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 SEPTEMBER 17, 2004

1//The Independent, UK--OFFICER WHO RALLIED UK TROOPS CONDEMNS ‘CYNICAL’ IRAQ WAR (Colonel Tim Collins, the British commander whose stirring speech to his troops on the eve of the Iraq invasion was reportedly hung on a wall in the Oval Office by George Bush, has criticised the British and US governments over the war. The officer, who has now left the Army, condemned the lack of planning for the aftermath of the conflict and questioned the motives for attacking Iraq. He said abuses against Iraqi civilians were partly the result of "leaders of a country, leaders of an alliance" constantly referring to them as the "enemy ... rather than treating them as people". This attitude was inevitably adopted by some soldiers on the ground, he said.)

2//The News International, Pakistan--FRANCE, SPAIN TO SET UP JOINT POLICE CORPS TO COMBAT TERRORISM (France and Spain are to set up a joint police corps to combat terrorism by Islamic extremists, Spanish Justice Minister Juan Fernando Lopez Aguilar said following a meeting with his French counterpart here on Thursday. "Today we are going to take a very important step in the anti-terrorist fight within the European Union in signing the first accord for a joint Spanish-French inquiry corps," Aguilar announced after conferring with French Justice Minister Dominique Perben…Spanish Defence Minister Jose Bono and his French counterpart Michele Alliot-Marie meanwhile hailed an initiative announced Wednesday to create a five-nation gendarmerie covering France, Italy, Spain, Portugal and the Netherlands. Bono estimated the para-military force would be "operational in a maximum of 30 days.")

3//The Daily Star, Lebanon--POWELL PLAYS DOWN REPORT ON SAUDI RELIGIOUS PRACTICES (U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell says he hopes to be able to remove Saudi Arabia from the State Department list of religiously intolerant countries… In remarks translated into Arabic, Powell paid tribute to the Saudi leadership in terms that contrasted strongly with the State Department's report on the kingdom's policy toward religion. "Freedom of religion does not exist" in Saudi Arabia, the State Department said Wednesday, adding the government was responsible for "particularly severe violations" of religious liberty… The report comes as U.S.-Saudi relations, strained by the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, continue to come under scrutiny in the United States. But Powell said the State Department report was a response to American legislation that requires a review of religious freedom around the world. He said the report's finding did not mean Washington would punish Saudi Arabia…However, some Saudis pointed skeptically to the timing of the report. Democrats accuse President George W. Bush of ignoring Saudi Arabia's rights record until now for fear of causing any backlash from the world's biggest oil supplier that could affect the U.S. economy.)

4//Asia Times Online, Hong Kong--CHINA TAKES THE LEAD IN STRATEGIC CENTRAL ASIA
(While China moves to assert its power in Central Asia by growing closer to its neighboring states, the US has largely focused its relationship with China on issues in the Taiwan Strait and the Korean Peninsula. Russia's concerns in Chechnya will drive its approach to the region, but with limited recourse and domestic concerns taking a priority in President Vladimir Putin's response, Moscow is likely to be content with the existing structure of the SCO, and allow China to consolidate its influence in the region. This environment provides China with an opportunity that it will not miss to prevent the US encirclement of its western border. Washington will be reassessing the deployment of its diplomatic and military resources in Central Asia after the elections in Afghanistan; the size of the withdrawal of resources will signal how serious Washington is in controlling events in Central Asia and how concerned it is with the situation in Xinjiang.)

5//The Moscow Times, Russia--GOVERNORS LOOK FOR THE SILVER LINING (Moreover, analysts said, the shakeup is all part of the run-up to the 2008 presidential election, when Putin will have to hand the reins to a successor. To make sure the presidency goes to the right person, Putin is trying to stamp out any opposition in the regions, they said. Regional bosses, of course, are not putting it so bluntly, and their comments in interviews this week indicated that they are looking for the silver lining. Many said the move will not only give the Kremlin more power, but them as well, including eventual control of local law enforcement and security agencies.)

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1//The Independent, UK 17 September 2004
http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/politics/story.jsp?story=562662

OFFICER WHO RALLIED UK TROOPS CONDEMNS ‘CYNICAL’ IRAQ WAR
By Kim Sengupta

Colonel Tim Collins, the British commander whose stirring speech to his troops on the eve of the Iraq invasion was reportedly hung on a wall in the Oval Office by George Bush, has criticised the British and US governments over the war.

The officer, who has now left the Army, condemned the lack of planning for the aftermath of the conflict and questioned the motives for attacking Iraq. He said abuses against Iraqi civilians were partly the result of "leaders of a country, leaders of an alliance" constantly referring to them as the "enemy ... rather than treating them as people". This attitude was inevitably adopted by some soldiers on the ground, he said.

"Either it was a war to liberate the people of Iraq, in which case there was gross incompetence, or it was simply a cynical war that was going to happen anyway to vent some form of anger on Saddam Hussein's regime with no regard to the consequences on the Iraqi people. In that case it is a form of common assault - and the evidence would point towards the latter," he said on BBC Radio 4's Today programme.

The speech of the commander of the 1st Battalion, the Royal Irish Regiment was seized on by advocates of the war. Col Collins faced allegations of misconduct during the campaign, but was cleared by an inquiry, and subsequently was appointed OBE.

Yesterday Col Collins said that "the whole international community is dismayed by the result of the Iraq war" but he felt that liberating Iraq was still "the right thing to do. There is no doubt that the country needed to be liberated. Whether it could have been done in a different way must be judged by history."

He added: "The evidence would show, in hindsight, that the preparations for a free and fair Iraq were not made and therefore one must question the motivation of the powers that went to attack it. There was very little preparation or thought given to what would follow on from the invasion.
" It is fair to say that the United States and its ally the UK are living the consequence having removed the Baathist regime without any thought about what would replace it. There's no doubt that there was a great deal of incompetence involved but ultimately I think one has to look at the reasons for going to war."

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2//The News International, Pakistan Thursday September 16, 2004-- Rajab 30, 1425 A.H.
http://www.jang.com.pk/thenews/sep2004-daily/16-09-2004/main/update.shtml#28

FRANCE, SPAIN TO SET UP JOINT POLICE CORPS TO COMBAT TERRORISM
(Updated at 2320 PST)

BARCELONA, Spain: France and Spain are to set up a joint police corps to combat terrorism by Islamic extremists, Spanish Justice Minister Juan Fernando Lopez Aguilar said following a meeting with his French counterpart here on Thursday.

"Today we are going to take a very important step in the anti-terrorist fight within the European Union in signing the first accord for a joint Spanish-French inquiry corps," Aguilar announced after conferring with French Justice Minister Dominique Perben.

The body will consist of police and magistrates and will seek to crack down on the armed Basque separatist group ETA -- an area where Paris and Madrid are already cooperating closely -- "but also, and of course right away, on Islamic terrorism, notably (its) financing," Aguilar said.

The announcement came the day after Spanish police arrested 10 people, most of them Pakistanis, suspected of involvement in Islamic extremism in an operation in the northeastern region of Catalonia.

Perben said Spain had agreed to grant French police the same powers as its own when they need to operate over the border as part of a reciprocal agreement.

Spanish Defence Minister Jose Bono and his French counterpart Michele Alliot-Marie meanwhile hailed an initiative announced Wednesday to create a five-nation gendarmerie covering France, Italy, Spain, Portugal and the Netherlands.

Bono estimated the para-military force would be "operational in a maximum of 30 days."

Ten Spanish and French ministers were meeting in Barcelona on Thursday to prepare the first bilateral talks between Spain's Socialist Prime Minister Jose Luis Zapatero, who came to office five months ago, and French President Jacques Chirac on December 7 in the northeastern Spanish city of Zaragoza.

The two men met Monday in a three-way summit in Madrid with German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder when Zapatero, seeking to place Spain back in the bloc's mainstream, directed a thinly-veiled barb in the direction of Washington by declaring that "the old Europe is brand new."

He was referring to US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld's controversial comments labeling European opponents of the war in Iraq as being part of "Old Europe".

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3//The Daily Star, Lebanon Friday, September 17, 2004
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=2&article_id=8459

POWELL PLAYS DOWN REPORT ON SAUDI RELIGIOUS PRACTICES
U.S. charges met with stony silence

Compiled by Daily Star staff

U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell says he hopes to be able to remove Saudi Arabia from the State Department list of religiously intolerant countries.

In an interview broadcast Thursday on the Saudi-owned satellite television Al-Arabiyya, Powell also said the United States was determined to hold elections in Iraq in January, despite the insurgency.

In remarks translated into Arabic, Powell paid tribute to the Saudi leadership in terms that contrasted strongly with the State Department's report on the kingdom's policy toward religion.

"Freedom of religion does not exist" in Saudi Arabia, the State Department said Wednesday, adding the government was responsible for "particularly severe violations" of religious liberty.

Powell said Saudi Arabia had been a great friend to the United States, which has nothing but esteem for Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah and his government.
The scathing U.S. report on religious freedoms was met with stony silence Thursday from the Saudi government.

But a member of the appointed Shura (consultative) Council lashed out at the State Department charges, insisting that freedom of belief is respected in the kingdom.
"Freedom of belief is guaranteed in Saudi Arabia," Nayef al-Doaiss, a member of the Council's Committee for Islamic Affairs and Human Rights said.

He said the kingdom was not affected by the U.S. criticism, "because all citizens of Saudi Arabia are Muslims ... and they enjoy religious freedom."

"Non-Muslims who live in the kingdom do not have places for worshipping, like churches, because they are not citizens ... They can practice their religions freely inside their houses," Doaiss said.

But liberal Saudi writer Mansour al-Nugaidan agreed that such practices are an obvious discrimination against non-Muslims in the kingdom.

"Saudi Arabia perceives itself as the custodian of Islam. This explains the belief that it should be void of any other religion," he added.

The report comes as U.S.-Saudi relations, strained by the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, continue to come under scrutiny in the United States.

But Powell said the State Department report was a response to American legislation that requires a review of religious freedom around the world. He said the report's finding did not mean Washington would punish Saudi Arabia.

He said he hoped that, through dialogue, a way could be found to remove Saudi Arabia from the list of "countries of particular concern" - a category that means a state could be subjected to U.S. sanctions for religious intolerance.

However, some Saudis pointed skeptically to the timing of the report. Democrats accuse President George W. Bush of ignoring Saudi Arabia's rights record until now for fear of causing any backlash from the world's biggest oil supplier that could affect the U.S. economy.

"Saudi Arabia is becoming an election issue. In the Cold War you would hear about the Soviet Union and China. Now, after 9/11, it's Saudi Arabia," said Khalid Dakhil, professor of political sociology at Riyadh's King Saud University.

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4//Asia Times Online, Hong Kong September 17, 2004
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/China/FI17Ad04.html

CHINA TAKES THE LEAD IN STRATEGIC CENTRAL ASIA
By Adam Wolfe

From the collapse of the Soviet Union until September 11, 2001, China was able to use its security concerns within the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region to build alliances with the newly formed states of Central Asia. Russia's domestic concerns and the United States' focus on fostering democratic principles in the new states allowed China to form multilateral organizations favorable to its concerns and establish economic ties with its western neighboring states. These conditions were of great importance to Beijing's strategies for containing separatist movements within Xinjiang, but after the September 11 attacks, the US re-engaged Central Asia and overpowered the multilateral agreements that China had established.

China's attempts to adapt to the new environment were initially met with mixed results. Beijing tried to link the Xinjiang separatists to the US "war on terrorism", but even after a Uighur militant group was placed on the official US list of terrorist organizations, Washington was generally cool to China's claims. Recently, China has been moving to re-establish the economic and cooperative security ties that it previously established with Russia, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan in order to contain the Uighur militants, reinforce Beijing's claim over the Xinjiang region and prevent a strategic "encircling" by the United States.

Russia's situation in Chechnya has prevented Moscow from countering Beijing's efforts, and in the current environment it is likely that Moscow will welcome China's attempt to regain regional power from the US. Should China be successful in this strategy, it would have profound effects not only on the status of the Xinjiang region, but also on the geopolitical environment of Central Asia.

(SNIP)

Since 2003, China has been working to re-establish the importance of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and has expanded economic ties with the Central Asian states, while the US has shifted resources out of Central Asia and into Iraq. Last October, China and Pakistan held joint naval exercises off the coast of Shanghai, China's first naval exercise with any foreign country. Kazakhstan and China began negotiating trade agreements to supply natural gas to China via a pipeline through Xinjiang. China has also increased its funding for the anti-terrorist center in Bishkek in an effort to decrease the importance of bilateral agreements with the United States in shaping the member states' foreign policies. Last month, China and Pakistan held joint military exercises code-named Youyi-2004. The operations focused on counter-terrorism and were held in the southern section of Xinjiang near Kashgar, the region with the highest population of Uighurs in Xinjiang.

While China moves to assert its power in Central Asia by growing closer to its neighboring states, the US has largely focused its relationship with China on issues in the Taiwan Strait and the Korean Peninsula. Russia's concerns in Chechnya will drive its approach to the region, but with limited recourse and domestic concerns taking a priority in President Vladimir Putin's response, Moscow is likely to be content with the existing structure of the SCO, and allow China to consolidate its influence in the region. This environment provides China with an opportunity that it will not miss to prevent the US encirclement of its western border. Washington will be reassessing the deployment of its diplomatic and military resources in Central Asia after the elections in Afghanistan; the size of the withdrawal of resources will signal how serious Washington is in controlling events in Central Asia and how concerned it is with the situation in Xinjiang.

5//The Moscow Times, Russia Friday, September 17, 2004. Page 1.
http://www.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2004/09/17/001.html

GOVERNORS LOOK FOR THE SILVER LINING
By Francesca Mereu, Staff Writer

Yury Lodkin, the Communist governor of the traditionally red Bryansk region, is not only saluting President Vladimir Putin's plan to strengthen his grip on the country by nominating regional leaders but calling the proposed change "fantastic."

"People voted for the president and he has the right to choose," Lodkin told reporters in Bryansk this week, according to his press office. "The government badly needs to reinforce the executive chain of command, and this is why I back what the president said. This is fantastic."

Yury Luzhkov, Moscow's managerial-minded mayor, who would not have to step aside under Putin's plan when his third and final term ends in 2007, was equally enthusiastic. He said a regional leader should be "more a good manager and less a politician."

Analysts said regional leaders have no choice but to embrace the plan if they want to hold on to their posts because they realize that Putin will implement the change no matter what they say. And many of the leaders have their jobs thanks to the Kremlin.

Moreover, analysts said, the shakeup is all part of the run-up to the 2008 presidential election, when Putin will have to hand the reins to a successor. To make sure the presidency goes to the right person, Putin is trying to stamp out any opposition in the regions, they said.

Regional bosses, of course, are not putting it so bluntly, and their comments in interviews this week indicated that they are looking for the silver lining. Many said the move will not only give the Kremlin more power, but them as well, including eventual control of local law enforcement and security agencies.

(SNIP)

"Most governors say they back Putin's initiative because they hope to stay in power as long as possible. They are doing anything they can to show their loyalty to the Kremlin," said Alexei Titkov, a regional analyst at the Carnegie Moscow Center.

"Governors are even afraid to utter the word 'against,'" said Andrei Ryabov, another analyst at the Carnegie Moscow Center. "Many governors are finishing their [final] terms, and they hope that the Kremlin says, 'He is a good pal. Why should we replace him?' This is what they are counting on."

What the regional leaders really think could be seen by looking at their faces after Putin's speech Monday, said Dmitry Orlov, a political analyst at the Agency for Political and Economic Communications.

"Everyone was unhappy," he said.

While there will probably not be any open opposition, there will be a hidden opposition that will gain momentum if a new crisis hits the country, Orlov said.

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