October 18, 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 OCTOBER 18, 2004

1//The Guardian, UK--HOON TO FACE MPs AS MILITARY UNEASE GROWS (The defence secretary, Geoff Hoon, will confirm today that the British military is considering sending as many as 600 soldiers to previously US-patrolled hotspots south of Baghdad, as it considers a wider role for troops ahead of the planned elections in January. British defence sources made clear yesterday that there was widespread unease among military commanders about the deployment, in particular the suggestion that troops were being used in a "political gesture" to support the agenda of the Bush administration in the run-up to the presidential election next month. "There is unease about us being drawn in to the whole American election thing," one source said.)

2//The Daily Times, Pakistan--ITALY MAY BEGIN WITHDRAWING IRAQ TROOPS NEXT YEAR, SAYS MINISTER (Italy could begin withdrawing its troops from Iraq next year, Defence Minister Antonio Martino was quoted as saying by newspapers on Sunday. "An immediate withdrawal will be inexplicable. But a first step could be a reduction in our contingent during 2005," the Corriere de la Sera quotes Martino as saying on Saturday on the sidelines of an Italian television programme. The defence minister is the first senior Italian official to suggest a rough time-scale on disengaging Rome's 3,000-strong contingent. He said any withdrawal or reduction in the Italian contingent was conditional on democracy returning to Iraq in the form of " fully legitimate government" following January elections.)

3//eTaiwanNews.com, Taiwan--KOREA WANTS TO EXTEND IRAQ TROOP DEPLOYMENT (The Seoul government is to seek approval from the country's parliament to extend the deployment of South Korean troops in Iraq by a year, news reports said yesterday. The defense ministry decided last week to extend the mission which was originally due to expire at the end of the year, Yonhap news agency said. The cabinet will soon ask parliament to allow up to 3,600 South Korean troops to stay in Arbil, a Kurdish-controlled town in northern Iraq, until the end of 2005, Yonhap said. When asked about the report, Shin Geoung-Ja, a defense ministry public relations official, said: "We can neither confirm nor deny it.")

4//The Moscow Times, Russia--GAZPROM BUYS INTO IRAN NUKE CONTROVERSY (The head of Russia's nuclear watchdog said on Friday that a unit of gas monopoly Gazprom has extended its reach into the atomic sector by buying a majority stake in Russia's key nuclear company. The Kremlin wants to tighten control over the strategic energy sector via Gazprom despite criticism by Russia's liberals that the move contradicted market-economy principles... The move also means Gazprom would have a say in Atomstroieksport's key project -- construction of the controversial $1 billion Bushehr nuclear plant in Iran. The United States accuses Iran of seeking weapons of mass destruction and says Tehran can use Russian know-how to make nuclear arms.)

5//Inter Press News Service Agency, Italy--GLOBAL AGREEMENTS THREATEN MEDIA, PRIVACY (The growing use of international treaties to bypass the will of national parliaments, by bodies waging the so-called "war on terrorism," increasingly threatens civil liberties and freedom of the media, warn privacy advocates. When U.S. officials -- reportedly the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), though the agency denied it Tuesday -- last week sought to gain access to computer servers hosting websites of Independent Media Centres (or Indymedia), a worldwide, alternative citizen-based news network, it was in response to a request by the Swiss police under the Mutual Legal Assistance Agreement...All the signatories to the cybercrime treaty -- which include Canada, the United States (which has not ratified the agreement) and European Union (EU) countries -- are obliged to have their legislatures pass lawful access laws that give police increased power to seize records of email messages by people under criminal investigation, as well as force Internet service providers (ISPs) to store transmission data for a period of time.)

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1//The Guardian, UK Monday, October 18, 2004
http://politics.guardian.co.uk/iraq/story/0,12956,1329816,00.html

HOON TO FACE MPs AS MILITARY UNEASE GROWS
Troops headed for two volatile Iraqi towns

Patrick Wintour, Richard Norton-Taylor and Jamie Wilson

The defence secretary, Geoff Hoon, will confirm today that the British military is considering sending as many as 600 soldiers to previously US-patrolled hotspots south of Baghdad, as it considers a wider role for troops ahead of the planned elections in January.

British defence sources made clear yesterday that there was widespread unease among military commanders about the deployment, in particular the suggestion that troops were being used in a "political gesture" to support the agenda of the Bush administration in the run-up to the presidential election next month. "There is unease about us being drawn in to the whole American election thing," one source said.

Mr Hoon will today face what is likely to be a hostile House of Commons when he makes a statement on the proposed deployment, in the face of mounting criticism from both Labour backbenchers and the opposition.

The defence secretary will seek to calm MPs and stress that no decision has been made. However, a battle group of 650 British troops from the Black Watch regiment has been earmarked to "backfill" for US marines policing the two highly volatile towns of Iskandariya and Latifiya, about 15 miles (25km) south of Baghdad.

(MORE)

2//The Daily Times, Pakistan Monday, October 18, 2004
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=story_18-10-2004_pg7_48

ITALY MAY BEGIN WITHDRAWING IRAQ TROOPS NEXT YEAR, SAYS MINISTER
ROME

(AFP): Italy could begin withdrawing its troops from Iraq next year, Defence Minister Antonio Martino was quoted as saying by newspapers on Sunday.

"An immediate withdrawal will be inexplicable. But a first step could be a reduction in our contingent during 2005," the Corriere de la Sera quotes Martino as saying on Saturday on the sidelines of an Italian television programme.

The defence minister is the first senior Italian official to suggest a rough time-scale on disengaging Rome's 3,000-strong contingent. He said any withdrawal or reduction in the Italian contingent was conditional on democracy returning to Iraq in the form of " fully legitimate government" following January elections.

Martino said the new Iraqi government would soon be able to count on "more than 100,000 men between the police force and soldiers" trained an equipped by NATO forces.

"If the local soldiers and police are operational, we have no reason to stay," the left-leaning La Repubblica quoted Martino as saying. Martino's comments came a day after Polish Prime Minister Marek Belka promised his parliament to start pulling out Warsaw's 2,500 troops next year.

(MORE)

3//eTaiwanNews.com, Taiwan 2004-10-18
http://www.etaiwannews.com/Asia/2004/10/18/1098064231.htm

KOREA WANTS TO EXTEND IRAQ TROOP DEPLOYMENT
Agence France-Presse

The Seoul government is to seek approval from the country's parliament to extend the deployment of South Korean troops in Iraq by a year, news reports said yesterday.

The defense ministry decided last week to extend the mission which was originally due to expire at the end of the year, Yonhap news agency said.

The cabinet will soon ask parliament to allow up to 3,600 South Korean troops to stay in Arbil, a Kurdish-controlled town in northern Iraq, until the end of 2005, Yonhap said.

When asked about the report, Shin Geoung-Ja, a defense ministry public relations official, said: "We can neither confirm nor deny it."

But an unnamed ministry source told Yonhap the deployment of the South Korean troops should be extended because it had been delayed for a long time by controversy over the original deployment.

"If the parliament fails to approve the extension of the mission... the South Korean troops would have to return home without having completed their job in Iraq," said the source.

Some 1,000 anti-war activists rallied and marched in downtown Seoul yesterday, demanding the government pull South Korean troops from Iraq and refuse to extend their stay.

(MORE)

4//The Moscow Times, Russia Monday, October 18, 2004. Page 7.
http://www.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2004/10/18/047.html

GAZPROM BUYS INTO IRAN NUKE CONTROVERSY
Combined Reports

The head of Russia's nuclear watchdog said on Friday that a unit of gas monopoly Gazprom has extended its reach into the atomic sector by buying a majority stake in Russia's key nuclear company.

The Kremlin wants to tighten control over the strategic energy sector via Gazprom despite criticism by Russia's liberals that the move contradicted market-economy principles.

"I can confirm that Gazprombank has bought a stake in Atomstroieksport. The total stake acquired was more than 50 percent," Andrei Malyshev, head of the federal nuclear supervision service, said in an interview.

The move also means Gazprom would have a say in Atomstroieksport's key project -- construction of the controversial $1 billion Bushehr nuclear plant in Iran. The United States accuses Iran of seeking weapons of mass destruction and says Tehran can use Russian know-how to make nuclear arms.

Industry sources said earlier this month Gazprom, the world's No. 1 gas company, had bought a stake in Atomstroieksport, with an order book of $3 billion, from firms linked to machinery maker OMZ. But none of the parties involved would confirm the transaction.

Malyshev said the government welcomed Gazprom's expansion.

"We have to keep an eye on how that relationship is going to develop, but we think that Gazprom is a very stable company ... partly because it's state-backed," Malyshev said.

"Therefore participation of such partners in the Russian nuclear industry is very positive."

Malyshev also said Russia will build more nuclear reactors for Iran when a diplomatic standoff over its atomic program subsides.

(MORE)

5//Inter Press News Service Agency, Italy October 15, 2004
http://ipsnews.net/interna.asp?idnews=25882

GLOBAL AGREEMENTS THREATEN MEDIA, PRIVACY
Paul Weinberg

TORONTO, Oct 15 (IPS) - The growing use of international treaties to bypass the will of national parliaments, by bodies waging the so-called "war on terrorism," increasingly threatens civil liberties and freedom of the media, warn privacy advocates.

When U.S. officials -- reportedly the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), though the agency denied it Tuesday -- last week sought to gain access to computer servers hosting websites of Independent Media Centres (or Indymedia), a worldwide, alternative citizen-based news network, it was in response to a request by the Swiss police under the Mutual Legal Assistance Agreement.

The treaty establishes procedures for countries to collaborate in investigations regarding international terrorism, kidnapping and money laundering.

It is less clear if the temporary seizure by the FBI of the two servers at the London, England office of Rackspace, a U.S. Internet operation based in Texas, was conducted under the agreement, since U.S. companies are subject to U.S. law worldwide, says Ian (Gus) Hosein, a visiting fellow at the London School of Economics and a fellow at the organisation Privacy International in the United Kingdom.

"The challenge then arises: did Rackspace break UK law? Where were UK law enforcement officials in all of this?" Hosein said in an interview from his London office.

"And the 64-million-dollar question is: why did all of this 'co-operation' between countries take place when we are still uncertain as to whether any laws were broken in any of these countries?" he asked.

Hosein cites the 2001 Council of Europe Cybercrime Treaty as a prime example of "policy laundering," in which national governments use global treaties to force their parliaments to pass what otherwise might be unpopular measures.

All the signatories to the cybercrime treaty -- which include Canada, the United States (which has not ratified the agreement) and European Union (EU) countries -- are obliged to have their legislatures pass lawful access laws that give police increased power to seize records of email messages by people under criminal investigation, as well as force Internet service providers (ISPs) to store transmission data for a period of time.

(MORE)