Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
06DAMASCUS958
2006-03-06 13:55:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Damascus
Cable title:  

ASAD CALLS ON HAMAS NOT TO RECOGNIZE ISRAEL,

Tags:  PGOV PREL LB SY 
pdf how-to read a cable
VZCZCXYZ0002
OO RUEHWEB

DE RUEHDM #0958/01 0651355
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
O 061355Z MAR 06
FM AMEMBASSY DAMASCUS
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 7518
INFO RUEHXK/ARAB ISRAELI COLLECTIVE
RUEHGB/AMEMBASSY BAGHDAD 0678
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC
C O N F I D E N T I A L DAMASCUS 000958 

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

PARIS FOR ZEYA; LONDON FOR TSOU

E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/12/2015
TAGS: PGOV PREL LB SY
SUBJECT: ASAD CALLS ON HAMAS NOT TO RECOGNIZE ISRAEL,
DEFENDS LAHOUD

REF: FBIS GMP 20060305504001

Classified By: Charge d'Affaires Stephen A. Seche, per 1.4 b,d.

C O N F I D E N T I A L DAMASCUS 000958

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

PARIS FOR ZEYA; LONDON FOR TSOU

E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/12/2015
TAGS: PGOV PREL LB SY
SUBJECT: ASAD CALLS ON HAMAS NOT TO RECOGNIZE ISRAEL,
DEFENDS LAHOUD

REF: FBIS GMP 20060305504001

Classified By: Charge d'Affaires Stephen A. Seche, per 1.4 b,d.


1. (SBU) Summary: In a March 4 speech at the opening of a
pan-Arab conference in Damascus, Syrian President Bashar
al-Asad urged Hamas not to recognize Israel, criticized
efforts to oust Lebanese President Lahoud, and labeled U.S.
actions in Iraq as part of a plan to divide and conquer the
country and the region. He also mentioned the cartoon
controversy, noting that boycotts were a far more effective
tool than outrage. Asad's speech echoed themes from his
November 10 and January 21 addresses, which highlighted the
need for renewed pan-Arab unity against foreign efforts to
divide and remap the region and which stressed the
geopolitical importance of Syria as a "spearhead" in the
struggle against such efforts. Asad's March 4 speech,
however, stressed the need for the U.S. to urgently withdraw
its troops from Iraq, a point he avoided making so explicitly
in the past. Asad sharpened the rhetoric and spoke at
greater length about his criticism of the U.S. invasion of
Iraq. His rhetoric on Lebanon also represented a further
softening from the extremely bellicose language he used in
the November speech. He avoided attacking the current work
of UNIIIC head Serge Brammertz. End Summary.


2. (U) President Asad urged Hamas March 4 not to recognize
Israel until it restores the rights "to all Arabs, Syria,
Lebanon, and Palestine." Asad made his remarks in Damascus
to representatives of over 100 political parties from 15 Arab
countries participating in the three-day Arab Parties General
Conference. Regarding Hamas, Asad noted that Syria has
engaged in peace negotiations for years with Israel but had
not recognized the country. He also pointed to what he
called a double standard, noting that Israel is not being
required to recognize Hamas or to disarm. He called Hamas's
electoral victory "an election for resistance" that "proves
the correctness of the Syrian position," saying it vindicated
Syria's long-standing support for the Palestinian
rejectionists based in Damascus, despite all the pressure put
on Syria. The Hamas victory also demonstrated that Syrians

understood earlier than others that "the path of resistance
expresses the option of the Palestinian people." Asad added
that Syria wants good relations with all Palestinian groups,
including that led by current President Abu Mazen. On the
peace process, Asad said it is not an option for the
foreseeable future since Israel is has demonstrated a lack of
interest in peace and the U.S. has not taken an active role
in re-starting the negotiations.


3. (U) IRAQ: A "TOLD YOU SO" TONE: A tone of vindication
also crept into Asad's remarks on Iraq, as he noted that he
had warned American officials that they would "sink into the
Iraqi quagmire" despite winning the war. Asad expressed his
belief that the "withdrawal of the U.S. troops has become
urgent" and urged Iraqis to express a united view on this
issue. Regarding the recent attacks on mosques in Iraq, Asad
said the attacks were aimed at destroying the unity of Iraq
and its "national and pan-Arab identity." He placed such
attacks in a wider context of developments in Iraq aimed at
"diminishing the Iraqi citizen's affiliations" from national
and pan-Arab ones into narrow tribal, sectarian, and
religious attachments and said the objective was the division
of the country. Early in his remarks, Asad alluded to what
he referred to as two goals of the war in Iraq, including
"re-drawing" the map of the Middle East, and obtaining oil,
adding that Israel "remains a fundamental factor" in all such
developments in the Middle East. Asad mentioned briefly the
possibility of sending Arab peace-keeping forces in Iraq, but
noted that an Iraqi official who visited Damascus had told
him such troops would be treated as part of the occupying
forces as long as U.S. troops remained in Iraq. He insisted
that Syria has tried to support the political process in
Iraq, including efforts to re-establish diplomatic relations,
but that U.S. pressure had prevented the Iraqis from moving
to improve relations.


4. (U) LAHOUD: Asad spoke at length about the political
events in Lebanon since the passage of UNSCR 1559 that have
led to the current "attacks" against President Lahoud,
defending the Lebanese leader as "a staunch defender of the
resistance." He described the attacks as "a plot that aims
to get Lebanon away from Syria." Without referring to the
March 14 group by name, Asad accused the bloc of "working
under the command of others who are concocting plots against
Syria." Interestingly, the official English version of the
speech provided by the Syria News Agency (SANA) and reprinted
in the Syria Times, deleted Asad's positive characterization
of the national dialogue underway in Lebanon. Asad was
quoted (in other versions) saying that "the dialogue
currently ongoing in Lebanon is a positive step toward the
return to reason if there is a desire to do so." However,
Asad also noted that "dialogue in itself does not lead to the
return to reason; the interlocutors must have the will to
return to reason." (Note: The SANA version also deleted
Asad's remark that "I will not defend President Lahoud,"
which he used to preface that very defense.)


5. (U) THE "CARTOONS" CONTROVERSY: Asad alluded briefly to
the controversy over the caricatures of the prophet Mohammed,
noting that the "outrage" in the Arab and Islamic worlds was
justified. He did not refer directly to the mob actions in
Damascus or other capitals, but pointed out that boycotts
were a more effective tool than mere outrage and should
continue to be used in the future against those who insult
Islam.


6. (SBU) Throughout his speech, Asad cloaked his points in a
pan-Arab rhetoric reminiscent of his January 21 speech,
noting for example at one point that "what happens against an
Arab country can't be isolated from the rest of the Arab
countries." Events in Iraq, Palestine, Syria, and Lebanon
"are interrelated." However, he toned down his January
accusations that attempts to blame Syria for the killing of
Hariri were an attempt by the West to target not merely Syria
but the entire Arab and Islamic world. His speech referred
briefly to Islam as a pillar of strength for the Arabs and
for the pan-Arab cause but did not make repeated Islamic
references as he did in January.


7. (C) Comment: Asad's speech echoed themes from his
November 10 and January 21 addresses, which highlighted the
need for renewed pan-Arab unity against foreign efforts to
divide and remap the region through actions in Palestine,
Iraq, Lebanon and Syria and which stressed the geopolitical
importance of Syria as a "spearhead" in the struggle against
such efforts. Asad's March 4 speech, however, stressed the
need for the U.S. to urgently withdraw its troops, a point he
has avoided making so explicitly in the past, either publicly
or privately. He also sharpened considerably his language
about Syria having been criticized unfairly for opposing the
war and about having been vindicated for warning the U.S.
that it was stepping into a quagmire. Asad largely avoided
attacking the current work of the UNIIIC investigation into
the assassination of former PM Hariri, a sharp departure from
those previous two speeches, an indication perhaps that the
regime feels the pressure is off now and that relations with
Brammertz and his team have improved dramatically over the
relationship the SARG experienced with Mehlis. He continued,
however, to attack UNSCR's 1559 and 1636 as elements in a
plot to destabilize Syria.
SECHE