Viewing cable 10STATE17894, DEMARCHE: CONTINUED CONCERN OVER SYRIAN SUPPORT

Viewing cable 10STATE17894, DEMARCHE: CONTINUED CONCERN OVER SYRIAN SUPPORT

 

Reference ID	Created	Released	Classification	Origin
10STATE17894	2010-02-26 00:12	2010-12-06 21:09	SECRET	Secretary of State

S E C R E T STATE 017894 

SIPDIS 

EO 12958 DECL: 02/25/2020 
TAGS PREL, PGOV, PTER, MASS, IS, LE, SY 

SUBJECT: DEMARCHE: CONTINUED CONCERN OVER SYRIAN SUPPORT 
TO HIZBALLAH

REF: A) 2009 STATE 129636

Classified By: NEA A/S Jeffrey D. Feltman for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d)

¶1. (U) This is an action request. Please see paragraph four.

Summary
------- 

¶2. (S) We previously demarched Britain, France, and Turkey on 

our increasing concerns over Syria’s continued provision of 

advanced weapons to Hizballah (Ref A). In London, Paris and 

Ankara the demarches were taken seriously and all governments 

pledged to raise their concern with Syrian officials. French 

diplomats noted that they routinely deliver the same message

to the Syrians, but that Damascus denies involvement. This

issue now needs to be reinforced with these governments and

brought to the attention of Saudi Arabia, Jordan, and Qatar.

Under Secretary Burns visited Damascus on February 17 and 

stressed U.S. concerns about weapons transfers to Hizballah 

directly with Syrian President Bashar Asad, who bluntly 

stated that he knew of no new weapons systems going to

Hizballah. In light of disturbing and weighty evidence to 

the contrary -- that Syria currently provides Hizballah with

advanced ballistic missiles and other weaponry -- we want

France, Britain, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, and Qatar 

to make a renewed push to echo our concerns with Syria,

given that Syria continues to ignore warnings that its

transfers of advanced surface-to-surface and surface-to-air

weapons to Hizballah could jeopardize prospects for an 

agreement with Israel or spark a conflict significantly 

more destructive than the 2006 Israel-Hizballah war. Syria’s

actions clearly jeopardize regional stability and could

risk drawing Damascus into any future war between Israel

and Hizballah.

¶3. (S) The Syrian leadership views military support to

Hizballah as integral to Syria’s security and as a 

bargaining chip in its negotiations with Israel over 

the return of the Golan Heights, as well as a possible

stick to bring the Israelis back to the table. While our

commitment to principled engagement with Syria -- as 

demonstrated by Under Secretary Burns’ recent visit -- 

remains strong, we must enlist additional French, British,

Turkish, Saudi, Jordanian, and Qatari support to help 

dissuade Syria from expanding its ties to Hizballah any 

further, especially via the transfer of additional 

sophisticated weaponry.

Objectives
---------- 

¶4. (S/REL FRANCE, BRITAIN, TURKEY, SAUDI ARABIA, JORDAN,

AND QATAR) Drawing on paragraphs 2 and 3 for context, we

request that Embassies in Paris, London, Ankara, Riyadh,

Amman, and Doha pursue the following objectives with senior

French, British, Turkish, Saudi, Jordanian, and Qatari 

officials at the highest appropriate levels.
-- Highlight that Under Secretary Burns visited Damascus

on February 17 as part of our ongoing engagement with 

Syria. Reiterate our commitment to sustained, principled

engagement with Syria. We plan to continue our dialogue 

with Syria and look forward to the arrival of our new ambassador

in Damascus once the confirmation process is complete.
-- Stress that in addition to discussing bilateral issues of 

mutual interest, Under Secretary Burns conveyed to President

Asad a number of our priority concerns with Syria, 

specifically cross-border weapons smuggling into Lebanon

destined for Hizballah.
-- Note that in response, Asad claimed that Syria could 

not be Israel’s policeman and that he knew of no new weapons

systems being smuggled from Syria to Hizballah.
-- Underscore that, contrary to President Asad’s statements,

we are aware of current Syrian efforts to supply ballistic

missiles to Hizballah.
-- We also note President Asad’s recent comments -- during 

a February 25 joint press conference with his Iranian counterpart

-- that support for Hizballah was a “moral and legal duty.”
-- Express deep concern that Syria’s expanding military ties 

to Hizballah, including the supply of ballistic missiles to

Hizballah, jeopardize regional prospects for peace and 

stability. Specifically, Syrian transfers of increasingly 

sophisticated weaponry risk renewed conflict between Israel

and Hizballah that may expand, unlike in 2006, into Syria.
-- Convey that arms shipments to Hizballah -- especially 

ballistic missiles -- increasingly undermine Israel’s 

confidence in Syria’s willingness and ability to deliver

peace and diminish the value of an eventual Syrian-Israeli

accord, as Hizballah will not return the weapons it has

already received.
-- Underscore that the next report on Security Council 

resolution 1701 will be discussed on March 12. Full 

implementation of Security Council resolution 1701, 

including the arms embargo and weapons-free zone, remains

a priority for the United States. In light of the upcoming 

report, it is especially important to stress that Syria’s

actions constitute serious violations of Security Council

resolution 1701 -- which will be taken seriously by the 

international community -- and belie its claims to respect

Lebanon’s sovereignty.
-- Express our appreciation for your host government’s 

support on the critical issue of Syrian weapons transfers 

to Hizballah and note that we hope to continue our cooperation

to prevent serious miscalculations by the Syrian government.
-- Share the following S/REL FRANCE, BRITAIN, TURKEY, SAUDI

ARABIA, JORDAN, QATAR text verbatim:
(Begin releasable text.)
We would like to convey to you that we have information

indicating that Syria is providing increasingly sophisticated

weapons to Hizballah, including from its own military stocks.
For example, we assess that Syria has provided or will provided 

guided short range ballistic missiles to Hizballah that could

target two-thirds of Israel, including Tel Aviv, from launch

sites north of the Litani.
Our information also indicates that Syria has made advanced

surface to air missile systems available to Hizballah and 

has probably provided training on these systems to Hizballah

personnel.
(End releasable text.)
-- Urge France, Britain, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, and 

Qatar to raise these concerns once again in their dialogue

with senior Syrian officials. We do not want to undermine 

our collective outreach to Syria. However, we are increasingly

concerned that the Syrian government is making a strategic 

miscalculation by incorrectly assuming that increasing 

Hizballah’s military capability concomitantly bolsters Syria’s 

security and strength at the negotiating table with Israel, 

when the opposite is more likely to be true.
-- Syria’s desire for a deterrent against Israeli military

action -- presumably a motivation for the transfer of

ballistic missiles to Hizballah -- is not producing a 

stable deterrent because there are no mechanisms to prevent

unanticipated escalation. Not having control over 

Hizballah’s missiles increases the risk of this danger.
-- Emphasize that Syria’s actions risk derailing our 

common efforts to bring peace to the region.
-- Note that we are raising our concerns with Syrian 

officials in Damascus and with the Syrian Ambassador 

here in Washington.
-- Also note our continuing strong commitment and support 

to the full implementation of resolutions 1747 and 1701, 

encouraging France, Britain, and Turkey to stress their 

continuing support for the full implementation of 

resolution 1701 -- in its entirety (including the arms

embargo and weapons free zone) -- with senior Syrian

officials.
-- These are U.S. concerns. We are not carrying somebody

else’s “water” on this issue.
-- (For Turkey) Express that we greatly appreciate 

Turkey’s continued efforts to combat weapons smuggling.

As conveyed by Under Secretary Burns when he was in 

Ankara on February 18, we urge Turkey to use its close

ties with Damascus to underscore the repercussions that

Syria’s continued provision of weapons to Hizballah has

for regional stability and the broader goal of Middle 

East peace. We hope that Turkey will leverage its influence 

with Syria on this crucial issue.

Reporting Deadline
------------------ 

¶5. (SBU) Embassies are requested to report the results

of this demarche to Syria desk officer Andrew Abell and 

Lebanon desk officer John Duchak by March 3, 2010. CLINTON

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