CODEL MATHIAS MEETING WITH SYRIAN VICE

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90B01390R000700910014-8
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 2
• Document Creation Date: December 27, 2016
• Document Release Date: December 14, 2010
• Sequence Number: 14
• Publication Date: February 20, 1986
• Content Type: CABLE

Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/10/24: CIA-RDP90BO139OR000700910014-8
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E.O. 12356: DECL: OADR
TAGS: OREP, KPAL, PLO, PREL, UNSC, IS, JO, SY
SUBJECT: CODEL MATHIAS MEETING WITH SYRIAN VICE
ISSUES. KHADDAM DOWNPLAYED THE VALUE OF HAVING ANYONE
AT THE TABLE IF THE PALESTINIANS SEE "TRENDS AGAINST
SUCH REPRESENTATIVES."
9. SENATOR MATHIAS OBSERVED THAT SYRIA'S CONCEPT OF
A CONFERENCE APPEARED TO INVOLVE MANY PRECONDITIONS.
RARELY. HE SAID, DOES HE ENTER A MEETING KNOWING
ITS RESULT AND OFTEN IT IS POSSIBLE FOR A CHEMISTRY
TO DEVELOP TO FACILITATE AN AGREEMENT. THUS, THE
EFFORT TO START A CONFERENCE IS WORTHWHILE, WITHOUT
FOCUSSING ON HEAVY PRECONDITIONS. KHADDAM ACKNOWLEDGED
THAT THE U.S. HAD TRIED THIS APPROACH WITH CAMP DAVID
AND ADMITTED THAT RESULTS HAD BEEN ACHIEVED. BUT IT
IS DIFFICULT, HE SAID, TO REPEAT THE SADAT PROCESS
IN THE ARAB WORLD. IF THE RESULTS ARE NOT CLEAR,
THERE IS NO POSSIBILITY FOR "US" TO HOLD AN INTER-
NATIONAL CONFERENCE, ALTHOUGH OF COURSE A CONFERENCE
COULD BE HELD RESULTING IN A MEANINGLESS AGREEMENT.
10. IN THIS SCENARIO, HE CONTINUED, THE PALESTINIANS
WILL CONTINUE TO STRUGGLE. AS WELL AS SYRIA. THUS
TENSIONS WILL REMAIN. HE ARGUED THAT THERE ARE ONLY
TWO BASIC POWERS IN THE MIDDLE EAST. ISRAEL AND
SYRIA.
JORDAN AND ARAFAT ARE NOT
PART OF THE POWER BALANCES. "THE ONLY PEACE IS ONE
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/10/24: CIA-RDP90BO139OR000700910014-8
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WHICH WILL BE MADE BY SYRIA AND ISRAEL." WHETHER OR
NOT JORDAN OR ARAFAT SIGN WILL NOT INFLUENCE EVENTS.
KHADDAM SAID JORDAN IS DIFFERENT FROM EGYPT--THE
EGYPTIANS ARE SLOW PEOPLE, WHEREAS THE JORDANIANS,
WHO ARE TWO-THIRDS PALESTINIAN, ARE NOT AND WILL MOVE
QUICKLY IF THEIR GOVERNMENT GETS EMBROILED IN THE
PEACE PROCESS.
11. MATHIAS ACKNOWLEDGED THAT SYRIA WAS IMPORTANT AND
SAID THAT THERE WERE NOT ENOUGH PEOPLE IN THE U.S.
WHO UNDERSTOOD THE ROLE OF SYRIA AND THE IMPORTANCE
OF ITS PARTICIPATION AND SUPPORT. KHADDAM REPLIED
THAT WITHOUT SYRIA, NOTHING CAN TAKE PLACE IN THE
REGION. NO ONE, INCLUDING ISRAEL, EGYPT OR THE U.S.,
CAN IMPOSE ANYTHING ON THE REGION WITHOUT SYRIA'S
ASSENT. MATHIAS TOLD KHADDAM THIS IMPOSES A HEAVY
RESPONSIBILITY ON SYRIA TO SEEK A SETTLEMENT.
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THE U.S. IS NOT A FAIR ARBITER
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12. KHADDAM AGREED, SAYING SYRIA WANTS A GENUINE
SETTLEMENT, BUT THE IDEAS BEING PROPOSED NOW ARE NOT
GENUINE; THEY ARE TO DEPRIVE THE ARABS OF THEIR
RIGHTS. READING PRESIDENT REAGAN'S STATEMENTS CLOSELY.
COUPLED WITH OVERALL U.S. POLICY, SYRIA SEES ONLY
PROTECTION FOR ISRAEL AND ITS INTERESTS. A FRESH
EXAMPLE IS THE HIJACKING OF AN AIRPLANE CARRYING
SYRIAN VIPS, IN VIOLATION OF EVERY INTERNATIONAL LAW
AND REGULATION. YET THE U.S. VETOES A UNSC RESOLUTION.
WHY? IS IT A CRIME OR NOT? SENATOR MATHIAS SAID THE
ISRAELIS HAD ACKNOWLEDGED THEIR MISTAKE. KHADDAM
SAID THAT THE U.S. RESORT TO THE VETO COVERS THE
ISRAELI ACTION AND IMBUES IT WITH JUSTICE.
13. THUS, HE CONTINUED, THE U.S. IS NOT QUALIFIED
ANY MORE TO ACT IN A PEACE SETTLEMENT, WHICH MUST
BE DONE BY A PARTY AT EQUAL DISTANCE FROM ALL SIDES.
HE BEMOANED THE FACT THAT THE U.S. "DOES NOT SPEAK
FOR ITS OWN INTERESTS" AND IS NOT NEUTRAL.
14. SENATOR MATHIAS SAID NO PARTY IS NEUTRAL, BUT
PRESIDENT REAGAN'S SEPTEMBER 1982 PROPOSALS PLUS
THE CAMP DAVID FORMULA ADDRESS THE MIDDLE EAST ISSUE
WITH FAIRNESS. KHADDAM DISAGREED, LABELING THE CAMP
DAVID ACCORDS AS A GREAT CALAMITY, THE PROOF OF WHICH
IS THE STRING OF CALAMITIES--THE LEBANON INVASIONS,
ARMS BUILDUP, GREATER SUPERPOWER INVOLVEMENT,
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Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/10/24: CIA-RDP90B01390R000700910014-8