Damascus Media Reaction: Syria/Iran, Syria/Italy,

UNCLAS DAMASCUS 004202

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/Iran, Syria/Italy,
Syria/Iraq, Syria/Portugal, Lebanon, Iraq, Palestinian
Territories (8/25-27)



1. Summary: Syrian papers reported that President Asad received
a message from Iranian President Mahmud Ahmadinezhad on
developments in the region and bilateral relations, conveyed by

Iranian Assistant Foreign Minister Mohammad Reza Baqeri. Baqeri
also met with Vice President Shara and Foreign Minister Mouallem,
with whom he discussed the latest developments in the Iranian
nuclear file and ongoing contacts on this subject between Iran
and both the United Nations and the European Union and the
position of Iran as expressed in its response to the European
proposals. Talks also dealt with developments in the region and
the repercussions of the recent Israeli aggression against
Lebanon.

Government-owned Tishreen on (8/26) featured a press statement to
the EuroNews Satellite channel by Italian PM Romano Prodi
confirming the effectiveness of Syria's role in realizing peace
and stability in the region. Prodi restated the need to involve
Syria in building peace and stability in the Middle East,
asserting that "dialogue with Syria is a significant part of
building peace." Prodi said that Hizbollah could be disarmed
easily, but within the framework of a political solution for the
whole region.
On Syrian/Iraqi relations, papers reported a statement to the
Qatari newspaper "al-Watan" by Mahmoud Mashhadani, Speaker of the
Iraqi Parliament, praising Syria's firm positions regarding Arab
issues, and lauding President Asad's defense of Arab rights.
Mashhadani also underlined the impossibility of achieving
democracy under occupation, describing such democracy as "false,
incomplete and premature."
On Syrian-Lebanese relations, papers featured a statement by the
Syrian Ministry of Electricity denying that it had stopped
providing Lebanon with electricity, describing such news as an
absolutely baseless attempt to destroy brotherly relations
between the two countries.

Papers on (8/26) reported that Information Minister Bilal
held talks with Luis Amado, Portuguese Minister of Foreign
Affairs, on the Israeli aggression against Lebanon. In a press
statement to the Spanish newspaper "El-Periodico," Minister
Bilal stressed that the Israeli aggression against Lebanon
constitutes organized state terrorism, pointing out that
resisting occupation is a legitimate right acknowledged by all
international and divine laws. He underlined that Israel must
withdraw from the occupied Golan to the June 4, 1967, line and
from the rest of the occupied Lebanese and Palestinian
territories and recognize the Palestinian people's right to
establish an independent state with Jerusalem as its capital.
Dr. Bilal said that "the era of the Israeli blitzkrieg is over,
and it is time today for victorious resistance against Israel."

End of summary.


2. Selected Headlines:

"President Asad receives a message from President Ahmadinejad on
the situation in the region and bilateral relations, and
discusses developments in Iraq, Palestine and Lebanon with
Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Baqeri" (Government-owned
Tishreen, 8/27)

"Vice President Shara and Foreign Minister al-Mouallem discuss
developments in the Iranian nuclear file with Baqeri, reiterating
the importance of boosting coordination to serve stability in the
region" (Government-owned Al-Ba'th, 8/27)

"Iraqi Parliament Speaker Mashhadani: Syria is Iraq's gate; it
is impossible to establish democracy under occupation"
(Government-owned Al-Thawra, 8/27)

"Israeli warplanes continue violation of Lebanon's airspace. UN
SecGen Annan arrives in Beirut tomorrow to discuss UNIFIL
deployment. Amal Movement and Hizbollah: Facts of victory
cannot be ignored" (Government-owned Al-Ba'th, 8/27)

"Annan confirms: Disarming Hizbollah is an intra-Lebanese issue.



Resolution 1701 does not call for deployment of UNIFIL forces
along Syrian-Lebanese border. Israeli violations continue....
Repercussions of defeat threaten Olmert's government. Belgium:
The US Administration has lost credibility" (Government-owned
Tishreen, 8/26)

"Information Minister in Portugal: He who calls to deploy
international forces between Syria and Lebanon does not seek the
two countries' benefit" (Government-owned Tishreen, 8/26)

"Syria has not stopped providing Lebanon with electricity....
What happened was just a technical failure" (Government-owned
Tishreen, 8/26)

"Four British labor party activities resign.... British MP
Starkey declares: We do not support Blair's policy on regional
issues" (Government-owned Tishreen, 8/26)

"Italian PM Prodi: Syrian has an important and active role in
achieving peace and stability in the region" (Government-owned
Tishreen, 8/26)
"Syrian Information Minister Bilal confers with Queen Sofia of
Spain and Portuguese Foreign Minister Amado. Bilal: The era of
Israeli blitzkrieg is over; it is now time for victorious
resistance against Israel. Amado: We will convey the Syrian
position to the European Union Foreign Ministers' meeting"
(Government-owned Al-Thawra, 8/25)
"Israeli Chief of Staff Halutz acknowledges failure. Israeli
Prime Minister Olmert is obliged to form an investigation
committee. Italian Foreign Minister D'Alima: Resolution 1701
doesn't refer to troop deployment along the Syrian-Lebanese
border. Former Lebanese Prime Minister Hoss criticizes the
French Position: Inspecting planes in Jordan is an insult to the
Lebanese" (Government-owned Al-Thawra, 8/25)
"The Arab Group at the Security Council will demand UNSC meeting
to discuss the Arab-Israeli struggle next month" (Government-
owned Al-Thawra, 8/25)
"Two Palestinians martyred in Gaza. Palestinian Deputy Prime
Minister al-Shaer refuses to attend an occupation trial"
(Government-owned Al-Thawra, 8/25)
"Two US soldiers killed in Baghdad. Turkish MP: US forces are
using chemical and biological weapons in Iraq" (Government-owned
Al-Thawra, 8/25)

3. Editorial Block Quotes:

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"Their Dreams Are Defeated"

--------------

Muhammad Ali Buza, an editorialist in government-owned Al-
Thawra, wrote (8/25): "Israel continues its threats and
violations of the ceasefire in Lebanon....

"Israel does not appear to have learned the lesson of its
hostile war against Lebanon and its failure to realize any of
its objectives.... Israeli and American comments on the results
of the Lebanon war and calls for holding Israeli political and
military leaders accountable for their disastrous adventure in
Lebanon show the magnitude of the defeat that the American-
Zionist plan suffered.

"Despite this defeat, Israel and the United States are still
behaving with the logic of the winner who can dictate
conditions. It is no longer easy to intimidate and humiliate
nations and confiscate their will through brute force, as the
price would be too high for Washington and Tel Aviv. Despite
American and Israeli domination of the world and its decisions,
no one can imagine how a terrorist entity like Israel can
coexist with others or be accepted as part of the region's
geography...."

--------------


"Meant For Deception"

--------------

Ahmad Hamadah, an editorialist in government-owned Al-Thawra,
wrote (8/25): "The conflicting statements by Israeli and
American officials regarding peace in the region send
conflicting messages that analysts and observers must work hard
to decipher and analyze.

"As soon as Israel's vicious, aggressive war on Lebanon stopped,
a number of statements and public positions calling for return
to the peace process and for the opening of negotiations with
Syria emerged. But at the same time a number of opposing
statements were made calling for preparation for a new round of
war against Lebanon to achieve the objectives that the first
round failed to achieve.

"What is the secret behind this clear and declared contradiction
in the political and media positions of Israeli officials and
their neoconservative backers in Washington?

"The answer to this important question does not require much
thought. Based on the Israeli maneuvers and the deception that
Syria knows well from its previous negotiations with Israel, the
first thing that one can conclude from such statements is that
there is a malicious Israeli attempt to dismantle the strong
relationship between the Resistance and Syria....

"What is more important than all this, however, is that Syria
understands such maneuvers full well, just as it realizes that
true stability in the region basically requires Israel's
withdrawal from all the occupied Arab territories to the June 4,
1967 line. Without this, the alleged peace will remain
elusive."

--------------

"The Secret of Silence and Ferocity"

--------------


Isam Dari, an editorialist in government-owned Tishreen, wrote
(8/26): "We do not know why a Lebanese faction and part of the
international community remain silent about the repeated Israeli
violations of Resolution 1701 and, indeed, about Israel's
failure to comply with that resolution....

"The Israeli forces have not withdrawn from South Lebanon as
stipulated by the resolution.... Israelis are launching military
operations deep into Lebanon on the pretext of preventing the
smuggling of weapons for Hizbollah, although this falls under
the jurisdiction of the Lebanese Army....

"The Lebanese faction that launched a strong attack on Hizbollah
because it abducted two Israeli soldiers did nothing when Israel
committed various acts of piracy and kidnapped Lebanese
citizens....

"This team is mortgaged to the Israeli plan, and its fate is
linked to its fate. We are, therefore, not surprised with all
this viciousness, anger, and nervousness, especially after the
American plan began to stumble and the Resistance foiled the
expectations of those who rebelled against Lebanon and its
Arabism...."

--------------

"Price of Ambiguity of UNSC Resolution 1701"

--------------

Razan Imran, an op-ed writer in government-owned Tishreen, wrote
8/25): "The United States wants the international force that


will be deployed in Lebanon to be part of its war on terrorism,
disarming Hizbollah and wresting the victory and any chance for
future victories from Lebanon and granting all this to
Israel....
France, for its part, agrees that the international force should
disarm Hizbollah, but not necessarily through a new Security
Council resolution.... While Paris gives itself the right to
send 200 soldiers only, on the pretext that it fears attacks on
its soldiers as happened in 1983, it also gives itself the right
to demand the deployment of thousands of international troops --
not French -- to isolate Lebanon from Syria, on the pretext of
preventing arms supplies to Hizbollah....

"They want the resistance, and consequently Lebanon, to pay the
price of the ambiguity in Resolution 1701. This is a
translation of Bush's remark that 'Hizbollah will realize later
that it has lost'...."

Corbin