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| January 7, 2004 |
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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. * * * WORLD MEDIA WATCH FOR JANUARY 7, 2004 1//The Jordan Times, Jordan--DEJECTED IRAQI EX-SOLDIERS PROTEST POVERTY (Despondent soldiers from the once proud Iraqi army staged protests here on Monday, the eve of an army day holiday, to demand cash from the US-led coalition which defeated them on the battlefield and consigned them to unemployment. Some 100 former officers and lower ranks, many dressed in tattered and shabby clothing, rallied outside the Baghdad headquarters of the coalition authorities to vent anger about lack of support from Iraq's new leadership.) 2//The Turkish Daily News, Turkey--PKK/KADEK CLAIMS
TO HAVE DISARMED (The outlawed terrorist organization
Kurdistan Workers' Party-Kurdistan Freedom and Democracy
Congress (PKK/KADEK) announced it has disarmed itself
by selling its arms in northern Iraq. The interim Iraqi
Governing Council had previously asked PKK/KADEK, Ansar
al-Islam and the People's Mujaheddin Organization of
Iran (PMOI) to leave Iraq. In response, PKK/KADEK claims
to have sold its arms in the nearby villages of the
Kandil Mountains where it was sheltering.) 4//Asia Times Online, Hong Kong--GEORGIA: A SMALL PAWN IN THE GREAT GAME (As Georgia welcomes in a new president this week after the US-encouraged regime change in November - despite Russia's last-minute efforts to mediate between warring sides - Moscow and Washington appear to be on the verge of a micro-Cold War over the country.) 5//The Australian, Australia--US DRUG LOBBY PEDDLING 'DISHONESTY' (US drug lobbyists were peddling misinformation about Australia's medicine subsidy scheme to secure a better deal under a free trade agreement, federal Health Minister Tony Abbott warned a delegation from Washington yesterday... Among those involved in the high-level US delegation were senior Republican members of Congress including South Carolina senator Lindsey Graham and Oregon senator Gordon Smith, who are both close to President George W. Bush. * * * 1//The
Jordan Times January 6, 2004 DEJECTED IRAQI EX-SOLDIERS PROTEST POVERTY BAGHDAD (AFP) - Despondent soldiers from the once proud Iraqi army staged protests here on Monday, the eve of an army day holiday, to demand cash from the US-led coalition which defeated them on the battlefield and consigned them to unemployment. Some 100 former officers and lower ranks, many dressed in tattered and shabby clothing, rallied outside the Baghdad headquarters of the coalition authorities to vent anger about lack of support from Iraq's new leadership. "They should pay us, it is their job. They take our oil, so they must give us our money," said Hassan Kader Kazae, a 38-year-old ex-first lieutenant, as a crowd of his former comrades-in-arms chanted their demands. Iraq's army was broken up by the coalition in May 2003, after the collapse of former President Saddam Hussein's regime. By then, many demoralised troops had already deserted. The decision to disband the army triggered international criticism, with many insisting the force, once viewed as a key player in plans to overthrow Saddam's oppressive Baath Party leadership, could aid in halting rampant unrest. Instead, it was broken up and some 350,000 troops dispatched to join the swelling ranks of Iraq's post-war unemployed. (MORE) Efforts are currently underway to construct a new Iraqi army, but the force has suffered major setbacks with the resignation of 300 of 700 soldiers in the first battalion complaining about conditions and pay. Following the walkout, the coalition increased hazard pay for the new recruits and other security forces, including police and firefighters. Despite Monday's protests, some soldiers back the dissolution of the army, seeing it as a chance to draw a firm line under the brutal influence of the Baath Party. "The old army and the old regime were the same thing, it could never be a good army - although they should have found us new jobs before disbanding it," said Satar Nama Jasam, a former sergeant.
PKK/KADEK CLAIMS TO HAVE DISARMED The outlawed terrorist organization Kurdistan Workers' Party-Kurdistan Freedom and Democracy Congress (PKK/KADEK) announced it has disarmed itself by selling its arms in northern Iraq. The interim Iraqi Governing Council had previously asked PKK/KADEK, Ansar al-Islam and the People's Mujaheddin Organization of Iran (PMOI) to leave Iraq. In response, PKK/KADEK claims to have sold its arms in the nearby villages of the Kandil Mountains where it was sheltering. PKK/KADEK sent a press statement to the Weekly Hawlati newspaper published in Arbil, asserting that the organization had decided to disarm and engage in political struggle instead of armed combat. The press statement also said PKK/KADEK have never received a call to leave Iraq but decided on its own in a high-level meeting to sell its arms and begin a political struggle. The press statement also said PKK/KADEK has no enemies, conveying a covert message for Turkey -- PKK/KADEK will no longer fight against Turkey. "The organization has no need for arms. The organization is not participating in the arms trade. Many arms and parts of arms were sold in nearby villages around the Kandil Mountains. The organization is giving up its arms to participate in the political system. The organization will now continue its struggle in the political arena," said the statement. The press statement also said the organization had rocket-propelled grenades and missiles that are also slated to be sold. (MORE)
IRAN CONSIDERS MOVING CAPITAL OUT OF TEHRAN Alarmed by the high death toll and level of destruction caused by the recent Bam earthquake, Iran's top policymakers are considering moving the nation's capital away from quake-prone Tehran, newspapers reported yesterday. "The Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) will shortly discuss a plan to move the capital from Tehran," SNSC chief Hassan Rohani was quoted as saying by the Hayat-e No newspaper. Rohani said a plan to move the capital, which lies on a major seismological fault, was proposed by the SNSC in 1991, "but due to resistance from certain entities in the establishment, the plan was halted." Even before the December 26 earthquake in Bam, seismologists had warned that a strong earthquake in Tehran would have catastrophic consequences for the city of 12 million people. (MORE)
GEORGIA: A SMALL PAWN IN THE GREAT GAME MOSCOW - As Georgia welcomes in a new president this week after the US-encouraged regime change in November - despite Russia's last-minute efforts to mediate between warring sides - Moscow and Washington appear to be on the verge of a micro-Cold War over the country. Subsequently, the Kremlin remains wary. Russian President Vladimir Putin has made it clear that Moscow is concerned that Eduard Shevardnadze's resignation took place under "forceful pressure". Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov stated that the regime change was not entirely democratic. Moscow and Tbilisi have been divided on a variety of issues, including the continued Russian military presence in Georgia and its breakaway republic of Abkhazia. However, tensions between Russia and Georgia have been seen in a wider context of the Great Game over lucrative transit routes for crude oil from untapped fields in Central Eurasia. It has been understood that Georgia's continued status as a failed state would have disrupted the United States' plans for a new pipeline from the oil-rich Caspian Sea to the West. Therefore, a stronger leadership was needed to secure the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline from Azerbaijan's and Kazakhstan's Caspian oilfields through Georgia to Turkey's Mediterranean port of Ceyhan. The US$2.75 billion project is due to start pumping oil in 2005. Georgia's apparent president-elect, US-trained lawyer Mikhail Saakashvili, has repeatedly pledged to prioritize the BTC despite maneuverings by some external forces. Last month, Avtandil Ioseliani, head of Georgia's Intelligence Department, warned that the BTC might be blown up by terrorists on Georgian soil. Yet the real issue in discussions over the BTC and other oil-transit routes seems to be the control over outflows of crude from the Caspian region, while Georgia per se remains of little significance. (MORE)
US DRUG LOBBY PEDDLING 'DISHONESTY' US drug lobbyists were peddling misinformation about Australia's medicine subsidy scheme to secure a better deal under a free trade agreement, federal Health Minister Tony Abbott warned a delegation from Washington yesterday. During a meeting with a powerful US congressional delegation yesterday morning, Mr Abbott also said the Australian Government would not change the "basic architecture" of the $5.8 billion-a-year Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme to secure a trade deal. But he left open the prospect of other concessions to multinational drug companies, saying he would be happy to talk with them about demands for greater transparency. After the talks with Acting Prime Minister John Anderson and eight influential Republican congressmen in Sydney yesterday, Mr Abbott accused drug lobbyists of waging a dishonest campaign against the scheme. "Misleading information is being peddled in Washington," he said in a statement. "The PBS is not a rationing system but a subsidy system. The PBS does not deny access to US drugs but treats them exactly the same as drugs made in Australia or elsewhere." Among those involved in the high-level US delegation were senior Republican members of Congress including South Carolina senator Lindsey Graham and Oregon senator Gordon Smith, who are both close to President George W. Bush. (MORE) | |||||
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