World Media Watch for April 29, 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.

* * *

1//Gulf News Online, United Arab Emirates--FRIEDMAN WALKOUT RAISES EYEBROWS (A visibly angered Friedman then flung his translation headset into the air, stormed past the other delegates and out of the hall...Boo Dai was disappointed by the columnist's behaviour despite Friedman's eventual return to the hall.)

2//The Daily Telegraph, UK--BLAIR "IS LOSING TRUST OF VOTERS" (Tony Blair's fifth anniversary as Prime Minister has been overshadowed by evidence that his personal standing with voters has been badly damaged by rows over sleaze and media manipulation...The number thinking he relies too heavily on PR men and spin doctors has shot up to 71 per cent, compared with 52 per cent in 1998. Although Mr Blair won a second landslide last June, he has since been hit by series of allegations that wealthy business donors have received Government favours.)

3//Stratfor Strategic Forecasting, Austin, TX--U.S. MAY BE REVIVING IRAQ ISSUE AS SMOKE SCREEN (The report may be part of an effort by the White House to counter questions about U.S. foreign policy strategy by refocusing public attention toward Iraq.)

4//Frontier Post, Pakistan--IRAQ DENIES LINKS WITH AL QAEDA (Iraqi Ambassador to Pakistan D r K A Rawi...pointed out that Iraq had not recognized the Taliban government rather maintained contacts with Rabbani even during the Taliban rule over Afghanistan.)

5//Philippine Daily Inquirer, Philippines--'NO OVERKILL'" (Security forces are bracing for a possible repeat of last year's May 1 "revolt of the poor" that sparked deadly riots around Malacañang...Advisers of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo have grudgingly admitted that the rallies were a barometer of frustration in a nation where 45 percent of the population earns just two dollars a day.)

6//Pravda, Russia--LE PEN IS CERTAIN ABOUT HIS VICTORY. DISCREDITABLE MATERIAL AGAINST CHIRAC MIGHT HELP (The nationalist leader claimed that he had the documents at his disposal, which allegedly testified to the fact that the French president was accepting bribes from the incumbent Premier of Lebanon, Rafiq Hariri, who is a very wealthy man.)

***********************************************

1//Gulf News Online Dubai: Monday, April 29, 2002
http://www.gulf-news.com/Articles/news.asp?ArticleID=49379

FRIEDMAN WALKOUT RAISES EYEBROWS
Dubai |By Mildred Fernandes

The dramatic walkout by Thomas Friedman, the award-winning Foreign Affairs columnist for the New York Times, cast a temporary pall over the opening session of the second Arab Media Summit at the Emirates Towers hotel yesterday.

Friedman, whose appearance at the summit was a last-minute surprise, was the first guest speaker of the day, following speeches by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum and Amr Moussa, Secretary General of the Arab League.

Although Friedman began his presentation by assuring the assembled audience that he would welcome a dialogue on specific questions, that assurance was short-lived. In the question-and-answer session that followed presentations by Friedman, Washington Post editor Ben Bradlee, Eric Rouleau of Le Monde and Martin Woollacott of The Guardian about the Western media and its views of the Arab world, three audience members questioned Friedman about the bias in his work and about Israeli injustices toward Palestinians.

The fourth question, from a Saudi Arabian national, prompted an outburst from Friedman. "Let's get one thing real clear," he said, in response to the Saudi national's statement about Friedman accepting a Saudi government-sponsored trip to the kingdom.

"I came here now at my own expense, at the expense of the New York Times. That applies to my trip to Saudi Arabia also. You can say whatever you want, but I will not sit here and listen to that garbage."

A visibly angered Friedman then flung his translation headset into the air, stormed past the other delegates and out of the hall.

(SNIP)

...Boo Dai said Friedman's reaction could have been caused by a translation mistake.

"I am not happy with what happened, because I respect Friedman," Boo Dai said after the end of the summit's first session. "I wanted to ask him why, when he had the chance to come to Saudi Arabia and meet many people, he would walk out in the same way if somebody said something he did not like."

Boo Dai was disappointed by the columnist's behaviour despite Friedman's eventual return to the hall.

"He came back, yes, but he cut my speech, he did not let me finish, which is not good. He must wait till I am finished and then speak. I am not saying he took the plane from America to here, but that he made round in Saudi Arabia by special plane, not from America - this was to make it easy for him to meet people from all over, because Saudi Arabia is a big country.

"But I think he did not understand me, and maybe something was wrong in the translation." Boo Dai, who holds a doctorate in Arabic literature, said he reads Arabic translations of Friedman's columns.

2//The Daily Telegraph (Filed: 29/04/2002)
http://portal.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2002/04/29/nblur29.xml&s
Sheet=/portal/2002/04/29/ixport.html&secureRefresh=true&_requestid=179877

BLAIR "IS LOSING TRUST OF VOTERS"
By George Jones, Political Editor

TONY BLAIR'S fifth anniversary as Prime Minister has been overshadowed by evidence that his personal standing with voters has been badly damaged by rows over sleaze and media manipulation.

A poll for The Daily Telegraph today shows that many voters no longer regard him as trustworthy and believe that he relies too heavily on spin doctors.

The YouGov poll coincided with accusations from Opposition leaders that a Government proposal to withhold child benefit from the parents of lawless children and persistent truants was "a gimmick" intended to help Labour in Thursday's local elections.

(SNIP)

With Labour braced for heavy losses in the local elections, Mr Blair is planning what officials described as a "low tempo" celebration on Wednesday of the fifth anniversary of his landslide victory in 1997.

(SNIP)

Although Labour still leads, the YouGov poll indicates that Mr Blair's unprecedented run as the most popular politician the country has known may be coming to an end.

(SNIP)

In 1998, after Mr Blair had been in power for a year, 77 per cent of voters thought him honest and trustworthy. Now the figure is 31 per cent. While people give him credit for being confident and energetic, they also seem him as "pious and preachy".

The number thinking he relies too heavily on PR men and spin doctors has shot up to 71 per cent, compared with 52 per cent in 1998.

Although Mr Blair won a second landslide last June, he has since been hit by series of allegations that wealthy business donors have received Government favours.

The Government's reputation for honesty has been damaged by repeated announcements of new policies, many of which are later quietly shelved; the double or treble counting of cash for the NHS and education; and the controversy over the former spin doctor, Jo Moore, and her attempts to "bury bad news" on September 11.

(MORE)

3//Stratfor Strategic Forecasting 26 April 2002
http://www.stratfor.com/fib/topStory_view.php?ID=204279

U.S. MAY BE REVIVING IRAQ ISSUE AS SMOKE SCREEN

Summary

A recent news report in an American newspaper claims that the Bush administration is closer to approving a more conventional military campaign to oust Iraqi President Saddam Hussein. The report may be part of an effort by the White House to counter questions about U.S. foreign policy strategy by refocusing public attention toward Iraq.

Analysis

Defense sources cited by the Washington Times April 26 said that the Bush administration is moving closer to deciding on a general military campaign to topple Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein. The sources reportedly received a briefing from Gen. Tommy Franks, commander of U.S. forces in the Persian Gulf, indicating that a war against Iraq would likely take five divisions and 200,000 troops.

The report comes at a point when the Bush administration is knee-deep in events in the Middle East, with little to show for its efforts. In a business where the perception of ineffectiveness can easily become the real thing, the Bush team may be reviving the topic of Iraq in order to turn public focus away from examining the administration's wider strategy -- or lack thereof.

Besides the conflict in Afghanistan and the worldwide hunt for members of al Qaeda, the White House is currently juggling three or four potential crises in the Middle East. Israel and the occupied territories are extremely volatile. U.S. President George W. Bush just met with Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah in an attempt to salvage Washington's relationship with Riyadh. Meanwhile, Iran, Syria and the Lebanon-based Hezbollah group continue to be dangerous questions marks.

(SNIP)

The White House has apparently backed away from it "axis of evil" comments, but no larger strategy seems to have taken its place. This runs counter to the expectations of the American public, media and foreign policy establishment, and the administration finds itself under growing pressure to show that it is doing something.

Iraq has been brought back into the spotlight, starting with Bush's speech April 17 at the Virginia Military Institute and continuing with this latest leak. Military officials have even begun to offer more information to the press on U.S. combat equipment being moved into Persian Gulf nations.

But there are strong arguments that deposing the Hussein regime should not be -- and may not be -- at the top of the U.S. foreign policy agenda. The Iraqi regime's links with al Qaeda are tenuous at best, and the politics of the region are extremely sensitive. Washington may find it would rather spend its political chips on issues besides Iraq.

(SNIP)

By reviving the Iraqi debate, and setting it up as a question of "how" the United States should attack rather than "if," the White House can refocus the public foreign policy discourse away from questions of whether Washington has a strategy and toward an operational debate of the best ways to invade Iraq. And because of well-known logistic limitations, there is no expectation of immediate action against Iraq. Thus the White House can buy itself weeks or months of time to bring itself together and focus on the real issues

4//Frontier Post Updated on 4/28/2002 11:53:44 AM
http://www.frontierpost.com.pk/main.asp?id=4&date1=4/28/2002

IRAQ DENIES LINKS WITH AL QAEDA
F.P. Report

ISLAMABAD: Categorically denying any contact with al-Qaeda or Taliban, the Iraqi Ambassador to Pakistan D r K A Rawi has said that those unleashing baseless propaganda against Iraq have ulterior motives.

"Iraq neither had an open or secret contact with the al-Qaeda or Taliban in the past nor it has any connection with them at present".

Addressing a press conference on the occasion of birthday of Iraqi President Saddam Hussain at a local hotel here on Saturday, he said that Iraq does not need support of bin Laden or Taliban in its battle against the United States.

He pointed out that Iraq had not recognized the Taliban government rather maintained contacts with Rabbani even during the Taliban rule over Afghanistan.

Iraq refuses to change its position and talk to the Taliban on any political matter, he said. The Iraqi envoy also ruled out maintaining any contacts with either Osama bin Laden or the Taliban in future.

(SNIP)

Answering a question about Iraq-Kuwait war and the US intervention, he said the Americans did not come to liberate Kuwait but to destroy Iraq.

He pointed out that the targets included schools, mosques, shrines, hospitals, water and electricity supply complexes and bridges.

About the imminent threat of large scale US attacks against Iraq, the envoy said that it would be a folly to think that Iraq will surrender because United States is a big military power.

"The United States will have to face tough soldiers and people.

Though Iraq cannot stop America from coming and fighting but is ready to defend its sovereignty and existence".

Referring to the suggestion of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein to use oil as a weapon against the West, Dr Rawi said that it is a clear signal that the Arab world is united and unified.

Rejecting the notion that the natural resource should not be used for political purposes, he said that the US had used this as a weapon against Egypt.

"Arabs have a right to use their resources to protect their security interests", he remarked.

(MORE)

5//Philippine Daily Inquirer Posted: 11:24 PM (Manila Time) | Apr. 28, 2002
http://www.inq7.net/nat/2002/apr/29/nat_3-1.htm

'NO OVERKILL'
Palace defends May 1 security plan
Inquirer News Service

'Deterrent to violence'

DEPLOYING thousands of policemen to defend Malacañang on May 1 is not overkill, acting Press Secretary Silvestre Afable said Sunday.

"We really have to put policemen in large numbers to serve as a deterrent to violence," Afable said. "If it's true that there are people planning to create trouble, we need a deterrent for the public's peace of mind."

Afable said that 6,000 members of the Philippine National Police would be deployed at the Palace and not 10,000 as earlier announced by the Western Police District.

Security forces are bracing for a possible repeat of last year's May 1 "revolt of the poor" that sparked deadly riots around Malacañang.

(SKIP)

Afable said that the Cabinet Oversight Committee on Internal Security had not discussed any worst-case scenario for Wednesday.

"We think it will be a peaceful day and we will undertake all measures to make it peaceful," Afable said.

Advisers of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo have grudgingly admitted that the rallies were a barometer of frustration in a nation where 45 percent of the population earns just two dollars a day.

And with economic growth slowing to 3.4 percent last year, the scourge of poverty shows no sign of improving.

(MORE)

6//Pravda 2002-04-26
http://english.pravda.ru/main/2002/04/26/28074.html

LE PEN IS CERTAIN ABOUT HIS VICTORY. DISCREDITABLE MATERIAL AGAINST CHIRAC MIGHT HELP
Vasily Bubnov
Translated by Dmitry Sudakov

A little bit more than a week is left before the second stage of presidential elections in France. The controversy is getting more and more intense. Almost all observers are sure that Jacques Chirac will win, but his competitor Jean-Marie Le Pen is far from being motionless. It seems that he is seriously determined about taking the office of the president after May 5.

The Kommersant newspaper wrote that the leader of the ultra-right forces of France possessed discreditable material of incredible impact against Chirac, and it was said that Le Pen was ready to expose that information. Le Pen said that French people would learn several very interesting details about the biography of the incumbent president of France. The nationalist leader claimed that he had the documents at his disposal, which allegedly testified to the fact that the French president was accepting bribes from the incumbent Premier of Lebanon, Rafiq Hariri, who is a very wealthy man. Le Pen's documents are based on the stories, told by the leader of the Guardians of the Cedar group, which is the organization of South Lebanon.

As it is well-known, the French government was supporting the Lebanese Christians, but this support has come to nothing recently. The leader of this group has the information pertaining to the contacts between Chirac and Hariri. It was said that the president and the premier had some weird friendship, because Hariri did not speak French, and Chirac did not speak Arabic. Hariri is not a well-educated person, but he is very religious Muslim man, his parents come from Saudi Arabia, and he is the richest man of Lebanon. So this explains everything.

As the leader of the Guardians of the Cedar said, when Hariri was coming to Paris, Chirac usually met him right near his car. Hariri was invited for all holidays and receptions in Paris, and when he could not come, his wife was there - the guest of honor.

It was also said that Chirac visited Lebanon every month just to see his dear friend. Only a few people knew about those trips. The people from Chirac's milieu were usually told that the president left for Lebanon to conduct the talks pertaining to the issues of the Mideast policy. But it was strange that Chirac was taking his big case along every time he was going to Lebanon "for Mideast talks," although he usually took a thin file for such occasions.

The leader of the guardians of the Cedar is sure that Chirac was taking bribes from Hariri: up to 200-300 thousand dollars a month. It was also said that there is a law in the USA, pursuant to which senior officials could act as advisors of companies, including foreign ones.

(MORE)

* * *

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

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

* * *