MEDIA REACTION ON WAR IN IRAQ

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 AMMAN 002155 SIPDIS STATE FOR NEA/ARN, NEA/PA, NEA/AIA, INR/NESA, R/MR, I/GNEA, B/BXN, B/BRN, NEA/PPD, NEA/IPA FOR ALTERMAN USAID/ANE/MEA LONDON FOR GOLDRICH PARIS FOR O'FRIEL E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: KMDR JO SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION ON WAR IN IRAQ Summary -- Papers published today, April 9, are almost entirely dedicated to coverage of and reaction to the death of Al-Jazeera TV reporter, Tareq Ayyoub, a Jordanian, and other reporters yesterday as a result of fighting in Baghdad. Ayyoub is portrayed as a "martyr of the search for truth" and "a victim of American brutality that wants to silence witnesses to American and British crimes against Iraq and the Iraqi people." Strongly worded headlines and commentaries describe the reporters' deaths as a "massacre", such Al-Arab Al-Yawm's headline, which reads: "The Invaders Execute a Massacre Against Witnesses in Baghdad". Strongly-worded commentaries condemn Ayyoub's "killing" and say that his "blood is on the hands of the invaders". Editorial Commentary -- "A crime in Baghdad" Daily columnist Nahed Hattar writes on the op-ed page of independent, mass-appeal Arabic daily Al-Arab Al- Yawm (04/09): "The Americans are going to pay a political price for committing the murder of our colleague, the martyr Tareq Ayyoub. All efforts exerted by the American Embassy in Amman to establish relations with Jordanian journalists died with the death of Tareq. The martyrdom of Tareq Ayyoub is a heinous crime against Jordanian journalists. The American invaders have outdone the Nazis and the Zionists by cowardly targeting representatives of the Arab and international media in Baghdad. Is it enough to say that it is a flagrant and barbaric violation of international accords that ban the targeting of the media during wars? And yet, this aggressive and colonialist war was launched in the first place out of a clear violation of international legitimacy and of the right-wing recklessness with international and Arab public opinion." -- "Tareq Ayyoub: a martyr of the battle of Baghdad" Chief Editor Taher Udwan writes on the back page of independent, mass-appeal Arabic daily Al-Arab Al-Yawm (04/09): "The martyrdom of colleague Tareq Ayyoub confirms the fact that the media is not neutral, and that, particularly in this war, should not be. Tareq Ayyoub, the correspondents of Al-Jazeera and other Arab satellite stations in Baghdad, are enemies in the eyes of the invading forces, because they are Arabs and because the public opinion that they belong to and seek to address is an Arab public opinion.. The fall of Tareq Ayyoub as a martyr at the hands of the invading forces must push Arab media representatives and the representatives of Arab satellite stations to take the side of their nation and of the blood of the martyrs of this nation. Baghdad today is not much different from Ramallah or Gaza or Hebron or Jenin or Nablus when they fall under the fire of Israeli bombing. Just as Arab journalists and media professionals who belong to their nation and their doctrines must not stand `neutral or objective' when covering the crimes of the Israeli occupation in the West Bank and Gaza, this `neutrality or objectivity' would neither be understood nor accepted when in it comes to covering the crimes of a foreign invasion of an Arab country, so that an American General can rule and lays the foundation for an American-Zionist empire over the lands of Arab and Islam." -- "Tareq's blood is on the hands of the invaders" Daily columnist Urayb Rintawi writes on the op-ed page of center-left, influential Arabic daily Al-Dustour (04/09): "The blood of Tareq Ayyoub, who fell a martyr yesterday, is on the hands of the leaders of the coalition in London and Washington. No words of sorrow or apology will do, not ready-made accusations that try to acquit those responsible for his blood or the blood of hundreds of Iraqis who fell victims by the bullets of guns and by the shrapnel of the American missile attacks all around Iraq." -- "The enemies of the press, the enemies of the truth and Tareq Ayyoub, the symbol of the noble profession" Semi-official, influential Arabic daily Al-Rai (04/09) editorializes: "We did not need all this terror, targeting and recklessness with which the reporters covering the American-British invasion of Baghdad were faced, to prove that the invaders have had it with the media, apart, of course, from that media that is with them, who abide by their strict and programmed instructions.. For the killers to say that they were shot at from the Palestine hotel that was targeted by the bombing, while all the journalists were denying that, is a mark of shame to be added to disgrace that they afflicted upon themselves when they shed the blood of innocent media people." -- "Tareq Ayyoub: your role harassed them and so they killed you" Daily columnist Sultan Hattab writes on the op-ed page of semi-official, influential Arabic daily Al-Rai (04/09): "Killing our colleague Tareq Ayyoub is a clear message against the new changes in the Arab media that are represented by the active Arab satellite stations, such as Al-Jazeera and Abu Dhabi TVs. What Tareq Ayyoub said in his last report from Baghdad was sufficient for the circles of American aggression to kill him.. Tareq exposed them and so they killed him, because whoever is not with them is their enemy. Bush said that and now his forces are saying it too." GNEHM