MEDIA REACTION: IRAQ SECURITY ELECTIONS; BAGHDAD

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 BAGHDAD 002357

SIPDIS

STATE FOR INR/R/MR, NEA/PPD, NEA/PPA, NEA/AGS, INR/IZ,
INR/P
E.0. 12958: N/A
TAGS: OPRC KMDR KPAO IZ
SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION: IRAQ SECURITY ELECTIONS; BAGHDAD



1. SUMMARY: The major themes in the daily newspapers on
June.1 were the developments of the security and political
situations. END SUMMARY.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS
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A. "Accidental mistake" (Ad-Dustoor, June 1)

B. "In preparation for the upcoming elections" (Al-Mada,
June 1)

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SELECTED COMMENTARIES
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A. "Accidental mistake" (6/1)

Ad-Dustoor (independent) published a front-page editorial
by Bassem Al-Sheikh about the arrest of the Iraqi Islamic
Party leader:

"The improper arrest of Dr. Muhsin Abdul Hamid has proven
to be a mistake and the occupation forces were forced to
respond to the arrest by saying it was unintentional.
However, this arrest is a serious violation against Iraqi
political figures and groups. This is not the first
incident because many Iraqi politicians have been arrested
under weak pretexts. We noticed that the arrest came after
the Iraqi government announced its thanks to Dr. Hamid for
condemning the terrorist operations that target innocent
Iraqis. Dr. Hamid was arrested without reference to his
scientific, patriotic and political position. This
represents a direct disregard for human rights. Dr. Hamid
was insulted, arrested by mistake, but in the end, they
apologized to him. This story reminds me of the deposed
dictator who used to execute innocent Iraqis and later
realized that they were innocent. After he killed them, he
sent a handwritten apology to the victim's family as if
nothing unusual had happened. It seems that history has
started to repeat itself. We cannot believe that an
American force could conduct an early morning raid on a
house of a prominent figure like Dr. Hamid and then
consider the action as an unintentional mistake. It seems
that this arrest was an operational mistake based on
incorrect information. Indeed, if this is what really
happened this means that perhaps hundreds of detainees were
arrested according to wrong information and they are still
kept in custody. The Iraqi situation can not bear anymore
mistakes either intentional or unintentional."



B. "In preparation for the upcoming elections" (6/1)

Al-Mada (independent) published a last-page editorial by
Muhammad Sa'eed Al-Saghar about the upcoming Iraqi
elections:

"We have successfully held elections, formed a national
assembly and a new government. However, this accomplishment
was our dream and we did not want to make this dream come
true through a cesarean section. It is not our choice to
make Iraq suffer from the current ethnic and sectarian
crisis because this crisis is a result of the occupation.
Meanwhile, we have to call for national unity and we must
preserve social and national tolerance. Iraq has different
ethnicities and sects. No one group has the right to
control it by itself because Iraq is for all Iraqis. And
all Iraqis must have equal rights.

Before holding the upcoming elections the Iraqi people must
weigh in on the ethnic power-sharing experiment. This
experiment was the basis for establishing the new
government. We want the next elections to be based on
direct voting for the candidates. We do not want these
elections to be based on the electoral lists. These lists
may contain candidates we do not know about.

We want efficient and loyal candidates who protect the
interests of the people and the country. We want
candidates who will move Iraq away from sectarianism,
racism, and tyranny. We are all citizens of the new Iraq.
The government must guarantee the rights of all people.
This must be done by the law and not by people who have a
monopoly on information."

JEFFREY