KUWAIT SPECIAL MEDIA REACTION - HARIRI

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 KUWAIT 004654

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 POL
PARIS FOR POL

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: OPRC KPAO IZ KMDR KU
SUBJECT: KUWAIT SPECIAL MEDIA REACTION - HARIRI
ASSASSINATION INVESTIGATION

Summary
--------------


1. The Kuwaiti Arabic print media exhibited views from both
sides of the spectrum concerning the International
Independent Investigation Commission's report and what may
subsequently result from its discussion in the United
Nations Security Council. Opinions on the subject varied
from supporting the findings of the investigation and those
involved in preparing it to calling the results of the
report untrue and politicized.

Selected Headlines
--------------


2. Tuesday, October 25, 2005

-- Al-Rai Al-Aam p. 33: "Blazy calls on Syria to cooperate
with Mehlis"; p. 35: "The gray report"; "Ended where he
began"
-- Al-Watan p. 47: "December 15th is the last chance: Syria
has choice with little room for maneuvering"


3. Wednesday, October 26, 2005

-- Al-Qabas p. 29: "Al-Hariri is not an athlete"
-- Al-Watan front page: "Bush: Diplomacy before the military
option. Security Council: cooperation or sanctions"
-- Al-Seyassah front page: "Bush accuses Syrian officials of
killing Al-Hariri. Mehlis does not rule out questioning Al-
Asad personally"
-- Al-Rai Al-Aam p. 19: "Syria in the circle of danger. Will
it make the painful decisions?"


4. Friday, October 28, 2005

-- Al-Watan p. 25: "Syrian protests do not stop
international procedures"


5. Saturday, October 29, 2005

-- Al-Seyassah front page: "Mubarak to Al-Asad: No one
trusts the Syrian regime"
-- Al-Seyassah p. 32: "Mehlis and the search for the truth"
-- Al-Qabas front page: "Larson: Al-Asad said to me that Al-
Hariri is playing dirty roles against us and Ghazala
represents me in Lebanon"
-- Al-Rai Al-Aam p. 35: "The missing Syrian story, rather
stories"


6. Sunday, October 30, 2005

-- Al-Qabas front page: "Al-Asad forms investigation
committee to investigate those linked to Al-Hariri's
assassination"
-- Al-Watan p. 53: "The Syrian predicament between the Iraqi
and Libyan models"
-- Al-Seyassah front page: "Syrian deployment at the
Lebanese border to support Palestinian factions"
-- Al-Rai Al-Aam p. 20: "The Syrian Samurai. and the
struggle of the security forces"

Block Quotes
--------------


7. Tuesday, October 25, 2005

-- Amna Al-Mosawi wrote for moderate Al-Rai Al-Aam under the
title "The gray report": "After months of investigation, the
Mehlis report finally looks like a deformed newborn coming
out of the womb of politicization at one end and the lack of
the needed professionalism at the other. It fell right into
the gray zone where it did not prove the guilt of any party,
nor did it prove the innocence of any party.

-- Dr. Jasim Al-Fuhaid also wrote for Al-Rai Al-Aam "Ended
where he began"; "The conclusions to which the international
committee investigating the assassination of the former
Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq Al-Hariri arrived were no
surprise. The German judge did not succeed in presenting a
convincing report, one that is supported by strong evidence.
The United States is not in a hurry to finalize the Syrian
situation so it will let it cook on a slow fire or at least
until it is able to free itself from the Iraq and
Afghanistan quagmires."


8. Wednesday, October 26, 2005

-- Under the headline "Al-Hariri is not an athlete," Ali
Ahmed Al-Baghli wrote for moderate Al-Qabas: "I invite all
those for whom the Mehlis' report was not to their liking
and claimed that it is politicized to read reports by any
Arab intelligence gathering agency. They will see the
recurrence of phrases such as `came to my knowledge,' .or `a
secret source told me.' Mehlis' report did not have any

SIPDIS
such phrases. It presented all the evidence and reasons for
the accusation of the security apparatuses of Syria and
Lebanon. Al-Hariri was a politician, his assassination was
political, and there is no reason why the report on his
assassination should not be political."

-- Shaaban Aboud wrote for moderate Al-Rai Al-Aam under the
title "Syria in the circle of danger. Will it make the
painful decisions?": "Eminent danger lays in Mehlis squarely
placing responsibility for the assassination on Syria's and
Lebanon's security apparatuses shoulders. The question
today is whether or not Syrian diplomats will be able to
handle this dangerous detrimental twist. Damascus is at a
crossroads, it seems to be the final test. While we must
remember that the report did provide for a diplomatic
solution through stating that it was not final."


9. Friday, October 28, 2005

-- Abdul Mohsen Al-Hussainy wrote for Al-Watan under the
title "Syrian protests do not stop international
procedures": "Student and workers' unions in Syria organized
protests before even the United Nations Security Council
discussed the Mehlis report. Syrian officials, one of whom
is the Minister of Information, spoke out with claims that
the report is part of a Zionist imperialist conspiracy
against Syria. Syria should have learned its lesson by
observing what happened to Iraq and how Libya sensed how
dangerous the situation was and gave up its weapons of mass
destruction."


10. Saturday, October 29, 2005

-- Hamza Al-Shmaikhy wrote for the pro-government daily Al-
Seyassah under the title "Mehlis and the search for the
truth": "The report presented by the international judge
Mehlis contains evidence and information that Arabs with
influence in Lebanon are behind the assassination and not
others as some people had wanted. The truth will come out no
matter how long it takes and the blood of the victims will
not be wasted so long as there are honest ones from out
region and our world who demand the truth."

-- Shaaban Aboud for moderate Al-Rai Al-Aam wrote under the
title "The missing Syrian story, rather stories": "He who
reads the Syrian position on the assassination of the
Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq Al-Hariri and after examining
what occurred in Iraq prior to the invasion may see that
Damascus is right to claim that Washington is replaying the
same scenario again and preparing to invade Syria. Syria has
much work ahead of it as the belief of innocence, public
demonstration, or the support of some is not enough."


11. Sunday, October 30, 2005

-- Dr. Abduallh Khalifa Al-Shaiji wrote for daily Al-Watan
under the headline "The Syrian predicament between the Iraqi
and Libyan models": "The decision to assassinate Al-Hariri
could not have been taken without the consent of high
ranking Syrian security officials. Syria is weak and
surrounded quickly losing its strategic weight. This will be
the reasons for having it follow the Libyan model but with a
much shorter time frame, avoiding the Iraqi scenario because
it is not viable for the US. It would widen the conflict
zone to span from the Mediterranean to Afghanistan and from
Turkey to the Gulf. Syria does not have many options at its
disposal."

-- Dr. Mufeed Al-Sawaf wrote for moderate Al-Rai Al-Aam
under the headline "The Syrian Samurai.and the struggle of
the security forces": "General Ghazi Kanaan died, killed
himself, or was assassinated. His adversaries described him
as the brightest most powerful, most dangerous man in the
Middle East. He was responsible for stopping the Lebanese
civil war and preventing the division of Lebanon as well as
contributing to the establishment of executive, ministerial,
and parliamentary institutions in Lebanon. The results of
the lying, cheating, and manipulative Mehlis investigation,
with the leak of his analysis, completed the Hollywood-like
scene at the United Nations."

LEBARON