April 29, 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 APRIL 29, 2005

1//The Independent, UK--BLAIR’S SPECTACULAR U-TURN ON LEGAL ADVICE LEAVES UNANSWERED QUESTIONS (... On a dramatic day, dubbed "Wobbly Thursday" at Labour HQ, Mr Blair again saw his election campaign derailed by Iraq. He gambled that, by revealing the memo he has repeatedly refused to publish, Labour would be able to return to the economy and public services before the election. He feared that, after two partial leaks in the past week, the Attorney General's full report would be disclosed early next week. … If the controversy continues into next week, Labour officials fear it could cost the party dozens of marginal seats. Last night, there was little sign Mr Blair's attempt to "clear the decks" had calmed the storm. Anti-war MPs claimed that the Commons, and even the Cabinet, might not have backed the conflict if they had been told of Lord Goldsmith's doubts. They said there was still no explanation why he changed his mind in the 10 days that elapsed between his two reports.)

2//The Turkish Daily News, Turkey--WEST FEARS TURKEY MAY BE DRIFTING INTO ‘ISOLATIONISM’ (A tough-worded speech by Chief of General Staff Gen. Hilmi Özkök unveiled what analysts and diplomats view as a hidden fear in western capitals that Turkey may be slowly drifting into political isolation. They said Özkök's remarks proved a long-time suspicion that Turkey's anchor at the Western bay -- through its NATO membership, EU candidacy and long-time alliance with the United States -- may now be at stake. … In his major annual policy speech at the War Academies in Istanbul on April 20, Özkök criticized the United States on at least three key points. His first message reflected the Turkish military's uneasiness over an insistent U.S. characterization of Turkey in reference to Islam. Turkey is neither an Islamic state, nor an Islamic country, said Gen. Özkök, calling secularism the key principle that holds together the Turkish Republic's values. Some circles want to describe Turkey in terms of moderate Islam. Almost 99 percent of the Turkish population is Muslim, but its government is secular and democratic and functions according to the rule of law, he said. His remarks came five days after U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said that Turkey was an example of democracy with an Islamist ruling party. So the goal is to, in those places where Muslims are either the majority or in some cases almost without any minority, is to recognize that there is no contradiction between Islam and the Muslim world and democracy. … Michael Rubin, a leading Middle East specialist in Washington and a former advisor to U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, is also criticizing the U.S. lack of action against the PKK. … In his most alarming assessment, Rubin qualified the last two years of U.S.-Turkish diplomacy as a comedy of errors and warned that the continuation of the Iraq rift could jeopardize Turkey's security. If Turkish and American politicians and diplomats do not acknowledge and put aside their past mistakes, bilateral relations will continue to sour, impacting not only the once special relationship, but also Turkey's security and the future shape of Iraq.)

3//Institute for War and Peace Reporting, UK--KURDISH NORTH TO REAP BUSINESS BENEFIT (Differences between the way Iraqi Kurdistan and the rest of Iraq promotes investment is prompting businesses to snub Baghdad and turn to the northern region of the country. In a sign of the apparent preference for the north, the Iraqi-American Chamber of Commerce and Industry is holding a conference in October in Iraqi Kurdistan for 240 firms interested in investing there. Analysts say that there are a number of reasons why firms are presently turning their backs on the Iraqi capital. The Sulaimaniyah administration of Iraqi Kurdistan has an Investment Promotion Board that guides and facilitates projects for investors. But in Baghdad, there is no central agency to which investors can turn. … In Baghdad, the government still relies on laws established by the Coalition Provisional Authority, CPA. The Iraqi investment rules allow for discounts on customs taxes for five years but the amount depends on the size and timeframe of each investment project. Foreign investors also can’t own property, permitted only long-term leases of up to 40 years, according to one of the orders issued by the CPA. “Nobody abides by the investment law, including Iraqi ministers, because it was established by the CPA,” said Raad Ommar, director of the Iraqi-American Chamber of Commerce and Industry. “The most important point is there is no agency dedicated to welcoming and guiding companies.)

4//Al-Ahram Weekly Online, Egypt--THE RUSSIANS ARE COMING (… "The Soviets were always keen on the Middle East. The region was practically their backyard. Today the Russians, under Putin, are trying to regain their presence, if not influence, in the Middle East," says Reda Shehata, a former Egyptian ambassador to Russia. … But can Russia build the kind of ties the Soviet Union once had with the Arab world? Unlikely, is the answer offered by many diplomats. "Russia is an important country," said one diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity. "It is a growing player on the international scene and is a nuclear power -- even if not a strong one. But Russia is economically weak and politically ineffective. Only a few days ago [US Secretary of State Condoleezza] Rice was in Moscow lecturing the Russians on democracy." Many Arab diplomats agree. So entrenched is US hegemony, they argue, that most Arab capitals, including those close to Moscow, are politically and economically dependent on Washington's goodwill.)

5//Deutsche Welle/DW Worlde.de, Germany--LOOMING EU TRADE WAR WITH CHINA? (The EU is set to launch a probe into China's exploding textile exports this week just as trade officials are warning that doing so could be perilous to trade structures and other industries. The World Trade Organization (WTO) is urging the European Union and China to talk through their dispute over China's booming textiles exports amid fears that an outright clash would be a severe test for the global trade body. … An investigation -- which would mark the first step towards formal limits on some Chinese clothing imports -- comes amid mounting pressure for action from some EU states, led by France and Italy, but also growing warnings about the fallout from a potential trade war. An EU spokesman told AFP that Brussels also considered the probe an opportunity to talk the issue over with Beijing. Beijing, meanwhile, is calling the move "a big mistake.")

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1//The Independent, UK 29 April 2005
http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/politics/...

BLAIR’S SPECTACULAR U-TURN ON LEGAL ADVICE LEAVES UNANSWERED QUESTIONS
By Andrew Grice Political Editor

An attempt by Tony Blair to defuse Iraq as a general election issue by disclosing the Attorney General's private doubts about the legality of war has left a series of questions unanswered.

In a spectacular U-turn, Downing Street published a 13-page memo from Lord Goldsmith on 7 March 2003, including crucial caveats about military action omitted from his final legal advice backing the war 10 days later.

On a dramatic day, dubbed "Wobbly Thursday" at Labour HQ, Mr Blair again saw his election campaign derailed by Iraq. He gambled that, by revealing the memo he has repeatedly refused to publish, Labour would be able to return to the economy and public services before the election. He feared that, after two partial leaks in the past week, the Attorney General's full report would be disclosed early next week.

Some Labour insiders now regret the full advice was not published with the Butler report last July instead of in the heat of an election, which has allowed the Tories to portray Mr Blair as a "liar" and boosted the prospects of the Liberal Democrats, the only main party to oppose the war.

If the controversy continues into next week, Labour officials fear it could cost the party dozens of marginal seats. Last night, there was little sign Mr Blair's attempt to "clear the decks" had calmed the storm. Anti-war MPs claimed that the Commons, and even the Cabinet, might not have backed the conflict if they had been told of Lord Goldsmith's doubts. They said there was still no explanation why he changed his mind in the 10 days that elapsed between his two reports.

(MORE)

2//The Turkish Daily News, Turkey Thursday, April 28, 2005
http://www.turkishdailynews.com.tr/article.php?enewsid=11885

WEST FEARS TURKEY MAY BE DRIFTING INTO ‘ISOLATIONISM’
US analysts see Gen. Özkök’s remarks as a solid warning of potential change in Western-oriented policy. Some EU diplomats fear mutual 'domino effect' in ties

Washington/Ankara - Exclusive by TDN Defense Desk - A tough-worded speech by Chief of General Staff Gen. Hilmi Özkök unveiled what analysts and diplomats view as a hidden fear in western capitals that Turkey may be slowly drifting into political isolation.

They said Özkök's remarks proved a long-time suspicion that Turkey's anchor at the Western bay -- through its NATO membership, EU candidacy and long-time alliance with the United States -- may now be at stake.

Understandably, Turkey seeks a direction as it is increasingly wary of a widening divergence with its Western allies, said one analyst with a conservative Washington-based think tank close to the U.S. administration. At some point, things may go out of control.

Things are not going well with the European Union and with the rest of the West, including the United States. The Turks feel like they are being cornered (by the West) from several fronts. This dangerously breeds a wave of nationalism and isolationist reactions," said Bülent Aliriza, director of the Turkey Project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington-based think tank.

George Coats, A London-based Turkey specialist, said that Özkök's speech reflects a deep disappointment in Ankara over its ties with both the United States and the European Union. Turkey probably has never before felt so alienated from the West, Coats said. At times of cold ties with the EU, there was always the United States. Now that the cross-Atlantic alliance has been seriously shaken and the EU prepares to hurt Turkey politically before and/or during membership negotiations, Turkey feels directionless.

(SNIP)

In his major annual policy speech at the War Academies in Istanbul on April 20, Özkök criticized the United States on at least three key points. His first message reflected the Turkish military's uneasiness over an insistent U.S. characterization of Turkey in reference to Islam.

Turkey is neither an Islamic state, nor an Islamic country, said Gen. Özkök, calling secularism the key principle that holds together the Turkish Republic's values. Some circles want to describe Turkey in terms of moderate Islam. Almost 99 percent of the Turkish population is Muslim, but its government is secular and democratic and functions according to the rule of law, he said.

His remarks came five days after U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said that Turkey was an example of democracy with an Islamist ruling party. So the goal is to, in those places where Muslims are either the majority or in some cases almost without any minority, is to recognize that there is no contradiction between Islam and the Muslim world and democracy. You have, in Turkey, for instance, a state that is growing up with a strong Islamic party as its ruling party, she told a meeting of newspaper editors in Washington.

At a dinner speech during a NATO ministerial meeting in the Lithuanian capital of Vilnius shortly after Özkök's remarks, Rice reportedly described Turkey again as the best example of coexistence of democracy with Islam. Since the NATO dinner was a closed event, the text of Rice's speech was not made public, and her reported remark on Turkey and Islam appeared in the Turkish press based on, Turkish sources. Foreign Minister Abdullah Gül represented Turkey at that meeting.

It was not clear if Rice's remark came as a response to Özkök or it was purely coincidental.
PKK woes:

Gen. Özkök also lashed out at the United States for failing to curb PKK terrorists using mountains in northern Iraq as a safe haven. He said the PKK was gaining influence in northern Iraq and stepping up attacks across the border in Turkey because of a U.S. failure to take action against the terrorists.

(SNIP)

Michael Rubin, a leading Middle East specialist in Washington and a former advisor to U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, is also criticizing the U.S. lack of action against the PKK.

A casualty of the strained (U.S.-Turkish) military relationship, and a cause, has been American inaction against PKK terrorists, said Rubin, a specialist with the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative think tank in Washington. The American public does not understand the terrorist threat Turkey faces. The American press often ignores Turkey. While a single terrorist incident in Israel becomes headline news in the United States, the PKK's murder of dozens in recent months receives little attention. By tolerating the PKK's presence in northern Iraq, the U.S. military undercut both the spirit and the substance of President George Bush's Global War on Terrorism, he said in an article in the Turkish Policy Quarterly.

(SNIP)

In his most alarming assessment, Rubin qualified the last two years of U.S.-Turkish diplomacy as a comedy of errors and warned that the continuation of the Iraq rift could jeopardize Turkey's security. If Turkish and American politicians and diplomats do not acknowledge and put aside their past mistakes, bilateral relations will continue to sour, impacting not only the once special relationship, but also Turkey's security and the future shape of Iraq.

3//Institute for War and Peace Reporting, UK (ICR No. 122, 27-Apr-05)
http://www.iwpr.net/index.pl?archive/...

KURDISH NORTH TO REAP BUSINESS BENEFIT
Northern region looks to entice investors away from bureaucratic Baghdad.
By Nameer Hussein al-Rubaie in Sulaimaniyah

Differences between the way Iraqi Kurdistan and the rest of Iraq promotes investment is prompting businesses to snub Baghdad and turn to the northern region of the country. In a sign of the apparent preference for the north, the Iraqi-American Chamber of Commerce and Industry is holding a conference in October in Iraqi Kurdistan for 240 firms interested in investing there.

Analysts say that there are a number of reasons why firms are presently turning their backs on the Iraqi capital.

The Sulaimaniyah administration of Iraqi Kurdistan has an Investment Promotion Board that guides and facilitates projects for investors. But in Baghdad, there is no central agency to which investors can turn.

Furthermore, Iraqi Kurdistan’s investment law was drawn up following an examination of similar laws in 23 Arab and foreign countries, said Shilan Khanaqa, media director of the Investment Promotion Board. The law, implemented in March 2004, exempts companies and contractors from paying customs for five years and also provides free land for business projects.

In Baghdad, the government still relies on laws established by the Coalition Provisional Authority, CPA. The Iraqi investment rules allow for discounts on customs taxes for five years but the amount depends on the size and timeframe of each investment project.
Foreign investors also can’t own property, permitted only long-term leases of up to 40 years, according to one of the orders issued by the CPA.

“Nobody abides by the investment law, including Iraqi ministers, because it was established by the CPA,” said Raad Ommar, director of the Iraqi-American Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

“The most important point is there is no agency dedicated to welcoming and guiding companies.

“There needs to be radical changes in the Iraqi investment law so that it supports investors.”

The relative stability of Iraqi Kurdistan also plays a role in making the region attractive to investors, but company executives say the way they are treated is a very significant factor when they make investment decisions.

Nassir al-Azzawi, CEO of the Ard al-Afrah tourist and investment company, said the Iraqi Kurdistan investment law is more attractive than the Iraqi law because it guarantees maximum rights for investors.

In Iraqi Kurdistan, he was able to get a 100,000-square-metre plot of land for a tourism project within three days of applying.

In Baghdad, it seems that bureaucracy works against investors, al-Azzawi said. For more than a year, he has been waiting for a court to decide on his request to evacuate squatters from his land in Falluja so he can develop a tourist project there.

“So far, I didn’t get anything despite the fact that I spent one billion Iraqi dinars on this project during the rule of the former regime,” he said.

In Iraqi Kurdistan, there is a standard procedure for all business projects, which is entirely handled by the Investment Promotion Board, said Abbas Noori, director of economic and technical evaluation for the board. First a decree is issued for a company in relation to its project, then an investment license is issued. A plot of land is subsequently provided and, finally, an investment contract is signed.

But in Baghdad, the procedures depend on the terms worked out between the investor and the government ministry with which the deal was made, said Lamiya Sa’ad Abdullah, a lawyer for a Baghdad real estate and contracting company.

“Iraq is in need of investment experience, not investment funding,” Abdullah said.

Not all foreign companies are even registered with the trade ministry, partly for fear of having information revealed to insurgents and also to avoid paying taxes. As a result, there are no statistics available to calculate total foreign investment in the rest of Iraq, Baghdad Chamber of Commerce member Tariq Shakir Ahmed said.

(MORE)

4//Al-Ahram Weekly Online, Egypt 28 April - 4 May 2005 Issue No. 740
http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2005/740/fr1.htm

THE RUSSIANS ARE COMING
Putin's tour of the Middle East has raised Russia's regional profile. But will it last, asks Dina Ezzat

Russian President Vladimir Putin's proposal, made yesterday in Cairo, to host a conference on the Middle East reawakened old memories of Moscow's involvement in regional affairs.

"We propose that an international conference be convened in Moscow next autumn with the participation of all concerned parties and the Quartet," Putin announced during a joint press conference with President Hosni Mubarak.

(SNIP)

The proposal comes amid other indications -- including high level talks and economic agreements -- that Moscow is seeking to regain its one-time high profile presence in the region.

Putin's three-day visit to the Middle East began in Cairo on Tuesday and includes stops in Israel and the Palestinian territories. It is the first visit of a Russian/ Soviet head of state to Egypt since Soviet President Leonid Brezhnev attended the funeral of Gamal Abdel-Nasser in 1970. It is also the first ever visit by a Kremlin chief to Israel and the Palestinian territories.

"The Soviets were always keen on the Middle East. The region was practically their backyard. Today the Russians, under Putin, are trying to regain their presence, if not influence, in the Middle East," says Reda Shehata, a former Egyptian ambassador to Russia.

(SNIP)

Addressing representatives of the 22 Arab states, Putin joined his host, Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa, in stressing that it is up to Moscow and Arab capitals to show that their once strong ties are not a thing of the past.

But can Russia build the kind of ties the Soviet Union once had with the Arab world? Unlikely, is the answer offered by many diplomats.

"Russia is an important country," said one diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity. "It is a growing player on the international scene and is a nuclear power -- even if not a strong one. But Russia is economically weak and politically ineffective. Only a few days ago [US Secretary of State Condoleezza] Rice was in Moscow lecturing the Russians on democracy."

Many Arab diplomats agree. So entrenched is US hegemony, they argue, that most Arab capitals, including those close to Moscow, are politically and economically dependent on Washington's goodwill.

Nor do the Arab world's most senior officials have much taste for things Russian.

"They prefer the US. Going to Washington is the high point of their diplomatic agendas. They buy houses on the West Coast of the US and they have medical treatment in American hospitals," said the diplomat.

There are a few exceptions. Syria recently struck a deal to buy advanced missiles from Russia despite Israeli objections.

"Under Putin Moscow has made its presence felt in this part of the world," argues a Cairo-based Syrian diplomat. Russia, he believes, is still capable of redressing some of the imbalances caused by Washington's flagrant US bias for Israel.

Few other Arab diplomats share the Syrian view. "Moscow, along with other Western capitals, tried to spare the regime of Saddam Hussein from the war. But nobody could stand in the face of the US will. Now Russia is talking about turning a new page with the US over Iraq because it knows it cannot oppose America," says one Cairo-based Iraqi diplomat.

Arab and Russian diplomats do, however, agree that Putin has been successful in raising his country's profile in the Middle East, in relation to both the Arab- Israeli file and Iraq.

(SNIP)

Russia may not be able to compete with the US in terms of economic aid and Information Technology but it still, say commentators, has much to offer. The Russian market, points out Shehata, remains a largely unexplored outlet for Arab exports that continue to face restricted access to American and European markets. And Russia can still provide technical military support. Moscow's new and growing relations with NATO, adds Shehata, must be taken into consideration by Arab countries as they review their ties with the Russia.

Putin's visit to Cairo, which ended yesterday, was widely hailed in the Egyptian press as signaling the beginning of a new phase in Egyptian-Russian and Arab-Russian relations. President Mubarak's decision to name an Aswan street after Nicolai Malishev, the Russian architect of the High Dam, was widely interpreted as a symbolic acknowledgment of these renewed ties.

Putin's request that the Arab League consider Russia's ambassador to Cairo as an envoy to the pan- Arab organisation suggests Moscow is determined to pursue closer ties with Arabs. Whether both Russia and Arab countries will be able to maintain the momentum generated by Putin's Middle East tour, though, remains unclear.

5//Deutsche Welle/DW Worlde.de, Germany 28.04.2005
http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,1564,1567661,00.html

LOOMING EU TRADE WAR WITH CHINA?

The EU is set to launch a probe into China's exploding textile exports this week just as trade officials are warning that doing so could be perilous to trade structures and other industries.

The World Trade Organization (WTO) is urging the European Union and China to talk through their dispute over China's booming textiles exports amid fears that an outright clash would be a severe test for the global trade body.

"If there is a way of resolving this short of applying sanctions, it should be taken," WTO spokesman Keith Rockwell told AFP. "Two months of data are not sufficient to make a true assessment."

The WTO's plea came as the European Union's executive commission was ready to decide on Thursday whether to launch a probe into surging Chinese clothing imports, in an escalating trade dispute with the Asian economic giant.

An investigation -- which would mark the first step towards formal limits on some Chinese clothing imports -- comes amid mounting pressure for action from some EU states, led by France and Italy, but also growing warnings about the fallout from a potential trade war. An EU spokesman told AFP that Brussels also considered the probe an opportunity to talk the issue over with Beijing.

Beijing, meanwhile, is calling the move "a big mistake."

A official announcement on the decision is expected Friday.

Worried over jobs

EU textile producers are worried that thousands of jobs could be lost if urgent action is not taken to hold back a flood of Chinese clothing that was unleashed by the end of a 31-year-old global textiles quota system on January 1.

Chinese textile imports into the EU have soared by as much as 534 percent for some garments since the end of the quota system, which is far beyond limits the commission considers tolerable.

Normally, launching an investigation would open a 60-day period during which informal consultations are to be held between Brussels and Beijing to try to find a solution. But if the EU goes ahead with emergency procedures, the process would move quickly to a much more serious formal consultation period.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin told French television channel France 2: "There is a real problem and I think that the Chinese should acknowledge it and that we find a solution in dialogue straight away and, if necessary, by safeguard measures in the coming weeks."

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