KUWAIT MEDIA REACTION - IRAQ AFTER ZARQAWI'S DEATH AND HIS

UNCLAS KUWAIT 002323 SIPDIS SIPDIS STATE FOR NEA/ARP, NEA/PA, NEA/AIA, NEA/PI, INR/NESA, R/MR, I/GNEA, B/BXN, B/BRN, NEA/PPD, NEA/IPA FOR ALTERMAN LONDON FOR TSOU PARIS FOR ZEYA E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: OPRC KMDR PTER KDEM PGOV IZ KU TERRORISM SUBJECT: KUWAIT MEDIA REACTION - IRAQ AFTER ZARQAWI'S DEATH AND HIS FOLLOWERS Block Quotes -------------- Friday, June 16, 2006 -- Amar Taqi commented in moderate Arabic daily Al-Rai Al-Aam under the title "Al-Zarqawi and the Conspiracy Theory" (6/16): "Those who cried over Zarqawi are the very same people who cried over the former Iraqi dictator and were sympathetic. It is the same case for the pan-Arab satellite channels that set aside all the crimes and massacres Zarqawi committed against civilians and turned their attention to, according to conspiracy theories, looking into the 'truth' behind the timing of Zarqawi's killing and the completion of the formation of the Iraqi government and the American-Iranian ease. Iraq won its first round against terrorism. There is no doubt that Zarqawi's death is a step for Iraqis in the direction of guaranteeing their country's future and its unity. Therefore, the Iraqi government must take advantage before the opportunity passes and work to unite Iraqis and dismantle the infrastructure of the terrorist cells, Baathists, and Zarqawists, who even after the demise of 'their leader who taught them sorcery' (a verse from the Quran) carry out their destruction in Iraq." -- Ahmed Bu Dostoor stated in moderate Arabic daily Al-Watan under the title "Mecca's People Know Its Streets" (6/15): "Iraq is witnessing a new era following the absence of the head of terrorism, the butcher Al-Zarqawi, who inflicted all kinds of torture upon Iraqis and spread destruction and mayhem in Iraqi cities. However, God watches over his subjects and for all things, there is an end.... We say to the terrorists who follow Zarqawi and other Takfiris, your end is near and your vanishing close so lift your hands from Iraq and its people." ********************************************* * For more reporting from Embassy Kuwait, visit: http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/nea/kuwait/?cable s Visit Kuwait's Classified Website: http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/nea/kuwait/ ********************************************* * TUELLER