MEDIA REACTION IRAQ; HARARE

UNCLAS HARARE 000512 SIPDIS DEPT FOR AF/PDPA FOR DALTON, MITCHELL AND SIMS 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 IRAQ; HARARE ¶1. Under headline "Iraq issue hits at core of U.S., UK's democratic claims" the March 12 edition of the independent daily "The Daily News" carried an op-ed by Dida Halake, in which he urged the United States and Britain to show consideration for the outpouring of world opinion against a war on Iraq. "Whatever happens in Iraq, it would indeed be a tragedy if the world's Defender of Democracy (the U.S.) and the Mother of Democracy (the UK),were to ride roughshod over anti-war opinions of their own people and those of the rest of the world," Halake stated. Excerpts: ¶2. "It is war, rather than love, that is occupying people's minds right across the world. In over 600 cities, from Stockholm to Sydney and from Tokyo to New York, millions and millions of people marched against war on Valentine's Day. This was the biggest demonstration on a single issue the world has ever seen. . . The world has sent a clear message: If Tony Blair and George Bush go to war, without a new U.N. Security Council authorization, then this is just Blair and Bush's war. The casualty will not only be the innocents of Iraq, but also the U.N. and the majority of the peoples of America, Britain and the rest of the world. Powerful rulers will have proved that the opinions of their own people and the world do not matter and that democracy is a shame. Whatever happens in Iraq, it would indeed bee be a tragedy of the world's Defender of Democracy (the U.S.) and the Mother of Democracy (the UK),were to ride roughshod over the clearly anti-war opinions of their own people and those of the rest of the world." SULLIVAN