FULL TEXT OF DAMASCUS-BEIRUT DECLARATION

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 DAMASCUS 002319

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

PARIS FOR ZEYA, LONDON FOR TSOU

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PHUM PREL SY LE
SUBJECT: FULL TEXT OF DAMASCUS-BEIRUT DECLARATION

REF: DAMASCUS 02263


1. (U) FULL TEXT OF DAMASCUS-BEIRUT DECLARATION:


2. (U) BEGIN TEXT:


3. (U) The Lebanese-Syrian relations are witnessing quick
deterioration that could cause a deep fracture between the
two neighboring countries and the two sisterly peoples. This
deterioration has grown since the extension for the Lebanese
President Emile Lahoud, in violation of the spirit of the
Lebanese constitution and in indifference to the opinion of
the majority of the Lebanese. Then this situation escalated
seriously, with the political assassinations that ended the
lives of political, party, media personalities and citizens
that included in the forefront the assassination of Premier
Rafik al-Hariri.


4. (U) Feeling extreme concern over this serious
deterioration, some opinion-makers in both Syria and Lebanon
called for convening a series of discussions and dialogues
during February and March during which they agreed on the
need to work, verbally and in action, for a fundamental
correction of the Syrian-Lebanese relations in a way that
fulfills the common interests and aspirations of the two
people in sovereignty, freedom, dignity, justice and progress.


5. (U) We are not oblivious to the fact that the relations
between Syria and Lebanon are burdened with a number of
problems whose repercussions have accumulated through decades
since the establishment of the two political entities in the
1920s. The Syrian regime's intervention in the Lebanese wars
1975-1990 and the hegemony exercised over Lebanon after the
war, and the regime's security controls of Lebanon,s
political and economic decision came to further increase and
complicate these problems. We think that these bitter
experiences need to be contemplated, discussed and have a
joint critical review on all levels, and we declare here, our
complete willingness to contribute in the undertaking of this
task.


6. (U) However we would like, within this declaration, to
recall the shared history of our peoples in common struggles
and sacrifices, remembering the martyrs of Marjeh Square in
Damascus and Al-Burg Square in Beirut during the years 1915
and 1916, and the national and popular uprisings against the
French mandate when Lebanese cities were closed and filled
with demonstrations, its youth receiving bullets in their
chests in solidarity with the uprisings in Syrian cities and
vice-versa. We have examined the important responsibility
exercised by the ruling classes in the two countries towards
pushing economic boycott in 1950 and the burial of the joint
dream of the pioneers of independence in establishing two
independent states that would have the closest economic,
social, political and cultural relations between them.
However the tyranny of these narrow interests did not prevent
the two peoples from renewing their joint struggle for the
sake of the Palestinian cause and against international and
regional military alliances until their solidarity, during
the last decades, in confronting the Israeli aggression
against them and its occupation of parts of their territories
when confrontation in Lebanon resulted in liberating the
occupied south.


7. (U) Based upon this, at a time when pressurizing factors
are increasing so as to drive a wedge between the Syrians and
the Lebanese, we announce our determination on dialogue,
solidarity and joint action for fundamental correction of the
relations between the two countries and peoples in accordance
with a joint future national vision. Here are some of its
components:

-- Respecting and enhancing the sovereignty and independence
of both Syria and Lebanon within the framework of
institutionalized and transparent relations that serve the
interests of the two peoples and enhance their joint
confrontation with Israeli aggression and American attempts
at hegemony. We call in this field to establish these
relations on a basis that rejects subordination and
inferiority on one side and the superiority, seclusion and
boycott on the other side.

In this regard the Syrian participants call for the final
Syrian recognition of Lebanon's independence and to depart
from any reservation or equivocation in this regard. The
Syrian and Lebanese participants declare jointly their firm
insistence that neither Lebanon nor Syria should be a quarter
or a corridor for conspiracy against its neighbor or any
other Arab country. We jointly see that the first steps that

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need to be taken in this direction are represented by final
demarcation of the borders and diplomatic exchange between
the two countries.

-- We declare our adherence to Syria's right to retrieve all
of its occupied territories in the Golan and Lebanon's
retrieving its occupied lands in the Shabaa Farms and the
hills of Kafar Shouba by all means possible (taking into
account the official Syrian declaration that the latter
territories are Lebanese) under the umbrella of international
legitimacy, and we stress our adherence to the right of the
Palestinian people in establishing its independent state with
Jerusalem as its capital and in a way that would guarantee to
the Palestinians the right of return to their homeland in
compliance with charters and implementation of international
resolutions.

-- We stress that the differences in the political, economic
and social systems in our two countries could be a rich,
varied and complementary source that would not impede
cooperation, coordination and integration between them. But
this requires conducting a correction of these systems on the
basis of a comprehensive critical review of the past
experiences in both countries. We declare in this regard our
deep conviction that both countries are capable of creating a
vision for coordination and integration between them that
would combine the energies, capabilities and preferential
traits that they both enjoy, especially in facing the
multiple challenges imposed by globalization and the wide
horizons it entails.

-- We demand the respect and cultivation of public and
private liberties, human rights, building of the state of the
law, institutions, free and honest elections, circulation of
power and unity of the state and maintaining its sovereignty
over all of its soil. We stress the exceptional role played
by the forces of democratic change in protecting independence
and enhancing the capabilities of our two people in their
national and regional battles. Furthermore, we insist that
dominance of democratic regimes in the two countries
constitute the best guarantee for the establishment and
dedication of equal and sound relations between them.
However, we adhere at the same time, to the right of the two
peoples to choose with complete freedom, the economic, social
and political system that fulfills their aspirations without
any coercion.

-- We call for establishing economic relations between the
two countries on the basis of transparency, openly and
complementarily in a manner that serves the popular interests
and not the greed of a few who control the economy and the
authority. This requires first and foremost liberalizing the
economies of both countries from the organized plundering of
the wealth and resources of both countries that has been, and
is still being exercised by joint mafias that are benefiting
from the positions of protection and utilization of authority
in both countries.

-- We denounce political assassination as a criminal method
to deal with the opposition and to resolve political
disputes, and we stress the need to facilitate the task of
the UN International Investigation Committee to expose the
instigators, organizers and the executers of the
assassination of Premier Rafik al-Hariri and his colleagues
and the other crimes, and to hold these actors liable for the
criminal and political responsibility for their crimes and
hand them the punishment they deserQ in accordance with
international law and the public opinion. We absolutely
reject any attempt to impose economic sanctions or otherwise
on the Syrian people.

-- We denounce the forms of discrimination and violence
practiced against Syrian workers in Lebanon. We ask the
Lebanese authorities to track down the perpetrators of the
crimes of assault on these workers to expose them, arrest
them and put them on trial to receive the punishment they
deserve.

-- We are not oblivious to the problems caused by the
presence of exchanged employment between the two countries
especially the Syrian laborers in Lebanon and the
repercussions on the labor sectors especially in the fields
of wages and social security, which dictates the need to
establish laws that organize the flow of labor and its use in
both countries to guarantee the interests and rights of
workers.

-- We ask the Syrian authorities to take immediate action by
releasing all Lebanese prisoners and internees in Syrian

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prisons and detention centers and call for for the final
revelation of the fates of those missing.

-- Joint action to correct relations between the two
countries and achieving equilibrium on the level of equality,
trust and mutual respect requires a review of all the
agreements and treaties signed between the authorities of
both countries, to conclude an era and to start a new one
that is based on equality, cooperation and common interests.


8. (U) This declaration gains its legitimacy and strength
from its own signatories.


9. (U) Beirut April 6, 2006


SECHE