July 28, 2003
|
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 Independent, UK--SHORT BLAMES GOVERNMENT 'ABUSE OF POWER' FOR DAVID KELLY'S DEATH (Clare Short has blamed the death of Dr David Kelly on "an abuse of power" by the Government and warned that the tragedy has become a symbol of Prime Minister Tony Blair's "obsession with spin". In an interview with The Independent, the former Secretary of State for International Development says the affair has made it more likely Mr Blair will stand down before the next general election. She describes him as an "emperor" and a "neo-Conservative", saying his speech this month to both houses of the US Congress shows he shares the analysis of Washington hardliners. "He is a complete convert to the neo-Conservative view of the world.")
2//The Philippine Daily Inquirer, Philippines--MACAPAGAL, REYES, CORPUS ACCUSED (To justify their mutiny against the government, the group of rebel soldiers holed up in Makati City virtually accused the top leadership of the military and the administration of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo of treason...Navy Lieutenant Senior Grade Antonio Trillanes IV, one of the leaders of the group, accused the administration of selling ammunition to the country's different rebel groups, masterminding the Davao airport and wharf bombings, and planning to declare martial law next month...Trillanes said the group tried to air their complaints when they met with the President recently, but nothing came of it.)
3//The Jordan Times, Jordan--SADR STARTS MAKING HIS MARK AMONG SHIITES (Banking on the Americans' failure to deliver on many of their promises to Iraqis, a firebrand Shiite Muslim cleric has managed to rally tens of thousands of Shiites in the largest anti-occupation gathering since the war. Sayyed Moqtada Sadr is offering an alternative way to that of a Shiite religious establishment he deems lax over the US occupation of Iraq. In turn, Shiite political parties and religious leaders see the young Sadr, who drew some 100,000 faithful to his sermon in Kufa near the Shiite holy city of Najaf on Friday, as a "subphenomenon in post-Saddam Hussein Iraq", if not a nuisance.)
4//The Sydney Morning Herald, Australia--TROOPS GIVEN ANOTHER CROSS TO BEAR (A row has broken out in Spain after the country sent its first troops to patrol Iraq wearing on their shoulders the Cross of St James of Compostela - popularly known in Spain as the Moor Killer... Patches bearing the cross, the symbol of a saint who allegedly guided the medieval Christian reconquest of Spain from the Muslims, are to be worn by a 2000-strong Spanish brigade in central Iraq that will patrol the sacred Shia city of Najaf...The newspaper El Mundo said the Government was under fire over the uniforms because they showed the cross of a Christian saint who was a "Muslim-killer". Shiites in Iraq might not appreciate the crusader crosses of the Spanish-speaking soldiers, it said.)
5//The Daily Yomiuri, Japan--LAW ENABLING FUTURE SDF DISPATCHES EYED (The government is to draw up a bill for a permanent law to enable the Self-Defense Forces to take part in a wide range of peacekeeping operations during and after armed conflicts abroad, government sources said Sunday...A U.N. Security Council resolution would basically be required before activities could be conducted under the envisaged law, but the government will consider permitting the dispatch of the SDF to assist reconstruction work by multinational forces in cases where there is no such resolution, the sources said...The bill also would relax the current rules on the use of weapons by SDF members, allowing them to fire warning shots if necessary.)
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1//The
Independent 28 July 2003
http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/politics/story.jsp?story=428231
SHORT BLAMES GOVERNMENT 'ABUSE OF POWER' FOR DAVID KELLY'S DEATH
By Andrew Grice, Political Editor
Clare Short has blamed the death of Dr David Kelly on "an abuse of power" by the Government and warned that the tragedy has become a symbol of Prime Minister Tony Blair's "obsession with spin".
In an interview with The Independent, the former Secretary of State for International Development says the affair has made it more likely Mr Blair will stand down before the next general election. She describes him as an "emperor" and a "neo-Conservative", saying his speech this month to both houses of the US Congress shows he shares the analysis of Washington hardliners. "He is a complete convert to the neo-Conservative view of the world."
Recalling her 1996 attack on spin doctors "who live in the dark", she says: "I said spin would damage and destroy Tony. There is a danger the tragedy of this death encapsulates the argument [about spin] and then everyone sees it through that lens. Public confidence has changed enormously. It has deepened the sense there is something wrong in the way in which No 10 is run. There is more scrutiny of that, so that affects Tony Blair's reputation."
Ms Short says normal Whitehall procedures were breached in the way Dr Kelly was unmasked, triggering the events leading to his apparent suicide. She believes resignations should follow Lord Hutton's inquiry. "The truth needs to be found and those responsible need to be held to account. Alastair Campbell and Tony Blair work very, very closely together. They are all implicated, it seems to me."
(MORE)
2//The Philippine Daily Inquirer Posted: 1:42 AM (Manila Time) |
Jul. 28, 2003
http://www.inq7.net/nat/2003/jul/28/nat_2-1.htm
MACAPAGAL, REYES, CORPUS ACCUSED
By Philip C. Tubeza, TJ Burgonio and Alcuin Papa
Inquirer News Service with Agence France-Presse
Serious charges
To justify their mutiny against the government, the group of rebel soldiers holed up in Makati City virtually accused the top leadership of the military and the administration of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo of treason.
The group of rebel soldiers who tagged themselves Magdalo after Emilio Aguinaldo's faction in the Spanish-era revolutionary group Katipunan, raised serious charges against Ms Macapagal, Defense Secretary Angelo Reyes, and military intelligence chief Brigadier General Victor Corpus.
Navy Lieutenant Senior Grade Antonio Trillanes IV, one of the leaders of the group, accused the administration of selling ammunition to the country's different rebel groups, masterminding the Davao airport and wharf bombings, and planning to declare martial law next month.
Trillanes added that the controversial escape of Indonesian terrorist Fathur Rohman al-Ghozi from the national police headquarters Camp Crame validated their fears that the administration was determined to hold on to power.
(SNIP)
Trillanes said the top echelon of the Armed Forces of the Philippines continued to supply the Abu Sayyaf, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, and the communist New People's Army with bullets, the same ones killing their fellow soldiers in the field.
He said this was confirmed by various experiences of junior field commanders who found government bullets in the lairs of the rebels.
Trillanes also accused Reyes and Corpus of masterminding the Davao bombings. He said these were timed before the President's US state visit so that she could win financial support from the Americans.
He then accused the government of planning to extend its stay in power through martial rule.
Bombing campaign
He said the administration planned to detonate bombs in different places in the capital to legitimize martial law.
"We have received information that the government, out of an act of desperation, will declare martial law which would be triggered by simultaneous explosions in Metro Manila," Trillanes said.
"Do we want to wait for that to happen? The final validation was Al-Ghozi's escape. We are being led by the nose. Let's end this deception," he added.
Trillanes said the group tried to air their complaints when they met with the President recently, but nothing came of it.
In Camp Aguinaldo headquarters of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), military officials dismissed the mutineers' allegations as "pure lies."
(SNIP)
Investigating body
Reyes expressed willingness to face a probe over the junior officers' allegations. He announced Sunday night that he had recommended to the President the creation of a "high and independent investigating commission" to look into the grievances.
"I submit myself to this high-level investigating commission to be created by the President to prove to everybody that all these accusations are false," he said in a press briefing at the AFP Grandstand.
To avoid any possible whitewash in the investigation, Reyes said he also proposed to the President the inclusion of a member of the Philippine Military Academy Class 1995, to which many of the leaders of the mutinous soldiers belong, in the commission.
At least five congressmen have also proposed an independent probe to investigate the mutineers' claims.
(MORE)
3//The Jordan Times July 27, 2003
http://www.jordantimes.com/Sun/news/news4.htm
SADR STARTS MAKING HIS MARK AMONG SHIITES
BAGHDAD (AFP) - Banking on the Americans' failure to deliver on many of their promises to Iraqis, a firebrand Shiite Muslim cleric has managed to rally tens of thousands of Shiites in the largest anti-occupation gathering since the war.
Sayyed Moqtada Sadr is offering an alternative way to that of a Shiite religious establishment he deems lax over the US occupation of Iraq.
In turn, Shiite political parties and religious leaders see the young Sadr, who drew some 100,000 faithful to his sermon in Kufa near the Shiite holy city of Najaf on Friday, as a "subphenomenon in post-Saddam Hussein Iraq", if not a nuisance.
The cleric's followers, working under the banner of the Sadr Foundation named after his father Mohammad Sadeq, a leading Shiite authority murdered by Saddam's regime in 1999, were initially concentrated in Baghdad. Following Saddam's overthrow by US-led coalition forces on April 9, they consolidated their influence in the capital's impoverished Shiite suburb of Saddam City, renaming it Sadr City.
To the backdrop of US search-and-arrest campaigns in Shiite locations, Sadr began raising his tone against US authorities two weeks ago, slamming not only the occupation but also the 25-member US-named Iraqi transitional Governing Council inaugurated on July 13.
In
the process, Sadr took a swipe at the ambiguous stand of Najaf's
religious authorities and, posing as the champion of Sunni as well
as Shiite Muslims, announced the creation of a private militia dubbed
the "Mehdi Army," recruitment for which has already begun
in Sadr City.
On Saturday, he also called for the establishment of a "popular" council
to govern Iraq in place of the "illegitimate" Governing
Council.
In his Friday sermon, Sadr implicitly criticised the "neutrality" of religious authorities in Najaf towards the occupation, demanding that US forces leave the holy city, around 180 kilometres south of Baghdad.
(SNIP)
Shiite imams in at least three Baghdad mosques were quick to pour cold water on Sadr's calls to stand up to the Americans, insisting Friday night on the need to "protect the lives of the faithful", that is refrain from armed resistance.
(SNIP)
While Grand Ayatollah Ali Al Sistani and other religious leaders based in Najaf view the American presence as an "occupation," they have not ruled in favour of fighting US forces.
Sistani has called for Iraq's new constitution to be drafted by "an elected assembly comprising religious scholars," but he has not criticised the Governing Council.
And the Supreme Assembly of the Islamic Revolution in Iraq, the country's main Shiite political group, sits on the Governing Council and is sticking to political means to end the occupation.
4//The Sydney Morning Herald July 28 2003
http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2003/07/27/1059244488784.html
TROOPS GIVEN ANOTHER CROSS TO BEAR
A row has broken out in Spain after the country sent its first troops to patrol Iraq wearing on their shoulders the Cross of St James of Compostela - popularly known in Spain as the Moor Killer.
Patches bearing the cross, the symbol of a saint who allegedly guided the medieval Christian reconquest of Spain from the Muslims, are to be worn by a 2000-strong Spanish brigade in central Iraq that will patrol the sacred Shia city of Najaf.
The uniforms will carry an emblem showing a red cross. The triangular top and arrow-like arms of the cross identify it as that of St James, who is believed to have miraculously appeared to Christians fighting Moors in 19th Spain. Muslims ruling large parts of Spain were expelled after 800 years by the reconquest in 1492.
While newspapers and radio stations reacted with astonishment at the choice of symbol, politicians avoided the argument.
"If we start debating this subject the risks surrounding the
mission will only be increased," said Jesus Caldera, a spokesman
for the opposition Socialist party.
The newspaper El Mundo said the Government was under fire over
the uniforms because they showed the cross of a Christian saint
who was a "Muslim-killer" . Shiites in Iraq might not
appreciate the crusader crosses of the Spanish-speaking soldiers,
it said.
(MORE)
5//The Daily Yomiuri July 28, 2003
http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/index-e.htm
LAW ENABLING FUTURE SDF DISPATCHES EYED
The government is to draw up a bill for a permanent law to enable the Self-Defense Forces to take part in a wide range of peacekeeping operations during and after armed conflicts abroad, government sources said Sunday.
According to the sources, cooperation activities would include:
-- The SDF participating in U.N. peacekeeping operations
-- The SDF providing multinational forces with transportation, medical and other logistic support
-- Civilian experts and police supporting reconstruction efforts
A U.N. Security Council resolution would basically be required before activities could be conducted under the envisaged law, but the government will consider permitting the dispatch of the SDF to assist reconstruction work by multinational forces in cases where there is no such resolution, the sources said.
The Cabinet Secretariat is to take charge in August of preparing the outline of the bill. The government plans to have the bill finished as early as the end of the year and to submit it to the ordinary Diet session next year, the sources said.
Special bills proposed by the government to allow the SDF to be dispatched overseas for limited periods recently have become law, including a special law permitting the SDF to offer logistic support to the U.S.-led antiterrorism campaign in Afghanistan and another permitting the SDF to assist the postwar rehabilitation of Iraq.
However, the need to enact a special law each time a conflict breaks out makes it difficult for the SDF to respond to such situations quickly.
(SNIP)
The envisaged law would limit SDF operations to "noncombat zones" to ensure that SDF activities would not be directly linked to operations involving the use of weapons.
The planned law would require that a U.N. resolution be adopted before SDF personnel are sent overseas, with the aim of ensuring the international community and the Japanese public support such SDF missions.
Should a case arise in which a U.N. resolution is not forthcoming, however, the bill would enable the government to dispatch the SDF without a resolution. In such a case, the government would require Diet approval and either an agreement among international organizations, such as the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, or the government's judgement that it would contribute to international peace and the security.
The bill also would relax the current rules on the use of weapons by SDF members, allowing them to fire warning shots if necessary.
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©2003, Gloria R. Lalumia, insight@zianet.com
Radio for the Left at http://www.zianet.com/insightanalytical/radio.htm
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