Syria/UK, Arab Summit, Rice/Ki-Moon, Iraq (3/27)

UNCLAS DAMASCUS 000304 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/UK, Arab Summit, Rice/Ki-Moon, Iraq (3/27) ¶1. Summary: Syrian papers on Mar. 27 reported President Asad's meeting on Mar. 26 with a delegation representing the British House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee headed by Deputy Chairman of the committee, John Stanley. Talks focused on regional and international developments and the political situations in Iraq, the occupied territories and Lebanon. President Asad reviewed Syria's positions regarding current events in the region, confirming Syria's aim to cement security, stability and a just and comprehensive peace in the Middle East. The President emphasized the rights of countries to the peaceful use of nuclear energy. The delegation was also received by VP Shara on Mar. 26. Talks focused on the difficult situation in Iraq, and on repercussions resulting from occupation and the intensive displacement of people in and outside Iraq. Members of the delegation raised a number of questions on ways to deal with this situation and on Syria's constructive role in restoring stability in Iraq. On the Riyadh summit, papers featured a statement by FM Mouallem on Mar. 26 that Arab Foreign Ministers in their preparatory meeting discussed a number of issues, headed by the Palestinian issue, the Arab-Israeli conflict, ways of activating the peace process, combating terrorism, and clearing the region of WMD. Regarding US sanctions on Syria, the Minister said "there was an Arab consensus on rejecting the US stance, asserting the need to lift sanctions on Syria." He described talks among the Arab FMs as very "positive and held within a spirit of Arab solidarity." Papers also reported that Saudi FM Prince Saud al-Faisal said on Mar. 26 that "Arab Foreign Ministers discussed the political developments in Palestine, Iraq, Lebanon, Somalia and Darfur, in addition to other important issues related to economic, cultural, educational and social fields." In a joint press conference held with Arab League Secretary General Amr Mousa following the ministerial meeting, Prince al-Faisal added that the ministers reviewed and prepared draft resolutions to be discussed at the 19th Arab Summit. "The nature of the situation in the Arab arena is very critical and delicate and requires a unified stance on the official and popular levels to promote joint Arab action," he added. On Lebanon, Prince al-Faisal expressed hope that the Lebanese will not carry their differences to the Arab summit, but "work to solve their problems by themselves free from any foreign interference that may harm the interests of the homeland." The Saudi Minister called for freeing the Middle East from WDM while maintaining the right of each country to possess nuclear energy for peaceful purposes. End of summary. ¶2. Selected Headlines: "President Asad stresses Syria's keenness for security and stability in the region to a delegation representing the British House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee" (Government-owned Tishreen, 3/27) "Arab Leaders arrive successively in Riyadh today. Arab Foreign Ministers have prepared draft resolutions for the agenda of the 19th Arab Summit, to be passed to Arab leaders for discussion. FM Mouallem: There is an Arab consensus on rejecting US sanctions on Syria" (Government-owned Tishreen, 3/27) "Mouallem: No dispute between Syria and Saudi Arabia over Iran; the Lebanese issue was not discussed" (Independent Al-Watan, 3/27) "UN SecGen Ki-Moon and Secretary Rice endeavor to arrange for a meeting that joins Israel, the Palestinian Authority and moderate Arab states. Olmert: I will not hesitate to attend if I get a visa" (Government-owned Al-Ba'th, 3/27) "Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert claims rapprochement with Arabs and resumes his contact with President of the Palestinian Authority Mahmoud Abbas" (Government-owned Tishreen, 3/27) "A missile attack shakes the US Embassy in Baghdad. Khalilzad speaks of meetings with armed groups" (Government-owned Tishreen, 3/27) "Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in the Middle East and North Africa warns against the increasing influx of Iraqi refugees into Syria and Jordan" (Government-owned Al-Thawra, 3/27) ¶3. Editorial Block Quotes: -------------- "The Riyadh Summit, Any Message?" -------------- Sa'dalah Barakat, a commentator in government-owned Al-Ba'th, wrote (3/27): "Syria has intensified diplomatic efforts to render the Arab summit successful at this stage where the Arab nation is facing new dangers and challenges, especially in Iraq, Lebanon, and the Palestinian territories.... "A few years ago the convening of the Arab summit was an end in and of itself. But this is not acceptable today. The Arab people in all the Arab countries, as well as the friends of the Arabs -- peoples, governments, countries, and organizations -- want the Arab summit to take a position to curb the schemes of sedition and fragmentation and plans of hegemony, isolation, and usurpation of national and pan-Arab sovereignty.... "Will the Riyadh summit address a clear message to the engineers of those schemes to deter them from pursuing their objectives, which are registered with the neoconservatives but bear an Israeli certificate of origin?" -------------- "The Summit and Causes of the Umma" -------------- Muhammad Khair al-Jammali, a commentator in government-owned Al-Thawrah, wrote (3/27): "The Arab summit needs to take clear, transparent, and sound positions toward a host of pan-Arab issues to prove that the Arab nation is able to effectively address its issues and defend its interests free from foreign dictates.... The summit must link a solution to the Iraqi problem to the removal of the occupation.... "What helps Arabs take such a position and announce it openly is the pressure that Americans and the world public are applying to end this occupation within a timetable that does not exceed one year.... "The siege on the Palestinian people is another issue on which the Arab summit needs to take a clear and frank position.... "There is no time for hesitation, waiting, or postponement of brave and courageous positions. There is an opportunity to declare such positions at the Riyadh summit. Nothing will prove the success of this summit other than talking with one language about all these issues and working to resolve them with a unified and inclusive vision...." -------------- "Diplomacy of Confusion" -------------- Omar Jaftali, an editorialist in government-owned Tishreen, commented (3/27): "What Condoleezza Rice said at the beginning of her tour of the region was no more than an attempt to 'soften' feelings and absorb the shock created by the prevailing Arab inclination on the eve of the summit that there be no amendment of the Arab peace initiative and that there is no reason for such an amendment while Israeli terrorist practices continue.... "What is interesting is that Rice's visit to the region has coincided with the visit by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon.... "It seems that Mrs. Rice wants to show 'temporary' sympathy with Palestinians, as a message from the US Administration to Ki-moon that the question is generally the subject of US concern and that he need not bother himself much about it. Thus, it is possible to explain the new US stand on dealing with the Arab peace initiative, which has been and still is rejected by the United States, and which the Bush administration has not taken seriously since its launching in the 2002 Beirut Summit. This administration knows also that Israel rejects it and that the United States colluded with Israel to circumvent the Arab initiative by inventing the so-called Roadmap as an alternate settlement process, which, in turn, was subjected to the well-known procrastinations, which created the right circumstances for Israel to violate rights and territory whenever it wanted. "What is the significance of the statements made by Rice about the importance of the Arab peace initiative? The clear answer given by Rice herself, that 'there are US solutions,' might express the real prevaricating US stand.... Why this US 'positivism' now and not several years ago? Is it not the US intention to confuse the Arab summit amid the firm Arab conviction that Israel is not ready for peace?" Corbin