World Media Watch for April 10, 2002

BUZZFLASH NOTE: Once again, these are the views and perspectives of the individual papers, not of BuzzFlash or Gloria. They offer BuzzFlash readers a way of reading what other nations are saying about the crisis, whether we like it or not. We repeat: This is not an endorsement of their viewpoints.

http://www.buzzflash.com/mediawatch

1//israelinsider, Israel--FEARS OF FRANCE BECOMING ANNEX TO MIDDLE EAST BATTLEGROUND (Jewish leaders claim the French government is overtly pro-Palestinian, but the government responds that its policies are even-handed, despite the fact that Islam is the country's second largest religion.)

2//ArabNews, Saudi Arabia--STOP BARKING, ISRAELI SOLDIERS TELL BUSH (Bush's ever more strident demands for an end to Israel's 12-day-old military campaign in Palestinian areas has struck a sour note among army commanders and their troops - a reflection of growing resentment among the Israeli public as a whole.)

3//Pakistan News Service, Pakistan-- KARZAI'S INTERIM GOVT LIKELY TO BE EXTENDED ("The USA believes that Karzai can carry on affairs in a better way than any other person and that's the reason it wants to extend his tenure," said the paper, quoting unnamed diplomatic sources at the UN office in Pakistan.)

4//The Guardian, UK--MPs PRESS BLAIR TO ALLOW UN VOTE ON IRAQ STRIKE (George Galloway accused Mr Blair of "basking in the adulation of the hard-right US Republican administration.")

5//The Hindustan Times, India--PIPELINE POLITICS (Last month US forces began arriving in Georgia. This June, Western oil majors will begin work on the $3-billion Baku-Ceyhan line, and Russia's control of Caspian oil will become a fading fact.)

6//Pravda, Russia--THE RETURN OF JAPAN'S IMPERIAL AMBITION: JAPAN WANTS TO BE A NUCLEAR POWER (The USA will hardly be thrilled about another country obtaining weapons of mass destruction.)

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1//israelinsider April 9, 2002
http://www.israelinsider.com/channels/politics/articles/pol_0127.htm

FEARS OF FRANCE BECOMING ANNEX TO MIDDLE EAST BATTLEGROUND
By Ellis Shuman

A recent wave of anti-Semitic attacks in France, fueled by the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, was seen by Jewish leaders as reminiscent of the Nazi era. The French daily Le Figaro recently voiced concern over tensions between France's Jewish community, Europe's largest, and the country's Muslims, suggesting that France could become "an annex of the battleground in the Middle East."

Elie Barnavi, Israel's Ambassador to France, said young Arabs were behind the wave of anti-Jewish attacks, which were directly related to the worsening Middle East violence. Some Jewish leaders in France say the number of attacks shot up after the start of the Intifada, but incidents have recently intensified to new levels.

(SNIP)

Jewish leaders claim the French government is overtly pro-Palestinian, but the government responds that its policies are even-handed, despite the fact that Islam is the country's second largest religion. Earlier this year, French intellectuals debated whether the attacks against Jewish targets were anti-Semitic, or were really common criminal acts.

(SNIP)

Recent demonstrations in France against anti-Semitic attacks also exposed fissures in the French Jewish community, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency reported. Some members of the community stayed away from Paris marches "because they did not want to be associated with anything that felt like a pro-Sharon rally," said one student.

(MORE)

2//ArabNews 10 April 2002 / 27 Muharram 1423
http://www.arabnews.com/

STOP BARKING, ISRAELI SOLDIERS TELL BUSH
By a Staff Writer

ELON MOREH, West Bank, 10 April - Members of an Israeli tank brigade waging an offensive in the West Bank found a unique way to show how they felt about the US president - they adopted a stray dog and named it "George W. Bush".

"He's a cowboy," one soldier said as the brown pit-bull terrier prowled an Israeli hilltop encampment overlooking the city of Nablus. "He barks a lot," said a second. "But he's useless," another chimed in.

Bush's ever more strident demands for an end to Israel's 12-day-old military campaign in Palestinian areas has struck a sour note among army commanders and their troops - a reflection of growing resentment among the Israeli public as a whole.

(SNIP)

Many Israelis believe Bush has turned against the Israeli campaign because he wants to mollify Arab states to shore up his global anti-terror alliance ahead of possible military action against Iraq.

Since the Jewish state can ill afford to alienate its chief ally and provider of $3 billion in annual aid, most commentators believe a pull-out will be well under way by the time US Secretary of State Colin Powell arrives at the end of the week.

(SNIP)

Israelis, including Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, seem to have been caught off guard by the Texas-raised president's uncompromising demands for a withdrawal from all Palestinian-ruled cities and towns. "The Texans, as any American knows, are a breed of their own," political commentator Hemi Shalev wrote in the Israeli daily Maariv. "Sharon apparently did not take into account President George Bush's short Texan fuse when he decided to ignore him for many days."

3//Pakistan News Service Updated on 2002-04-08 12:04:17
http://www.paknews.com/headingNews.php?id=1006&date1=2002-04-08

KARZAI'S INTERIM GOVT LIKELY TO BE EXTENDED

ISLAMABAD, April 08 (PNS): The USA and its allies in the anti-terrorism war are for extending the Hamid Karzai-led Afghan interim administration's tenure which is due to expire on June 22, reports said here today.

IANS, quoting Wahdat daily reported that allies of the Afghan interim authority had decided to extend the tenure of the Karzai Government for another six months after its current tenure, as finding a replacement would be difficult under the present circumstances.

"The USA believes that Karzai can carry on affairs in a better way than any other person and that's the reason it wants to extend his tenure," said the paper, quoting unnamed diplomatic sources at the UN office in Pakistan.

The Pushtu-language paper said the delay in the return of former Afghan King Zahir Shah to Afghanistan was another reason for granting extension to the interim authority.

Quoting sources, the paper said the Rome-based former king has declined to go back to the war-battered country until "peace to some extent" returns there. Though the interim authority has been claiming he will return this month, it is almost an impossible task, said the paper.

(MORE)

4//The Guardian Tuesday April 9, 2002
http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,2763,681298,00.html

MPs PRESS BLAIR TO ALLOW UN VOTE ON IRAQ STRIKE
Patrick Wintour and Michael White

Tony Blair is facing mounting backbench pressure to commit himself to a UN vote on any allied military action against Iraq following his weekend speech in the US suggesting he might at some stage back a US-led military offensive to change the regime in Baghdad.

He is also facing Labour backbench calls for an arms embargo on Israel, coupled with economic sanctions, issues already under discussion by the EU.

(SNIP)

Mr Blair, on his way back from the US, described his critics as utterly naive, and remains puzzled by the degree of opposition to his stance.

(SNIP)

But a phalanx of Labour MPs expressed concern at Mr Blair's proximity to Mr Bush. The former defence minister Peter Kilfoyle said he had "concerns about being seen to be tied in to some of the more adventurous notions of the American administration". He added: "To deal with Iraq, you need to deal with the problems in the UN, not through unilateral or bilateral action."

George Galloway accused Mr Blair of "basking in the adulation of the hard-right US Republican administration."

(SNIP)

Mr Blair's critics demanded that the British government emphasise that Saddam should be given a full chance to allow UN weapons inspectors back into his country. The UN alone should then decide if Saddam remains in defiance and military action is justified.

Clare Short, the international development secretary, openly argued this case before she was silenced by Mr Blair.

In his weekend speech, Mr Blair stressed the need for international coalitions, but was silent on the need for a fresh UN resolution on Iraq, something the US opposes.

(MORE)

5//The Hindustan Times Wednesday, April 10, 2002
http://www.hindustantimes.com/nonfram/100402/detFOR05.asp

PIPELINE POLITICS
Fred Weir
(Moscow, April 9)

The coming Caspian oil boom could break the stranglehold of Persian Gulf countries, and the Saudi-dominated cartel OPEC, on the world's petroleum supplies. But it threatens to make Russia the master of world oil markets.

In US's view, there is a problem: Russia controls the only means of transporting Caspian oil to the world--the Transneft pipeline network-worth billions of dollars in transit fees.

(SNIP)

US oil majors have championed two alternate routes, but until recently both have been impossible to build due to regional instability.

One was through Afghanistan. With US forces in the area, the time for this line may have arrived, says Nazib Baykov of the Institute of World Economy and International Relations .The other was from Azerbaijan to Turkey, which was stymied by the Armenia-Azerbaijan war.

Last month US forces began arriving in Georgia. This June, Western oil majors will begin work on the $3-billion Baku-Ceyhan line, and Russia's control of Caspian oil will become a fading fact.

6//Pravda 2002-04-08
http://english.pravda.ru/main/2002/04/08/27428.html

THE RETURN OF JAPAN'S IMPERIAL AMBITION: JAPAN WANTS TO BE A NUCLEAR POWER

Oleg Artyukov
Translated by Dmitry Sudakov

Militant speeches are being made more and more frequently in Tokyo. Leading Japanese politicians are trying to forget that the Japanese constitution prohibits Japan from having armed forces. However, now, some Japanese politicians have decided that Japan needs nuclear weapons.

As the official Japanese government believes, the biggest danger for Japan is North Korea and China. As is well known, Japan received the American president's "axis of evil speech" with irritation that was not concealed very well. No wonder, as North Korea is very close to Japan. However, on the other hand, the Japanese government seems to be using this situation in its own interests.

On April 4, Japanese Premier Koizumi asked representatives of the right-wing parties to assist in passing a bill that would empower the prime minister with extreme powers in case of a military attack on Japan. Pursuant to the bill, the prime minister of Japan will obtain control over all the local government bodies in such a case, as well as over all public organizations. Of course, the bill is far from becoming reality, but the ruling coalition has already approved it. The details are left to be coordinated.

However, this is not a point for the Japanese government to stop at. As The Times wrote, the leader of the Liberal Party, Ichiro Ozawa, claimed last week that Japan was ready to start the production of thousands of nuclear warheads in order to be able to oppose China's growing military power. Ozawa said that Japan could produce thousands of warheads if it wishes to do so. There is enough plutonium at Japanese nuclear power plants for producing three or four thousand warheads.

(SNIP)

The USA will hardly be thrilled about another country obtaining weapons of mass destruction. Japan is America's close ally now, but the memory of the World War II is still alive. On the other hand, Tokyo may use arguments pertaining to the security guarantee for the country from a possible attack of terrorists. Six thousand warheads are surely excessive in this respect, taking into consideration the fact that, if (God forbid!) such a conflict happens, then there will be nothing left of the Japanese islands. Mr.Ozawa became a bit excited when he said that no one would be able to defeat Japan from a military point of view if Japan had its nuclear weapons. However, it is reality to establish a good army instead of a waning self-defense, especially when there are two propaganda bugaboos such as North Korea and China nearby. Relations with Russia have not been perfect lately either.

(SNIP)

In Japan, there is large resistance to the plans of greater participation of the Japanese armed forces in the operations abroad, but, judging by the latest speeches of Japanese politicians, the idea of a Japanese army to get back into the world picture has not been torn away from the country. It seems that Tokyo is now aimed at a gradual, very neat creation of its armed forces, which will underline the considerable role that Japan is playing in modern international politics, or maybe even make it bigger. However, there are no doubts that Japan's neighbors will react negatively to the process and another arms race in the Far East is very likely to happen.

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© 2002, Gloria R. Lalumia
insight@zianet.com

More Stuff at: http://www.zianet.com/insightanalytical

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