MEETING WITH SYRIA'S RIAD SEIF, DAMASCUS-BEIRUT

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 DAMASCUS 004482

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

PARIS FOR WALLER, LONDON FOR TSOU

E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/13/2016
TAGS: PGOV PHUM SY
SUBJECT: MEETING WITH SYRIA'S RIAD SEIF, DAMASCUS-BEIRUT
DECLARATION SIGNATORY RELEASED


Classified By: Charge d'Affaires Michael H. Corbin for reasons 1.4 b/d


1. (C) Summary: A/DCM met with Damascus Declaration leader
Riad Seif on September 12, just shortly before the attack on
the U.S. Embassy. Seif said he had chosen to stop reporting
to the security services and was traveling outside the city,
including to Homs to meet with recently released
Damascus-Beirut Declaration signatory Mohammed Mahfoudh. The
Damascus Declaration group is continuing its activities,
including planning an organizational meeting later this month
in Aleppo and reaching out to Syria's three main Kurdish
parties that did not sign the Declaration. Seif stated that
the UNIIIC investigation into the assassination of former
Lebanese PM Rafik Hariri continues to worry Syrian President
Bashar al-Asad and regime figures. A comprehensive Middle
East peace agreement would stem the rise in Islamists in
Syria, where both the regime and the people have historically
seen themselves as champions of the Palestinians, and it
would facilitate broad democratic reforms here, Seif said.
End Summary.


2. (C) REFUSAL TO REPORT TO SECURITY: In a meeting cut
short by the September 12 attack on Embassy Damascus, A/DCM
and Poloff met with Syria's Damascus Declaration leader and
former Damascus Spring detainee Riad Seif in Seif's downtown
office to discuss the political situation. Seif said that on
September 3 he had issued a short statement detailing his
treatment over the past eight months by Syrian security
services and added that he had stopped reporting daily to
their offices. "I made a calculation and decided that if
they arrest me, maybe it's better," Seif said. "As the
elected head of the Damascus Declaration, maybe it would give
me more credibility in the eyes of Syrians." Since the
statement, Syrian security were using much greater discretion
in following him, said Seif, noting that he was traveling
outside Damascus, including on September 11 to Homs to meet
Damascus-Beirut Declaration signatory Mohammed Mahfoudh who
was released from detention September 5.


3. (C) OPPOSITION ACTIVITIES: The Damascus Declaration
group is continuing its activities, said Seif, noting the
group is scheduled to meet in late September in Aleppo to
discuss next steps. There are also signs that the three main
Syrian Kurdish groups that have not yet signed the
Declaration might soon join, said Seif, citing his positive
September 3 meeting with Syrian representatives of the Azadi
and Yekiti parties and the Kurdish Future Movement. (Note:
Poloff met September 7 with the Future Movement
representative who denied his group's intent to join the
Damascus Declaration. End Note.) Seif acknowledged that the
Damascus Declaration does not meet one of the Kurdish groups'
main demands since it fails to call directly for citizenship
rights for stateless Kurds. However, the establishment of
democracy in Syria would be the first step in that process,
Seif claimed.


4. (C) HARIRI INVESTIGATION: Seif stated the UNIIIC
investigation into the assassination of former Lebanese PM
Rafik Hariri continues to pose a threat to Syrian President
Bashar al-Asad, with the recent al-Arabiyya interview showing
Syrian witness Mohammed Zuheir Siddiq repeating earlier
accusations that Asad was behind the killing. Additionally,
Seif said he was further convinced of the regime's
involvement when a trustworthy confident recently told him
that Syrian Defense Minister Lt. Gen. Hassan Ali Turkmani met
in early 2005, prior to the assassination, with alleged
Syrian suicide bomber and Islamist Ahmad Abu Adass, urging
that "now is the time to stand with Syrian President Bashar
al-Asad." (Note: Shortly after the Hariri assassination,
Adass was pictured in a videotape released to al-Jazira,
confessing to the assassination with a suicide bomb. He has
not been seen since.)


5. (C) RISE IN ISLAM: In response to a question, Seif said
that the rising influence of Islam throughout the region and
in Syria was at least indirectly connected to U.S. policies,
particularly in regards to the Palestinians. A comprehensive
solution to the Israel-Palestinian conflict would put an end
to the rise of Islamist influence here--some of it
fundamentalist in orientation--and throughout the region,
Seif predicted. A Middle East peace agreement would also
stem the rise in Islam in Syria, where both the regime and
the people have historically seen themselves as champions of
the Palestinians, and it would facilitate broad democratic

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reforms, Seif said. Syrians and the rest of the Arab world
cheered on Hizballah's success in its conflict with Israel
last month because, for the first time, they saw an Arab
actor that was able to stand up to Israel and the U.S. and
maintain Arab dignity, Seif said. Hizballah's weak point in
the eyes of the Syrian Sunni majority is that the movement is
Shi'a, Seif said.


6. (C) Comment: Throughout the conversation, Seif, who
speaks fluent English learned in prison, seemed subdued but
focused. Despite comments to Poloff by other opposition
activists critical of Seif, the head of the Damascus
Declaration group seems to be pursuing a careful course
designed to continue the organization's activities in the
narrow margins left to it by the regime. Seif repeatedly
returned to the idea that a Middle East peace deal would
greatly facilitate democratic reforms in Syria and
regionally. The meeting with Seif was cut short when his
wife (herself a Palestinian who works near the Embassy)
called to report an explosion and gunshots at the U.S.
Embassy about a mile away. Seif allowed A/DCM to use the
office to make phone calls and offered all assistance at his
disposal.
CORBIN