KUWAIT MEDIA REACTION - IRAN, SECTARIANISM, AND RICE'S

UNCLAS KUWAIT 000083 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 - IRAN, SECTARIANISM, AND RICE'S VISIT Block Quotes -------------- Monday, January 22, 2007 -- Under the title "Arabs Are in Trouble" Talal Al-Arab suggested in progressive Arabic daily Al-Qabas (01/22): "Arabs should rid themselves of the sectarian and nationalist ideologies, as has Iran. When Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait, Arabs -- both Sunni and Shiite -- opposed him. Arabs today should oppose the Iranian threat as Arabs and not as sects and factions." -- Under the title "Open Dialogue on Iran" liberal Sami Al-Nisif commented in moderate Arabic daily Al-Anbaa (01/22): "It is the duty of the Gulf States to provide honest advice to its Muslim sister Iran. The Iranian people and the peoples of the region are in dire need for stability and development. They should be focusing their efforts and energies to eliminate unemployment and elevate educational and health services. We ask the Iranian leadership to be wise and put the interest of its people on the top of its list of priorities." -- Liberal Editor-in-Chief Jassem Boodai penned on the front page of moderate Arabic daily Al-Rai under the title "Ashoura and the Lessons... Strife and the Mindful" (01/22): "Sectarianism and factionalism are pure backwardness. What do we want with inflamed sectarianism and destructive factionalism? Kuwaitis want life, the culture of life, the beauty of life, and the songs of life. They want to export progress not import backwardness, regardless of the effect and influence of neighboring countries that the theoreticians talk about." -- Dr. Nada Al-Mutawa editorialized in progressive Arabic daily Al-Qabas under the title "Rice's Visit and the 'Soft Grilling'" (01/22): "Before coming to Kuwait, Rice faced a rough grilling before members of the Foreign Relations Committee in the U.S. Congress. But by sitting with us Kuwaiti women activists in an all-woman Diwaniya, Secretary Rice faced a different kind of grilling where, no doubt, SIPDIS we succeeded in initiating 'soft diplomacy'". ********************************************* * 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