US embassy cable - 05CAIRO6435

C O N F I D E N T I A L CAIRO 006435 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR NEA/RA AND NEA/ELA 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/22/2015 
TAGS: PREL, PGOV, EAID, ETRD, ECON, EG, SY, LE 
SUBJECT: PRESSURING SYRIA TO NORMALIZE THE SYRIAN-LEBANESE 
BORDER 
 
REF: STATE 151378 (NOTAL) 
 
Classified by Acting ECPO Chief Jerry Mallory for reasons 1.4 
(b) and (d). 
 
(C) Poloff delivered reftel demarche on August 22 to MFA 
Cabinet staff member Alaa Hadidi, stressing the importance of 
continued GOE pressure on Damascus to end its economic 
harassment of Lebanon and to follow through on implementation 
of UNSCR 1559.  Hadidi, who was handling the Syria/Lebanon 
file for one of his vacationing colleagues, promised to 
convey the talking points (left with Hadidi in the form of an 
aide-memoire) to the Minister and others within the GOE 
bureaucracy.  As for the substance of the demarche itself, 
Hadidi offered little regarding GOE relations with either 
Damascus or Beirut.  He mentioned, however, that the upcoming 
September 6 meeting of Arab League ministers of foreign 
affairs would offer an opportunity to address such issues, 
most likely on the margins of the gathering.  The foreign 
ministers of both Syria and Lebanon are expected to attend 
the meeting, to take place one day before Egypt's 
presidential election. 
 
 
Visit Embassy Cairo's Classified Website: 
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/nea/cairo 
 
You can also access this site through the 
State Department's Classified SIPRNET website. 
 
JONES