World
Media Watch
by Gloria R. Lalumia
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//Mainichi Daily News, Japan--JAPAN PLANS 3-STAGE SUPPORT FOR IRAQ WAR (Japan plans to carry out logistical support to peace-keeping forces in a post-Saddam Hussein Iraq by deploying the Self Defense Forces (SDF) if the United States attacks the country, the Mainichi has learned....Washington has expressed its satisfaction with Tokyo's response. When Japan decided to deploy its Aegis destroyer earlier this month, Richard Armitage, U.S. deputy secretary of state, went so far as to call Japanese media bureaus in Washington, saying the decision was "exciting.")
2//The Moscow Times, Russia--EXEC: U.S. BLACKMAILING RUSSIAN FIRMS IN IRAQ (The director of a state-owned oil company with interests in Iraq on Tuesday accused U.S. companies of attempting to blackmail Russian oil majors into financing Iraqi opposition parties in return for contract guarantees from a post-Saddam Hussein regime...The statement reflected growing concern among Russian officials and businessmen that a possible U.S. military operation in Iraq could damage Moscow's economic interests in the country.)
3//The
Guardian, UK--US ARMS ALGERIA FOR FIGHT AGAINST ISLAMIC TERROR (The US
has agreed to sell arms to Algeria to help it put down the Islamic rebellion
which has cost more than 100,000 lives in the past 10 years. In its wish
to win the support of Muslim states for its war on terrorism, Washington
appears to have replaced its previous reluctance to arm Algiers, because
of its bad human rights record, with admiration.)
4//Arab News, Saudi Arabia--US EXPORTS TO KINGDOM SLIDE 25.6% IN FIRST
NINE MONTHS (US exports to Saudi Arabia plunged 25.6 percent in the first
nine months of 2002 over the same period last year, as fallout from the
Sept. 11 attacks continued to trouble ties, according to an official US
report yesterday...The figure is the lowest for US exports to Saudi Arabia
since 1990, when they reached only $2.629 billion for the first nine months
of the year... A grass-roots campaign to boycott US products in Saudi
Arabia was launched in April following an Israeli military offensive against
Palestinians over Washington's support of Israel.)
5//The
Independent, UK--BLAIR TO DISMISS UNION DEMANDS FOR CHANGES TO RECOGNITION
LAW (After alienating many union bosses by taking a hard line in the firefighters'
dispute, the Prime Minister will deepen the wounds by rejecting proposals
by the Trades Union Congress to make it easier for unions to win the right
to represent workers... Bill Morris, leader of the Transport and General
Workers' Union, angered ministers this week by saying it was difficult
to find the dividing line between Labour and the Tories.)
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1//Mainichi
Daily News Wednesday, December 11, 2002
http://mdn.mainichi.co.jp/news/20021210p2a00m0fp022002c.html
JAPAN PLANS 3-STAGE SUPPORT FOR IRAQ WAR
Japan plans to carry out logistical support to peace-keeping forces in a post-Saddam Hussein Iraq by deploying the Self Defense Forces (SDF) if the United States attacks the country, the Mainichi has learned.
Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and top government officials are discussing how to respond to Washington's war on Iraq and planning to send the SDF to the Persian Gulf in three major steps.
The first step includes logistical support during the build up to a U.S.-led strike on Iraq, while the second and third steps relate to the war and post-war phases, respectively.
Government officials have admitted that Japan's participation in the final stage of restoring order in Iraq under the three-step scenario would be a risky political step for Japan, which is banned from using forces to settle international disputes under the Constitution.
"We cannot escape accusations by Middle East nations of taking part in Washington's war," one of the officials said.
(SNIP)
Japan has already decided to send an Aegis destroyer equipped with a high-tech radar to the Indian Ocean to fill a logistical void since U.S. ships there will apparently be transferred to the Persian Gulf.
The dispatched SDF troops are expected to carry out humanitarian rescue activities for Iraqi refugees in the region when the U.S. forces attack Iraq.
Washington has expressed its satisfaction with Tokyo's response. When Japan decided to deploy its Aegis destroyer earlier this month, Richard Armitage, U.S. deputy secretary of state, went so far as to call Japanese media bureaus in Washington, saying the decision was "exciting."
Armitage visited Tokyo Sunday on the first leg of his tour to Asian nations to build support for a possible war on Iraq.
A Defense Agency top official confessed that Japan was obliged to help rebuild a post-war Iraq because it was one of the largest exporters of petroleum while Japan mostly depends on the Middle East for its energy supplies.
"Stable oil supplies from the Middle East serves Japan's national interest," the official said. (Mainichi Shimbun, Dec. 10, 2002)
2//The Moscow Times Wednesday, Dec. 11, 2002. Page 5
http://www.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2002/12/11/041.html
EXEC:
U.S. BLACKMAILING RUSSIAN FIRMS IN IRAQ
(Combined Reports-MT, AP)
The director of a state-owned oil company with interests in Iraq on Tuesday
accused U.S. companies of attempting to blackmail Russian oil majors into
financing Iraqi opposition parties in return for contract guarantees from
a post-Saddam Hussein regime.
"The Americans have tried to discuss the issue, including at a level of [direct negotiations] with companies," said Nikolai Tokarev, head of Zarubezhneft, which has been operating in Iraq since the 1960s. "They even proposed we should finance the Iraqi opposition in return for being able to continue work there," he said in an interview published in Vremya Novostei on Tuesday.
The statement reflected growing concern among Russian officials and businessmen that a possible U.S. military operation in Iraq could damage Moscow's economic interests in the country.
Russia fears that a new regime in Iraq might renege on Baghdad's obligations to pay off its $7 billion Soviet-era debt to Moscow and award lucrative oil contracts to U.S. and other Western companies, snubbing Russian firms.
Tokarev said he had turned down such deals as "dishonorable." Some other Russian companies, however, have accepted similar U.S. proposals and have become involved in a "dirty game," he said, without providing further details. He was unavailable for further comment Tuesday.
Tokarev also slammed the United States for its plans to overthrow Hussein, saying the U.S. government was only after access to Iraq's vast supplies of cheap oil. "For the Americans this venture, despite all the political rhetoric, is aimed at gaining control over the oil market," he said.
U.S. President George W. Bush has assured President Vladimir Putin that Russia will be a major player in building a postwar Iraq, U.S. officials say, but Tokarev and other Russian businessmen remain distrustful.
(MORE)
3//The Guardian Tuesday December 10, 2002
http://www.guardian.co.uk/alqaida/story/0,12469,857157,00.html
US
ARMS ALGERIA FOR FIGHT AGAINST ISLAMIC TERROR
Giles Tremlett
The US has agreed to sell arms to Algeria to help it put down the Islamic
rebellion which has cost more than 100,000 lives in the past 10 years.
In its wish to win the support of Muslim states for its war on terrorism, Washington appears to have replaced its previous reluctance to arm Algiers, because of its bad human rights record, with admiration.
Announcing the agreement as he ended a visit to Algiers yesterday, William Burns, assistant secretary of state for Near East affairs, said: "Washington has much to learn from Algeria on ways to fight terrorism."
He said: "We are putting the finishing touches to an agreement to sell Algeria military equipment to fight terrorism."
He did not identify the type of weapons it was willing to sell, but added that the White House was drafting a proposal to Congress to increase military aid to Algeria.
(SNIP)
Algeria has become a key partner in the fight against al-Qaida, because its insurgents are close allies of Osama bin Laden and have provided footsoldiers in Afghanistan and for planned terror attacks in the US and Europe.
More than a dozen members of the most active of these groups, the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat, have been arrested in Europe since September 11.
The Algerian army appears to have been winning its battle against the Salafists and their fundamentalist allies in the Armed Islamic Groups (GIA) in the past couple of years.
(SNIP)
In recent months the European Union has ignored protests by Amnesty International and other human rights groups in its efforts to improve relations with Algeria.
(MORE)
4//Arab News 11 December 2002 / 6 Shawwal 1423
http://www.arabnews.com/Article.asp?ID=20989
US EXPORTS TO KINGDOM SLIDE 25.6% IN FIRST NINE MONTHS
RIYADH, 11 December 2002 - US exports to Saudi Arabia plunged 25.6 percent in the first nine months of 2002 over the same period last year, as fallout from the Sept. 11 attacks continued to trouble ties, according to an official US report yesterday.
The value of US exports to the Kingdom reached $3.457 billion on Sept. 30 this year compared to $4.648 billion in the first three quarters of 2001, official statistics showed. The figure is the lowest for US exports to Saudi Arabia since 1990, when they reached only $2.629 billion for the first nine months of the year.
(SNIP)
A grass-roots campaign to boycott US products in Saudi Arabia was launched in April following an Israeli military offensive against Palestinians over Washington's support of Israel. The campaign was conducted from mosques, schools and universities, and through newspapers, the Internet and mobile phone text messages urging consumers to shun products originating from the United States.
Saudi Arabia is the United States' main trading partner in the Middle East with US civilian and military exports valued at $5.9 billion and imports at $13.3 billion in 2001, according to official figures. The Kingdom is the second largest importer from the United States in the Middle East after Israel, but tops the list of exporters. (AFP)
5//The Independent 11 December 2002
http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/politics/story.jsp?story=360540
BLAIR
TO DISMISS UNION DEMANDS FOR CHANGES TO RECOGNITION LAW
By Andrew Grice, Political Editor
Tony Blair is to provoke another row with the trade unions by rejecting their demands for the Government to boost their power in the workplace.
After alienating many union bosses by taking a hard line in the firefighters' dispute, the Prime Minister will deepen the wounds by rejecting proposals by the Trades Union Congress to make it easier for unions to win the right to represent workers.
(SNIP)
The only concession to the unions is expected to be measures to ensure companies consult their workforce, which are required under a European Union directive.
Downing Street has taken a close interest in the review and is anxious not to upset the Confederation of British Industry, which has launched a high-profile campaign against the Government for increasing taxation and red tape on business.
Relations between the Government and the unions have sunk to a low ebb during the firefighters' dispute. Bill Morris, leader of the Transport and General Workers' Union, angered ministers this week by saying it was difficult to find the dividing line between Labour and the Tories.
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©
2002, Gloria R. Lalumia
insight@zianet.com
Updated listings of Radio for Progressives on the internet at http://www.zianet.com/insightanalytical
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