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Viewing cable 05DAMASCUS6521, Damascus Media Reaction: Lebanon, Syria, Iraq,

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Reference ID Created Released Classification Origin
05DAMASCUS6521 2005-12-15 15:12 2011-08-24 01:00 UNCLASSIFIED Embassy Damascus
This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.
UNCLAS DAMASCUS 006521 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR PA, NEA/ARN, INR/IC/CD, INR/S:STHIBEAULT 
VOA NEWS CA, NEA/PPD:CBOURGEOIS, DBENZE AND AFERNANDEZ, 
IIP/G/NEA-SA RWINCHESTER 
WHITE HOUSE FOR NSC 
CENTCOM FOR CCPA 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KMDR PREL KPAO OPRC SY
SUBJECT: Damascus Media Reaction: Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, 
Palestinian Territories (12/15) 
 
 
1. Summary: Syrian newspapers continued to criticize the 
second report of the International Investigation Commission 
into the assassination of former Lebanese PM Rafiq al-Hariri 
and cited Lebanese criticism of the report from the 
"National Unity Forum," that described the Mehlis report as 
"empty of evidence" and said that it "has confused the 
Lebanese judicial." 
Papers also reported the funeral of Lebanese MP Gebran 
Tueni. Hasan M. Yousef, an op-ed writer in government-owned 
Tishreen, considered Tueni's assassination "as part of a 
conspiracy against both Lebanon and Syria." 
All papers reported the visit of Arab League SecGen Amr 
Mousa to Beirut on the first leg of a tour that will take 
him on to Syria to defuse the "dangerous" situation between 
the two neighbors. Subsequent to his meeting with Lebanese 
Prime Minister Al-Saniora, Mousa told reporters "I am on an 
urgent diplomatic mission to defuse the dangerous situation" 
between Beirut and Damascus. Mousa added "I cannot watch and 
let the situation deteriorate between Lebanon and Syria and 
reach an explosive level," he said. 
Mousa said he had "lengthy and practical discussions with 
Saniora which were positive and constructive". But he denied 
media reports he was carrying an initiative linked to calls 
by Lebanon to convene an international court for the murder 
of former Lebanese PM Rafiq al-Hariri. 
 End of summary. 
2. Selected Headlines: 
 
"In protest of the demand for an international tribunal, 
ministers of the Amal Movement and Hizbollah persist in 
suspending their participation in the cabinet. Franjieh 
calls for stopping exploitation of martyrs' blood" 
(Government-owned Tishreen, 12/15) 
 
"Arab League SecGen confers with Lahoud and Al-Saniora: 
Vicious forces endeavor to sabotage Lebanese-Syrian 
relations" (Government-owned Tisheen, 12/15) 
"President Emile Lahoud of Lebanon: Lebanon is keen to 
maintain the best of relations with Syria. Arab League 
Secretary General Amr Mousa: There are evil forces working 
 
SIPDIS 
to undermine Syrian-Lebanese relations" (Government-owned Al- 
Thawra, 12/15) 
"'National Unity Forum' rejects ready accusations: The 
Mehlis report is empty of evidence and has confused the 
Lebanese judicial" (Government-owned Tishreen, 12/15) 
"Israeli warplanes continue to violate Lebanese airspace" 
(Government-owned Tishreen, 12/15) 
"Scores of Syrians staged a sit-in in front of International 
Committee of the Red Cross in Damascus in solidarity with 
Syrian prisoners in Israeli jails, rejecting the Israeli 
decision to annex Golan" (Government-owned Al-Thawra, 12/15) 
"Four Palestinians killed, 5 wounded in Gaza Strip by 
Israeli gunfire" (Government-owned Al-Thawra, 12/15) 
"A UN official expresses confidence that Iraqi elections 
will run smoothly" (Government-owned Syria Times, 12/15) 
 
"Occupation forces expand settlements in the West Bank. Nine 
Palestinians killed and injured in Israeli shelling of Gaza" 
(Government-owned Al-Ba'th, 12/15) 
 
3. Editorial Block Quotes: 
 
"Mehlis' Second Report" 
Khalid al-Ashhab, an editorialist in government-owned Al- 
Thawra, commented (12/15): "It is natural for Mehlis' second 
report to go in the same direction as the first so as to 
save face after the revelations about key gaps in major 
testimony.... 
"It is perfectly natural for Mehlis to insist on what he 
said in his first dramatic episode, and to proceed with this 
scenario and its bloody plot until the [American] cowboy on 
his horse takes off on a new invasion.... 
"You Lebanese must beware of those have who turned into 
daggers in the back of Lebanon and Syria. These people see 
sieges and occupations as divine missions and as ten 
commandments that begin in Baghdad and do not end in 
Beirut...." 
 
 
 
 
 
 
"empty of evidence" and said that it "has confused the 
Lebanese judicial." 
Papers also reported the funeral of Lebanese MP Gebran 
Tueni. Hasan M. Yousef, an op-ed writer in government-owned 
Tishreen, considered Tueni's assassination "as part of a 
conspiracy against both Lebanon and Syria." 
All papers reported the visit of Arab League SecGen Amr 
Mousa to Beirut on the first leg of a tour that will take 
him on to Syria to defuse the "dangerous" situation between 
the two neighbors. Subsequent to his meeting with Lebanese 
Prime Minister Al-Saniora, Mousa told reporters "I am on an 
urgent diplomatic mission to defuse the dangerous situation" 
between Beirut and Damascus. Mousa added "I cannot watch and 
let the situation deteriorate between Lebanon and Syria and 
reach an explosive level," he said. 
Mousa said he had "lengthy and practical discussions with 
Saniora which were positive and constructive". But he denied 
media reports he was carrying an initiative linked to calls 
by Lebanon to convene an international court for the murder 
of former Lebanese PM Rafiq al-Hariri. 
 End of summary. 
2. Selected Headlines: 
 
"Looking for Honesty" 
Hasan M. Yusuf, an op-ed commentator, wrote in government- 
owned Tishreen (12/15) "I have no information about the 
criminals who assassinated colleague martyr Gebran Tueni.... 
But I can say for sure that this dirty criminal operation is 
part of the major conspiracy that targets Lebanon and Syria 
and seeks to demolish the entire Middle East and build the 
US Greater Middle East on its rubble.... 
"In this new Middle East, Arabs would disintegrate into 
waring tribes, sects, and ethnic minorities while the 
Zionist entity would emerge as the only big and dominant 
power...." 
"With No One to Observe or Watch" 
Ahmad Hamadah, an editorialist in government-owned Al-Thawra 
wrote (12/15): "If the United States practiced all forms of 
torture and humiliation in public prisons like Guantanamo 
and Abu Ghraib, how can we imagine the disastrous picture in 
the secret American prisons in Europe? 
"The ugliness of the situation in those prisons must be 
beyond imagination.... 
"If international judicial and legal organizations failed to 
do anything for the inmates in Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo, 
although their detention was illegal and in total 
contradiction of human rights, what can they do with prisons 
that have no known address and from which there is not a 
single piece of information about the number of detainees or 
the charges for which they were detained and tortured? 
Seche