SYRIAN DIPLOMACY FAILS: ABBAS SNUBS HAMAS IN

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 DAMASCUS 000489

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/07/2018
TAGS: PGOV PREL KPAL SY
SUBJECT: SYRIAN DIPLOMACY FAILS: ABBAS SNUBS HAMAS IN
DAMASCUS

REF: DAMASCUS 471

DAMASCUS 00000489 001.2 OF 002


Classified By: Classified by CDA Michael Corbin for reasons 1.5 b and d
.


1. (C) Summary: President Asad received Palestinian
Authority President Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen) July 6 but
failed to convince Abbas to meet Hamas Politburo chief Khaled
Meshal. In addition to FM Muallem, Abu Mazen met leaders of
several Palestinian groups on July 7. Abu Mazen apparently
agreed to allow a PA delegation to meet Hamas officials in
Egypt next week, but his refusal to meet with Meshal on this
trip prompted accusations by Hamas officials that the PA was
putting Palestinian interests behind U.S. and Israeli
positions. Though Bashar failed in trying to arrange a
Abbas-Meshal meeting, he will try to claim Syria's commitment
to Palestinian reconciliation as titular head of the Arab
League. The single-minded SARG focus for this visit on
Palestinian reconciliation may have backfired and once again
demonstrated the limits of Syrian diplomacy. End Summary


2. (C) Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas
arrived with his wife July 6 for a two-night stay that
included a meeting with President Asad, a session with FM
Muallem, and discussions with various Palestinian groups
(PIJ, PLFP-GC, and the DFLP) based in Damascus. This was Abu
Mazen's first visit to Damascus (not including the March
29-30 Arab League Summit) since January 2007. According to
our sources, Abbas provided information on PA negotiations
with Israel, while Asad and Muallem briefed on Syria's
indirect talks with Israel in Istanbul. Abbas reportedly
said coming to Syria was like "coming to our second country."
(Note: Abbas's family fled the West Bank in 1948 and
resettled in Syria, where he taught elementary school and
studied law at Damascus University.)

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Syrian Focus on Reconciliation
--------------


3. (C) According to the Norwegian Ambassador here, Asad
told Norwegian FM Store the previous week (reftel) that he
was very focused on promoting reconciliation among
Palestinian groups, particularly Hamas and Fatah. Bashar
said there was a "synergy" between the Golan and Palestinian
tracks, and he believed the two were linked. Syria could
play a positive role, said Asad, but it would not push the
two sides (Hamas and Fatah) to meet if they were not ready.
Doing so would only widen their differences.


4. (C) On July 3, Bashar hosted Meshal in a publicized
tete-a-tete to discuss Hamas' latest reconciliation proposal.
According to press and other sources, the Hamas proposal
included four main components: (1) establishing a unified
government to control the West Bank and Gaza; (2)
reconstructing Palestinian security forces under one
command; (3) forming a transition government; and (4)
scheduling early elections. According to al-Hayat Bureau
Chief Ibrahim Hamidi, Asad agreed to present the proposal to
Abbas in the hope of arranging a one-on-one meeting between
the two Palestinian leaders. But Asad reportedly cautioned
Meshal that there was a good chance Abu Mazen would reject
this attempt.

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Abu Mazen Rejects Meeting With Hamas
--------------



5. (C) Prior to Abbas' arrival, PA officials had already
announced publicly that the PA President would not be meeting
Meshal. Bashar tried to convince him to reconsider this
position in their July 6 meeting, but Abu Mazen was adamantly
opposed to the idea absent Hamas agreement to return Gaza to
PA control and to accept previous agreements reached between
the PA and Israel. Abbas nonetheless apparently agreed to
authorize a PA delegation to meet Hamas representatives in
Cairo the following week to discuss reconciliation in a more
narrow framework that had been guiding talks in Yemen and
Senegal in the previous months. According to Hamidi, the
delegations would discuss (1) establishing a "technocratic"
government with neither Fatah nor Hamas representation and
(2) organizing early presidential and parliamentary
elections. Hamas representatives agreed to consider this
proposal, Hamidi said, and a Hamas delegation (possibly led

DAMASCUS 00000489 002.2 OF 002


by Meshal himself) was coincidentally already in Egypt and
seeking to meet Egyptian officials on the subject.

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But Sees Other Palestinian Groups, Including PIJ
-------------- ---


6. (C) In what many here interpreted as a direct snub of
Hamas, Abbas met July 7 with Palestinian Islamic Jihad SecGen
Ramadan Shallah, after which Shallah denied that he was
carrying messages from Hamas to Abbas. Abbas also met
PLFP-GC Deputy SecGen Talal Naji. According to a
Damascus-based Palestinian source loosely affiliated with
Fatah ("I support neither Abbas nor Hamas,") Abbas heard
repeated criticism of the PA's talks with Israel in the
absence of a unified Palestinian position. Abbas defended
the PA's continuing participation in peace talks and
expressed frustration with Hamas for openly criticizing him
personally and questioning his commitment to Palestinian
unity in a letter sent from Meshal to Yemeni President Ali
Abdullah Saleh.


7. (C) Meanwhile, Hamas officials blasted Abbas in the
press for being willing to meet with Israeli PM Olmert but
not a fellow Palestinian, noting "the PA President's refusal
to meet with the Hamas leadership in Damascus was to some
extent in response to the clear American veto against an
inter-Palestinian dialogue." We have heard these comments
further enraged Abbas and deepened his distrust of Meshal,
according to a Palestinian source here. Still, Abbas
reiterated his strong desire for Palestinian reconciliation
in his pre-departure press conference.


8. (C) Comment: We're hearing that SARG officials privately
blame the Saudis for convincing Abbas not to meet Meshal
because the Saudis view Palestinian reconciliation as the
preserve of Mecca. After telling the Norwegian FM he would
not press Abbas too hard to meet Meshal, this appears to be
exactly what Bashar did. Syria's single-minded focus on an
Abbas-Meshal meeting was not backed up by any alternative
"success" for the visit when Abbas stuck to his guns. The
visit resulted in a setback to Bashar's efforts to use the
Arab League mantra to promote Syria's influence in the region
and demonstrated the limited flexibility in Syrian diplomacy.

CORBIN