February 15, 2006

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 FEBRUARY 15, 2006

1//Azzaman in English, Iraq--IRAQ INFLATION SOARS TO 22% (Iraq inflation shot to 22% in January driven by hikes in essential commodities like food, fuel, transport and rent. The latest figures by the Central Statistical Bureau show that January’s inflation level was 5.8% higher than the preceding month. The surge comes despite government insistence and measures that it will keep inflation unchanged to curb price hikes. … Analysts said the steep hikes in prices coupled with the absence of law and order in many Iraqi cities are bound to undermine government’s efforts to build bridges of trust with the population.)

2//Asia Times Online, Hong Kong--GOODBYE IRAQ, HELLO AFGHANISTAN (… Washington neo-conservatives, from Cheney to former deputy defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, may have dreamed of unlimited strategic power by controlling Iraq. What they got instead is a loose Iran/Iraq alliance. And they still could get something even more nightmarish, as American academic Noam Chomsky put it, "A loose Shi'ite alliance controlling most of the world's oil, independent of Washington and probably turning toward the East, where China and others are eager to make relationships with them, and are already doing it." … Incapable of controlling anything, not even the road from Baghdad's airport to the Green Zone, and incapable of reconstructing what it has destroyed, Washington for its part will keep betting on chaos, retreating behind the huge concrete barriers that dot the wasteland of its prized Muslim possessions, Afghanistan and Iraq.)

3//The Daily Star, Lebanon--SAUDI ARABIA TO DOUBLE ITS OIL REFINING CAPACITY (Saudi Arabia plans to double its oil refining capacity to six million barrels per day (bpd) within five years, Oil Minister Ali al-Nuaimi said Tuesday. The OPEC kingpin's "main goal is the stability of world oil markets. It is currently working on huge oil projects, including raising crude oil production capacity and doubling the capacity of oil refineries to six million bpd within the next five years," the state SPA news agency quoted him as saying. Nuaimi made his remarks during a meeting with visiting Dutch Foreign Minister Bernard Bot. Riyadh's objective is to "meet the world's increasing demand for oil," Nuaimi said.)

4//RIA Novosti, Russia--CHINA COULD JOIN RUSSIA-IRAN NUCLEAR TALKS – RUSSIA EXPERT (The format of Russia-Iran negotiations on the Islamic republic's controversial nuclear research program could be expanded to include China, a Russian expert said Tuesday. According to Vladimir Yevseyev, coordinator of the nuclear non-proliferation program at the Carnegie Moscow Center political research institute, this possibility had apparently been behind the postponing of Iranian nuclear negotiators' visit to Moscow, which was rescheduled from February 16 to 20 at Iran's initiative. … Meanwhile, the Russian Foreign Ministry said China's possible participation in the Russia-Iran talks had not yet been discussed. According to Yevseyev, Iran is more concerned about its own security than guaranteed nuclear fuel supplies, which is why he proposed concluding a package agreement with the country. The expert also said Iran's security concerns could be allayed if the United States considered offering non-aggression guarantees to Iran. He said such a move would make Russia's uranium enrichment initiative more realizable, as it could not resolve the problem without security guarantees.)

5//The Khaleej Times, United Arab Emirates--PHILIPPINE AIRPORTS VULNERABLE TO MISSILE ATTACKS, WARNS OFFICIAL (Philippine airports are vulnerable to shoulder-fired missile attacks, the country’s top anti-terror diplomat warned Tuesday as the parliament was urged to immediately pass legislation to crack down on terrorism. … Chairman Benjamin Defensor, also the Philippines’ top envoy on counter-terrorism, said the 21 members of APEC had agreed late last year to boost security in the aviation sector. … “I will tell you right now, our airports (in the Philippines) are not safe,” Defensor told the Foreign Correspondents Association of the Philippines. He said manpads were traditionally used in conventional warfare to defend against enemy aircraft but could also be used against commercial aircraft. Philippine airports could be especially vulnerable because of their close proximity to sprawling shanty towns, Defensor said. Such weapons were also readily available in the Philippines, where Muslim insurgents have for years manufactured similar shoulder-fired rocket launchers in training camps in the country’s south.)

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1//Azzaman in English, Iraq February 14, 2005

IRAQ INFLATION SOARS TO 22%
By Abdulzahra al-Hindawi

Iraq inflation shot to 22% in January driven by hikes in essential commodities like food, fuel, transport and rent.

The latest figures by the Central Statistical Bureau show that January’s inflation level was 5.8% higher than the preceding month.

The surge comes despite government insistence and measures that it will keep inflation unchanged to curb price hikes.

A statement by the bureau, the government’s statistical arm, said increases in January touched all the commodities it uses as benchmark to measure inflation.

(SNIP)

Transport and fuel saw the highest increases (27%) followed by foodstuffs (26.4%).

The government is scrapping fuel subsidies resulting in sharp increases in fuel prices and transport fees.

Despite the hikes the government has stopped short of raising salaries.

Analysts said the steep hikes in prices coupled with the absence of law and order in many Iraqi cities are bound to undermine government’s efforts to build bridges of trust with the population.

2//Asia Times Online, Hong Kong Feb 15, 2006

The Roving Eye
GOODBYE IRAQ, HELLO AFGHANISTAN

By Pepe Escobar

Saddam Hussein shouts "Down with Bush" in the heart of the Green Zone, British soldiers beat up barefoot Iraqi teenagers and US Vice President Dick Cheney is out shooting people (not Iraqis; a fellow American, and a campaign contributor to boot). Cutting right across this theater of the absurd, Iraqi politicians have manufactured their own, choosing a new prime minister who happens not to be that new.

In a secret ballot among the 128 parliamentarians who compose it, the Shi'ite coalition, the United Iraqi Alliance (UIA), chose Ibrahim Jaafari to be the Iraqi prime minister until 2009. Jaafari, from the Da'wa Party, got 64 votes. Incumbent Vice President Adel Abdul Mehdi, a free-marketer from the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI) with good ties in Washington, got 63.

This, then, was a fierce battle between the two main Shi'ite religious parties, more precisely between the SCIRI and the two branches of Da'wa. Jaafari only won because the two Da'was were supported by the kingmaker himself - former US bete noire Muqtada al-Sadr. Da'wa, after all, was founded in the late 1950s by Mohammed Baqr al-Sadr, a cousin of Muqtada's father.

The whole thing is far from over. According to the new US-designed Iraqi constitution, parliament must convene in less than two weeks to choose the new presidential council - the head of state plus two vice presidents. This council will formally appoint the new prime minister, who will have one month to form his government, to be approved by parliament. It's practically certain that Jaafari will win.

There is now talk that Jaafari may prefer to form a government with the fundamentalist Sunni Iraqi Accord Front, headed by Adnan Dulaimi, instead of the Kurdistan Alliance and its 53 seats. Relations between Jaafari and the Kurds have been dreadful. But the UIA doesn't have enough votes to pull it off - at least not yet. The UIA has 128 of the 275 seats in parliament. So it needs an ally to take it over two-thirds so it can form a government of its choice.

The Kurds want much more say in key policy decisions, and by all means want a potentially explosive referendum in Kirkuk on whether it wants to be part of the Kurdistan confederacy; for Shi'ites, this is not a priority. Former prime minister Iyad Allawi, derisively know as "Saddam without a mustache", the favorite Washington-London asset, most certainly will not be part of the new Iraqi government, even though the Kurds have demanded that he be included.

Ties with Iran will be close, as expected; Jaafari lived in Iran for nine years during the 1980s, at the height of the Iran-Iraq War. He is an ultraconservative. He does not drink, smoke, play cards or go the movies, and he's totally in favor of sharia (Islamic) law regarding marriage, divorce and heritage rights.

The vote may be interpreted as a defeat for Abdul Aziz al-Hakim, the SCIRI's leader, but not that much. The SCIRI and its military wing, the Badr Organization, almost inevitably will retain control of the crucial Ministry of Interior, which for Shi'ites is non-negotiable with either Sunnis or Kurds. This means in practice the proliferation of hardcore Badr commandos - many trained by Iranian Revolutionary Guards - running death squads against Sunni Arabs.

Alarm bells are ringing that the internal Shi'ite battle raging since the December 2005 elections indicates that the UIA may inevitably implode well before 2009. This is the meat of the matter; a fractious and extremely weak central government will be in power in Baghdad in the foreseeable future.

Chaos as a non-exit strategy

What does all this political bickering mean compared with the unbearable suffering endured by the bulk of Iraq's population? It spells nothing but doom. Disgruntled Sunni Arabs will keep refining their double-track strategy of playing politics and military defiance. The Sunni Arab guerrilla - not to mention al-Qaeda in the Land of the Two Rivers - will keep raising hell (attacks against Americans and "collaborators" now average 77 per day; they were 55 one year ago).

(SNIP)

Washington neo-conservatives, from Cheney to former deputy defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, may have dreamed of unlimited strategic power by controlling Iraq. What they got instead is a loose Iran/Iraq alliance. And they still could get something even more nightmarish, as American academic Noam Chomsky put it, "A loose Shi'ite alliance controlling most of the world's oil, independent of Washington and probably turning toward the East, where China and others are eager to make relationships with them, and are already doing it."

The new Jaafari government can count on less than US$19 billion a year in oil income - a pitiful sum, due to relentless guerrilla war and non-stop sabotage operations. Most of the income will go to the Ministry of the Interior, some will go to snail's-pace reconstruction projects, and some will go into paying debts. Just as during Allawi's government in 2004, billions can be expected to disappear in corrupt schemes.

According to a number of polls, as many as 80% of Iraqis want the US out as soon as possible. In 2005, during the previous Jaafari government, more than 120 parliamentarians (out of 275) were demanding a fixed timetable for the US to go. The new parliament will inevitably have to align itself with the majority of the Iraqi population's wishes.

Incapable of controlling anything, not even the road from Baghdad's airport to the Green Zone, and incapable of reconstructing what it has destroyed, Washington for its part will keep betting on chaos, retreating behind the huge concrete barriers that dot the wasteland of its prized Muslim possessions, Afghanistan and Iraq.

3//The Daily Star, Lebanon Wednesday, February 15, 2006

SAUDI ARABIA TO DOUBLE ITS OIL REFINING CAPACITY
By Agence France Presse (AFP)

RIYADH: Saudi Arabia plans to double its oil refining capacity to six million barrels per day (bpd) within five years, Oil Minister Ali al-Nuaimi said Tuesday. The OPEC kingpin's "main goal is the stability of world oil markets. It is currently working on huge oil projects, including raising crude oil production capacity and doubling the capacity of oil refineries to six million bpd within the next five years," the state SPA news agency quoted him as saying.

Nuaimi made his remarks during a meeting with visiting Dutch Foreign Minister Bernard Bot.
Riyadh's objective is to "meet the world's increasing demand for oil," Nuaimi said.

Nawaf Obaid, managing director of Saudi National Security Assessment Project, a government consultancy, told an oil conference in September the kingdom has earmarked $20 billion for the upgrade project.

The program would boost the capacity of eight refineries Riyadh owns inside and outside Saudi Arabia within five years, besides building new refineries locally and abroad, he said.

The Saudi and Dutch ministers discussed the importance of ensuring secure oil supplies and cooperation between their two countries in oil matters, including joint investments, SPA said.

(MORE)

4//RIA Novosti, Russia 16:52 14/02/2006

CHINA COULD JOIN RUSSIA-IRAN NUCLEAR TALKS – RUSSIA EXPERT

MOSCOW, February 14 (RIA Novosti) - The format of Russia-Iran negotiations on the Islamic republic's controversial nuclear research program could be expanded to include China, a Russian expert said Tuesday.

According to Vladimir Yevseyev, coordinator of the nuclear non-proliferation program at the Carnegie Moscow Center political research institute, this possibility had apparently been behind the postponing of Iranian nuclear negotiators' visit to Moscow, which was rescheduled from February 16 to 20 at Iran's initiative.

"In view of the time shortage, the status of the negotiations could also be raised," Yevseyev said.

The UN's nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)'s Board of Governors, is to hear a report on the issue from Director General Mohammed ElBaradei March 6, and then the Iranian file may be referred to the UN Security Council. The latter has the power to impose sanctions on Iran if it is found to be in breach of its international obligations to pursue no atomic weapons program.

Yevseyev said Iran had been planning to send technical experts to Moscow to discuss Russia's proposal to enrich uranium - a process that can be used both to generate energy and to create bomb-grade material - for Iran's nuclear power plants as part of a joint venture. This proposal has been largely seen as a possible compromise capable of defusing international tensions surrounding Iran's resumption of its nuclear program.

However, Yevseyev said Russia's offer had not received full support in Iran, leading Russia to propose China's involvement in the joint uranium enrichment venture.

"If China is engaged in the negotiations with Iran, this could help alter the content of ElBaradei's report and modify the positions of Russia and China [on the issue]," Yevseyev said, adding that the opinions of the latter two would be essential, considering they had veto-welding power in the UN Security Council and could block international sanctions against Iran.

"If Russia and China back Iran on the compromise option [the joint venture], then the issue will not be pushed on to the UN Security Council without consent from Moscow and Beijing," Yevseyev said.

Meanwhile, the Russian Foreign Ministry said China's possible participation in the Russia-Iran talks had not yet been discussed.

According to Yevseyev, Iran is more concerned about its own security than guaranteed nuclear fuel supplies, which is why he proposed concluding a package agreement with the country.

The expert also said Iran's security concerns could be allayed if the United States considered offering non-aggression guarantees to Iran. He said such a move would make Russia's uranium enrichment initiative more realizable, as it could not resolve the problem without security guarantees.

(MORE)

5//The Khaleej Times, United Arab Emirates 14 February 2006

PHILIPPINE AIRPORTS VULNERABLE TO MISSILE ATTACKS, WARNS OFFICIAL
(AFP)

MANILA - Philippine airports are vulnerable to shoulder-fired missile attacks, the country’s top anti-terror diplomat warned Tuesday as the parliament was urged to immediately pass legislation to crack down on terrorism.

The warning from the chairman of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation’s (APEC) anti-terrorism taskforce comes amid reports Al Qaeda-linked militants have strengthened contacts with local Muslim groups throughout the Philippines.

Chairman Benjamin Defensor, also the Philippines’ top envoy on counter-terrorism, said the 21 members of APEC had agreed late last year to boost security in the aviation sector.

He said each member country would be required to submit assessments this year on threats facing their airports after defense analysts warned that shoulder-fired missiles known as manpads posed a serious threat.

“I will tell you right now, our airports (in the Philippines) are not safe,” Defensor told the Foreign Correspondents Association of the Philippines.

He said manpads were traditionally used in conventional warfare to defend against enemy aircraft but could also be used against commercial aircraft.

Philippine airports could be especially vulnerable because of their close proximity to sprawling shanty towns, Defensor said.

Such weapons were also readily available in the Philippines, where Muslim insurgents have for years manufactured similar shoulder-fired rocket launchers in training camps in the country’s south.

The weapon was “very popular,” he said. “You can place it in your luggage, assemble it and you have a deadly weapon. And there is so many of them sold all over the world at rock bottom prices. That is the danger.”

(SNIP)

At least two southern Philippine airports have been bombed in recent years by Muslim militants believed to have links with Jemaah Islamiyah (JI), the Southeast Asian extremist group blamed for the Bali bombings last year and in 2002 that killed more than 200 people.
In one of the Filipino attacks, militants bombed the waiting area of the Davao international airport in March 2003, killing more than 20 people. In the same month, a busy wharf in Davao was also bombed.