Cablegate: Damascus Media Reaction: Syria/Russia,

This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 DAMASCUS 006010

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

E.O.12958: N/A
TAGS: KMDR PREL KPAO OPRC SY
SUBJECT: Damascus Media Reaction: Syria/Russia,
Syria/Turkey, IIC, Lebanon, Iraq, Palestinian Territories
(11/17)

1. Summary: Syrian papers today reported the visits to
Damascus by Russian FM Ivanov and Turkish FM Gul, who are
reportedly mediating with Syria to cooperate with the
International Investigation Commission. Headlines featured
Gul's statement, "Our goal is to protect stability in the
region and to prevent a new crisis."

All papers reported a statement by Jamal Seddiq, brother of
Zuhair Seddiq, the false witness concerning the Al-Hariri
assassination, describing his brother as "a traitor who sold
his country for a handful of dollars," and saying that his
current wife is a relative of Lebanese Minister Marwan
Hamadeh, and of the chief of the Socialist Progressive
Party, Walid Junblat, hinting that they were behind his
false testimony against Syria.

Papers also featured a statement by Alberto Kantoni, an
Italian peace advocate and author of "Flying Hawk for
Peace;" and Regine Retze, a US peace advocate and member of
the Organization of Americans for Justice and Peace, based
in Rome, lashing out at President Bush's campaign against
Syria and asking him stop holding others responsible for his
administration's mistakes.

End of summary.

2. Selected Headlines:

"President Asad receives a message from President Putin on
development of Russian-Syrian relations and discusses with
Turkish FM Gul pressure on Syria and cooperation with the
International Investigation Commission " (Government-owned
Tishreen, 11/17)

"Ivanov: We are satisfied with Syria's cooperation with the
IIC. Gul: Our goal is to protect stability in the region and
to prevent a new crisis" Government-owned Al-Thawra, 11/17)

"Sultanov [Russian MP]: President Asad has revived hope in
the hearts of Arabs and Moslems" (Government-owned Tishreen,
11/17)

"Jamal Seddiq [brother of Zuhair Seddiq, the false witness
concerning the Al-Hariri assassination]: My brother is a
traitor who sold his country for a handful of dollars; his
current wife is a relative of Lebanese Minister Marwan
Hamadeh, and of the chief of the Socialist Progressive
Party, Walid Junblat" (Government-owned Al-Ba'th, 11/17)

"A womens' sit-in in Al-Rawda square in Damascus condemning
the campaign of allegations against Syria" (Government-owned
Tishreen, 11/17)

"Denunciations of the unjust US campaign against Syria
continue: Peace activists Alberto Kantoni [Italian] and
Regine Retze [American]: The US Administration unleashes
lies and deceives US public opinion" (Government-owned
Tishreen, 11/17)

"The economic crisis in Lebanon on the rise. Demonstrations
calling on Al-Saniora to reduce diesel prices or to quit"
(Government-owned Al-Thawra, 11/17)

"Nine US marines killed, three Danish soldiers injured in
clashes with gunmen in Al-Abidi northern Iraq. A new torture
scandal in prisons of Iraqi Interior Ministry raises strong
criticism" (Government-owned Al-Thawra, 11/17)

"The US Congress abandons demand to schedule withdrawal of
US forces from Iraq but demands that Bush submit periodical
reports on his strategy in Iraq" (Government-owned Al-
Thawra, 11/17)

"Under the pressure of resistance and protests by the
American people, plans for partial withdrawal from Iraq next
summer. The Guardian: Strategy for withdrawing British
forces has already been accomplished" (Government-owned
Tishreen, 11/17)

"Clinton: We do not have enough forces to control borders"
(Government-owned Al-Ba'th, 11/17)

"Occupation forces shell the Gaza Strip with heavy
artillery. Sharon refuses to meet Mahmoud Abbas" (Government-
owned Al-Thawra, 11/17)

"Netanyahu: Amir Peretz [new leader of Israel's Labor Party]
poses a threat to the future of Israel. Vote on dissolving
the Knesset is postponed until Monday" (Government-owned,
Tishreen, 11/17)

3. Editorial Block Quotes:
"Behind the News... The Tumultuous Chorus"
Omar Jaftali, an editorialist in government-owned Al-Thawra,
wrote: "Everyone wants to get involved in targeting Syria in
the current difficult and complicated circumstances.
Everyone claims to be giving advice and claims to be
concerned about Syria's soundness through a fake zeal that
reflects the truth about their concordance with the US-
Zionist plan for Syria and for the entire region.
"The tumultuous chorus, particularly in Lebanon, embraces
whatever Condaleeza Rice peddles and whatever White House
employees claim about Syria, and releases deceptive and
fabricated [information], even though this chorus is aware
that Syria wants to know the truth about the assassination
of Al-Hariri more than anyone, so as to bring a halt to the
damage that has been inflicted upon it as well as upon
Lebanon; The chorus knows that the US wants Syria and not
the murderers of Al-Hariri and that the US placed Syria in
the defendant's dock even before the Al-Hariri case and even
before Resolution 1559. The chorus also knows that its
members are mere tools to complete the US plan in Lebanon,
in Syria, and in the region.
"Do they ever wonder why the US Administration has not shown
the same enthusiasm with regard to the implementation of
tens of UN Security Council resolutions against Israel? Or
why Al-Hariri [was assassinated] and who had a genuine
interest in removing him from the Lebanese arena? Do they
ever wonder what the Mosad is doing in Lebanon and Iraq and
who deals with its envoys and agents? Do they ever wonder
how Lebanon has become an open arena for US Administration
employees and how its intelligence men are all over Lebanon?
Do they ever wonder about the 'Lebanese shadow government'
that is located in Jerusalem at 25 King George Street, whose
plan is based on an assassination list of specific Lebanese
figures, with Rafiq al-Hariri second on that list?
"This Lebanese chorus lacks the most fundamental sense of
national and pan-Arab responsibility. It intends to return
Lebanon to the time when it was a staging ground for
conspiracies against Syria. Moreover, those who are riding
this wave in terms of people who espouse a policy of
deception and collusion with the US-Zionist plan cannot
torpedo the national equation by becoming associated with
this plan because the Lebanese people will sooner or later
realize their fake nature...."
"The Investigation"
Khalid al-Ashhab, an editorialist in government-owned Al-
Thawra, wrote: "The aim of the investigations into the Al-
Hariri assassination is not to find the truth but to serve
foreign plans in the region....
"As for the demand that Syrian officials be questioned in
Beirut, it is known in the judiciary all over the world that
the investigator or the court is the party that must provide
the security and the right conditions for the witness to
give his testimony, not the other way around. It is also
known that the investigator, in his endeavor to find the
truth -- and when the truth is his only goal -- must go to
any place to find it, not bring places to his bedroom or
relaxation area. This is if the truth is the objective...."
"Galloway's Warning"
Ahmad Hamadah, an editorialist in government-owned Al-
Thawra, wrote: "The new plan, of which George Galloway has
given warning, to divide the Arab region, similar to the
Sykes-Picot agreement early in the 20th century, is no
longer secret. The plan has become an open target for US
political and academic circles.... While the old plan was
kept a secret, the new plan is being promoted and discussed
publicly....
"The evidence of this plan is the US occupation of Iraq and
the attempt to divide it along ethnic and sectarian lines,
the exploitation of the Darfur crisis to impose the American
agenda on Sudan, and the major pressures on Syria and
Lebanon to offer concessions that serve Israel's
interests...."
Seche

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