SYRIAN MFA REVIEWING UPCOMING U.S. VISITS, NEC,

C O N F I D E N T I A L DAMASCUS 000756 SIPDIS DEPARTMENT FOR NEA/FO, NEA/ELA, S/CT, PRM/FO, H NSC FOR SHAPIRO/MCDERMOTT E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/26/2019 TAGS: PREL PGOV PTER SY SUBJECT: SYRIAN MFA REVIEWING UPCOMING U.S. VISITS, NEC, DHS VISAS, AND BMENA PARTICIPATION REF: DAMASCUS 722 Classified By: CDA Charles Hunter, 1.4 b,d. ¶1. (U) This is an action request, see paragraph 8. ¶2. (C) Summary: Husam Aala, Vice Minister (V/M) Faisal Miqdad's Chief of Staff, remained non-committal on whether Syria would receive an upcoming U.S. delegation including S/CT Coordinator Ambassador Benjamin, depending on who else and what other subjects would be discussed. Aala confirmed he had received the Embassy's August 20 dipnote on the BMENA conference; advised that the Secretary was attending and hoped her Arab counterparts would join, Aala said the level of participation remained under MFA review. Regarding pending visas for DHS circuit riders, Aala said the MFA was still obtaining approval from other ministries. In this context, Aala noted V/M Miqdad had hoped to receive a letter of explanation about his delegation's treatment by DHS officers when departing Washington in late September. Alaa promised to check on where MFA deliberations stood regarding the status of available sites for a new embassy compound (NEC). He reported the MFA was checking on whether the SARG could receive CODEL Lowey on November 12-13. End Summary. ¶3. (C) Interagency Team Visit: Following up on NEA DAS Connelly's meetings in Washington with Syrian Ambassador Moustafa, Charge and Pol/Econ Chief called on Husam Aala October 26 to provide a rough idea of our plans to send a working-level delegation to Syria in the next month. Charge characterized our desire to initiate a counter-terrorism dialogue as a routine element of our bilateral relations with countries in the region. S/CT Coordinator Ambassador Benjamin wanted to continue the discussion he had begun with V/M Miqdad in Washington and develop the basis for more routine exchanges on CT issues. The U.S. viewed such a discussion as not including intelligence exchanges, which might result from discussions at a later stage. Alaa replied the SARG would be interested to know what other subjects the U.S. delegation might address and when it proposed to visit Damascus. Charge promised to provide those details as soon as they became available. ¶4. (C) BMENA: Charge highlighted the Embassy's August 20 dipnote regarding the upcoming BMENA conference and confirmed �0A;the Secretary's hopes to see her regional counterparts at the event. Alaa confirmed receipt of our note and of an invitation to FM Muallim. The Minister's office was still reviewing who would represent Syria, he said. ¶5. (C) DHS Visas: Charge reviewed our list of DHS circuit riders still awaiting visas, noting the delay could have a spillover effect on their ability to meet local and regional targets. Aala confirmed he had seen the Embassy's October 14 dipnote requesting expedited processing and reported the MFA was still seeking approval from other parts of the government. Aala then inquired whether there had been any follow-up to his report to the Charge during a previous meeting that Miqdad's delegation had received discourteous treatment when departing from Dulles Airport after his September 29-30 visit to Washington. (Note: Aala mentioned the incident in passing as he was escorting Charge out of their last meeting.) Charge replied it had not been clear to him that the V/FM was requesting a specific action. Aala said Miqdad had asked him to check on the status of Washington's response to the incident and was expecting a formal explanation. (See para 8 comment and action request.) ¶6. (C) NEC: Charge sought Aala's assistance in finding out the status of MFA deliberations regarding a potential site for the NEC. The Embassy had spoken to MFA Protocol Chief Dr. Abdul Latif Dabbagh several times, who had reported he would have news after a meeting between the MFA and the Damascus Governorate. That meeting had taken place a week ago and the Embassy was anxious to hear officially on the status of its request. Aala agreed to check on this matter. ¶7. (C) CODEL Lowey: Aala confirmed the MFA had received the Embassy's dipnote requesting meetings with President Asad and other officials on November 12-13, and said it was checking on whether those dates would work. (Note: Subsequently, the Embassy received a dipnote proposing CODEL Lowey visit November 14-15 instead. We are checking whether this is a result of a scheduling conflict and have notified CODEL Lowey's staff.) ¶8. (C) Comment and Action Request: Aala's comments on the Vice Minister's continuing pique over perceived mistreatment at the airport in the context of the status of pending DHS visas suggests a strong possibility the two subjects might be related. Post requests NEA coordinate with PRM and DHS to determine whether an official letter to Miqdad might be warranted to explain relevant protocol provisions and security procedures, and, if appropriate, to convey an expression of regret concerning any misunderstandings. HUNTER