SARG REQUEST'S OBO VISIT TO IDENTIFY LOCATION FOR

UNCLAS DAMASCUS 000432 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS NEA/ELA OBO/REMP/ACQ FOR MIKE LASH NEA/EX E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: ABLD AMGT SY SUBJECT: SARG REQUEST'S OBO VISIT TO IDENTIFY LOCATION FOR A NEW EMBASSY COMPOUND REF: DAMASCUS 396 ¶1. (U) This is an action request. Please see paragraph four. ¶2. (SBU) In a May 6 meeting with MFA director of protocol Dr. Amir Smadi, our SARG designated interlocutor, and a SARG consultant for the new diplomatic zone (DZ),Walid Serawan, the Charge followed up on his previous discussions requesting early SARG action to allow construction of a new embassy compound (NEC) and SARG progress on the new DZ (reftel). Serawan presented an approved master plan for the new DZ and commented that the prices for property within the zone would be available within six months. (Note. The SARG has been promising to finalize this plan for five years so Charge asked Smadi and Serawan three separate times whether the plan had received final approval and they asserted it had. End note.) Serawan said that a committee had been established by the MFA and the local municipality to factor in all of the costs and variables to determine final prices. Serawan had a copy of the topographic map with the four areas of interest OBO had designated during the last team's visit here five years ago. Serawan asserted that all four areas fell within the area designated for development by the master plan. Charge requested the MFA provide us with a sense of final costs and a copy of the master plan. Smadi said he would have to consult with FM Walid Muallem before he could respond, but invited the USG to send a team of building experts to Damascus to review all available information on the DZ and to settle on a location for an NEC. ¶3. (SBU) Smadi reiterated that the SARG was ready to move forward with an NEC and that if a team were to visit from the U.S. for that purpose, he would ensure the visas were expeditiously processed. Charge commented that progress on a DZ, new information on the land offered, and access to the master plan would all be important considerations for the USG when discussing whether to dispatch a team to Damascus. Serawan said all necessary information, technical and otherwise, on the new DZ would be made available to any team visiting from the U.S. and asked that the USG pick between the four designated areas so the area could be excluded from other's consideration. Serawan asserted this was necessary because other embassies were expressing interest in reserving specific plots of land. Charge reminded Smadi and Serawan that President Asad had told visiting Codels that the DZ would be ready before the end of the year, a point Smadi acknowledged and seemed anxious to respond to. ¶4. (SBU) Action request: Post asks that OBO send a team to Damascus to review the SARG's master plan for the diplomatic zone and identify the building site for our NEC. Although we can't promise results, we see much more upside to a visit now than potential downside. The SARG asserts it has now finalized the master plan that has been holding up progress for five years. The four plots OBO designated as potential building sites all appear to fall within the area designated for development by the master plan. Because of Serawan's insistence that an additional six months is needed to settle on final prices for individual plots within the DZ, there is room for skepticism of the SARG's commitment to making real progress. Still, a visit now by an OBO team could identify a parcel for purchase and help to clarify additional items requiring SARG action. Also, once we identify a parcel, we would have greater leverage with getting the SARG to speed up the process of designating a price. CORBIN