MEDIA REACTION: UAE FNC ELECTIONS/RICE VISIT

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ABU DHABI 003877

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

STATE FOR NEA/ARP; NEA/PPD; NEA/RA; INR/R/MR; PA; INR/NESA; INR/B;
RRU-NEA
IIP/G/NEA-SA
WHITE HOUSE FOR PRESS OFFICE; NSC
SECDEF FOR OASD/PA
USCINCCENT FOR POLAD
LONDON FOR MCKUNE
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: OIIP KMDR TC
SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION: UAE FNC ELECTIONS/RICE VISIT


1. Summary: An article in "Al-Khaleej" is sarcastic about Rice's
visit stating that the US only serves Israel and thus will never
ever be any good to the Arabs. "Al-Bayan" states that the US puts
other priorities which do not serve peace in the region. Several
articles in "Al-Ittihad" and "Al-Bayan" discuss the Federal National
Council elections scheduled for December. End Summary.



2. Under the headline "Any thing left for compromise?",
Sharjah-based pan-Arab daily "Al-Khaleej" (circulation 90,000) wrote
in a 10/04 editorial:

"Poor Israel, she is so peaceful, so scared, and so desperate for
frequent visits from Secretary Rice so that the secretary can get
some encouraging compromises so that Israel can be satisfied with
the Arabs and continue in her march to peace which is always
interrupted by the Arab terrorists. Poor Israel, she offers
compromises, one after the other, yet, the Arabs insist on raping
her land, attacking her, and committing massacres continually. The
Arabs refuse Israel's offers for peace and security. Israel
deserves sympathy and she qualifies for genius record for her record
in humanity. This is what seems to be promoted by Rice and the
other American delegates in their visits and meetings. They call for
what they consider "incentives" for Israel. "Incentives" in the
American region-accredited dictionary means political compromises
which the Arabs have been offering since the 1970s. America
demands, the Arabs answer, and Israel is never satisfied.
Washington and its Zionist entity want to exploit the Arabs' bad
situation. They want to cancel the Palestinian cause... to uproot
the Arab-Zionist struggle in favor of Israel and at the expense of
Arabs, Palestine, and the other occupied Arab lands. American wants
to market the Zionist terror and considering it as moderate
position... And if the Arabs object they will be labeled
terrorists. Poor Arabs, if they continue to believe Rice' the
other's promises. Poor Arabs if they continue to offer compromises
and incentives because Washington's strategy is to deprive the Arabs
of everything. Poor Arabs if they continue to believe the Bush
administration's promises and lies. Whoever serves Israel and puts
their services at her disposal will never ever be any good to the
Arabs."


3. Under headline "Rice and priorities", Dubai-Based Arabic Daily
"Al-Bayan," (circulation 85,000) wrote a 10/04 editorial:

"The drastic internal Palestinian situation comes as an
unprecedented catastrophe. The fact that the US puts other
priorities over it does not serve peace or stability in the region.
It obviously does not serve the spread moderation so as to
effectively thwart extremism".



4. A UAE columnist, Mohammed Al-Hammadi, wrote a 10/04 op-ed in Abu
Dhabi-based semi-official Arabic-language daily "Al-Ittihad"
(circulation 65,000):

"... I believe that the phased transition policy adopted by the UAE
during the electoral process is important, although it did not meet
the high expectations of many people. One of the simplest benefits
of a transitional phase is that citizens can test at this stage
their rights to see to what extent their situation can change and
what their benefits are once they have obtained their transition to
democracy. If the results are positive, there is no doubt that
their participation in the next elections, which will be general,
will be bigger and more serious. If we want to know how much our
society would be democratic in the future, we must know how many of
the 6689 nominees believe in democracy; the higher the number, the
greater the hope to achieve greater democracy. Finally, we have to
thank the great efforts exerted by the workers of the Federal
National Council in the past few months to turn that dream of
elections into reality so as to have this important political
process succeed... Because this is the first experience, it is
expected that it will be under the microscope. Whatever the level
of satisfaction is, we must be convinced that everyone is required
to support such an experiment in order to have it successful."



5. A UAE columnist, Mohammed Khalfan Al Sowafi, wrote in a 10/04
op-ed in Abu Dhabi-based semi-official Arabic-language daily

ABU DHABI 00003877 002 OF 002


"Al-Ittihad" (circulation 65,000):

"... Preparations prior to elections can be understood as an open
opportunity to establish a base for a strong electoral culture in
the UAE and for delivering the required thoughts to the community by
an important segment serving the electoral process in the future.
Perhaps community involvement or the involvement of a large segment
of university students is like building the core infrastructure for
Electoral Action. It will allow elite students and others to
spearhead electoral work in a better way and will therefore
communicate their ideas in this regard to other members of society.
They would also work to raise public awareness of electoral work in
the next stage. The December elections represent a complete
experience of election work.... Some may consider the required
participation by youth as insubstantial when faced with the great
challenges experienced during this initial experience, specifically
in terms of time, but the importance of the contribution of
university students in the national action is significant. Instead
of merely spreading awareness among members of the electoral
community, this experience brings an integration between segments of
society; reflecting a large portion of the aspirations and dreams of
the youth..."



6. Under headline "Diverse Lists", a UAE columnist, Mara'a
Al-Helyan, wrote in a 10/04 op-ed in Dubai-Based Arabic Daily
"Al-Bayan," (circulation 85,000):

"We talked yesterday about how surprised some people were to see
their names on the UAE election lists. Many asked what they should
do next. Some started to use their names to maneuver and negotiate.
Some started to say that they are free to give their votes to
whoever they like. Of course they are free and that is the main
principle of democracy. Some are dreaming of a seat in the FNC, and
the glory of giving talks to their constituents. Some realize that
they need money, lots of it, to publicize their national programs.
What is surprising is that the artists found themselves off of the
lists. Later, very few names of artists were found in the lists.
Then, the singers and modern and classical Arabic poets found out
that they were not included in the lists. Just one or two names
were there. There were many folklore poets in the lists, however.
The lists include people of all ages, affiliations and academic
degrees. The lists did not have tribal conditions. That is why
they are so diverse. A friend of mine who has an advance degree in
law was in the list. He told me that he honestly did not know what
to do next. Initially, I thought of telling him that he needs at
least two million AED for the campaign but later I thought I better
not tell him this!"


SISON