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World Media Watch
by Gloria R. Lalumia
BUZZFLASH NOTE: Once again, these are the views and perspectives of the individual papers, not of BuzzFlash or Gloria. They offer BuzzFlash readers a way of reading what other nations are saying about the crisis, whether we like it or not. We repeat: This is not an endorsement of their viewpoints.
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1//The Turkish Daily News, Turkey--POLICE ON ALERT ON POSSIBLE ATTACK AGAINST IRAQ (The Police Directorate has sent instructions to all of its local branches and ordered them to take "maximum security measures" in preparation for a possible U.S.-led war on Iraq...Security measures will be intensified especially in those neighborhoods where foreign diplomatic missions, foreign-owned companies, residents of foreigners are located.)
2//The Independent, UK--THE PRIME MINISTER RETURNS FROM THE US WITH A NEW CAUSE FOR WAR: THE IRAQI DISRUPTION OF INSPECTORS (It will form a centrepiece to the case which Tony Blair will make during a critical meeting with the French President, Jacques Chirac, on Tuesday. The French view is that while there are weapons inspectors in Iraq, there is hope of progress towards disarmament, and no need for war. Mr Blair thinks he can persuade them that the issue is not whether the inspectors can uncover the weapons, but whether they are being helped or obstructed by the Iraqis.)
3//Al Bawaba, Unidentifed ME Country--MEES: US CLAIM THAT IRAQ IS BOOBY-TRAPPING OIL WELLS IS BASELESS (There is no evidence to support the American claim that the regime of Saddam Hussein has wired Iraqi oilfields, planning to set them ablaze should the country be invaded by US-led forces, according to the Cyprus-based Middle East Economic Survey...Unlike the situation in 1990, when the Iraqis set ablaze the Kuwaiti oilfields, the MEES emphasizes that the Iraqi oilfields are currently not only in operation but are also staffed with civilian employees of foreign as well as local companies.)
4//Asia Times Online, Hong Kong--KIRKUK: MAD RACE FOR A 10BN-BARREL PRIZE (However, in the short and long run Baghdad may not be the city of greatest unpredictability in any US campaign. One of the potentially hottest spots could be the northern oil-rich and historically controversial city of Kirkuk. Not only might this city witness a mad dash on the part of the Turks, the Americans and the Kurds, it could also face internal clashes as ethnic groups take the chance to settle old scores. This chaos could provide an opportune pretext for neighboring Turkey to step up its involvement, covertly or otherwise.)
5//Khaleej Times, United Arab Emirates--FRESH ATTACKS ON UN IN AFGHANISTAN (A United Nations demining team was beaten and robbed in western Afghanistan and other UN employees had their vehicle stolen just south of Kabul in the latest in a series of attacks on the organisation, a spokesman said on Sunday... Silva said the incidents underlined the continuing instability in Afghanistan after 23 years of war. "The security is not yet stable, we have episodes of violence ranging from inter-factional fighting to crime, terrorism and that is a concern.)
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1//The
Turkish Daily News 1 February 2003
http://www.turkishdailynews.com/FrTDN/latest/for.htm#f3
POLICE ON ALERT ON POSSIBLE ATTACK AGAINST IRAQ
Ankara - The Police Directorate has sent instructions to all of its local branches and ordered them to take "maximum security measures" in preparation for a possible U.S.-led war on Iraq.
Some 2,000 police officers have been assigned to watch and guard some 4,000 spots in Ankara deemed to be "sensitive" after the instructions had been sent to local offices.
The instructions were listed in a circular which have been also conveyed to governor's offices in all provinces. Security measures will be intensified especially in those neighborhoods where foreign diplomatic missions, foreign-owned companies, residents of foreigners are located.
The circular said terrorist attacks could take place against these targets during or prior to a possible war on Iraq.
(MORE)
2//The Independent 02 February 2003
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/politics/story.jsp?story=374838
THE PRIME MINISTER RETURNS FROM THE US WITH A NEW CAUSE FOR WAR:
THE
IRAQI DISRUPTION OF INSPECTORS
By Andy McSmith
The United Nations weapons inspectors in Iraq live in the kind of hunted atmosphere that Western visitors to the Soviet Union endured during the Cold War, according to a document now circulating in Whitehall.
They are outnumbered 200-1 in a battle of wits against one of the world's most feared intelligence services, as they pursue the near-impossible task of hunting for illegal weaponry in a country the size of France. Before they even set foot in Baghdad, Iraqi intelligence runs a check on them. In Iraq, they have had their phone calls monitored and their meeting rooms bugged.
The document goes on: "The Iraqis disrupt their work and daily lives by staging demonstrations wherever they go and having stooges make threatening approaches to inspectors. The whole effect is one of intimidation."
This graphic language is to be found in a Downing Street briefing paper, reputed to have been written personally by the Prime Minister's alter ego, Alastair Campbell. It will form a centrepiece to the case which Tony Blair will make during a critical meeting with the French President, Jacques Chirac, on Tuesday.
The French view is that while there are weapons inspectors in Iraq, there is hope of progress towards disarmament, and no need for war. Mr Blair thinks he can persuade them that the issue is not whether the inspectors can uncover the weapons, but whether they are being helped or obstructed by the Iraqis.
(MORE)
3//Al Bawaba February 02, 2003
http://www.albawaba.com/headlines/TheNews.php3?action=story&sid=240951&lang=e&dir=
MEES: US CLAIM THAT IRAQ IS BOOBY-TRAPPING OIL WELLS IS BASELESS
There is no evidence to support the American claim that the regime of Saddam Hussein has wired Iraqi oilfields, planning to set them ablaze should the country be invaded by US-led forces, according to the Cyprus-based Middle East Economic Survey.
US military intelligence reports indicated that Iraq is likely to torch its 1,500 oil wells, two thirds of which are located in southern Iraq and the rest in its north. Such a move is hoped by the Iraqis to mislead US precision-guided missiles. The Iraqi government has strongly refuted these allegations as American propaganda.
Unlike the situation in 1990, when the Iraqis set ablaze the Kuwaiti oilfields, the MEES emphasizes that the Iraqi oilfields are currently not only in operation but are also staffed with civilian employees of foreign as well as local companies.
Moreover, United Nations inspectors enjoy free access to Iraq's oilfields, and it is hardly likely that such an immense undertaking as the booby-trapping of hundreds of Iraqi oil wells would have gone unnoticed during their frequent visits, the MEES asserted.
(MORE)
4//Asia Times Online February 1, 2003
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/EB01Ak03.html
KIRKUK: MAD RACE FOR A 10BN-BARREL PRIZE
By Ian Urbina
There has been a lot of speculation about the potential for bloody house-to-house fighting that could ensue in Baghdad in the event of an American invasion. Over the past several weeks, many within Washington's military circles have argued over whether the best approach would be to blitz the city with overwhelming force prefaced by heavy aerial bombing, or whether instead to encircle the city and strangle it into submission by way of tank-patrolled quarantine. Either scenario would likely entail severe civilian loss and dire humanitarian consequences, and both run the risk of a rash response from the most loyal of the Iraqi forces as they are backed into a corner.
However, in the short and long run Baghdad may not be the city of greatest unpredictability in any US campaign. One of the potentially hottest spots could be the northern oil-rich and historically controversial city of Kirkuk. Not only might this city witness a mad dash on the part of the Turks, the Americans and the Kurds, it could also face internal clashes as ethnic groups take the chance to settle old scores. This chaos could provide an opportune pretext for neighboring Turkey to step up its involvement, covertly or otherwise.
Part of the interest in Kirkuk is its oil. The city, located in northern Mosul province about 250 kilometers north of Baghdad near the foot of the Zagros Mountains, sits atop more than 10 billion barrels of proven reserves. One of the country's two leading oil sites, the wells at Kirkuk currently produce up to 1 million barrels a day.
With these reserves comes a slate of concerns for the Pentagon. Clearly, military planners are extremely eager to ensure that when the dust settles no one other than the American forces have control of these wells. But their more immediate worry is the potential for catastrophic oil fires. The fear is that Iraqi troops may engage in a slash-and-burn approach in which they are instructed to detonate Iraqi rigs and set wells aflame.
(MORE)
5//Khaleej Times 2 February 2003. 1 Zul Hijjah, 1423.
http://www.khaleejtimes.co.ae/subcont.htm#storyg
FRESH ATTACKS ON UN IN AFGHANISTAN
KABUL (AFP) - A United Nations demining team was beaten and robbed in western Afghanistan and other UN employees had their vehicle stolen just south of Kabul in the latest in a series of attacks on the organisation, a spokesman said on Sunday. UN spokesman Manoel de Almeida e Silva said members of a UN demining team were attacked by a gang armed with rifles as they were returning to their base in the western province of Farah on Monday. \
"About 10 men armed with Kalashnikovs jumped in the back of their pickup truck and forced them to drive about three kilometres up the main road. No shots were fired. "They were then beaten and then robbed of personal possessions, money and some clothes," Silva added. He said they were held for several hours before the men drove off. "The staff then started walking on foot towards the main road and found their vehicle stuck in a ravine. They were not hurt in this incident."
Separately, two employees of the UN's World Food Programme (WFP)
were stopped by armed gunman as they were driving near Sheikabad,
some 50 kilometres south of Kabul on Thursday.
(SNIP)
The incidents follow two attacks last Sunday, also apparently targeting UN buildings and vehicles. In the northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif, where tensions between rival warlords run high despite a UN-backed disarmament process, a bomb exploded on the roof of an unoccupied UN office, causing damage but no casualties. Just hours earlier, a shooting spree in western Nangarhar province ended with an attack on a UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) convoy in which two Afghan security guards were killed.
The attack has led to a suspension of UNHCR projects in the area, denying vital relief to thousands of Afghans. Silva said the incidents underlined the continuing instability in Afghanistan after 23 years of war. "The security is not yet stable, we have episodes of violence ranging from inter-factional fighting to crime, terrorism and that is a concern.
(SNIP)
Last week the UN's special envoy to Afghanistan Lakhdar Brahimi told the UN Security Council that support for the former ruling Taleban militia, ousted in 2001 by an international military campaign, was reemerging. "We continue to hear worrying reports that support for the remnants of the Taleban may be growing in some areas of Afghanistan," he said.
His comments came as US troops in southern Afghanistan scoured a cave complex believed to be a base for Taleban-linked extremists. And in the nearby southern city of Kandahar on Friday, a landmine also blamed on anti-government forces killed nine bus passengers.
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© 2003, Gloria R. Lalumia, insight@zianet.com
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