February 22, 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 22, 2006

1//China Daily, China--PAKISTAN MULLS BUILDING TRADE, ENERGY CORRIDOR TO CHINA (Pakistan wants to act as a transit facility giving China access to Central Asian markets and energy sources, said visiting President Pervez Musharraf. "We are interested in setting up a trade and energy corridor for China," he told China Daily in an exclusive interview. He was referring to Gwadar port on the Arabian Sea coast in the Pakistani province of Balochistan through which crude oil imports from Iran and Africa can be transported to Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region by land. … The port is strategically located as it is quite near the Strait of Hormuz, through which 40 per cent of the world's oil passes, he noted. … Musharraf, who arrived in Beijing on Sunday for a five-day visit, is also seeking Chinese help in developing nuclear energy.)

2//Tehran Times, Iran--GERMAN FM SAYS DIPLOMACY CAN STILL WORK WITH IRAN (Germany believes diplomacy can still work in resolving the Iranian nuclear standoff but that economic sanctions could be an eventual possibility, Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said Tuesday. … Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Aso on Tuesday welcomed Russia's attempts to reach a compromise with Iran on its nuclear activity and said he would also press Tehran on the issue. … Japan is a major investor in Iran's oil industry and maintains close ties with the Islamic Republic despite concern by the United States. Aso said he would press Iranian foreign minister on the nuclear program when he visits Tokyo next week. "It is also a duty of a friend to say something that hits your sore spots," Aso said. … On Tuesday, China urged Iran to end its uranium enrichment activities and focus on making progress in ongoing talks with Russia to resolve its long-standing nuclear issue. … He [foreign ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao] said he had no information on the reported visit to Iran next month of China's top economic planner Ma Kai. Chinese reports have said Ma is planning the trip to sign a contract allowing Chinese companies to develop an Iranian oil field, as well as a 25-year deal to buy up to 100 billion dollars worth of Iranian natural gas.)

3//The Sydney Morning Herald, Australia--FROM REFUGEES TO OUTLAWS: KURDISH GROUP BANNED (Australian Kurds are furious after the Federal Government pronounced the Kurdistan Workers Party a terrorist group, even though it was allowing sympathisers to become refugees as recently as last year. The party, which has been running a long campaign for autonomy for Turkey's Kurdish minority, was listed as a proscribed terrorist group in mid-December, making it a criminal offence to recruit, train, fund or have "other forms of association" with the group. A person found to have links with the party or 16 related entities faces a jail term of up to 25 years. A coalition of Australian Kurds, lawyers and refugee advocates has urged the Government to reverse the decision, arguing it will jeopardise asylum seekers and that it is politically motivated. The Attorney-General, Philip Ruddock, pronounced the Kurdistan Workers Party a terrorist group just a week after the visit of the Turkish Prime Minister, Recep Erdogan, to Australia.)

4//Arab News, Saudi Arabia--ZOGBY SAYS SAUDIS NEED BETTER PR STRATEGY IN US (The Kingdom needs to hone the communication skills of “smart Saudi women” to put across its message effectively to the American audience, said a prominent Arabist intellectual from the US during a press conference here yesterday. “The country is wasting its resources in trying to reach out to the Americans through their media. Such a strategy has turned out to be counter-productive,” James Zogby, president of the Arab-American Institute [AAI], told mediapersons at the Council of Saudi Chambers of Commerce & Industry [CSCCI]. Pointing out that Saudi Arabia should review its communication strategy, Zogby said talented Saudi women from the mass media could be mobilized to explain the Saudi point of view to the target audience, such as the American youth, the elite, opinionmakers and other influential people in the US.)

5//The Independent, UK--BNP TO USE PROPHET CARTOON IN CAMPAIGN (The British National Party is seeking to exploit controversies involving Muslims in its campaign for local authority elections in May. The extreme right-wing party, which hopes to field 1,000 candidates in England, will include in its campaign material one of the cartoons which sparked outrage among Muslims across the world, showing the Prophet Mohamed with a bomb in his turban. One leaflet asks voters: "Are you concerned about the growth of Islam in Britain? Make Thursday 4 May Referendum Day." It adds: "We owe it to our children to defend our Christian culture." Labour MPs condemned the BNP's attack on Muslims while also urging their party's leaders to take more seriously the threat from the BNP in its working-class heartlands. Mainstream parties say the BNP's campaigning has become more sophisticated. The party is using telephone canvassing for the first time and playing down its hostility to blacks and Asians in order to focus on Muslims.)

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1//China Daily, China Updated: 2006-02-22 05:47

PAKISTAN MULLS BUILDING TRADE, ENERGY CORRIDOR TO CHINA
By Qin Jize (China Daily)

Pakistan wants to act as a transit facility giving China access to Central Asian markets and energy sources, said visiting President Pervez Musharraf.

"We are interested in setting up a trade and energy corridor for China," he told China Daily in an exclusive interview.

He was referring to Gwadar port on the Arabian Sea coast in the Pakistani province of Balochistan through which crude oil imports from Iran and Africa can be transported to Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region by land.

Musharraf said the route on which a feasibility study is being conducted is a shortcut compared with the one via the Straits of Malacca.

The port is strategically located as it is quite near the Strait of Hormuz, through which 40 per cent of the world's oil passes, he noted.

China contributed about US$200 million for the construction of the port's first phase, which was completed last April when Premier Wen Jiabao visited Pakistan.

It is reported that China will also finance the second phase, which will have nine more berths, an approach channel and storage terminals.

Musharraf said he is looking forward to the result of the feasibility study on transporting crude oil via mountainous regions in Pakistan; and suggested that building a railway was an option.

"We should look at the issue with strategic vision," he said.

Although the proposed pipeline is not a project that can be launched soon, it could work well in the long run, said Sun Shihai, a researcher with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

"It will help maintain peace and stability in the region when the commercial interests of China, Pakistan and a third country are involved," he said.

Musharraf, who arrived in Beijing on Sunday for a five-day visit, is also seeking Chinese help in developing nuclear energy.

(MORE)

2//Tehran Times, Iran Wednesday, February 22, 2006

GERMAN FM SAYS DIPLOMACY CAN STILL WORK WITH IRAN

TOKYO (AFP) -- Germany believes diplomacy can still work in resolving the Iranian nuclear standoff but that economic sanctions could be an eventual possibility, Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said Tuesday.

"The issue of a military option does not arise," Steinmeier told a news conference in Tokyo.

"We must show imagination and take advantage of different diplomatic possibilities."

"I do not believe economic sanctions are imminent. But we cannot completely rule out imposing sanctions," he said.

(SNIP)

Japan welcomes Russia's 'constructive approach' on Iran

Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Aso on Tuesday welcomed Russia's attempts to reach a compromise with Iran on its nuclear activity and said he would also press Tehran on the issue.

(SNIP)

Japan is a major investor in Iran's oil industry and maintains close ties with the Islamic Republic despite concern by the United States.

Aso said he would press Iranian foreign minister on the nuclear program when he visits Tokyo next week.

"It is also a duty of a friend to say something that hits your sore spots," Aso said.

China urges Iran to refrain from uranium enrichment

On Tuesday, China urged Iran to end its uranium enrichment activities and focus on making progress in ongoing talks with Russia to resolve its long-standing nuclear issue.

"We hope that Iran will restore its moratorium on all activities related to uranium enriching and create conditions for the resolution of this issue through negotiations," foreign ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao said.

"We support Russia's negotiations with Iran on this issue, and we hope this negotiation will yield positive results."

(SNIP)

"Now that we see difficulties in seeking a solution to this issue, we are willing to stay in close contact with all parties concerned so as to continue to seek the resolution of this issue within the framework of the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency)," Liu said.

He said he had no information on the reported visit to Iran next month of China's top economic planner Ma Kai.

Chinese reports have said Ma is planning the trip to sign a contract allowing Chinese companies to develop an Iranian oil field, as well as a 25-year deal to buy up to 100 billion dollars worth of Iranian natural gas.

3//The Sydney Morning Herald, Australia February 21, 2006

FROM REFUGEES TO OUTLAWS: KURDISH GROUP BANNED
By Tom Allard

AUSTRALIAN Kurds are furious after the Federal Government pronounced the Kurdistan Workers Party a terrorist group, even though it was allowing sympathisers to become refugees as recently as last year.

The party, which has been running a long campaign for autonomy for Turkey's Kurdish minority, was listed as a proscribed terrorist group in mid-December, making it a criminal offence to recruit, train, fund or have "other forms of association" with the group. A person found to have links with the party or 16 related entities faces a jail term of up to 25 years.

A coalition of Australian Kurds, lawyers and refugee advocates has urged the Government to reverse the decision, arguing it will jeopardise asylum seekers and that it is politically motivated.

The Attorney-General, Philip Ruddock, pronounced the Kurdistan Workers Party a terrorist group just a week after the visit of the Turkish Prime Minister, Recep Erdogan, to Australia.

There are about 15,000 people of Kurdish origin in Australia, and roughly half have fled Turkey. Almost all have sympathy for the party, according to the Kurdish leader Mehmet Kahraman.

"We view it as a liberation organisation. We are against violence but we support the cause or support it emotionally," he told the Herald yesterday.

"Most of the asylum seekers to Australia and Europe came because they were persecuted for working for the Kurdish people, the Kurdish cause."

The workers party was formed by Abdullah Ocalan in 1974 to promote the separatist ideals of the Kurdish people, who consider themselves racially and culturally distinct from their Arab neighbours. In its early years it had a strong Marxist bent, which eventually waned.

During the 1980s and 1990s the party's campaign was bloody, involving violent attacks on Turkey's security forces and civilians.

It turned to terrorist techniques from 1989 in response to a Turkish military crackdown, but called a ceasefire in 1999 when Ocalan was captured.

The group had shifted its emphasis from creating a homeland to the protection of Kurdish culture, Mr Kahraman said. "The PKK is against targeting civilians. The PKK has accepted the Geneva Convention," he said.

Vicky Sentas, a spokeswoman for the Federation of Community Legal Centres, said the Refugee Review Tribunal approved one Kurdish person's asylum claim last year because of links to the Kurdistan Workers Party.

"One year ago we considered Turkish Kurds as refugees. And now we consider them open to the charge of terrorism. It's absurd," Ms Sentas said.

"It's a bitter irony that Australia considers the Kurds in Iraq to be their close allies, while over the border in Turkey they are terrorists."

However, the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation has pointed to 14 incidents of violent attacks, some against civilians since July 2003.

(SNIP)

Mr Ruddock told the Herald the listing of the party as a terrorist group had no link to the visit of Mr Erdogan. He said the US, the European Union and other countries had also outlawed the party.

"The judgement at an earlier point in time was that it didn't warrant proscription. The judgement at this point of time is that it does," Mr Ruddock said.

"The fact that at some earlier point in time people got refugee status doesn't in any way derogate from the judgement [to make them a terrorist group]."

4//Arab News, Saudi Arabia Wednesday, 22, February, 2006 (23, Muharram, 1427)

ZOGBY SAYS SAUDIS NEED BETTER PR STRATEGY IN US
Javid Hassan, Arab News

RIYADH, 22 February 2006 — The Kingdom needs to hone the communication skills of “smart Saudi women” to put across its message effectively to the American audience, said a prominent Arabist intellectual from the US during a press conference here yesterday.

“The country is wasting its resources in trying to reach out to the Americans through their media. Such a strategy has turned out to be counter-productive,” James Zogby, president of the Arab-American Institute (AAI), told mediapersons at the Council of Saudi Chambers of Commerce & Industry (CSCCI).

Pointing out that Saudi Arabia should review its communication strategy, Zogby said talented Saudi women from the mass media could be mobilized to explain the Saudi point of view to the target audience, such as the American youth, the elite, opinionmakers and other influential people in the US.

Zogby also disclosed that current thinking in the US administration was in favor of relaxing visa restrictions for students and businessmen wishing to visit the US. “They do realize that they were overreacting to events in the aftermath of Sept. 11. New procedures would be put in place by the State Department. As a result, the restrictions would be eased somewhat,” he said.

He said it was a smart move on the part of the Saudi government to try to send more students to the US. This would increase pressure on the State Department to rationalize the visa procedure for both students and the business community.

(SNIP)

He said Saudi authorities should design a new communications strategy that relies on people-to-people contacts, and visits to places in the US other than Washington and New York in order to explain the Saudi perceptions.

“It’s true there are Americans who appreciate what Saudi Arabia has been doing as a responsible member of the international community,” said Zogby. “But there is still an information gap which has not been bridged by the advertising campaign.”

5//The Independent, UK Published: 22 February 2006

BNP TO USE PROPHET CARTOON IN CAMPAIGN
By Andrew Grice, Political Editor

The British National Party is seeking to exploit controversies involving Muslims in its campaign for local authority elections in May.

The extreme right-wing party, which hopes to field 1,000 candidates in England, will include in its campaign material one of the cartoons which sparked outrage among Muslims across the world, showing the Prophet Mohamed with a bomb in his turban.

One leaflet asks voters: "Are you concerned about the growth of Islam in Britain? Make Thursday 4 May Referendum Day." It adds: "We owe it to our children to defend our Christian culture."

Labour MPs condemned the BNP's attack on Muslims while also urging their party's leaders to take more seriously the threat from the BNP in its working-class heartlands.

Mainstream parties say the BNP's campaigning has become more sophisticated. The party is using telephone canvassing for the first time and playing down its hostility to blacks and Asians in order to focus on Muslims. Other campaign literature contrasts the jailing of the Muslim cleric Abu Hamza for inciting murder and racial hatred with the partial acquittal of Nick Griffin, the BNP leader, who faces a retrial on unresolved racial hatred charges on 15 May.

The BNP, which now has 19 councillors, is expected to focus efforts in areas where it has performed strongly in the past such as parts of Lancashire, Yorkshire, the West Midlands and east London, where it won 35 per cent of the vote in recent by-elections in Barking. Its share of the vote rose from 1 per cent at the 1992 general election to 4.2 per cent last year.

Labour MPs are worried that the BNP could capture more council seats by exploiting the disenchantment with the Government among traditional Labour supporters and stoking fears about the Muslim community. The MPs fear that Tony Blair's determination to retain the support of Middle England could leave Labour vulnerable to a BNP advance in working-class areas.

(MORE)