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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//Arab News, Saudi Arabia--EXCLUSIVE: 'BAATH WILL SURVIVE' SADDAM'S DOWNFALL (The Jordanian Baath Party is alive and well in Amman, and has ties to all Baath parties in the region - including Iraq...Arab News asked the big question: What will happen to the party if Saddam is removed? "This party is bigger than any one individual," Al-Himsei insisted. "If Saddam goes, there are a million more Saddams willing and able to take his place".)
2//The Moscow Times, Russia--KREMLIN SOFTENS ITS ANTIWAR RHETORIC (With U.S.-led forces reaching the outskirts of Baghdad, the Kremlin is softening its staunch opposition to the war in what analysts say is an indication Moscow wants to mend frayed relations with Washington and, perhaps, win a spot for Russian companies in postwar Iraq..."In solving any problems of a global character, including crisis situations, we have always cooperated, are cooperating and will cooperate with the United States." Putin emphasized the importance of the U.S. economy for Russia, saying trade turnover in 2002 was $9.2 billion and was expected to approach $10 billion this year.)
3//The Independent, UK--HOW THE DEAFENING NOISE OF WAR 'BURIED' LABOUR'S BAD NEWS (A controversial minister hands Labour the biggest donation in its history, another party donor is in the frame to win a multimillion-pound vaccine deal, long-awaited figures show up to £5bn in benefits are unclaimed and the taxpayer is forced to bail out MPs' pensions to the tune f £25m. In any normal fortnight it would be the stuff of political rows, opposition outrage, banner headlines and drama. But with British troops in action in Iraq, the usual hostilities in Westminster are suspended.)
4//Asia Times Online, Hong Kong--IRANIAN REFORMISTS FALL IN LINE
WITH HARDLINERS (A change is creeping into the urban middle classes
in cities such as Tehran, Esfehan and the historic southern city
Shiraz. The rich in these cities have traditionally been apolitical.
But as the war claims more casualties, and turns uglier than anyone
could have imagined two weeks ago, people dining out in the most
elegant restaurants complain now of the evils of the export of US
democracy. If the United States had a following in these classes
over the years, it is likely to have lost much of it in the past
two weeks...)
5//Philippine Daily Inquirer, Philippines--PRESIDENT DECLARES TOTAL
WAR ON TERROR (President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo declared "total
war on terrorism" Thursday after unidentified men bombed three
mosques in the main southern city of Davao were bombed and attacked
a fourth with automatic rifle fire. The mosque attacks had no reported
casualties. They came less than six hours after a bombing littered
the Sasa wharf in Davao City with dead bodies on Wednesday night...National
Security Adviser Roilo Golez said on radio the President's declaration
would allow the military to assist the police in tracking down
the suspected bombers.)
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1//Arab
News Friday, April 04, 2003 / 2 Safar 1424
http://www.arabnews.com/Article.asp?ID=24723
EXCLUSIVE: 'BAATH WILL SURVIVE' SADDAM'S DOWNFALL
Mohammed Alkhereiji, Arab News War Correspondent
AMMAN, 4 April 2003 - The Jordanian Baath Party is alive and well in Amman, and has ties to all Baath parties in the region - including Iraq.
Arab News spoke to Tayseer Al-Himsei, the party's secretary general, at the Amman basement office of the party.
"We are a branch of the Baath Party which was founded in 1947, and we were here long before it was ever established in Iraq," he said.
The Baath Party grew from an underground movement and was officially established in Damascus in the 1940s.
Al-Himsei said the Jordanian Baath Party is tied to its counterpart in Iraq by the same ideology and vision.
"But there are no official exchanges with our Iraqi counterparts, and we do not have any influence on their decision-making process. The Jordanian Baath Party is only a political party and is not involved in any military operations," he added.
The Jordanian party's activities focus on Iraq and the occupation of Palestine.
(SNIP)
While on the Arab streets everywhere there is call for jihad and for volunteers to join the war in Iraq, the Jordanian Baath Party is not allowed to do so. "Here in Jordan, we are not permitted to, but the Baath Party in Lebanon is recruiting people for the resistance against the invaders," he said.
(SNIP)
Arab News asked the big question: What will happen to the party if Saddam is removed?
"This party is bigger than any one individual," Al-Himsei insisted. "If Saddam goes, there are a million more Saddams willing and able to take his place".
2//The Moscow Times Friday, Apr. 4, 2003. Page
http://www.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2003/04/04/001.html
KREMLIN SOFTENS ITS ANTIWAR RHETORIC
By Simon Saradzhyan and Simon Ostrovsky
Staff Writers
With U.S.-led forces reaching the outskirts of Baghdad, the Kremlin is softening its staunch opposition to the war in what analysts say is an indication Moscow wants to mend frayed relations with Washington and, perhaps, win a spot for Russian companies in postwar Iraq.
"For political and economic considerations, Russia is not interested in the defeat of the United States," President Vladimir Putin told reporters in the provincial city of Tambov on Wednesday.
Putin did not elaborate, but he continued to toe the softer line Thursday, saying Russia will still cooperate with the United States despite differences over Iraq.
"In the political sense, the United States and Russia are the biggest nuclear powers in the world, and the special responsibility for the protection of international peace rests upon us," he told reporters, who were hastily called late Thursday to his suburban residence of Novo-Ogaryovo, The Associated Press reported.
"In solving any problems of a global character, including crisis situations, we have always cooperated, are cooperating and will cooperate with the United States." Putin emphasized the importance of the U.S. economy for Russia, saying trade turnover in 2002 was $9.2 billion and was expected to approach $10 billion this year.
The Foreign Ministry, however, did not tone down its strong criticism of the war to match Putin's rhetoric. Ahead of a meeting earlier Thursday with U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell in Brussels, Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov reiterated his demands that the crisis be returned to the United Nations.
(SNIP)
Alexei Malashenko, a political analyst at the Moscow Carnegie Center, said Putin can no longer afford to sit on the fence as U.S.-led forces inch closer toward ousting Saddam Hussein's regime.
Viktor Kremenyuk, deputy director of the Russian Academy of Sciences' USA and Canada Institute, agreed. "This is a clear shift in Kremlin rhetoric ... [showing] that the endgame is near in Iraq and it is time to try to mend relations," he said.
(MORE)
3//The Independent 03 April 2003
http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/politics/story.jsp?story=393445
HOW THE DEAFENING NOISE OF WAR 'BURIED' LABOUR'S BAD NEWS
By Nigel Morris and Ben Russell
A controversial minister hands Labour the biggest donation in its history, another party donor is in the frame to win a multimillion-pound vaccine deal, long-awaited figures show up to £5bn in benefits are unclaimed and the taxpayer is forced to bail out MPs' pensions to the tune f £25m.
In any normal fortnight it would be the stuff of political rows, opposition outrage, banner headlines and drama. But with British troops in action in Iraq, the usual hostilities in Westminster are suspended.
Yesterday Tony Blair faced calls to get back to his desk and deal with domestic issues. Paul Tyler, the Liberal Democrats' Commons leader, said: "Now that even the Pentagon is talking in terms of months of war, Mr Blair must surely deal with some of the urgent issues at home."
Thursday 20 March
On the first full day of war, the Department of Transport makes an
embarrassing U-turn in restoring to police forces the power to
install hidden speed cameras. It had originally agreed to calls
from motoring organisations to paint the cameras yellow, but safety
campaigners objected.
Friday 21 March
Controversial plans to "name and shame" racist employers
are released with little fanfare. Downing Street had feared that
the proposals would look anti-business.
Monday 24 March
The Government announces that the taxpayer will have to rescue the
parliamentary pension fund after it crashed to a £25m deficit,
ensuring MPs do not have to endure the deprivation facing millions
of other employees. At any other time, that would have been the
cue for a traditional political row, played out in newspaper column
inches and radio phone-ins across the country. This time, nothing.
(MORE)
4//Asia Times Online April 4, 2003
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/ED04Ak03.html
IRANIAN REFORMISTS FALL IN LINE WITH HARDLINERS
By Ramin Mostaqim
Inter Press Service
(SNIP)
Pro-reform newspapers such as the Yas-e-Nou and Hambastqi had begun
to talk early of a post-Saddam Hussein regime and champion Ahmed
Chalabi, the US-based leader of the Iraqi National Congress. Now,
they do not want to bet on the future of the likes of Chalabi.
A change is creeping into the urban middle classes in cities such as Tehran, Esfehan and the historic southern city Shiraz. The rich in these cities have traditionally been apolitical. But as the war claims more casualties, and turns uglier than anyone could have imagined two weeks ago, people dining out in the most elegant restaurants complain now of the evils of the export of US democracy.
If the United States had a following in these classes over the years, it is likely to have lost much of it in the past two weeks. The government has been active in encouraging demonstrations against the war. Many thousands have joined protests, in which men are separated from women.
But opposition to US President George W Bush does not always mean the same thing as support for Saddam. A leader announced at one demonstration that people must express solidarity with the "oppressed people of Basra, and curse Bush, Saddam and Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon". The attendance at these demonstrations is telling. The demonstrators have included well-connected civil servants, soldiers in uniform and women dressed in black.
Political leaders talk of Iran's "active neutrality" in the Iraq war. That means in effect taking a strong line against the US without getting involved. Dissident leader Ayatollah Montazeri, who was released from house arrest two months ago, has asked people to remain impartial in a war "between two equal evils".
(SNIP)
Iran is seeing unexpected contradictions. Traditional Muslims have begun to distance themselves from the strict official interpretation of Shi'ite Islam for some time now. On the other hand, moderate and reform-minded people are taking the stand of the hardliners.
5//Philippine Daily Inquirer Posted: 11:50 PM (Manila Time) | Apr.
03, 2003
http://www.inq7.net/nat/2003/apr/04/nat_1-1.htm
After Attacks on Davao Mosques
PRESIDENT DECLARES TOTAL WAR ON TERROR
Inquirer News Service
Wharf death toll reached 16
PRESIDENT Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo declared "total war on terrorism" Thursday after unidentified men bombed three mosques in the main southern city of Davao were bombed and attacked a fourth with automatic rifle fire.
The mosque attacks had no reported casualties. They came less than six hours after a bombing littered the Sasa wharf in Davao City with dead bodies on Wednesday night.
The death toll from the wharf bombing reached 16 when a victim died while being treated at a government-run hospital. The number of injured was also updated to 55.
National Security Adviser Roilo Golez said on radio the President's declaration would allow the military to assist the police in tracking down the suspected bombers.
The military could help the police conduct "a crackdown with checkpoints and visibility patrols," he said, but stressed, "We are not going to violate the rights of the public."
Justice Secretary Simeon Datumanong said the President's declaration was part of the executive function of the President. "She can call the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) in to suppress violence, to prevent the recurrence of what had happened," he said.
"No rights are suspended under a state of lawlessness. Under this, the AFP is called upon to suppress lawless violence to protect persons and properties," Datumanong added.
Armed Forces vice chief of staff Lieutenant General Rodolfo Garcia said the military was just waiting for instructions. "Our legal people will just have to define the limits of the powers that would now be vested on the authorities under the state of lawless violence as declared by the President," he said.
(MORE)
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© 2003, Gloria R. Lalumia, insight@zianet.com
Radio for the Left at http://www.zianet.com/insightanalytical/radio.htm
