SYRIAN AMBASSADOR TOUTS BETTER RELATIONS WITH U.S,

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 PARIS 001405

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PASS TO NEA/ELA FOR JAABELL

E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/14/2019
TAGS: PGOV PREL SY FR
SUBJECT: SYRIAN AMBASSADOR TOUTS BETTER RELATIONS WITH U.S,
FRANCE, OTHERS

Classified By: Classified by Pol M/C Allegrone for Reasons 1.4 b and d.


1. (C) Summary. The Syrian Ambassador to France Lamia
Chakkour discussed a wide variety of topics with PolMinCouns
and poloffs October 13. The Ambassador praised France's
rapprochement with Syria and said her country had been
helpful in educating the Government of France (GOF) about
regional issues and hinted at actions the USG could take to
improve relations with Damascus. Chakkour said Franco-Syrian
rapprochement started by concentrating on larger issues of
mutual interest before the countries moved onto topics in
which they had differences. She said high level exchanges
and visits, as well as commercial ties, helped blaze the
trail for eventual rapprochement. Chakkour discussed Syria's
improving relations with its neighbors. Asked about
Sarkozy's initiative to host a Mediterranean Summit to
support the peace process, Chakkour was categorical -- Assad
has said he will not attend unless success is guaranteed.
However, she added there are times in history when peace is
possible and this might be one of them, but not without U.S.
involvement. End summary.

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RAPPROCHEMENTS
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2. (C) Syrian Ambassador to France Lamia Chakkour hosted
PolMinCouns and poloffs on October 13 in what she described
as the highest level meeting with the USG of her two-year
tenure in Paris. Chakkour was very welcoming to us and she
was enthusiastic about Syrian rapprochement with France and
the possibility of better relations with the U.S., but she
had misgivings about Israel and Iraq. Early in their
rapprochement, Chakkour said, the Syrian Arab Republic
Government (SARG) had helped France with its concerns over
Lebanon and remained "discrete" during French efforts to
mediate the Gaza conflict of January 2009. At the same time,
she said, France shared Syria's concern for the violence of
the Gaza conflict, and supported its efforts to lift the
Israeli blockade and to promote Palestinian reconciliation.


3. (C) The rapprochement between France and Syria began with
small exchanges and grew into high-level bilateral meetings
and delegations, according to Chakkour, and it was aided by
ongoing commercial relations between the countries, which she
said never ceased during the "cold period." She added that
these contacts evolved to include third countries including
Iraq before the August 19 bombings in Baghdad that led to
Iraqi recriminations against Syria. Chakkour said President
Sarkozy helped French-Syrian relations to improve by
repeatedly saying that France was Syria's friend and she
hinted that the USG should do the same. She described Syrian
Foreign Minister Muallim's October visit to Paris and the
subsequent trip to Damascus by French Presidential Advisor
Levitte and Presidential General Secretary Gueant as very
successful. In addition, she said Syria's participation in
the first meeting of the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM) --
at Sarkozy's urging -- helped cement the Syrian "dtente"
with France, demonstrated mutual understanding and trust, and
assisted France in showing other European countries that they
should open up to Syria. Chakkour added that dtente with
France was complicated by the development, over many years of
frosty relations (except in the commercial sphere),of a
sizable cadre of civil servants unfavorably disposed to
Syria. She feared the same was true for the USG.


4. (C) Chakkour said Syria would welcome USG actions that
would demonstrate a desire to improve relations and welcomed
President Obama's commitment to the Middle East peace process
as a very helpful step. She also stressed that Syria wants
to improve bilateral relations with the U.S. and expressed
concern about sanctions on trade. We mentioned that an
improvement in bilateral relations requires positive steps by
both parties and that we too would like to see more positive
Syrian action with its neighbors and toward Lebanon.

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TROUBLE SPOTS
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5. (C) Despite Syria's past participation in the UfM, she
said the SARG would not attend the peace summit under the
auspices of the UfM sought by France and Egypt "unless
success was guaranteed." (Note: This description of the
Syrian position contradicts what the GOF told us four days
before. See septel). Chakkour said the key players need to
be willing to negotiate, and a summit should mark the end,
when agreement has been reached. Responding, we noted that
Sarkozy himself had put conditions on a possible summit and
that we believed the parties must first enter into serious

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discussion. She added that Syria still sees Turkey as the
only useful mediator for indirect talks between Israel and
Syria. She marveled at the patience of Special Envoy
Mitchell to keep pursuing the peace negotiations despite
numerous set backs. Chakkour said Israel was not currently
serious about pursuing a Middle East peace settlement and she
asked if the USG was hopeful of changing the country's stance
on reviving the peace process.


6. (C) Regarding Iraq, Chakkour said Prime Minister Maliki's
accusation of Syrian complicity in the August 19 bombing in
Baghdad was very worrying to Syria. She characterized
Maliki's accusations as "test balloons" intended to see how
the international community would react to Iraqi attempts at
blaming the Syrians for their own problems. She down-played
the subject of foreign fighters crossing into Iraq from Syria
("that was a problem of the Bush era") and estimated that
over one million Iraqis were living in Syria to escape
conditions in Iraq. Chakkour said approximately three
million people traveled back and forth between Iraq and
Syria, many of whom held dual Iraqi-Syrian citizenship, but
they should not be mistaken for foreign fighters.

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OTHER ISSUES
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7. (C) Responding to PolMinCouns, Chakkour said France had
not/not played a role in facilitating the warming of Syrian
relations with Saudi Arabia (which she referred to as "Arab
reconciliation"). She listed numerous regional meetings in
which SARG officials participated during 2009 where they had
the chance to interact directly with their Saudi
counterparts, including an Arab Summit in Kuwait in January,
the Doha meeting for Gaza. She then cited the recent visit
of President Assad to Saudi Arabia for the inauguration of a
new university in Jeddah, and the visit of Saudi King
Abdullah to Damascus.


8. (C) Chakkour was pleased with France's support for an
Association Agreement between Syria and the European Union
because the French have helped to show Europeans that Syria
is a capable partner. She denied accusations that Syria has
a poor record on human rights by saying people should speak
to Syrian NGOs that are familiar with the situation inside
the country. Chakkour also raised the issue of USG
sanctions, specifically focusing on the prohibition on sales
to Syria of Airbus planes containing U.S. technology.
Arguing that Syria's neighbors are exploiting the fact that
it cannot compete in the aviation sector, Chakkour said our
sanctions policy "needs more transparency." In closing,
Chakkour gave a very positive appraisal of the impression
Ambassador Rivkin has made during his first weeks in Paris.

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BIO NOTES
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9. (SBU) Prior to coming to Paris, Chakkour said she worked
at the UN for 15 years specializing in development projects.
During that time she lived in New York, Kenya, Lebanon,
Jordan and Kuwait. She said her father served as Syria's
Ambassador to France from 1979-1986, and as Syria's Deputy
Foreign Minister from 1988 - 91. The extended Chakkour clan
is multi-ethnic and includes Sunnis, Shiites and various
sects of Christianity.
RIVKIN