Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
06DAMASCUS3655
2006-07-25 14:29:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Damascus
Cable title:  

TFLE01: SYRIA DAILY SITREP 09 FOR TUESDAY, JULY

Tags:  PREL PGOV PHUM SY LE 
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DE RUEHDM #3655/01 2061429
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
O 251429Z JUL 06
FM AMEMBASSY DAMASCUS
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 0560
INFO RUEHXK/ARAB ISRAELI COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUCNMEM/EU MEMBER STATES COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHGB/AMEMBASSY BAGHDAD PRIORITY 0141
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC PRIORITY
RHMFISS/CDR USCENTCOM MACDILL AFB FL PRIORITY
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 DAMASCUS 003655 

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

PARIS FOR WALLER, LONDON FOR TSOU, AMMAN FOR KANESHIRO

E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/25/2016
TAGS: PREL PGOV PHUM SY LE
SUBJECT: TFLE01: SYRIA DAILY SITREP 09 FOR TUESDAY, JULY
25, 2006

REF: SECSTATE 120911

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

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 DAMASCUS 003655

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

PARIS FOR WALLER, LONDON FOR TSOU, AMMAN FOR KANESHIRO

E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/25/2016
TAGS: PREL PGOV PHUM SY LE
SUBJECT: TFLE01: SYRIA DAILY SITREP 09 FOR TUESDAY, JULY
25, 2006

REF: SECSTATE 120911

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


1. (C) Summary: The SARG has yet to respond to a July 25
demarche from the Charge about steps required of Syria as
part of efforts to halt the Israel-Hizballah conflict. The
Damascus-based UN Resident Coordinator held a meeting July 25
for diplomatic representatives of donor countries to discuss
the USD 13.6 million flash appeal for Syria. He noted a SARG
request that the UN inspect all aid shipments transiting
Syria into Lebanon, adding that the query had been forwarded
to the UN's New York headquarters for a decision. The
American Citizen Services unit received 184 walk-ins July 24,
consistent with the level on previous days. End Summary.

POLITICAL


2. (C) The following are political updates:

-- Charge delivered demarche points contained in reftel to
Embassy's designated interlocutor at the MFA, Chief of
Protocol Amir Smadi, early July 25. Smadi listened to the
points, taking detailed notes, but did not react. He
undertook to deliver the points immediately to senior
leadership of the MFA, and promised a response during the
course of the day. Thus far, no response has been conveyed.

-- Charge also formally requested to the MFA's designated
interlocutor that the SARG return the uniformed police
officers that had been withdrawn from the perimeter of the
Chancery at the beginning of the week. Charge noted that
uniformed police continue to be posted at every other
diplomatic mission in Damascus. The Chief of Protocol agreed
to convey Charge's concern to the appropriate authorities.

-- The UN Resident Coordinator Ali Al-Za'tari held a July 25
meeting for diplomatic representatives of donor countries, to
discuss the USD 13.6 million flash appeal announced a day
earlier. An estimated 150,000 people who fled Lebanon remain
in Syria, and of those, an estimated 20,000 are in dire need
of assistance, according to Za'tari, citing officials from
the SARG and the Syrian Arab Red Crescent. The SARG has

formed a higher ministerial committee headed by the State
Minister for the Red Crescent, Bashar al-Sha'ar, and also
including the ministers for Religious Trusts and Social
Affairs and Labor, but so far no one government official has
served as a reliable point of contact, Za'tari said. The
Syrian Arab Red Crescent is responding admirably to the
crisis, but is slowly being overwhelmed, Za'tari said. If
the crisis continues, the number of displaced in Syria could
soar up to 300,000, he asserted. The UN has formally
approached the MFA to allow in more than 200 Palestinians
stranded on the Lebanon-Syria border, but there has not been
an official SARG response so far. The SARG, in turn,
formally requested help in responding to the crisis and in
the movement of relief items to Lebanon, Za'tari said.
Additionally, Za'tari said the SARG had requested if the UN
could inspect aid trucks destined for Lebanon, a query which
"New York needs to decide." The ResCoord said that his
office believed that Syria was a very viable overland passage
for the movement of relief into Lebanon. A World Food
Program representative said her organization was hoping to
get a hub for humanitarian aid into Lebanon up and running
within five or six days at the al-Arida crossing on Lebanon's
northern border with Syria.

-- A new picture of President Bashar al-Asad with Sheikh
Nasrallah and Iranian President Ahmadinejad can been seen all
over Damascus, according to a PD FSN and contacts. Other
banners and posters are also going up around the city,
including a large billboard of a smiling Nasrallah with the
words "Victory for our people in Lebanon and Palestine."

CONSULAR


3. (U) The following are consular updates:

-- The ACS unit received 184 walk-ins July 24, consistent to
the level on previous days.

-- The phone volume was down considerably July 24, with most
callers focused on immigrant visa petitions for Lebanese
citizens.

DAMASCUS 00003655 002 OF 002



ECONOMIC


4. (SBU) The following are economic updates:

-- Syria's Minister of Electricity said his country would
continue to provide Lebanon with 150 megawatts of electricity
per day around-the-clock, to relieve suffering caused by the
Israel-Hizballah conflict, according to SANA. (Comment: We
understand that this level of electricity sharing has maxed
out the transmission infrastructure between the two
countries, and some Syrians are claiming it will cause
unspecified, localized shortages in Syria.)

-- A 17-vehicle SARG humanitarian convoy crossed the Jdeideh
border into Lebanon on July 24, carrying 120 tons of foods
and medicine and 6,000 mattresses, according to the official
Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA). The SARG was sending aid
convoys into Lebanon without coordination and was pressuring
the Syrian Arab Red Crescent to do the same, according to the
President of the Syrian Arab Red Crescent on July 24, adding
that he had refused to send any assistance without first
notifying all the belligerents.

-- The SARG held a coordination meeting with Syrian NGOs
during which the Minister of Labor and Social Affairs
reiterated the government's intention to allow them to
operate unimpeded to confront the crisis. A private
businessman complained to us that there was still no
overarching government entity to coordinate between private
sector and NGOs.
SECHE