LEBANON: FRANCE BEHIND SYRIA'S OVERTURES TO

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BEIRUT 001023 SIPDIS DEPT FOR NEA/FO, NEA/ELA ALSO FOR IO A/S SILVERBERG AND PDAS WARLICK USUN FOR KHALILZAD/WOLFF/KUMAR/PHEE NSC FOR ABRAMS/SINGH/YERGER/GAVITO E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/14/2018 TAGS: PREL PGOV PTER PINR UNSC FR IS SY LE SUBJECT: LEBANON: FRANCE BEHIND SYRIA'S OVERTURES TO LEBANON, FRENCH EMBASSY SAYS Classified By: Charge d'Affaires a.i. William K. Grant for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). SUMMARY -------------- ¶1. (C) Reporting on the July 12-13 meetings in Paris between President Michel Sleiman, French President Sarkozy, and Syrian President Bashar Asad, French Embassy PolOff said that France is interested in pursuing rapprochement with Syria. Sarkozy prodded Asad into agreeing to re-establish diplomatic relations with Lebanon as part of France's plan for rapprochement with Syria, the French PolOff said. Believing that the time is ripe for improved relations between France and Syria, our French contact said that Sarkozy will go to Damascus in September if significant progress is made on the diplomatic front between Lebanon and Syria. End summary. FRENCH PRODDED ASSAD TO CONSIDER DIPLOMATIC TIES WITH LEBANON -------------- ¶2. (C) On July 15, PolOff met with her French counterpart, Janaina Herrera, for a readout of the July 12-13 meetings in Paris between President Michel Sleiman, French President Nicolas Sarkozy, and Syrian President Bashar Asad. Herrera reported that bilaterals took place between Sarkozy and Sleiman, Sarkozy and Asad, and Sleiman and Asad, in addition to the trilateral with all three presidents, and a quadrilateral meeting including the Emir of Qatar Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al Thani. ¶3. (C) Herrera said Sarkozy was pushing Asad to agree to re-establishing diplomatic relations with Syria in accordance with UN Security Council Resolution 1680. Noting that Syrian FM Walid Muallem is expected in Beirut the week of July 21, Herrera clarified that Muallem's visit should be viewed as an initial concrete step towards diplomatic relations, and made a point of emphasizing that France does not endorse any use of a revived Syrian-Lebanese friendship committee (established during the Syrian occupation in Lebanon) as a means of achieving diplomatic relations. FRANCE PURSUING RAPPROCHEMENT WITH SYRIA -------------- ¶4. (C) According to Herrera, Sarkozy believes the time is right to pursue rapprochement with Syria. She explained that Sarkozy laid out a set of benchmarks for Asad as part of an overall plan for French-Syrian rapprochement, including establishment of diplomatic relations with Lebanon, as well as an improvement in Syria's human rights record. ¶5. (C) Elaborating further, Herrera said that France has detected a shift within Asad's inner circle. She explained that the Syrian president seems to be welcoming more businessmen and entrepreneurs in his circle, taking the place of some security and intelligence officials. She also suggested that Asad and his wife have "become more open on certain issues" (NFI). Consequently, she concluded, "We want to seize this opportunity now." ¶6. (C) Herrera further disclosed that Sarkozy was planning to visit Damascus in mid-September, following the UN General Assembly. Sarkozy is conditioning his visit to Damascus on concrete progress in Syrian-Lebanese diplomatic relations. SLEIMAN NOT AS SAVVY AS ASAD -------------- ¶7. (C) Lamenting Sleiman's somewhat sub-standard performance in the meetings with Sarkozy, Herrera said that Sleiman appeared "out of his element," which was not helped by his predilection to speak in French. She compared his "slow French" to Asad's quick responses in Arabic, through the use of a translator. BEIRUT 00001023 002 OF 002 GRANT