MEDIA REACTION: JERICHO PRISON RAID, HAMAS, DARFUR

UNCLAS MUSCAT 000430 SIPDIS DEPT FOR NEA/ARPI, NEA/PPD, NEA/P, AND INR/R/MR LONDON FOR TSOU PARIS FOR ZEYA USCENTCOM FOR PLUSH FOREIGN PRESS CENTER FOR SILAS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: KPAO KMDR OIIP MU SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION: JERICHO PRISON RAID, HAMAS, DARFUR -------------- JERICHO PRISON RAID -------------- ¶1. The privately owned Arabic daily "al-Watan" penned an editorial on March 15 entitled "Saadat Is the Real Winner": "The comic Israeli operation at Jericho prison raises questions about what sort of mentality Israel is using to handle the Palestinian dossier. The scenes of Israelis attacking Jericho prison and leading Ahmed Saadat from one prison to another can only be described as a detestable exercise of weaklings, aided by American and British aggressors. The attack with tanks, bombs, and helicopters on unarmed prisoners continued all day, and also captured a building full of children who were used as human shields to prevent any Palestinian resistance." -------------- HAMAS -------------- ¶2. The government-owned daily "Oman" carried an editorial on March 18, entitled "Hamas Enters a More Difficult Phase": "Taking over the responsibility of the Palestinian government is a difficult task, which is now harder for two reasons: First, Hamas negotiations with Palestinian groups, whether with Fatah or others, have not produced any agreement on power sharing. Hamas can form a government alone, but the problem is that no other groups will support its agenda. Second, the Israeli government has decided to challenge the new government by all available means, producing negative results for the territories under Palestinian and Israeli authority." -------------- Darfur -------------- ¶3. "Oman" published an editorial on March 14 under the title "The Need for National Determination": "The Sudanese government and other involved powers have the moral and legal responsibility to find a political solution that stresses improvement in the Darfur region. The continuation of the crisis will block Sudan's progress and development, leading others to interfere using different excuses. The African Union's role on this issue must be activated, and peacekeepers should work hard to stop all existing violations. There should also be an internal determination to solve the Darfur crisis. Also, the international community must convince the divided Sudanese how important stability is to their country, and that they should not waste efforts in a conflict that will incur more of Sudan's human and economic losses." STEWART