March 16, 2005

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 MARCH 16, 2005


1//Asia Times Online, Hong Kong--AN OFFER THAT CAN BE REFUSED ( … Thus, no matter how urgent the European desire to heal the trans-Atlantic rift with Washington, vividly demonstrated in President George W Bush's recent charm offensive in European capitals, the fact remains that in agreeing to bandwagon with the US on the next steps toward Iran, Europe has potentially bargained away its diplomacy and, worse, put at risk its carefully-cultivated nuanced approach toward Iran; already, Iran's top nuclear negotiator, Dr Hassan Rowhani, has warned that in light of Iran's full compliance with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspections, Iran will immediately cease negotiations with Europe and resume nuclear fuel production if Iran's dossier is sent to the Security Council. … But, this aside, the US and Europe cannot possibly overlook the role and influence of Iran's national character and collective psyche, which will be badly bruised if Iran bargains away its NPT rights to nuclear technology for such modest incentives. Without doubt, the political backlash inside Iran will be tremendous, and Rowhani and others involved in such a humiliating bargain will be the immediate political casualties, sure to be replaced with more hawkish politicians more apt to emulate North Korea's path - of exiting the NPT and excluding any outside inspection of their nuclear facilities.)

2//The Independent, UK--STRAW PLEDGES CURB ON £15bn ARMS TRADE (Jack Straw has vowed to lead a global drive to force the world's arms exporters to sign a treaty controlling the £15bn-a-year trade in conventional weapons. Warning that a person is shot dead every minute in the world, the Foreign Secretary said "more misery and destruction" was caused by smallarms than by tightly controlled weapons of mass destruction. But British defence contractors may be more than happy with such a global treaty because that would put them on a "level playing field" with firms based in countries with a less stringent approach to monitoring arms exports. … Mr Straw said legally binding controls could be drawn up on conventional arms exports to match those on nuclear, chemical and biological weapons. He promised to put the issue on the agenda of the June meeting of the foreign ministers of the G8 group of politically powerful nations, which he will chair.)

3//The Daily Times, Pakistan--PAKISTAN WANTS TO JOIN NUCLEAR SUPPLIERS GROUP (Amid a widening investigation into a nuclear black-market run by its own disgraced top scientist, Pakistan on Tuesday announced that it wants to join a group of countries working to prevent the proliferation of nuclear weapons. The offer by Pakistan to join the 44-member Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) comes amid charges by diplomats and nuclear experts that Pakistan had developed new illicit channels to upgrade its nuclear weapons programme, despite efforts by the UN atomic watchdog to shut down all illegal procurement avenues. … Nuclear experts said these channels involved new middlemen who had not played a role in earlier deals which came to light last year. “These are not the same people. They’re new, which is worrying,” said one Western diplomat.)

4//NewsVOA.com (Voice of America), US-- U.S.—TURKISH TENSIONS (Turkey is in flames. A U.S. air attack has leveled Istanbul and Ankara, and now American tanks are rolling in to occupy the country. In desperation, the Turks call on Russia and the European Union for help, and these onetime enemies of Turkey stall the U.S. advance and end the war – but not before an enterprising Turkish agent has destroyed much of Washington with a nuclear device. … The stuff of fantasy, to be sure, in a best-selling Turkish novel titled “Metal Storm.” … What is going on? How can two erstwhile allies, cooperative in so many areas, go to war? At the moment, there is certainly a war of words. A BBC survey indicates Turkey is now the most anti-American nation on earth. In this atmosphere, no monstrous act is considered beyond America or its Israeli partner in crime who are even compared to the German Nazis. Columnist Arnaud deBorchgrave says some Turks may be outvenoming Osama bin Laden.)

5//The Daily Star, Lebanon--NEW FATWA WILL ENABLE KUWAITI EMIR TO RULE ON WOMEN’S RIGHTS (Kuwait's minister of Islamic affairs said Monday his ministry would shortly issue a new fatwa, entrusting the emir to rule on a controversy over whether to give women political rights. … He said the fatwa would be signed and released next Saturday. The new fatwa would replace one issued in 1985 which clearly stated that Islam forbids women from voting and contesting parliamentary elections. … The new edict is expected to boost chances of Kuwaiti women winning political rights in the face of stiff opposition by a majority of Kuwaiti Islamists and conservative tribal lawmakers. Emir Sheikh Jaber al-Ahmed al-Sabah favors giving women the vote. In 1999, he issued a decree granting women full political rights but it was narrowly rejected by Parliament the same year.)

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1//Asia Times Online, Hong Kong March 16, 2005
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/GC16Ak02.html

AN OFFER THAT CAN BE REFUSED

By Kaveh L Afrasiabi

TEHRAN - The Bush administration has offered modest incentives - of Iran's entry to the World Trade Organization (WTO) and spare parts for its aging airplanes - rejected by Iran as incommensurate with the huge nuclear card. In making this announcement, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice made clear that this decision, reached with the European Three (ie France, Germany and Britain - EU-3) currently holding nuclear talks with Iran, implies that if Iran rejected the offer and insists on resuming its nuclear fuel cycle, then Europe would support the US's bid to take the matter to the United Nations Security Council for further action.

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Assefi said Sunday in a statement that the country was determined to use nuclear technology for peaceful purposes, and "no pressure, bribe or threat" could make Iran give up.

This development is, indeed, troublesome for both Iran-EU relations as well as US-EU ties, notwithstanding the fact that the US continues to insist on Iran's permanent suspension of its uranium enrichment program, whereas the Paris Agreement, signed between Iran and the EU-3 last November, implicitly if not explicitly recognizes Iran's right under the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) to produce the nuclear fuel necessary for its reactors and, what is more, invites Iran to join a club of nuclear fuel-producing countries.

Thus, no matter how urgent the European desire to heal the trans-Atlantic rift with Washington, vividly demonstrated in President George W Bush's recent charm offensive in European capitals, the fact remains that in agreeing to bandwagon with the US on the next steps toward Iran, Europe has potentially bargained away its diplomacy and, worse, put at risk its carefully-cultivated nuanced approach toward Iran; already, Iran's top nuclear negotiator, Dr Hassan Rowhani, has warned that in light of Iran's full compliance with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspections, Iran will immediately cease negotiations with Europe and resume nuclear fuel production if Iran's dossier is sent to the Security Council.

From Iran's vantage point, the US's offer above-mentioned is problematic on several grounds: first, it overlooks that Iran has legitimately exercised its right to acquire peaceful nuclear technology, per Article IV of the NPT, and that to ask Iran to deny itself this right, or part of it, is illegal, from the prism of international law and international regimes such as the NPT. Second, per US intelligence's own admission, reflected in the New York Times on March 10, 2005, there is no reliable information that Iran has embarked on a secret nuclear weapon program, notwithstanding the IAEA's widespread inspection of Iranian civil and military sites and the absence of any evidence corroborating the US's and Israel's allegations that Iran has a clandestine weapons program.

Third, Iran has already committed a huge sum of money, in upwards of US$1 billion, in setting up the nuclear facilities in Tehran, Isfahan, Arak, etc, which the West is now demanding to dismantle in exchange for token rewards. The heavy water reactor alone has cost Iran over $100 million, and per reliable information relayed to the author by one of Iran's top nuclear negotiators, recently the British negotiators in Vienna offered a light water reactor to Iran if it agreed to scrap the heavy water reactor, an offer which had apparently surprised the German and French negotiators.

But, this aside, the US and Europe cannot possibly overlook the role and influence of Iran's national character and collective psyche, which will be badly bruised if Iran bargains away its NPT rights to nuclear technology for such modest incentives. Without doubt, the political backlash inside Iran will be tremendous, and Rowhani and others involved in such a humiliating bargain will be the immediate political casualties, sure to be replaced with more hawkish politicians more apt to emulate North Korea's path - of exiting the NPT and excluding any outside inspection of their nuclear facilities.

(MORE)

2//The Independent, UK 16 March 2005
http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/politics/...

STRAW PLEDGES CURB ON £15bn ARMS TRADE
By Nigel Morris and Stephen Khan

Jack Straw has vowed to lead a global drive to force the world's arms exporters to sign a treaty controlling the £15bn-a-year trade in conventional weapons.

Warning that a person is shot dead every minute in the world, the Foreign Secretary said "more misery and destruction" was caused by smallarms than by tightly controlled weapons of mass destruction.

But British defence contractors may be more than happy with such a global treaty because that would put them on a "level playing field" with firms based in countries with a less stringent approach to monitoring arms exports.

While Labour promised a foreign policy with an "ethical dimension" almost eight years ago, ministers have faced continued to face controversy over British military exports to such nations as Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, China and Israel. In 2003, Saudi Arabia was the largest buyer of British weapons, spending £198.3m. Other countries among the top 10 markets were India, Oman and the United Arab Emirates.

More than $22bn a year is spent on arms by countries in Africa, Asia, Middle East and Latin America. Half of this amount would enable every girl and boy in those regions to go to primary school. Among farmers in northern Uganda, AK-47 assault rifles have replaced spears as the weapon of choice, and in Somalia children are named AK or Uzi after guns.

Defence companies employ 200,000 people in Britain, a third of them working on foreign orders. And the UK's share of the multibillion-dollar global arms trade actually increased from 11.8 per cent in 2002, to 16.4 per cent in 2003. Britain is now the world's second-largest exporter of military hardware, with sales of $4bn (£2.2bn) a year, and three UK companies are among the 30 largest defence contractors in the world.

Mr Straw said legally binding controls could be drawn up on conventional arms exports to match those on nuclear, chemical and biological weapons. He promised to put the issue on the agenda of the June meeting of the foreign ministers of the G8 group of politically powerful nations, which he will chair.

(MORE)

3//The Daily Times, Pakistan Wednesday, March 16, 2005
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?...

PAKISTAN WANTS TO JOIN NUCLEAR SUPPLIERS GROUP
Experts say Islamabad reviving nuclear black market

ISLAMABAD: Amid a widening investigation into a nuclear black-market run by its own disgraced top scientist, Pakistan on Tuesday announced that it wants to join a group of countries working to prevent the proliferation of nuclear weapons.

The offer by Pakistan to join the 44-member Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) comes amid charges by diplomats and nuclear experts that Pakistan had developed new illicit channels to upgrade its nuclear weapons programme, despite efforts by the UN atomic watchdog to shut down all illegal procurement avenues. “Pakistan is fully prepared to interact with the NSG and to become a member so as to work together and promote nuclear nonproliferation,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Jalil Abbas Jilani told The Associated Press.

The NSG is a voluntary organization that deals with the monitoring of sensitive dual-use equipment from industrialized countries that could be used for illicit weapons.

“The NSG had shown interest in visiting Pakistan to exchange views and to discuss cooperation. Pakistan has agreed to their visit,” Jilani told AP. He said no date for the visit has yet been fixed.

Western diplomats familiar with an investigation of the nuclear black market by the UN’s Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said this news was disturbing. While Pakistan appeared to be shopping for its own needs, the existence of some nuclear black market channels meant there were still ways for rogue states or terrorist groups to acquire technology that could be used in atomic weapons, they said.

“General procurement efforts (by Pakistan) are going on. It is a determined effort,” a diplomat from a member of the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) told Reuters on condition of anonymity. “This was discussed at an NSG meeting in Vienna last week.”

Nuclear experts said these channels involved new middlemen who had not played a role in earlier deals which came to light last year.

“These are not the same people. They’re new, which is worrying,” said one Western diplomat.

(MORE)

4//NewsVOA.com (Voice of America), US 14 March 2005
http://www.voanews.com/english/NewsAnalysis/200...

U.S.—TURKISH TENSIONS
By Ed Warner

Turkey is in flames. A U.S. air attack has leveled Istanbul and Ankara, and now American tanks are rolling in to occupy the country. In desperation, the Turks call on Russia and the European Union for help, and these onetime enemies of Turkey stall the U.S. advance and end the war – but not before an enterprising Turkish agent has destroyed much of Washington with a nuclear device.

The stuff of fantasy, to be sure, in a best-selling Turkish novel titled “Metal Storm.” It has indeed taken the Turkish public by storm and politicians as well with an outrageous plot that somehow strikes a responsive chord. Readers seem to find its fiction uncomfortably close to fact. One of its two authors, Burak Turna, a former military affairs reporter, claims his book is not just another conspiracy theory but a “possibility theory.”

What is going on? How can two erstwhile allies, cooperative in so many areas, go to war? At the moment, there is certainly a war of words. A BBC survey indicates Turkey is now the most anti-American nation on earth. In this atmosphere, no monstrous act is considered beyond America or its Israeli partner in crime who are even compared to the German Nazis. Columnist Arnaud deBorchgrave says some Turks may be outvenoming Osama bin Laden.

Real life has contributed to this startling shift of opinion. Turks, like many others, strongly opposed the U.S. invasion of Iraq and suspect U.S. plans for the region. They are particularly uneasy over the growing separatism of Kurds in northern Iraq. This, in turn, could enflame the already restive Kurds within Turkey. What, they ask, is the U.S. up to?

(MORE)

5//The Daily Star, Lebanon Tuesday, March 15, 2005
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?...

NEW FATWA WILL ENABLE KUWAITI EMIR TO RULE ON WOMEN’S RIGHTS
By Agence France Presse (AFP)

KUWAIT CITY: Kuwait's minister of Islamic affairs said Monday his ministry would shortly issue a new fatwa, entrusting the emir to rule on a controversy over whether to give women political rights. "The fatwa panel met recently and discussed the viewpoint of Islam on women's political rights ... It concluded that the issue is a bone of contention and that the ruler should have the final say on it," Abdullah al-Maatuk told reporters in Parliament.

He said the fatwa would be signed and released next Saturday.

The new fatwa would replace one issued in 1985 which clearly stated that Islam forbids women from voting and contesting parliamentary elections.

"The committee found conflicting views by various Muslim scholars and groups on the issue. In this case, the ruler will resolve the dispute," Maatuk said.

The new edict is expected to boost chances of Kuwaiti women winning political rights in the face of stiff opposition by a majority of Kuwaiti Islamists and conservative tribal lawmakers.

Emir Sheikh Jaber al-Ahmed al-Sabah favors giving women the vote. In 1999, he issued a decree granting women full political rights but it was narrowly rejected by Parliament the same year.

(MORE)