Damascus Media Reaction: Terrorism, US/Israel,

UNCLAS DAMASCUS 002132

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: Terrorism, US/Israel,
Syria/Iraq, Lebanon (5/5-7)



1. Summary: Papers reported that Syria has called for an
international conference to distinguish between terrorism and
the right of self-determination. Minister of Interior General
Bassam Abdul Majid said in a statement on the sidelines of a
conference of Interior Ministers of the EU and Adjacent
Countries, which ended last night in Vienna, that it was
necessary to look deep into the roots of terrorism and to tackle
it in a rational way. He added that Syria's participation in
such an event reflects its real interest in regional and
international cooperation to confront the problem of terrorism
in all its forms. The Conference ended with adoption of a draft
declaration containing a set of principles and proposals on
fighting terrorism, organized crime, corruption, human
trafficking and illegal immigration.

Two editorials in government-owned Tishreen (5/6) criticized
President Bush's remarks about Israel and HAMAS in his May 4
speech to the AIPAC centennial dinner. The paper maintained that
"the current US Administration cannot be a friend, a neutral
party, or a judge in anything related to the Arab region.
Rather, it is Israel's willing partner in the hostility and
aggression against the Arabs and all the struggling peoples who
defend their freedom, sovereignty, and independence."

Government-owned Al-Ba'th on (5/5) reported that Iraqi President
Jalal Talabani, in a statement issued by his office, denied
media reports that had cited him saying Syria is the main source
of support for the insurgents in Iraq. The statement said
Talabani told a group of journalists that he considers himself a
friend of Syria and refuses to create problems with it.

Papers reported a speech by Hasan Nasrallah, SecGen of Hizbollah,
lashing out at the so-called March 14 Forces, saying that they
did not really want to demarcate Lebanon's borders with Syria but
are looking to disarm Hizbollah. Nasrallah said that Lebanese
parties have agreed that ties with Syria are excellent due to
historical relations and the Taif Accord. He questioned the
commitment of most of the March 14 Forces, and therefore of the
Lebanese government, to decisions of the national dialogue about
the Syrian-Lebanese file, asserting that there are those who are
committed to enmity with Syria who are searching for every issue,
large and small, to continue provocations between the two
countries. "Raising any problem about the borders with Syria is
shameful...," Nasrallah said.

On (5/5) Papers reported that President Lahoud received a
delegation of Palestinian factions. Lahoud reiterated the
necessity of acknowledging the Palestinian refugees' right of
return, warning that settling Palestinians in Lebanon would mean
the end of the Palestinian cause. He stressed that security and
stability in the region will not be achieved without a just and
comprehensive peace that guarantees the Palestinian right of
return and restores all occupied Arab territories.


End of summary.



2. Selected Headlines:

"Conference of Interior Ministers of the EU and Neighboring
Countries concludes deliberations in Vienna with the
participation of Bassam Abdul Majid, Syrian Minister of Interior.
Syria Calls for an international conference to define terrorism"
(Government-owned Tishreen, 5/7)

"Washington exerts pressures on the Quartet to prolong siege on
Palestinians. Mahmoud Abbas, Head of the Palestinian Authority,
discusses the financial crisis and sharing authority with Ismail
Hanieh, Palestinian Prime Minister" (Government-owned Al-Thawra,
5/7)

"Six Palestinians martyred in Gaza and Nablus. Olmert is to meet
Bush on May 21. No date has been set for meeting Abbas. Sweden
grants an entry visa to a Palestinian Minister. Israel denounces
it" (Government-owned Tishreen, 5/6)


"Washington and Israel block financial aid to the Palestinian
Authority" (Government-owned Al-Thawra, 5/5)

"The Knesset approves the Israeli cabinet. Hamas considers Olmert
program a declaration of war. Abbas calls for negotiations"
(Government-owned Al-Ba'th, 5/5)

"President Lahoud: The resistance deters Israel from launching
aggression against us. Lebanese figures and parties denounce some
parties' fabrication of troubles to sabotage continued endeavors
to normalize relations with Syria" (Government-owned Tishreen,
5/6)

"Nasrallah, SecGen of Hizbollah: Raising any border problem with
Syria is shameful" (Government-owned Al-Thawra, 5/5)

"Talabani of Iraq denies statements attributed to him on Syria"
(Government-owned Al-Ba'th, 5/5)

"Calls for speeding up formation of the Iraqi government
continue. Three US soldiers killed in Babel. CNN: 2415 American
soldiers have been killed in Iraq" (Government-owned Tishreen,
5/6)

"Three US soldiers killed in Baghdad. 13 Iraqis victimized by US
shelling of Al-Ramadi" (Government-owned Al-Ba'th, 5/5)

"A British military helicopter crashes in Basra, and a US
helicopter in Afghanistan" (Government-owned Al-Thawra, 5/7)

"First Iranian Vice President voices readiness to put Iran's
expertise in Syria's hands" (Government-owned Al-Thawra, 5/5


3. Editorial Block Quotes:

--------------

"Drowning in Shame"

--------------

Isam Dari, an editorialist in government-owned Tishreen,
commented (5/6): "In his May 4th speech to the AIPAC centennial
dinner, President Bush asserted that his country's commitment to
Israel's security is unshakable and that Washington will not
deal with HAMAS unless it recognizes Israel. Bush' statement was
not surprising....

"But Bush deserves to be thanked for his statements: He gave us
yet another document about the real nature of American policy,
which is based, simply, on sanctifying force and terror,
censuring resistance, and fighting and humiliating nations....

"Bush gave us conclusive evidence that US Administrations say
things that they do not mean and adopt practical policies that
conflict with their ideal slogans, such as democracy, which was
rejected when HAMAS won the confidence of the Palestinian
people, and freedom, which was contradicted when the United
States occupied Afghanistan and Iraq, and human rights, which
were violated in Guantanamo, Abu Ghurayb, and the flying and
fixed prisons in various countries, including some in Europe....

"The current US Administration cannot be a friend, a neutral
party, or a judge in anything related to the Arab region.
Rather, it is Israel's willing partner in the hostility and
aggression against the Arabs and all the struggling peoples who
defend their freedom, sovereignty, and independence.

"We know that the United States is committed to the security of
the only power that threatens the security and stability of the
region and practices terrorism around the clock. And we know
that the strongest superpower in today's world is hostile to
HAMAS, Syria, Iran, Lebanon, and all the Arabs because it wants
to please Israel and encourage the Zionist plan. We know that
the Bush administration is nothing but a tool in the hands of

the Zionist lobby and Israel, implementing pure Israeli policies
and willing to antagonize the American taxpayer himself in
return for the approval of Tel Aviv's leaders.

"The Bush administration has the right to do whatever pleases it
and Israel. But it has no right, from now on, to claim that it
is the champion of freedom, democracy, and human rights."

--------------

"Commitment or Crime"

--------------

Hanan Hamad, a commentator in government-owned Tishreen, wrote
(5/6): "We wonder if commitment to Israel's security means the
annihilation of the Palestinians....

"US support for Israel is nothing new, but it has reached a peak
with the attempt to besiege and starve the Palestinian people
and block all their channels of survival through a systematic
and programmed policy to push them toward one of two options:Qnnihilation or displacement....

"President Bush has called on HAMAS to lay down its arms and
recognize Israel.... The American president ignores Israel's
ceaseless killings of Palestinians and turns a blind eye to all
the measures that Israel is unilaterally taking to impose a
racist, colonialist, and occupational fait accompli on the
Palestinians...."

-------------- --------------

"The Olmert Government and a Tendency Toward Introversion"

-------------- --------------

Ahmad Sawwan, a commentator in government-owned Tishreen, wrote
(5/6): "The Israeli government's plan for unilateral withdrawal
from parts of the West Bank seeks to impose more facts on the
ground that conflict radically with the peace process and to
complicate the situation further in an escalatory and explosive
direction....

"The plan constitutes a declaration of war on the Palestinian
territories, the Palestinian people, and the peace process....

"Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's endeavor to secure
American support for the plan is a forewarning that if
Washington supports the plan, it will be pushing the situation,
not only in the Palestinian territories but also in the entire
region, toward the brink of an abyss....

"The only solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict lies in a
full Israeli withdrawal from the Palestinian territories, to the
4 June 1967 border...."

-------------- --

"Distinguished US-Israeli Product"

-------------- --

Muhammad Ali Buzah, an editorialist in government-owned Al-
Thawra, commented (5/5): "The US State Department report on
terrorism is a politically motivated report in which Washington
levels accusations against certain countries that resist
American and Israeli plans. The report is part of the culture of
hate, hostility, and political classification..., and it seeks
to divert attention from the atrocities and crimes that
Washington and Tel Aviv commit in this region and the rest of
the world through wars of invasion, interference, usurpation,
and confiscation of nations' wills, freedoms, and
independence....

"While the US Administration legitimizes mass killings in Iraq,

Palestine, and Afghanistan, it labels as terrorism every form of
resistance, rejection, and confrontation.

"The United States has no right to make unsubstantiated
accusations or punish anyone, because terrorism is an American-
Israeli industry par excellence...."

--------------

"Criticism that is a Compliment"

--------------

Izz-al-Din al-Darwish, an editorialist in government-owned
Tishreen, wrote (5/5): "The merchants of politics in Lebanon
place themselves at the service of the American media campaign
against Syria and arrange show meetings to provoke Damascus, in
return for a handful of dollars, a promise to meet an American
official, or a certificate of good conduct from the Israeli
prime minister's office....

"These people do not recognize that homelands are sacred, and
that dealing with them as commodities for sale amounts to high
treason.... The people will never forgive these merchants and
will not remain silent forever. As for Syria, its right is
guaranteed, and everyone knows that their insults to it are, in
fact -- as far as all others are concerned - compliments for
Syria."

Seche