CODEL SPECTER MEETS SYRIAN FM MU'ALLIM

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 DAMASCUS 005449

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

PARIS FOR WALLER, LONDON FOR TSOU, NEA/ELA, NSC FOR MARCHESE

E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/18/2016
TAGS: PREL PTER PGOV LE IZ SY
SUBJECT: CODEL SPECTER MEETS SYRIAN FM MU'ALLIM

Classified By: Charge William Roebuck for reasons 1.4 b/d


1. (C) Summary: Visiting U.S. Senator Arlen Specter met
with Syrian FM Walid Mu'allim for 75 minutes on December 25
in Damascus. The conversation covered U.S.-Syria relations,
Syria's desire for resumed peace talks with Israel,
allegations that Syria continues to meddle in Lebanon, steps
to stabilize Iraq, and Iran. The FM shared threat
information against U.S. citizens in India over the New
Year's holiday. End Summary.


2. (C) U.S.-SYRIA RELATIONS: FM Mu'allim urged the USG to
reopen unconditional constructive dialogue with Syria about
regional issues, including the Israeli-Palestinian conflict,
Iraq, and the war on terror. "The USG has isolated Syria and
in doing so has isolated themselves. It can't solve the
problems in Iraq because it is too far away from the
realities on the ground," the FM asserted. In response to
the Senator's questions, Mu'allim said that the U.S.
Administration has sought to isolate Syria since Secretary
Powell's visit in April 2003 following the USG announcement
that it would invade Iraq. Powell came with six demands that
he presented first in a meeting to President Bashar al-Asad
and then subsequently to press in Damascus, Mu'allim said.
The public announcement of the demands ruled out Syrian
cooperation, said Mu'allim, who noted, "You know Syria can
achieve things with dialogue but not with demands."

3. (C) The Senator asked whether the Syrians really thought
in 2003 that the U.S. would invade Syria from Iraq. Mu'allim
answered that Pentagon advisor Richard Perle had written
about the option. Mu'allim also stated that he and other
SARG officials had feared such an eventuality but realized
that the growing insurgency in Iraq precluded any such
option. Senator Specter asked whether the SARG was afraid
that the USG was now pushing for regime change in Syria.
Mu'allim replied, "We receive reports that the Administration
and the State Department are sending money to the Syrian
opposition. But you can ask any Syrian on the street, and
they will tell you that there is no Syrian opposition here."
Mu'allim asserted that the SARG is most concerned about
regional stability, noting that Syria is currently home to
500,000 Palestinians and "a million Iraqis." (Note: UNHCR
estimates that there are 800,000 Iraqis living in Syria.) He
added that during the Israel-Hizballah conflict over the
summer, Syria hosted 300,000 displaced Lebanese and
facilitated the departure via Syria of thousands of
foreigners living in Lebanon. (Note: Nearly all the
Lebanese returned to Lebanon shortly after the cessation of
hostilities.)


4. (C) SYRIAN DESIRE FOR RESUMED PEACE TALKS WITH ISRAEL:
Mu'allim argued that the USG should support the resumption of
unconditional, Syrian-Israeli peace negotiations that have
clearly defined political goals. "Our goal is full peace
with Israel--land for peace," he said. In response to the
Senator's question, Mu'allim said Damascus would accept a
process that included an Israel-Syria-Lebanon track and an
Israel-Palestine track. Both tracks could progress
separately toward their objectives, Mu'allim said. A
Syria-Israel agreement would lead to security on Israel's
northern border and remove the rationale for Hizballah arms
by transforming Sheba'a Farms into a bilateral issue between
Syria and Lebanon, he asserted.


5. (C) LEBANON: Without full peace with Israel, full
implementation of UNSCR 1701 will never be achieved, Mu'allim
predicted. "Historically, no conflict ends without a
political solution," he said. In response to the Senator's
question about allegations that Syria is facilitating the
shipment of arms to Hizballah, Mu'allim denied the reports
and said that neither the U.S. nor European interlocutors
have produced decisive evidence to back up the charge. In
response to the Senator's question about the allegation that
some Syrian rockets hit Israel during the Israeli-Hizballah
conflict, Mu'allim replied that Syrian rockets were available
for sale in Iraq.


6. (C) When the Senator asked about reports in 2005 by
UNIIIC investigators that Syria was involved in the
assassination of former Lebanese PM Rafik Hariri, Mu'allim
replied, "Why would we be involved? We say here that no wise
man can shoot his own finger." He added, "Why would we need
to blow him up in Beirut when Hariri frequently came to
Damascus in his own car." (Comment: This is the standard
Syrian response to allegations of Syrian involvement in

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Hariri's murder, which sidesteps the fact that Hariri's death
and other subsequent assassinations are meant to warn
opponents of Syrian influence in Lebanon.) Mu'allim further
asserted that the German government removed UNIIIC
investigator Detlev Mehlis from the investigation because his
work was "politically motivated."


7. (C) IRAQ: Mu'allim said that Syria could help stabilize
Iraq, citing as an example his three-day visit to Iraq in
November, which led to the resumption of diplomatic relations
after a 25-year rupture. He also highlighted the signing by
Iraq's and Syria's Ministers of Interior of a memorandum of
understanding on joint security cooperation. The MOU will
result in increased Iraqi monitoring of other side of the
border, a hotline between Ministers of Interior, and daily
Syria-Iraq security meetings at border posts, he said.
Although the MOU would not be 100 percent effective, it would
help staunch the flow of foreign fighters who come to Syria
because of its long border with Iraq, Mu'allim claimed. When
the Senator pressed Mu'allim on how Syria could more directly
assist the USG in stabilizing Iraq, the FM demurred, saying
he would allow Syrian President Asad to discuss this in
greater detail with the Senator.


8. (C) According to Mu'allim, the USG would need to take
several steps to end bloodshed in Iraq, including: a
re-examination of admission criteria for the Iraqi police
force and army; an increase in the number of security
officers being trained; the enlistment of Iraq's former
military and police officers to assist in training; the
dismantling of militias; and the modification of the Iraqi
constitution so it is "more reassuring on the Arab identity
of Iraq," with an explicit reference to Kirkuk as "a city of
coexistence." (Comment: It is safe to assume that Syria is
closely monitoring Kurdish actions in Iraq, given Syria's own
Kurdish minority. End Comment.) Additionally, the USG should
establish a timetable for the withdrawal of its forces from
Iraq, even if such a pullout were projected to take five
years, Mu'allim asserted. Such a move would oblige the
Iraqis to prepare seriously for the U.S. departure and avoid
a scenario like the U.S. withdrawal from Saigon, said
Mu'allim, adding that Syria did not want Iraq to fall into
the hands of al-Qaida or other extremists. In response, the
Senator quipped, "So, is Syria ready to take over Iraq?"
Mu'allim responded, "We tried that before in Lebanon and that
was enough." The Senator said, "But you didn't really leave
Lebanon behind did you?"


9. (C) IRAN: In response to the Senator's query about U.S.
policy toward Iran, Mu'allim called for the opening of a
dialogue between Tehran and Washington. "Whether or not you
agree with Iran, they are a regional power," said Mu'allim,
noting Secretary Rice's recent meetings in the region with
moderate Arab officials from countries such as Bahrain and
the UAE. Those officials represented a million people, while
Iran has a population of 77 million, Mu'allim stated. When
the Senator asked whether Mu'allim agreed with him that Iran
could not be trusted with a nuclear weapon, particularly
given the Iranian President's call to wipe Israel from the
map, Mu'allim countered by saying, "As an Arab and Syrian can
I trust Israel?." He claimed, "In 1973, PM Golda Meir told
Kissinger that she would use a nuclear weapon against Syria
and Egypt."


10. (C) TERRORISM: Mu'allim stated that the U.S. invasions
of Afghanistan and Iraq have lead to a spread of al-Qaida
throughout the region, including in Iraq, Syria and Lebanon.
The SARG is successfully containing extremists, said
Mu'allim, citing the example of a December 23 raid on an
al-Qaida cell in the Syrian city of Homs that led to the
arrest of two French, four Saudis and two Syrians.
Information obtained in the raid revealed al-Qaida plans to
attack nightclubs in India frequented by American personnel
on New Year's Eve, which was passed to India's Ambassador to
Damascus, said Mu'allim, adding, "I'm telling you this
because you are Arlen Specter, not the U.S. Embassy." The FM
pressed for U.S.-Syria cooperation on terrorism, emphasizing,
however, that any such efforts would only follow the
resumption of U.S.-Syria political dialogue.


11. (U) The CODEL cleared this cable.
ROEBUCK