Damascus Media Reaction: Syria/Palestinians, Lebanon,

UNCLAS DAMASCUS 002033

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/Palestinians, Lebanon,
Iraq, Terrorism (5/3)


1. Summary: Syrian papers reported that Mohammed Zuhir al-
Nashashibi, Member of the PLO Executive Committee, expressed
thanks and great appreciation to President Asad for launching the
national fundraising campaign for the Palestinian people. "The
Palestinian people appreciate the wise and brave policy of
President Asad, who is doing his best to support the Palestinian
people," Al-Nashashibi said in a meeting with Syria's ambassador
to Jordan Ali Hammoud on Tuesday.

Papers also featured a statement by Jamil Haek, Chairman of the
Political Bureau of the Lebanese Amal Movement, that some
ambassadors and envoys in Beirut are still trying to prevent the
Lebanese from achieving reconciliation and to block restoration
of normal Lebanese-Syrian relations. "Those ambassadors attempt
to impose their vision on Syrian-Lebanese relations.... They seek
to distance Lebanon from its Arab environment," Haek said in a
speech at a celebration held by the Movement in south Lebanon to
honor Lebanese martyrs. He called for a mechanism that will
ensure the continuation of the Lebanese National Dialogue to
reach understanding and reconciliation among the Lebanese.

End of summary.


2. Selected Headlines:

"Mohammed Zuhir al-Nashashibi, Member of the PLO Executive
Committee, thanks Syria and President Asad for the fundraising
campaign for the Palestinian people" (Government-owned Tishreen,
5/3)

"Lahoud: We will not accept a president who will turn Lebanon
over to Israel. Lebanese parties and figures denounce the attempt
by some ambassadors of custodianship to prevent meeting among
Lebanese and call for normalizing relations with Syria"
(Government-owned Tishreen 5/3)

"One US soldier killed in Baghdad. Clashes erupt in Al-Ramadi"
(Government-owned Tishreen, 5/3)

"An imminent meeting will take place between Olmert and Mahmoud
Abbas. Two Palestinians martyred in Israeli shelling of Jebalia.
Israel declares maximum alert" (Government-owned Al-Ba'th, 5/3)


3. Editorial Block Quotes:

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"Used Tools"

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Abdul-Fattah Al-Awad, Chief Editor of government-owned Al-
Thawra, on (5/3) criticized Iraqi President Jalal Talabani for
his accusation that Syria is the main source of support for
insurgents in Iraq, and Lebanese Druze leader Walid Junblatt for
his reported meetings and contacts with Syrian Muslim
Brotherhood leaders, but without naming them: "For some Arab
officials, harming Syria is the shortest way to Bush's heart....

"It is a silly part of the picture that the hypocrite [Junblatt]
meets with his brothers [Syrian Muslim Brotherhood] and receives
contacts that ultimately concur with his call for the Americans
to occupy Damascus. Jumping from Washington and embracing black
ideas can only be done with an American remote control....

"A new round of lies is being cooked up against Syria....
Syria's position toward Iraq is clear.... Here no one hides his
concern about Iraq's unity, not only geographic unity, but also
the unity of the people, as the occupation never stops trying to
create strife among Iraqis.

"Syria also stresses the need for an announcement of the
withdrawal of the occupation from Iraq, because it believes that
occupation is the reason for all the problems....

"All this is in the context of the American-Israeli plan for the

region.... The Syrian successes that have been scored, vis-a-vis
the failure that slaps others every morning and evening, tempt
others to direct further worthless 'offenses' against Syria,
while they convince Syria ever more that it is moving in the
right direction....
"Small pawns still have a role to play, but they should prepare
themselves for an auction. It would be exciting to see some Arab
officials being sold as used items."

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"Terrorism on the largest scale "

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Commenting on the US State Department admission that terrorist
operations worldwide in 2005 rose four-fold over the prior year,
Isam Dari, a commentator in government-owned Tishreen, wrote
(5/2): "The problem and the tragedy is that US President George
Bush's administration launched its war on terror without having
a clear vision about terror....

"The US Administration labels every resistance as terrorism and
defends the terrorism that some governments practice as self
defense.... What is worse is that what the US Administration
terms war on terrorism is seen by peoples and international
organizations as institutionalized terrorism...."

In an apparent reference to the Syrian Brotherhood, Isam Dari
says: "The United States is opening its doors and funds to
organizations that practiced terrorism on the largest scale,
carried out terrorist operations against innocent civilians and
government establishments, and assassinated scientists,
intellectuals, religious figures, and others....

"Has the superpower in today's world sunk to the point of
allying itself with terrorist movements in its war against a
country like Syria, for example, to the point of welcoming these
movements, instigating them to act, and asking its aides in the
region to open their doors for them and hold in-depth and
'fraternal' meetings and discussions with them?

"The United States, through its war on terrorism, has become the
biggest exporter of terrorism to the world...."

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"Under the Pretext of Terrorism"

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Umar Jaftali, an editorialist in government-owned Tishreen,
(5/3): "There is a twisted logic in the US characterization of
the countries and movements that resist occupation and reject
the American hegemonic policy as terrorists or supporters of
terrorism....

"Within this twisted logic, the US Administration issues a
report that falsely accuses Syria of sponsoring terrorism
because of the presence of media offices for Palestinian
organizations in Syria. This administration forgets that, in
Syria, there are Palestinian people who were expelled from their
homeland and who defend their rights only with words.... How
could this people and the country that hosts them be described
as terrorists while Israel is not asked about the daily
terrorism that it has been practicing for decades, and is not
asked to implement UN resolutions?

"Syria suffered from terrorism and from the terrorists who are
now turning into dear guests of Washington and some of its
allies in the region, allies who have labeled Syria as an enemy
of Lebanon and Israel as a friend."

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"America, an Endeavor to Close Doors between Syria and Lebanon"

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Salim Aboud, a commentator in government-owned Al-Thawra, wrote
(5/3): "There is no crisis between Syria and Lebanon.... The
current tension in relations between the two countries is caused
by foreign interference....

"Syria and Lebanon can talk directly to resolve any issue....
The Higher Syrian-Lebanese Council still exists, and the
economic and cultural agreements between the two countries are
stronger than all the diplomatic representations that are
embodied by embassies....

"Relations of blood, history, and geography have made Lebanon
and Syria two countries with one people.... There is no evidence
that Syria was involved in the Al-Hariri assassination.... The
escalation between Lebanon and Syria serves American-Israeli
interests....

"Washington and Tel Aviv are acting, not out of love for
Lebanon, but out of hatred toward Syria because of its solid pan-
Arab positions against the American-Israeli plans...."

Seche