MEDIA REACTION: VIRGINIA TECH SHOOTINGS, ARAB NUCLEAR

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 MUSCAT 000400 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: VIRGINIA TECH SHOOTINGS, ARAB NUCLEAR PROGRAM, DARFUR CRISIS, OMAN HOMICIDES SUMMARY: From Washington, an Omani writes in privately owned "Al-Shabiba" that coverage of the Virginia Tech killings highlights the positive role played by Western media, as compared to its Arab counterparts; a columnist in government-owned "Oman" believes Arab nukes can "pressure" Israel to make peace; privately owned "Al-Watan" is unsurprised by Anglo-American "escalation" of the Darfur crisis. Dailies highlighted three murders in the Sultanate over the past week. END SUMMARY. -------------- COVERAGE -------------- ¶2. Front-page headlines that focused on the wall being built in Baghdad used the same Arabic vocabulary as that used to describe the barrier that Israel has erected. On April 19, "Oman" front-paged an AFP article, "Bush 'Grants' Sudan Last Chance on Darfur." On April 24, two English-language dailies and the Arabic-language "Al-Shabiba" reported that three murders had occurred in Oman over the past week, one in the northern governorate of Shinas, one in the Mattrah district of Muscat, and one in the southern city of Salalah. The motive in the Salalah crime was reportedly a family dispute, and was carried out with a "traditional" gun. "Shabiba" noted that the Omani government requires licenses for most guns, but not traditional arms. The term traditional presumably refers to the antiquated rifles that are ubiquitous in the country. It is somewhat unusual to see crime reports in the Omani press, especially in the level of detailed provided by "Al-Shabiba". -------------- -------------- BLOCK QUOTES: VIRGINIA KILLINGS AND MEDIA'S ROLE -------------- -------------- ¶3. On April 23, privately owned daily "Al-Shabiba" (circulation 20,000) published an editorial from an Omani woman living in Washington, entitled "The Virginia Tech Incident:" "Of course you knew that in the university were three Arab students, two of them a young Lebanese man and woman, and the other a young Egyptian man who was studying for a doctorate on a scholarship. He had reserved a return ticket to Egypt for the coming month. Numerous, tragic details about the killing bring to mind many things: the futility of the chaos happening in the world, people killing each other, what happens in Iraq, and what happens in other places, where tens of people die or are killed every day. They die without us knowing a thing about them, as if they are nothing. No one remembers them, and no media sheds light on their personalities... [In the U.S.,] the media has fed the curiosity of people, and it attempts to determine the places where mistakes were made, and the role of those responsible in it. Here, the media truly carries out its complete role...most of our media does not carry out this role." -------------- --- ARAB NUKES A MEANS TO "PRESSURE" ISRAEL TO PEACE -------------- --- ¶4. On April 17, government-owned daily "Oman" (circulation 38,000) published an editorial about Arab aspirations to gain nuclear weapons, in a piece entitled, "The Gateway to Arab Pressure": "The issue of an Arab nuclear program is not something new, even though there has been no coordination between Arab Gulf countries and Egypt that has suddenly, after a space of fifty years, called attention to the need of these countries for peaceful nuclear energy... today, Egypt's endeavor to resume its nuclear activities after a twenty-year lapse has stirred the interest of the region. So has the nuclear project of the Gulf Cooperation Council countries, which elicited a visit from Mohamed El Baradei, Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA),to Riyadh and Muscat...Indeed, the Arab nuclear project is one of the means of Arab pressure on Israel to compel it to make peace, and listen to the voice of reason. It is Israel's weak point, despite its military arsenal, something that the Arabs have neglected through all these decades of struggle, without justification." -------------- ANGLO-AMERICAN "ESCALATION" OF DARFUR CRISIS -------------- ¶5. On April 23, privately owned "Al-Watan" (circulation 42,000) published an editorial entitled, "Darfur: What's Behind the MUSCAT 00000400 002 OF 002 Crisis": "The American and British determination to escalate the Darfur crisis is not surprising. It comes despite the Sudanese government's continuing effort and serious cooperation to solve the crisis by diplomatic, democratic means... Many international observers, political and strategic analysts explain [the American and British] move as nothing more than an effort to obscure the 'ideo-political' differences that the two countries are facing in Iraq and Palestine. It is equally unsurprising that Russia and China are opposing this Anglo-American 'chivalry.'" GRAPPO