Syria/Norway, Syria/China, Bush's Iraq Strategy, Rice's

UNCLAS DAMASCUS 000070 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/Norway, Syria/China, Bush's Iraq Strategy, Rice's Visit, Syria/Israel (1/18) ¶1. Summary: Syrian papers on Jan. 18 reported FM Walid Mouallem's meeting on Jan. 17 with Svein Sieve, Advisor of the Norwegian Foreign Ministry for Middle East Affairs. Sieve reiterated the importance of Syria's role to cement security and stability in the region. FM Mouallem emphasized the necessity of an Israeli withdrawal from occupied Arab territories, including the Golan, to achieve a just and comprehensive peace in the Middle East. Both sides discussed current regional developments and bilateral relations. Papers also reported that Abdullah al-Ahmar, Assistant Secretary General of the Baath Party, received Chang Chi Jion, Deputy Minister of Foreign Communications at the Chinese Communist Party Central Committee, on Jan. 17. Talks focused on bilateral relations and recent regional developments. Mr. Jion stressed the importance of Syria's positions to solve the conflict in the region, and expressed his country's support of Syria's endeavor to regain the occupied Golan and establish a just and comprehensive peace in the region. All papers reported that Former US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright emphasized on Jan. 17 the need to open dialogue with Syria, and to resume peace talks and ensure the restoration of the occupied Golan. At a hearing before the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the US House of Representatives, Albright said that "it is necessary to deal with the issue of the occupied Golan." Albright, who heads the US National Democratic Institute, indicated that peace in the Middle East is very urgent matter now, saying "we have to acknowledge that the credibility of the US is very low right now and if we want to have influence in the Middle East, we have to follow up the peace process in this region." She criticized the negligence of the Bush administration in following up efforts of the former US administration regarding a number of issues and matters related to the Middle East. End of summary. ¶2. Selected Headlines: "Foreign Minister al-Mouallem holds talks with Svein Sieve, Advisor of the Norwegian Foreign Ministry for Middle East Affairs: Peace is achieved by returning occupied Golan" (Government-owned Tishreen, 1/18) "Syria and China hold party discussions; Chung Chi Jion, Chinese Deputy Minister of Foreign Communication at the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party, reiterates the importance of Syria's stances in determining the future of the region" (Government-owned Al-Ba'th, 1/18) "Information Minister Bilal discusses cooperation between Syria and a number of Latin American countries. Bilal: We seek a WMD-free region" (Government-owned Tishreen, "Kuwait calls on Washington to hold dialogue with Syria and Iran. Former US Secretary of State Albright: Returning occupied Golan is the key to peace in the region" (Government-owned Al-Ba'th, 1/18) "Bush enhances his strategy by waging an early campaign criticism of the Iraqi government" (Government-owned Tishreen, 1/18) "UN SecGen Ki Moon urges Bush to pay late financial dues to the UN and to join the Human Rights Council: Partnership with Washington shouldn't be at the cost of other members" (Government-owned Al-Ba'th, 1/18) "More than 64 percent of Americans: Our country is headed in the wrong direction. Bloody explosions in Iraq reap scores of Iraqi lives" (Government-owned Al-Thawra, 1/18) "After Israeli Chief of Staff Halots' resignation, the curse of defeat in Lebanon pursues Peretz and Olmert" (Government-owned Al-Thawra, 1/18) ¶3. Editorial Block Quotes: -------------- "Peace under the Sun" -------------- Abd-al-Fattah al-Awad, chief editor of government-owned Al-Thawra, wrote (1/18): "It is high time they knew that Syria does not believe in playing under the table. "Press leaks and unknown sources that talk about memoranda of principles and offer information to give the impression that Syria is engaged in secret negotiations are useless.... The address to peace with Syria is known and declared: a serious commitment to returning the Golan up to the 4 June 1967 border.... "Syria believes in peace negotiations on clear bases. It is not concerned with any road not leading to the restoration of its rights. "Syria has always announced that peace is a sacred goal. But as time has proved, peace is achieved under the sun, not in the darkness of secret negotiations. "It appears that the United States and Israel are not ready to bring about peace in the region. While touring the region, Condoleezza Rice is selling in closed rooms a rotten commodity called the American strategy in Iraq, while in front of cameras she sells the illusion of peace.... The current Israeli government is too weak to make important peace decisions. It is clear that Israel is not ripe for peace. It is playing the time factor, helped by the United States, which created in the region climates of sedition and conflict open to wide wounds...." -------------- "The Bush Administration and Forgiveness" -------------- Isam Dari, chief editor of government-owned Tishreen, commented (1/18): "Honestly, we have started to feel sorry for Ms. Condoleezza Rice as she suffers from long travel hours and little sleep, looking in dictionaries for attractive and appealing words to beautify the ugly face of the US Administration.... "No sooner has she landed in one airport than she is getting ready to fly to another, carrying her prefabricated ideas and packaged democracy boxes to present them as non-returnable gifts to the Arabs, all the Arabs. Woe betides those who reject the American gifts! "Neoconservatives sent this vicious advocate to our region to market their new rotten commodity, which President Bush gave a bright name: 'The new American strategy in Iraq....' Did Rice receive the UN Report that says the number of victims of terror in Iraq in 2006 alone reached 34,000? "We believe she is aware of the figures. But she is unable to admit that the massacres, violence, terrorism, and sectarian chauvinisms in Iraq are all due to the American presence or a result of direct American incitement, perhaps with Israeli participation. Isn't the promotion of creative instability in Iraq and the region the final objective of neoconservatives? "We believe that one day she will admit that she was wrong, as her predecessor General Colin Powell did. He lied publicly, confessed publicly, and asked for forgiveness when it was too late. "The Bush administration is today called upon to ask for forgiveness from the Americans first and then from all the nations of the world for the crimes it has committed against all of humanity." -------------- "Will Domestic 'Creative' Instability Develop into Regional Instability?" -------------- Dr. Mahdi Dakhlallah, former Information Minister, commented in government-owned Tishreen on (1/18): "What an irony: while criticism of US policies grows inside the United States, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice obtains in the Arab world open SIPDIS endorsement of and absolute support for these policies. "On the very day some Arab countries announced their explicit support for the US strategy in Iraq, an American opinion poll showed that 60 percent of the American people reject this strategy. "This is as far as the American people are concerned. But let us forget peoples. There is a wide rift in the American political establishment itself between the policy of the administration and the opposition of Congress and other political figures. The opposition, indeed, comes from both the Democratic Party and the Republican Party.... "Rice will leave our stricken Arab region satisfied with 'Arab' support for the strategy of her president. She will probably shout in the face of the opponents in the Congress: If the judge is happy, what is the problem of the lawyer?' "As it crudely appears, the picture is like this: The American people and Congress tell us: Our policy toward you, Arabs, is wrong. We reply: No, no. We fully support it! "This is perhaps the theater of the absurd, on the stage of which Arabs are lost, and the full cost of which they pay...." Corbin