April 24, 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 APRIL 24, 2006

1//The News International, Pakistan--GULF STATES JITTERY OVER IRAN NUCLEAR CRISIS (Gulf states jittery over Iran nuclear crisis DOHA: Arab states in the oil-rich Gulf are increasingly worried about the tension over neighbouring Iran’s nuclear programme despite their guarded public reaction to the crisis, experts say. Although some said the prospect of US-led military action against Iran appeared unlikely in short-term, they warned there was a real risk the situation could be exploited by groups like al-Qaeda to attack oil infrastructure in the region. Any disruption to oil deliveries would not only be catastrophic for the global energy market but would also hit countries like Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates hard given their high dependence on oil revenues, analysts warned. Nearly 20 per cent of the world’s daily oil exports pass through the narrow Strait of Hormuz between Iran and the Gulf Arab states. “They should be very worried and I know a lot of them individually and I know that they are worried,” said Riad Kahwaji, director of the Dubai-based Institute for Near East and Gulf Military Analysis, referring to government and military officials.)

RELATED:

//The Dawn, Pakistan--IRAN-INDIA GAS DEAL ALMOST AGREED: ONLY TECHNICAL ISSUES TO BE RESOLVED: PAKISTAN

2//The Nation, Pakistan--US WILL GO FOR OTHER STATES AFTER IRAN AND IRAQ, SAYS MARGOLIS (Renowned American journalist Eric Margolis has said that the US will “go for” Pakistan and Saudi Arabia after Iraq and Iran. “We have leaks from reliable sources that after Iraq and Iran, the US plans to go for Pakistan and Saudi Arabia,” Margolis said in an interview with IWT NEWS on Saturday. Margolis supported Iran’s nuclear weapons programme, saying that it poses no threat to the world community. US President George W Bush’s statements on Iran’s nuclear programme were “ridiculous and nonsense”, he said. “Iran has no nuclear bombs and no capability to bomb a country with these weapons,” Margolis said. … He said that the US was providing India with nuclear secrets and the latest nuclear technology in spite of the fact that the latter had not signed the Non-Proliferation Treaty. He said that India is developing submarine-launched missiles capable of carrying nuclear warheads, and Inter-Continental Ballistic Missiles with a range of 7,000 miles. “With these weapons, India can strike even the US, but the Bush administration is still providing India with modern nuclear technology,” he said.)
(Link to audio of full interview provided)

3//Middle East Times, Egypt--ANALYSIS: ALGERIA BUYS RUSSIAN ARMS FOR OIL AND GAS (Russia has earned the rights to Algeria's lucrative oil and gas reserves in a deal some consider crucial to Moscow's aspirations to become a world leader in the gas industry. During a trip to Algiers last month, Russian President Vladimir Putin finalized a deal by which Algeria will purchase $7.5 billion with of fighter planes, other aircraft and updates for its current fleet of MiG fighters and in exchange give Russian oil producer LUKoil and gas giant Gazprom access to some of North Africa's most bountiful oil and gas fields. … While the first visit by a Russian leader to Algeria went largely unnoticed in Western circles, it did raise some eyebrows in Washington, where US State Department officials made certain to attain more details of the deal from both their Russian and Algerian counterparts. More than a month later, the details of the deal have still not been made public. … What appears clear, however, is Russia's intent to become a major global player in the gas market. Gazprom, which is set to hold a public offering of its shares, is intent on becoming the "Saudi Arabia of the gas industry," Stephen Blank, a professor of National Security Studies at the US Army War College who is a Russia expert, told United Press International.)

4//Inter Press Service News Agency, Italy--ARCTIC: CANADA AND DENMARK REVIVE SOVEREIGNTY CLAIMS (Canada and Denmark launched a joint expedition in early April to map the floor of the Arctic Ocean and help the two countries prove their claims of sovereignty over areas potentially rich in petroleum and natural gas. As the months-long winter darkness lifts in Canada's vast Arctic region, helicopters and airplanes are busy ferrying scientists and seismic survey equipment from the two countries for this project costing 50 to 60 million dollars. No one knows exactly where Canada ends. Its northern boundary has never been mapped because it's covered year round in a blanket of ice five to 10 metres thick. Although located in Northern Europe, Denmark still considers Greenland, the world's largest island and just a few dozen kilometres from Canada's Arctic islands, as Danish territory. … The Arctic is one of the last frontiers, representing about 25 percent of the last unexplored potential oil and gas reserves in the world, says Michael Byers, Canada research chair in Global Politics and International Law at the University of British Columbia, in western Canada.)

5//The Guardian/Observer, UK--BLAIR SAVAGES CRITICS OVER THREAT TO CIVIL LIBERTIES (Tony Blair launches an unprecedented assault today on the legal and political establishment, accusing it of being 'out of touch' with the people - and pledges new moves to 'hassle, harry and hound' suspected criminals from Britain. In a passionate public exchange of emails with Observer columnist Henry Porter, the Prime Minister vigorously defends his stance on civil liberties and sketches out a new faultline in British politics over individual freedoms, crossing the traditional divide between right and left. Admitting frankly that some of his own party as well as many Tories and the Liberal Democrats are ranged against him, he insists nonetheless that he is on the side of popular opinion and will not retreat, adding: 'I truly believe they are out of touch with their own voters.' … Blair's approach, to be fleshed out in a major debate about Labour's future after May's local elections, reflects a growing cross-party conviction that liberty is the new battleground for British politics.)

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1//The News International, Pakistan Monday, April 24, 2006, Rabi-ul-Awal 25, 1427 A.H.

GULF STATES JITTERY OVER IRAN NUCLEAR CRISIS

DOHA: Arab states in the oil-rich Gulf are increasingly worried about the tension over neighbouring Iran’s nuclear programme despite their guarded public reaction to the crisis, experts say.

Although some said the prospect of US-led military action against Iran appeared unlikely in short-term, they warned there was a real risk the situation could be exploited by groups like al-Qaeda to attack oil infrastructure in the region.

Any disruption to oil deliveries would not only be catastrophic for the global energy market but would also hit countries like Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates hard given their high dependence on oil revenues, analysts warned.

Nearly 20 per cent of the world’s daily oil exports pass through the narrow Strait of Hormuz between Iran and the Gulf Arab states. “They should be very worried and I know a lot of them individually and I know that they are worried,” said Riad Kahwaji, director of the Dubai-based Institute for Near East and Gulf Military Analysis, referring to government and military officials.

The Iran crisis and the security of supplies will be among the most pressing issues to be tackled at the 10th International Energy Forum, which formally opened in Doha on Sunday.

The forum, which aims to foster dialogue, had kicked off a day earlier with a series of closed-door sessions between ministers from oil producing countries and the heads of some of the world’s largest oil companies.

The 11-member OPEC cartel, including Iran, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar and the UAE, will also hold informal talks on Monday. Iran’s announcement this month that it has enriched a small amount of uranium, triggering talk of sanctions and even military action to stop its nuclear programme has prompted statements from Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states about the need to resolve the standoff diplomatically or to make the Middle East including Israel a nuclear-free zone.

The West led by Washington accuses Iran of pursuing a nuclear weapons programme but Tehran insists its intentions are peaceful. The UN Security Council has given Iran an April 28 to halt enrichment. Some members of the GCC, which groups Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE, have reached out to Iran to show they are not taking sides.

Last week Kuwait hosted Iran’s influential former president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani while the current hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad spoke on the telephone with King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia and King Hamad of Bahrain. Iran is eager to assure its neighbours it has no hostile intentions towards them but Gulf Arab states cannot commit to a non-aggression pact, at least openly, given their entrenched security and political ties with the United States, according to Jassem al-Saadun, head of Kuwait’s Al-Shall Economic Consultants.

“The United States holds most of the bargaining chips in the region and there are red lines which they cannot cross including security agreements with Iran at least under current circumstances,” Saadun said.

The US Navy’s Fifth Fleet is based in Bahrain while the US Central Command has its regional headquarters in Qatar. The US military maintains some 15,000 troops in Kuwait and joint air force exercises between GCC countries and the United States and other Western allies take place regularly in the UAE.

(MORE)

RELATED:

//The Dawn, Pakistan April 23, 2006 Sunday Rabi-ul-Awwal 24, 1427

IRAN-INDIA GAS DEAL ALMOST AGREED: ONLY TECHNICAL ISSUES TO BE RESOLVED: PAKISTAN

DOHA, April 22: Iran, India and Pakistan are close to signing a gas pipeline deal, Iranian and Pakistani oil ministers told Reuters on Saturday, defying US opposition to the project. …

Iranian Oil Minister Kazem Vaziri said he had an understanding with India and Pakistan and was unconcerned by the US opposition. … Speaking after talks with his Iranian and Indian counterparts on the sidelines of the International Energy Forum in Doha, Pakistan’s Oil Minister Amanullah Khan Jadoon told Reuters only technical issues had to be resolved. … The $7 billion pipeline through Pakistan will link Iran’s abundant gas reserves, the world’s second biggest, to India’s booming economy. It would carry 150 million cubic metres of gas per day for 25 years, Mr Vaziri said. Although Pakistan is a key ally in the US-led war on terror, it has said the pipeline will aid economic growth and foster better ties with India after years of brinkmanship between the nuclear-armed rivals. Iran had said it would go ahead without India if it did not agree to join the pipeline by May. Indian Oil Minister Murli Deora declined to comment following Saturday’s talks. AP reports from Islamabad: President Gen Pervez Musharraf and Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad held talks on Saturday to speed up work on the pipeline project to transport Iranian gas to Pakistan and India, the Foreign Ministry said.

2//The Nation, Pakistan Monday, April 24, 2006

Audio of full interview [by subscription]:

http://www.iwtnews.com/videoplayer/Eric_Margolis2 14:42

US WILL GO FOR OTHER STATES AFTER IRAN AND IRAQ, SAYS MARGOLIS
Well-known journalist calls Bush’s statements on Iran’s N-programme ‘ridiculous and nonsense’

Daily Times Monitor

LAHORE: Renowned American journalist Eric Margolis has said that the US will “go for” Pakistan and Saudi Arabia after Iraq and Iran.

“We have leaks from reliable sources that after Iraq and Iran, the US plans to go for Pakistan and Saudi Arabia,” Margolis said in an interview with IWT NEWS on Saturday. Margolis supported Iran’s nuclear weapons programme, saying that it poses no threat to the world community. US President George W Bush’s statements on Iran’s nuclear programme were “ridiculous and nonsense”, he said. “Iran has no nuclear bombs and no capability to bomb a country with these weapons,” Margolis said.

He said that Iran’s longest-range missile, Shahab-III, had a maximum range of 1,200-1,500 kilometres, which meant that Iran could not attack North America or Western Europe. “No substantial evidence has yet been found that Iran has nuclear weapons, and anyone saying that Iran is a threat to the world is lying and deceiving the world,” Margolis said. He said that Bush’s statement about Iraq having weapons of mass destruction had “proved baseless”. The US and Israel were planning to attack Iran’s nuclear infrastructure and major military installations, he said.

Margolis said that Iran had been trying to acquire nuclear weapons since 1970, when it signed an agreement with Israel to provide it with nuclear warheads and medium range missiles. He said that Pakistani intelligence sources had told him that decades ago, Iran had offered to pay for Pakistan’s entire defence budget for 10 years in exchange for nuclear technology. “Why shouldn’t Iran have nuclear weapons? It is surrounded by nuclear powers like Pakistan, Russia, Israel and India,” Margolis said. He said that the US was providing India with nuclear secrets and the latest nuclear technology in spite of the fact that the latter had not signed the Non-Proliferation Treaty. He said that India is developing submarine-launched missiles capable of carrying nuclear warheads, and Inter-Continental Ballistic Missiles with a range of 7,000 miles. “With these weapons, India can strike even the US, but the Bush administration is still providing India with modern nuclear technology,” he said. He said that the US had supplied Israel with bomber airplanes, which could travel to Iran and even Pakistan. It had also given Israel around 500 “penetrating bombs, which are very lethal”.

(MORE)

3//Middle East Times, Egypt April 21, 2006

ANALYSIS: ALGERIA BUYS RUSSIAN ARMS FOR OIL AND GAS
Carmen J. Gentile

WASHINGTON -- Russia has earned the rights to Algeria's lucrative oil and gas reserves in a deal some consider crucial to Moscow's aspirations to become a world leader in the gas industry.

During a trip to Algiers last month, Russian President Vladimir Putin finalized a deal by which Algeria will purchase $7.5 billion with of fighter planes, other aircraft and updates for its current fleet of MiG fighters and in exchange give Russian oil producer LUKoil and gas giant Gazprom access to some of North Africa's most bountiful oil and gas fields.

The deal also stipulates that Moscow will write off an old debt totaling more than $4.7 billion dating back to the Cold War era, which was a major supplier of arms to Algeria until the Soviet Union's collapse at the beginning of the 1990s.

While the first visit by a Russian leader to Algeria went largely unnoticed in Western circles, it did raise some eyebrows in Washington, where US State Department officials made certain to attain more details of the deal from both their Russian and Algerian counterparts.

More than a month later, the details of the deal have still not been made public.

"Algeria and Russia reached agreement on writing off Algeria's debts to Russia, which are estimated at $4.7 billion. In return for this, Algeria agreed to buy goods and services from Russia to a value equaling the amount of these debts," read a statement from the government of Algerian President Abdel Aziz Bouteflika after his closed-door meeting with Putin in March.

What appears clear, however, is Russia's intent to become a major global player in the gas market.

Gazprom, which is set to hold a public offering of its shares, is intent on becoming the "Saudi Arabia of the gas industry," Stephen Blank, a professor of National Security Studies at the US Army War College who is a Russia expert, told United Press International.

If that's their plan, then Algeria is quite possibly the best place to do it. The one-time French colony, which struggled through a bloody Islamic uprising in the 1990s that claimed upward of 200,000 lives, has been awash with oil and gas revenue the last few years.

The gas industry has been particularly good to Algeria. The country boasts the world's eighth-largest reserves - an estimated 160.5 trillion cubic feet - and is the United States' second largest supplier behind Saudi Arabia.

Rising fuel costs attributed to the continuing war in Iraq and terror threats has been a boon for Algeria. Last year, the country's gross domestic product, almost exclusively dependent on the fossil fuel market, rose 5.2 percent from 2004. And for 2006, it's expected to reach 6.4 percent, according to estimates by the US Energy Information Administration.

And while certainly a large portion of its recent economic success is attributed to Algeria's oil output - about 1 million barrels per day - its abundant gas reserves are country's real cash cow, Mohammed Akacem, a professor of economics at Metropolitan State College of Denver, told UPI.

(MORE)

4//Inter Press Service News Agency, Italy April 22, 2006

ARCTIC: CANADA AND DENMARK REVIVE SOVEREIGNTY CLAIMS
Stephen Leahy

TORONTO, Apr 22 (Tierramérica) - Canada and Denmark launched a joint expedition in early April to map the floor of the Arctic Ocean and help the two countries prove their claims of sovereignty over areas potentially rich in petroleum and natural gas.

As the months-long winter darkness lifts in Canada's vast Arctic region, helicopters and airplanes are busy ferrying scientists and seismic survey equipment from the two countries for this project costing 50 to 60 million dollars.

No one knows exactly where Canada ends. Its northern boundary has never been mapped because it's covered year round in a blanket of ice five to 10 metres thick.

Although located in Northern Europe, Denmark still considers Greenland, the world's largest island and just a few dozen kilometres from Canada's Arctic islands, as Danish territory.

"The expedition is a unique, cooperative effort, even though the two countries have overlapping territorial claims," said Rob Huebert, a professor at the Arctic Institute of North America, at the University of Calgary in Alberta, Canada.

"By working together, Canada and Denmark can share the costs and agree on the science," Huebert told Tierramérica.

Over the next few weeks, scientists will drill 11 holes through the ice along an underwater mountain range, the Lomonosov Ridge, in the Arctic Ocean.

It divides the Arctic Ocean in half, running 1,800 km from Russia's New Siberian Islands, through the central part of the ocean by the North Pole, and on to Canada's Ellesmere Island and Denmark's Greenland.

Ranging in width from 60 to 200 km, the Lomonosov Ridge rises 3,300 to 3,700 metres above the seabed, but the peaks are at least 1,000 metres underwater.

Discovered in 1948 by Mikhail Lomonosov, a scientist from the former Soviet Union, Russia says the ridge is an extension of Siberia, and thus has territorial claims over a large part of the Arctic.

But Canadian and Danish officials disagree, arguing that the ridge is a continuation of their landmasses. They hope to prove this by lowering dynamite charges into the holes drilled through the ice along the ridge.

The underwater sound and pressure waves from the explosions of the dynamite will be tracked by about 150 digital seismometers strung out along the ridge. The angles and the velocity of the those waves can be used to create a three-dimensional map of the ocean floor and the ridge.

Under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, nations control the undersea resources, primarily fishing and seabed mining, for a distance of 200 nautical miles from their shores.

If Canada or Denmark can prove their continental shelf extends beyond that distance, they can claim the rights to minerals, oil and gas resources on the sea floor up to 350 nautical miles (about 650 km), says Huebert.

"High oil and gas prices are driving this new interest in the Arctic region," Huebert says. Traditionally, Canada has largely ignored its frozen north, which comprises 40 percent of its territory but has relatively few people and a severe climate.

However, as a result of global warming the harsh Arctic climate is mellowing. Already 2 degrees Celsius warmer on average, the region may be 6 to 8 degrees warmer before the year 2100. Sea ice is melting, making the region much more accessible.

The Arctic is one of the last frontiers, representing about 25 percent of the last unexplored potential oil and gas reserves in the world, says Michael Byers, Canada research chair in Global Politics and International Law at the University of British Columbia, in western Canada.

(MORE)

5//The Guardian/Observer, UK Sunday April 23, 2006

BLAIR SAVAGES CRITICS OVER THREAT TO CIVIL LIBERTIES
Gaby Hinsliff, Political Editor
Tony Blair launches an unprecedented assault today on the legal and political establishment, accusing it of being 'out of touch' with the people - and pledges new moves to 'hassle, harry and hound' suspected criminals from Britain.

In a passionate public exchange of emails with Observer columnist Henry Porter, the Prime Minister vigorously defends his stance on civil liberties and sketches out a new faultline in British politics over individual freedoms, crossing the traditional divide between right and left.

Admitting frankly that some of his own party as well as many Tories and the Liberal Democrats are ranged against him, he insists nonetheless that he is on the side of popular opinion and will not retreat, adding: 'I truly believe they are out of touch with their own voters.'

Critics such as Porter or Lord Steyn, the ex-law lord who recently accused his government of authoritarian tendencies and creating 'oppressive' immigration laws, had respectable motives but 'the practical effect of following the course you set out is a loss of civil liberties for the majority,' Blair concludes.

He outlines controversial new steps, ranging from seizing assets from suspected drug dealers - which could see anyone stopped with more than £1,000 having the money confiscated - to draconian new restrictions on the movements of those suspected of involvement in organised crime.

Even if they are not convicted of a crime and there is insufficient evidence to try them, suspects could be banned from associating with certain individuals or travelling to certain places, in order to disrupt trades such as human trafficking.

Blair's approach, to be fleshed out in a major debate about Labour's future after May's local elections, reflects a growing cross-party conviction that liberty is the new battleground for British politics.

Last week senior Tories launched a new grouping, Conservative Liberty Forum, with the blessing of David Cameron, which will debate issues ranging from CCTV to anti-terror legislation, and advise his policy review on fresh ideas to promote liberty.

'This will be one of the big issues for the next 10 years. It fits well with the new Conservative party and it's rediscovering a lot of Conservative tradition,' said Damian Green, the party's immigration spokesman and one of the group's supporters. 'It's a genuine divide between the parties: New Labour has now taken the view that if something serves the interests of the police and the security services, we should do it.'

Labour strategists, however, believe the Tories' reinvention has set Cameron adrift from public opinion: they were thrilled last week by newspapers unfavourably contrasting his eco-friendly trip to the Arctic with the Prime Minister meeting pensioners for tea. 'Tony Blair believes the political and media establishment are completely out of touch with where the public are on these issues and it's during election campaigns that that is brought home to politicians on the doorsteps,' said a Downing Street source.

'He wants to reopen the debate. David Cameron and Menzies Campbell are on different ground to him on this - and it's an area where the Tories, through having to take up positions to appeal to new people, seem to be losing the plot.'

Today, also writing in The Observer, leading Tory the Earl of Onslow writes an open letter to Cameron demanding his leader take a much more active role in defending what the peer describes as threatened British liberties.

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