UK SEES MUALLIM TRIP TO IRAN AS ANOTHER POSITIVE

S E C R E T DAMASCUS 000273 NOFORN SIPDIS DEPARTMENT FOR NEA/I, NEA/ELA NSC FOR SHAPIRO/MCDERMOTT LONDON FOR TSOU, PARIS FOR WALLER E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/08/2028 TAGS: PREL PINR IZ IR SY SUBJECT: UK SEES MUALLIM TRIP TO IRAN AS ANOTHER POSITIVE GESTURE ON IRAQ Classified By: CDA Maura Connelly, American Embassy Damascus, Reasons 1 .4 b and d. ¶1. (S/NF) British DCM Irfan Saddiq (strictly protect) told us April 8 that British Foreign Minister of State (and MP) Bill Rammell raised Iraq and continuing concerns about foreign fighters with Syrian FM Muallim during their April 2 meeting. Muallim, who had just returned from Baghdad and Doha, replied that Syrian policy toward Iraq had fundamentally changed and that Syria wanted to help to make President Obama's withdrawal strategy a success. Muallim told Rammell that he and VP Shara's National Security Advisor Mohamad Khayrbak had shared information with Iraqi PM Maliki and President Talabani about border smuggling operations, and Muallim had pitched the idea of a high-level coordination mechanism to facilitate more routine exchanges of intelligence. ¶2. (S/NF) According to Saddiq, Muallim said he had mentioned publicly Syria,s willingness to allow U.S. troops and equipment transit Syrian territory. He also reported that Iraqi Ba,athist leaders Mohammad Yunis al-Ahmed and Izzat al-Ibrahim al-Duri were no longer in Syria. (Comment: We have heard both men frequently travel outside Syria and are unsure whether Muallim was actually suggesting they were no longer welcome in Syria. Both leaders maintain offices and staff here. According to an Iraqi Embassy contact, al-Duri's relations with the Syrian regime reportedly suffered a setback after he made public remarks accusing Syria of not doing enough to support the Ba'athist cause. We don't have confirmation on where he is now, however.) ¶3. (S/NF) Muallim reportedly told Rammell that he was planning to travel to Iran to convey concerns he had heard from Maliki about Iran,s claims to the Shat al-Arab. (Note: Syrian and Iranian press report Muallim met with Iranian FM Mottaki on April 8. Most press accounts played up Muallim's trip as a symbol of continuing close relations between Tehran and Damascus.) Syrian PM Utri,s trip to Baghdad was still on for mid-April, according Muallim. He would be inaugurating the first bilateral high level commission and would be focused on economic and trade relations. The UK (and French, according to what French DCM Nicholas Surran told us separately on April 8) see these moves as tangible Syrian gestures that signal a clear change in policy and Syria,s readiness to cooperate on Iraqi security and improve bilateral relations more generally. ¶4. (S/NF) Comment: While the British and French may be bending over backwards to find evidence of positive Syrian contributions, Muallim's remarks to Rammell on Iraq are consistent with what Muallim told Acting NEA A/S Feltman on March 7. It is worth noting that Muallim's plans to travel to Iran appear to have been established well before our most recent April 6 demarche on regional security issues. CONNELLY