WORLD MEDIA WATCH

Summaries are excerpted from the source articles; the featured article follows the summary section. 

1//International Herald Tribune, Paris
RUSSIAN PROPOSES NEW U.S. DIALOGUE [1]

Russia on Sunday proposed a new strategic dialogue with the United States with the aim of re-starting arms control talks and establishing closer cooperation in combating terrorism.  The proposals, outlined in a speech by Sergei Ivanov, Russia's deputy prime minister and a former defense minister, marked a shift in tone and content, compared with a speech last week by President Vladimir Putin and a speech Putin delivered at the Munich Security Conference here a year ago.  In both cases, Putin had spoken of a new arms race, laying the blame squarely on the United States, particularly its plans to base pieces of an anti-ballistic missile shield in Eastern Europe.  But Sunday, Ivanov, speaking in English in the presence of Robert Gates, the U.S. defense secretary, and scores of foreign and defense ministers, adopted a new style. He said Russia and the United States had a long tradition in dealing with security issues that should not be wasted. ... Complicating that relationship are the U.S. presidential election campaign - in which only Senator John McCain, the Republican front runner, has called for the United States and the Europeans to forge a united policy toward Russia - the Russian presidential elections of March 2 and the issue of Kosovo's independence. ... Ivanov's call for closer relations with the United States reflected a growing confidence by the Kremlin, diplomats at the conference said. Flush with cash from the high price of oil - Ivanov said Russia's goal and currency reserves were approaching almost $500 billion - the deputy prime minister said that he expected Russia's "influence on global processes to continue to grow, at least we hope."  Some participants at the conference said Russia was signaling to the United States that it was determined to be treated by Washington as an equal partner with super power status.

AN EXPANDED EXCERPT OF THIS FEATURED ARTICLE FOLLOWS THE SUMMARIES 

2//Gulfnews.com, United Arab Emirates
JUMBLATT WAR TALK RAISES TENSION [2]

Lebanon's ruling majority on Sunday escalated tension in the sharply divided country and raised the spectre of war.  Ahead of Thursday's anniversary of the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, which led to Lebanon's worst political crisis since the 1975-90 civil war, a leader of the ruling majority said they were ready for war.  Addressing the opposition, led by Hezbollah, Druze leader Walid Junblatt said in a televised speech: "You want anarchy? (We) welcome anarchy. You want war? (We) welcome war," adding to the cheers of supporters that he and his allies, led by Hariri's son Sa'ad, have "no problem with weapons and rockets."  His statement came three days after Sa'ad Hariri said Lebanon was in "direct confrontation" with Syria and Iran, both support Hezbollah. "If our fate is confrontation, then we are for it," he said.  Both men were seen as rallying their supporters to attend a rally on Thursday to mark the third anniversary of Rafik Hariri's assassination.  The opposition on Sunday said it will not be dragged into conflict with the majority. "Junblatt has lost his mind," MP Ebrahim Kanaan, a senior aide to Aoun told an Arab television news channel.  

3//Today's Zaman, Turkey
COURT UNLIKELY TO BLOCK SCARF REFORM [3]

The main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) is expected to go to the Constitutional Court today to challenge a parliamentary vote held on Saturday that adopted constitutional changes to allow the wearing of headscarves on university campuses, but it is unlikely that the court will nullify Saturday's vote, analysts say, as such a ruling would deal a harsh blow to the country's democracy. The constitutional reform package proposed by the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) received 411 "yes" votes on Saturday in the 550-seat legislature. The new legislation, which was backed by the opposition Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), needed 367 votes to pass.  The CHP claims the changes made to the Constitution's Articles 10 and 42 to allow the headscarf on campus contravene secularism, a founding principle of the Republic of Turkey which, under Article 2 of the Constitution, cannot be changed and the amendment of which cannot even be proposed.  If the Constitutional Court interprets the amendment vote in the same vein as the CHP, Turkey is more than likely to be dragged into political chaos. "If the Constitutional Court accepts the CHP's claims, our democracy will be rendered meaningless," explained AK Party parliamentary group deputy chairman Bekir Bozda?. If the court decides that the CHP's appeal can be reviewed in connection with another constitutional article, this would mean that the court is playing the role of legislator, he explained. In other words, the court's decision on the CHP appeal will be a test for Turkish democracy. ... Many fear that a Constitutional Court nullification of the headscarf change -- based on content -- might risk the government's plans to adopt an entirely new constitution, one that would place all civil rights and liberties under protection, to replace the current Turkish Constitution drafted some 25 years ago by generals after a military coup d'état.  

4//The Daily Times, Pakistan
BHUTTO SYMPATHY VOTE MAY BE KEY TO FEBRUARY 18 POLLS [4] 

The strength of a sympathy vote for assassinated Pakistan People's Party (PPP) chairwoman Benazir Bhutto in Punjab is likely to determine the result of the upcoming general election on February 18.  "Certainly there's a sympathy vote," PPP Punjab vice chairman Syed Yousaf Raza Gilani said. Half of the country's members of parliament would be elected from Punjab. "If there's a free, fair and transparent election the PPP will be number one," Gilani said at his house in Multan. Months of political turmoil and militant violence have raised worries about the stability of Pakistan.  Fear of violence has stifled election campaigning, especially after Benazir's murder on December 27 in an attack the government blamed on militants, and is also expected to hurt turnout in the election for a National Assembly and provincial assemblies. Opposition parties have also complained of rigging in favour of Musharraf's allies.  "She was very brave and gave Musharraf a tough time, which nobody else has dared to do. People should vote for her party," Punjab labourer Jumma Khan said of Benazir.  But it is inflation, power cuts and shortages of the staple flour and natural gas that could scupper the election hopes of the Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q), which has been ruling under Musharraf.  Benazir's party is expected to sweep rural areas of her home province of Sindh and split the vote in its capital, Karachi, with a pro-Musharraf party. 

5//The Guardian, UK
BUSH ORDERS CLAMPDOWN ON FLIGHTS TO US [5] 

The US administration is pressing the 27 governments of the European Union to sign up for a range of new security measures for transatlantic travel, including allowing armed guards on all flights from Europe to America by US airlines.  The demand to put armed air marshals on to the flights is part of a travel clampdown by the Bush administration that officials in Brussels described as "blackmail" and "troublesome", and could see US visas being introduced for west Europeans and Britons travelling to the US if their governments balk at the American requirements.  According to a US document being circulated for signature in European capitals, EU states would also need to supply personal data on all air passengers overflying but not landing in the US in order to gain or retain visa-free travel to America, senior EU officials said.  And within months the US department of homeland security is to impose a new permit system for Europeans flying to the US, compelling all travellers to apply online for permission to enter the country before booking or buying a ticket, a procedure that will take several days.  The data from the US's new electronic transport authorisation system is to be combined with extensive personal passenger details already being provided by EU countries to the US for the "profiling" of potential terrorists and assessment of other security risks.  Washington is also asking European airlines to provide personal data on non-travellers - for example family members - who are allowed beyond departure barriers to help elderly, young or ill passengers to board aircraft flying to America, a demand the airlines reject as "absurd". ... As part of a controversial passenger data exchange programme allegedly aimed at combating terrorism, the EU has for the past few months been supplying the American authorities with 19 items of information on every traveller flying from the EU to the US.  The new American demands go well beyond what was agreed under that passenger name record (PNR) system and look certain to cause disputes within Europe and between Europe and the US.

FEATURED ARTICLE 

1//International Herald Tribune, Paris    Published: February 10, 2008 [6] 

RUSSIAN  PROPOSES NEW U.S.L DIALOGUE

By Judy Dempsey 

MUNICH: Russia on Sunday proposed a new strategic dialogue with the United States with the aim of re-starting arms control talks and establishing closer cooperation in combating terrorism. 

The proposals, outlined in a speech by Sergei Ivanov, Russia's deputy prime minister and a former defense minister, marked a shift in tone and content, compared with a speech last week by President Vladimir Putin and a speech Putin delivered at the Munich Security Conference here a year ago. 

In both cases, Putin had spoken of a new arms race, laying the blame squarely on the United States, particularly its plans to base pieces of an anti-ballistic missile shield in Eastern Europe. 

But Sunday, Ivanov, speaking in English in the presence of Robert Gates, the U.S. defense secretary, and scores of foreign and defense ministers, adopted a new style. He said Russia and the United States had a long tradition in dealing with security issues that should not be wasted. 

"I am firmly convinced that making use of the Russia-American strategic heritage as a ground for creating a modern, open collective security system, also in Europe, represents a reasonable alternative to unilateral destruction of its potential," Ivanov said. 

In particular, he said SALT 1 - the Strategic Arms Limitation Talks - should be replaced by a program "capable at ensuring the highest possible predictability" and that it should be legally binding. Over time, Ivanov added, the reduction of strategic weapons should move to the multilateral level as more countries obtain such weapons: "As I see it, this is precisely an area of international relations where Russia and the United States not merely could, but are directly obliged to show leadership." 

Ivanov, who is now responsible for overseeing the modernization of the economy, also said the United States and Russia were making headway in including more countries in the Global Initiative to Combat Nuclear Terrorism. Russia, he said, also intended to delay a draft treaty on the non-militarization of space at the Conference on Disarmament talks in Geneva. 

But he also indicated that Russia would start participating again in the Conventional Armed Forces in Europe Treaty, after it pulled out of it two months ago. That treaty, which includes the United States, Europe and the countries of the former Soviet Union, is considered a cornerstone of European security. The softer tone, which surprised many of the participants, came at a crucial juncture in relations between Russia and the United States. 

Complicating that relationship are the U.S. presidential election campaign - in which only Senator John McCain, the Republican front runner, has called for the United States and the Europeans to forge a united policy toward Russia - the Russian presidential elections of March 2 and the issue of Kosovo's independence. 

Kosovo is expected to declare independence from Serbia soon, a move that will be recognized by the United States and most of Europe. Ivanov, repeating Putin's warnings, said independence, which is opposed by Serbia, would open a "Pandora's box" in the region. 

But the Kremlin has failed to put forward any concrete alternatives to breaking the deadlock between Serbia and Kosovo, except to continue negotiations. 

Ivanov's call for closer relations with the United States reflected a growing confidence by the Kremlin, diplomats at the conference said. Flush with cash from the high price of oil - Ivanov said Russia's goal and currency reserves were approaching almost $500 billion - the deputy prime minister said that he expected Russia's "influence on global processes to continue to grow, at least we hope." 

Some participants at the conference said Russia was signaling to the United States that it was determined to be treated by Washington as an equal partner with super power status. 

(MORE) 

Copyright 2008, Gloria R. Lalumia

WORLD MEDIA WATCH 

WORLD MEDIA WATCH 

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