US embassy cable - 05DAMASCUS6445

C O N F I D E N T I A L DAMASCUS 006445 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
PARIS FOR ZEYA; LONDON FOR TSOU 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/12/2015 
TAGS: PGOV, PREL, SY 
SUBJECT: DENEHY TALKS TO BA'ATHIST REFORMER AND MODERATE 
ISLAMIC LEADERS ON CIVIL SOCIETY 
 
Classified By: Charge d'Affaires Stephen A. Seche, per 1.4 b,d. 
 
1.  (C) Summary:  As part of his December 2-10 round of 
discussions, NEA senior advisor David Denehy, accompanied by 
PolChief, spoke with Ba'athist reform figure Ayman Abdul Noor 
and with two moderate Islamic leaders, Abu Noor Institute 
Director Salah Kuftaro, and MP Mohammed Habash (other 
conversations reported septel).  Abdul Noor provided some 
basic data on the number and size of licensed NGO's and noted 
the problems involved in funneling USG support to licensed 
and unlicensed NGO's in Syria.  He noted that he would 
provide Denehy with a written plan of action for boosting USG 
support for civil society in Syria and noted that he would be 
in Washington in mid-January.  Two moderate Islamic leaders 
separately told Denehy that USG efforts to dramatically 
increase support for Syrian civil society would not succeed 
unless the U.S. first adopted a more even-handed approach on 
-- and helped resolve -- the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. 
Denehy did not have the opportunity to clear this message 
before departing post.  End Summary. 
 
2.  (C) BASIC DATA ON NGO'S IN SYRIA:  Ayman Abdul Noor, 
Ba'athist reformer and SARG critic, told NEA senior advisor 
Denehy December 2 that there are some 600 licensed NGO's in 
Syria.  A substantial number of them are what Abdul Noor 
referred to as GNGO's, or government-sponsored NGO's.  They 
could be recognized as such because of the prominent SARG or 
Ba'ath Party names usually associated with them.  Of the 
remainder, approximately 280 are charitable organizations, 
20-25 of them Christian, and the rest Islamic.  Other NGO's 
focused on cultural activities, health, the environment, and 
youth and student activities.  The vast majority of the NGO's 
function in only four (out of 14) governorates in Syria: 
Damascus, rural Damascus, Aleppo, and Homs.  Some 150 NGO's 
have licenses from the SARG, often dating back for years, but 
have become inactive. 
 
3.  (C) According to Abdul Noor, the Ministry of Social 
Affairs and Labor licenses NGO's and provides USD 500-1000 
each year in assistance to many of them.  Except for a 
handful of heavily endowed Muslim NGO's, most of the groups 
have small budgets of less than USD 20,000.  A few with 
official SARG support, like the Syrian Young Entrepreneurs 
Association (SYEA), operate with "off-budget" funding and are 
able to tap into the "unofficial" fundraising capabilities of 
people like First Lady Asma al-Asad, who obtained, for 
example a USD 500,000 gift for SYEA from a prominent 
Gulf-based donor, reported Abdul Noor. 
 
4.  (C) HOW THE U.S. CAN INCREASE ITS SUPPORT:  If the U.S. 
is interested in supporting "the real civil society" in 
Syria, then it must find ways to support unlicensed NGO's, 
said Abdul Noor.  Such groups exist but their capacity to 
absorb funding is limited, depending on their size and 
maturity.  The USG needs to design a two-track approach.  The 
first track would be transparent and involve 
non-controversial support for Syrian civil society, in 
cooperation with the SARG, the universities, and other such 
entities. The second, quieter track should be organized out 
of a regional office in Dubai that would design projects, and 
handle logistics and correspondence. The SARG will only see 
the final results in country but would not be able to follow 
the process or funding.  Abdul Noor acknowledged that the 
SARG had laws and regulations that it used to prevent 
external funding for such groups, but insisted that he knew 
how to get around these prohibitions. 
 
5.  (C) WHERE TO START:  Abdul Noor suggested that initially 
the USG should quietly do a survey of NGO's to gather more 
precise data (and hinted strongly that he was the person 
capable of performing this task), and then develop an action 
plan to identify where money is needed and what projects are 
necessary.  Denehy welcomed Abdul Noor's proposal to put his 
ideas in writing and discuss them in more detail during his 
projected mid-January visit to Washington. 
 
6.  (C) MODERATE ISLAMISTS WEIGH IN:  Moderate Islamic 
leaders Salah Kuftaro, the head of Abu Noor Institute, and 
Mohammed Habash, moderate Islamist MP and the head of the 
Islamic Studies Center in Damascus, told Denehy in separate 
meetings December 5 that USG efforts to dramatically step up 
funding and support for civil society in Syria would fail 
unless the U.S. adopted a more even-handed approach on the 
Israeli-Palestinian conflict and took steps to help resolve 
it.  According to Kuftaro, the U.S. at present does not have 
the credibility to sustain such a project.  "Nobody in the 
region believes the U.S. wants to increase democracy in this 
part of the world.  If we don't handle the problem of the 
occupied territories and the Golan, everything will be a 
waste of time," said Kuftaro.  Nonetheless, Kuftaro welcomed 
U.S. NGO's visiting Syria to work with his Abu Noor Institute 
on projects of common interest.  Habash made similar points 
but emphasized repeatedly that if the U.S. wanted to 
strengthen civil society in Syria, it would have to engage 
with the SARG.  Otherwise the effort would put civil society 
activists at risk and would not suceed. 
 
 
SECHE