US embassy cable - 05DAMASCUS6010

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