CODEL PELOSI'S APRIL 3-4 VISIT TO DAMASCUS:

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 DAMASCUS 000390

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

PARIS FOR WALLER, LONDON FOR TSOU

E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/07/2017
TAGS: PREL PGOV SY
SUBJECT: CODEL PELOSI'S APRIL 3-4 VISIT TO DAMASCUS:
MEETING WITH SYRIAN FM WALID MU'ALLIM

Classified By: Charge d'Affaires Michael H. Corbin for reasons 1.4 b/d


1. (C) Summary: Visiting U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi
and her accompanying delegation met April 4 in Damascus with
Syrian FM Walid Mu'allim. They discussed Iraq, Iran,
Lebanon, and prospects for a renewed Middle East peace
process. End Summary.


2. (C) Speaker Pelosi and 15 members of her delegation met
for 50 minutes April 4 with FM Mu'allim at the Ministry of
Foreign Affairs. Aside from Pelosi, those attending the
meeting were the following: Congressman Henry Waxman (D-CA);
Congressman Nick Rahall (D-WV); Congressman Tom Lantos
(D-CA); Congressman David Hobson (R-OH); Congresswomen Louise
Slaughter (D-NY); Congressman Keith Ellison (D-MN); Paul
Pelosi, the Speaker's spouse; House Sergeant at Arms Wilson
Livingood; Mike Sheehy, the Speaker's Assistant for National
Security; Reva Price from the Speaker's Office; Nadeam
Elshami, the Speaker's public affairs assistant; Robert King,
from Congressman Lantos' office; Kenny Kraft, from
Congressman Hobson's office; House attending physician ADM
John Eisold; and Air Force escort COL Lori Robinson. Also
attending at the request of the CODEL were the Charge and an
Embassy notetaker. Attending on the Syrian side was
Mu'allim's Chief of Cabinet Bassam Sabbagh; MFA head of
foreign media Bushra Kanafani; and the Syrian Ambassador to
the U.S. Imad Mustapha.


3. (C) OPENING COMMENTS: The Speaker noted that she and her
delegation had come in the spirit of friendship and the hope
of opening a door to improved relations. "We also bring some
concerns in recognition of the importance of Syria," she
added. The delegation had just come from Israel where the PM
had asked that the delegation convey to the Syrian President
"Israel's desire for peace." The U.S. delegation hoped that
there would be a reduction in terrorism that would permit
steps toward such a peace, Pelosi stated. The Syrian FM
responded that he had spent his youth negotiating with the
Israelis and that all of the region's people were seeking a
comprehensive peace. Mu'allim urged the appointment of a
U.S. Ambassador to Syria that would "raise the level of
dialogue and bridge the differences between the two
countries."


4. (C) ON IRAQ: Congressman Lantos suggested that Syria and
the U.S. begin to bridge their differences by addressing a
"long list of problems between the two countries from a
longer range point of view." Lantos said that the last time
he had been in Syria, he had met with Syrian President Bashar
al-Asad and then Syrian FM Farouk al-Shara'a about a list of
issues that needed to be handled differently, including
closing the Syria-Iraq border. "This has not changed,"
Lantos said. Mu'allim responded that Syria opposed the
invasion of Iraq, which was conducted without the approval of
the UN Security Council. In January 2003, Syria had warned
the U.S. against the invasion, "but no one listened,"
Mu'allim said. Syria now wants a timetable for the
withdrawal of foreign troops, the rebuilding of a national
army, and a political solution to the conflict, he said.


5. (C) Mu'allim stated that in any conflict, usually the
failure of troops is always blamed on a third country. In
2004, Syria had worked out a memorandum of understanding
(MOU) with the U.S. military about the Syria-Iraq borders,
but the U.S. had failed to follow through, Mu'allim asserted.
In late 2006, Syria signed a security MOU with Iraq, and
three security committees were set to meet later this month,
he said. Syria has a long border with Iraq, said Mu'allim,
noting, however, that only five percent of those fighting in
Iraq are foreigners and most of them are from SAUDI Arabia,
Jordan and Egypt. "We can't unilaterally seal the border,"
said Mu'allim noting that Syria needs assistance from the
Iraqis, who are prevented from doing so by the U.S. As
proof, Mu'allim cited private comments to this effect by
Iraqi President Jalal Talabani during a week-long visit in
mid-January to Damascus. The Speaker retorted that given
Syria's security forces, it was hard to believe that the SARG
could not stop facilitators from moving foreign fighters
through Syria to Iraq. Mu'allim queried, "In the absence of
dialogue, why should we do it?" The Speaker responded,
"We're here to dialogue."


6. (C) ISRAELI PRISONERS AND THE PEACE PROCESS: Congressman
Hobson said that Syria and the U.S. share common goals and

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that without dialogue, nothing happens. He urged Syria to
set a helpful tone with the international community by urging
Palestinian Hamas to release Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit
captured in the summer of 2006 and to press Lebanese
Hizbollah to release Israeli soldiers Ehud Goldwasser and
Eldad Regev kidnapped in July 2006. This would "send a
signal of humanity," Hobson said. The FM Minister responded
by urging the Speaker to appoint an Israeli-authorized
mediator from the U.S. Congress to negotiate for the release
of the Hizbollah prisoners, adding, "Syria is ready to
pressure Hizbollah; we can work with you." For 27 years,
however, Syria has also had 20 Syrian prisoners in Israel,
the FM said. One died in 2006 and another was about to pass
away, he said.


7. (C) When the Speaker held up the dog-tags of the three
Israeli prisoners being held by Hamas and Hizbollah the FM
responded, "Know that Syria will help on all humanitarian
issues, but the way to solve all of the suffering is through
a comprehensive peace." Syria's Golan Heights is small in
size but symbolically important, he said. "Let's do land for
peace." Syria negotiated over the course of 10 years for the
land and was willing to return to the negotiation table," he
said.


8. (C) LEBANON: Congressman Rahall noted his Lebanese
origins and cited the delegation's previous stop in Beirut.
While the political situation in Lebanon was complicated, at
least some Lebanese people were clear in their desire to be
free of Syrian domination. Mu'allim responded that the U.S.
interferes in Lebanese affairs. Rahall continued that both
Syria and Lebanon need a stronger diplomatic relationship and
asked for the FM's predictions on Lebanon's future. Mu'allim
responded that Lebanon was democratic but different in terms
of its sectarianism from Western democracies. Lebanon needs
a National Unity Government, which can reach consensus on
issues, he said. Syria would then be willing to establish
diplomatic relations and begin demarcation of the borders,
Mu'allim said. Otherwise, by dealing with the government of
PM Fouad Siniora, Syria would only support part of Lebanon,
the FM asserted.


9. (C) The Speaker interjected that waiting for consensus
and blocking a meeting of the Lebanese Parliament to avoid
the establishment of a proposed International Tribunal did
not move issues forward. Mu'allim repeated that there were
many foreign players in Lebanon. The Speaker retorted that
Hizbollah was a major player, getting its weapons from Iran
through Syria. The FM responded that even the Lebanese PM
and Defense Minister had publicly declared this as false and
that Syria had unsuccessfully asked the Germans for technical
equipment to monitor the border. "Lebanon got it, but not
us," he said. He argued that Syria borders Iraq where there
is a conflict and Israel with which Syria is at war. Syria
can only police its border with technical assistance,
Mu'allim said.


10. (C) EMBASSY SECURITY: Congressman Waxman, who has
visited Syria twice previously, raised the issue of Embassy
security. The FM responded that the SARG was responsible to
protect foreign embassies and that the U.S. was responsible
to protect the Syrian missions in the U.S. The U.S. Mission
could rent another building at a separate location if its
personnel felt unsafe at the current location, "which was
bad," he said. The SARG, however, took seriously its
responsibility of protecting the current Embassy, just as the
U.S. was responsible for protecting the Syrian missions in
the United States, he said. Congressman Lantos responded,
"Your Embassy wasn't attacked."


11. (C) IRAN: Congressman Waxman raised Iran's nuclear
ambitions, noting that the U.S. feared Tehran was seeking
nuclear weapons. The FM responded that Syria opposed nuclear
weapons throughout the region.


12. (C) PEACE PROCESS: Returning to prospects for a renewed
Middle East peace process, Waxman asserted that Syria could
be helpful in Lebanon and Israel but that the Israeli PM
didn't know how to judge Syrian intentions. Mu'allim said
that Syria was serious about returning to negotiations
"without preconditions from any side." Waxman called for
Syria to take a concrete step toward negotiations by making a
gesture, such as Egypt's Sadat did with his 1977 trip to
Jerusalem, by obtaining the release of Israeli prisoners.

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The FM responded that Sadat's trip occurred before Madrid and
that after 10 years of negotiations "no one was interested in
a gesture." Instead, he said, "We want to go to the table
and solve the issues. When asked whether Syria would be
willing to recognize a Jewish state in Israel, the FM said,
"More than that, we are ready to open an Israel Embassy in
Damascus." The Israelis know what Syria offered them for the
Golan Heights, he said. The U.S. needs to look at the issue
from both the Israeli and Syrian side, he continued.


13. (C) On Hamas, Congressman Ellison said that in the
delegation's April 3 meeting with Palestinian President
Mahmoud Abbas, it had understood that Damascus could greatly
influence Hamas to act in a positive way. The FM responded,
"We have. The National Unity Government was established in
Damascus."


14. (U) This cable was cleared by CODEL Pelosi after the
CODEL's departure from Syria.
CORBIN