Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
05LILONGWE345
2005-04-21 10:22:00
UNCLASSIFIED
Embassy Lilongwe
Cable title:  

MEDIA REACTION - IRAQ, LILONGWE

Tags:  KMDR KDEM KPAO MI 
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This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.
UNCLAS LILONGWE 000345 

SIPDIS

FOR AF/PD, AF/S, AF/RA

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: KMDR KDEM KPAO MI
SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION - IRAQ, LILONGWE

UNCLAS LILONGWE 000345

SIPDIS

FOR AF/PD, AF/S, AF/RA

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: KMDR KDEM KPAO MI
SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION - IRAQ, LILONGWE


1. "Talabani and the Greatness of the Kurdish
Soul"


2. The independent daily, "The Daily Times" of
April 20, 2005, carried an opinion piece by one
of Malawi's prominent writers, Jika Nkolokosa,
in his regular column "Take it or Leave it".
Nkolokosa writes that world leaders achieve
greatness by not seeking revenge against people
and government systems that oppressed them.
Excerpts follow.


3. One man who has caught my fancy is Jalal
Talabani, the Iraqi president who has said he
will not sign a death warrant for Saddam Hussein
should the courts sentence him to death.
Talabani is a Kurd, the tribe that Saddam
Hussein loved to persecute at the pinnacle of
his dictatorship. Lesser men would revel in the
opportunity to consign the detestable Butcher of
Baghdad to death.

But Talabani harbors the conviction that capital
punishment is wrong and will not wish it even
for his bitterest enemy. This is not to say he
believes that the courts should exonerate
Saddam, but that his life, as miserable as it
is, should be spared. He is also well aware
that he will not win the battle to spare Saddam,
as his two co-presidents will most likely
outvote him on the issue. What counts here is
that he has turned a personal conviction into a
principle he is not willing to compromise.

.Having said that, I must hasten to add that It
would be a very unfair world if everyone chose
to forgive every petty crook in the hope of
achieving a noble personality. The world is
full of petty crooks who must be brought to
book.

.on the other hand I do not condone what my West
African brothers gained notoriety for, cold-
blooded murder of their equally murderous
leaders.

Take it or leave it, it is almost an act of
sainthood to ignore one's own suffering and
ensure the comfort of those who would not
hesitate to cut one's throat.