World Media Watch for June 24, 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//Stratfor Strategic Forecasting, USA--PHILIPPINES: REBEL LEADER GONE BUT U.S. SET TO STAY (But a reduced U.S. presence on the ground in Basilan veils Washington's longer-term strategic interest in the Philippines, which sits astride the dividing line between the Pacific Ocean and the South China Sea. The Philippines is a perfectly located staging ground for any future al Qaeda-hunting Washington may wish or need to do in Southeast Asia -- as well as an important strategic location in case relations with China turn sour.)

2//Far Eastern Economic Review, Hong Kong--ISLAM AND EDUCATION (A visit to two very different centres of Islamic education shows that tolerance remains, but isolation and poor funding can leave young Muslims open to manipulation by radicals...Surin believes it is important for Western countries to get involved in the education of a future generation of Muslim adults. "If Muslim fundamentalism, Muslim extremism and Muslim radicalism are to be contained, a global awareness of the need for some kind of educational reform in the Muslim world is necessary," he insists. "A global cooperation is in order and a global funding of some sort is the only way out.")

3//The Independent, UK--CHIRAC 'TO SACK INTELLIGENCE CHIEFS FOR SPYING ON HIM' (The newly re-elected President, who holds all the levers of power for the first time in five years, suspects the French equivalents of MI5 and MI6 of conspiring with the previous Socialist-led government to investigate his private life and financial dealings...In all cases, Mr Chirac believes that the agencies agreed to dig up dirt for the government of Lionel Jospin that could be used in the presidential election in April and May this year. Senior Socialist figures dismissed the allegations yesterday as a "witch-hunt" intended to justify a progressive "Chiracisation" of the intelligence services and all other leading law agencies.)

4//Pakistan News Service, Pakistan--MUSHARRAF DEFENDS POWER TO SACK GOVT (President Gen Pervez Musharraf said he would retain power to dismiss the prime minister, the Cabinet and the National Assembly after the October parliamentary elections. "As the president of Pakistan, I am going to retain the authority to dismiss the Cabinet or the assembly," Musharraf told BBC in an interview aired Saturday... "Unless there is unity of command, unless there is one man in charge on top, it will never function," he said. "Too many cooks spoil the broth." Musharraf said he would only fire the prime minister or the Cabinet on the advice of the proposed national security council, comprised of military chiefs, some Cabinet members and chief ministers of Pakistan's four provinces.)

5//The Dawn, Pakistan-EDITORIAL: HASTE UNCALLED FOR (With a constitutional package reportedly ready for presidential approval, it is time the military regime realized the full implications of hacking away at the nation's Basic Law from time to time...For its part, this government has been talking about giving constitutional status to the National Security Council ostensibly to act as the guardian of the government - and not as one of its adjuncts meant to advise it on higher security matters. The presence of a military-dominated NSC pursuing its own broad-spectrum agenda, is hardly compatible with the elective principle of government and the supremacy of civilian leadership in matters of governance which form the bedrock of the 1973 constitutional scheme of things.)

6//The Sydney Morning Herald, Australia--DREAD IN ZIMBABWE MEDIA (...more than a dozen journalists, including two foreign correspondents, had been arrested since the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act became law. This, and a public order act making any criticism of Mr Mugabe a punishable offence meant "publishing a newspaper in Zimbabwe has become the most dangerous journalistic enterprise anywhere in the world".

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1//Stratfor Strategic Forecasting 21 June 2002
http://www.stratfor.com/fib/topStory_view.php?ID=204951

PHILIPPINES: REBEL LEADER GONE BUT U.S. SET TO STAY

Summary

The Philippine military says it has killed Abu Sabaya, one of the key leaders of the Abu Sayyaf rebel group, during a naval gun battle June 21. Sabaya's death -- coming just weeks after a raid by the Philippine military deprived the group of its two American hostages -- has removed much of the overt justification for U.S. military forces to be in the southern Philippines. Yet while the United States is set to pull out most of its forces at the end of July, its strategic interest in the Philippines remains as strong as ever.

Analysis

(SNIP)

Sabaya's killing follows Washington's decision to expand the role of its training forces on Basilan. Previously, U.S. trainers and advisers were restricted in their interactions with their Filipino counterparts, having permission only to train large groups of soldiers numbering in the hundreds. Under new guidelines, U.S. forces could train much smaller groups of soldiers and accompany them on patrols in Basilan, where they are hunting the remnants of the Abu Sayyaf.

The expanded role for the U.S. military has been a source of contention inside the Department of Defense, most notably in the conflicting opinions of Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and his deputy Paul Wolfowitz. Wolfowitz has been a strong supporter of greater U.S. military involvement in the Philippines -- and in the rest of Southeast Asia for that matter.

Rumsfeld, however, apparently questioned the necessity of the large-scale U.S. military presence, which began in January, and seems more cautious of being inadvertently drawn into a larger conflict in the Philippines -- perhaps between government forces and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, a rebel group operating on the island of Mindanao.

The conflicting U.S. factions have apparently struck a compromise wherein the training operations will be expanded but still constrained by geography and time. By restricting the U.S. forces to Basilan, the chances of an encounter with the MILF are significantly reduced. Furthermore, Abu Sayyaf forces appear to be fleeing their former stronghold and moving instead to Mindanao, Jolo and the Tawi Tawi islands. Sticking to the current six-week deadline for the end of the initial training exercises also limits the chances of U.S. forces coming under fire or being drawn into a larger conflict.

But a reduced U.S. presence on the ground in Basilan veils Washington's longer-term strategic interest in the Philippines, which sits astride the dividing line between the Pacific Ocean and the South China Sea. The Philippines is a perfectly located staging ground for any future al Qaeda-hunting Washington may wish or need to do in Southeast Asia -- as well as an important strategic location in case relations with China turn sour.

The U.S. military is already undertaking considerable infrastructure improvements on Basilan, building roads and upgrading airstrips and port facilities. And during his early June visit to Manila, Wolfowitz lobbied for a logistics supply arrangement that would give the U.S. military storage facilities for fuel and supplies in the Philippines in return for continued assistance and equipment for the Philippine military.

If such a deal is signed -- and it is likely that Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo will back it -- it would represent more than the creation of a supply dump. Rather, it would be more of a "contingency dump," a pre-positioning of U.S. supplies and fuel in case Washington needs to launch counterterrorism or other military operations in Southeast Asia.

2//Far Eastern Economic Review Issue cover-dated June 27, 2002
http://www.feer.com/articles/2002/0206_27/p058current.html

ISLAM AND EDUCATION
A Tale of Two Madrassas

The American-led war on terror is eroding Southeast Asia's image of tolerant, moderate Islam. A visit to two very different centres of Islamic education shows that tolerance remains, but isolation and poor funding can leave young Muslims open to manipulation by radicals

By Michael Vatikiotis/JOGJAKARTA and NAKHON SI THAMMARAT

IT COULD BE a village anywhere in Central Java. Two small girls in colourful dresses play noisily on a verandah. A mother nurses her child. Scrawny chickens scratch the bare earth. Then a woman clad from head to toe in black wanders by wearing gloves. A group of young boys, all wearing white robes and caps, appears at a street corner on the way back from prayers.

Nestled in the bosom of this bucolic Javanese community, the Ihya Us Sunnah Islamic boarding school could easily be overlooked by a casual passer-by. Yet this is no ordinary school. It was founded in 1994 by Ja'far Umar Thalib, the leader of Laskar Jihad, a militant Muslim group that sent hundreds of young men to battle Christians in far-flung Maluku.

If this is the heart of Islamic darkness in Indonesia, it is hard to fathom. Ihya Us Sunnah doesn't look like a Muslim fundamentalist stronghold. It's a humble set of buildings, populated by a handful of young boys, with no walls separating it from the nearby village. Given its openness, its proximity to the city of Jogjakarta 13 kilometres away and the easy coexistence with secular village life, it hardly seems to be one of those corners of Indonesia some United States officials believe international terrorists may be considering using as a base.

In reality, traditions of tolerance still prevail in most Muslim communities of Southeast Asia. But in places like Ihya Us Sunnah, there's also a vulnerability. The hard scrabble for resources and a lack of integration with secular society can leave Islamic schools and their students open to manipulation. If it has sufficient funding, and leadership that stresses integration, the Islamic education system will likely uphold moderate traditions. Without those factors, there's a danger it can become a fertile ground for militancy.

Teguh, a mild-mannered third-year information-technology student at the nearby Islamic University, helps run the Ihya Us Sunnah school...Teguh isn't concerned about his more secular neighbours. At the time of this unannounced visit no security was evident. Indeed, Ja'far himself was arrested in May, leaving his three wives and numerous children in a gaily painted house at the back of the school.

But two years ago, Teguh spent a year in strife-torn Ambon with the Laskar Jihad. As he casually puts it, he "went to war." He doesn't say much about his experience except that he saw Muslim villages attacked by Christians and was in dangerous situations. He denies carrying arms and is oddly offhand about it all. "I went because I was on holiday between school and university," he says. "I won't go back until I've finished my studies."

If it's hard to determine what motivated Teguh to join the Laskar Jihad, it's easy to see how difficult it would be to dissuade him. The school is dependent on Ja'far for patronage and funding. There is no secular balance to the conservative Salafi Islamic dogma taught at the school.

More than 2,000 kilometres to the north of Jogjakarta, on the outskirts of Nakhon Si Thammarat in southern Thailand, another Islamic boarding school presents a different picture. Much as at Ihya Us Sunnah, the 1,200 students at a school called Pondok Bantan spend their mornings praying, reciting the Koran and studying Arabic and Malay language.

But in the afternoon, they are taught the national Thai-language school curriculum. The pupils, roughly the same age as those at Ihya Us Sunnah, live in tidy bamboo huts scattered over a spacious compound that has been the site of a religious school for 60 years. More than half the pupils are girls. Tuition is free, though families support their children by supplying food and clothing.

Here in Pondok Bantan there is no apparent stress on narrowly interpreted dogma, no evidence of radical ideas or intolerance. "We see dakhwa [missionary] people who try to stir things up from time to time, but not very often," says Surin Pitsuwan, the former Thai foreign minister and member of parliament. Surin, a leading advocate of civil society, was born and raised in the school grounds, where his mother, now in her 80s, still teaches the Koran.

Judging from a discussion with students from the school, it's clear that these Muslim youngsters have strong views about the meaning and value of civil society and democracy. "People must be able to decide for themselves what kind of curriculum their children have, and everyone must have the right to free education," says an articulate 12-year-old girl, her eyes flashing from underneath a coloured headscarf.

Healthy funding is the key to this school's security. A new mosque was built with a grant from a wealthy Indian doctor from Dubai. The same doctor is paying for a new classroom block. More significantly, some funding for the school comes from Western countries. The audio-visual equipment, for example, was donated by the German embassy in Bangkok. Surin believes it is important for Western countries to get involved in the education of a future generation of Muslim adults. "If Muslim fundamentalism, Muslim extremism and Muslim radicalism are to be contained, a global awareness of the need for some kind of educational reform in the Muslim world is necessary," he insists. "A global cooperation is in order and a global funding of some sort is the only way out."

(MORE)

3//The Independent 23 June 2002 23:03 BDST
http://news.independent.co.uk/europe/story.jsp?story=308370

CHIRAC 'TO SACK INTELLIGENCE CHIEFS FOR SPYING ON HIM'
By John Lichfield in Paris, 24 June 2002

President Jacques Chirac is preparing to settle a personal score with the two main French intelligence services by sacking their top officials.

The newly re-elected President, who holds all the levers of power for the first time in five years, suspects the French equivalents of MI5 and MI6 of conspiring with the previous Socialist-led government to investigate his private life and financial dealings.

He suspects the DST of re-opening investigations last year into his alleged involvement in the payment of ransoms for the release of French hostages in Lebanon when he was Prime Minister between 1986 and 1988. The French state has always officially denied that money was handed over but it was widely rumoured at the time that a ransom was paid through a third party.

There have also been rumours that part of the cash was siphoned off and used for party political purposes by Mr Chirac's party, the RPR.

Mr Chirac also reportedly suspects the DGSE of attempting to investigate his financial links with Shoichi Osada, a disgraced Japanese banker who was arrested in 2000 for insider dealing.

Elysée officials also told Le Journal du Dimanche yesterday that the DST may also have been involved in attempts to investigate Mr Chirac's "private life" - almost certainly a code for extra-marital sexual affairs. Since these have been referred to by his wife, Bernadette Chirac, in her book published last year, it is unclear why a counter-espionage agency should need to investigate.

In all cases, Mr Chirac believes that the agencies agreed to dig up dirt for the government of Lionel Jospin that could be used in the presidential election in April and May this year. Senior Socialist figures dismissed the allegations yesterday as a "witch-hunt" intended to justify a progressive "Chiracisation" of the intelligence services and all other leading law agencies.

In the Lebanese and Japanese cases, the spy agencies do appear to have mounted an investigation but intelligence sources told the French press that Mr Chirac was not the target.

4//Pakistan News Service Updated on 2002-06-23 http://www.paknews.com/flash.php?id=1&date1=2002-06-23

MUSHARRAF DEFENDS POWER TO SACK GOVT
ISLAMABAD, June 23 (PNS)

Musharraf has often said he would limit civilian powers after the elections for four provincial assemblies and the National Assembly. But he outlined the powers in greater details Saturday, a day after meeting senior advisers on the subject.

"Unless there is unity of command, unless there is one man in charge on top, it will never function," he said. "Too many cooks spoil the broth." Musharraf said he would only fire the prime minister or the Cabinet on the advice of the proposed national security council, comprised of military chiefs, some Cabinet members and chief ministers of Pakistan's four provinces.

"I could have retained the power in myself," Musharraf said. "I am creating an institutional method -- the national security council -- so that we take that decision in an institutional manner."

Musharraf also said he will invite foreign observers to the elections. About Indo-Pak standoff, he said Pakistan and India recently came "very close" to full-scale war over disputed Kashmir and that tensions between the nuclear-armed rivals remain "explosive" despite having eased.

Musharraf said Pakistani troops were poised to fight and would not begin standing down despite the cooling of the crisis. "We don't see de-escalation as a response," Musharraf said. "We couldn't care less if they (India) de-escalate or not. We are totally prepared for them, and we will teach them a lesson if they come across the Line of Control."

"We came very close," Musharraf responded when asked in the interview how near India and Pakistan had been to all-out war. He said tensions between Pakistan and India had eased somewhat, but that the threat of war could quickly build again in the event of a terror attack blamed on Kashmir insurgents. "The capability exists, and the situation will remain explosive" as long as both armies are massed on the LoC, he said.

(MORE)

5//The Dawn 23 June 2002 Sunday
http://www.dawn.com/2002/06/23/ed.htm

EDITORIAL: HASTE UNCALLED FOR

With a constitutional package reportedly ready for presidential approval, it is time the military regime realized the full implications of hacking away at the nation's Basic Law from time to time. As Bar leaders have recently pointed out at a press conference in Lahore, constitutional amendments make no sense at a time when a general election is less than four months away.

Besides, whether the nation's much disfigured Basic Law needs further change for reasons of good governance and if so, of what kind and with what effect on the Constitution's scheme of powers are matters that are best left for the elected government and parliament to decide and act where necessary; a transitional set-up with a limited tenure granted by the Supreme Court is hardly the body that should become involved in issues of such far-reaching importance.

In Pakistan, frequent constitutional interruptions and deviations have done enormous harm to the nation and obstructed its political and democratic evolution and refinement. Ignoring the abrogation of two constitutions - those of 1956 and 1962 - even the 1973 Constitution is no more there in its original form.

(SNIP)

For its part, this government has been talking about giving constitutional status to the National Security Council ostensibly to act as the guardian of the government - and not as one of its adjuncts meant to advise it on higher security matters. The presence of a military-dominated NSC pursuing its own broad-spectrum agenda, is hardly compatible with the elective principle of government and the supremacy of civilian leadership in matters of governance which form the bedrock of the 1973 constitutional scheme of things. Besides, going by Turkey's example, such an institution in that country has not helped strengthen and consolidate democracy; instead, Turkey has remained chronically plagued with political instability, with the generals still calling the shots in critical situations.

Having all that in view the generals now in control would do well not to press the question of constitutional amendments at this stage. The best course for them would be to wait till the transfer of power to the people's representatives along, possibly, with a package of recommendations for them to consider.

It is for the elected leadership to decide whether to adopt all or some of the amendments proposed by the generals. Perhaps, the new parliament can be expected to consider re-introducing clause 58-2b in a modified form so that the president is empowered to dismiss not the elected assembly but the prime minister on grounds of incompetence or misconduct or both. In that case, either the prime minister could seek a fresh vote of confidence from the assembly or the House could elect a new leader.

6//The Sydney Morning Herald Monday, June 24, 2002
http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2002/06/23/1023864529931.html

DREAD IN ZIMBABWE MEDIA

President Robert Mugabe has made Zimbabwe the most dangerous place in the world to publish a newspaper, an award-winning editor says.

Geoffrey Nyarota said in a lecture late on Friday at Oxford University that Mr Mugabe intended to cripple the independent media with a new press law enacted soon after he won a March election that was widely condemned as fraudulent.

Mr Nyarota, editor of the independent Daily News, said more than a dozen journalists, including two foreign correspondents, had been arrested since the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act became law. This, and a public order act making any criticism of Mr Mugabe a punishable offence, meant "publishing a newspaper in Zimbabwe has become the most dangerous journalistic enterprise anywhere in the world".

(MORE)

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

"When there was joy..." a bittersweet picture/remembrance of the good times...at http://www.zianet.com/insightanalytical

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