June 23, 2006

World Media Watch

Edited 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 JUNE 23, 2006

1//The Moscow Times, Russia--TYMOSHENKO SEEKS GAS DEAL REVIEW (While she is not yet Ukraine's prime minister, Yulia Tymoshenko on Thursday began outlining what she wanted to do once in office, beginning with revisiting a Russian gas deal forged after supplies were halted in January. … Tymoshenko stressed that "all new relations with Russia, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan should be built on a friendly basis." But sources close to the Kremlin immediately homed in on Tymoshenko's remarks, warning of a wider energy conflict. "It is another wake-up call for Europe," Gazprom spokesman Sergei Kupriyanov said. "Realization of the threats voiced today is the path to a new gas crisis." Political analyst Sergei Markov said: "If Tymoshenko does revise the gas agreements with Russia, this could lead to a widescale war that would engulf the whole of Europe." Analyst Gleb Pavlovksy added that Tymoshenko was "trying to blackmail Russia and Europe. ... Taking advantage of its transit location, Ukraine wants to steal gas." Tymoshenko personally announced the formation of the new government -- including her bloc, which is named after her; the Socialist Party; and President Viktor Yushchenko's Our Ukraine -- at the parliament's Thursday session.)

2//Xinhua Online, China--CHINA SET TO FORGE STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIP WITH AFRICA: WEN (Visiting Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao said here on Thursday that China is committed to building a new type of strategic partnership with Africa under the principle of sincerity, friendship, equality, mutual benefit and common development. The Chinese premier made the statement at the China-South Africa Business Cooperation Forum organized by the two governments in Cape Town. Addressing more than 800 business people from China and South Africa, the Chinese premier pledged to enhance political equality and mutual trust, promote win-win economic cooperation, enhance people-to-people and cultural exchanges and maintain close cooperation in international affairs. Nevertheless, Wen said, "We respect the social system and development strategy pursued by African countries in light of their particular national conditions. We do not seek to export our own values and development models to Africa.")

RELATED: PREMIER WEN VISITS 7 AFRICAN COUNTRIES

3//The Mail & Guardian, South Africa--SOMALIA RIVALS SIGN PEACE ACCORD (Rival Somali leaders on Thursday reached an agreement to end fighting in the war-ravaged Horn of Africa country following Arab League sponsored talks in Khartoum, officials said. The agreement was signed after a delegation from the Islamic alliance, which ousted United States-backed warlords from the Somali capital, Mogadishu, on June 5 after four months of fighting, went into talks with members of the transitional government. The agreement recognises "the legality of the transitional government and the presence of the alliance of Islamic tribunals", Arab League secretary general Amr Mussa told reporters after heading talks between the two sides. … The Joint Islamic Courts militia, which has seized control of much of southern Somalia, has vowed to re-establish order and begun imposing Sharia Islamic law in the areas it controls. Somalia's transitional authority is based in Baidoa, west of Mogadishu, for fear of attacks in the capital and has little control over the country. It suspects the Islamists of trying to overrun the whole of Somalia.)

4//The Turkish Daily News, Turkey--US ROLE AS TOP TURKISH ARMS SUPPLIER JEOPARDIZED BY DIPLOMATIC, TECHNICAL ISSUES (For the first time ever, there are no U.S. bidders for a major Turkish arms contract, signaling serious snags in one of the world's closest military-commercial partnerships. For more than 50 years, the United States and U.S. firms have been the main arms suppliers to Turkey, a lynchpin of NATO's southern flank during the Cold War. Turkey, in a rough neighborhood that includes Iran, Iraq, Syria as well as traditional rival Greece, has also been eager to snatch up weapons to supply its large army, which is also dealing with a domestic Kurdish insurgency. At the heart of the problems today are both diplomatic and technical issues rooted in Turkey's ambition to gain control over its military technology. Turkey is going through a low point in defense relations with Washington following its refusal to host U.S. troops for the invasion of Iraq in 2003. It has actively sought out other potential arms suppliers, making Turkey's business less attractive for U.S. companies. If they last, the frictions threaten to make U.S arms companies reluctant to support Turkish lobbying efforts in Washington, analysts and defense sources say. … U.S. arms companies have been lobbying for Turkey against Armenians, who are pressing for recognition of killings of Armenians in the early 20th century as a genocide, and Kurds, who complain about Turkey's alleged human rights violations.)

5//The Daily Star, Lebanon--US-SPONSORED MEDIA CONFERENCE AIMS TO PROMOTE PROFESSIONAL STANDARDS (In an attempt to promote the standards and professionalism of Lebanese media outlets, the US Embassy in Beirut and the US State Department organized a two-day conference that gathered Lebanon's leading media and advertising agency figures. The conference, "Support for Independent Media," focused on the need to secure solutions to maintain an independent media, not subject to financial or political pressure. … Among the attendees was US Ambassador Jeffrey Feltman, as well as heads of Lebanese television stations, representatives of the main satellite stations in the Arab world, CEOs of radio channels, prominent journalists, leaders in the advertising industry, and a number of professionals in other related fields. Feltman delivered the welcoming speech, in which he spoke about the freedom of the press and praised Lebanon's efforts in this field. … Friday's sessions will feature speeches from Ted Koppel, managing editor at the Discovery Channel …)

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1//The Moscow Times, Russia Friday, June 23, 2006. Issue 3438. Page 1.

TYMOSHENKO SEEKS GAS DEAL REVIEW
By Simon Saradzhyan, Staff Writer

While she is not yet Ukraine's prime minister, Yulia Tymoshenko on Thursday began outlining what she wanted to do once in office, beginning with revisiting a Russian gas deal forged after supplies were halted in January.

"I think all issues on gas supplies to Ukraine now require further deep revision and review," Tymoshenko told the parliament in Kiev.

Tymoshenko stressed that "all new relations with Russia, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan should be built on a friendly basis."

But sources close to the Kremlin immediately homed in on Tymoshenko's remarks, warning of a wider energy conflict.

"It is another wake-up call for Europe," Gazprom spokesman Sergei Kupriyanov said. "Realization of the threats voiced today is the path to a new gas crisis."

Political analyst Sergei Markov said: "If Tymoshenko does revise the gas agreements with Russia, this could lead to a widescale war that would engulf the whole of Europe."

Analyst Gleb Pavlovksy added that Tymoshenko was "trying to blackmail Russia and Europe. ... Taking advantage of its transit location, Ukraine wants to steal gas."

Tymoshenko personally announced the formation of the new government -- including her bloc, which is named after her; the Socialist Party; and President Viktor Yushchenko's Our Ukraine -- at the parliament's Thursday session.

The new government means Ukraine will stay on the pro-Western course it embarked on in late 2004 when hundreds of thousands of people descended on Kiev's Independence Square to protest rigged elections in the Orange Revolution.

Yushchenko was sworn in in January 2005. Tymoshenko served for eight months as his first prime minister but was fired after the two longtime rivals failed to set aside their differences.

The agreement struck this week between the three liberal parties dictates that Tymoshenko's bloc gets control of the Cabinet's fuel and energy posts and gets to nominate the head of Ukraine's Naftogaz.

(MORE)

2//Xinhua Online, China 2006-06-22 19:41:57

CHINA SET TO FORGE STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIP WITH AFRICA: WEN

CAPE TOWN, South Africa, June 22 (Xinhua) -- Visiting Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao said here on Thursday that China is committed to building a new type of strategic partnership with Africa under the principle of sincerity, friendship, equality, mutual benefit and common development.

The Chinese premier made the statement at the China-South Africa Business Cooperation Forum organized by the two governments in Cape Town.

Addressing more than 800 business people from China and South Africa, the Chinese premier pledged to enhance political equality and mutual trust, promote win-win economic cooperation, enhance people-to-people and cultural exchanges and maintain close cooperation in international affairs.

Nevertheless, Wen said, "We respect the social system and development strategy pursued by African countries in light of their particular national conditions. We do not seek to export our own values and development models to Africa."

"We will continue to speak out for the interests of Africa at international forums and support African countries in their efforts to safeguard sovereignty and independence and promote regional peace and stability," he said.

Speaking about economic cooperation, he said, China will endeavor to expand economic and trade ties with Africa.

(SNIP)

In people-to-people and cultural exchange, he said, China will provide more scholarships for African students to study in China and build more schools in African countries. China will also send more medical teams to Africa, provide anti-malaria medicines, set up malaria prevention and treatment centers in Africa and carry out cooperation in HIV-AIDS prevention and control with Africa.

Speaking about cooperation in international affairs, the Chinese premier said, China will continue to strengthen coordination and cooperation with Africa in international affairs, strive to foster a new type of Asia-Africa strategic partnership and work with African countries to promote South-South cooperation and North-South dialogue.

As a permanent member of the UN Security Council, the premier said, China holds that Africa's legitimate demands deserve due respect., adding: "It opposes the practices of strong bullying the weak and of imposing double standards in international affairs."

"We call on the international community to focus its attention on Africa, give more support to Africa and create conditions for Africa to achieve the Millennium Development Goals," he added.

RELATED: PREMIER WEN VISITS 7 AFRICAN COUNTRIES

3//The Mail & Guardian, South Africa 22 June 2006 06:53

SOMALIA RIVALS SIGN PEACE ACCORD
Mohammed Ali Saeed

Khartoum, Sudan (AFP) -- Rival Somali leaders on Thursday reached an agreement to end fighting in the war-ravaged Horn of Africa country following Arab League sponsored talks in Khartoum, officials said.

The agreement was signed after a delegation from the Islamic alliance, which ousted United States-backed warlords from the Somali capital, Mogadishu, on June 5 after four months of fighting, went into talks with members of the transitional government.

The agreement recognises "the legality of the transitional government and the presence of the alliance of Islamic tribunals", Arab League secretary general Amr Mussa told reporters after heading talks between the two sides.

The text calls for an "end to media and military campaigns ... the pursuit of dialogue without preconditions in the framework of mutual recognition" and "the judgment of war criminals", Mussa said.

It was signed by a prominent scholar representing the Islamic courts, Ali Mohammed Ibrahim, and Somali Foreign Minister Abdullah al-Sheikh Ismail.

The meeting came after both sides held separate consultations with Arab officials -- including Mussa -- as well as Sudanese President Omar al-Beshir, who holds the rotating chair of the pan-Arab body.

Al-Beshir described the accord as "the beginning of the end of conflicts in Somalia".

(SNIP)

The Khartoum talks were the first mediation effort in the conflict that flared up and left about 360 people dead and 2 000 wounded in recent weeks.

Somalia's embattled transitional government sent a team, including President Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed, Prime Minister Ali Mohammed Gedi and Parliament speaker Sharif Hassan Sheikh Adan.

The Joint Islamic Courts militia, which has seized control of much of southern Somalia, has vowed to re-establish order and begun imposing Sharia Islamic law in the areas it controls.

Somalia's transitional authority is based in Baidoa, west of Mogadishu, for fear of attacks in the capital and has little control over the country. It suspects the Islamists of trying to overrun the whole of Somalia.

Previous dialogue attempts between the two sides had failed. The Somali president said on Tuesday he would not talk to the Islamists until they recognised his government and gave up all the territories they had seized.

4//The Turkish Daily News, Turkey Thursday, June 22, 2006

US ROLE AS TOP TURKISH ARMS SUPPLIER JEOPARDIZED BY DIPLOMATIC, TECHNICAL ISSUES

Selcan Hacaoglu
Associated Press

ANKARA - For the first time ever, there are no U.S. bidders for a major Turkish arms contract, signaling serious snags in one of the world's closest military-commercial partnerships.
For more than 50 years, the United States and U.S. firms have been the main arms suppliers to Turkey, a lynchpin of NATO's southern flank during the Cold War. Turkey, in a rough neighborhood that includes Iran, Iraq, Syria as well as traditional rival Greece, has also been eager to snatch up weapons to supply its large army, which is also dealing with a domestic Kurdish insurgency.

At the heart of the problems today are both diplomatic and technical issues rooted in Turkey's ambition to gain control over its military technology.

Turkey is going through a low point in defense relations with Washington following its refusal to host U.S. troops for the invasion of Iraq in 2003. It has actively sought out other potential arms suppliers, making Turkey's business less attractive for U.S. companies.

If they last, the frictions threaten to make U.S arms companies reluctant to support Turkish lobbying efforts in Washington, analysts and defense sources say.

Next week, firms from South Africa, Russia, France and Italy are competing for a $2 billion tender to deliver attack helicopters to Turkey. U.S. makers Bell Helicopter Textron, Boeing Co. and Sikorsky Aircraft Corp. did not even offer proposals after evaluating tough tender conditions.

The new bidding rules included full access to the aircraft's specific software codes -- which the United States considers a security risk -- and a written guarantee from the provider's government that there will be no political obstacles to the export of the arms. However, the U.S. government can only seek the consent of Congress for a deal after the sale is finalized.

It was not clear whether Turks would be satisfied with an initial letter from the government assuring them there would be no political problems.

(SNIP)

Turkey imposed new bidding rules last year after it canceled a previous tender in 2004 when a deal with Bell Helicopter Textron for their "King Cobra," a Turkish version of the AH-1Z Super Cobra used by U.S. Marines, collapsed over price, technology transfer and licensing problems.

The new rules empower Turkey to substitute alternative, probably locally manufactured components such as weapon systems, the mission computer, avionics and electronic warfare suites, and require the supplier to integrate other systems or equipment built by Turkish companies.

"The collapse of one deal is not itself a major crisis, but if Turkey persists in seeking carte blanche from American suppliers to substitute its own technology for theirs and asks for impossible terms, U.S. arms suppliers will not, indeed cannot, bid for Turkey's business, and they will likely cease their lobbying efforts on Turkey's behalf with both the White House and Congress," said Ian M. Cuthbertson, an arms sales expert at the World Policy Institute. "U.S. industry will lose business and Turkey would lose powerful allies in Washington."

U.S. arms companies have been lobbying for Turkey against Armenians, who are pressing for recognition of killings of Armenians in the early 20th century as a genocide, and Kurds, who complain about Turkey's alleged human rights violations.

(MORE)

5//The Daily Star, Lebanon Friday, June 23, 2006

US-SPONSORED MEDIA CONFERENCE AIMS TO PROMOTE PROFESSIONAL STANDARDS
Daily Star staff

BEIRUT: In an attempt to promote the standards and professionalism of Lebanese media outlets, the US Embassy in Beirut and the US State Department organized a two-day conference that gathered Lebanon's leading media and advertising agency figures.

The conference, "Support for Independent Media," focused on the need to secure solutions to maintain an independent media, not subject to financial or political pressure.

Around 200 people gathered Thursday at the Le Royal Hotel in Dbayyeh to talk about future trends in media management and ways to rejuvenate the print media in Lebanon.

Among the attendees was US Ambassador Jeffrey Feltman, as well as heads of Lebanese television stations, representatives of the main satellite stations in the Arab world, CEOs of radio channels, prominent journalists, leaders in the advertising industry, and a number of professionals in other related fields.

Feltman delivered the welcoming speech, in which he spoke about the freedom of the press and praised Lebanon's efforts in this field.

(SNIP)

Participants gave presentations focusing on the ways to enhance the standards, professionalism and commercial feasibility of independent media.

They also tackled published figures on television viewers and their impact on advertising expenditure in the area.

Among the speakers on future trends in media management were Michael Garin, CEO of the Central European Media Enterprises; Omer Ghani, the director of business development at CNBC Arabia; Harold W. Fuson, chief legal officer of the Copley Press; Gabriel Chahine, principal at Booz Allen Hamilton; and Makram Azar, the head of the European Media Division in Lehman Brothers London.

Other speakers, which included Keith McCracken, the global director general of the Marketing Agencies Association Worldwide, tackled aspects of the advertising and research fields.

Friday's sessions will feature speeches from Ted Koppel, managing editor at the Discovery Channel, Riz Khan from Al-Jazeera International and former BBC and CNN journalist, as well as other prominent media and advertising leaders.

Talks will also focus on the media regulations and responsibility and the means to build a media company of the future.

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