MEDIA REACTION: MEETING OF IRAQI LEADERS NEAR AL

UNCLAS ABU DHABI 001842

SIPDIS

STATE FOR NEA/ARP; NEA/PPD; NEA/RA; INR/R/MR; PA;
INR/NESA; INR/B; IIP/G/NEA-SA
WHITE HOUSE FOR PRESS OFFICE; NSC
SECDEF FOR OASD/PA
USCINCCENT FOR POLAD
LONDON FOR GOLDRICH; PARIS FOR O'FRIEL

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: OIIP KMDR TC
SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION: MEETING OF IRAQI LEADERS NEAR AL
NASSERIYA SYRIA'S NEXT



1. SUMMARY: THE MEETING OF IRAQI LEADERS NEAR AL NASSERIYA,
IRAQI DEMONSTRATIONS IN BAGHDAD, MOSUL, AND AL NASSERIYA, AND
U.S. WARNINGS TO SYRIA DOMINATED COVERAGE IN UAE MEDIA.
SECRETARY POWELL'S FOREIGN PRESS CENTER REMARKS AND INTERNATIONAL

SIPDIS
CONDEMNATION OF THE LOOTING OF BAGHDAD'S MUSEUMS AND LIBRARIES
ALSO RECEIVED PROMINENT COVERAGE. MEANWHILE, THE POTENTIAL ROLE
OF ARAB COUNTRIES IN REBUILDING IRAQ WAS THE MAJOR THEME OF
TODAY'S EDITORIALS. AN "AL ITTIHAD" EDITORIAL URGED ARABS TO
RECOGNIZE THEIR RESPONSIBILITIES FOR IRAQ. IN "AL KHALEEJ,"
COLUMNIST KAMEL ZUHAIR ASSERTED THAT SECRETARY RUMSFELD WAS THE
ONLY PERSON TO DEFEND THE LOOTING IN IRAQ. END SUMMARY.


2. DUBAI-BASED BUSINESS-ORIENTED ARABIC DAILY "AL-BAYAN" CARRIED
A FRONT-PAGE ARTICLE THAT REPORTED DONALD RUMSFELD'S STATEMENTS
COMPARING THE LOOTING OF BAGHDAD'S MUSEUMS AND LIBRARIES TO
LOOTING OCCASIONALLY OCCURRING AT OR AFTER SPORTING EVENTS.


3. COMMENTING ON U.S. WARNINGS TO SYRIA AND URGING AN ARAB ROLE
IN CONFRONTING THESE THREATS, SHARJAH-BASED PAN-ARAB DAILY "AL-
KHALEEJ" EDITORIALIZED 4/16:

"... THE EARTHQUAKE IN IRAQ CREATED AN UNBALANCED SITUATION, BUT
THERE IS A CHANCE TO REUNITE ALL THAT HAVE BEEN SCATTERED, ALSO
THERE ARE ABILITIES AND CAPABILITIES FROM WHICH THEY CAN BENEFIT.
THE ARABS MUST REALIZE THAT SYRIA IS NOT THE ONLY TARGET, AND
THAT PROTECTING IT IS PROTECTING WHAT REMAINS ON A LONG AMERICAN-
ZIONIST LIST, REGARDLESS OF THE VIOLENT AND BRUTAL ATTACKS ...
OTHERWISE, THE IMPRISONING OF ARABS THAT BEGAN IN PALESTINE AND
CONTINUED TO IRAQ WILL NOT BE LIMITED TO ANY BORDERS."


4. DESCRIBING SECRETARY RUMSFELD AS "THE ENGINEER OF WAR,"
COLUMNIST KAMEL ZUHAIR WROTE IN "AL KHALEEJ" ON 4/16:

"... THE ONLY PERSON DEFENDING THE LOOTING AND STEALING IN IRAQ
WAS THE ENGINEER OF WAR, RUMSFELD, WHO FOR THE FOURTH TIME GOT
FED UP WITH THE MEDIA AND ITS TRANSMISSION OF NEWS AND PICTURES
... RUMSFELD STATED THAT IRAQ WILL MOVE FROM A POLICE STATE TO A
LIBERATED COMMUNITY THAT EXPRESSES ITSELF THROUGH LOOTING AND
STEALING. THE STRATEGIC THINKER RUMSFELD KNOWS EVERYTHING ABOUT
WARS OF OCCUPATION AND NOTHING ABOUT WARS FOR LIBERATION ..."


5. URGING AN ARAB ROLE IN REBUILDING IRAQ, SEMI-OFFICIAL ABU
DHABI-BASED ARABIC DAILY "AL-ITTIHAD" EDITORIALIZED 4/16:

"... IF ARAB COUNTRIES AND THEIR LEADES DON'T FAMILIARIZE
THEMSELVES WITH THEIR RESPONSIBILITIES, TO WHICH THEY ARE OBLIGED
BY BLOOD, RELIGION, LANGUAGE, AND HISTORICAL CONNECTIONS WITH
THEIR BROTHERS (IN IRAQ),THEN THE REBUILDING OF IRAQ
POLITICALLY, ECONOMICALLY, AND SOCIALLY IS IN DANGER. THIS
DANGER THREATENS NOT ONLY THE PEOPLE OF IRAQ BUT ALSO SYMBOLIZES
A GREAT ADVERSARY TO ARAB POWER AND ARAB CAPABILITIES, AT A TIME
WHEN ARABS ARE TRYING TO RISE IN THESE DARK MOMENTS FROM THEIR
STUMBLINGS THAT THREATENS THEIR PRESENT AND FUTURE."


6. IN A CLOSING STATEMENT, SALEM WROTE IN "AL-KHALEEJ" ON 4/16:

"BURNING THE 'DAR AL HEKMA' NATIONAL LIBRARY IN IRAQ, IN ADDITION
TO LOOTING AND BURNING THE REST OF THE LIBRARIES IN MOSUL AND
BASRA, IS NOT A RECKLESS ACTION AND SHOULD NOT BE INCLUDED IN THE
LIST OF LOOTING DONE BY BURGLARS AND THIEVES. THESE FIRES WERE
MEANT TO ERADICATE A CIVILIZATION AND CULTURE THAT GOES BACK
THOUSANDS OF YEARS ... IT IS A GREAT CRIME COMMITTED BY THE NEW
OCCUPIER IN ORDER TO DESTROY THE CULTURE AND HISTORY OF
MESOPOTAMIA AND GIVING BIRTH TO A NEW CULTURE FROM THE WOMB OF
OCCUPATION. WHAT HAPPENED MUST BE UNDERSTOOD IN THIS CONTEXT."


7. "AL KHALEEJ" CARRIED A FRONT-PAGE ARTICLE UNDER THE HEADLINE
"NEW AMERICAN CURRICULUM IN IRAQ ENDS PRIMACY OF THE ARABIC
LANGUAGE." DESPITE THE HEADLINE, THE ARTICLE EMPHASIZED THAT THE
PRIMARY U.S. AIM IS TO SEPARATE POLITICS FROM EDUCATION AND "DE-
BA'ATHIFY" THE CURRENT SYSTEM. THE ARTICLE REPORTED THAT THE NEW
U.S. SYSTEM WILL UTILIZE MULTIPLE LANGUAGES FOR INSTRUCTION AND
WILL REFORM CURRENT TEACHING METHODS AND CURRICULA. THE ARTICLE
ALLEGED THAT IRAQI STUDENTS WILL BE DEPRIVED FROM LEARNING THEIR
LINGUISTIC AND CULTURAL HISTORY.

WAHBA