SPECIAL MEDIA REACTION: SADDAM HUSSEIN'S EXECUTION

UNCLAS MUSCAT 000002 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: SPECIAL MEDIA REACTION: SADDAM HUSSEIN'S EXECUTION ¶1. SUMMARY: Oman's state-owned press has been conspicuously silent on Saddam's execution, with only a brief mention in Arabic-language "Oman." Private dailies carried wire service reports of the execution and Saddam's burial, but published no op-eds by Omani authors. Online discussion was heavy, with most messages condemning the U.S. for allowing the execution on the first day of the Eid Al Adha. END SUMMARY. -------------- PRINT COVERAGE -------------- ¶2. Government-owned dailies carried no news articles about Saddam Hussein's execution. Privately owned dailies ran front page articles culled from wire services, generally below the fold and accompanied by AFP or Reuters photos showing video grabs of the noose around Saddam's neck and his corpse. Arabic private dailies "Al Watan" (circulation 42,000) and "Shabiba" (20,000) both carried two-page interior spreads using wire-service reporting on international reactions to Saddam's death. In addition, "Shabiba" carried a December 30 "New York Times" analysis ("For Bush, Joy of Capture Muted at the End" in the original; "Bush and the Execution of Saddam Hussein!!" locally). Coverage of the execution was overshadowed by that of continuing violence in Iraq and of the U.S. death toll reaching the 3,000 mark. -------------- BLOCK QUOTE: A NEW REALITY -------------- ¶3. The only mention of Saddam's death to appear in a state paper to date was contained in a single paragraph in an op-ed, "A Hard Year for All Arab Issues" that appeared December 31 in "Oman" (circulation 38,000): "In brotherly Iraq indeed this year has been the bloodiest one since the 2003 invasion. And with the carrying out of the sentence of the execution by hanging yesterday at dawn, the conditions in Iraq are a candidate for severe reactions on a variety of levels, especially under the shadow of the sharp and continuing debate inside and outside Iraq about the trial of Saddam and his execution. If Iraqis at home and abroad are now confronting a new reality after Saddam's execution, indeed it is hoped that different Iraqi powers are able to meet, even on the most minimal level, in order to forge a united Iraq without a continuing deterioration of security, economics, and society especially as that powerfully influences Iraq's present and the continuation of its regional and national cohesion." -------------- ONLINE REACTION -------------- ¶4. Saddam Hussein's execution generated strong interest, with, for example, 13 topics, 6,000 hits and 100 responses on the first page alone on the Sultanate's most popular discussion site, Omania2.net. Reaction was overwhelmingly negative, accusing the U.S. of allowing the execution to coincide with most Muslims' observance of the Eid Al-Adha holiday. This response, negative from the start, has only sharpened with widespread circulation of the cellphone video showing the execution and apparent taunting by those present (NOTE: Oman's sole Internet provider, Omantel, has systematically blocked access to the video on YouTube - apparently a case-by-case block as each version of the video is posted - but it is still available from other sources. END NOTE). ¶5. One posted topic cited a call-in show on popular "Al-Jazeera" satellite television in which a caller alleged that Saddam's body showed signs of torture. A response read, "God rest Saddam's soul. With his death, pan-Arabism died with him." Another talked of taking revenge on the Americans and of a coming "victory." GRAPPO