BASHAR'S INTERNATIONAL ENGAGEMENT - A HOLLOW PR

C O N F I D E N T I A L DAMASCUS 000451 SIPDIS NEA/ELA NSC FOR GAVITO E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/22/2017 TAGS: PREL ETRD PGOV SY SUBJECT: BASHAR'S INTERNATIONAL ENGAGEMENT - A HOLLOW PR EFFORT? REF: NEW DELHI 1727 Classified By: CDA Michael H. Corbin for reasons 1.5 b/d ¶1. (C) Summary. A candid, usually frank business contact who accompanied Bashar Al-Asad to India gave an interesting readout which reflects Bashar's focus on his image and his ability to miss opportunities. The business contact expressed frustration over the lack of concrete results from the visit and Bashar's seeming preoccupation with supporting his wife's tourist interests. This fits complaints we hear in Damascus that the regime is convinced that it is not required to offer anything in exchange for reengagement with the international capitals. Our contact despaired that Bashar's preoccupation with his PR campaign was causing Syria to miss an opportunity to strengthen nascent relationships and was boding ill for positive results flowing from Bashar's July visit to Paris. End summary. ¶2. (C) Last week, the Syrian press was full of reporting on President Bashar Al-Asad,s visit to India. The trip purportedly focused on strengthening economic ties between the two countries. To highlight the potential of the commercial and technology sectors, Asad was accompanied by a delegation of leading Syrian businessmen. In contrast to the media hype, the readout we received from one of the businessmen, Abdel Rahman Attar (strictly protect) head of the Syrian Arab Red Crescent and long standing candid interlocutor with the Embassy, reported that the trip was long on talk and short on substance. ¶3. (C) Attar commented that he went to India fully expecting the opportunity to explore lucrative new joint ventures in various fields with leading Indian companies. Attar asserted that he approached both Bashar and FM Walid Muallem on the need to close a high-profile business deal while in India to motivate the business community and inspire further business exchange. Attar commented that Muallem seemed to agree but was not in a position to deliver. Attar said Bashar paid lip service to the idea but never engaged and seemed to give higher priority to supporting his wife,s &tourist outings8 than to having a tangible result from the trip. Attar complained bitterly of the first lady,s, Asma (Akhras) Al-Asad, detachment from the larger delegation and her reliance on her inner-circle, to the exclusion of people who "were there to do real work and needed her support," such as the Minister of Expatriates Affairs, Bouthaina Shaaban. ¶4. (C) Attar asserted that both he and others have advised Bashar that he will have to start delivering more than flowery speeches for his nascent engagement with the international community to be sustainable. Attar for one is pessimistic Bashar has internalized the message, commenting that the most common reply Attar gets from those closest to Bashar is that their policy stance has been successful and so they have no need to deliver ) they expect the other guys to reward them just for showing up, which is the attitude Attar suggests they will bring to Paris in July. ¶5. (C) Seperately, and supporting Attar's comments, Charge heard from the French Embassy that a key demand from Bashar for his upcoming visit to Paris was that Asma be included in a "couples" meeting at the Elysee. Bashar was reportedly visibly disappointed after he was told he would only get a "working" session, without spouses, with Sarkozy. ¶6. (C) Comment. We don,t know how prevalent Attar,s sense of disappointment is with the other members of the business delegation but note that he is the head of one of the leading Sunni business families in Damascus and therefore an opinion leader. From Attar,s readout of his experience in India, Bashar and his advisers seem interested primarily in traveling for the PR benefit and have yet to focus on ensuring State visits have tangible results. CORBIN