November 8, 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 NOVEMBER 8, 2004

1//The Guardian, UK--BLAIR 'MUST DEMAND GREATER SAY' (Tony Blair must use this week's talks with President Bush to demand Britain has a greater say in decision-making in Iraq, the Conservatives said. Shadow Foreign Secretary Michael Ancram accused the Prime Minister of failing to put Britain's case and weakly following the President's lead in Iraq... Mr Blair flies to Washington on Thursday for two days' of talks with President Bush...Mr Blair has said he would use the meeting to call for a renewed focus on peace in the Middle East. George Bush senior said he would be pushing at an open door.)

2//Institute for War and Peace Reporting, UK--WHAT LIES BEHIND FALLUJAH RISING? (The insurgents, including Jordanian militant leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, have played strongly on locals' fears of an uncertain future to feed the ongoing sectarian and anti-coalition violence. As well as a disaffected population, good road links to Syria and Jordan, and close proximity to Baghdad, Fallujah offers yet another attraction for insurgent leaders. With so many of people employed in the old Baath security forces, and a significant number occupying high-ranking posts in the military, the town has highly trained militia forces on tap. With all these factors militating in favour of a defiant, uncompromising stance, it should come as little surprise that the town's religious and tribal leaders have no plans to surrender to Coalition forces or the Iraqi government.

3//The Daily Star, Lebanon--IRAN WANTS CHINA AS TOP OIL IMPORTER (Iran wants China to replace Japan as its biggest importer of oil and gas, Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh was reported as saying here Saturday...The memorandum of understanding also grants to Chinese oil giant Sinopec the right to exploit the Yadavaran oil field on a buy-back basis in cooperation with a major international oil company. On Saturday, Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing said in Tehran that Beijing opposed U.S. efforts to refer Iran to the United Nations Security Council over its nuclear program.)

4//The Toronto Star, Canada--EGYPT DENIES HAVING NUCLEAR WEAPONS PROGRAM (Egypt denied it has a secret nuclear weapons program in an angry response today to reports that the U.N. atomic watchdog is investigating the discovery of plutonium particles near an Egyptian nuclear facility. Diplomats in Austria said Friday that the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency is trying to determine if the plutonium particles are evidence of an Egyptian weapons program or simply the by-product of peaceful research.)

5//The Japan Times, Japan--KOIZUMI, BUSH LIKE TWO PEAS IN A POD (Experts have said that good chemistry between Koizumi and Bush and their perceived shared practice of acting on intuition are two factors that have made them close friends and political allies. With the re-election of Bush, good Japan-U.S. relations will continue, they said. "The political styles of the two are very similar," said Yasuharu Ishizawa, professor of politics and media at Gakushuin Women's College. "In addition, their interests match. I think their personal relationship has greatly contributed" to the good bilateral ties between the nations, said Ishizawa, a former Washington Post reporter.)

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1//The Guardian, UK Monday November 8, 2004 3:08 AM
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uklatest/story/0,1271,-4602053,00.html

BLAIR 'MUST DEMAND GREATER SAY'
Press Association

Tony Blair must use this week's talks with President Bush to demand Britain has a greater say in decision-making in Iraq, the Conservatives said.

Shadow Foreign Secretary Michael Ancram accused the Prime Minister of failing to put Britain's case and weakly following the President's lead in Iraq.

He renewed Tory leader Michael Howard's long-standing demand for Britain to be given a greater voice in determining what was happening on the ground.

"In the past it has been clear that Tony Blair has consistently failed to put Britain's case to President Bush and has merely followed his lead," he said.

"Given President Bush's clear majority and strengthened position, this must be the moment when the British Prime Minister ensures that Britain's voice is not only heard loud and clear, but is also given good account."

Mr Blair flies to Washington on Thursday for two days' of talks with President Bush. He will be the first foreign leader to hold face-to-face talks with the President since his re-election.

Mr Blair has said he would use the meeting to call for a renewed focus on peace in the Middle East.

George Bush senior said he would be pushing at an open door.

(MORE)

2//Institute for War and Peace Reporting, UK (ICR No. 88, 05-Nov-04)
http://www.iwpr.net/index.pl?archive/irq/irq_88_1_eng.txt

By Ali al-Yasi in Baghdad (ICR No. 88, 05-Nov-04)
Ali al-Yasi is an IWPR trainee journalist in Baghdad.

WHAT LIES BEHIND FALLUJAH RISING?

The rebel town's location, its recent history and tightly-knit community all conspire to make it the ideal breeding ground for insurgency.

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With the United State elections out of the way and George Bush now assured a second term in office, Iraqis are bracing themselves for the start of an all-out offensive on the troubled town of Fallujah, west of Baghdad.

(SNIP)

But what is it that has turned Fallujah, more than any other Iraq town, into a hotbed of resistance?

While the town has dominated international news coverage of Iraq, official estimates put the total population of Fallujah and its suburbs at just 300,000.

Most people in this tight-knit community are still descended from seven local tribes - the Zawbaa, al-Jmailat, al-Falahat, Albu Alwan, Albu Muhammed, Albu Nimir, and Albu Kalb.

Despite the previous regime's divide-and-rule policy of favouring some tribes over others, the community here has remained united.

In a town which provided many recruits for Saddam Hussein's military, intelligence and security services, the end of his rule and the disbanding of his forces deprived substantial numbers of residents of both jobs and the benefits they had enjoyed as staunch Baath party supporters.

In the confusion that followed the end of the war, religious leaders in this predominantly Sunni Arab town moved to consolidate their power base by building on fears that, having lost the protection of the Baath party, Sunnis could soon find themselves marginalised as the country's Shia majority consolidated political power.

The idea of country-wide elections which would lead to a mainly Shia government - and also give the Kurds of northern Iraq greater influence in the country's decision making process - are seen as a serious threat.

Many in Fallujah adhere to the Salafi strand of Sunni Islam, and hold extreme views about Shias whom they see as members of a blasphemous sect.

Imams from Fallujah's mosques have repeatedly echoed the calls from the Muslim Clerics' Board, the Sunni Consultancy Council and the Board of Edicts to boycott the proposed January ballot.

In contrast to the Shia areas, where religious leader Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani has stressed the need for people to cast their vote, going to the ballot boxes in this part of Iraq would be regarded as tantamount to treason.

On top of the religious differences, many people in the town believe they would face a bleak future if Iraq moves to federalism, a structure that is envisaged in the Transitional Administrative Law, although no one is yet clear what it will look like. The general perception is that economic benefits will be channelled to the north and south of the country, as well as to oil-rich or agricultural areas, leaving resource-poor Fallujah neglected.

The insurgents, including Jordanian militant leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, have played strongly on locals' fears of an uncertain future to feed the ongoing sectarian and anti-coalition violence.

As well as a disaffected population, good road links to Syria and Jordan, and close proximity to Baghdad, Fallujah offers yet another attraction for insurgent leaders. With so many of people employed in the old Baath security forces, and a significant number occupying high-ranking posts in the military, the town has highly trained militia forces on tap.

With all these factors militating in favour of a defiant, uncompromising stance, it should come as little surprise that the town's religious and tribal leaders have no plans to surrender to Coalition forces or the Iraqi government. Negotiations between the interim Iraqi government and Fallujah's tribal sheikhs reached a predictable dead end.

(MORE)

3//The Daily Star, Lebanon Monday, November 08, 2004
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=3&article_id=9952

IRAN WANTS CHINA AS TOP OIL IMPORTER
Move would bump Japan as historic No. 1 partner

By Agence France Presse (AFP)

BEIJING: Iran wants China to replace Japan as its biggest importer of oil and gas, Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh was reported as saying here Saturday.

"Japan is our No. 1 energy importer due to historical reasons ... but we would like to give preference to exports to China," Zanganeh was quoted as saying in the China Business Weekly magazine. "From the supply side, we have no difficulties (in making China the top energy oil importer from Iran)."

Iran and China last week signed a preliminary accord under which China will buy 10 million tons annually of liquefied natural gas for 25 years in a deal that is worth some $100 billion.

The memorandum of understanding also grants to Chinese oil giant Sinopec the right to exploit the Yadavaran oil field on a buy-back basis in cooperation with a major international oil company.

On Saturday, Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing said in Tehran that Beijing opposed U.S. efforts to refer Iran to the United Nations Security Council over its nuclear program.

"It would only make the issue more complicated and difficult to work out," Li said during a news conference.

(MORE)

4//The Toronto Star, Canada Nov. 7, 2004. 08:32 PM
http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?page...

EGYPT DENIES HAVING NUCLEAR WEAPONS PROGRAM
Maam Youssef, Associated Press

CAIRO, Egypt - Egypt denied it has a secret nuclear weapons program in an angry response today to reports that the U.N. atomic watchdog is investigating the discovery of plutonium particles near an Egyptian nuclear facility.

Diplomats in Austria said Friday that the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency is trying to determine if the plutonium particles are evidence of an Egyptian weapons program or simply the by-product of peaceful research.

"Following newspaper and news agency reports about alleged Egyptian nuclear activity, the Foreign Ministry and the Ministry of Electricity and Energy announce that these reports have no basis of truth," the Foreign Ministry said in a statement that was faxed to The Associated Press.

Egypt joined the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty in 1981, signed a set of comprehensive guarantees with the IAEA a year later and has opened all its nuclear activities to supervision by the U.N.'s nuclear watchdog, the statement said.

Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit said Egypt is well-known for "its strict and full adherence to all its obligations to the conditions of the international agreements and charters."

"Egypt is the country which has called to keep the Middle East region free from all weapons of mass destruction," he added.

European laboratories are analyzing the Egyptian samples, which could be from a cracked research reactor fuel element or could have other, non-military origins, the diplomats said on condition of anonymity.

Egyptian officials said the IAEA last inspected Egyptian nuclear facilities in October.

(MORE)

5//The Japan Times, Japan Saturday, November 6, 2004
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/getarticle.pl5?nn20041106f1.htm

KOIZUMI, BUSH LIKE TWO PEAS IN A POD
Similar political styles a contributing factor to friendship, bilateral ties

By REIJI YOSHIDA
Staff writer

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi displayed typical forthrightness last month when he openly backed President George W. Bush -- a man he calls his friend -- in the U.S. presidential election.

Koizumi broke a diplomatic taboo on Oct. 14 when responding to a question on the close presidential race between Bush and Democratic challenger Sen. John Kerry.

"I don't want to interfere in an election in another country," he said. "But I'd like President Bush to hang in there because he's a close friend."

Publicly siding with a candidate in a foreign election is unusual, given the risk that another candidate might win.

Government officials rushed to play down Koizumi's remark, but the prime minister did not seem to care about a public reaction.

Experts have said that good chemistry between Koizumi and Bush and their perceived shared practice of acting on intuition are two factors that have made them close friends and political allies.

With the re-election of Bush, good Japan-U.S. relations will continue, they said.

"The political styles of the two are very similar," said Yasuharu Ishizawa, professor of politics and media at Gakushuin Women's College.

"In addition, their interests match. I think their personal relationship has greatly contributed" to the good bilateral ties between the nations, said Ishizawa, a former Washington Post reporter.

He predicted the two leaders will rely on each other even more in Bush's second term.

(MORE)