US embassy cable - 05DOHA1798

C O N F I D E N T I A L DOHA 001798 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/30/2015 
TAGS: PREL, SY, QA, UNSC 
SUBJECT: SYRIAN DEPUTY FOREIGN MINISTER VISIT TO DOHA 
 
Classified By: Ambassador Chase Untermeyer for reason 1.4 (d). 
 
1. (U) Syrian Deputy Foreign Minister Walid Moallem visited 
Doha for several hours October 30, meeting with the Amir and 
Foreign Minister. His tour also included Jeddah, Kuwait, and 
Abu Dhabi. According to reports, Moallem emphasized Syria's 
desire the cooperate with the Mehlis Committee and said that 
President Bashar al-Assad has ordered the creation of a 
judicial committee to investigate the Hariri assassination 
while underscoring the dangers of destabilizing Syria. 
 
SECURITY COUNCIL RESOLUTION THREATENS REGIONAL STABILITY 
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2. (U) In a meeting with local Qatari press, Moallem 
characterized the Security Council draft resolution as 
"extremely dangerous." He warned that the "lack of stability 
in the Syrian situation will reflect in a general way on the 
situation in the region." He said the draft resolution 
targets Syria and regional stability generally instead of 
working to expose the truth of the Hariri assassination. 
 
COMMENT 
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3. (C) The Syrian Deputy FM does not appear to be succeeding 
in his efforts to garner broad Arab support for Syria 
regarding his country's predicament at the UN. Nevertheless, 
Qatari FM Hamad bin Jassim Al Thani travels to Damascus today 
(October 31) and on to Cairo to continue discussions. The 
Qataris will note that Moallem reported "solidarity" from 
Saudi King Abdullah. But scenarios of regional instability 
will have more weight in swaying Qatari leadership to help 
protect Syria from serious consequences. Indeed a perception 
that Article 7 of the UN Charter could be envoked might cause 
concern in the GOQ, based on the article's authorization of 
the use of force. 
UNTERMEYER