September 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 SEPTEMBER 12, 2005

1//Asia Times Online, Hong Kong--THE TALIBAN’S BATTLE OVER THE BALLOT (Rich with money they make from Afghanistan's opium trade, the Taliban-led resistance has the funds to finance its struggle against foreign troops in the country, in many cases using the same smuggling routes the drugs take to procure arms on the black market. These routes traverse Iraqi Kurdistan, Turkey, the Central Asian states and Iran. The Taliban are buying more sophisticated arms, and Russian and Chinese-made surface-to-air missiles in particular are flowing into Afghanistan in increasing numbers, according to people familiar with the resistance who spoke to Asia Times Online. … Earlier this year, the Iraqi resistance leaked some documents to the media, including Asia Times Online, which showed correspondence between the Iraqi Ministry of Defense and a US contracting firm by the name of Wye Oak Technology. The documents detailed correspondence in August of last year relating to the sale of weapons from Saddam Hussein's army for scrap. The list of weapons includes missiles, artillery and light- and medium-size weapons, all of Russian, Chinese or French origin. Though there is no way to confirm the authenticity of the documents, it is widely believed that arms of a similar nature made their way onto the black market, and in particular to Iraqi Kurdistan, from where the Taliban is now sourcing Russian and Chinese-made weapons. … With nationwide parliamentary elections due in Afghanistan on September 18, the Taliban have raised the tempo of their attacks in an attempt to disrupt the voting process. … However, the election commission has yet to release a full list of the candidates, partly because the Taliban have unequivocally stated that they will specifically target candidates, and they are believed to have drawn up plans for where they will strike. These targets could include 17 Taliban who have joined the administration of President Hamid Karzai.)

2//Worldpress.org, US--ATN JOINS AFGHAN TV SCENE (After decades of war and destruction of the country’s infrastructure, television is slowly becoming the dominant media in Afghanistan. ATN joins a field of four existing stations in the country, all private save the single government-owned network based in Kabul. Though many rural Afghans lack regular access to electricity, more than half of those living in Kabul and Mazar-e-Sharif are estimated to have a household television. Generators often fill the electricity gap, and satellite dishes are popping up throughout the countryside. Ehsan Bayat, the founder and chairman of ATN, is gambling that Afghans are — and will be — enthusiastic TV viewers. “Afghans are resourceful people. They know that television will play an important role in the redevelopment and democratization of our nation. When they don’t have televisions themselves, they watch somewhere else.” And he believes that, because many Afghans have little or no formal education, the power of visual images in communications and entertainment cannot be underestimated. A Unicef survey in 2003 estimated that only half of Afghan men and fewer than 1 in 5 women are able to read and write. … The parliamentary elections on Sept. 18 offer ATN a unique opportunity to establish a nonpartisan reputation. The staff of ATN are working over-time to produce comprehensive election coverage from each of ATN’s five regional news bureaus, including features on controversial local and national issues, like the continued influence of warlords and this year’s poppy harvests.)

3//The Scotsman, UK--FUEL CRISIS: DRIVERS FACE RATIONING (Ministers fear fuel supplies are on the verge of widespread disruption and have drawn up plans to deploy troops to guard refineries and introduce petrol rationing. Sky-high forecourt prices in the wake of Hurricane Katrina have prompted veteran fuel protesters to threaten motorway go-slows and refinery blockades in the coming week. The government has responded by drawing up unprecedented plans to keep fuel supplies moving, using the military if necessary. Scotland on Sunday can also reveal that hauliers' leaders have been summoned to the Department of Trade and Industry and warned that drivers will face the full force of the law if unlawful protests take place. Petrol prices have soared to the region of £1 a litre, reigniting fears that there could be a repeat of the protests of 2000 that caused widespread panic and brought much of the country to a halt.)

4//The Chosun Ilbo, South Korea--PROTESTORS CLASH WITH POLICE OVER MACARTHUR STATUE (Dozens were injured when groups calling for the removal of a statue of U.S. general Douglas MacArthur clashed with police in Incheon's Freedom Park on Sunday. The clashes came four days ahead of the 55th anniversary of the Incheon Landing of UN forces led by MacArthur that marked a turning point in the Korean War. Some 4,000 members of progressive groups who had gathered in Sungeui Stadium in Incheon's Nam-gu started marching on the park at 1 p.m. to demand the withdrawal of U.S. forces from Korea and the removal of the monument to the U.S. general from Freedom Park. They arrived at the park around 4 p.m. … Police had deployed no fewer than 38 companies of riot police -- about 3,800 men -- and 78 transport vehicles, but they were unable to stop the violence and earned complaints from protesters for hurling stones. Earlier, some 1,000 members of conservative groups rallied at Inseong Girls High School near the Park to defend the statue of a man they see as a hero of the Korean War. At 4 p.m., they too entered Freedom Park with the intent of burning North Korean flags, throwing stones and eggs, and stopping the progressive groups from entering the park, but were stopped by police.)

5//The Moscow Times, Russia--PUNDITS WARN OF OLIGARCH CONSPIRACY (In a warning starkly reminiscent of the prelude to the Yukos crackdown, a group of political scientists published a report last week about an "oligarch conspiracy" to seize power. The pundits, working under the auspices of the Council for National Strategy, the private think tank that warned about "a creeping oligarchic coup" in 2003, are pointing the finger this time at Alfa Group, the financial-industrial empire run by Mikhail Fridman and Pyotr Aven. "The government's task is to form a powerful anti-oligarchic coalition and not to allow a coup," said Sergei Markov, a Kremlin loyalist who co-authored the report. Markov said by telephone Friday that oligarchs were actively seeking to place their people in the government and to clinch alliances with the siloviki -- military and security officials close to President Vladimir Putin -- in order to regain the political influence they enjoyed in the 1990s. … Analysts not connected to the report expressed doubt about any oligarch conspiracy. "These warnings by the pundits look like a pre-emptive Kremlin maneuver to lay the foundation for a future crackdown on oligarchs. Any move by them from now on will be treated as part of the plot," said Alexei Makarkin of the Center for Political Technologies. The release of the report suggests that the siloviki have decided against picking a successor liked by the oligarchs and in favor of standing by their choice, even if it means a conflict with the oligarchs, Makarkin said.)

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1//Asia Times Online, Hong Kong Sep 10, 2005
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Central_Asia/GI10Ag01.html

THE TALIBAN’S BATTLE OVER THE BALLOT
By Syed Saleem Shahzad

KARACHI - Rich with money they make from Afghanistan's opium trade, the Taliban-led resistance has the funds to finance its struggle against foreign troops in the country, in many cases using the same smuggling routes the drugs take to procure arms on the black market. These routes traverse Iraqi Kurdistan, Turkey, the Central Asian states and Iran.

The Taliban are buying more sophisticated arms, and Russian and Chinese-made surface-to-air missiles in particular are flowing into Afghanistan in increasing numbers, according to people familiar with the resistance who spoke to Asia Times Online.

Obviously this gives an added dimension to the Taliban's fighting capabilities, and in recent months they have succeeded in bringing down several helicopters - the most recent being an attack last month that claimed the lives of 17 Spanish soldiers.

In June, 16 US service members aboard a MH-47 helicopter died when their aircraft crashed near the Afghan-Pakistan border. The US military believes the chopper was downed by the resistance.

The Taliban have been less successful in attacks on foreign aircraft using the main bases at Sheendand and Bagram. As one contact told Asia Times Online, the Taliban now have an abundant stock of surface-to-ground missiles, but they are still learning to use them properly.

"A general conduit of the weapons smuggling for Afghanistan is from Iraqi Kurdistan, from where the weapons are transported through Iran to Afghanistan. The SAM missiles of Russian and Chinese origin are available at a cost of US$2,500 each. The main market of these missiles is Afghanistan," a confidante told Asia Times Online on a condition of anonymity.

The Taliban already have close links with elements of the Iraqi resistance in terms of tactics and training, so it is logical that they also cooperate over arms.

Asia Times Online has reported in detail on Mullah Mehmood Haq Yar, an expert in guerrilla and urban warfare, (see Revival of the Taliban, April 9) and how Taliban leader Mullah Omar sent him to Iraq before the war. There, he interacted with Islamic groups in northern Iraq before returning to Afghanistan to introduce similar tactics to those of the Iraqi resistance.

According to a report from Reuters news agency, last month al-Arabiya television aired a video purportedly depicting foreign militants in Afghanistan, including Europeans, Arabs and others, preparing to attack US troops and Afghan officials.

"These foreign guys are pretty well-armed," the Reuters report quoted a US paratrooper on patrol in Orgun-E, an area in southeastern Paktika province, as saying. "They have expensive weapons you can't get in this country."

Back to the source

Earlier this year, the Iraqi resistance leaked some documents to the media, including Asia Times Online, which showed correspondence between the Iraqi Ministry of Defense and a US contracting firm by the name of Wye Oak Technology. The documents detailed correspondence in August of last year relating to the sale of weapons from Saddam Hussein's army for scrap. The list of weapons includes missiles, artillery and light- and medium-size weapons, all of Russian, Chinese or French origin.

Though there is no way to confirm the authenticity of the documents, it is widely believed that arms of a similar nature made their way onto the black market, and in particular to Iraqi Kurdistan, from where the Taliban is now sourcing Russian and Chinese-made weapons.

No letup in the resistance

With nationwide parliamentary elections due in Afghanistan on September 18, the Taliban have raised the tempo of their attacks in an attempt to disrupt the voting process. In the latest attack, Afghan officials say that six Afghan policemen and two suspected Taliban insurgents had been killed this week after militants attacked a police post in Muqur, a district of southern Ghazni province.

(SNIP)

However, the election commission has yet to release a full list of the candidates, partly because the Taliban have unequivocally stated that they will specifically target candidates, and they are believed to have drawn up plans for where they will strike. These targets could include 17 Taliban who have joined the administration of President Hamid Karzai.

(MORE)

2//Worldpress.org, US September 10, 205
http://www.worldpress.org/print_article...

ATN JOINS AFGHAN TV SCENE
Carolyn O’Hara, Worldpress.org contributing editor

Jamshid Matin, at the age of 20, is a minor celebrity in Kabul. He’s the host of two music programs on Afghanistan’s newest and most ambitious television network, ARIANA, which launched on Aug. 16. Broadcast over the most powerful television transmitter in the country, with the capability of reaching 10 million Afghans, ARIANA Television Network (ATN) is starting big — which is fine by Matin, who worked as a radio journalist for several years. He’s excited about the way television is revolutionizing the way Afghans communicate.

Matin writes, produces, and anchors both of his shows, which air several times a week. ‘Top 10’ is devoted to music videos requested from call-in viewers, and ‘Setere Hai Rangeen’ features popular music artists. “I receive emails all the time from Afghans who are so happy about ATN,” Matin says. “ATN respects and represents the culture of Afghanistan.”

After decades of war and destruction of the country’s infrastructure, television is slowly becoming the dominant media in Afghanistan. ATN joins a field of four existing stations in the country, all private save the single government-owned network based in Kabul. Though many rural Afghans lack regular access to electricity, more than half of those living in Kabul and Mazar-e-Sharif are estimated to have a household television. Generators often fill the electricity gap, and satellite dishes are popping up throughout the countryside.

Ehsan Bayat, the founder and chairman of ATN, is gambling that Afghans are — and will be — enthusiastic TV viewers. “Afghans are resourceful people. They know that television will play an important role in the redevelopment and democratization of our nation. When they don’t have televisions themselves, they watch somewhere else.” And he believes that, because many Afghans have little or no formal education, the power of visual images in communications and entertainment cannot be underestimated. A Unicef survey in 2003 estimated that only half of Afghan men and fewer than 1 in 5 women are able to read and write.

ATN’s primary aim is to produce and broadcast as much local content as possible. This strategy sets ATN apart from its competitors, who regularly import foreign programs for airing. To successfully build a roster of locally produced programs, ATN is actively recruiting and developing Afghan talent, from technicians to writers to program hosts. 95 percent of the network’s payroll is comprised of Afghan employees, drawn from all ethnic groups and regions of the country.

ATN is hoping its daily live news programs in Dari and Pashtu, the two official languages of Afghanistan, will be the anchor of its broadcasts. The programs cover both local and international events, and the segments are produced in-house. “We want to earn Afghanistan’s trust as a neutral, objective source of information and news,” Bayat says. “We will not affiliate ourselves with political agendas.”

The parliamentary elections on Sept. 18 offer ATN a unique opportunity to establish a nonpartisan reputation. The staff of ATN are working over-time to produce comprehensive election coverage from each of ATN’s five regional news bureaus, including features on controversial local and national issues, like the continued influence of warlords and this year’s poppy harvests.

ATN is also offering each parliamentary candidate an opportunity to speak directly to the voting public through 30-second on-air spots, provided free of charge to the candidate. These messages are especially important to female contenders who are struggling to promote their candidacies in these historic elections. “Afghans need the most up-to-date information so they can decide for themselves how to cast their votes,” Bayat says. “We take our obligation to support the elections very seriously. It is important that all candidates are heard.”

(SNIP)

Content invariably means controversy in Afghanistan. Tolo TV, another private network based in Kabul, has drawn the ire of conservatives for its programming featuring scantily-clad female singers and dancers. Popular Bollywood films with love scenes that would be considered tame in the West particularly infuriate Afghan religious leaders, who have announced plans to launch their own Islamic network to counter the corrupting influence they say networks like Tolo represent.

Bayat hopes to bypass these minefields. “We want ATN to be the source that Afghans turn to for objective news, as well as informative educational and cultural programming. And in the long term, we want ATN to be the channel the world turns to when it wants news about Afghanistan. That’s why our motto is ‘a window for a better tomorrow.’”

3//The Scotsman, UK Sun 11 Sep 2005
http://scotlandonsunday.scotsman.com/uk.cfm?id=1921402005

FUEL CRISIS: DRIVERS FACE RATIONING
Brian Brady, Westminster Editor

Ministers fear fuel supplies are on the verge of widespread disruption and have drawn up plans to deploy troops to guard refineries and introduce petrol rationing.

Sky-high forecourt prices in the wake of Hurricane Katrina have prompted veteran fuel protesters to threaten motorway go-slows and refinery blockades in the coming week.

The government has responded by drawing up unprecedented plans to keep fuel supplies moving, using the military if necessary.

Scotland on Sunday can also reveal that hauliers' leaders have been summoned to the Department of Trade and Industry and warned that drivers will face the full force of the law if unlawful protests take place.

Petrol prices have soared to the region of £1 a litre, reigniting fears that there could be a repeat of the protests of 2000 that caused widespread panic and brought much of the country to a halt.

Welsh fuel protesters have said they will attempt to bring the M4 to a standstill this Friday.

Another group claims it will begin blockading refineries as soon as Wednesday.

(SNIP)

Despite the plan, officials and the haulage industry are keen to talk down the prospect of fuel protests for fear of sparking panic. Chancellor Gordon Brown also attempted to calm the situation, insisting the economic impact of the soaring fuel prices would be "limited".

But behind the scenes in government, colleagues are preparing for the possibility that an upsurge in public unrest could destabilise the fuel supply.

(SNIP)

The crisis plan, thrashed out after protesters almost brought the country to a standstill during fuel protests five years ago, sets out the use of emergency powers to allow the government to take over the supply of fuel and protect it from any threats.

The original fuel protesters were able to disrupt supplies by blocking tankers coming in and out of the network of refineries that serve businesses and petrol stations across the country.

The government's contingency plans would enable extra security to protect the refineries, including Grangemouth, keeping activists far from the gates, and allow for military drivers to take charge of tankers and keep supplies moving. Up to 1,000 soldiers were taught to drive tankers during the last crisis and remain on standby.

The document sets out the "command structure" tasked to deal with threats to the fuel network.

In a blunt assessment of the additional powers available to ministers, it adds: "In the event that there exists, or is believed to be imminent, an actual or threatened emergency in the UK affecting fuel supplies, emergency powers under the Energy Act 1976 may be brought into force.

"These powers allow the regulation or prohibition of the production, supply, acquisition or use of oil products."

Hauliers and activists last night maintained that they would continue with their campaign.
Andrew Spence, leader of the 2000 protests, has promised to reignite the campaign on Wednesday if the government fails to make an immediate cut in oil duties.

"The blockades start next Wednesday," said Rob Austin, of the Campaign For Fair Fuel Prices. "The boys from Downing Street can't say they didn't expect it."

4//The Chosun Ilbo, South Korea Updated Sep.11,2005 22:08 KST
http://english.chosun.com/w21data/html/news/200509/200509110018.html

PROTESTORS CLASH WITH POLICE OVER MACARTHUR STATUE

Dozens were injured when groups calling for the removal of a statue of U.S. general Douglas MacArthur clashed with police in Incheon's Freedom Park on Sunday. The clashes came four days ahead of the 55th anniversary of the Incheon Landing of UN forces led by MacArthur that marked a turning point in the Korean War.

Some 4,000 members of progressive groups who had gathered in Sungeui Stadium in Incheon's Nam-gu started marching on the park at 1 p.m. to demand the withdrawal of U.S. forces from Korea and the removal of the monument to the U.S. general from Freedom Park. They arrived at the park around 4 p.m.

The demonstration started off peacefully with singing, dancing and a speech by Democratic Labor Party central committee member Lee Jeong-mi, but turned violent after the reading of a declaration calling for 2005 to become the first year of the exit of U.S. forces from the peninsula.

Participants tried to approach the statue wielding metal pipes and long bamboo poles and throwing eggs at riot police who had sealed off the area. When the protesters started slinging mud, police fought back brandishing shields, clubs and fire extinguishers. The clash soon descended into chaos, with both sides hurling stones that left many injured.

(SNIP)

Police had deployed no fewer than 38 companies of riot police -- about 3,800 men -- and 78 transport vehicles, but they were unable to stop the violence and earned complaints from protesters for hurling stones.

Earlier, some 1,000 members of conservative groups rallied at Inseong Girls High School near the Park to defend the statue of a man they see as a hero of the Korean War. At 4 p.m., they too entered Freedom Park with the intent of burning North Korean flags, throwing stones and eggs, and stopping the progressive groups from entering the park, but were stopped by police.

5//The Moscow Times, Russia Monday, September 12, 2005. Issue 3250. Page 1
http://www.moscowtimes.ru/stories/2005/09/12/001.html

PUNDITS WARN OF OLIGARCH CONSPIRACY
By Nabi Abdullaev and Francesca Mereu, Staff Writers

In a warning starkly reminiscent of the prelude to the Yukos crackdown, a group of political scientists published a report last week about an "oligarch conspiracy" to seize power.

The pundits, working under the auspices of the Council for National Strategy, the private think tank that warned about "a creeping oligarchic coup" in 2003, are pointing the finger this time at Alfa Group, the financial-industrial empire run by Mikhail Fridman and Pyotr Aven.

"The government's task is to form a powerful anti-oligarchic coalition and not to allow a coup," said Sergei Markov, a Kremlin loyalist who co-authored the report.

Markov said by telephone Friday that oligarchs were actively seeking to place their people in the government and to clinch alliances with the siloviki -- military and security officials close to President Vladimir Putin -- in order to regain the political influence they enjoyed in the 1990s.

Valery Khomyakov, another co-author and co-chairman of the Council for National Strategy, said some of the country's business leaders would probably back a political confrontation with the Kremlin if living standards plummeted ahead of the 2008 presidential election or if Putin picked a successor whom they perceived as weak.

"This would open a window of opportunity for the oligarchs' revenge," he said.

Khomyakov said the imprisonment of Yukos founder Mikhail Khodorkovsky and the state's dismantlement of his once-leading oil company -- widely seen as the Kremlin's check on his political and economic ambitions -- have not had a lasting effect on other oligarchs.

"They are no longer scared and are ready to participate in 'Operation Successor,'" he said.

Maxim Dianov, the report's third co-author and the head of the Institute of Regional Problems, said Putin had stepped into the fray by saying he would not tolerate the use of foreign money in politics and by announcing a drastic increase in social spending last week.

"The latter decision is a real political turn to the left and will hardly please the oligarchs," he said.

Khomyakov and Dianov said Alfa Group, the country's largest private financial corporation, was the leading force in the "oligarch conspiracy."

They justified the allegation largely by pointing out that Alfa Group's sheer size and its aggressive style of doing business had put it at the forefront of a battle over big business interests.

Dianov also noted that Oleg Sysuyev, the first deputy board chairman of Alfa Bank, was a member of Committee- 2008: Free Choice, a group of liberal politicians and activists critical of Putin. Sysuyev has criticized Putin in several recent interviews.

An Alfa Group spokesman declined to comment on the report Friday.

But Stanislav Belkovsky, whose 2003 report was followed by the legal assault on Khodorkovsky and Yukos, criticized the new report as "lacking strong information, good sources and any political forecast."

"I'm not saying that my colleagues are on someone's payroll, but their report is, in my opinion, politically unproductive," he said Sunday. "There are no sources backing their theories. I'm very skeptical about it."

(SNIP)

Analysts not connected to the report expressed doubt about any oligarch conspiracy. "These warnings by the pundits look like a pre-emptive Kremlin maneuver to lay the foundation for a future crackdown on oligarchs. Any move by them from now on will be treated as part of the plot," said Alexei Makarkin of the Center for Political Technologies.

The release of the report suggests that the siloviki have decided against picking a successor liked by the oligarchs and in favor of standing by their choice, even if it means a conflict with the oligarchs, Makarkin said.

Vladimir Pribylovsky, the head of the Panorama think tank, went one step further. "There is no anti-Putin oligarch conspiracy here, just a fight between two administrative and business clans," he said, referring to the fight between Reiman and Fridman. "The pundits merely want to reap some dividends by predicting the outcome, just as one their colleagues did with Khodorkovsky."