is a miserable time when some Arabs draw strength against
their own home from an enemy skilled at killing and
destruction.... The last mask has fallen from the face of the
person who long claimed to be an Arab nationalist"
--------------
"Ankara Corrects: Mere Allegations"
--------------
Ahmad Hamadeh, an editorialist in government-owned Al-Thawra,
commented (1/6): "The Turkish Prime Minister denied reports that
Washington is seeking a joint policy with Ankara against Syria
and asserted that Turkish-Syrian relations are good.
"Who wants to spoil Syrian-Turkish relations at this particular
time?
"We come up with nothing new if we say that it is the Israeli
factor, which no one can ignore. This factor was and still is
negatively affecting these relations, which Damascus and Ankara
want to serve as a factor of stability and security for the whole
region. We come up with nothing new if we say that the Israeli
factor is trying to respond to Erdogan government's balanced
policies toward Syria, the Arabs, and Turkey's neighbors on the
one hand and its effort to minimize its relations with the
Israeli entity on the other.
"The desire of the Syrian and Turkish people to develop their
relations is based on their deep-rooted cultural bonds...."
--------------
"Recover from Illusion"
--------------
Ali Nasrallah, an editorialist in government-owned Al-Thawra,
wrote (1/8): "President Bush has turned to expanded consultations
with former secretaries of state and defense over Iraq because
all his previous attempts to save face and regain support for his
policy have been in vain.
"But Bush's new activity is an opportunity to make the current
administration discover the magnitude of its mistakes and the
disastrous impact of its plans on the United States and on world
peace, security, and stability....
"Former US officials should take this opportunity to explain the
facts to President Bush and to urge him to end the occupation of
Iraq.... Will they succeed in making the Bush Administration wake
up from its illusions of war and alleged victories?"
Seche