World Media Watch for June 12, 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//The Independent, UK--AFGHANS PROTEST OVER US MANIPULATION OF SUMMIT INFLUENCE AT LOYA JIRGA ("This is not a democracy," Sima Samar, the women's affairs minister, said yesterday. "This is a rubber stamp. Everything has already been decided by the powerful ones." The Americans moved to ensure demands from the assembly floor would not lead to the popular former monarch, 87-year old Mohammed Zahir Shah, being head of state, with Mr Karzai as prime minister..."There will be a backlash if they try to play tricks and games on us, if they don't let us speak," Mohammed Daoud, a Kabul delegate, said.)

2//The Guardian, UK--NO 10 DEFENDS PLANS TO CHANGE ACCESS TO RECORDS (A draft order to be debated by MPs next week suggests that ministers want the list of organisations allowed to demand communications data to include seven Whitehall departments, every local authority, NHS bodies in Scotland and Northern Ireland, and 11 other public bodies, the paper reported. Previously the list has included only police forces, the intelligence agencies, Customs and Excise and the Inland Revenue.)

3//The Japan Times, Japan--KEEPING DATA ON INFO SEEKERS OK: PROBE (Storing data on individuals seeking information disclosure by the Defense Agency and Air and Ground Self-Defense Forces does not pose any legal problems, according to an in-house investigation made public Tuesday...However, the report fails to answer the fundamental question of why the agency had to sort out information seekers by such categories as "the media" and "(voluntary) ombudsman.")

4//Ha'aretz, Israel--A-G: NEW HAGUE COURT MAY INDICT SETTLERS FOR WAR CRIMES (Israelis could be indicted by the new International Criminal Court (ICC) starting next month, when the court is formally inaugurated, Attorney General Elyakim Rubinstein warned at a meeting of the Knesset Constitution Committee Tuesday...Deputy Attorney General Rachel Sukar explained that had Israel ratified the treaty, it would be obliged to assist the court by, for instance, handing over any documents it requested. But non-ratification does not provide immunity from prosecution by the court.)

5//The Khaleej Times, United Arab Emirates-PALESTINIANS CALL FOR ARAB SUMMIT ON 'US BIAS' (A senior Palestinian official on Tuesday angrily called for an emergency Arab summit to take up what he called "total American bias" in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Information minister Yasser Abed Rabbo made his comments a day after US President George W Bush held talks with Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon in Washington and expressed support for Israel's tough positions.)

6//The Toronto Star, Canada--U.K. PLANS DIANA DEATH PROBE (Next year, a long-delayed British inquest into Diana's death may finally be held, after a new royal coroner, Michael Burgess, hinted he would head the probe, as well as one into Dodi Fayed's death. While there is no official confirmation from the palace, a date is expected to be announced this summer... If a British inquest is held, it could lay many of those suspicions to rest, and bring out evidence that has previously been confidential, such as the post mortem report.)

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1//The Independent 11 June 2002 23:34 BDST
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/asia_china/story.jsp?story=304429

AFGHANS PROTEST OVER US MANIPULATION OF SUMMIT INFLUENCE AT LOYA JIRGA
By Kate Clark in Kabul
Kate Clark is a correspondent for the BBC

12 June 2002

The warlords of Afghanistan rallied behind their interim leader, Hamid Karzai, yesterday in a display of unity after America engineered a humiliating climbdown by the country's former king.

But many tribal delegates attending the grand council, or loya jirga, called to pick the key members of the new administration, expressed concern at the "outside influence" overshadowing the event. All were aware the American envoy, Zalmay Khalilzad, had been the first to announce that the former king would stay out of government, after intense politicking delayed the assembly opening by 24 hours.

"This is not a democracy," Sima Samar, the women's affairs minister, said yesterday. "This is a rubber stamp. Everything has already been decided by the powerful ones."

The Americans moved to ensure demands from the assembly floor would not lead to the popular former monarch, 87-year old Mohammed Zahir Shah, being head of state, with Mr Karzai as prime minister.

Zahir Shah told delegates he had no desire to restore the monarchy, and backed Mr Karzai, a fellow Pashtun, as president. "I am ready to help the people, and Hamid Karzai is my choice of candidate," he said. "I advise delegates to take into consideration the high interests of the people." But the political damage had already been done, because the 1,550 delegates attending the week-long jirga were the last to hear of the king's decision.

The minister for finance, Amin Arsala, said: "The king issue is not over. The words used by Hamid Karzai to the king were fine, but I'm not sure if this issue is solved. I'm not sure if this story is over."

(SNIP)

Some delegates said they would rebel if the loya jirga continued to be dominated by speeches from the leaders, without giving those on the floor a voice. "There will be a backlash if they try to play tricks and games on us, if they don't let us speak," Mohammed Daoud, a Kabul delegate, said.

2//The Guardian Tuesday June 11, 2002
http://politics.guardian.co.uk/homeaffairs/story/0,11026,735501,00.html

2 p.m. Update
NO 10 DEFENDS PLANS TO CHANGE ACCESS TO RECORDS
Staff and agencies

Downing Street today defended plans - revealed in today's Guardian - to give a wide range of public bodies the right to demand access to telephone and internet records.

A draft order to be debated by MPs next week suggests that ministers want the list of organisations allowed to demand communications data to include seven Whitehall departments, every local authority, NHS bodies in Scotland and Northern Ireland, and 11 other public bodies, the paper reported.

Previously the list has included only police forces, the intelligence agencies, Customs and Excise and the Inland Revenue.

But the prime minister's official spokesman stressed that the powers available under the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act were designed to combat serious crime. There were also a variety of safeguards in place, he emphasised.

(MORE)

3//The Japan Times June 12, 2002
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/getarticle.pl5?nn20020612a1.htm

KEEPING DATA ON INFO SEEKERS OK: PROBE
Investigation rules lists not illegal; fails to mention alleged agency coverups

Storing data on individuals seeking information disclosure by the Defense Agency and Air and Ground Self-Defense Forces does not pose any legal problems, according to an in-house investigation made public Tuesday.

Compiling private data unnecessary for requesting information disclosure and showing it to officials unrelated to the service was suspected of violating a 1988 law regulating the handling of computerized personal information by government organizations, agency officials said.

Defense Agency chief Gen Nakatani earlier said circulating such private data may be problematic, even if there is nothing illegal in the act.

The probe concluded that the practice does not violate the law because lists on local computer networks were modified so that individual information seekers were not identified.

The report does not mention the suspected coverups of the controversial lists.

(SNIP)

Agency officials briefing reporters did not explain why the agency wanted to keep tabs on who was seeking what kind of information, and simply repeated that such data was designed to carry out their tasks smoothly.

The probe, meanwhile, determined that a list on information seekers made by a Maritime Self-Defense Force lieutenant commander did violate the law.

(SNIP)

The scandal has also raised doubts among the public that the agency's standard for information disclosure may differ depending on individual information seekers, although the agency has repeatedly denied this.

4//Ha'aretz Wednesday, June 12, 2002 Tamuz 2, 5762 Israel Time: 04:20 (GMT+3
http://www.haaretzdaily.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=175313&contrassID=
1&subContrassID=0&sbSubContrassID=0

Last update - 03:01 12/06/2002

A-G: NEW HAGUE COURT MAY INDICT SETTLERS FOR WAR CRIMES
By Gideon Alon, Ha'aretz Correspondent

Israelis could be indicted by the new International Criminal Court (ICC) starting next month, when the court is formally inaugurated, Attorney General Elyakim Rubinstein warned at a meeting of the Knesset Constitution Committee Tuesday.

Among other items, Rubinstein said, the court could decide to try Jewish settlers who move to the territories after June 30, since one article of the treaty establishing the court defines the settlements as a war crime (the June 30 cutoff stems from the fact that the court has jurisdiction only over acts committed after its inauguration on July 1). It could also indict Israel Defense Forces soldiers and officers involved in operations like the one in Jenin during Operation Defensive Shield.

Overall, Rubinstein stressed, "I have faith in the 'purity of arms' of IDF soldiers'," and in cases where soldiers were found to have violated orders, they have been put on trial (according to the ICC treaty, the court cannot indict anyone who has already been subjected to genuine legal proceedings in his home country). Since the start of the intifada in September 2000, 140 soldiers have been investigated for crimes such as looting, and some have been indicted, he said.

"[But] the international court is a great unknown for us," he said. "We don't know who the judges will be or who the prosecutors will be. We don't know what it will mean for the Jewish settlements in Judea, Samaria and Gaza or for the neighborhoods of Jerusalem that were set up over the Green Line following the Six-Day War."

Rubinstein noted that Israel never ratified the ICC treaty not, he stressed, because Israel has anything to hide, but out of fear that the court would be guided by political rather than strictly legal considerations. The decision not to ratify will reduce the danger represented by the court, but will not eliminate it entirely, he said.

Deputy Attorney General Rachel Sukar explained that had Israel ratified the treaty, it would be obliged to assist the court by, for instance, handing over any documents it requested. But non-ratification does not provide immunity from prosecution by the court.

The court also does not recognize diplomatic immunity, so even a sitting prime minister could be indicted, she said.

(MORE)

5//The Khaleej Times 11 June 2002. 30 Rabi Al Awwal, 1423.
http://www.khaleejtimes.co.ae/middleeast.htm#storyd

PALESTINIANS CALL FOR ARAB SUMMIT ON 'US BIAS'

RAMALLAH - AFP-- A senior Palestinian official on Tuesday angrily called for an emergency Arab summit to take up what he called "total American bias" in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Information minister Yasser Abed Rabbo made his comments a day after US President George W Bush held talks with Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon in Washington and expressed support for Israel's tough positions.

"This is a proof that this is an administration that cannot be trusted," Abed Rabbo said. "They have violated all their commitments and promises to the Arabs." "The Arabs now should convene and hold an emergency summit to discuss this total American bias toward Israel," he said. Bush, speaking a day after Yasser Arafat's Palestinian Authority announced a new cabinet, emerged from his talks with Sharon on Monday saying "no one has confidence in the emerging Palestinian government."

(SNIP)

Saeb Erakat, chief Palestinian negotiator, also reacted sharply to Bush's comments, saying "the Israeli aggression will escalate because Sharon has received a green light from Bush. He (Sharon) has a plan to destroy the peace process and Palestinian Authority."

6//The Toronto Star Jun. 11, 2002
http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?GXHC_gx_session_id_=
a3d8e07cf8498419&pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=
1022099992395&call_page=TS_News&call_pageid=968332188492&call_page
path=News/News&col=968793972154

U.K. PLANS DIANA DEATH PROBE
By Olivia Ward, European Bureau

LONDON - Accidental death, unlawful killing or an unsolved mystery?

The untimely death of Diana, Princess of Wales, in a car crash in a Paris tunnel in August, 1997, unleashed a torrent of accusations, bitterness and conspiracy theories, made worse by a public perception that there were crucial facts deliberately not brought to light. Mohammed Al Fayed, whose son Dodi died in the crash with Diana and who also owns London's flagship Harrods department store, angered the royal family and British government with accusations of a conspiracy.

Next year, a long-delayed British inquest into Diana's death may finally be held, after a new royal coroner, Michael Burgess, hinted he would head the probe, as well as one into Dodi Fayed's death.

While there is no official confirmation from the palace, a date is expected to be announced this summer.

(SNIP)

A two-year investigation in France originally held up a British inquest. An exhaustive 6,000-page report by Judge Herve Stephan concluded Diana died under tragic, but mundane, circumstances: dangerous speeding compounded by alcohol consumption on the part of the driver of the car in which she crashed.

If a British inquest is held, it could lay many of those suspicions to rest, and bring out evidence that has previously been confidential, such as the post mortem report.

(MORE)

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

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