MEDIA REACTION WAR IN IRAQ; HARARE

UNCLAS HARARE 000714

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR AF/PDPA FOR DALTON, MITCHELL AND SIMS
IRAQ PD FOR SMITH, PINESS AND ROOKARD
NSC FOR JENDAYI FRAZER
LONDON FOR GURNEY
PARIS FOR NEARY
NAIROBI FOR PFLAUMER

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: IZ PREL KPAO KMDR ZI
SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION WAR IN IRAQ; HARARE



1. Under headline "Give Iraqis the peace they
deserve" the government-controlled daily "Chronicle"
used its April 10 editorial to accuse the United States
and Britain of "butchering" journalists "at will" in
the ongoing war to free Iraq. Excerpts:


2. "A bloodbath of calamitous proportions is taking
its toll on Iraqi citizens. . .in the ongoing illegal
war in the Gulf. . . While the Americans and British
have continued to celebrate the success of their air
strikes, what they fail to notice is that the rest of
the world is restless, and the anger is building up
against the two countries' leaders over their open
defiance of all nations of the world just to build up
their egos. . . While some of the newspapers openly
supported the attack on Iraq, no one should celebrate
the death of journalists, though their deaths should
save as a wake-up call to the countries involved in the
war. . . The same Americans and British are always
singing and chastising other countries over their
treatment of journalists that they are butchering at
will in the Gulf. . ."

SULLIVAN