MUSCAT MEDIA REACTION: FALLUJAH, MIDDLE EAST, ARAFAT

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