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| October 22, 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 Sydney Morning Herald, Australia--WHY IS BUSH AVOIDING THE AUSTRALIAN MEDIA? DON'T ASK (George Bush's word is apparently beyond question. At least, by the Australian press. The US President has declined a customary joint press conference after his address to the Federal Parliament tomorrow...Australian journalists have also been denied any place in a so-called "close-up media pool" that will follow Mr Bush on all his official stops on the day. All positions in the four-member pool have been allocated to members of the White House press corps.) 2//Asia Times Online, Hong Kong--CHENEY'S NEW ADVISER HAS SIGHTS ON SYRIA (A neo-conservative strategist who has long called for the United States and Israel to work together to "roll back" the Ba'ath-led government in Syria, has been quietly appointed as a Middle East adviser to Vice President Dick Cheney. David Wurmser, who had been working for the undersecretary of state for arms control and international security, John Bolton, joined Cheney's staff under its powerful national security director, I Lewis "Scooter" Libby, in mid-September, according to Cheney's office...Wurmser...was the main author of a 1996 report by a task force convened by the IASPS and headed by Perle, called the Study Group on a New Israeli Strategy Toward 2000...Among other steps, the report called for Israeli sponsorship of attacks on Syrian territory by "Israeli proxy forces" based in Lebanon and "striking Syrian military targets in Lebanon, and should that prove insufficient, striking at select targets in Syria proper".) 3//The Jordan Times, Jordan--ELITE FORCES LEAD RACE TO CATCH IRAQ'S OIL SMUGGLERS (Speeding on dinghies, elite US and British troops seek to curb oil smuggling, once a major moneymaking business for the Saddam Hussein regime in defiance of UN sanctions on oil-rich Iraq...Operation Sweeney, launched about two weeks ago, is under the command of British forces heading the multinational division controlling southern Iraq, but is mostly implemented by the 13th Marines...To show the extent of the problem, he [British army Major Gordan MacKenzie] explained that "until two weeks ago, there have been 2,000 tonnes of oil being smuggled every night by sea, and which amount to 65 road tankers. "And this does not include the oil smuggled by land," he added. 4//The Scotsman, UK--BLAIR SEES ULSTER PEACE INITIATIVE FALL APART (Tony Blair was humiliated yesterday when his attempt finally to seal a peace deal in Northern Ireland backfired, ruining his return to public duties after a heart scare...The breakthrough Mr Blair had expected was derailed by the reaction of David Trimble, the Ulster Unionist Party leader, to the IRA's latest act of decommissioning. Mr Blair had believed he had in place a deal that the UUP would agree to elections to Stormont if the IRA destroyed a significant amount of weaponry.) 5//The Moscow Times, Russia--YUKOS PROBE GOES TO THE TOP (Dismissing speculation that the four-month legal assault on Mikhail Khodorkovsky's empire might quietly go away, Biryukov said the Yukos CEO would be called in for further questioning as part of an escalating probe into his company's affairs that has already resulted in two of six Yukos billionaires facing prison terms...Artyukhov also threatened American giant ExxonMobil, which is in talks to acquire a strategic stake in newly merged YukosSibneft. "We have serious issues with many major companies, including with ExxonMobil's work on its Sakhalin 1 and 3 projects.) * * * 1//The
Sydney Morning Herald October 22, 2003 WHY IS BUSH AVOIDING THE AUSTRALIAN MEDIA? DON'T ASK George Bush's word is apparently beyond question. At least, by the Australian press. The US President has declined a customary joint press conference after his address to the Federal Parliament tomorrow. The media event, which normally allows two or three questions from Australian media and an equal number from the visiting press, would have been the only official opportunity for Australian journalists to quiz Mr Bush on the Iraq war and its aftermath. It would also be the only opportunity to ask the US President about the two Australian citizens being detained without charge at Guantanamo Bay. Australian journalists have also been denied any place in a so-called "close-up media pool" that will follow Mr Bush on all his official stops on the day. All positions in the four-member pool have been allocated to members of the White House press corps. The US Secret Service rejected an application from the Canberra press gallery for equal access, on the basis that the journalists did not have the required US security clearances. The Secret Service then declined to allow the journalists to apply for those clearances; no reason was given. (SNIP) The Chinese President, Hu Jintao, has agreed to participate in a joint press conference, with two questions from the Australian media and two from the travelling Chinese press, after he addresses Parliament on Thursday.
CHENEY'S NEW ADVISER HAS SIGHTS ON SYRIA WASHINGTON - A neo-conservative strategist who has long called for the United States and Israel to work together to "roll back" the Ba'ath-led government in Syria, has been quietly appointed as a Middle East adviser to Vice President Dick Cheney. David Wurmser, who had been working for the undersecretary of state for arms control and international security, John Bolton, joined Cheney's staff under its powerful national security director, I Lewis "Scooter" Libby, in mid-September, according to Cheney's office. The move is significant, not only because Cheney is seen increasingly as the dominant foreign policy influence on President George W Bush, but also because it adds to the notion that neo-conservatives remain a formidable force under Bush, despite the sharp plunge in public confidence in Bush's handling of post-war Iraq resulting from the faulty assumptions propagated by the neo-cons before the war. Given the recent intensification of tensions between Washington and Damascus - touched off by this month's US veto of a United Nations Security Council resolution deploring an Israeli air attack on an alleged Palestinian camp outside Damascus - Wurmser's rise takes on added significance. The move also follows House of Representatives' approval of a bill that would impose new economic and diplomatic sanctions against Syria. Wurmser's status as a favored protege of arch-hawk and former Defense Policy Board chairman Richard Perle at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI) also speaks loudly to Middle East specialists, who note Perle's long-time close association with Cheney, Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and Rumsfeld's chief deputy Paul Wolfowitz. (MORE) Wurmser, whose Israeli-born spouse Meyrav Wurmser heads Middle East studies at the neo-conservative Hudson Institute, was the main author of a 1996 report by a task force convened by the IASPS and headed by Perle, called the Study Group on a New Israeli Strategy Toward 2000. The paper, called "A Clean Break: A New Strategy for Securing the Realm", was directed to incoming Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu. It featured a series of recommendations designed to end the process of Israel trading "land for peace" by transforming the "balance of power" in the Middle East in favor of an axis consisting of Israel, Turkey and Jordan. To do so, it called for ousting Saddam and installing a Hashemite leader in Baghdad. From that point, the strategy would be largely focused on Syria and, at the least, to reducing its influence in Lebanon. Among other steps, the report called for Israeli sponsorship of attacks on Syrian territory by "Israeli proxy forces" based in Lebanon and "striking Syrian military targets in Lebanon, and should that prove insufficient, striking at select targets in Syria proper". (MORE)
ELITE FORCES LEAD RACE TO CATCH IRAQ'S OIL SMUGGLERS UMM QASR, Iraq (AFP) - Speeding on dinghies, elite US and British troops seek to curb oil smuggling, once a major moneymaking business for the Saddam Hussein regime in defiance of UN sanctions on oil-rich Iraq. "We cut off the head and the tail is still wiggling," said British army Major Gordan MacKenzie, referring to the April 9 ousting of Saddam's regime by a US-British coalition. (SNIP) Operation Sweeney, launched about two weeks ago, is under the command of British forces heading the multinational division controlling southern Iraq, but is mostly implemented by the 13th Marines. US officials believe smugglers have adopted the old schemes of Saddam's regime, which controlled the smuggling of large quantities of petroleum products southwards for export during the 13 years of UN sanctions. Italian, Dutch and Danish forces in the area, as well as Iraqi police, give a hand to the operation by looking out, on land, for oil smugglers in their respective areas of operation. Coalition helicopters also provide aerial monitoring. "So far, there have been 75 arrests of smugglers, most of them Iraqis. We have also seized 24 barges, 15 empty oil barges, eight oil boats, 36 petroleum road tankers, nine pick-ups and 10 fuel pumps," said Mackenzie. To show the extent of the problem, he explained that "until two weeks ago, there have been 2,000 tonnes of oil being smuggled every night by sea, and which amount to 65 road tankers. "And this does not include the oil smuggled by land," he added. (SNIP) US Marine Captain Bill Pelletier explained that smugglers mostly use handgrenades, rifles or even sledgehammers to blow oil pipelines, then use pumps to tap the oil and load it on to road tank trucks. "It is then pumped on barges that sail to transfer the oil to open-sea vessels that sell it anywhere in the world for a 100 per cent profit," he said. (MORE)
BLAIR SEES ULSTER PEACE INITIATIVE FALL APART Tony Blair was humiliated yesterday when his attempt finally to seal a peace deal in Northern Ireland backfired, ruining his return to public duties after a heart scare. The Prime Minister flew from London to Belfast expecting to deliver quickly a historic agreement that would put unionist and republican leaders permanently at the heart of Ulster's political process. However, he was last night forced to admit that it would take Northern Ireland's deadlocked politicians "a few more days" to resolve the differences blocking the path to peace - although elections to the devolved power-sharing assembly would go ahead on 26 November. The Sinn Fein president, Gerry Adams, said the talks process was in "the short term in fairly profound difficulties". The breakthrough Mr Blair had expected was derailed by the reaction of David Trimble, the Ulster Unionist Party leader, to the IRA's latest act of decommissioning. Mr Blair had believed he had in place a deal that the UUP would agree to elections to Stormont if the IRA destroyed a significant amount of weaponry. But Mr Trimble accused the IRA of imposing "foolish obligations of confidentiality" and said until they provided more "transparency" about how much weaponry had been destroyed, the process towards elections was "on hold". (MORE)
YUKOS PROBE GOES TO THE TOP With the legal noose tightening around the neck of the nation's largest company, Kommersant ran a headline on its front page Saturday that asked: "When Will They Come for Khodorkovsky?" Soon, was the answer that came from First Deputy Prosecutor General Yury Biryukov on Monday. Dismissing speculation that the four-month legal assault on Mikhail Khodorkovsky's empire might quietly go away, Biryukov said the Yukos CEO would be called in for further questioning as part of an escalating probe into his company's affairs that has already resulted in two of six Yukos billionaires facing prison terms. (SNIP) Most analysts see the attack as an attempt to rein in the Yukos chief's political ambitions as various Kremlin clans jockey for positions of power ahead of upcoming parliamentary and presidential elections. Some analysts also say the Kremlin is unhappy with Khodorkovsky, Russia's richest man and head of its largest oil producer, for pursuing an independent "foreign policy," such as his plan to build a private pipeline to China. (SNIP) Yukos also came under fire on another front Monday, with the Natural Resources Ministry saying it will set up a new department to probe whether Yukos and other major oil companies are complying with licensing laws. Deputy Natural Resources Minister Alexander Povolotsky said "100 percent" of Yukos' projects would be inspected. In gruff language, Natural Resources Minister Vitaly Artyukhov said he had the power to once again revoke Royal Dutch/Shell's right to exploit the Salym field for not meeting license conditions. Earlier this month, the ministry said it would not follow through on threats to withdraw Shell's license for the west Siberian field, in which the company plans to invest $1 billion. Artyukhov also threatened American giant ExxonMobil, which is in talks to acquire a strategic stake in newly merged YukosSibneft. "We have serious issues with many major companies, including with ExxonMobil's work on its Sakhalin 1 and 3 projects. The ministry can't close its eyes to the serious mistakes this company has made with the Sakhalin-1 project," news agencies quoted Artyukhov as saying. (MORE) | |||||
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