UNCLAS KUWAIT 003550

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
LONDON FOR TSOU
PARIS FOR ZEYA

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: OPRC KMDR KPAO XF KU MEDIA REACTION

SUBJECT: KUWAIT MEDIA REACTION - SYRIA, ISRAEL, AND LEBANON

Block Quotes
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Sunday, September 3, 2006

-- On the front page of pro-government Arabic daily Al-Seyassah and
under the title "The Lie and Denial Regime" Editor-in-chief Ahmed
Al-Jarallah penned (9/3):

"Syrian President Dr. Bashar Al-Assad recently promised UN Secretary
General Kofi Annan to redraw Syria's borders with Lebanon, exchange
diplomatic representatives, and help patrol the borders between the
two countries to end the smuggling of weapons to Hezbollah.
Al-Assad also pledged to comply with UN resolution 1701. However,
the Syrian President's promises vanished into thin air when the
Information Minister of Syria said, 'Al-Assad's pledges will be
implemented under suitable circumstance.' This means Al-Assad has
two faces and speaks two languages."

-- "Does Israel Want Peace?" was the title of Yakoub Yousef
Al-Omar's piece in progressive Arabic daily Al-Qabas in which he
contended (9/3)":

"The plain clear truth should make Arab leaders realize Zionists'
aspirations to acquire Arab lands. Thus they must present a unified
position, work among themselves and not depend on others to present
to the international community an Arab plan for peace. And if their
plan were rejected by Israel or any of its supporters, then they
should then move to the next stage of conflict, be it political or
economic."

-- Under the title "Did the Master Make a Mistake?" Salah Al-Fadly
questioned in moderate Arabic daily AlRai Al-Aam (9/3):

"What does Mr. Hassan Nasrallah's confession of miscalculation mean?
Is it a declaration of losing? Or is it an expression of moral
responsibility towards the victims of the war in answer to those who
accuse Hezbollah of not caring about people killed and houses
destroyed saying that it was simply carrying out Iranian or Syrian
orders?"

-- Conservative Dr. Sajed Al-Abdali, M.D. and political activist
penned in moderate Arabic daily Al-Rai Al-Aam under the title "The
Master's Confession" (9/3):

"Mr. Hassan did not confess to making a mistake, as some are saying.
He simply reminded us of the reality that the Arab and Islamic
world lacks leaders of such honesty."

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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/
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