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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//IslamOnline.net, Qatar--U.S. PRESENCE, SOCIO-ECONOMIC CRISIS BEHIND ATTACKS: FAQIH (A number of Saudi opposition figures said the horrific bombing attacks which rocked the Saudi capital and claimed, according to American estimates, as many as 90 people including 10-12 Americans, were triggered by several changes on the Saudi front and anticipated a decisive battle between the Saudi authorities and militant groups...In exclusive statements to IslamOnline.net over the phone Tuesday, May 13, Dr. Saad al-Faqih, head of the London-based Movement for Islamic Reform in Arabia (MIRA), said the attacks, which came days after the U.S. said it would withdraw troops from the kingdom, were likely carried out by Al-Qaeda... Faqih said, "The American troops which were reportedly to leave Saudi Arabia only represent a small portion of the American forces deployed before the invasion of Iraq ." According to the Saudi opposition leader some " ten thousand American military experts as well as 30,000 American civilians, including military technicians and security experts would remain in the kingdom.")
2//KurdishMedia.com, UK--KADEK WARNS OF WAR IF ATTACKED (The Kurdish Freedom and Democracy Congress (KADEK), formerly known as Kurdistan Worker`s Party (PKK), warned yesterday that it would retaliate with force if either Turkey or the United States attacked it in south Kurdistan..."No force could expel us from here. That is day-dreaming... If they crack down on us, we will restart the war," Karasu said...The response from KADEK was against comments by US Deputy Secretary of Defence Paul Wolfowitz who told the Turkish TV channel CNN-Turk that Washington was determined to purge south Kurdistan of "terrorist," hinting at a deal with Turkey.
3//Asia Times Online, Hong Kong--POLITICS DEEPENS SUNNI-SHI'ITE
DIVISIONS (The nearly 14-century-old differences between Sunnis and
Shi'ites are undergoing another phase in the battle for power in
Iraq, but analysts say that it is political considerations that are
heightening the religious nature of the conflict between the two
strands of Islam...Given this mood, analysts say, Gulf countries
are trying to limit US influence and Shi'ite empowerment in Iraq
by promoting former Iraqi foreign minister Adnan Pachachi, a Sunni
who has been living in exile in the UAE for over two decades.)
4//The Daily Star, Lebanon--COLLAPSE OF IRAQI TRADE HITS SYRIAN
ECONOMY HARD (...some analysts believe the impact on Syria will
be limited to the short term and may even encourage businesses
to seek new markets elsewhere..."If the Americans keep control
of Iraq, then they could shut us out as punishment. But as soon
as the Iraqis are in control of their country, business relations
will resume in a big way," he said. "I see a lot of potential
for the two countries.")
5//The Moscow Times, Russia--OPINION: WHERE IS THE OPPOSITION? (How things stand with the opposition is rather less clear. Politicians ostensibly in opposition spent the first three years of Vladimir Putin's tenure vying with one another to prove their loyalty to the president. This situation has begun to change in recent months. Have politicians changed their tune with an eye to the upcoming parliamentary elections? I doubt it. It seems more likely that they sense that a more fundamental transformation is under way.)
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1//IslamOnline.net May 13, 2003
http://www.IslamOnline.net/English/News/2003-05/13/article15.shtml
U.S. PRESENCE, SOCIO-ECONOMIC CRISIS BEHIND ATTACKS: FAQIH
By Abdul Raheem Ali, IOL Staff
CAIRO, May 13 (IslamOnline.net) - A number of Saudi opposition figures said the horrific bombing attacks which rocked the Saudi capital and claimed, according to American estimates, as many as 90 people including 10-12 Americans, were triggered by several changes on the Saudi front and anticipated a decisive battle between the Saudi authorities and militant groups.
In exclusive statements to IslamOnline.net over the phone Tuesday, May 13, Dr. Saad al-Faqih, head of the London-based Movement for Islamic Reform in Arabia (MIRA), said the attacks, which came days after the U.S. said it would withdraw troops from the kingdom, were likely carried out by Al-Qaeda.
"Al-Qaeda network, which declared a world-wide war on the United States in 1998, does not distinguish between military people and civilians," he recalled. Faqih said, "The American troops which were reportedly to leave Saudi Arabia only represent a small portion of the American forces deployed before the invasion of Iraq ."
According to the Saudi opposition leader some " ten thousand American military experts as well as 30,000 American civilians, including military technicians and security experts would remain in the kingdom."
Change Factors
He argued that "a number of basic change factors have contributed to supporting the trend of jihadists in the kingdom," and resulted in the Riyadh bombings. Faqih cited, in this respect, an anti-American popular momentum that was further fanned by the Saudi cooperation with the Americans.
The second factor, he added, is the emerging of a new group of young Saudi scholars who back the jihad tendencies against the United States and the Saudi regime through their fatwas.
(SNIP)
According to the London-based Saudi opposition figure, the third change factor is the aggravation of the economic and social crisis in the kingdom, which sent unemployment, crime, bribery, corruption and poverty rates sky-high. Concluding, Faqih underlined that all these changes prompted large sections of the Saudi people to support the "Islamic jihadist trend."
(SNIP)
More Confrontations
Mohammad el-Mas'ri, a Britain-based Saudi asylum, anticipated in
an exclusive interview with IslamOnline.net Tuesday that the Riyadh
bombings as "just the beginning of major operations" in
the making.
In Cairo , Jihad Awad, a political science professor and researcher in Islamic military groups affairs, told IOL that "what happened in Saudi Arabia was expected in any minute."
"The explosions signal the beginning of a confrontation between Saudi Arabia and groups," that believe in the use of violence, he added.
(MORE)
2//KurdishMedia.com 12/05/2003
http://www.kurdmedia.com/news.asp?id=3867
KADEK WARNS OF WAR IF ATTACKED
London (KurdishMedia.com) 12 May 2003: The Kurdish Freedom and
Democracy Congress (KADEK), formerly known as Kurdistan Worker`s
Party (PKK), warned yesterday that it would retaliate with force
if either Turkey or the United States attacked it in south Kurdistan.
"It would be misjudgment for Turkey to count on the United States against us... Turkey should not play with fire," Mustafa Karasu, a member of KADEK's leadership council, told Medya-TV yesterday.
"No force could expel us from here. That is day-dreaming... If they crack down on us, we will restart the war," Karasu said.
PKK militants would only lay down their arms if there was a solution to the Kurdish conflict and that they were prepared to establish ties with regional powers to facilitate a settlement, the KADEK official added.
(SNIP)
The response from KADEK was against comments by US Deputy Secretary of Defence Paul Wolfowitz who told the Turkish TV channel CNN-Turk that Washington was determined to purge south Kurdistan of "terrorist," hinting at a deal with Turkey.
3//Asia Times Online May 14, 2003
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/EE14Ak02.html
POLITICS DEEPENS SUNNI-SHI'ITE DIVISIONS
By N Janardhan (Inter Press Service)
DUBAI - The nearly 14-century-old differences between Sunnis and Shi'ites are undergoing another phase in the battle for power in Iraq, but analysts say that it is political considerations that are heightening the religious nature of the conflict between the two strands of Islam.
"The differences, no doubt, have a religious basis with either side branding the other as rigid, distorted and inferior," says a United Arab Emirates-based Sunni artist who did not want to be named. "But it has been hijacked by political leaders and encouraged to manifest in sectarian violence around the world.
"At the same time," he adds, "there is a semblance of amity between the two sects, partly due to societal realities." Like Catholics and Protestants among Christians, "there are instances of inter-sect marriages; and going to each other's mosques isn't too uncommon, though it is not a norm."
(SNIP)
The events in Iraq are worrying Gulf Sunnis, too, because an Iraqi Shi'ite government would change the balance of power between the sects. Bahrain, which like Iraq has a Shi'ite majority ruled by Sunnis, has overcome more than two decades of sectarian strife by conducting parliamentary elections just last year.
The re-emergence of Iraqi Shi'ite movements is already being viewed as a source of hope for the Saudi Shi'ite minority in the oil-rich eastern sector. A Saudi Shi'ite cleric, Sheikh Hasan al-Saffar, said in a statement that the kingdom's Shi'ites were determined to combat the discrimination faced by the community, such as "a ban on practicing their religious rituals and cultural activities and absence of representation in key political posts", and a ban on Shi'ites "serving their country in the military, security and diplomatic fields".
Given this mood, analysts say, Gulf countries are trying to limit US influence and Shi'ite empowerment in Iraq by promoting former Iraqi foreign minister Adnan Pachachi, a Sunni who has been living in exile in the UAE for over two decades.
But even if Iraqi Shi'ites can work towards fulfilling their political aspirations, it does not mean that a state will emerge in Iraq where the majority rules, says Muwafaq al-Rubeie, an Iraqi political analyst. "Any policy which calls for the division of power on the basis of overt sectarianism - such as is the case in Lebanon - cannot work within the Iraqi context. The division of the spoils according to demographic formulae will result in communal sectarianism turning into a social and political reality" Rubeie said.
According to Egypt's latest al-Ahram weekly, Rubeie added, "Iraq has always suffered from a sectarian system and not from communal sectarianism per se."
4//The Daily Star Beirut, Tuesday May 13, 2003. Updated 08:30 AM
+3GMT
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/13_05_03/art21.asp
COLLAPSE OF IRAQI TRADE HITS SYRIAN ECONOMY HARD
But impact may be limited to short term
Nicholas Blanford
Special to The Daily Star
DAMASCUS: Omar Abu Said spent $225,000 on purchasing and equipping
two factories south of Baghdad to manufacture high-quality industrial
alcohol from distilled dates. But just as his factories were ready
to start production, the war in Iraq began.
"I don't know what has happened to my factories," Abu Said said. "There was a lot of fighting near them during the war and I'm worried that they have been damaged or destroyed. All my savings were invested in that project."
Abu Said is one of many Syrian businessmen who are lamenting the collapse of trade with Iraq, which has dealt an unwelcome blow to the shaky Syrian economy.
But some analysts believe the impact on Syria will be limited to
the short term and may even encourage businesses to seek new markets
elsewhere.
(SNIP)
Syria is slowly ushering in administrative and economic reforms to revitalize its traditionally inert bureaucracy and moribund state-run economy. But the collapse of trade with Iraq and increased political pressure from the US could hinder the process. Furthermore, US congressmen last month reintroduced the Syria Accountability Act which threatens sanctions against Damascus unless it ends support for groups such as Hamas, Islamic Jihad and Hizbullah, ends its alleged pursuit of weapons of mass destruction and withdraws its forces from Lebanon.
Failure to comply with the act would lead to the freezing of Syrian assets in the United States, a ban on American companies doing business in Syria and reducing diplomatic contacts with Damascus. Syria is the only country on the US State Department's list of countries accused of supporting terrorism with which Washington still maintains diplomatic relations.
Last year, the White House intervened to block the bill, despite "relentless pressure" on the administration to allow it to proceed, according to a diplomatic source in Washington.
"Syria is seen as an extremely important interlocutor in issues of the region," the source said. "Many issues of that dialogue are problematic. If Congress pushes the act again, the administration will come under a lot of pressure again and we have to make sure that the relationship with Syria works for us."
Yet Sukkar said that the sanctions recommended by the bill would make little difference to Syria. "I don't know what kind of economic sanctions they can impose on Syria," he said. "These are only American sanctions. There's no foundation for any international sanctions so I can't imagine they would go to the UN. They are not hurting Syria anyway because trade and business relations with the Americans are minimal with or without the sanctions."
(SNIP)
"If the Americans keep control of Iraq, then they could shut us out as punishment. But as soon as the Iraqis are in control of their country, business relations will resume in a big way," he said. "I see a lot of potential for the two countries."
5//The Moscow Times Tuesday, May. 13, 2003. Page 10
http://www.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2003/05/13/009.html
OPINION: WHERE IS THE OPPOSITION?
By Boris Kagarlitsky
Boris Kagarlitsky is director of the Institute of Globalization Studies.
Everyone knows how things stand with the "party of power" in Russia. Or at least they think they know. United Russia nominated itself for the job, and it will stay on until the Kremlin decides otherwise.
How things stand with the opposition is rather less clear. Politicians ostensibly in opposition spent the first three years of Vladimir Putin's tenure vying with one another to prove their loyalty to the president. This situation has begun to change in recent months. Have politicians changed their tune with an eye to the upcoming parliamentary elections? I doubt it. It seems more likely that they sense that a more fundamental transformation is under way.
It became obvious after the first few months of the Putin era that the Putin project was sustainable only so long as oil prices remained high. Contrary to the predictions of the skeptics -- myself included -- world oil prices remained firm. This allowed the Kremlin to maintain stability and make a show of putting the country in order while doing absolutely nothing. This is the essence of the Putin model -- a promising, self-assured policy of thumb-twiddling. Bureaucrats have taken the place of politicians, and rather than tackle strategic issues, the regime engages in petty intrigues and minor reshuffles.
Unfortunately, oil prices have begun to drop since the end of the war in Iraq. Nothing catastrophic has happened yet, but the ruling elite know what state the country is really in, and they understand the precariousness of their position. And so they're getting nervous.
Campaign maneuvering is just the tip of the iceberg. Suddenly there is a demand for political opposition, but it seems that our State Duma deputies have completely forgotten what that means. They can't even make a convincing show of it. The farcical Vladimir Zhirinovsky is obviously not the man to give voice to popular discontent. The Union of Right Forces is fond of criticizing the government, but its members are even fonder of government jobs. The Putin administration's Achilles' heel is its social policy, which was dictated from start to finish by the Union of Right Forces.
(MORE)
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©2003, Gloria R. Lalumia, insight@zianet.com
Radio for the Left at http://www.zianet.com/insightanalytical/radio.htm
