SYRIAN FM MU'ALLIM VISITS PARIS

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 04 PARIS 001323

SIPDIS

NSC FOR ABRAMS/SINGH/GAVITO/YERGER

E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/11/2018
TAGS: PREL PGOV PTER FR SY LE IS
SUBJECT: SYRIAN FM MU'ALLIM VISITS PARIS

REF: A. DAMASCUS 498

B. PARIS 1261

Classified By: Political Minister Counselor Kathleen Allegrone for reas
ons 1.4. (b),(d).


1. (C) Summary: Syrian Foreign Minister Mu'allim visited
Paris July 4 -- the same day Ingrid Betancourt triumphantly
returned to France following her liberation from captivity in
Colombia -- and met French FM Kouchner as well as French
presidency officials (including a drop by from an otherwise
distracted President Sarkozy). The discussions reportedly
focused heavily on Lebanon -- normalization of ties between
Damascus and Beirut as well as formation of a new Lebanese
government )- as well as Syrian discussions with Israel and
regional relations. Publicly and in private, Mu'allim
indicated there would likely be no Olmert/Asad meeting on the
margins of the July 13 Paris summit to launch the Union for
the Mediterranean and that direct talks with Israel would
similarly take more time. The discussions on bilateral ties
seem to have yielded no formal game plan for moving ahead but
confirmed a clear French desire to move forward, including
with a Sarkozy visit to Damascus by the end of 2008, assuming
Syria meets various French benchmarks related to Lebanon and
other issues. France is ready to revive a stalled
ratification process for the EU association accord with
Syria, although the process may take longer than the French
presidency to play out. In addition to Iraq, Kouchner
brought up Syria's human rights record and gave Mu'allim a
list of prisoners about whom the GOF is concerned, albeit
with little realistic expectation of a Syrian goodwill
gesture before the July 13 summit. French officials flatly
refute any suggestion they are considering or want to offer a
deal favorable to the Syrians on the Special Tribunal for
Lebanon. End summary


2. (SBU) Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Mu'allim visited
Paris July 4 for consultations with French officials partly
aimed at paving the way for Syrian President Bashar al-Asad's
attendance of the July 13 Paris summit of EU and
Mediterranean countries. Some of Mu'allim's program was
disrupted by the arrival in Paris later that same day by
recently freed Franco-Colombian hostage Ingrid Betancourt.
Indeed, the French MFA originally announced that FM Kouchner
would be unavailable to meet Mu'allim because he had gone to
Bogota to escort Betancourt to France. That apparently
changed, as Kouchner had a working dinner with Mu'allim that
followed consultations with French Presidency officials
earlier in the afternoon.


3. (SBU) In addition to his official meetings, Mu'allim
gave a public talk, widely reported in the media, at the
French Institute for International Relations (IFRI). Israeli
polcouns Ella Aphek told us she was among the sizable
audience that heard what Mu'allim had to say. We have heard
that Mu'allim generally sought to portray as reasonably as
possible Syria's position on most issues and to speak in
terms of a new page in bilateral relations with France. He
discounted speculation of an early transformation of the
ongoing indirect talks between Israel and Syria via Turkey
into direct talks and flatly ruled out the possibility of an
Asad/Olmert meeting on the margins of the July 13 summit.


4. (C) Our readout from the Elysee on the Mu'allim meeting
was spare. NEA adviser Boris Boillon told us July 7 that
there were few surprises or revelations. As reported in the
July 8 Paris Points, French Presidency SecGen Gueant,
diplomatic adviser Levitte, and Boillon insisted on real
normalization of relations between Syria and Lebanon as the
sine qua non for significant improvement in French/Syrian
relations (including an eventual visit by President Sarkozy
to Damascus). The immediate priority, according to Boillon,
was ensuring that Lebanon had a new government before Asad
and Lebanese President Sleiman arrived in Paris for the
summit. Failing that, Boillon suggested Sarkozy might try to
convene a three-way meeting with Asad and Sleiman, although
the French preference was for Asad and Sleiman to hold their
first meeting since Sleiman took office in Paris without
Sarkozy present. Despite the distraction of the Betancourt
visit, and reflecting an assessment that the discussions with
Mu'allim were going well, Sarkozy dropped in on the meeting
to greet Mu'allim and chat briefly.


5. (C) French MFA DAS-equivalent Ludovic Pouille was a bit
more expansive July 8, especially with respect to Kouchner's
July 4 working dinner with Mu'allim:


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--Lebanon and the normalization of ties between Beirut and
Damascus was one of the main topics discussed. Mu'allim
reiterated Syria's readiness to normalize ties but was vague
in terms of concrete commitments on opening embassies,
demarcating land borders, or other details. Pouille restated
France's intention to draw up a list of areas it expected
progress (borders and embassies being at the forefront)from
Syria, although he did not say whether the GOF would share
that list with us or the SARG and GOL. (Comment: The French
have not mentioned the idea floated when NEA A/S Welch last
visited about drawing up a list of principles, partly based
on the Arab League charter, to guide Lebanese/Syrian
relations). Pouille did include in his quick list tracking
the status of bilateral agreements between the two countries
to ensure Syria did not annul or dilute those bilateral
accords currently favorable to Lebanon.

--There was not a lot of detailed discussion of the situation
in Lebanon and the implementation of the Doha accord beyond a
review of Lebanese efforts to form a new government.

--Kouchner and Mu'allim discussed the state of peace
negotiations in the Middle East, notably the status of
indirect Syrian/Israeli peace talks. Pouille provided
nothing beyond what has either been publicly or previously
reported except the Syrian observation that one constraint on
the talks is the inexperience of the Israeli negotiating team
vis-a-vis their Syrian counterparts. Mu'allim had observed
that the Syrians are essentially the same officials involved
when talks broke off in 2000, whereas the Israelis have an
entirely new group. This has obvious implications in terms
of the "learning curve" and the creation of trust among the
negotiators. Pouille claimed that Mu'allim explained the
Syrian aim was to arrive at a common set of principles to be
applied toward direct negotiations should they start as
expected in a few months (i.e., after a new U.S.
administration has taken office). Mu'allim was clear with
Kouchner, as he was at IFRI, that Syria has no desire to work
with the current U.S. administration.

--On the Palestinian/Israeli negotiations, Mu'allim claimed
that Syria fully supported Palestinian Authority President
Abbas.

--Kouchner asked Mu'allim about Syrian attitudes toward Iraq
and encouraged Syria to do more to control foreign fighters
entering Iraq through Syria as well as improve its
relationship with the Iraqi government. Mu'allim replied
that Damascus would be able to consider how it might deal
differently with both of these aspects after the Bush
administration leaves office. He did, however, stress to
Kouchner the need for external assistance to help cope with
the huge number of Iraqi refugees who have taken up residence
in Syria.

--Mu'allim reportedly indicated to Kouchner, as he had done
publicly at IFRI, that Syria is not about to alter its
relationship with Iran overnight or in a dramatic fashion.
Nevertheless, it would adjust that relationship as the
regional situation changed. (Note: At IFRI, we understand
Mu'allim linked the evolution of the peace process with
Israel and Syria's ties to Iran, although he also made it
clear that Damascus would not cut or reduce its ties to
Tehran as a precondition for entering into direct discussions
with Israel. End note)

--Kouchner presented Mu'allim a list of imprisoned Syrian
activists and opposition figures France was concerned about.
When asked whether Kouchner had asked for their release
before the summit or indicated an expectation of some sort of
gesture in connection with President Asad's attendance of the
July 13 summit, Pouille demurred and stated that this part of
the conversation was handled as a strict tete-a-tete.
Pouille added, however, that the GOF had no realistic
expectation the people on the list would be released.
(Comment: Mu'allim took a hard line publicly when asked at
IFRI about Syria's abysmal human rights record, rejecting
such questions as interference in Syria's internal affairs.
Pouille and others in the GOF are well aware that critiques
of Asad's much ballyhooed attendance of the July 14 military
parade are mostly based on Syria's human rights record.
Despite Kouchner's intervention on this score, we doubt the
Syrians will give the French any satisfaction before or
during the summit. The political sensitivity of this
subject, however, was quite evident the day Mu'allim visited
when Sarkozy told reporters during an impromptu encounter at
the Elysee celebrating Betancourt's release that France would

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always be a beacon for those championing human rights, even
in Syria. We would expect Sarkozy to raise the subject
quietly with Asad but not to press the issue in any public
way or to make it a "benchmark" for improving relations with
Syria. End comment)


6. (C) Pouille did not refer to a working paper or concrete
game plan as far as the way forward with Syria, but he did
sketch out the following indications of the way forward:

--Sarkozy and Asad would discuss the bilateral relationship
in terms of Syrian and French expectations.

--Sarkozy would likely visit Damascus before the end of 2008,
but with enough time for Syria to have realized its Lebanon-
and any non-Lebanon-related benchmarks.

--Syrian Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs Dardari
(whom Pouille described as the official in charge of Syrian
"privatization") will visit Paris at the end of July to
discuss in more concrete detail the way forward (including,
based on what Pouille said, "deliverables" that might be
linked to a Sarkozy visit).

--In response to repeated pleas from Asad and Mu'allim, the
GOF will use its presidency of the EU to revive the
ratification process for its association agreement with Syria.


7. (C) We asked about concerns Washington had expressed
about new rumors in Lebanon that France was considering a
deal with Syria at the expense of the Tribunal dealing with
Lebanon. Pouille repeated the same stout denials that we had
heard at the Elysee as well as France's full support to the
UNIIIC and the investigation its commissioner, Daniel
Bellemare, is undertaking. He rejected any notion that
France would seek to undercut Bellemare's mission or impose
conditions on his work.


8. (C) Recently installed NEA A/S-equivalent Patrice Paoli
on July 9 added a few more details/insights:

--Regarding the EU association agreement, Paoli claimed that
France was responding to a wider EU desire to revive the long
stalled ratification process. With the addition of two new
members since the accord was negotiated, this will likely
take some time (the implication was that it would well exceed
the six-month term of France's presidency of the EU). Paoli
initially said it would be "all the better" if the GOF could
figure out how to use the accord as a lever to compel more
constructive Syrian behavior, but he quickly added that he
could not speak for President Sarkozy in terms of how the
accord might be used as a reward for "good conduct."
Pouille, who was also present, emphasized that for many
members of the EU, eager to normalize ties with Syria,
ratifying the accord was a high priority.

--Paoli described Mu'allim as happy to have been received at
the level he was received and to have been "treated
seriously." Reflecting a widely held GOF view of Mu'allim,
Paoli called him as a "senior functionary" with a "rational
and good perspective" on key issues. Referring to the
discussion on Iraq with Kouchner, Paoli said that Mu'allim
complained that the Syrians feel "trapped" in the sense that
they feel the U.S. has a veto over any Iraqi decision to
respond to Syrian overtures for a better bilateral
relationship. Paoli said this reflected more broadly
Mu'allim's and the SARG's paranoia vis-a-vis the U.S. in that
they feel there is no possible "redemption" for Damascus in
Washington's eyes.

--Paoli referred to Kouchner's presentation of the list of
Syrian detainees to Mu'allim and suggested that Kouchner did
pressure Mu'allim to make a positive gesture before the July
13 summit.


9. (U) Late note: French media are now reporting that some
members of the French military and Sarkozy's political party
have added their voices to those unhappy over Asad's presence
at the July 14 parade. This is due to longstanding
suspicions Syria was behind the October 1983 bombing at the
Drakkar barracks near Beirut that killed 58 French
parachutists participating in the multinational peacekeeping
force deployed to Lebanon (the bombing of the U.S. Marine
barracks occurred at the same time). A battalion of the
parachute regiment concerned, named after one of the soldiers
killed in the attack, will file past Asad and other
dignitaries. Some commentators have already drawn links

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between this "affront" to the French military and recent
media reports of growing tension between Sarkozy and military
leaders.

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