MEDIA REACTION ON IRAQI ELECTIONS, MEHLIS

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 AMMAN 009740 SIPDIS STATE FOR NEA/ARN, NEA/PA, NEA/AIA, INR/NESA, R/MR, I/GNEA, B/BXN, B/BRN, NEA/PPD, NEA/IPA FOR ALTERMAN USAID/ANE/MEA LONDON FOR TSOU E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: KMDR JO SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION ON IRAQI ELECTIONS, MEHLIS REPORT, TORTURE SUMMARY LEAD STORIES FOCUSED ON A NUMBER OF ISSUES THAT INCLUDE THE START OF PARLIAMENTARY DELIBERATIONS ON THE GOVERNMENT PROGRAM, EUROPE'S THREAT TO STOP AID TO THE PNA IF HAMAS MADE ANY ELECTION VICTORIES, AND DEMONSTRATIONS BY FAMILIES OF JORDANIAN PRISONERS IN ISRAEL DEMANDING FREEDOM FOR THE PRISONERS. EDITORIAL COMMENTARIES Iraqi elections Who opposes Arab elections? Yasser Abou Hilaleh wrote in the independent, centrist and widely circulated Arabic daily Al-Ghad on Sunday December 16: "With the exception Al-Qaeda at the Rafidain, I have read no statement or article that opposes the process of elections in principle. Al-Qaeda considers elections to be a violation of the Divine prerogative to lay down the law. Others, who criticize elections express dissatisfaction with the mechanism or with the results. Yet the U.S. is unhappy with the results of elections, a position that they expressed openly regarding the victory of Hamas, and left unannounced regarding the results of the Egyptian and Iraqi elections. But what the Americans keep secret, their writers in the region boast unashamedly in their writings. We read in the Arab press some writers who reject elections because they might bring Islamists and who thank God that Rumsfeld does not appoint these people as officers in his army because they would send the F16s to strafe polling stations. It seems that Al- Qaeda is not the only party that rejects elections on principle, i.e. as a challenge of the Divine right to lay down the law. Some people that the U.S. is the sole party that has this prerogative and they do not accept that it should share it with anyone." Mehlis Report The Mirage of the Investigation Committee: Prominent daily columnist Rakan Al-Majali wrote in the center- left, influential, pro-Palestinian Arabic daily Al- Dustour: "The second report of the commission investigating the assassination of the late Rafiq Al- Hariri did not produce any fresh or conclusive evidence, so it was necessary to extend its mandate by six more months, with a reference to the possibility of extending it further by a fourth term of six months. And with the passage of time the prospects become small of any dramatic revelations coming to the fore that make it possible to discover the truth. The work of the international investigating commission has turned from a legal investigation aiming to bring to justice individuals or groups that committed a crime into a political report the loosely tries the Syrian and Lebanese regimes. In short, everyone is embroiled in a political struggle in Lebanon and around it, and the extension of the commission's mandate has one clear purpose, to keep the sword of Damocles hanging over the head of Syria and others in the region, to everyone's detriment." Torture Torturing for democracy: wait for Bush's decision: Mwaffaq Mahadin wrote in the independent, populist, opposition Arabic daily Al-Arab Al-Yawm on Sunday 16: "The American Congress has just completed a debate on the torture practiced by American investigators on suspects and detainees in matters related to terrorism, and recommended that such practices should be limited and subjected to judicial supervision. It is most likely that President Bush will refuse the recommendation and reveal the true face of the U.S. as a savage empire that does not refrain from committing torture in the name of democracy. It is true that George Bush is the one who does not lie regarding his country's true policies and methods, and we should believe him more than the "democratic minority" that believes, with reason, that the President and his clique have inflicted serious damage to the image of the blond and blue-eyed Yankee. But this new reputation is real." RUBINSTEIN