July 18, 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 JULY 18, 2005

1//Tehran Times, Iran--COMMON CONCERNS OF IRAN AND IRAQ (… The religious and historical affinities between Iran and Iraq give the Iraqi delegation's visit to the Islamic Republic added significance because bilateral relations between the two countries have been constrained over the past 50 years due to international, regional, and domestic developments. These developments always ended up benefiting certain neocolonial countries, which have always feared the common religious beliefs of the Iranian and Iraqi nations. … Jaafari's visit to Iran is extremely significant because it can foster regional unity to confront the dangerous wave of Arab terrorism threatening Iraq. In addition, the issue of the still unclosed dossiers of the 1980-1988 Iraqi imposed war on Iran is also on the agenda of the Iraqi prime minister's negotiations with Iranian officials. Iran believes that Iraq owes it about $1 trillion in war reparations. According to United Nations Security Council Resolution 598, Iraq was the aggressor in the war with the Islamic Republic and must pay reparations to Iran. The change of government in Iraq does not mean that it can avoid paying the debt since Kuwait, which was also attacked by Iraq, is still receiving reparations from the country. Another issue on the agenda of the Iran-Iraq negotiations is the participation of the Islamic Republic in the reconstruction of Iraq. A mutually acceptable agreement on this issue could play a significant role in improving bilateral relations.)

2//The Daily Star, Lebanon--IRAQ TO MEET DONORS IN HOPE OF CREATING NEW AID MOMENTUM (Iraq and donor countries will meet in Jordan next week in hope of creating new momentum to rebuild the violence-ravaged country, which some say faces a make-or-break situation to guarantee its political transition. … "The case for aiding Iraq in its reconstruction is strong, not only in development terms but in geo-strategic terms," said Canadian diplomat Michael Bell, who will co-chair the meeting with Iraqi Planning Minister Barham Saleh. … For UN deputy special representative to Iraq Staffan de Mistura, the next six months are crucial for Iraq, which is drawing up a constitution that will be put to a national referendum ahead of elections in October. He compared Iraq to a patient who needs stabilization through external aid as well as internal efforts crowned by a constitution. "We can do all sort of water projects, education projects, but if we don't have the constitution ... we may have a disruption of the social, economic and political stability of Iraq by far worse than what we have seen in the past," he said. … International donors set up IRFFI at an October 2003 conference in Madrid, six months after major combat ended in the U.S.-led war on Iraq. At that meeting, countries pledged $33 billion in aid for 2004-2007. A total of $1 billion has been committed and divided evenly in two trust funds, administered separately by the World Bank and the United Nations. The meeting hosted by Jordan comes hot on the heels of last month's conference in Brussels, which urged donors to be more generous.)

3//China Daily, China--EU CHIEF: CHINA'S RISE NO THREAT TO OTHERS (Jose Manuel Barroso, president of the European Union Commission, said in Shanghai Saturday that China's development and growth should be regarded as an opportunity rather than a threat. Delivering a speech at a business school in Shanghai, Barroso said the whole world is increasingly aware of China's influence with its rapid economic growth over the past two decades. But China's rise is "an opportunity" rather than "a threat" to other countries, he said. … He said China's entry into the World Trade Organization is a landmark issue in the Chinese history. China's economy is rapidly integrating into the world economy and taking an increasingly bigger proportion in the world economy, he said. He said the European Union will make contributions to China's development. … The EU is currently China's largest trade partner and China ranked second among all EU's trade partners.)

4//Asia Times Online, Hong Kong--CHINA TO GET FIRST CRACK AT RUSSIAN OIL: PUTIN (In his most detailed statement to date, President Vladimir Putin has spelled out Russia's priorities for transporting crude oil to Asian markets in the next decade. In diplomatic but unambiguous language, Putin rejected Japanese proposals, in favor of China. … Thus Putin's remarks ought to be read in Tokyo as marking a colossal failure on the part of Japanese interests who have promoted and lobbied for the Nakhodka plan for years. Like the Indians, whose failure to link billion-dollar investment promises to commitments of Russian crude oil supply have resulted in a comparably spectacular failure, the Japanese ought to be auditing how the money allocated to this task was spent; and blaming themselves for the dead end their tactics have now brought them. … Putin's latest statement on the Russian geopolitics of oil was significant, too, for what he didn't offer Russia's most prominent strategic ally, India. ... In the Indian case, the source claims, still secret mandates have been granted by the Indians to US investment banks, and at least one French bank, to serve as intermediaries in arranging Russian oil resource acquisitions. The potential for corruption which these arrangements might inspire would be more noteworthy if there had been any reason to suspect that American investment banks can influence the Kremlin's oil and gas decisions.)

5//The Sydney Morning Herald, Australia--IDENTITY CARD THREATENS TO SPLIT COALITION (The push for a national identity card threatens to cause more splits in the Government than the mandatory detention brawl after the Prime Minister, John Howard, said the card could be a new weapon against terrorism. Some Coalition MPs said yesterday the card might cause fresh divisions in the Government's ranks, while the question of embedding fingerprints in the cards could add a volatile new dimension to the debate. Speaking in Washington, Mr Howard said a national identity card should be debated in the wake of the London bombings, which have claimed 55 lives, including Australian Sam Ly. He said the world was a very different place from the one in which the Australia Card had been rejected in the 1980s. His words follow Britain's announcement that it plans tough new anti-terrorism laws.)

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1//Tehran Times, Iran Sunday, July 17, 2005
http://www.tehrantimes.com/Description.asp...

COMMON CONCERNS OF IRAN AND IRAQ
By Hassan Hanizadeh

Iraqi Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari's three-day visit to Tehran has become the center of attention for regional and international media outlets.

Ten Iraqi ministers have accompanied Jaafari on the trip, during which important issues will be discussed such as current developments in Iran, Iraq, and the region, the outlook for political, economic, and security cooperation between the two countries, and ways to fight against the development of Arab terrorism in the region and the world.

(SNIP)

The religious and historical affinities between Iran and Iraq give the Iraqi delegation's visit to the Islamic Republic added significance because bilateral relations between the two countries have been constrained over the past 50 years due to international, regional, and domestic developments.

These developments always ended up benefiting certain neocolonial countries, which have always feared the common religious beliefs of the Iranian and Iraqi nations.

After the collapse of the dictatorial Baath regime in Iraq, which was the main source of regional insecurity, the occupying forces tried to prevent relations between the two Muslim countries of Iran and Iraq from developing, in the belief that the establishment of friendly relations between Iran and Iraq would lead to the formation of a Shia crescent in the region.

(SNIP)

Ironically, the occupying forces in Iraq have had to pay a heavy price for their misperception about the possibility of the establishment of a Shia crescent in the region due to the activities of some Arab terrorists who are of the same view about the perceived threat of a Shia crescent.

Over the past 28 months, the United States has lost about 1800 soldiers in attacks by Arab terrorists, but if the U.S. refuses to review its Iraq policy, it will most likely suffer even more losses.

Furthermore, unless it begins to cooperate with some of the non-Arab neighboring countries of Iraq, which seek the establishment of peace and security in the region, the U.S. will not only fail to establish security in Iraq, but will also be incapable of providing the necessary security for its own forces.

As for the religious and cultural considerations, it should be noted that the Shia religious authorities have remained silent so far in regard to the atrocities and attacks committed by Arab terrorists -- the victims of which are mainly innocent women and children -- because they are well aware of the fact that any kind of unwise reaction would trigger a civil war in Iraq.

The repercussions of a civil war would definitely not be restricted to Iraq's borders but would undoubtedly affect other countries in the region and the world.

The main factor behind the insecurity is the fact that some of the minority in Iraq do not want a popular government to be established through the normal democratic process but want to turn the clock back to the Saddam Hussein era through the use of violence.

Jaafari's visit to Iran is extremely significant because it can foster regional unity to confront the dangerous wave of Arab terrorism threatening Iraq.

In addition, the issue of the still unclosed dossiers of the 1980-1988 Iraqi imposed war on Iran is also on the agenda of the Iraqi prime minister's negotiations with Iranian officials.

Iran believes that Iraq owes it about $1 trillion in war reparations. According to United Nations Security Council Resolution 598, Iraq was the aggressor in the war with the Islamic Republic and must pay reparations to Iran. The change of government in Iraq does not mean that it can avoid paying the debt since Kuwait, which was also attacked by Iraq, is still receiving reparations from the country.

Another issue on the agenda of the Iran-Iraq negotiations is the participation of the Islamic Republic in the reconstruction of Iraq. A mutually acceptable agreement on this issue could play a significant role in improving bilateral relations.

The Islamic Republic of Iran, which enjoys great experience in reconstruction work, can play an active role in the reconstruction of Iraq because the long borders between the two countries facilitate access to Iraq for Iran's skilled workers.

Jaafari's negotiations with Iranian officials will surely have a positive effect on Iran-Iraq relations. It is hoped that this important visit will boost cooperation between the two neighboring countries and help put an end to the senseless violence currently plaguing Iraq.

2//The Daily Star, Lebanon Monday, July 18, 2005
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id...

IRAQ TO MEET DONORS IN HOPE OF CREATING NEW AID MOMENTUM
By Agence France Presse (AFP)

AMMAN: Iraq and donor countries will meet in Jordan next week in hope of creating new momentum to rebuild the violence-ravaged country, which some say faces a make-or-break situation to guarantee its political transition.

"The case for aiding Iraq in its reconstruction is strong, not only in development terms but in geo-strategic terms," said Canadian diplomat Michael Bell, who will co-chair the meeting with Iraqi Planning Minister Barham Saleh.

"Iraq is going through a very serious and profound transition ... If it does not succeed, we will have to look at the consequences in regional terms and in terms of security worldwide," Bell said in an interview.

For UN deputy special representative to Iraq Staffan de Mistura, the next six months are crucial for Iraq, which is drawing up a constitution that will be put to a national referendum ahead of elections in October. He compared Iraq to a patient who needs stabilization through external aid as well as internal efforts crowned by a constitution.

"We can do all sort of water projects, education projects, but if we don't have the constitution ... we may have a disruption of the social, economic and political stability of Iraq by far worse than what we have seen in the past," he said.

Representatives of more than 60 countries and international bodies, including the United Nations and World Bank, are set to attend the two-day meeting of the International Reconstruction Fund Facility for Iraq and the Donors Committee (IRFFI), starting today.

International donors set up IRFFI at an October 2003 conference in Madrid, six months after major combat ended in the U.S.-led war on Iraq. At that meeting, countries pledged $33 billion in aid for 2004-2007.

A total of $1 billion has been committed and divided evenly in two trust funds, administered separately by the World Bank and the United Nations.

The meeting hosted by Jordan comes hot on the heels of last month's conference in Brussels, which urged donors to be more generous.

Canada, the UN and the World Bank hope Iraq will submit a few short-term projects that address the immediate needs of the Iraqi people.

The UN has spent $154 million from the trust fund it manages while the World Bank has $365 million worth of projects being implemented in Iraq. Both rely on a network of local staff and Iraqi institutions.

"The World Bank does not implement projects in Iraq. We finance projects and we focus a great deal on building on the capacity of the Iraqi ministries to implement projects," said Faris Hadad-Zervos, World Bank head of mission for Iraq.

Iraq needs the meeting to consolidate credibility and legitimacy for its nascent transitional government, formed in April, three months after the country's first free legislative elections in more than 50 years.

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3//China Daily, China Updated: 2005-07-17 09:50
http://www2.chinadaily.com.cn/english/doc/2005...

EU CHIEF: CHINA'S RISE NO THREAT TO OTHERS
(Xinhua)

Jose Manuel Barroso, president of the European Union Commission, said in Shanghai Saturday that China's development and growth should be regarded as an opportunity rather than a threat.

Delivering a speech at a business school in Shanghai, Barroso said the whole world is increasingly aware of China's influence with its rapid economic growth over the past two decades. But China's rise is "an opportunity" rather than "a threat" to other countries, he said.

Barroso arrived in Beijing Thursday morning for a five-day official visit. He said during his stay in Shanghai, he saw a modern, open and vigorous China.

He said China's entry into the World Trade Organization is a landmark issue in the Chinese history. China's economy is rapidly integrating into the world economy and taking an increasingly bigger proportion in the world economy, he said.

He said the European Union will make contributions to China's development.

Referring to the trade frictions between China and EU, Barroso said the EU hopes to solve all the disputes through contact and dialogue.

In an interview with Chinese media, Barroso said it's natural for the EU and China to have frictions and differences given the extensive trade exchanges between them.

The EU is currently China's largest trade partner and China ranked second among all EU's trade partners.

Barroso said the EU regards China as a partner, adding that the two should solve the current trade disputes with constructive methods rather than confrontation.

As long as the EU and China continue to have dialogue and consultation based on the principles of mutual understanding and mutual benefit, disputes between the two would be solved properly, he said.

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4//Asia Times Online, Hong Kong Jul 16, 2005
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/China/GG16Ad01.html

CHINA TO GET FIRST CRACK AT RUSSIAN OIL: PUTIN
By John Helmer

MOSCOW - In his most detailed statement to date, President Vladimir Putin has spelled out Russia's priorities for transporting crude oil to Asian markets in the next decade. In diplomatic but unambiguous language, Putin rejected Japanese proposals, in favor of China.

In a press conference at Gleneagles last week as the new chairman of the G8, Putin identified rail deliveries to China from the new border terminal at Skovorodino as his first priority, with 20 million tons (385,000 barrels per day) the target for delivery, once Transneft, the state pipeline agency, builds the planned new pipeline to Skovorodino.

This terminal is 600 kilometers east of the main border rail junction at Zabakailsk and Manzhouli, where current Russian oil deliveries by rail cross into China. It is still unclear what rail capacity China has, or will build, to carry the oil from Skorovodino. Current maps show Russian and Chinese rail lines moving east-west in parallel on either side of the border. They are not yet connected.

An additional 10 million tons (192,000 bpd), Putin said, will be sent on by rail to the new tanker terminal planned near Nakhodka. Construction will take "around three years", the president noted. The president's remarks rejected wishful thinking from Tokyo that a Japanese government offer to finance a pipeline all the way to Perevoznaya Bay, near Nakhodka port, would tempt the Kremlin over Chinese insistence that deliveries to Beijing take priority. "As the oil in this [first-stage] pipeline increases through the development of new sources and fields in eastern Siberia," Putin said, "we will build a second section of the pipeline that will run right to the Pacific coast. This system will then be pumping 50 million tons [972,000 bpd]..."

This number is a discreet way of rebuffing the Japanese government, whose multi-billion dollar financing proposal for the Nakhodka-first pipeline has assumed a capacity of 80 million tons annually (1.5 million bpd). The pay-back terms may also have required such a large volume, despite the fact that, as Russian industry sources have repeatedly pointed out, the eastern Siberian oilfields are far too underdeveloped to fill the pipeline to that level within the next decade or longer. Neither the Russian government, nor the commercial Russian oil companies, have any intention of diverting crude from western Siberia in order to make up the difference for Japan's benefit.

Thus Putin's remarks ought to be read in Tokyo as marking a colossal failure on the part of Japanese interests who have promoted and lobbied for the Nakhodka plan for years. Like the Indians, whose failure to link billion-dollar investment promises to commitments of Russian crude oil supply have resulted in a comparably spectacular failure, the Japanese ought to be auditing how the money allocated to this task was spent; and blaming themselves for the dead end their tactics have now brought them.

(SNIP)

Putin's latest statement on the Russian geopolitics of oil was significant, too, for what he didn't offer Russia's most prominent strategic ally, India. This is despite the fact that the current Indian government, and its parastate oil and petroleum refining companies, ONGC and IOC, have made repeated, highly publicized attempts to secure new oilfield concessions in Russia from the Kremlin, as well as shareholding stakes in Russia's state-controlled energy companies.

(SNIP)

In the Indian case, the source claims, still secret mandates have been granted by the Indians to US investment banks, and at least one French bank, to serve as intermediaries in arranging Russian oil resource acquisitions. The potential for corruption which these arrangements might inspire would be more noteworthy if there had been any reason to suspect that American investment banks can influence the Kremlin's oil and gas decisions. Indian officials express continuing optimism that they will secure oilfield concessions in time. They admit they have so far failed to reach any agreement on transporting to India any oil from the Sakhalin-1 oilfield, in which ONGC is a major investor.

5//The Sydney Morning Herald, Australia July 18, 2005
http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/identity-card-threatens...

IDENTITY CARD THREATENS TO SPLIT COALITION
By Joseph Kerr and Mark Metherell

The push for a national identity card threatens to cause more splits in the Government than the mandatory detention brawl after the Prime Minister, John Howard, said the card could be a new weapon against terrorism.

Some Coalition MPs said yesterday the card might cause fresh divisions in the Government's ranks, while the question of embedding fingerprints in the cards could add a volatile new dimension to the debate.

Speaking in Washington, Mr Howard said a national identity card should be debated in the wake of the London bombings, which have claimed 55 lives, including Australian Sam Ly.

He said the world was a very different place from the one in which the Australia Card had been rejected in the 1980s.

His words follow Britain's announcement that it plans tough new anti-terrorism laws.

While it could be argued that forcing people to declare more personal details affected their rights, Mr Howard said "you have to put that against the right all of us have to expect of our government that it takes all reasonable measures to protect us against the behaviour of terrorists".

"It's a balance. Any democratic society requires a constant readjustment of that balance."

The Immigration Minister, Amanda Vanstone - whose department was criticised last week by the Palmer inquiry for its treatment of Australians Cornelia Rau and Vivian Alvarez - said ID cards needed "biometric" data, such as a fingerprint, to be effective.

The Government is already developing new passports that will, from October, use face recognition technology. But some Liberals said the proposed ID card would cause concern among Government MPs.

"If it were to be pushed within the Government, it would attract a great deal of resistance," said one backbencher. "It will probably engage a broader constituency within the party, including conservatives, than were engaged in terms of critiquing the earlier national security [measures]."

Asked if it would be more contentious than the bruising mandatory detention brawl, he said "absolutely". That fight, initiated by four Government MPs, has resulted in the announcement that all children held in immigration detention camps are to be released.

Another backbencher said he was not personally opposed to the idea, but there would be concern within the party. A third said it would be "a matter of great debate", while a fourth was worried about fingerprints being embedded in the card.

"You can always change your password but if I nick your fingerprint or your DNA, you've got a real problem there," he said.

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