Syria/Spain, Russia, Syria/Turkey, Palestinian Territories,

UNCLAS DAMASCUS 000102

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT FOR PA, NEA/ARN, INR/IC/CD, INR/R/MR:STHIBEAULT AND
JMCCARTER, VOA NEWS CA, NEA/PPD:CBOURGEOIS, AZAIBACK, AND
AFERNANDEZ, IIP/G/NEA-SA MDAVIDSON
WHITE HOUSE FOR NSC
CENTCOM FOR CCPA

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: KMDR PREL KPAO OPRC SY
SUBJECT: Syria/Spain, Russia, Syria/Turkey, Palestinian Territories,
Lebanon, Iraq (1/31)



1. Summary: Syrian papers on Jan. 31 reported that President Asad
received, on Jan. 30, a phone call from Spanish Prime Minister Jose
Luis Rodriguez Zapatero in which they discussed the Palestinian
situation and current efforts to stop intra-Palestinian fighting.
Premier Zapatero underscored Syria's important role in the dialogue
among the Palestinian parties to form a government of national
unity.
Papers also featured a statement on Jan. 30 by Alexander Sultanov,
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister and the Russian President's Special
Envoy to the Middle East, confirming the impossibility of achieving
peace in the Middle East without making progress on the Syrian and
Lebanese tracks. Sultanov reiterated the call to hold an
international conference for peace in the Middle East and adopt a
strategy to resume negotiations on all tracks in the region. He
added that the situation in the region urgently requires a
discussion by the Quartet about steps needed to speed up the peace
process. The Russian official indicated the need to form a
Palestinian national unity government to handle the difficult
situation the Palestinian people and the people of the region in
general are passing through.

On Syria/Turkish relations, papers reported that Foreign Minister
Walid Mouallem will visit Turkey Jan. 31 to discuss bilateral
relations and recent developments in the region with Turkish
officials.

End of summary.


2. Selected Headlines:

"President Asad receives a phone call from Spanish Premier Zapatero
on the situation in Palestinian territories and efforts to stop
in-fighting" (Government-owned Tishreen, 1/31)

"Foreign Minister Mouallem to visit Turkey today to discuss latest
developments in the region and bilateral relations"
(Government-owned Tishreen, 1/31)

"Russia calls for an international conference for peace in the
Middle East and a strategy to resume negotiations on all tracks"
(Government-owned Al-Thawra, 1/31)

"Russian Deputy Foreign Minister and Special Presidential Envoy to
Middle East Sultanov confirms impossibility of achieving peace in
Middle East without making progress on Syrian and Lebanese tracks"
(Government-owned Tishreen, 1/31)

"Lebanese demonstrations reject foreign intervention and support the
Opposition's demands. Hizbollah Secretary General of Nasrallah:
Inciting sedition is an attempt to take revenge on the resistance"
(Government-owned Tishreen, 1/31)

"Baker and Hamilton testify before the Congress: Stability in the
region will come from solving the Arab-Israeli crisis"
(Government-owned Al-Thawra, 1/31)

"Bolton: Iraq's unity does not serve [U.S.] interests"
(Government-owned Al-Ba'th, 1/31)

"Calm returns to Gaza. Fatah and Hamas exchange prisoners. Abbas
threatens early elections. Hanieh underscores the importance of a
security organization for all Palestinians" (Government-owned
Al-Ba'th, 1/31)


3. Editorial Block Quotes:

--------------
"Occupation's Role in Distancing Iraq from its Arab Neighborhood"

--------------
Salim Abbud, a columnist in government-owned Al-Thawra, said (1/31):
"After rivers of blood and conflict have flowed in Iraq, Americans
are today trying to drag countries of the Arab region, as they did
before, into imaginary dangers by diverting their attention from
what is happening in Iraq and Palestine to the so-called Shiite

threat and the Iranian nuclear threat.

"Damascus, as usual, draws attention to the gravity of those
attempts.... Syria is working hard to restore and strengthen
relations with Iraq because this supports Iraq's unity, prevents
domestic strife, and strengthens the resolve of the correct Iraqi
resistance against occupation....
"The US has always applied pressure, before the occupation and at
present, to prevent any rapprochement between Damascus and Baghdad,
because it realizes the depth of relations between the two countries
and peoples and the impact of this on the nature of the region and
its desire to confront US and Zionist plans....

"Iraqi President Jalal Talabani's recent visit to Syria transcended
this American desire and laid the proper foundations for resumption
of relations between Syria and Iraq. The US occupation will try to
undermine the results of this visit, but the bonds between the Iraqi
and Syrian peoples are too strong to be broken, especially at this
stage, when Iraq is experiencing a grave situation requiring serious
and genuine cooperation from sisterly Syria to support security and
stability in Iraq and foil any attempt to stoke the sectarian and
ethnic conflict in the country...."

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

"Gambling Adventure"

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

Umar Jaftali, an editorialist in government-owned Tishrin, wrote
(1/31): "Nothing indicates that the US Administration is
reconsidering its policy in the region or correcting the mistakes
that have brought tragedies upon the region and the United States
itself....

"Americans continue to pursue the same policy in Iraq, Lebanon, and
the Palestinian territories, while sending more troops and equipment
to the region for a possible attack on Iran. This proves that the
US Administration is implementing an American-Zionist strategy, the
basic goal of which is to control the Middle East and its oil
sources, ignite sectarian and denominational sedition in the region,
and turn the Arab conflict with Israel into domestic conflicts in
order to reshuffle the cards and rearrange the region."

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

"Will the Real Compass Come Back?"

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

Ghazi al-Dada, a commentator in government-owned Tishrin, wrote
(1/31): "It is regrettable that intra-Palestinian clashes are
continuing while the Palestinian people are still fighting for their
rights and occupied land....

"Surely, no one can dispute that anyone who fires at his brother
fires at himself, and anyone who sheds the blood of his brother
sheds his own blood. The sedition, therefore, must be confronted
and foiled. Palestinians must stick to their national unity and not
give the Israeli-American schemes a chance to succeed. They must
return to the language of dialogue and avoid the language of
weapons, which pleases and serves only the Israeli enemy...."

Corbin