August 12, 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 AUGUST 12, 2005

1//Inter Press Service News Agency, Italy--SWIFT U.N. ACTION UNLIKELY ON IRAN NUKES (The George W. Bush administration may like to see Iran face sanctions for its nuclear aspirations, but the political mood at the United Nations suggests that such punishment is not what the world community is ready for. "We don't think it will be helpful to bring the issue to the Security Council," Chinese ambassador to the U.N. Wang Guangya told reporters here a day after Iran broke the seals on uranium enrichment equipment at its nuclear plant in Isfahan. Guangya, whose country holds a permanent veto-wielding seat on the 15-member Security Council, said he supported ongoing efforts by International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and the European Union (EU) troika (Britain, France and Germany) to find a solution based on dialogue with Iran. …  Observers say securing a majority on the 35-nation board of the IAEA to refer Iran to the Security Council would not be easy for the U.S. and the EU, since a majority of members on the Board belong to the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), who appear to have no desire to endorse such a move. "This may cause serious international problems," said retired Lt. Gen. Gennady Yevstafyev, senior counsel at the Centre for Political Research in Moscow, in an interview with Novsti, a Russian news agency. "It is hard to imagine that all the members of the Security Council will elaborate a common approach to this problem. Consequently, they will fail to adopt any resolution on the matter," he predicted. "No one will consent to it, given the current political conditions," he said. "Besides, nobody wants Iran to withdraw from the NPT. If it does, it will completely discredit the treaty.")

2//The News International, Pakistan--S. KOREA BACKS CIVILIAN N-PROGRAMME FOR DPRK (South Korea's point man on North Korea defied the United States on Thursday and supported the Stalinist country's demand for the right to maintain a civilian nuclear programme. Six-country talks on dismantling North Korea's nuclear weapons programme in exchange for diplomatic and economic benefits went into recess last Sunday. They are deadlocked over Pyongyang's demand to build nuclear power plants even if it disarms, something Washington flatly rejects. "Our position is that North Korea's demand for the right to maintain a peaceful nuclear programme should be allowed as its natural right," said South Korean Unification Minister Chung Dong-Young. Chung said that if Pyongyang returned to the non-proliferation treaty, it would be qualified to have a civilian nuclear programme. … "Chung is sending a message to Washington that it should be flexible and make concessions for progress in six-party talks," said Korea University professor Nam Sung-Wook. South Korea offered in June to supply its isolated neighbour with large supplies of electricity should it renounce nuclear weapons.)

3//China Daily, China--PUTIN: EXERCISE EVIDENCE OF CLOSER TIES (Russian President Vladimir Putin has hailed the upcoming Sino-Russian military exercise as evidence of the progress made in bilateral military co-operation. Speaking in Moscow on Tuesday, the Russian president said his country sees China as a long-standing friend with which it shares a huge number of mutual interests. He made the remarks at a meeting with newly appointed Russian Ambassador to China, Sergei Razov, according to reports by the ITAR-Tass news agency. Putin's remarks coincide with the moving of Russian troops towards the site of the first Chinese-Russian military exercise. … Meanwhile, when meeting the newly appointed Ambassador to China Sergei Razov, Putin said: "The signing of a major treaty in 2001 and settling of border issues laid a solid foundation for long-term historic prospects, and that's not an overstatement.")

4//The Daily Star, Lebanon--LEBANESE DAILY BLASTS CABINET FAILURE TO FILL CRUCIAL SECURITY AND JUDICIAL POSTS (Thursday's Cabinet session failed to fill crucial security and judicial posts, although progress was made in the form of a fuel deal with Kuwait that will alleviate the country's power crisis. Siniora reportedly circulated a draft outlining the protocol for filling security appointments, but the Cabinet did not discuss this during the regular session as was expected. …  A local daily, Ad-Diyar, criticized this lack of progress, saying any further delay in restructuring the security apparatus would put the country in jeopardy. "Fear is mounting in light of spreading rumors that the open-door policy pursued by the Interior Ministry to attract tourists is in fact luring fundamentalists to gather force in Lebanon," said Ad-Diyar in its editorial. "Siniora," Ad-Diyar added, "is confusing the public by highlighting the Syrian-Lebanese border crisis while ignoring the real crisis growing internally.")

5//The Independent, UK--IRISH WOMEN TAKE DEMAND FOR ABORTIONS TO EUROPE (Three Irish women are to challenge their country's strict abortion laws by taking a test case to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg. Backed by the Irish Family Planning Association (IFPA), the women will seek to win a ruling that could force the government in Dublin to amend laws barring abortion unless a mother's life is at risk. … The IFPA said that the group lodged its complaint with the Strasbourg court earlier this week. Lawyers will argue before the court that Ireland's restrictions on abortion put the health and welfare of the women at risk, thereby breaching their rights. The case centres on four articles of the European Convention on Human Rights, including one that protects individuals from "inhuman or degrading treatment" and another that affords rights and freedoms without discrimination on any grounds. … Abortion remains a highly sensitive issue in Ireland, which is a predominantly Roman Catholic country, and the Irish government has said recently that it has no intention of changing the law.)

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1//Inter Press Service News Agency, Italy Aug 10, 2005
http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=29859

SWIFT U.N. ACTION UNLIKELY ON IRAN NUKES
Haider Rizvi

UNITED NATIONS - The George W. Bush administration may like to see Iran face sanctions for its nuclear aspirations, but the political mood at the United Nations suggests that such punishment is not what the world community is ready for.

"We don't think it will be helpful to bring the issue to the Security Council," Chinese ambassador to the U.N. Wang Guangya told reporters here a day after Iran broke the seals on uranium enrichment equipment at its nuclear plant in Isfahan.

Guangya, whose country holds a permanent veto-wielding seat on the 15-member Security Council, said he supported ongoing efforts by International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and the European Union (EU) troika (Britain, France and Germany) to find a solution based on dialogue with Iran.

Recently, the three EU nations had warned Iran that they would seek Security Council-sponsored sanctions if Tehran did not reverse its decision to open the uranium reprocessing facilities after an eight-month hiatus. Despite this threat, Iran removed the U.N. seals at a time when the Vienna-based IAEA Board of Governors was still discussing what to do next.

(SNIP)

Like the Chinese ambassador, both U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan and IAEA director Mohamed ElBaradei urged restraint and warned against attempts to escalate tensions.

"This is a very complex issue," Annan told reporters in New York Monday. "It is essential that we break this current impasse. I believe the best way to break this impasse is to continue the discussions (of) the EU-3 with the Iranians at the table."

(SNIP)

ElBaradei, who has been discussing the issue with the leaders of several nations, observed that any attempt to escalate the situation would be a "lose-lose situation."

"I understand that there is a sense of frustration in Iran," he told reporters in Vienna. "But as I said, negotiation of long-term arrangements is a complex long-term process. It has an implication for peace and security. I hope that Iran will continue to negotiate rather than take unilateral action, go back to the negotiating table with a counter-proposal and let's try to see this way forward."

Ahmadinejad, a former Tehran University professor who holds a doctoral degree in engineering, has said he is ready for more talks on Iran's nuclear programme and will come up with new proposals.

"I have new initiatives and proposals which I will present after my government takes office," he told Annan over the telephone, according to ISNA, an Iranian media outlet.

Pres. Bush welcomed Ahmadinejad's statement, but reiterated that he was "very deeply suspicious" of Tehran's nuclear intentions. In Texas, he told journalists that the EU-3 were negotiating "on behalf of the free world."

However, Bush said if the situation was not resolved through negotiations, Washington would work with the Europeans "in terms of what consequences there may be, and certainly the U.N. is a potential consequence."

Observers say securing a majority on the 35-nation board of the IAEA to refer Iran to the Security Council would not be easy for the U.S. and the EU, since a majority of members on the Board belong to the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), who appear to have no desire to endorse such a move.

"This may cause serious international problems," said retired Lt. Gen. Gennady Yevstafyev, senior counsel at the Centre for Political Research in Moscow, in an interview with Novsti, a Russian news agency.

"It is hard to imagine that all the members of the Security Council will elaborate a common approach to this problem. Consequently, they will fail to adopt any resolution on the matter," he predicted.

"No one will consent to it, given the current political conditions," he said. "Besides, nobody wants Iran to withdraw from the NPT. If it does, it will completely discredit the treaty."

2//The News International, Pakistan Friday August 12, 2005-- Rajab 06, 1426 A.H.
http://www.jang.com.pk/thenews/aug2005...

S. KOREA BACKS CIVILIAN N-PROGRAMME FOR DPRK

SEOUL: South Korea's point man on North Korea defied the United States on Thursday and supported the Stalinist country's demand for the right to maintain a civilian nuclear programme.

Six-country talks on dismantling North Korea's nuclear weapons programme in exchange for diplomatic and economic benefits went into recess last Sunday. They are deadlocked over Pyongyang's demand to build nuclear power plants even if it disarms, something Washington flatly rejects.

"Our position is that North Korea's demand for the right to maintain a peaceful nuclear programme should be allowed as its natural right," said South Korean Unification Minister Chung Dong-Young. Chung said that if Pyongyang returned to the non-proliferation treaty, it would be qualified to have a civilian nuclear programme.

He admitted that without US approval, it would be impossible for a project to go ahead to build light-water nuclear reactors in North Korea to generate electricity. But Chung said maintaining nuclear reactors for peaceful purposes would be "North Korea's basic right."

"On this point we have different views from the United States," he said in an interview with Internet news provider Media Daum. Analysts said Chung was urging Washington to be flexible when it returns to the table in Beijing in the week of August 29.

"Chung is sending a message to Washington that it should be flexible and make concessions for progress in six-party talks," said Korea University professor Nam Sung-Wook. South Korea offered in June to supply its isolated neighbour with large supplies of electricity should it renounce nuclear weapons.

The offer helped encourage the North to come back to six-party talks, which involve the two Koreas, the United States, China, Russia and Japan. Christopher Hill, US envoy to the negotiations remains adamant that the North should not maintain a civilian nuclear programme. He also warned in Washington Wednesday that Pyongyang should decide to "get out of this weapons business."

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3//China Daily, China 2005-08-11 06:08
http://www2.chinadaily.com.cn/english/doc...

PUTIN: EXERCISE EVIDENCE OF CLOSER TIES
Guo Nei

Russian President Vladimir Putin has hailed the upcoming Sino-Russian military exercise as evidence of the progress made in bilateral military co-operation.

Speaking in Moscow on Tuesday, the Russian president said his country sees China as a long-standing friend with which it shares a huge number of mutual interests.

He made the remarks at a meeting with newly appointed Russian Ambassador to China, Sergei Razov, according to reports by the ITAR-Tass news agency.

Putin's remarks coincide with the moving of Russian troops towards the site of the first Chinese-Russian military exercise.

The defence ministries of the two countries announced on August 2 that joint military drills, dubbed "Peace Mission 2005," will take place around Russia's Vladivostock and East China's Shandong Peninsula from August 18-25.

Ships of Russia's Pacific Fleet started sailing for East China's Shandong Province on Sunday, Colonel General Vladimir Moltensky, first deputy commander of the Russian army, said on Tuesday.

The fleet includes a large anti-submarine vessel, the Marshal Shaposhnikov, a large landing ship and a destroyer. A company of Marine Corps and some students from the Makarov Pacific Ocean Higher Naval School have also joined the contingent.

Moltensky told reporters in the Siberian city of Vladivostok that a company of Psokov's 76th Airborne Division had also moved to the area for the exercise.

Generals and officers of the Russian Defence Ministry and the operational group of the air force, the navy and the army flew to China on Tuesday, Moltensky was quoted by Xinhua as saying.

"We are keeping constant contact with the office of the Russian military attache in Beijing. We are solving all issues related to border and customs services," said Moltensky, who is heading the ministry's operational group during the exercise.

Xinhua also quoted President Putin as saying the manoeuvres will probably be "the largest" in the history of bilateral relations.

President Putin said the Russian army will use "the most advanced weapons" during the exercise.

Meanwhile, when meeting the newly appointed Ambassador to China Sergei Razov, Putin said: "The signing of a major treaty in 2001 and settling of border issues laid a solid foundation for long-term historic prospects, and that's not an overstatement."

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4//The Daily Star, Lebanon Friday, August 12, 2005
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article...

LEBANESE DAILY BLASTS CABINET FAILURE TO FILL CRUCIAL SECURITY AND JUDICIAL POSTS

By Adnan El-Ghoul and Nafez Qawas
Daily Star staff

BEIRUT: Thursday's Cabinet session failed to fill crucial security and judicial posts, although progress was made in the form of a fuel deal with Kuwait that will alleviate the country's power crisis. Siniora reportedly circulated a draft outlining the protocol for filling security appointments, but the Cabinet did not discuss this during the regular session as was expected.

Information Minister Ghazi Aridi said: "Delaying the appointments does not reflect disagreements among the ministers; Siniora circulated the new formula to appoint officials based on the fact the country is in a different mode now and we must change our past performance."

A local daily, Ad-Diyar, criticized this lack of progress, saying any further delay in restructuring the security apparatus would put the country in jeopardy.

"Fear is mounting in light of spreading rumors that the open-door policy pursued by the Interior Ministry to attract tourists is in fact luring fundamentalists to gather force in Lebanon," said Ad-Diyar in its editorial.

"Siniora," Ad-Diyar added, "is confusing the public by highlighting the Syrian-Lebanese border crisis while ignoring the real crisis growing internally."

Before the session began, the government attempted to resolve what it expected to be less controversial judicial appointments, but also failed to reach any real agreements. No judge has yet been appointed to the Higher Judicial Council.

The issue of appointing new members to Lebanon's top legal authority, the Higher Constitutional Council from which five members quit earlier this week, has been left pending. The government avoided any discussions concerning the council, as the Parliament majority has been trying to convince Speaker Nabih Berri to replace all remaining members and elect 12 new candidates.

There has been dissent between President Emile Lahoud, Berri and Siniora as to whether all members should be replaced or only five new members selected to fill the vacant seats.

Energy Minister Mohammad Fneish informed the Cabinet about the results of his official visit to Kuwait, during which he negotiated a state-to-state deal by which Lebanon will obtain fuel to operate the country's power stations. This will eliminate the extra costs incurred by paying intermediary suppliers.

The Cabinet formally approved the deal concluded by Fneish and Kuwaiti officials. It also agreed the ministry should send a delegate to Qatar to study a similar offer advanced by the Qatari government. The deal is supposed to save Lebanon huge sums of money.

A financial report presented by Finance Minister Jihad Azour was one of the most important items in the session

In his report, Azour pointed out that the country's financial situation witnessed a serious decline in revenues, coupled with uncontrolled expenditure, over the last six months. During the January-June 2005 period, the deficit increased by LL1,324 billion; during the same period last year, deficit spending was LL1,277 billion.

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5//The Independent, UK Published: 12 August 2005
http://news.independent.co.uk/europe/article305334.ece

IRISH WOMEN TAKE DEMAND FOR ABORTIONS TO EUROPE
By Stephen Castle in Brussels

Three Irish women are to challenge their country's strict abortion laws by taking a test case to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg.

Backed by the Irish Family Planning Association (IFPA), the women will seek to win a ruling that could force the government in Dublin to amend laws barring abortion unless a mother's life is at risk.

None of the three complainants have been named, but all are known to live in Ireland and to have had abortions in the United Kingdom in the past year. The IFPA said that the group lodged its complaint with the Strasbourg court earlier this week. Lawyers will argue before the court that Ireland's restrictions on abortion put the health and welfare of the women at risk, thereby breaching their rights. The case centres on four articles of the European Convention on Human Rights, including one that protects individuals from "inhuman or degrading treatment" and another that affords rights and freedoms without discrimination on any grounds.

Ivana Bacik, spokeswoman for the IFPA campaign to change the abortion laws, said: "The IFPA has provided these women with the legal research support to enable them to take this important case to the European Court.

(SNIP)

The IFPA says that 6,217 Irish women travelled to the United Kingdom for abortions in 2004 and that most of those who did so were between the ages of 20 and 30.

Although this is a drop of 103 on the previous year's numbers, the association believes that hundreds more women are going further afield, using low-cost airlines to reach centres that perform cheaper abortions in countries including the Netherlands, Belgium and Spain, for which statistics are not collected.

Abortion remains a highly sensitive issue in Ireland, which is a predominantly Roman Catholic country, and the Irish government has said recently that it has no intention of changing the law.

The legal case at Strasbourg is part of a wider political lobbying campaign at home and abroad by campaigners.

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