World Media Watch for May 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.

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1//Asia Times Online, Hong Kong--MISSILE TESTS RAISE PAKISTAN-NORTH KOREA LINK (Pakistan has never acknowledged the North Korean link and says its nuclear and missile technologies are completely indigenous. Leading Indian strategic analysts believe that the Pyongyang-Islamabad link has the blessings of China and that both have been working as "proxies" for Beijing's interests in the region.)

2//Gulf News Online, United Arab Emirates--TWO U.S. ARMYMEN HURT IN BRAWL (According to an official Bahraini statement, witnesses and local news reports, the incident, which was a "result of a misunderstanding over BD10 ($27), a down- payment for renting wedding dress… The incident took place in Al Qadam area (5 miles to the west of the capital Manama) when two U.S. nationals and the wife of one of them, an Ethiopian national, entered a ladies- only beauty parlour and started assaulting the Bahraini owner and her employees, and damaging the place, an official police statement said… The island kingdom has witnessed continuous anti-U.S. demonstrations, the most violent of which took place on April 5 when dozens of demonstrators attached the U.S. Embassy with stones and petrol bombs.)

3//Middle East Newsline, Canada--IRAQ MOVES FORCES IN SOUTH, NORTH (The London-based INC warned that Iraqi troops were preparing to attack Kurdish cities. Irbil is ruled by the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan and Suleimaniya by the Kurdistan Democratic Party.)

4//The Toronto Star, Canada--AL QAEDA CELL WAS HERE, TORIES INSIST (Ontario Premier Ernie Eves and his public security minister today defended their claim that a sleeper Al Qaeda terrorist cell was recently driven from the province, a day after Canada's spy agency suggested otherwise… New Democrat Leader Howard Hampton hammered Runciman in the legislature …"This is starting to sound like an episode out of Maxwell Smart," Hampton said in reference to a 1960s TV spy spoof.)

5//allAfrica.com, Washington, D.C.--MELES BLASTS WESTERN GOVERNMENTS (Prime Minister Meles Zenawi launched a stinging attack on western governments on Monday on the eve of a visit to Ethiopia by US Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill…"They [western governments] are erecting tariff and non-tariff barriers and doling out enormous subsidies affecting the very products that we have comparative advantage in," Meles said. "This is clearly and blatantly hypocritical." "But perhaps more importantly, it serves to drastically reduce the global cake for us all," he said. "If such trading practices are not changed, nothing our partners can do is going to promote Africa's structural transformation.")

6//Japan Today, Tokyo, Japan--U.S.-LED ANTITERROR TROOPS SEIZED 300 ZINJIANG SEPARATISTS (U.S.-led forces have taken into custody about 300 separatists from the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region in neighboring Afghanistan since Sept. 11 as part of their battle against terrorists, Xinjiang Party head Wang Lequan said Monday. A top member of the Xinjiang separatist movement was handed over to Chinese authorities after being taken into custody in Pakistan in March, Wang said during a press conference, in which officials were surprisingly frank about their continuing battle with a violent separatist movement in the far western region.)

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1//Asia Times Online May 29, 2002
http://www.atimes.com/ind-pak/DE29Df02.html

MISSILE TESTS RAISE PAKISTAN-NORTH KOREA LINK
By Ranjit Devraj (Inter Press Service)

NEW DELHI - Pakistan's latest missile tests have provided India with another opportunity to harp on its neighbor's "clandestine" acquisition of nuclear and missile technology from North Korea. After Pakistan carried out tests of its medium-range, nuclear-capable Ghauri and the short-range Ghaznavi ballistic missiles on the weekend, Indian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Nirupama Rao said on Sunday that New Delhi was "not impressed by these missile antics, particularly when all that is demonstrated is borrowed or imported ability".

He emphasized that the technology used in the missiles was "clandestinely acquired from other countries, a fact that has been unearthed by India and extensively documented in research findings by well-established research institutions and laboratories all over the world".

(SNIP)

The nuclear-armed neighbors have between them massed more than a million troops on their border, along with missile carriers, tanks and artillery. In June 1999, following a tipoff, Indian customs at the port of Kandla in the western state of Gujarat seized the North Korean vessel Ku Wol San bound for the Pakistani port of Karachi and impounded its cargo, which consisted largely of missile components and production materials for the Nodong missile on which the Ghauri is based.

Curiously, the seizure came four months after the US House of Representatives was told by a veteran expert on strategic affairs, Richard Armitage, that the best way to tackle North Korean missile exports was by interdicting them on the high seas, since diplomacy had failed to contain proliferation by Pyongyang.

Armitage, appointed deputy secretary of state by the new US administration of George W Bush, is set to visit the subcontinent early next month as part of international efforts to defuse a military standoff between India and Pakistan along their 1,800-kilometer border. British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw is on a similar mission, following in the footsteps of senior European Union Affairs Commissioner Chris Patten last week.

The 1999 seizure at Kandla port led many to believe that Pakistan had entered into a deal with North Korea to barter its nuclear technology, miniaturized for use in nuclear missile warheads, in exchange for missile technology developed by Pyongyang.

(SNIP)

Pakistan has never acknowledged the North Korean link and says its nuclear and missile technologies are completely indigenous. Leading Indian strategic analysts believe that the Pyongyang-Islamabad link has the blessings of China and that both have been working as "proxies" for Beijing's interests in the region.

(SNIP)

India's outspoken defense minister, George Fernandes, had publicly said that India's main concern is China rather than Pakistan and that Beijing was really the "mother of Pakistan's nuclear bomb".

Not surprisingly, India enthusiastically supported Washington's missile defense system and even offered its strengths in computer software and satellite technology in return for being allowed to enlist in any international system that might afford protection against a nuclear missile attack.

India's strategy may be paying off because in spite of aggressively moving 700,000 troops and armor to the Pakistan border in December, jeopardizing the war against terror in Afghanistan, Washington came through with the sale to New Delhi in April of weapons-locating radar systems over loud protests from Islamabad.

This month, US troops conducted joint exercises with the Indian army aimed at building a capability for coordinated airborne operations.

Washington, which long banned export of space and missile technology to India under the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR), has now offered support for India's space program, which is closely linked to its ambitious plan to develop intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs).

(MORE)

2//Gulf News Online 28-05-2002
http://www.gulf-news.com/Articles/news.asp?ArticleID=52578

TWO U.S. ARMYMEN HURT IN BRAWL
Bahrain |By A Correspondent | 28-05-2002

Two U.S. military personnel have sustained "serious injuries" during a brawl with a group of Bahraini youths on Sunday night, the U.S. Embassy in Bahrain confirmed yesterday.

"The U.S. Navy authorities are cooperating fully with the appropriate Bahraini authorities to determine responsibility for the incident and to take the appropriate action," said an embassy statement a copy of which was received by Gulf News.

According to an official Bahraini statement, witnesses and local news reports, the incident, which was a "result of a misunderstanding over BD10 ($27), a down- payment for renting wedding dress".

The incident took place in Al Qadam area (5 miles to the west of the capital Manama) when two U.S. nationals and the wife of one of them, an Ethiopian national, entered a ladies- only beauty parlour and started assaulting the Bahraini owner and her employees, and damaging the place, an official police statement said.

A police patrol hurried to the place after receiving a call from the owner while dozens of youths started to converge outside.

During the police investigation, the owner's sister and her brother-in-law chased the Americans who were trying to escape. Attempting to stop them from running away, the sister stood in front of the car but was knocked down, the police statement said. The Bahraini woman, who was pregnant, was later reported to have lost her baby, according to a local language daily.

(SNIP)

Anti-American sentiments in Bahrain, the base of the U.S. fifth Fleet, have been on the rise as a result of the perceived U.S. support to the large scale Israeli bloody offensive on the Palestinian Territories last April.

The island kingdom has witnessed continuous anti-U.S. demonstrations, the most violent of which took place on April 5 when dozens of demonstrators attached the U.S. Embassy with stones and petrol bombs.

3//Middle East Newsline May 29, 2002
IRAQ MOVES FORCES IN SOUTH, NORTH

ABU DHABI [MENL] -- Iraqi troops and anti-aircraft batteries are moving to the north and south of the country in what appears to be the latest deployment to confront any U.S. military offensive.

Iraq is said to have moved troops north near the Kurdish autonomous zone as well as in the south near Kuwait and Saudi Arabia. In both cases, troops have been supported by tanks and artillery.

The Iraqi National Congress said the regime of President Saddam Hussein sent in early May what the group termed was a large military contingent, tanks and artillery near the cities of Irbil and Suleimaniya. Kurdish sources listed the Iraqi force as containing 100 tanks and armored personnel carriers as well as 36 long-range artillery.

The London-based INC warned that Iraqi troops were preparing to attack Kurdish cities. Irbil is ruled by the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan and Suleimaniya by the Kurdistan Democratic Party.

NOTE: The above is not the full item, which is available by subscription only.

4//The Toronto Star Tue May 28, 2002 - Updated at 05:38 PM
http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?GXHC_gx_session_id_=
5e2fa4d85156a3e9&pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=
1022099672043&call_page=TS_News&call_pageid=968332188492&call_page
path=News/News&col=968793972154

AL QAEDA CELL WAS HERE, TORIES INSIST
Queen's Park, CSIS can't seem to agree on what constitutes a terror cell
By Andrea Baillie
Canadian Press

Ontario Premier Ernie Eves and his public security minister today defended their claim that a sleeper Al Qaeda terrorist cell was recently driven from the province, a day after Canada's spy agency suggested otherwise.

"It would appear that there are several different definitions, if you will, of what constitutes a (terrorist) cell and what doesn't," Eves said as he headed into a caucus meeting.

"Suffice it to say there's a difference of opinion in definition."

The premier was responding to comments made by Ward Elcock, director of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, who said he'd seen no evidence of a "sleeper cell" like the one recently described by Ontario Security Minister Bob Runciman.

Runciman caused a sensation last week when he said a faction of Osama bin Laden's terrorist network had been driven out of the country after surveillance by Ontario Provincial Police. He would not say where the group had gone.

Elcock said the term "sleeper cell" is clearly defined in the intelligence community and called it "unfortunate" that the meaning isn't always understood by those who use the term.

A "sleeper cell" usually refers to a group that exists to carry out a particular purpose in the future, acting in a clandestine way until they're called upon to do so.

Elcock said he had "not seen any such example in Canada to date."

Runciman conceded Tuesday that Elcock might be correct in his assessment that the public security minister hadn't used the term correctly.

(SNIP)

New Democrat Leader Howard Hampton hammered Runciman in the legislature, saying Elcock had essentially said the minister didn't know what he was talking about.

"This is starting to sound like an episode out of Maxwell Smart," Hampton said in reference to a 1960s TV spy spoof.

(SNIP)

Runciman insisted the discrepancy with CSIS has been blown out of proportion.

"I used the terminology that was given to me by the (Ontario Provincial Police). It's a bit of a mug's game to get into definitions," he said.

(MORE)

5//allAfrica.com
http://allafrica.com/stories/200205280012.html

MELES BLASTS WESTERN GOVERNMENTS
UN Integrated Regional Information Networks
Posted to the web May 28, 2002

Prime Minister Meles Zenawi launched a stinging attack on western governments on Monday on the eve of a visit to Ethiopia by US Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill.

Speaking at the opening of the Africa Development Bank (ADB) annual meeting, he accused the west of hypocrisy by calling on African countries to open up their markets, while imposing tariffs and handing out enormous subsidies to farmers.

The visit by O'Neill and Irish rock star Bono comes barely a week after US President George Bush signed a new farm law increasing dairy and crop subsidies by 67 percent. The pair are on a 12-day, four nation, fact-finding tour of Africa to assess the effectiveness of development aid.

"They [western governments] are erecting tariff and non-tariff barriers and doling out enormous subsidies affecting the very products that we have comparative advantage in," Meles said. "This is clearly and blatantly hypocritical."

"But perhaps more importantly, it serves to drastically reduce the global cake for us all," he said. "If such trading practices are not changed, nothing our partners can do is going to promote Africa's structural transformation."

Meles said if developed countries were unwilling to remove barriers then they were unlikely to commit themselves to the much-heralded New Partnership for Africa's Development (NePAD).

Meles argued that removing trade barriers was far more important to Africa than the declining overseas development assistance the continent receives.

"Removing tariff and non-tariff barriers to our agricultural products, doing away with agricultural subsidies and tariff escalation is at least seven times more important to Africa's development than ODA [overseas development assistance] flows," he stated.

6//Japan Today Wednesday, May 29, 2002
http://japantoday.com/e/?content=news&cat=7&id=218493

U.S.-LED ANTITERROR TROOPS SEIZED 300 ZINJIANG SEPARATISTS
Tuesday, May 28, 2002 at 09:30 JST (Kyodo News)

URUMUCHI, China - U.S.-led forces have taken into custody about 300 separatists from the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region in neighboring Afghanistan since Sept. 11 as part of their battle against terrorists, Xinjiang Party head Wang Lequan said Monday. A top member of the Xinjiang separatist movement was handed over to Chinese authorities after being taken into custody in Pakistan in March, Wang said during a press conference, in which officials were surprisingly frank about their continuing battle with a violent separatist movement in the far western region.

Of about 1,000 Xinjiang separatists who received training in Afghanistan, U.S.-led troops have taken about 300 into custody, with the remainder still thought to be hiding in Afghanistan and northern Pakistan, Wang said.

China says overseas terrorist groups, including those linked to Afghanistan's former Taliban regime and Saudi-born Islamic militant Osama bin Laden, have been behind most of the violent attempts to create an Islamic state in Xinjiang.

On May 17, a number of people in Xinjiang's capital, Urumuchi, were targeted by separatists trying to overthrow Beijing's rule, with an unspecified number killed and wounded, Xinjiang public security vice director Liu Yaohua said.

(SNIP)

While Beijing has linked its suppression of Xinjinag separatists with the ongoing U.S.-led campaign against terrorism, Washington and human rights groups have criticized Beijing for what they call the suppression of religious freedom and use of excessive force. (Kyodo News)

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

Web Radio for Progressives listings at http://www.zianet.com/insightanalytical

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