US embassy cable - 05DAMASCUS6277

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 DAMASCUS 006277 
 
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: Al-Hariri Probe/Masked 
Witness, Syria/Iran, Iraq, Palestinian Territories (12/1) 
1. Summary: Syrian papers continued to comment on statements 
by Syrian witness Husam Tahir Husam that he was intimidated 
by a group of Lebanese political, media, and security 
 
figures to give false testimony to the international 
investigation commission to implicate Syria in the 
assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq al- 
Hariri. The papers condemned those Lebanese figures and 
called for investigations into Husam's revelations. Papers 
also featured a second press conference in which Husam 
appealed to the highest Lebanese religious figures to 
protect his Lebanese fiancee and her family. He said that 
they are being harassed, pressured and subjected to bribery 
to testify against him, by the same politicians who had 
pressured him. 
Iraq was the second theme in the papers today. Headlines 
featured the visits to Damascus by Hamid-Reza Asefi, Iranian 
Deputy Foreign Minister for Consular Affairs, and Hareth al- 
Dari, Chairman of the Iraqi Association of Moslem Scholars. 
 
Papers also reported President Bush's speech at the US Naval 
Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, in which he explained his 
strategy for achieving victory in Iraq and confirmed that he 
will keep forces there until victory is achieved. 
 
End of summary. 
 
2. Selected Headlines: 
 
"FM Shara discusses regional developments and bilateral 
cooperation with Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister for 
Consular Affairs Hamid-Reza Asefi and reviews preparations 
for an Iraqi Reconciliation Conference with Chairman of 
Iraqi Association of Moslem Scholars Hareth al-Dari" 
(Government-owned Al-Thawra, 12/1) 
 
"Asefi: Hizbollah is a decision-maker. Cooperation with 
Washington is not on our agenda. Al-Dari: Accusations 
against Syria by some Iraqi officials do not represent the 
Iraqi people's opinion" (Government-owned Al-Ba'th, 12/1) 
 
"The UN General Assembly calls for Israeli withdrawal from 
the Golan and the Palestinian territories. Miqdad [Syria's 
Representative at the UN]: Syria's stand on the peace 
process is fixed and credible" (Government-owned Tishreen, 
12/1) 
 
"Husam calls on Lebanese authorities and the world community 
to stop intimidation and blackmail of his fiancee and her 
family. Husam's lawyer: My client has a lot of documented 
proof. 'Al-Safir' calls for definitive clarifications about 
the 'masked witness'" (Government-owned Tishreen, 12/1) 
 
"Who stands behind Al-Siddiq's lies? French journalist 
George Malbrunot reveals the answer in Le Figaro: Who 
demanded that France host the 'witness'?" (Government-owned 
Al-Thawra, 12/1) 
 
"Le Figaro: When Saed Al-Hariri was exposed, he sacrificed 
Al-Siddiq. Saudi and US intelligence revealed Al-Siddiq and 
Chirac suggested hosting him" (Government-owned Al-Thawra, 
12/1) 
 
"The Lebanese presidency denounces statements by some MPs: 
allegations and misleading; a new chapter of conspiracy 
against Lebanon" (Government-owned Tishreen, 12/1) 
 
"Bush promises full victory in Iraq without giving a 
specific date. Bush fails to relieve Americans. Democrats 
step up criticism" (Government-owned Al-Ba'th, 12/1) 
 
"Aggression against Ofar ignites Palestinian anger. 11 
Palestinians injured in Nablus clashes" (Government-owned Al- 
Ba'th, 12/1) 
 
3. Editorial Block Quotes: 
"At Al-Hariri's Expense, not in his Interest" 
Dr. Fayez al-Sayegh, Chief Editor of government-owned Al- 
Thawra, said (12/1): "Syria presented Husam to the media not 
to prove that it is innocent of the crime of the Al-Hariri 
assassination, but to show the Lebanese public the 
intelligence oriented mentality of the political media group 
that planned and committed the crime of accusing Syria.... 
"The people whose names were mentioned by Husam will, 
naturally, rush to deny the accusation that they misled the 
investigation.... This bloody political mafia planned to 
implicate Syria to serve its own interests.... It is not 
unlikely that the assassination crime and what followed it 
were the making of this mafia.... 
"Who should call whom to account today? Is it not logical to 
ask about the objective behind misleading the investigation 
in such bad faith, simplicity, and recklessness? Is this not 
a crime in the sense that it protects the real criminal and 
diverts attention from him and allows the forces of evil and 
aggression, primarily Israel, to exploit the assassination 
crime to settle political scores and serve their interests? 
"Those Lebanese politicians and journalists applauded the 
masked witness and his credibility when he was in Beirut, 
but hurled all sorts of abuse upon him and upon his 
credibility when he spoke to the media in Damascus.... 
"The International Investigation Commission, in order to 
save its credibility, professionalism, and mission, should 
open a new track in the investigations and interrogate all 
those who misled international justice, wasted its time and 
money, and distracted the public with fabrications. 
"The commission should also set up a special court to try 
these people...." 
"For the Sake of Justice, Fairness and Truth" 
Isam Dari, an editorialist in government-owned Tishreen, 
wrote (12/1): "The truth about the Al-Hariri assassination 
has gradually begun to appear; the masks have fallen from 
many faces, not only the face of the 'masked witness', who 
managed to escape from the whirlpool of lies and the swamps 
of conspiracy.... 
"What happened will reshuffle the cards and cause the 
collapse of reports and resolutions that were built on false 
information that was first imposed on the witness and then 
on the International Investigation Commission. This dictates 
that a calm and objective review of the new facts be 
conducted, that the real killers of Al-Hariri and the direct 
suspects in the crime be searched for, and that the ready- 
made accusations by the anti-Syria political-media machine 
be avoided.... 
"We have no doubt that the true seekers of the truth will 
take what happened in the past two days into consideration. 
They will realize that Syria was first the victim of the 
assassination crime, and then the victim of the lies of 
plotters and deceivers and of a report and resolutions that 
were based on those lies. Syria wants nothing other than 
fairness, justice, truth, and exposure of the dirty game 
that was played partly by a group of people who were not 
only ungrateful for what Syria offered to Lebanon, but who 
also tried to mobilize the whole world against Syria to take 
personal revenge, play the cheap role assigned to them, or 
receive a few dollars." 
Seche