MEDIA REACTION: IRAQ/TERRORIST ATTACKS

UNCLAS ABU DHABI 001966

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 ZEYA
LONDON -PLEASE PASS TO MOC
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: OIIP KMDR TC
SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION: IRAQ/TERRORIST ATTACKS



1. SUMMARY: THE DETERIORATING SECURITY SITUATION IN IRAQ AND
THE CONTINUOUS TERRORIST ATTACKS IN SAUDI ARABIA DOMINATED
COVERAGE IN LOCAL PRINT AND ELECTRONIC MEDIA. AN EDITORIAL IN
"AL BAYAN" NOTED THAT THE "ANGLO-AMERICAN" OCCUPATION IS THE
REASON BEHIND ALL THE BLOODSHED IN IRAQ. UAE COLUMNIST DR.
ABDULLAH AL SWAIHI POINTED OUT IN HIS ARTICLE IN "AL KHALEEJ"
THAT ARABS DON'T ONLY NEED DEMOCRATIC REFORM BUT ALSO MORAL
REFORM. ANOTHER EDITORIAL IN "AL BAYAN" COMMENTED ON THE
TERRORIST ATTACKS AND NOTED THAT THESE ATTACKS HAVE NOTHING TO DO
WITH ISLAM OR MUSLIMS. END SUMMARY.


2. UNDER THE HEADLINE "A BLOODY TRAGEDY WITH NO END," DUBAI-BASED
BUSINESS-ORIENTED "AL BAYAN" EDITORIALIZED 06/15:(CIRCULATION
30,000)

"UNTIL WHEN WILL THE BLOODSHED CONTINUE AS A DAILY SCENE IN IRAQ?
WHO IS RESPONSIBLE FOR STOPPING THESE TRAGIC SCENES THAT SCARE
EVERYONE WHO SEES THEM FROM INSIDE OR OUTSIDE IRAQ?. THE IRAQI
PEOPLE ARE THE ONLY ONES PAYING THE PRICE AND SUFFERING BECAUSE
OF THE ANGLO-AMERICAN OCCUPATION, THAT OCCUPATION THAT BROUGHT
CHAOS AND BRUTALITY. WHAT HAS BEEN HAPPENING IN THE LAST TWENTY
FOUR HOURS ARE NOT ACTS OF RESISTANCE, WILL THE RESISTANCE ACCEPT
CIVIL VICTIMS?"


3. COMMENTING ON THE ON-GOING TERRORIST ATTACKS IN SAUDI ARABIA,
"AL BAYAN" EDITORIALIZED 06/14:

"IT IS NOT POSSIBLE THAT THOSE KILLERS WHO ARE PLAYING AROUND
WITH SAUDI ARABIA'S SECURITY ARE PART OF ISLAM, WHICH IS A
RELIGION OF PEACE AND SERENITY. ALL THESE TERRORIST ACTS SERVE
ONLY THE ZIONISTS AND WHOEVER IS SUPPORTING THEM IN ORDER TO
DISTORT THE PICTURE OF ISLAM AND MUSLIMS. WHOEVER PLAYS WITH THE
SECURITY OF HIS COUNTRY DOES NOT DESERVE TO BE PART OF THIS
COUNTRY, HE IS A TRAITOR AND SHOULD BE PUNISHED."


4. NOTING THAT WHAT WE ARABS NEED IS NOT ONLY DEMOCRATIC REFORM
BUT MUCH MORE, UAE COLUMNIST DR. ABDULLAH AL SWAIHI WROTE IN
SHARJAH-BASED ARABIC DAILY "AL-KHALEEJ" ON 06/14:

"WE AS ARABS AND HUMAN BEINGS NEED MORAL REFORM AND NOT
DEMOCRACY, WE NEED A JUST IMAM, JUDGE, AND PARENT. WHAT IS THE
KIND OF REFORM THAT THE ARABS NEED?. POLITICAL REFORM DOES NOT
ALWAYS LEAD TO JUSTICE. REFORM IS A MORAL PROCEDURE; MORALS OF
POLITICS, ECONOMICS, SOCIETY, LAW, AND JUSTICE. THE ARAB LEADERS
SHOULD START SAYING THE RIGHT THING IN ORDER FOR REFORM TO
START."


5. COMMENTING ON THE WHOLE WORLD'S RESENTMENT OF THE OCCUPATION
OF IRAQ, "AL BAYAN" EDITORIALIZED 06/13:

". ALL THE RESENTMENT AGAINST THE WAR IN THE WHOLE WORLD SHOULD
PUSH THE WAR MAKERS TO LEAVE IRAQ QUICKLY. THE OCCUPATION IN
IRAQ WILL JUST BRING MORE BLOODSHED THAT LEADS TO THE DEATH OF A
LOT OF CIVILIANS AND MORE RESISTANCE TOWARDS THE PEOPLE WHO
CAUSED THE WAR."


6. UAE COLUMNIST ABDULLAH RASHEED WROTE AN ARTICLE IN ABU DHABI-
BASED SEMI-GOVERNMENT "AL ITTIHAD" ON 06/13 CRITICIZING THE ARAB
LEADERS WHO ARE ASKING FOR REFORM FROM THE INSIDE:

". THE ARAB INSISTANCE ON REFORM FROM THE INSIDE AND NOT FROM
THE OUTSIDE IS EXPECTED, BECAUSE THE REGIMES DO NOT BELIEVE IN
REFORM AND DO NOT WANT IT. WHEN THEY REJECT OUTSIDE PRESSURES,
IT IS BECAUSE THEY KNOW FOR A FACT THAT THEY HAVE NO INTERNAL
PRESSURES ASKING FOR REFORM. THE ARAB COUNTRIES KEEP REPEATING
THAT THEY DO NOT REFORM FROM THE OUTSIDE BECAUSE THE REGIMES
CAN'T ABIDE BY REAL DEMOCRACY."

WAHBA