Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
03AMMAN2155
2003-04-09 14:08:00
UNCLASSIFIED
Embassy Amman
Cable title:  

MEDIA REACTION ON WAR IN IRAQ

Tags:  KMDR JO 
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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