Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
04MUSCAT2002
2004-11-17 09:56:00
UNCLASSIFIED
Embassy Muscat
Cable title:  

MUSCAT MEDIA REACTION: FALLUJAH, MIDDLE EAST, ARAFAT

Tags:  KPAO KMDR OIIP MU 
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UNCLAS MUSCAT 002002 

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR NEA/ARP (TROBERTS),NEA/PPD (CWHITTLESEY),NEA/P
(FFINVER),INR/R/MR
LONDON FOR GOLDRICH
PARIS FOR ZEYA
USCENTCOM FOR PLUSH
FOREIGN PRESS CENTER/ASILAS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: KPAO KMDR OIIP MU
SUBJECT: MUSCAT MEDIA REACTION: FALLUJAH, MIDDLE EAST, ARAFAT

-------------------
No Aid for Fallujah
-------------------

UNCLAS MUSCAT 002002

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR NEA/ARP (TROBERTS),NEA/PPD (CWHITTLESEY),NEA/P
(FFINVER),INR/R/MR
LONDON FOR GOLDRICH
PARIS FOR ZEYA
USCENTCOM FOR PLUSH
FOREIGN PRESS CENTER/ASILAS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: KPAO KMDR OIIP MU
SUBJECT: MUSCAT MEDIA REACTION: FALLUJAH, MIDDLE EAST, ARAFAT

--------------
No Aid for Fallujah
--------------


1. Privately-owned Arabic daily "Al-Watan" published an editorial
on November 16 under the headline "Weak on Humanitarianism":

"Recent U.S. military operations in Fallujah show a lack of
humanitarian concern on the part of those charged with executing
the military campaign. Innocent people are being killed. Some
press reports claim that serious human rights violations are
taking place. Others allege that there are no procedures in
place to protect unarmed civilians and that American forces
prevent aid organizations from entering the city. Media
broadcasts show dead bodies littering the streets. Amnesty
International has called upon the U.S. to abide by international
law and protect injured insurgents who are no longer able to
continue fighting, particularly after a British TV station
broadcast the killing of an injured Iraqi by an American soldier
on November 11."

--------------
Achieving Peace
--------------


2. An editorial appeared in the government-owned Arabic daily
"Oman" on November 14 entitled "The Need for Peace":

"Experience has shown that the use of force to resolve the
problems of the Middle East does not work. The events in Iraq
over the past year-and-a-half should make it clear to everyone
that military assaults are not the answer. The United States and
other world powers should pursue other options - new policies -
to resolve the region's conflicts. For example, America's
discussion of the Palestinian issue should not be theoretical.
It should be as concrete as possible, giving as much detail as
feasible about how the U.S. plans to advance the peace process,
particularly with regard to Israel's withdrawal from Palestinian
territories. The `War against Terror' has become a ruse to
justify the escalation in violence and the violation of human
rights. Without active international involvement and a just
resolution of the conflicts within the framework of international
law, there cannot be peace in the region."

--------------
End Of An Era
--------------


3. "Oman" also carried an editorial on November 13 entitled "The
Last Farewell":

"The Palestinian people, together with the Arab and Islamic
world, bid a final farewell to Palestinian leader Yasir Arafat.
He spent more than four decades trying to improve the situation
of his people. Firm in his belief in God and the fairness of his
cause, Arafat carried the sorrows and tragedies of the
Palestinians to all parts of the world, highlighting the tyranny
of the Israelis. Since his days as the president of the
Palestinian Student Union in Cairo, Arafat walked along this
difficult path. He left his people with a solid foundation for
the future. The widespread international respect given to Arafat
upon his death indicates that the world will continue to view the
Palestinians as living symbols of a people unjustly driven from
their land."

BALTIMORE