MEDIA REACTION BUSH/BLAIR UNDER FIRE; HARARE

UNCLAS HARARE 002275 SIPDIS DEPT FOR INR/R/MR, AF/PD, AF/S, AF/RA NSC FOR JENDAYI FRAZER LONDON FOR GURNEY PARIS FOR NEARY NAIROBI FOR PFLAUMER E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PREL KPAO KMDR ZI SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION BUSH/BLAIR UNDER FIRE; HARARE ¶1. Under headline "Blair, Bush terrorism must stop" the government-controlled daily "Chronicle" dedicated its October 12 editorial to ordering the British and American governments to stop meddling in the affairs of other countries. "We demand that Blair and Bush leave other countries to run their affairs without interference. All this euphoria to run other nations by remote control should stop," the newspaper directed. Excerpts: ¶2. "There is an adage that says a rolling stone gathers no moss. This sounds true for people like British Prime Minister Tony Blair who appears to be more obsessed with trying to overthrow foreign governments instead of addressing Britain's problems. . . Working together with another rabble-rouser American President, George W. Bush and organizations such as the European Union and the Commonwealth, Blair has sought to isolate Zimbabwe, impose covert sanctions on Harare with a view to forcing people to rebel against the Government. . . Together with Bush, Blair teamed up with rebel groups and ousted the Taliban administration in Afghanistan in an exercise that left a lot of people dead under the guise of fighting international terrorism. Now they are itching for Iraqi President Saddam Hussein who they also want ousted. . . It is ironic that Blair believes his crusade to use military force to remove other heads of states and replacing them with puppets is not terrorism. According to the Concise Oxford Dictionary a terrorist is, `A person who uses or favors violent and intimidating methods of coercing a government or community.' So the British and the American cousins want to fight what they call terrorism through terrorism? We demand that Blair and Bush leave other countries to run their affairs without interference. All this euphoria to run other nations by remote control should stop. . . ." SULLIVAN