July 28, 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.

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WORLD MEDIA WATCH FOR JULY 28, 2004

1//The Jordan Times, Jordan--EUROPE, DOWN ON BUSH, KEEPS A KEEN EYE ON KERRY (Europe is watching this week's Democratic Party convention with keen interest, with many seeing in John Kerry a potential saviour from US President George W. Bush and his unilateralist ways...European governments, predictably, don't want to be seen as meddling in US politics in the run-up to the November polls. But in Berlin, Karsten Voight, coordinator for German-US cooperation at the German foreign ministry, admitted that "no US administration in Germany and Europe in recent decades has been as unpopular as the Bush administration."...He added that Germany is forging links with the Democratic Party, believing that better ties with the opposition camp could prove useful if Kerry fails to take the White House.)

2//The Daily Star, Lebanon--IRAN: US WAR ON TERROR IS "VOID" AFTER DECISION (Iran hit out Tuesday at the US decision to grant protected status to the Iraq-based People's Mujahedeen, the main armed opposition group in Iran, saying it proved Washington's war on terrorism was a sham. "The United States is using its fight against terrorism as a tool, and we knew from the beginning that this fight is void and they are not serious," foreign ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi said, quoted by the official news agency IRNA. "Using the Geneva Convention to protect this terrorist group is naive and unacceptable," he added.)

3//The Independent, UK--WAR IN IRAQ 'PREVENTING EFFORTS TO STOP SUDAN GENOCIDE' (Britain and America's preoccupation with Iraq has blocked international efforts to end genocide in the war-torn Darfur region of Sudan, according to a highly critical report published by a think-tank close to Tony Blair. The study, to be published today, said that the war in Iraq had prevented effective planning for military intervention which could have bolstered diplomatic efforts to prevent the bloodshed, which has driven more than a million people from their homes.)

4//The Moscow Times, Russia--PUTIN AIDE NAMED ROSNEFT CHAIRMAN (The man widely believed to have spearheaded the legal assault on Yukos was handed the chairmanship of Rosneft on Tuesday, just as Russia's last state-owned oil major appears to be positioning itself for the upcoming forced liquidation of Yukos' main production unit. Igor Sechin, who has worked with Putin for a decade and is now the deputy head of his administration, replaces former Energy Minister Igor Yusufov. He joined the 11-member board of the No. 7 crude producer last month. "Sechin's appointment can mean only one thing -- that the state is now officially increasing its influence over business structures," said Alexei Mukhin, head of the Center for Political Information think tank. Sechin has been "actively lobbying" Rosneft's interests for the last year, he said.)

5//Inter Press Service News Agency, Italy--COMMENTARY: HOPE GIVES WAY TO UNCERTAINTY (The atmospherics still exude cordiality as India's Foreign Minister Natwar Singh rounded off his numerous meetings in Islamabad with Pakistani policymakers and - shapers with a one-to-one conversation with Pakistan President Gen Pervez Musharraf. But the initial euphoria, optimism and effusiveness last week are yielding to caution, worry, and fear that the two nations' latest effort at dialogue and peace may not yield results soon...If there is no progress in the dialogue before Natwar Singh and Kasuri meet on Sep. 5-6, the entire process could unravel.)

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1//The Jordan Times, Jordan Wednesday, July 28, 2004
http://www.jordantimes.com/wed/news/news4.htm

EUROPE, DOWN ON BUSH, KEEPS A KEEN EYE ON KERRY
By Robert MacPherson, Agence France-Presse

London - Europe is watching this week's Democratic Party convention with keen interest, with many seeing in John Kerry a potential saviour from US President George W. Bush and his unilateralist ways.

Though the two rivals for the White House are neck and neck in US opinion polls, Kerry is widely regarded as the out and out favourite among Europeans, both for his politics and his many ties with the continent.

"Europe wants a fresh start, and that includes Europeans who are pro-American ... who feel that there's just too much bad blood around" in the wake of the Iraq war, said Steven Everts of the Centre for European Reform.

"Europe and America need a chance to start again," Everts told AFP in London on Tuesday, "and that's easier to do under a new administration."

European governments, predictably, don't want to be seen as meddling in US politics in the run-up to the November polls.

But in Berlin, Karsten Voight, coordinator for German-US cooperation at the German foreign ministry, admitted that "no US administration in Germany and Europe in recent decades has been as unpopular as the Bush administration."

"Up to now, the majority of Germans want good relations with the United States, but sympathy for the current administration is running very low," he told German radio.

He added that Germany is forging links with the Democratic Party, believing that better ties with the opposition camp could prove useful if Kerry fails to take the White House.

"Kerry's main advantage is that he's not named Bush," Polish political scientist Zbigniew Lewicki told AFP in Warsaw.

(SNIP)

Poland, the biggest of the 10 newest EU member states, has not been so critical of Bush as France and Germany, which led European opposition to the Iraq invasion, Lewicki added.

"Bush's reelection would be welcomed with joy in Poland, but if it's Kerry, that would be just as good," he said.

In London, Gerard Baker, US editor of the Times newspaper, wrote: "It would be no surprise ... if political leaders in Europe were privately praying for the election of Saint John the Multilateralist."

Hungary's biggest newspaper, Nepszabadsag, hailed former president Bill Clinton's clarion call at the Democratic convention on Monday for the United States to rebuild its alliances with other nations.

"This is the most important message of the presidential elections for the world," it said, adding that under Bush, the word "liberal" has become as despicable as "communist".

In Sweden, the Svenska Dagbladet newspaper, said Kerry has a number of advantages ahead of the November elections, not least of them "the millions of voters who want to kick Bush out of the White House".

"In 2000, people said it was dangerous to underestimate Bush. Now they are saying the same thing about Kerry, who (in the past) has always won where he was expected to fail," it said.

France is keeping its opinions of the presidential hopefuls to itself, but at least one newspaper, Le Figaro, argued that that's so Kerry does not lose because of the US backlash a French endorsement might bring.

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2//The Daily Star, Lebanon Wednesday, July 28, 2004
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=2&article_id=6688

IRAN: US WAR ON TERROR IS "VOID" AFTER DECISION
By Agence France Presse (AFP)

TEHRAN: Iran hit out Tuesday at the US decision to grant protected status to the Iraq-based People's Mujahedeen, the main armed opposition group in Iran, saying it proved Washington's war on terrorism was a sham.

"The United States is using its fight against terrorism as a tool, and we knew from the beginning that this fight is void and they are not serious," foreign ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi said, quoted by the official news agency IRNA.

"Using the Geneva Convention to protect this terrorist group is naive and unacceptable," he added.

The United States confirmed Monday it had granted protected status to nearly 4,000 members of the People's Mujahedeen, now confined to a military-run camp in western Iraq. This contrasts with the US designation of Al-Qaeda detainees.

The US State Department stressed, however, that the move had no effect on the US "foreign terrorist organization" designation for the group, also known as the Mujahedeen-e-Khalq (MEK) or National Council of Resistance of Iran.

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3//The Independent, UK 28 July 2004
http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/politics/story.jsp?story=545362

WAR IN IRAQ 'PREVENTING EFFORTS TO STOP SUDAN GENOCIDE'
By Ben Russell, Political Correspondent

Britain and America's preoccupation with Iraq has blocked international efforts to end genocide in the war-torn Darfur region of Sudan, according to a highly critical report published by a think-tank close to Tony Blair.

The study, to be published today, said that the war in Iraq had prevented effective planning for military intervention which could have bolstered diplomatic efforts to prevent the bloodshed, which has driven more than a million people from their homes.

It warned that discussion on Iraq had prevented the United Nations Security Council discussing the Darfur crisis in May and diverted attention from clear warning signs that started emerging more than a year ago.

The study, which was published by the Foreign Policy Centre, a left-of-centre think-tank which counts Mr Blair as its patron, said that there was a fatal lack of political resolve to take strong action against the Khartoum government, a key American ally in the war on international terrorism.

Yesterday the report's author, Dr Greg Austin, a specialist who has led Government funded research into conflict prevention, said the lessons of the Rwandan genocide had not been learnt. He said British and American military action in Iraq had prevented the two countries considering putting "boots on the ground" in Sudan, and criticised the United Nations for omitting Darfur from the agenda of the Security Council in May "since the focus of discussion was on Iraq".

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4//The Moscow Times, Russia Wednesday, July 28, 2004. Page 5.
http://www.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2004/07/28/040.html

PUTIN AIDE NAMED ROSNEFT CHAIRMAN
By Denis Maternovsky, Staff Writer

The man widely believed to have spearheaded the legal assault on Yukos was handed the chairmanship of Rosneft on Tuesday, just as Russia's last state-owned oil major appears to be positioning itself for the upcoming forced liquidation of Yukos' main production unit.

Igor Sechin, who has worked with Putin for a decade and is now the deputy head of his administration, replaces former Energy Minister Igor Yusufov. He joined the 11-member board of the No. 7 crude producer last month.

"Sechin's appointment can mean only one thing -- that the state is now officially increasing its influence over business structures," said Alexei Mukhin, head of the Center for Political Information think tank. Sechin has been "actively lobbying" Rosneft's interests for the last year, he said.

Kremlin-friendly firms Gazprom, Rosneft and Surgutneftegaz are considered to be the top contenders for Yuganskneftegaz, which accounts for 60 percent of Yukos' total production. The government last week froze the company's shares and said it would soon sell them to cover a $7 billion back tax bill.

"It all becomes clear if you remember those telephone conversations that Sechin and [Rosneft CEO Sergei] Bogdanchikov had a year ago," said independent political analyst Andrei Piontkovsky. Last July, Kompromat.ru published what it claimed were transcripts of talks between the two in which Sechin promised to "take care of the chief," referring to jailed Yukos founder Mikhail Khodorkovsky.

O'Sullivan said Sechin's appointment "makes Rosneft a definite contender" for Yuganskneftegaz and any other Yukos asset that becomes available. "[It] reflects government's interest in Rosneft as a vehicle for the state" he said.

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5//Inter Press Service News Agency, Italy July 26, 2004
http://www.ips.org/index.htm

COMMENTARY: HOPE GIVES WAY TO UNCERTAINTY
By Praful Bidwai

NEW DELHI, Jul 26 (IPS) - The atmospherics still exude cordiality as India's Foreign Minister Natwar Singh rounded off his numerous meetings in Islamabad with Pakistani policymakers and - shapers with a one-to-one conversation with Pakistan President Gen Pervez Musharraf.

But the initial euphoria, optimism and effusiveness last week are yielding to caution, worry, and fear that the two nations' latest effort at dialogue and peace may not yield results soon.

Going by reports of the discussions Singh has had with his counterpart Khurshid Mahmud Kasuri and other officials, the exuberance and mutual bonhomie evident in recent months have evaporated.

Put simply, neither government now appears keen to make a bold move forward. There are few signs of a shared high-level political mandate for specific agreements.

If there is no progress in the dialogue before Natwar Singh and Kasuri meet on Sep. 5-6, the entire process could unravel.

That would be an enormous setback. If India and Pakistan were to resume their rivalry -- suspended since former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee made an overture to Pakistan by holding out the "hand of friendship" in April last year -- it is liable to be far more bitter and vicious than in the past.

To avoid such a terrible setback, it is necessary that the two countries' top leaders take the initiative and make unmistakably positive and generous gestures to each other, while personally owning up the peace process.

In particular, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh must do all he can to prevent an impasse and impart momentum to the dialogue.

This may sound pessimistic. But as things stand today, there is unlikely to be a smooth path to peace, in which confidence- building measures precede, or go simultaneously with, substantive agreements on disputed issues.

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