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| September 17, 2003 |
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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. * * * 1//The Independent, UK--BLAIR, SCHRODER AND CHIRAC TO SET NEW COURSE FOR EU (The leaders of Britain, France and Germany will stage a highly symbolic summit this weekend to try to reach agreement on a new direction for the European Union and finally bury their bitter differences over Iraq...The UK, France and Germany are members of the UN Security Council and France is now backing away from threats to veto a new resolution that would pave the way for troops from other nations to join the peace-keeping effort in Iraq. Paris wants political control of Iraq to be transferred to the UN, although it has suggested that this might be "symbolic", rather than real. Mr Blair will come under pressure to ensure the UN gets a bigger role in Iraq than the US has proposed, and a more speedy transfer of power to the Iraqi people.) 2//The Chosun Ilbo, South Korea--U.S. REQUESTS COMBAT TROOPS (The United States has requested that South Korea contribute to coalition forces in Iraq a light infantry unit capable of independent operations and comparable in size to the Polish division now serving in the Middle Eastern country. Three U.S. officials who attended meetings in Seoul early this month - Richard Lawless, from the Defense Department, Christopher LaFleur, from the State Department and Thomas Hubbard, the American ambassador - reportedly made the request Sept. 4, when they went to Cheong Wa Dae and met with high-ranking officials.) Related Article: ROH MUTE ABOUT DISPATCH DECISION 3//The Moscow Times, Russia--U.S. SAYS RUSSIA SOLD ARMS TO IRAN (The United States on Tuesday accused Russia of supplying arms to "state sponsors of terrorism," chiefly Iran, and slapped sanctions on a Russian defense company. The charges -- which mirror U.S. accusations concerning Baghdad after the Iraq war started -- appear to be an attempt to pressure Moscow over its cooperation with Tehran, analysts said. "The United States government has determined that the government of Russia transferred lethal military equipment to countries determined by the secretary of state to be state sponsors of terrorism," the U.S. State Department said in a notice published in the Federal Register...KBP Tula said Tuesday that the sanctions were meaningless since it has no business in the United States and suggested that they were a warning to Moscow.) 4//Deutsche Welle/dw.world.de, Germany--NEO-NAZI BOMB PLOTS SPARK CRITICISM OF TERROR FOCUS (After uncovering a planned neo-Nazi attack, security experts in Germany have begun talking of a new dimension in right-wing terror. Many fear the homegrown violence has been overlooked in the focus on foreign terrorism... Critics contend the plots show Germany has neglected its own homegrown terrorist threat from the right wing, as authorities have focused their energies on rooting out Islamic extremists in the wake of the September 11, 2001 attacks in the United States.) 5//Inter Press Service, Italy--GROUP OUTRAGED AT COLOMBIA PLAN TO AMNESTY PARAMILITARIES (A Colombian proposal to amnesty leaders of right-wing paramilitary groups responsible for some of the worst massacres of the country's decades-long civil war has been strongly assailed by a major U.S. human-rights researcher. In a release issued by Human Rights Watch (HRW), Robin Kirk, the author of 'More Terrible Than Death: Massacres, Drugs and America's War in Colombia', called on the administration of U.S. President George W. Bush to cut off aid to the South American country if the proposal is adopted...Aside from granting immunity to perpetrators of atrocities, observers have also expressed concern that drug traffickers will associate themselves directly with the paramilitaries in order to qualify for amnesty.) * * * 1//The
Independent 17 September 2003 BLAIR, SCHRODER AND CHIRAC TO SET NEW COURSE FOR EU The leaders of Britain, France and Germany will stage a highly symbolic summit this weekend to try to reach agreement on a new direction for the European Union and finally bury their bitter differences over Iraq. Tony Blair will join Gerhard Schröder, the German Chancellor, and Jacques Chirac, the French President, in Berlin for what could be the first regular meeting of the "gang of three", aimed at setting the EU's agenda. France and Germany, traditionally seen as the "engine" driving the EU, already hold regular summits. Mr Blair's inclusion is seen by his officials as a sign that Britain can play a pivotal role in the negotiations on a new EU treaty, which begin on 4 October - even though a euro referendum in Britain now looks at least three or four years away. Saturday's gathering was mooted when the leaders met informally at an EU summit in Greece in June and was then agreed in July. Downing Street denied it was a crisis meeting to discuss a new United Nations resolution on Iraq, but the leaders will attempt to break the deadlock on the issue. The Iraq war soured Britain's relations with France and Germany. But Saturday's event is the clearest signal yet that Paris and Berlin are ready to "move on". The UK, France and Germany are members of the UN Security Council and France is now backing away from threats to veto a new resolution that would pave the way for troops from other nations to join the peace-keeping effort in Iraq. Paris wants political control of Iraq to be transferred to the UN, although it has suggested that this might be "symbolic", rather than real. Mr Blair will come under pressure to ensure the UN gets a bigger role in Iraq than the US has proposed, and a more speedy transfer of power to the Iraqi people. Last night, British officials said the three EU countries shared the objective of seeing a democratic, prosperous Iraq. The German government said the meeting would help "to agree common positions in foreign policy after there were divergent opinions in the run-up to the Iraq war". (MORE) 2//The Chosun Ilbo Updated Sep.15,2003 17:59 KST U.S. REQUESTS COMBAT TROOPS The United States has requested that South Korea contribute to coalition forces in Iraq a light infantry unit capable of independent operations and comparable in size to the Polish division now serving in the Middle Eastern country. Three U.S. officials who attended meetings in Seoul early this month - Richard Lawless, from the Defense Department, Christopher LaFleur, from the State Department and Thomas Hubbard, the American ambassador - reportedly made the request Sept. 4, when they went to Cheong Wa Dae and met with high-ranking officials. The size of the Polish division appears to be a unit composed of support groups such as headquarters, communications, logistics and administration personnel, as well as a combat brigade. Poland has about 2,400 troops in Iraq - but the division is augmented by another 9,300 soldiers from 21 countries, and the number of non-Polish in the division is increasing. The source noted that the decision on whether Seoul sends troops, with sovereign rights, needs to wait until further discussion is held with the United States. If Seoul decides to send combat troops, they would probably serve for about one year, and Seoul would bear the costs to ensure that it executes the operation independently. (MORE) RELATED ARTICLE: ROH MUTE ABOUT DISPATCH DECISION President Roh Moo-hyun, speaking about the U.S. request that Seoul dispatch combat troops to Iraq on Tuesday, saying, "It is not a simple problem and I will go over it prudently," reported Cho Young-dong, chief of the Government Information Agency. (MORE)
U.S. SAYS RUSSIA SOLD ARMS TO IRAN The United States on Tuesday accused Russia of supplying arms to "state sponsors of terrorism," chiefly Iran, and slapped sanctions on a Russian defense company. The charges -- which mirror U.S. accusations concerning Baghdad after the Iraq war started -- appear to be an attempt to pressure Moscow over its cooperation with Tehran, analysts said. "The United States government has determined that the government of Russia transferred lethal military equipment to countries determined by the secretary of state to be state sponsors of terrorism," the U.S. State Department said in a notice published in the Federal Register. A State Department official said the decision -- made Aug. 25 but announced only Tuesday -- was connected to the sale of laser-guided Krasnopol-M artillery shells to Iran. He said sanctions have been imposed for one year on KBP Tula, the maker of the shells. KBP Tula is a state-owned company that produces anti-aircraft and anti-tank missile systems. The sanctions bar KBP Tula from doing business with the U.S. government and from buying U.S. defense equipment. KBP Tula said Tuesday that the sanctions were meaningless since it has no business in the United States and suggested that they were a warning to Moscow. "This may be a way to put political pressure on the country," KBP Tula deputy chief engineer Andrei Morozov said by telephone from Tula. He said KBP Tula does not have any contracts with Iran and has never sent it any arms. Ruslan Pukhov, director of the Center for Analysis of Strategies and Technologies, agreed that Tuesday's charges carried political overtones. "This is some kind of political game," he said. The accusations came a day before U.S. Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham was to arrive in Moscow to attend an international nonproliferation conference and less than two weeks before U.S. President George W. Bush hosts President Vladimir Putin at a summit at Camp David. The timing may have something to do with U.S.-Russian differences over Iran's nuclear capacity and could be a message to Moscow that "the U.S. is very concerned about Iran and is willing to pick at anything," said Ivan Safranchuk, director of the Moscow office of the Washington-based Center for Defense Information. In addition, with the gap closing on Moscow's and Washington's positions over the Iranian nuclear issue, the White House may be testing whether the Kremlin is willing to yield on other positions, such as on the sale of conventional weapons, Safranchuk said. In 2000, Russia pulled out of a 1995 Gore-Chernomyrdin deal under which it agreed not to deliver weapons to Iran. Analysts predicted at the time that Iran might become Russia's third largest client after China and India, but aside from a batch of helicopters and armored personnel carriers, there have been no reports of arms deliveries. (MORE)
NEO-NAZI BOMB PLOTS SPARK CRITICISM OF TERROR FOCUS After uncovering a planned neo-Nazi attack, security experts in Germany have begun talking of a new dimension in right-wing terror. Many fear the homegrown violence has been overlooked in the focus on foreign terrorism. Days after German investigators foiled a right-wing plot to bomb a cornerstone-laying ceremony for a new Jewish synagogue, German politicians began debating the severity of the "brown" threat. "Across the extreme right-wing spectrum there are the seeds of a few networks prepared for violence," Dieter Wiefelspütz, the interior expert for the ruling Social Democrats, said over the weekend, adding the threat had taken on a "new dimension." The debate has been fueled by new information that the neo-Nazi group in Munich planned more attacks targeting Greek, Islamic institutions and a leading Bavarian politician. Franz Maget, the lead candidate for the Social Democrats in Bavarian state elections this weekend, said on Monday he had been spied on by the extremists. (SNIP) Terror focus shifts Critics contend the plots show Germany has neglected its own homegrown terrorist threat from the right wing, as authorities have focused their energies on rooting out Islamic extremists in the wake of the September 11, 2001 attacks in the United States. Germany has been a focal point of efforts to stamp out Islamic terrorism ever since it became known that many of the September 11 suicide hijackers lived for years in Hamburg. The country launched a large-scale investigation into militants among its three-million-strong Muslim population. "Resources were pulled from the right-wing extremist area for the anti-terrorism war," Konrad Freiberg, head of Germany's police union, told the Berliner Zeitung newspaper on Monday. "The priorities were changed. That was a mistake." (MORE)
GROUP OUTRAGED AT COLOMBIA PLAN TO AMNESTY PARAMILITARIES WASHINGTON, Sep 16 (IPS) - A Colombian proposal to amnesty leaders of right-wing paramilitary groups responsible for some of the worst massacres of the country's decades-long civil war has been strongly assailed by a major U.S. human-rights researcher. In a release issued by Human Rights Watch (HRW), Robin Kirk, the author of 'More Terrible Than Death: Massacres, Drugs and America's War in Colombia', called on the administration of U.S. President George W. Bush to cut off aid to the South American country if the proposal is adopted. Washington currently provides Bogotá more than 700 million dollars a year in mostly military aid, more than it gives any other country except Israel and Egypt. "Washington's response should be unequivocal," Kirk said Monday. "If Colombia is serious about human rights and wants to continue receiving millions in aid, it cannot allow known criminals to escape justice by, in effect, writing a cheque," added the researcher, who has monitored abuses in the country for both HRW and Amnesty International. The Bush administration, Uribe's biggest foreign booster, has not commented publicly on the proposal, but the 'New York Times' reported Monday that it had provided advice to Bogotá on drafting legislation that would implement the scheme's main components, which it sees as a way of reducing violence and a step toward ending South America's oldest civil war. In exchange for amnesty, the paramilitaries would have to disband and pay fines or make other acts of contrition. (SNIP) Aside from granting immunity to perpetrators of atrocities, observers have also expressed concern that drug traffickers will associate themselves directly with the paramilitaries in order to qualify for amnesty. Kirk calls the plan "chequebook impunity" and says it evokes "disturbing memories", as when Colombia's most brutal drug traffickers, including Pablo Escobar, offered to turn over their billion-dollar assets to the state in 1984 in exchange for immunity from prosecution and extradition to the United States. The deal fell through after a public outcry. (MORE) | |||||
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