THE SARG'S HOSTILE PRESS CAMPAIGN AGAINST SINIORA

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 DAMASCUS 001511

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

PARIS FOR ZEYA; LONDON FOR TSOU

E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/12/2015
TAGS: PGOV PREL SY
SUBJECT: THE SARG'S HOSTILE PRESS CAMPAIGN AGAINST SINIORA


Classified By: Charge d'Affaires Stephen A. Seche, per 1.4 b,d.


1. (C) Summary: While stopping short of an all-out
escalation in its negative media comments directed at
Lebanese PM Fouad Siniora and his March 14 allies, the
official SARG media -- and at least one ostensibly
independent weekly -- have in the past week harshened their
public tone on Lebanon. Siniora has been attacked for not
supporting the resistance in Lebanon and for making common
cause with enemies of Syria intent on ruining bilateral
relations. The news that two prominent Lebanese politicians
and a journalist had been subpoenaed to appear in a Syrian
court for "infringing on national unity" contributed to this
harsher of rhetoric. The shift in media tone appears aimed
at dampening expectations of an Asad-Siniora meeting and
pre-emptively deflecting pressure that might build for the
SARG to show flexibility on issues such as border demarcation
and establishing diplomatic relations. End Summary.


2. (SBU) In the past five days, the tone of some of the
SARG's public statements and official editorial comment has
taken on a decidedly sharper tone towards Lebanese PM Fouad
Siniora and his March 14 allies. The SARG has used its own
media in this campaign to highlight the criticism of
pro-Syrian Lebanese politicians aimed at Siniora and his
allies. In addition, al-Iktisadiya, a nominally independent
weekly (largely focusing on economic issues) published an
April 2 editorial attacking Siniora and his allies as those
"who killed off the Saudi initiative." It criticized Siniora
as "an employee of Sa'ad al-Hariri" and described the PM as
"biased." The editorial, by editor-in-chief Waddah Abbed
Rabbo, who is close to President Asad and the First Lady,
said that Siniora may come to Damascus to speak about
"opening embassies and demarcating borders" but "he will not
have any Syrian popular support because he did not prosecute
any of the criminals who assassinated Syrian-Lebanese
relations." On the prospect for establishing diplomatic
relations, it insisted that "there will never be
normalization with the group of the mercenaries in Lebanon,"
presumably referring to the anti-Syrian majority in the
Lebanese parliament.


3. (SBU) SARG Information Minister Mohsin Bilal commented on
Syrian TV April 2 about the prospects for an Asad-Siniora
meeting by pointing to President Asad's insistence that any
such meeting" should have good preparation" and adding that
"the entry to Syria is through the resistance. The one who
works against the resistance, according to Syria and all the
honorable ones of the world, is working against his national
pride, and Syria would not open its gates to any side that
works against the resistance or national honor."


4. (SBU) An editorial by the editor-in-chief of the official
al-Ba'ath newspaper repeated Bilal's line, noting that
"Siniora's visit is not expected to take place without
Siniora showing clear positions, especially after Siniora's
attempts, through his confusing stands, to circumvent the
success of Lebanese President Lahoud in obtaining an Arab
confirmation of support for the Lebanese resistance" (at
Khartoum). The Lebanese daily as-Safir quoted official
Syrian sources saying that "there is no hurry for Siniora's
visit."


5. (SBU) In the midst of this shift towards harsher
anti-Siniora rhetoric, regional media reported that a Syrian
court had issued subpoenas for three Lebanese: politicians
Walid Jumblatt and Marwan Hamadeh, and journalist Fares
Khashan. According to press reports, the Syrian lawyers
syndicate had brought charges against the three in a court in
the Lattakia region for "infringing on national unity."


6. (C) COMMENT: The SARG's attitude towards a Siniora visit
seems to have hardened in the past week, since the conclusion
of the Khartoum summit. The Syrian press campaign seems to
represent a SARG attempt to send public signals to its
Lebanese allies -- including President Lahoud -- that they
can count on SARG support for their eforts to keep PM Siniora
and the March 14 movement on the defensive. The latest SARG
campaign also seems aimed at pre-emptively deflecting any
pressure that might build for it to show flexibility on
issues such as border demarcation and establishing diplomatic
relations, both of which Siniora would be expected to raise
during a Damascus visit. As for the subpoena, while its
legality and the validity of the charges supporting it are
questionable, given the overtly political nature of the

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action, we don't expect anyone to challenge the court's
decision. Precisely because the message is so political and
-- given the potential severity of the punishment -- so
ominous, we also believe the SARG intended to pointedly
remind its opponents in Lebanon that it has many tools at its
disposal -- not all of them as ostensibly legal as this one
-- with which to silence them.
SECHE