MEDIA REACTION: IRAQ: ABU MUSAB AL-ZARQAWI'S DEATH; SAO

UNCLAS SAO PAULO 000652 SIPDIS SIPDIS STATE INR/R/MR; IIP/R/MR; WHA/PD DEPT PASS USTR USDOC 4322/MAC/OLAC/JAFEE E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: KMDR OPRC OIIP ETRD BR SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION: IRAQ: ABU MUSAB AL-ZARQAWI'S DEATH; SAO PAULO ¶1. "The Terrorist's End Does Not Resolve, But Helps" Center-right O Estado de S. Paulo's Paris correspondent Giles Lapouge commented (6/9): "Finally, good news came from Iraq: Zarqawi was killed.... Morally, the butcher's death can only be saluted with relief. Zarqawi had a relevant role in the Iraqi chaos. What remains to be seen is whether his death will help to restore calm in Iraq, but that is questionable. It is wise to remember that the U.S. believed that the disorders had ended on the day its soldiers captured dictator Saddam Hussein in his hideout.... What can be seen in the Al Qaeda's case is that the death of one of its chiefs does not affect the movement.... In Paris, as in London or in Washington, if there is satisfaction on the one hand, on the other no one believes that the fire will now be extinguished. Not even Osama bin Laden's death would mean the end of terrorism." ¶2. "One Is Already Gone, But There Are Still Hundreds Of Thousands" Liberal, largest national circulation daily Folha de S. Paulo's Washington correspondent Sergio Davila remarked (6/9): "Abu Musab al-Zarqawi was killed, but the fight continues. The US will try to take the maximum advantage possible from its partial victory, as it did when Saddam Hussein was captured, but the fact is that the leader will be replaced by another one, the insurgence will continue and the war between Sunnis and Shiites, which is what really matters, is not expected to be affected.... The major conflict in Iraq is not between Al Qaeda and the USG or the Iraqi government. It is between Shiites and Sunnis, like Zarqawi was.... Zarqawi is not irreplaceable.... He was the most visible face of the insurgence.... His death does not necessarily strengthen the Shiites. The Shiite Iranian regime gains in influence with the weakening of the Sunnis, but Zarqawi had already been seen as a problem by his followers.... The action that killed the terrorist is not only the result of the current harmony between the Iraqi and US governments. The first reports mention as fundamental the Jordanian intelligence and the testimony of Syrians imprisoned in Iraq. Others say that the Sunnis betrayed him.... None of the possibilities have been confirmed or discarded.... Bush will try to gain strength through these occurrences. The White House is currently working on this issue at hand as when the president's popular support hits negative records, the public opinion begins to get tired of the war and the reputation of the US troops in Iraq suffers another blow." McMullen