Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
06DAMASCUS5160
2006-11-01 13:03:00
UNCLASSIFIED
Embassy Damascus
Cable title:  

Damascus Media Reaction: Lebanon, Peace Process, Iraq,

Tags:  KMDR PREL KPAO OPRC SY 
pdf how-to read a cable
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UNCLAS DAMASCUS 005160 

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: Lebanon, Peace Process, Iraq,
Palestinian Territories (11/01)


UNCLAS DAMASCUS 005160

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: Lebanon, Peace Process, Iraq,
Palestinian Territories (11/01)



1. Summary: The main focus in Syrian papers today was Lebanon.
Papers featured reports on the confiscation of a 'suspicious' parcel
by customs at Beirut International Airport containing silencers for
military pistols. The parcel, dispatched from the UK through "Liban
Post" Lebanon's postal service, was reportedly addressed to a
diplomat at the US Embassy in Beirut identified as Mark Savageau.
Papers also cited reports about the arrest of a new Mossad agent by
the name of Faisal Mkalled. News reports said that he was recruited
by Israel to spy on Hizbollah and smuggle arms to Lebanon.
Papers also reported the Al-Manar TV interview on Tuesday, October
31,of the leader of Hizbollah, Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah, in which he
accused the Lebanese Parliament's majority of having planned for a
larger UN peacekeeping force in the South for a long time, adding
that Israel's summer offensive helped achieve that goal. Nasrallah
said a Lebanese government official called him in the first days of
the war and told him that it was going to be a long one if the
resistance did not abide by three conditions: Hizbollah's approval
of the deployment of multinational forces under Chapter 7 of the UN
Charter, the group's disarmament, and the unconditional release of
the two Israeli soldiers captured on July 12. "We were threatened;
he told us that the government would hold us responsible for the
continuation of the war," said Nasrallah, refusing to identify the
government official. He added, however, that Israel and its allies
could not defeat the resistance, "nor will it ever be able to."
Nasrallah said the majority was seeking to transform the United
Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) into one that would deploy
across the country rather than in the South only, with jurisdiction
under Chapter 7, which authorizes the use of force to halt any
threatened breaches of the peace. He argued that before the
July-August war, US policy was failing to gain control of Lebanon.
He added that the US launched the war to save Israel and disarm the

resistance. He also accused the "ruling majority" of instigating
domestic tension to meet US agendas.
End of Summary.


2. Selected Headlines:

"Spanish Foreign Minister Moratinos calls for an international
conference on peace in Middle East as the only way out of the
current impasse" (Government-owned Tishreen, 11/01)

"Nasrallah confirms to A-Manar TV: The national resistance is in
good condition: The project of the February 14 Group is an
American-Israeli one.... We have rejected its defeatist conditions"
(Government-owned Tishreen, 11/01)

"Israeli violations of Lebanese airspace continue. Lebanese calls
to form new national unity government. Lahoud responds to
Al-Saniora harshly: You are violating the constitution; your media
is insolent; we seek a real, non-politicized international
tribunal; why are you manipulating facts?" (Government-owned
Tishreen, 11/01)

"Security sources unveil Mossad agent Faisal Mkalled, who was
recruited by Israel to spy on Hizbollah and smuggle arms to Lebanon"
(Government-owned Tishreen, 11/01)

"More than three Palestinians martyred in Israeli invasion of Gaza.
US Secretary of State considers the imminent Israeli aggression
against the Gaza Strip to be self-defense" (Government-owned
Tishreen, 11/01)

"An American expert advises the Bush administration to withdraw from
Iraq within 18 months" (Government-owned Al-Thawra, 11/01)

"Iraqi President Talabani calls for maintaining foreign forces in
Iraq until Iraqi forces are ready to assure security"
(Government-owned Tishreen, 11/01)


3. Editorial Block Quotes:

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

"An Absent Role"
--------------
Umar Jaftali, an editorialist in government-owned Tishreen,

commented (11/01): "Why isn't Europe, despite its political and
economic weight and its traditional relations with the countries of
the Middle East, playing a role in resolving the region's issues?
"Europe is supposed to know where its real interests lie and to play
a role different from the non-objective American role toward issues
of the region, primarily the Arab-Israeli conflict and Israeli's
occupation of Arab lands and refusal to comply with UN
resolutions....
"Stability in the region is important for Europe and its partnership
with the countries of the region.... Europe is closer to the issues
and aspirations of the region. The weak European role appears
incomprehensible to the peoples and countries of the region,
particularly Syria, which has always called for an effective
European role, not only in the peace process, but also in all
aspects of cooperation that might develop into a genuine
partnership...."
--------------
"Season of Defeats"
--------------
Ali Qasim, a commentator in government-owned Al-Thawra, wrote
(11/01): "It is the season of defeats for US plans and ambitions,
from the failure of the war on Iraq, to the disappointment at home,
to the new situation in Afghanistan, and to developments in the
Korean and Iranian nuclear files, without forgetting the resounding
military failure in Lebanon, a failure that Lebanon is getting ready
to turn also into a political failure....
"US opinion polls, which show the Democrats in the lead by 10
points, confirm the US Administration's defeat.... US officials have
stopped talking about the promised New Middle East and the Iraqi
model of democracy.... While Americans might punish the
administration by voting for the rival Democratic Party, other
peoples of the world have a different accountability process...."
--------------
"An Inventory"

--------------
Isam Dari, an editorialist in government-owned Tishreen, wrote
(11/01): "What has the US Administration achieved for Americans and
the rest of the world?
"The US Administration admits that terrorism inside the United
States has increased rather than decreased in the past six years.
Moreover, US policies, which are built on racist, sectarian, ethnic,
and mythical bases, have raised fears and chauvinism at home.
"The racist practices against Americans of Arab and Islamic origin
have become one of the characteristics of American society today.
The terrorist and provocative practices against these Arab and
Muslim Americans have increased. They have been subjected to
blackmail, pursuit, arrest, and surveillance by American security
agencies....
"On the international level, we see the destruction of Afghanistan
and Iraq, and American human right violations against the Iraqi and
Afghan people....
"The Bush administration blessed Israel's terrorism against the
Palestinians and played a dirty and criminal role during the Israeli
aggression against Lebanon....
"The Bush administration is a strong candidate for first place in
crime and terrorism. This makes it an enemy of nations, and it
therefore deserves to appear in war crimes courts."
--------------
"Bush and the Iraqi Test"
--------------
Ghazi al-Dada, an op-ed writer in government-owned Tishreen,
commented (11/01): "The sin of the war on Iraq, and its
repercussions, have been disastrous for President Bush, his
administration, and his Republican Party. All of them are now
searching for ways to extricate themselves from the Iraqi swamp at
the lowest possible cost....
"Aside from the repercussions in the American arena of the
occupation of Iraq, Iraq remains much more than a bargaining chip in
the American political bourse. Iraqis need to make big, sincere
efforts to overcome the aftermath of the occupation of their
country. They must stick resolutely to their unity and territorial
integrity, especially since Iraq is seriously threatened with
partition into mini-states governed more by differences and disputes
than by unity and cordiality. Will Iraqis be able to foil these
malicious plans that lie in wait for them?"
Corbin