US embassy cable - 05ROME1732

C O N F I D E N T I A L ROME 001732 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/18/2015 
TAGS: PREL, SY, LE, IZ, IT, EUN 
SUBJECT: ITALY ON SYRIA AND LEBANON 
 
REF: STATE 92750 
 
Classified By: Pol MC Tom Countryman for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) 
 
1. (U) This is an action request.  Please see paragraph 3. 
 
2. (C) Pol MC spoke with Luca Ferrari, MFA Office Director 
for the Middle East, on May 19 regarding the upcoming PrepCom 
for the US-EU conference on Iraq.  Ferrari said that FM 
Shara'a had asked Italy whether he could visit Rome May 
24-26. The Italian response was that next week was not good, 
nor was the whole month of June.  On Syrian participation in 
the conference, Ferrari said that it was not possible to 
squeeze Syria out of everything, to which Pol MC replied that 
in this case it was the Iraqis themselves who were asking 
that Syria be excluded. 
 
3. (C) Ferrari also mentioned the Friends of Lebanon group 
and related donors' conference being discussed in Washington 
and Paris.  He said it is imperative that Italy, as Lebanon's 
number one trading partner and number one provider of 
economic aid (exceeding France on both counts), be included 
in the core group.  Given Italy's efforts -- against, they 
tell us, its own natural proclivities -- to support us by 
minimizing contact with Syria, and its close relationship 
with Lebanon, Post strongly supports this request.  Including 
Italy in this initiative would encourage the Italians to be 
even tougher on Syria, if only because they would view it as 
recognition of the important role they can play in the 
region.  Conversely, exclusion from the Lebanon core group 
would cause Italy to question or even challenge the US effort 
to isolate Syria.  Action requested:  Post requests that 
Department include Italy in the core group for the 
International Conference on Lebanon. 
 
Baghdad Minimize Considered 
 
SEMBLER 
 
 
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 2005ROME01732 - Classification: CONFIDENTIAL