TFLE01: SYRIA DAILY SITREP 07 FOR SUNDAY, JULY

S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 03 DAMASCUS 003601

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

PARIS FOR WALLER, LONDON FOR TSOU, AMMAN FOR KANESHIRO

E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/23/2016
TAGS: PREL PGOV PHUM SY LE
SUBJECT: TFLE01: SYRIA DAILY SITREP 07 FOR SUNDAY, JULY
23, 2006


Classified By: Charge d'Affaires Stephen A. Seche for reasons 1.4 b/d


1. (S) Summary: Contacts are reporting a dramatic rise in
anti-American sentiment in Syria over the past ten days. The
influential director of the Abu Noor Institute, Sheikh Saleh
Kuftaro, called upon the SARG "to open the borders with
Israel for resistance" during Friday prayers on July 21.
Other sermons indirectly criticized various unnamed Arab
regimes for their failure to support the resistance in
Lebanon. DAO reported that UNDOF Force Commander, LTG Sharma
carried a message late last week from the Syrian Minister of
Defense to the Israel Defense Force, stating that Syria had
received previously delivered IDF messages and that Syria
would do nothing to upset the status-quo. The Syrian
Minister of Information was quoted July 23 as saying that
Syria will enter the war if Israel invades Lebanon and
approaches Syria. The small force of seven uniformed Syrian
police that contribute to SARG security elements guarding the
Embassy have been withdrawn from their guard posts around the
Embassy. The Embassy's designated MFA contact told Charge he
was unaware of the change but discounted its significance,
given the presence of other forces. End Summary.

POLITICAL/MILITARY


2. (C) The following is a political update:

-- Anti-American sentiment seems to be increasing
dramatically, even from within the Christian community,
according to political contacts (septel). There is
widespread grassroots and elite support for Hizballah,
although some members of the elite are quietly questioning
whether the SARG has overly embraced the Shiite group to the
extent that the country is now hostage to the group's
political fate, according to these contacts. Some of these
Syrian elite predicted that Israel might target Syria
militarily as a way to widen the conflict and distract
attention from its inability to score a decisive victory over
Hizballah.

-- The influential director of the Abu Noor Institute, Sheikh
Saleh Kuftaro (son of Syria's late Grand Mufti),called upon
the SARG "to open the borders with Israel for resistance"
during Friday prayers on July 21, according to information
received by an Embassy Public Diplomacy FSN. Kuftaro
strongly condemned the "political position of George Bush,
Tony Blair and Javier Solana," describing the three as
"malicious crusaders." After the prayers, a crowd of a
hundred people took to the streets outside the institute,
raising photos of Syria's President Bashar al-Asad and
Hizballah leader Hassan Nasrallah, according to POL FSN.

-- In their Friday sermons, other imams condemned what they
called the savage Israeli aggression against the Lebanese and
Palestinian peoples, noting that it was taking place with
American support. They also hinted at the cowardice of
various unnamed Arab regimes that have not supported the
resistance in Lebanon, according to contacts.

-- Minister of Information Mohsen Bilal was quoted July 23 as
saying that Syria will enter the war if Israel invades
Lebanon and approaches Syria.

-- Syria's Deputy FM Faisal Mikdad was quoted on July 22 as
saying that the SARG was ready to open a dialogue with the
U.S. to resolve the crisis in Lebanon, on the condition that
Washington engages on the question of Israeli occupation of
neighboring lands.

-- Syria's PermRep to the UN mission in New York, Bashar
al-Ja'fari, called on the Security Council to stop
immediately the Israel aggression on the Lebanese and
Palestinian peoples, according to the official Syrian Arab
News Agency (SANA). Ja'fari urged the council to pressure
Israel into an immediate cease-fire.

-- An official Syrian mouthpiece, Tishreen newspaper, sharply
criticized comments by the U.S. Secretary of State suggesting
that the USG would not back an immediate cease-fire in
Lebanon. A July 22 Tishreen editorial, voicing sentiment
that has become widespread in the past week, stated that "We
are not surprised that a decision rejecting a cease-fire has
come from Washington and Tel Aviv, as this is an American war
with Israeli tools."

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3. (S) The following is a military update:

-- According to one source, UNDOF Force Commander, LTG Sharma
had carried a message late last week from the Syrian Minister
of Defense to the Israel Defense Force stating the Syria had
received previously delivered IDF messages, which said the
IDF did not intend to attack Syria unless provoked, and that
Syria would do nothing to upset the status-quo. This was the
first Syrian response to IDF messages passed via UNDOF,
according to the DAO.

SECURITY


4. (C) The following is a security update:

-- The small force of seven uniformed, unarmed Syrian police
that contribute to SARG plainclothes security elements
guarding the Embassy have been permanently withdrawn from
their guard posts around the Embassy, according to the RSO.
Security officials charged with protecting the Embassy told
the RSO that these uniformed police were of limited value in
protecting the Embassy. The Charge called on the the Chief
of Protocol, the Embassy's designated MFA contact, and asked
if the SARG's intention was to deliver a message to the USG
by removing the uniformed police. The MFA official professed
to be unaware of any decision to reduce the SARG-provided
security for the Embassy, and promised Charge to inquire with
the appropriate authorities and get back to him as soon as he
had any information. He claimed that there is still plenty
of plainclothes security around the embassy, and pointed to
the police response to demonstrations in recent days as
evidence that the Embassy has no cause for concern.


CONSULAR


5. (U) The following is a consular update:

-- The Consular Section opened on an extraordinary basis from
10 a.m. - 1 p.m. Saturday for American Citizen Services,
assisting five walk-ins.

-- The Section continues to receive a heavy volume of phone
calls, ranging from requests for subsistence, child abduction
cases, and inquiries about airline availability.

ECONOMIC


6. (SBU) The following is an economic update:

-- Business contacts have reported growing frustration with
the lack of a coordinated SARG effort to direct aid to needy
Lebanese in Syria. The Minister of Social Affairs and Labor
has the lead on coordinating aid efforts and is helpful to
those who are able to reach her, but access is unpredictable,
according to contacts.

-- A committee to assist with the provision of services to
displaced Lebanese met July 22 to set up branch committees
throughout Syria, according to a SANA report.

-- The Syrian Arab Red Crescent (SARC) is heading up a
fund-raising campaign for needy Lebanese with some anonymous
donors contributing up to USD 100,000, according to a Syrian
businessman, who noted that anti-money-laundering procedures
were in place.

-- Two planeloads of Algerian humanitarian aid for Lebanon
arrived July 22 at Damascus International Airport, carrying
food, medicines and medical equipment, as well as tents,
blankets and generators, according to media reports. The
Algerian Embassy in Damascus was coordinating with the Syrian
authorities and the SARC to deliver the shipment, accompanied
by 16 Algerian doctors, over land into Lebanon.

-- The Damascus International Airport appears to have
recovered to a significant degree from the overflow situation
evident after the initial outbreak of fighting in Lebanon.
Recent visits to the airport suggest that the airport has
cleared a significant number of the passengers who were
waiting for flights. While travel agents report wait time
for flights of two to three weeks for &economy8 fares,
other contacts report that a limited number of seats are

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available on the day of flights, on some airlines that have
recently increased the number of flights into Syria.
Overbooking and other factors are preventing any more advance
notice of such availability. .
SECHE