CHARGE DISCUSSES NEW EMBASSY COMPOUND, DIPLOMATIC

UNCLAS DAMASCUS 000396 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS PARIS FOR WALLER; LONDON FOR TSOU E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: AMGT ABLD ASEC PGOV SY SUBJECT: CHARGE DISCUSSES NEW EMBASSY COMPOUND, DIPLOMATIC ZONE WITH MFA REF: A. 05 DAMASCUS 3443 ¶B. 05 DAMASCUS 0366 ¶C. 05 DAMASCUS 0796 ¶D. 05 DAMASCUS 5288 ¶E. 05 STATE 180634 ¶1. (SBU) In an April 23 meeting MFA Director of Protocol, Amir Smadi, the Embassy's designated SARG interlocutor, Charge followed up on previous approaches on the issue of the proposed Diplomatic Zone (DZ) that President Bashar al-Asad, FM Walid al-Mu'allim, and other senior SARG officials had made reference to in recent meetings with CODELS. (Note: These SARG officials raised the DZ, asserting that it would be ready within a year, in order to address CODEL members' expressions of concern about Embassy security and their questions about why the Embassy was not able to proceed with moving to a new, more secure embassy compound.) Charge also noted to Smadi that in one of these meetings, a senior SARG official had charged his deputy with reviewing Embassy plans for the move to the DZ. Charge referred to these assurances to CODEL members and noted that he wanted to resume discussions with the SARG on purchasing land in the DZ for the new embassy compound (NEC). ¶2. (SBU) Charge also noted that there had been a series of previous discussions with the MFA over the past several years about the particular plot of land the SARG intended to sell to the U.S. for its NEC, including a commitment to assign the U.S. an 80,000 square meters (eight hectares) plot of land for this purpose. He showed Smadi a copy of a map, previously provided to the Embassy by the MFA, which detailed the DZ and those areas that had been discussed as possible sites for the NEC. Charge emphasized the need for the SARG to reach a decision about the precise plot of land and its price, and noted that he would like to meet with the appropriate MFA official, charged with administrative issues, to move these discussions forward, building on the previous discussions. Smadi promised to follow up on the matter but requested a dipnote seeking the meeting. ¶3. (SBU) In the context of this discussion, Charge reiterated his concern for Embassy security, especially in the wake of the September 12 terrorist attack, and urged the SARG to move on the Embassy's repeated requests to close or partially close to vehicular traffic the streets surrounding the Embassy. Smadi was non-committal, noting that street closures were problematic and that he had "no answer" on that issue. Other issues discussed are covered septel. CORBIN