ASAD'S MESSAGE TO PARLIAMENT: "A TALENTED

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 DAMASCUS 000450

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

PARIS FOR WALLER, LONDON FOR TSOU

E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/14/2017
TAGS: PGOV PREL SY
SUBJECT: ASAD'S MESSAGE TO PARLIAMENT: "A TALENTED
STATESMAN READY FOR ANOTHER SEVEN YEARS"

Classified By: A/DCM William Roebuck, for reasons 1.4 b/d


1. (C) Summary: Syrian President Bashar al-Asad delivered a
major foreign policy speech May 10, on the occasion of the
inaugural session of the newly elected Syrian People's
Assembly. The speech picked up some of the rhetorical
flourishes Asad has relied upon in other speeches he has
delivered over the past two years, but lacked the overall
stridency or sense of urgency (bordering on incitement)
evident in some of his previous efforts, including his
"half-men" speech of August 2006 or his "resistance or chaos"
speech delivered at Damascus University in November 2005.
Some of the harsh rhetoric, for example on Iraq and the peace
process, seemed designed to maintain a confrontational facade
on policies or initiatives that in substance could be
vulnerable to hard-liner criticism. Regarding Lebanon,
Bashar staked out a confrontational position, noting
repeatedly that Syria would not cooperate with any Lebanon
international tribunal that is formed, if it infringed on
Syrian sovereignty, and would refuse to turn over Syrian
nationals to the tribunal's jurisdiction. End Summary.


2. (SBU) On May 10, Syria's President Bashar al-Asad
delivered a speech to the newly elected Syrian Parliament.
Transitioning quickly to foreign policy issues, which made up
the bulk of the speech, Asad asserted that with regard to
Iraq, Syria had expressed readiness to play a role in
encouraging an "Iraqi national dialogue" and "a political
process" for Iraq. He also made reference to "the essence of
Syrian cooperation" on Iraq. Asad made clear that Syria was
pursuing this policy for the sake of "the Iraqi people . . .
and for stability in the region," rather than to help the
U.S. withdraw its forces or "to serve the goals of other
countries." Asad repeated the standard SARG call for a
timetable for the withdrawal of what he described as
"occupation forces" and criticized the recent deployment of
additional U.S. troops in Iraq, indicating Iraq's problems
needed to be addressed through political means.


3. (SBU) LEBANON/PROPOSED TRIBUNAL: Syria supports the
achievement of a Lebanese accord to solve the ongoing
political impasse there, stated Asad. He denied that Syria
had a position on the proposed formation of an international
tribunal. Despite the general attempt to sound conciliatory
and to voice respect for "international legitimacy" and UN
resolutions, Asad staked out a very hard-line position on the
Lebanon tribunal, noting repeatedly that Syria would not
cooperate with any tribunal that is formed, if it infringed
on Syrian sovereignty, and would refuse to turn over Syrian
nationals to the tribunal's jurisdiction. In a somewhat
tortured, elliptical style, the Syrian President also
rejected reports that Syria had provided its reservations on
the proposed formation of a tribunal (i.e. to the Saudis),
noting that a group of "Arab lawyers" had passed on their
comments but these did "not reflect Syria's position."


4. (SBU) ISRAEL-PALESTINIAN CONFLICT: In the opening of the
most lengthy part of his speech dealing with the
Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Asad stressed that Syria is
working to support the Palestinian Unity Government and the
lifting of the "international siege on it" that aimed to
undermined refugees' rights to return to their homeland.
Asserting that there has been no progress on Syria-Israel
peace negotiations, Asad went through a contorted effort to
refute recent reports of secret Syrian-Israeli contacts. He
insisted that Syria had "not authorized anyone to negotiate
on behalf of us." While claiming that Syria is willing to
return to the negotiating table without any pre-conditions,
Asad noted that there are some "peace process requirements"
for re-starting the Golan negotiations, including respect for
UNSC resolutions 242 and 338, a land for peace basis for the
negotiations, starting any new negotiations at the point
where the old ones left off, and an honest broker. Asad also
reiterated Syria's strategic choice for peace and but coupled
it with his view that "Israel should unequivocally reiterate
its preparedness to withdraw from the Arab territories it
occupied in 1967.


5. (SBU) Asad suggested that the recent international
isolation of Syria was aimed at breaking the country's
opposition to U.S. and Israel policies. He insisted that
this policy of isolating Syria had failed.


6. (C) COMMENT: While Asad's May 10 speech lacks some of

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the insistent paranoia and inciteful vituperation that
characterize many of his speeches delivered over the past two
years, it still contains its share of hard-line stridency,
especially with regard to the Lebanon international tribunal.
Asad also seems to have reverted to a hard-line restatement
of Syria's position on Golan negotiations, possibly to help
cover the regime's evident discomfort that back-channel
negotiations it had quietly blessed became so public (and
reinforce its public bargaining position). Asad appears to
have wanted to use this speech to position himself before
Parliament, and the Syrian people, as a talented statesman --
defending the rightness of his previous courses of action --
and ready for another seven years of defending Syria's
interests on the world stage.
CORBIN