July 7, 2004

World Media Watch

by Gloria R. Lalumia

BUZZFLASH NOTE: WMW provides BuzzFlash readers foreign views and perspectives that are not usually available from the media here in the U.S. The presentation of these articles from these international publications is not an endorsement of their viewpoints.

* * *

WORLD MEDIA WATCH FOR JULY 7, 2004

1//The Sydney Morning Herald, Australia--US SECRETLY REMOVED RADIOACTIVE MATERIALS FROM IRAQ (The United States government says it secretly removed more than 1.7 tonnes of enriched uranium and other radioactive materials from Iraq that could potentially be used to manufacture a "dirty" radiological bomb or support a nuclear weapons program. The move came ahead of the June 28 handover of power from the US-led coalition of occupying powers to Iraq's interim government now formally charged with running the country while trying stamp out an escalating insurgency.)

2//The News International, Pakistan--NATWAR RULES OUT TROOPS FOR IRAQ (India will not send troops to Iraq but will help in humanitarian and rehabilitation work, including training Iraqi oil industry personnel, Foreign Minister Natwar Singh told parliament on Tuesday. "The question of sending troops to Iraq does not arise," he was quoted as saying by the Press Trust of India news agency. "Even if asked, India will not send its troops... I am saying it in black and white," he said adding that India would be training Iraqi oil ministry officials and was waiting for nominations from Baghdad.)

3//The Toronto Star, Canada--CANADIAN TROOPS HUNT TALIBAN (Mechanized soldiers have been told a remote mountain region they are patrolling northeast of the Afghan capital is a Taliban hotbed, but defining what constitutes a Taliban presence is proving difficult...The Canadians are employing their signature low-key approach to the area, sharing tea, distributing radios, collecting live ordnance - there's a lot - and taking leads from local militia who know the lay of the land. Their style stands in stark contrast to the Americans. A U.S. provincial reconstruction team went through nearby Qala Khil recently, searching houses, seizing weapons and painting large white Cs on the sides of the buildings once they'd been cleared. Residents of the mountainside village of Leyvani heard about the operation and were not impressed, saying it smacked of the practices of Soviet occupiers in the 1980s, minus the rape and murder.)

4//Asia Times Online, Hong Kong--BATTLE FOR AFGHANISTAN'S AIR WAVES (...So far, the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Denmark and other countries, as well as the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization and other UN agencies have all contributed millions to media assistance in Afghanistan. With so many diverse projects and differing definitions of what constitutes a "media" project (some humanitarian reconstruction projects contain media infrastructure), it is difficult to assess how much of the aid packages worked out by the West really target media issues, and of that figure, how much has gone directly to subsidizing local Afghan media...Last year, the US military distributed 200,000 free transistor radios - an indication of the very basic needs of Afghanistan, which differ considerably from nearby Central Asian countries and even some African developing nations. With only about 36% of the population literate and with the country's poorly developed infrastructure, radio remains by far the most popular medium.)

5//The Philippine Daily Inquirer, Philippines--RP ANGRY OVER US BARB ON TERROR EXPORTS (President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo's government on Wednesday reacted angrily to US concern that the Philippines could be unwittingly helping export international terrorism through training camps run by Islamic militants. US ambassador to Manila Francis Ricciardone said on Tuesday that Washington was concerned over camps allegedly run by a group blamed for the deadly October 2002 Bali bombings as well as other terror attacks across Southeast Asia... Arroyo spokesman Ignacio Bunye said in a written statement: "We acknowledge the concern of the US government but we do not have to be told to do our duty.")

* * *

1//The Sydney Morning Herald July 7, 2004 - 12:06PM
http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/07/07/1089000201764.html?oneclick=true

US SECRETLY REMOVED RADIOACTIVE MATERIALS FROM IRAQ

The United States government says it secretly removed more than 1.7 tonnes of enriched uranium and other radioactive materials from Iraq that could potentially be used to manufacture a "dirty" radiological bomb or support a nuclear weapons program.

The move came ahead of the June 28 handover of power from the US-led coalition of occupying powers to Iraq's interim government now formally charged with running the country while trying stamp out an escalating insurgency.

"This operation was a major achievement for the Bush administration's goal to keep potentially dangerous nuclear materials out of the hands of terrorists," Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham said in a statement today.

"It also puts this material out of reach for countries that may seek to develop their own nuclear weapons."

The operation, which took place last month, involved 20 US nuclear experts from of the Energy Department's secret laboratories and an undisclosed number of US troops.

Working at Iraq's former nuclear complex, the team packaged the low-enriched uranium and roughly 1,000 other highly radioactive devices, loaded them on a military plane and hauled them to the United States on June 23.

The enriched uranium will be stored temporarily at an undisclosed Department of Energy facility, while the devices will be further examined at a US government laboratory, officials said.

The department said the operation was consistent with "relevant United Nations Security Council resolutions" and aimed to "ensure the safety and security of the Iraqi people."

(MORE)

2//The News International, Pakistan Wednesday July 07, 2004-- Jamadi-ul-Awwal 18, 1425 A.H.
http://www.jang.com.pk/thenews/

NATWAR RULES OUT TROOPS FOR IRAQ

NEW DELHI: India will not send troops to Iraq but will help in humanitarian and rehabilitation work, including training Iraqi oil industry personnel, Foreign Minister Natwar Singh told parliament on Tuesday.

"The question of sending troops to Iraq does not arise," he was quoted as saying by the Press Trust of India news agency. "Even if asked, India will not send its troops... I am saying it in black and white," he said adding that India would be training Iraqi oil ministry officials and was waiting for nominations from Baghdad.

(SNIP)

Last month after a meeting with US Secretary of State Colin Powell in Washington, Singh had said that India could take a fresh look at sending troops following the handover of power to an interim Iraqi administration.

When that statement drew criticism from opposition parties and communist allies supporting ruling Congress Party, the foreign minister said that there was "no reconsideration" of India's decision not to send troops to Iraq.

On the treatment of Iraqi inmates in the Abu Ghraib jail by the US-led coalition forces, Singh said, "like the rest of the world, the government considers the ill-treatment and abuse of Iraqi prisoners abhorrent." India has offered its expertise to draw up a constitution and assist in census and voter registration in Iraq, Singh said.

3//The Toronto Star, Canada Jul. 6, 2004 02:20 PM
http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?page...

CANADIAN TROOPS HUNT TALIBAN
Finding enemy in Afghanistan's remote mountain regions easier said than done

LEYVANI, Afghanistan (CP) - Mechanized soldiers have been told a remote mountain region they are patrolling northeast of the Afghan capital is a Taliban hotbed, but defining what constitutes a Taliban presence is proving difficult.

The isolated region of Kohe Safi in Parwan Province, home to a young Afghan boy now hospitalized in Canada with a heart condition, is an ideal refuge for what military strategists call an OMF or opposing military force.

The only problem is, this enemy is unseen, unheard and, for all intents and purposes, underground.

Intelligence sources have told Canadians the area, whose militia is slated for disbandment under the country's demilitarization program, is crawling with Taliban.

But the local Pashtuns are friendly, open and receptive to the NATO force and to the medical clinics it offers. One such clinic in May discovered Djamshid Djan Popal, whose terminal heart condition earned him a trip to Ottawa, where doctors Monday said he needed surgery.

There have been no reports of intimidation and there is no evidence that any of the half-dozen villages members of the reconnaissance squadron of the 12 Regiment Blinde du Canada have been visiting for the past eight weeks are sympathetic to the Taliban cause.

(SNIP)

"The Taliban can be anywhere," says Maj. Andrew Zdunich, the reconnaisance squadron commander. "Perhaps calling them Taliban is inaccurate. I prefer OMF."

"Whatever you call them, they are the enemy. They can disguise themselves in burkas. They will use any tactics they can and they will blend in with the populace. How can we know they are in the area? You can never really know."

Zdunich, who got his masters in war studies last year, says the worst thing a military can do is underestimate its enemy. The Taliban know the country, he says, and Kohe Safi has been a stronghold through three wars in 25 years.

(SNIP)

The Canadians are employing their signature low-key approach to the area, sharing tea, distributing radios, collecting live ordnance - there's a lot - and taking leads from local militia who know the lay of the land.

Their style stands in stark contrast to the Americans.

A U.S. provincial reconstruction team went through nearby Qala Khil recently, searching houses, seizing weapons and painting large white Cs on the sides of the buildings once they'd been cleared.

Residents of the mountainside village of Leyvani heard about the operation and were not impressed, saying it smacked of the practices of Soviet occupiers in the 1980s, minus the rape and murder.

Many isolated villagers equate whites with Americans or even Russians, until they see the Maple Leaf flying on the backs of the Coyote and Bison armoured vehicles and get a taste of the Canadian way.

(MORE)

4//Asia Times Online, Hong Kong July 7, 2004
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Central_Asia/FG07Ag02.html

BATTLE FOR AFGHANISTAN'S AIR WAVES
By Catherine A Fitzpatrick

A viable and free press in Afghanistan is widely recognized by the international community and Afghans themselves as a top priority in the reconstruction of one of the world's poorest and most war-ravaged countries. Yet Western donors have also come to see that conditions in Afghanistan have meant both scaling back expectations and adapting to realities on the ground. When governments pledged US$5.2 billion in assistance for Afghanistan in 2002, with $3.8 billion to be given in the form of grants, media development was envisaged as an important albeit secondary priority. Millions of dollars have now been spent to reform or create media since the war, yet money alone has not been able to surmount basic logistical difficulties and philosophical differences.

So far, the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Denmark and other countries, as well as the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization and other UN agencies have all contributed millions to media assistance in Afghanistan. With so many diverse projects and differing definitions of what constitutes a "media" project (some humanitarian reconstruction projects contain media infrastructure), it is difficult to assess how much of the aid packages worked out by the West really target media issues, and of that figure, how much has gone directly to subsidizing local Afghan media.

(SNIP)

Last year, the US military distributed 200,000 free transistor radios - an indication of the very basic needs of Afghanistan, which differ considerably from nearby Central Asian countries and even some African developing nations. With only about 36% of the population literate and with the country's poorly developed infrastructure, radio remains by far the most popular medium. Many areas still lack electricity and television sets, so reaching most of the population through television is not an option.

About 37% of the population, or 7.5 million Afghans, listen to the radio, Internews reports. Another Internews survey found that 24% of rural Afghans can be reached by local radio or television stations, although many households do not have electricity and the number of those who possess radios and batteries is not known.

In addition to the reformed government broadcasting system, Radio Arman, the first independent station, was launched in 2003. Some conservatives were outraged that "young girls can be heard laughing on the air", according to the Paris-based Reporters Without Borders (Reporters Sans Frontieres, RSF), a non-governmental press-freedom group. The station grew popular in what an Afghan journalist told RSF was a "radio-centric" country, and others soon followed.

Internews has now set up 14 radio stations across Afghanistan with funding from the United States Agency for International Development's Office of Transitional Initiatives. Additional support from Germany has been provided for such Internews activities as a publication called "Media Monitor", which tracks press-freedom violations and development issues for the local media community and the general public.

(MORE)

5//The Philippine Daily Inquirer, Philippines Posted: 10:20 AM (Manila Time) | Jul. 07, 2004
http://www.inq7.net/brk/2004/jul/07/brkpol_4-1.htm

RP ANGRY OVER US BARB ON TERROR EXPORTS
Agence France-Presse

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo's government on Wednesday reacted angrily to US concern that the Philippines could be unwittingly helping export international terrorism through training camps run by Islamic militants.

US ambassador to Manila Francis Ricciardone said on Tuesday that Washington was concerned over camps allegedly run by a group blamed for the deadly October 2002 Bali bombings as well as other terror attacks across Southeast Asia.

He said the threat from those attending the camps was "not limited just to the immediate neighborhood where that person was trained," but "throughout the world."

Arroyo spokesman Ignacio Bunye said in a written statement: "We acknowledge the concern of the US government but we do not have to be told to do our duty."

He said there was "a continuing drive to weed out terrorist cells from isolated communities" on the southern island of Mindanao, he said. "We acknowledge the support of the US in these efforts."

Washington has been sending small teams of Special Forces advisors to provide counter-terrorist training to Filipino troops on Mindanao, which also hosts Muslim separatists accused of sheltering Jemaah Islamiyah bomb-makers.

Washington considers the group a Southeast Asian proxy of al-Qaeda, blamed for the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks in the United States.

Ambassador Ricciardone said the foreign militants had been able to set up shop in the southern Philippines because of the weak rule of law in the area.

Meanwhile, Bunye expressed dismay at the US decision to withdraw an offer of 30 million dollars in development aid to Mindanao that had hinged on Manila signing a peace treaty with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, the largest separatist guerrilla group in the area.

(MORE)