MEDIA REACTION: FERNANDEZ COMMENTS, DPRK NUCLEAR PROGRAM,

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 MUSCAT 001535

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

STATE FOR NEA/ARP, NEA/PPD, NEA/PI, AND INR/R/MR
STATE PASS USTR FOR N. MOORJANI, J. BUNTIN
LONDON FOR TSOU
PARIS FOR ZEYA
USCENTCOM FOR PLUSH
FOREIGN PRESS CENTER FOR SILAS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: OIIP KPAO KMDR MU
SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION: FERNANDEZ COMMENTS, DPRK NUCLEAR PROGRAM,
IRAQI DEATH STATISTICS, IRAQ DETAINEE TREATMENT, DEFINITION OF
TERRORISM


1. SUMMARY: Alberto Fernandez's Al-Jazeera remarks received
extensive coverage in local press; government-owned "Oman Daily
Observer" ran positive pictures of U.S. soldiers and Iraqi children;
private daily "Al-Shabiba" criticized the "double standards" of
U.S. policy on Israeli and North Korean nuclear programs and
disputed U.S. statistics on Iraqi civilian casualties; state Arabic
daily "Oman" condemned U.S. treatment of Iraqi detainees; private
Arabic daily "Al-Watan" awkwardly parsed the differences between
terrorists and criminals. END SUMMARY.

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COVERAGE
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2. Each of Oman's Arabic-language dailies and the English-language
"Times of Oman" (privately owned, circulation 25,000) reported NEA's
Alberto Fernandez's remarks on Iraq. The "Times" drew on Reuters
coverage, as did the Arabic "Al-Watan" (privately owned, circulation
42,000). "Al-Watan" also carried an editorial that mentioned the
remarks (Para xxx). "Oman" (government-owned, circulation 38,000)
front-paged its coverage, compiled from wire services, as did
"Al-Shabiba," (youth-oriented, privately owned, circulation
20,000).


3. The "Observer" printed positive pictures of U.S. soldiers
interacting with Iraqi children this week. (Comment: this is very
likely a conscious move, of a kind seen occasionally in Oman, by the
state press to dampen anti-American sentiment in the country. End
Comment.)

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BLOCK QUOTES: "FAILED" IRAQ GOALS
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4. On October 28, "Al-Watan" commented on remarks by Alberto
Fernandez in an editorial headlined "Witnesses from their Own
Household":

"The situation is increasingly deteriorating and has even become
worse for America and Britain. This is due to several factors: the
military intervention in Iraq and Afghanistan, the continuous and
unconditional support for Israel, the sluggishness in taking
practical measures to find a fair solution to the Palestinian issue,
and the loss of reliability of Western proposals regarding human
rights, freedom, and democracy. All these have made Washington and
London lose their campaigns to 'win the hearts and minds' of Arabs
and Muslims, and at the same time escalated the rate of threats of
'Islamic Terrorism' against Western interests, whether inside or
outside the concerned countries. All this explains an increasing
awareness in the Western countries that the war in Iraq has failed
to achieve its declared goals, as evidenced by the statement of U.S.
State Department public diplomacy official Alberto Fernandez, who
said that 'arrogance and stupidity' had characterized his country's
Iraq policy. Despite his later written apology, his direct chief,
Karen Hughes, Undersecretary of State, has also admitted that some
mistakes have been made that increased terrorist threats. British
Interior Minister John Reed has admitted the same, although he used
to deny such incidents when he was in government handling the
defense portfolio."
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DOUBLE STANDARDS ON NORTH KOREA
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5. On October 28, youth-oriented, privately owned "Al-Shabiba"
wrote about "The North Korean Nuclear Test and the U.S. Challenge:"

"The North Korean nuclear test has caused much confusion for the
U.S. president's administration, which is principally occupied with
the Iranian nuclear issue. It has also confused U.S. allies and may
even have increased Iran's obstinacy and insistence on enriching
uranium. It might also have increased the possibility of more
cooperation between Iran and North Korea in the nuclear field. This
means that the Republican Party's popularity might deteriorate
further with the approach of November's midterm congressional
elections. Hence, the Democratic Party would gain more support
against President Bush's Party. UN Resolution 1718, which calls on
Pyongyang to get rid of all nuclear weapons, is a very difficult
matter and constitutes double standards. Israel possesses more than
400 nuclear warheads, in addition to nuclear ballistic missiles, but
no UN Security Council resolution has ever condemned it. The path
has now been open to other countries to enter the [nuclear] club to

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break the arrogant and oppressive methods employed by the
superpowers. In addition to those countries that already admitted
their possession of nuclear arms, we can see that Iran, Brazil,
South Africa, Japan, and many other countries are on the same
track... The provocative policies and the oppressive methods used by
America against other countries are primarily responsible for
inciting the nuclear aspirations of these countries."
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IRAQI DEATH STATISTICS
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6. On October 22, a columnist for "Al-Shabiba" wrote about Iraqi
civilian deaths in "Half A Million Omitted by Mistake!":
"If the difference in the death toll's statistics was one thousand
or even ten thousand, it would have gone unnoticed, particularly
after the destruction of Al Basra and Al Kufa. But the true
difference between the international estimate and the U.S. one is at
least half a million. The U.S. claims that Iraqi casualties do not
exceed 50,000, a number which is most suitable to the death toll of
traffic accidents or measles victims. No doubt Iraqis would mock
the approved American figures about the death toll, and more than a
quarter million widows and children may send their mourning clothes
to any fact-finding body to enable it to discern the truth. As the
birth has a certificate, the death has a certificate as well, unless
these certificates were exterminated during the wave of burning and
destruction of the documents, chips, and facts."
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IRAQ DETAINEE TREATMENT
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7. On October 29, government-owned, Arabic-language "Oman" wrote
about "The Best Bad Picture":

"A picture has come to light portraying seven Iraqi men wearing
simple country garments, with their eyes strongly blindfolded and
their hands shackled, driven by a U.S. marine on Iraqi soil. A
photographer who was accompanying the American occupation forces
boasts that he took this picture, which won first prize in an
international photography competition. If the promoters of this
picture want to say that this is rare behavior by the Marines, facts
and daily incidents prove otherwise... Those Iraqi youths were
dragged from their homes, not from a battlefield. The proof is that
they were wearing winter clothes usually worn by Iraqi men at
home... Human rights organizations, journalists' trade unions and
photographers' associations all over the world must take a strong
stance against such ugly practices of the American invasion forces
in Iraq. These organizations have thousands of photographs that
constitute conclusive evidence of these criminal practices in Iraq.
In this bad time, the bad deeds are documented, without any
objection from anyone."
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CRIMINALS VS. TERRORISTS
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8. On October 29 a columnist in "Al-Watan" wrote a (by local
standards) less-than-usually coherent editorial on "Criminality, Not
Terrorism":

"What is the difference between criminality and terrorism, and the
criminal and the terrorist? The dictionary definition points out
that terrorism is a synonym for intimidation and fear-inducing.
Criminality means criminal actions such as killing, stealing,
cheating etc., and causing death to thousands of innocent civilians
in Bosnia, Afghanistan, Iraq, Palestine and Lebanon, besides making
other thousands homeless, destroying the infrastructures in these
countries and causing pollution to the environment, which might
remain for many years to come. All these acts are nothing more than
flagrant evil and inhuman deeds, whatever veils are used to hide
them. Those who perpetrate such acts should be subject to criminal
laws and human rights conventions... The current international
system, with its imbalanced standards, might prevent bringing true
criminals to justice. But it is more probable than ever before that
this will change, since most members of the world community are
moving towards a safer, fairer, and more secure global system. When
this phase is reached, everybody will be accountable for his own
deeds... The court of history will publish many black books about
those who pride themselves on their sin... The seasons of lament are
coming soon. Someone might deceive others for a while, but cannot
continue that role forever. When he is discovered, all the false
veils will fall, and his ugly face will appear."
GRAPPO