Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
06DAMASCUS3711
2006-07-30 12:44:00
SECRET
Embassy Damascus
Cable title:  

TFLE01: SYRIA DAILY SITREP 12 FOR SUNDAY, JULY

Tags:  PREL PGOV PREF PHUM LE SY 
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OO RUEHAG
DE RUEHDM #3711/01 2111244
ZNY SSSSS ZZH
O 301244Z JUL 06
FM AMEMBASSY DAMASCUS
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 0630
INFO RUEHXK/ARAB ISRAELI COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUCNMEM/EU MEMBER STATES COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHGB/AMEMBASSY BAGHDAD PRIORITY 0154
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC PRIORITY
RHMFISS/CDR USCENTCOM MACDILL AFB FL PRIORITY
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC PRIORITY
S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 02 DAMASCUS 003711 

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

PARIS FOR WALLER, LONDON FOR TSOU, AMMAN FOR KANESHIRO,
ALGIERS FOR CHEYNE

E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/30/2016
TAGS: PREL PGOV PREF PHUM LE SY
SUBJECT: TFLE01: SYRIA DAILY SITREP 12 FOR SUNDAY, JULY
30, 2006

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

S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 02 DAMASCUS 003711

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

PARIS FOR WALLER, LONDON FOR TSOU, AMMAN FOR KANESHIRO,
ALGIERS FOR CHEYNE

E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/30/2016
TAGS: PREL PGOV PREF PHUM LE SY
SUBJECT: TFLE01: SYRIA DAILY SITREP 12 FOR SUNDAY, JULY
30, 2006

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


1. (C) Summary: An Israeli missile strike on July 29
destroyed the road serving a main Lebanese border crossing
between Damascus and Beirut about five miles west of the
official Syrian border crossing, effectively closing the
crossing, according to contacts and press reports. Several
hundred people, protesting the Israeli airstrike in Qana,
Lebanon demonstrated in front of Damascus offices of the UN
July 30. No injuries were reported. Egyptian FM Ahmed Aboul
Gheit was expected to visit Damascus on July 30 to meet with
a number of senior Syrian officials, according to press
reports. The official Syrian press has rejected the notion
of deploying a multilateral force in southern Lebanon, as
well as placing an international force on the Syria-Lebanon
border. During Friday prayers, preachers called for
resistance to U.S. and Israeli plans for the region,
according to news reports. The Charge raised the issue of
Embassy security July 30 in a meeting at the MFA. The
Consular Section received 148 walk-in requests for American
Citizen Services (ACS) on July 27, up slightly from the
previous day. Syrian Pepsi officials are seeking to lower
the profile of their products in Syria, given the rise of
anti-American sentiment here over the past two weeks,
according to the company's local representative. End Summary.

POLITICAL/SECURITY


2. (C) The following are political updates:

-- An Israeli missile strike late July 29 destroyed the road
serving the important Masna-Jdeidah border crossing between
Damascus and Beirut, about a quarter-of-a-mile into the
Lebanese side of the no-man's land, in a deep rocky pass,
according to press reports and contacts. The area where the
strike occurred was about five miles from the official Syrian
border crossing, according to contacts. Police sealed off
the area, and the road between the Syrian and Lebanese
checkpoints has been closed in both directions, according to

news reports.

-- Egyptian FM Ahmad Aboul Gheit was expected to visit
Damascus on July 30 to meet with a number of senior Syrian
officials, according to press reports. There was no
immediate confirmation of the visit or the FM's meeting
schedule.

-- Syria's Information Minister Mohsen Bilal rejected over
the weekend the deployment of international forces at the
Syria-Lebanon border, saying that the Syrians and Lebanese
are "one family" and will not allow anyone to separate them,
according to a report by the Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA).
The minister stressed Syrian support for Palestinian and
Lebanese "resistance," adding "Syria offers all possible aid
to the Lebanese people to overcome the horrible results of
the Israeli aggression on Lebanon."

-- The SARG criticized over the weekend calls for the
deployment of a multinational force in southern Lebanon as an
"occupation force" that would do Israel's bidding. An
editorial in Syria's official Tishreen newspaper said, "The
international force proposed by Condoleezza Rice...will
occupy southern Lebanon and it, instead of Israel, will be
charged with eradicating the Lebanese national resistance."

-- In their sermons on Friday, July 28, preachers called for
resisting U.S. and Israel plans for the region, stressing the
need to support the Lebanese "resistance," (code language
used in official and semi-official discourse here to refer to
Hizballah),which was defending the nation's honor and
dignity. The preachers urged citizens to make donations in
cash and kind for displaced Lebanese, particularly those in
Syria.

-- Charge July 30 raised once again with MFA designated
interlocutor, Chief of Protocol, the issue of the removal of
the uniformed police officers from the perimeter of the
Chancery, noting that popular anger in the wake of the
Israeli air strike in Qana, Lebanon could lead to
demonstrations in Damascus, and that such demonstrators might
wish to approach the US Embassy. While the uniformed police
officers were largely a symbolic presence, it was important
for the SARG to convey through their return its commitment to

DAMASCUS 00003711 002 OF 002


the security of the US Embassy. The Chief of Protocol
seemed surprised that the uniformed police had not returned
following last week,s conversation on the subject, since he
said he had raised the issue with the Ministry of the
Interior. He undertook to call the Ministry immediately to
have the officers returned, and claimed to understand the
need for their presence at a moment of rising tensions.

-- Charge also reviewed the situation that has arisen
regarding visa issuance for new A/DATT, Maj. Brett Seiling.
Protocol chief took full responsibility for this problem,
stating that he had inadvertently included Maj. Seiling,s
name in a list of pending visa requests that the Syrian
Embassy in Washington was cleared to issue. In fact, he
noted, he has no authority regarding visa issuance for
military attaches; these decisions are made at the
Presidential Palace. He insisted that there was no political
message here, that it was an error and it will be corrected,
although he was unable to state with any certainty how long
it will take to do so.


3. (S) The DAO reports that there are initial signs of
further defensive deployment by Syrian artillery northeast of
Damascus, indicating another racheting up of the alert level
of Syrian troops.

CONSULAR


4. (U) The following are consular updates:

-- The Consular Section received 148 walk-in requests for ACS
services on July 27, up slightly from 145 inquiries the
previous day.

-- The call volume related to the Israel-Hizballah conflict
remained down on July 27 and throughout the July 28-29
weekend.

ECONOMIC


5. (C) The following are economic updates:

-- Syrian Pepsi officials are seeking to lower the profile of
their products in Syria, given the rise of anti-American
sentiment here over the past two weeks, according to the
company's local representative. Some vendors have reported
the vandalism of stand-alone refrigerators with the Pepsi
logo, the representative said.

-- There are reports of the first power outages, which
occurred twice a day for two hours each in the Syrian
countryside, as a result of electricity being sent to
Lebanon, according to contacts.

-- Pick-up trucks and generators from the Kuwaiti Red
Crescent Society arrived July 28 in Damascus to assist
persons displaced by the Israel-Hizballah conflict, according
to regional media. The four pick-ups were to assist the
Syrians in transporting aid to displaced persons in Syria,
while the generators will be sent to Lebanon, according to
news reports. Kuwait had previously sent four shipments of
food and medicine to Lebanon, with assistance from the Syrian
Arab Red Crescent, and a Kuwaiti plane with 10 tons of
medicine destined for Lebanon was expected to arrive June 30
in Damascus, according to media reports.

-- Nine planes loaded with humanitarian aid from Arab nations
landed in Lattakia airport over the weekend, according to
business contacts.
SECHE