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Cablegate: No Sign of Improved Syria-Egypt Relations

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OO RUEHAG
DE RUEHDM #4898 2851451
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
O 121451Z OCT 06
FM AMEMBASSY DAMASCUS
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 1999
INFO RUCNMEM/EU MEMBER STATES COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHXK/ARAB ISRAELI COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHGB/AMEMBASSY BAGHDAD PRIORITY 0230
RHMFISS/CDR USCENTCOM MACDILL AFB FL PRIORITY
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC PRIORITY
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC PRIORITY

C O N F I D E N T I A L DAMASCUS 004898
SIPDIS

SIPDIS

PARIS FOR WALLER, LONDON FOR TSOU

E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/12/2016
TAGS: PGOV PREL SY EG
SUBJECT: NO SIGN OF IMPROVED SYRIA-EGYPT RELATIONS,
CONCESSIONS BY HAMAS

Classified By: Charge d'Affaires Michael H. Corbin for reasons 1.4 b/d

1. (C) SYRIA-EGYPT RELATIONS: Poloff met with an Egyptian
diplomat October 11 to discuss recent press reports about an
October 10 summit between Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak
and Syrian President Bashar al-Asad, which ultimately did not
take place. The diplomat said that relations between the two
leaders remain frozen ""like black ice,"" after Asad's August
15 speech before a Syrian journalists' association in which
Asad likened some Arab leaders to ""half men."" The SARG has
taken some steps to reconcile with Egypt, as was pointed out
to the Egyptian Ambassador here in recent meetings with
Syrian VP Farouk al-Shara'a and Syrian FM Walid Mu'allim,
however these measures have not been enough, the diplomat
said. (Note: While Shara'a said that the SARG had taken
appropriate steps to mend the rift between the two leaders,
Mu'allim voiced the opinion that the SARG could do more and
that Shara'a had largely shaped the content and tone of
Asad's speech, the diplomat said.) Additionally, during his
August 21 visit to Damascus, the Emir of Qatar had
successfully encouraged Asad to call Mubarak to express
condolences about that day's fatal train wreck in Egypt, but
Mubarak declined to speak to the Syrian leader, saying that
he was occupied and would call back, said the diplomat,
adding that almost two months later, Mubarak has yet to do
so. In the Arab context, Asad is the junior partner and
needs to make significant personal amends to Mubarak, said
the diplomat, who speculated that a visit by the Egyptian
leader to Syria in the near future remains highly unlikely
notwithstanding recent press accounts.

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2. (C) EXTERNAL HAMAS: The diplomat also dismissed Qatari
efforts to reconcile the differences between Palestinian
leaders, calling Qatar's six-point plan a recycled version of
points that the Palestinians have mostly agreed to but failed
to implement. The diplomat cited recent Egyptian
conversations with Damascus-based Hamas leader Khalid Mish'al
and his deputy Moussa Abu Marzouq who indirectly indicated
that, at least external Hamas, does not believe that it is in
the group's interests to make concessions at a time when
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbass is so weak. When asked
about the inter-Palestinian meeting that failed to take place
in Damascus after being rescheduled for September 28, the
diplomat said, ""The Palestinians are fighting each other, not
with words but with bullets in the streets."" It was unlikely
that any such meeting would take place in the near future, he
claimed.
CORBIN

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