Damascus Media Reaction: Syria/UK, Syria/China, Lebanon,

UNCLAS DAMASCUS 002516

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/UK, Syria/China, Lebanon,
Palestinian dialogue, Iran, Kabul unrest (6/1)



1. Summary: Syrian papers continued to report on Foreign
Minister Walid al-Mouallem's visit to China, featuring his
meeting with Chinese President Hu Jintao. Earlier, President Hu
Jintao opened the second ministerial meeting of the Arab-Chinese
Cooperation Forum in the presence of Foreign Minister Mouallem.
In an opening speech, the Chinese President said that his
country will continue supporting just Arab causes, stressing the
importance of boosting cooperation and friendship between China
and Arab countries. Minister Mouallem also met directors of
strategic research centers and chiefs of some Chinese mass
media, in addition to the Arab-Chinese Friendship Association,
at the Syrian Chancery in Beijing. During the meeting, the
Minister briefed the Chinese side on the situation in the Middle
East and Syria's stance regarding regional and international
issues, in addition to bilateral relations between Syria and
China. In a similar meeting with the Syrian community in
Beijing, Minister Mouallem presented an explanation of Syrian
foreign policy. Later, the Minister said in a speech to the
Chinese official "People's" Daily that Syria and China maintain
strong relations, adding that these relations have achieved
great progress in recent years, particularly after President
Asad's visit to China. "My visit to China aims at deepening the
political dialogue and boosting bilateral relations in all
fields," Mr. Mouallem added. On the Middle East issue, the
Foreign Minister criticized Israel's rejection of the Arab peace
initiative of Beirut: "Israel, through its aggressive policy,
supported by its ally the US, obstructs the peace process in the
Middle East." On Iraq, the Foreign Minister underlined that
"Syria backs the political process in Iraq. Syria has begun
contacts with the Iraqi side to resume diplomatic relations with
it.... Syria will support Iraq to achieve security and stability
and reach a timetable for the withdrawal of foreign forces from
its lands...."

Papers also reported the visit to Damascus by Richard Spring,
Member of the British House of Commons and Member of the British-
Syrian Association, citing his meeting with Vice President
Farouk al-Shara that addressed the latest regional and
international developments and bilateral relations between Syria
and the United Kingdom. Mr. Shara expressed appreciation for
efforts of the British-Syrian Association to clarify the real
situation in the region and to create cultural interaction and
understanding between Arabs and Europeans.

End of summary.


2. Selected Headlines:

"Al-Shara discusses current regional developments and bilateral
relations with British MP Richard Spring. Shara hails efforts
made by the British-Syrian Association" (Government-owned Al-
Thawra, 6/1)

"Chinese President receives al-Mouallem. Jintao confirms: We
support Arab issues whatever the developments are. Al-Mouallem:
We have a deep-rooted relationship with China" (Government-owned
Al-Thawra, 6/1)

"Political, intellectual, religious, cultural and judicial
personalities condemn and reject the Damascus-Beirut Declaration,
indicating that it converges with the US agenda and ignores the
Israeli factor, which has committed the ugliest crimes in
Lebanon" (Government-owned Tishreen, 6/1)

"A dramatic shift in the US position: Washington is ready for
direct negotiations with Iran" (Government-owned Al-Ba'th, 6/1)


3. Editorial Block Quotes:


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"When Olmert Asks for the Implementation of Resolution 1559"

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Omar Jaftali, an editorialist in government-owned Tishreen,
commented (6/1): "Those who watched recent developments in the
south against the background of the open Israeli aggression from
Al-Naqurah to Shab'a, which came two days after the criminal
assassination of martyrs Mahmud and Nidal al-Majdhub in Sidon,
were surprised to see Israel, which bombed and destroyed areas
and killed innocent people, threaten to file a complaint with
the Security Council. Why? Because Israel wanted to convey the
message of a small group of people who are more concerned with
Israeli affairs than the affairs of their own country, Lebanon.
This message says: Lebanon should speed up the implementation of
Resolution 1559 and disarm all 'the Lebanese and non-Lebanese
militias!' This is what the Israeli officials demanded that
Lebanon do after the ceasefire. Otherwise, as Olmert threatened,
Lebanon will receive a painful strike!

"Who stands to gain from disarming the resistance? And don't the
Israeli aggressions constitute a clear message to all those who
wager on the American role in the region?

"Why is Israel interested in the implementation of one
particular Security Council resolution -- 1559 -- when it
ignores more than 40 resolutions against it?

"This interest, undoubtedly, reflects the attempt by some
Lebanese to open fire on the defense strategy of the resistance.
These Lebanese believe that sovereignty will be complete only
when the Israeli-American plan succeeds and Lebanon moves
backward to the time when Israeli coordinator Yuri Lubrani moved
freely in the country. The aim is to facilitate the Israeli
excuses and plan, which seek to distract the Lebanese from the
real conflict with the enemy and consolidate the theory that
Israel is not an enemy.

"But those who listen to the Lebanese nationalist voices, which
were raised stressing that the resistance will not be harmed and
that it will receive full support to confront the Israeli
aggression, remain optimistic that Lebanon will not be led to
positions that the United States and its ally want the country
to be led to, and that those who want to take revenge against
Lebanon's Arabism will not be given a chance."

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"For a Successful Palestinian Dialogue"

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Adnan Ali, a commentator in government-owned Al-Thawra, warned
against the grave repercussions of the rising tension between
Fatah and HAMAS. Ali said (6/1): "The attractive slogans about
national unity and the prohibition of Palestinian bloodshed need
to be translated into action.... All forces should match their
words with actions and show responsibility in these difficult
circumstances, where Israeli is working persistently to turn its
plans on unilateral disengagement and the annexation of large
West Bank areas into facts on the ground....

"Making the Palestinian national dialogue, which was launched a
few days ago, a success is a sacred mission that all factions,
particularly HAMAS and Fatah, must shoulder....

"The Palestinian people will ultimately call to account all
those who fail to realize this fact."

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"No One to Answer"

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Isam Dari, an editorialist in government-owned Tishreen, wrote
(6/1): "Has our European neighbor not heard the sound of
warplanes and the explosion of bombs of all calibers as they
fall over the heads of the Palestinians in the West Bank and the
Gaza Strip? Have American and European eyes not seen the


tragedies of the Palestinian people, who are starving under the
yoke of a conspiratorial siege in which countries claiming to be
civilized and defenders of human right participate?
"Why did Europe and the United States remain silent when Israeli
aircraft bombed Lebanon's Al-Biqa region and southern towns and
villages and when the Israeli Mosad assassinated two Lebanese
citizens in Sidon? Where are the advocates of Lebanon's
sovereignty, independence, and freedom, who have let no
opportunity slip to talk about what they called 'Syrian
interference' in Lebanon?

"In the eyes of the West, which yearns for the time of
colonialism, Israel's aggression and terrorism is condoned as
self defense, while every domestic measure an Arab country takes
to protect its national unity, sovereignty, and freedom is
called a violation of human rights....

"There is no point complaining because this is the nature of the
colonialist West, which planted Israel six decades ago."

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"Bush: Mission and Task"

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Hanan Hamad, a columnist in government-owned Tishreen, wrote
(6/1): "The Afghan uprising in Kabul on May 29 and the American
reaction showed that the Bush administration and those who work
under its umbrella in Afghanistan have lost not only direction
but also the objective and the compass....

"The road accident in Kabul was the straw that broke the camel's
back.... The Afghani coercion exploded in the face of the
occupier and the government it sponsors, and Afghans declared
their categorical rejection of the American and European
presence on their land and loudly protested their government's
failure to bring the promised peace and stability....

"The incidents also showed the falsehood of the American claim
that the Americans went to Afghanistan to save the Afghan
people...."

Seche