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