TFLE01: SYRIA DAILY SITREP 08 FOR MONDAY, JULY

S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 02 DAMASCUS 003627

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 08 FOR MONDAY, JULY
24, 2006

REF: PRM LEBANON HUMANITARIAN UPDATE - JULY 23

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


1. (S) Summary: Up to 250,000 people have entered Syria
from Lebanon since the start of the Israel-Hizballah
conflict, with up to 90,000 needing "immediate assistance,"
according to contacts. Displaced Lebanese are settling
throughout the country, with many seeking aid from the
government, Syrian Arab Red Crescent, families, private
welfare societies and religious centers. The flood of
Lebanese arrivals has allowed normal Syrians to warm toward
their Lebanese neighbors, after the chilly relations--and
hostile street attitudes--that followed the assassination of
Lebanon's former PM and the withdrawal of Syrian troops from
the country. Syria's FM met July 23 with a German envoy
about the conflict, and Syria's Information Minister met
recently in Madrid with the Spanish FM, according to media
reports. Sources indicate that Syrian government
departments--as well as the military--are on high alert,
manning 24-hour watchstands, and making contingency planning
for a crisis here. About 180 walk-ins requested American
Citizen Services (ACS) on Sunday, July 23, down slightly from
200 requests on July 19 and 20 from the previous week. The
volume of ACS-related phone calls dropped significantly.
Damascus International Airport is operating at 150 percent
above the pre-crisis capacity, according to media reports.
End Summary.

POLITICAL/MILITARY


2. (S) The following are political/military updates:

-- Embassy contacts were unable to pin an exact figure on the
number of people who have entered Syria from Lebanon since
the start of the Israeli-Hizballah conflict (some are quoting
up to 250,000),but sources cited an approximate 90,000
Lebanese and others who needed "immediate assistance"
(Ref-update). Displaced Lebanese are settling throughout the
country, including in Damascus, in cities along the
Syria-Lebanon border such as Idlib, Tartous, Hama and Homs,
as well as in the northeastern city of Hassake, with many
seeking aid from the government, Syrian Arab Red Crescent,
families, private welfare societies and religious centers,
according to contacts. Cars bearing Lebanese license plates,
recently rare on Syrian roads, are now a common sight.
Well-to-do Lebanese have taken over the leases of many
vacationing Saudis who fled the Syrian tourist area of
Zabadani, according to a Syrian family from the area.
(Comment: The flood of Lebanese arrivals has allowed normal
Syrians to warm toward their Lebanese neighbors, after the
chilly relations--and hostile street attitudes--that followed
the assassination of Lebanon's former PM, the withdrawal of
Syrian troops, and the exodus of tens of thousands of Syrian
laborers from the country.)

-- The SARG will press for a cease-fire to end fighting
between Israel and Hizballah, but only as part of a larger
Middle East peace initiative, according to Syrian Information
Minister Mohsen Bilal in an interview with the Spanish daily
newspaper, ABC. Bilal gave the interview in Madrid after
holding talks with the Spanish FM Miguel Moratinos, according
to the official Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) which gave no
indication of when the meeting occurred.

-- Syria's Ambassador to Washington Imad Mustapha told
Al-Jazeera television in a recent interview that the only
diplomacy the U.S. Administration was conducting in the
Middle East was providing Israel with smart bombs. He
described comments by U.S. Secretary of State about a new
Middle East as "dreams, which resemble the U.S. dreams in
Iraq."

-- Syria's FM Walid al-Mu'allim met July 23 with a visiting
German envoy, discussing the Syrian vision of resolving the
crisis in Lebanon, according to the regional al-Hayat
newspaper. The Syrian plan includes a cease-fire, a
prisoners' swap, and a comprehensive settlement to the Middle
East conflict, according to the al-Hayat report.

-- Syrian President Bashar al-Asad recently told a delegation
of Arab and Islamic party leaders that opening the Golan
issue would only serve Israeli interests, according to the
weekly newspaper, Al-Moharer Al-Arabi. Asad was quoted by

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the newspaper as saying that "the Syrian leadership thinks
that liberating the Golan can be launched from Sheba'a Farms,
as it is part of the Golan geography and a safe area for the
resistance." Responding to a question from one of the
leaders, Asad said it would be possible to intervene to ease
Israeli pressure on Lebanon, only if Syria is given the green
light to return to Lebanon, according to regional media.

-- The DAO reports no significant Syrian military movement
observed in the past 24 hours. Sources indicate that Syrian
government departments -- as well as the military -- are on
high alert, manning 24-hour watchstands, and making
contingency planning for a crisis here. In contrast, there
was no observed increase in external security around Syrian
government buildings in Damascus.

-- Sources report that small groups of pro-Hizballah
supporters drove and/or walked through parts of Damascus last
night. No incidents were reported and the U.S. Embassy was
not threatened.

CONSULAR


3. (U) The following are consular updates:

-- About 180 walk-ins requested American Citizen Services
(ACS) on Sunday, July 23, down slightly from 200 requests on
July 19 and 20 from the previous week. The volume of
ACS-related phone calls dropped significantly.

-- Separately, more than 40 American citizens were arriving
in Syria or were seeking to enter the country over the past
few days, according to phone calls to the section.

ECONOMIC


4. (C) The following are economic updates:

-- Damascus International Airport is operating at 150 percent
above the pre-crisis capacity, increasing from 40 to 100 the
number of incoming and outgoing flights daily, according to
airport Director Ahmad Hamada in an article on Syria's
Champress website. He added that Lebanon's Middle East
Airlines has begun operating up to four daily flights out of
Damascus, according to Champress.

-- Despite private sector contributions on behalf of
displaced Lebanese reported in previous sitreps, the
government is starting to interfere with companies' ability
to respond to the crisis by trying to take more direct
control of relief efforts, according to contacts. The
President of the Syrian Arab Red Crescent Abdul Rahman Attar,
who is also a prominent Sunni businessman, says this doesn't
bode well for the ability of Syria or its government to
respond effectively to what he thinks will be a growing
humanitarian crisis, particularly when the beginning of the
academic year in early September requires displaced Lebanese
to vacate improvised housing in Syrian schools. Attar noted
that there was no overarching SARG entity to coordinate SARG
ministers--including for Red Crescent Affairs, Religious
Trusts, and Social Affairs and Labor--who are dealing with
the influx of displaced Lebanese, and all are struggling for
primacy. The USG should support relief efforts in Syria to
address negative public reaction in the region to the
Israel-Hizballah conflict, Attar said.
SECHE