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Viewing cable 06DAMASCUS148, Damascus Media Reaction: Syria/Saudi Arabia,

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Reference ID Created Released Classification Origin
06DAMASCUS148 2006-01-09 14:43 2011-08-24 01:00 UNCLASSIFIED Embassy Damascus
VZCZCXYZ0004
OO RUEHWEB

DE RUEHDM #0148/01 0091443
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 091443Z JAN 06
FM AMEMBASSY DAMASCUS
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 6553
RHEHAAA/WHITE HOUSE WASHDC IMMEDIATE
RUEHAM/AMEMBASSY AMMAN 5716
RUEHLB/AMEMBASSY BEIRUT 3615
RUEHEG/AMEMBASSY CAIRO 2071
RUEHRH/AMEMBASSY RIYADH 6845
RUEHTV/AMEMBASSY TEL AVIV 0700
RUEHAK/AMEMBASSY ANKARA 4204
RUEHJM/AMCONSUL JERUSALEM 0436
RHMFISS/HQ USCENTCOM MACDILL AFB FL//CCPA//
INFO RUEHNC/AMEMBASSY NICOSIA 6587
UNCLAS DAMASCUS 000148 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR PA, NEA/ARN, INR/IC/CD, INR/S:STHIBEAULT AND 
JMCCARTER, VOA NEWS CA, NEA/PPD:CBOURGEOIS, DBENZE AND 
AFERNANDEZ, IIP/G/NEA-SA RWINCHESTER 
WHITE HOUSE FOR NSC 
CENTCOM FOR CCPA 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KMDR PREL KPAO OPRC SY
SUBJECT: Damascus Media Reaction: Syria/Saudi Arabia, 
Syria/Egypt, Junblatt, Iraq, Palestinian Territories (1/6-9) 
1.  Summary: Syrian papers reported President Asad's summit 
meetings in Jeddah with King Abdullah and in Sharm al-Sheikh with 
President Mubarak. The goal of Asad's surprise trips to Saudi 
 
Arabia and Egypt was apparently to seek support from Arab leaders 
as he faces a U.N. probe into alleged Syrian involvement in the 
assassination of a former Lebanese leader. Asad is seeking 
stronger Arab support for Syria, including convening an Arab 
summit to discuss Syria's strained relations with the West, 
according to some Arab diplomats. 
Papers also reported that President Asad received two telephone 
calls, from Iranian President Ahmadinejad and Libyan President 
Qaddafi, that focused on current developments in the region. 
 
On Iraq, papers reported a statement by British FM Jack Straw 
that Britain will withdraw its forces from Iraq in a few months. 
Headlines featured the killing of 17 US marines, 5 in Fallujah, 
and 12 in a helicopter crash in Tal Afar. 
Commentators criticized a statement by Lebanese Druze leader 
Walid Junblatt calling on the United States to invade Syria, as 
it did Iraq. Isam Dari in government-owned Tishreen charged that 
Junblatt's anti-Syria campaign is not the result of a dispute 
with the political regime in Syria, but is part of the role that 
he has been assigned to play in the American-Zionist scheme in 
the region. 
End summary. 
 
2.  Selected Headlines: 
 
"A long day of Arab solidarity. President Asad holds two summits, 
in Jeddah and Sharm al-Sheikh, with King Abdullah and President 
Mubarak. The Jeddah statement reiterates the importance of an 
Israeli withdrawal from the Golan, the Palestinian territories, 
and the Lebanese Sheba Farms and reactivation of the joint Saudi- 
Syrian committee. King Abdullah: We are keen to enhance Syrian- 
Lebanese relations. Talks in Sharm al-Sheikh focus on the outcome 
of the Jeddah summit and President Mubarak's consultations in 
Saudi Arabia and France" (Government-owned Tishreen, 1/9) 
 
"President Asad receives two phone calls, one from the Iranian 
President and the other from the Libyan leader, on the situation 
in the region. President Asad receives a phone call from Saudi 
King Abdullah on the latest developments in the region" 
(Government-owned Al-Thawra, 1/6) 
 
"A US entry visa is issued for Junblatt as the price for his 
escalation against Syria and Lebanese nationalist forces" 
(Government-owned Al-Ba'th, 1/9) 
"Britain seeks to use Lebanon for secret tombs for CIA and 
Scotland Yard prisoners. Straw carries a security deal to deport 
British prisoners to Lebanon" (Government-owned Al-Ba'th, 1/8) 
"US forces attack headquarters of the Association of Moslem 
Scholars and arrest five Iraqis. Killing of 17 US marines, 5 in 
Fallujah, 12 in a helicopter crash in Tal Afar" (Government-owned 
Tishreen, 1/9) 
"Jack Straw in Baghdad: Britain is to withdraw its forces from 
Iraq in a few months. Washington negotiates with leaders of 
militants and contemplates modification of its strategy in Iraq" 
(Government-owned Al-Ba'th, 1/8) 
"Syria strongly condemns terrorist escalation against civilians 
in Iraq, calling on Iraqis to enhance national unity" (Government- 
owned Al-Ba'th, 1/7) 
"The White House refuses to talk about post-Sharon stage. Israel 
prepares to announce Sharon's death" (Government-owned Al-Ba'th, 
1/8) 
"Sharon's case becomes more critical. Israel submerged in 
political chaos" (Government-owned Al-Ba'th, 
 
"Israeli forces continue assaults against the Gaza Strip. Israel 
confirms continued assassinations" (Government-owned Al-Ba'th, 
1/6) 
 
3.  Editorial Block Quotes: 
-------------------------------------- 
"The Syrian People Cannot Be Deceived" 
-------------------------------------- 
Izz-al-Din al-Darwish, an editorialist in government-owned 
Tishreen, commented (1/8): "The problem of the Lebanese 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
assassination of a former Lebanese leader. Asad is seeking 
stronger Arab support for Syria, including convening an Arab 
summit to discuss Syria's strained relations with the West, 
according to some Arab diplomats. 
Papers also reported that President Asad received two telephone 
calls, from Iranian President Ahmadinejad and Libyan President 
Qaddafi, that focused on current developments in the region. 
 
orchestra, and the one who joined it in Paris former VP 
Khaddam, is that the Syrian people have a high sense of 
patriotism and political knowledge, a strong memory, and powers 
of perception which are sufficient not only to confront the 
hatred the orchestra promotes, but also to place them where they 
deserve to be placed. 
"... The conspiracy against Syria is now clear, and so are its 
instruments. The Syrian popular and official position toward this 
conspiracy is also clear, and it is embodied in the solid 
national unity. 
"How could this not be the conviction of the Syrian people when 
the trumpet of that orchestra Lebanese Druze leader Walid 
Junblatt calls on the Americans, despite their enmity toward 
Arabs and Muslims, to occupy Syria, while his follower in Paris 
praises him and his positions, spreads poison, and flatters 
nonobjective media so that they publish his rancorous statements, 
in which he claims that the Syrian people eat from garbage 
containers? 
"It is historically known that ordeals harden the Syrian people 
and render them unbreakable. They are now showing the most vivid 
images of national unity behind their leadership, a leadership 
that rejects humiliation and joins its people against the plan of 
Americanization and internationalization, the plan of the Broader 
Middle East. At the same time, the Syrian people say to those who 
have abandoned their ranks and to the promoters of the American 
occupation: You will reap nothing but more failures. 
"We ask the leader of the rancorous orchestra: Do you want to be 
a tool in the hands of the Israelis? 
"Your problem is with the Syrian people, not the Syrian 
leadership. You can be sure about that. There is no problem 
between Lebanon and Syria as two countries and peoples. The 
problem is between the Syrian people and persons like you, 
persons who trade even in homelands. You know that the Syrian 
people cannot be deceived or subjugated. They do not fear 
threats, and their heads will remain high." 
--------------------- 
"Conspiracy Unveiled" 
--------------------- 
Isam Dari, an editorialist in government-owned Tishreen, 
commented (1/7): "Lebanese Druze leader Walid Junblatt's call on 
the United States to invade Syria, as it did Iraq, shows 
Junblatt's ugly face and malicious intentions against 
Damascus.... 
"We desperately needed such statements, through The Washington 
Post, which is close to the American decision-making circles, so 
that the Lebanese and Arab public will discover the true nature 
of this person, who has violated every Lebanese and Arab 
obligation, and will realize that his campaign against Syria is 
not a result of a dispute with the political regime in Syria, but 
is part of the role that he has been assigned to play, along with 
a Lebanese team that trades in al-Hariri's blood and sheds 
crocodile tears for the martyrs of Lebanon, whose blood has been 
used as fuel for the American-Zionist plan and as a bridge for 
the plan to enter the Arab heart. 
"The enemies of Syria are no longer able to hide their hatred and 
dirty roles. They are saying it loud and clear: One [Junblatt] 
wants his American masters to occupy Syria, and the other 
[Khaddam] wagers on breaking the strong national unity and 
publicly says he wants to incite the Syrian public, drawing 
strength from foreigners and driven by a lust for power and 
dollars. 
"Plans are being drafted in Western capitals for a vicious war 
against Syria and its policies and positions.... But Syria is in 
very good shape, and its national unity will not be shaken, no 
 
 
 
 
 
 
assassination of a former Lebanese leader. Asad is seeking 
stronger Arab support for Syria, including convening an Arab 
summit to discuss Syria's strained relations with the West, 
according to some Arab diplomats. 
Papers also reported that President Asad received two telephone 
calls, from Iranian President Ahmadinejad and Libyan President 
Qaddafi, that focused on current developments in the region. 
 
matter what the ordeals and the conspiracies." 
--------------- 
"The Last Mask" 
--------------- 
Khalid al-Ashhab, an editorialist in government-owned Al-Thawrah, 
commented (1/6): "Lebanese Druze leader Walid Junblatt has called 
on the United States to invade Syria as it did Iraq.... 
"Junblatt is searching to redeem himself, to wash away his 
violations, to correct his foolish acts, to vent his hatred, and 
to remove his complexes through the destruction of Syria and 
perhaps the entire Arab region.... 
"It is a miserable time when some Arabs draw strength against 
their own home from an enemy skilled at killing and 
destruction.... The last mask has fallen from the face of the 
person who long claimed to be an Arab nationalist" 
----------------------------------- 
"Ankara Corrects: Mere Allegations" 
----------------------------------- 
Ahmad Hamadeh, an editorialist in government-owned Al-Thawra, 
commented (1/6): "The Turkish Prime Minister denied reports that 
Washington is seeking a joint policy with Ankara against Syria 
and asserted that Turkish-Syrian relations are good. 
"Who wants to spoil Syrian-Turkish relations at this particular 
time? 
"We come up with nothing new if we say that it is the Israeli 
factor, which no one can ignore. This factor was and still is 
negatively affecting these relations, which Damascus and Ankara 
want to serve as a factor of stability and security for the whole 
region. We come up with nothing new if we say that the Israeli 
factor is trying to respond to Erdogan government's balanced 
policies toward Syria, the Arabs, and Turkey's neighbors on the 
one hand and its effort to minimize its relations with the 
Israeli entity on the other. 
"The desire of the Syrian and Turkish people to develop their 
relations is based on their deep-rooted cultural bonds...." 
----------------------- 
"Recover from Illusion" 
----------------------- 
Ali Nasrallah, an editorialist in government-owned Al-Thawra, 
wrote (1/8): "President Bush has turned to expanded consultations 
with former secretaries of state and defense over Iraq because 
all his previous attempts to save face and regain support for his 
policy have been in vain. 
"But Bush's new activity is an opportunity to make the current 
administration discover the magnitude of its mistakes and the 
disastrous impact of its plans on the United States and on world 
peace, security, and stability.... 
"Former US officials should take this opportunity to explain the 
facts to President Bush and to urge him to end the occupation of 
Iraq.... Will they succeed in making the Bush Administration wake 
up from its illusions of war and alleged victories?" 
Seche