KUWAIT MEDIA REACTION: PRESIDENT OBAMA'S JUNE 4 CAIRO

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 KUWAIT 000573 SIPDIS DEPARTMENT FOR NEA/ARP (BMASILKO),NEA/PPD (ASOMERSET, DBENZE),R (WDOUGLAS) E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: KPAO PGOV PREL SOCI KU SUBJECT: KUWAIT MEDIA REACTION: PRESIDENT OBAMA'S JUNE 4 CAIRO SPEECH VIES WITH CHAPTER VII FOR HEADLINES REF: KUWAIT 571 -------------- SUMMARY -------------- ¶1. SUMMARY AND COMMENT. Kuwaiti media reaction to the President's June 4 speech to the Muslim world from Cairo vacillated between gushing enthusiasm and calls for action, often within the same article. While some editorials described the speech as historical, balanced and very positive, others characterized the President's words as slogans, which have yet to be translated into real action on the ground. Reaction to the speech was nearly overshadowed by the ongoing "press war" between Iraq and Kuwait over Chapter VII of the UN Charter. Although a GOK "diktat" to the press has diminished the news headlines on this issue, it continues to be editorial fodder. Moderate Arabic daily Al-Qabas committed all of its editorials on Saturday and Sunday to the Chapter VII issue, passing up the chance for further comment on the President's speech. The sentiments expressed reflect longstanding distrust by Kuwaitis of Iraq's intentions toward its southern neighbor. END SUMMARY AND COMMENT. -------------- - NEWS AND EDITORIAL REACTION TO PRESIDENT OBAMA -------------- - ¶2. News coverage on Friday and through the weekend was comprised mainly of printing the transcript or excerpts from the speech with little commentary. Wire stories on international reactions appeared in most papers. The absence of an official Kuwaiti government reaction -- out of pique over the non-mention of Kuwaiti women's victory in parliamentary elections (reftel) -- meant reduced reporting by the Kuwaiti News Agency (KUNA). The English-language, conservative paper, Al-Watan Daily, combined coverage of President Obama's speech with Ambassador Jones' interview during the talk show "Taw Elleil," which aired on Al-Watan TV on the evening of June 4. The headlines on Friday morning read "Obama Calls for New Beginning with Muslims," and "U.S. Ambassador: President Obama is Keen on Implementing Dialogue to Bridge Misunderstandings." A summary of both the speech and the interview dominated the paper's front page. ¶3. Other Friday news headlines included: -- "Obama Speaks to Muslims in a Historic Speech 'Open a New Page with America;' He Quoted from the Quran and Called for Coexistence and Reconciliation" (Al Watan, Arabic, daily, conservative) -- "Obama Began his Historical Speech with Al-Salam Alaikom; He Quoted from the Quran, and Said America has Never Been, and Will Never be at War with Islam" (Al Rai, Arabic, daily, liberal) -- "Obama Offers a New Beginning ... He Confirmed that America will not Turn its Back to the Palestinians" (Awan, Arabic, daily, moderate) -- "On the Basis of Reconciliation and Mutual Respect, and Because They Share the Same Values, Obama 'Makes Up' with Muslims" (Al-Dar, Arabic, daily, Shiite) -- "Barack Hussein Obama: Peace Upon Muslims" (Al-Seyassah, Arabic, daily, pro-government) ¶4. Editorial comment was divided between gushing enthusiasm and calls for action, often in the same article. Headlines included: -- "Our Choice" (Kuwait Times) -- "Farewell September 11th" (Al-Qabas) -- "And Peace Upon You Too Abou Hussein" (Al-Seyassah and Arab Times) -- "The Goodwill Speech" (Al-Anbaa) -- "Well Done Obama" (Awan) -- "Will Obama Succeed Where his Ancestors Failed?"(Al-Rai) -- "Can Obama Blow up Bush's Matrix?" (Al-Watan) ¶5. Among the enthusiasts: -- On Saturday, June 6, many columnists in the pro-government Arabic daily Al-Seyassah opined about President Obama's speech. Nearly all carried a similar message of praising the words, but calling for deeds. The lead editorial, however, was that of its Editor-in-Chief -- Ahmad Al-Jarallah -- who addressed the President saying "Mr. Barack Obama, please let me tell you how great you were in diagnosing the sickness and prescribing the medicine." Muslims from around the world pray to God to give you the wisdom that you look for to deal with Middle East issues." KUWAIT 00000573 002 OF 003 -- Liberal regular columnist in liberal pro-government Arabic daily Al-Anbba, Sami Abdul Latif Al-Nisf, allocated his Sunday column to the "Goodwill Speech" of President Obama. Al-Nisf said "perhaps another thousand years will pass before we hear another similar historical speech at the end of which we -- Muslims, Christians, Jews, Arabs, Americans, and Israelis -- felt that we are partners in solving the everlasting complicated regional issues; instead of blaming one another. Al-Nisif finished his column by advising the Arabs to get unified in the post-speech period in order to return Obama's greetings in the same, or even better, fashion. -- Moderate Salafi columnist in the liberal Arabic daily Al-Rai and political activist Dr. Wael Al-Hasawi opined: "Before President Obama's speech I believed that the great democratic super powers are countries that are run through institutions and that the President did not have much influence over the country's policies. However, the historic speech of President Obama made me rethink my convictions, and make a comparison between former U.S. President Bush, who announced that the crusade war had begun and that those who are not with us are against us, and current U.S. President Obama who announced that he came to search for new beginnings." Dr. Hissawi concluded his editorial by wishing President Obama luck in achieving what he has set as his goals. -- Mr. Ahmed Abdul Rahman Al-Kous wrote in the conservative Arabic daily Al-Watan: "President Obama has come to open a new page with the Islamic world, even though this visit has other undisclosed objectives that serve U.S. interests first and foremost. But, it's a first step and a fair and positive first step toward admitting the mistakes of former President Bush. That is why we see President Obama take decisions that cancel those taken by the previous administration, such as closing the Guantanamo Bay detention center and announcing his troops' withdrawal from Iraq and other measures he took to correct the wrongdoings of his predecessor." ¶6. Among the more skeptical: -- Routinely skeptical Badrya Darwish, CEO of English daily Kuwait Times, questioned in her June 5 column "What did Obama tell the Muslim world? What can Obama do for the Muslim world? Obama does not have a magic stick, but he has goodwill." She criticized the President's characterization of the war in Iraq as a "war of choice," called on Arabs themselves to work to solve the Palestinian issue, and made a parallel between the Iranian and Israeli nuclear programs. Ms. Darwish concluded that "the most positive thing that can come out of Obama's address to the Muslim word is that maybe the American people and the West will stop thinking of us as terrorists." -- In pro-government Arabic daily Awan, Muhammad Al-Yusefi, welcomed a "dialogue of civilizations" instead of a "clash of civilizations;" the latter he said was advocated by Obama's predecessor. Al-Yusefi added, "we are not here to discuss whether these policies are going to succeed or not since only time can prove that. However, we are saying that this man has a different view." In his conclusion, Dr. Al-Yousefi said, "I liked the balanced nature of President Obama's speech. It was a speech that carried within it deep cultural implications, which is rare to hear from politicians who normally avoid tackling cultural values ... in his words President Obama spoke volumes about the role of Muslims in the growth and development of his own country, the United States. He identified that the greatness of America is due in part to the contribution of Arab and Muslim Americans. At the end, I only want to say well done President Obama... Now, all the world wants to see is how you are going to translate your words into action." -------------- CHAPTER VII DOMINATES HEADLINES -------------- ¶7. On Chapter VII, news reports focused on statements from independent MP Musallam Al-Barak and conservative Salafi MP Dr. Waleed Al-Tabtabaei asserting the role of the National Assembly in this matter, arguing against any compromise with Iraq that would lead Kuwait to forfeit any of its "rights" under international resolutions and calling for Iraq to remain steadfast on the compensation issue. Reports also cited expected statements from Kuwait's Foreign Minister to MPs advising them against escalation and putting the blame on the media in both countries, and not on the Iraqi government, for driving the current dispute. The papers noted that the Kuwaiti Ambassador in Baghdad had traveled to Kuwait for meetings, but would return to Baghdad before the end of the week. ¶8. Chapter VII dominated the editorials on Saturday (6/6) and Sunday (6/7). Editorialists continued to call for Kuwait to withdraw its Ambassador from Iraq and for Kuwait not to forgive Iraq's debt to Kuwait (i.e. UN-mandated compensation); the sentiments expressed reflect longstanding distrust by Kuwaitis of KUWAIT 00000573 003 OF 003 Iraq's intentions toward its southern neighbor. Key themes included: -- "The Libyans did not forget their martyrs and the bloodshed of their grandparents although it has been seventy years since the Italian occupation of Libya. Here in Kuwait they want us to forget the bloodshed of our martyrs who were killed by the Iraqi army when not even twenty years have passed. ... Imagine they want us to pay for the bullets that they used to kill our martyrs!" (Saad Al-Motesh, Al-Rai) -- "We advise our government not to resolve our disputes with Iraq bilaterally. We also warn the Minister of Foreign Affairs not to commit the same strategic mistake of ARAFAT when negotiating with Israel." (Bader Al-Bahar, Al-Qabas) -- Addressing the Iraqi people, "it is your responsibility to build a new Iraq. Your country is in need of every effort from you. As for the international resolutions, they have their specialists. Neither Kuwait nor Iraq can get rid of the international resolutions or their legitimacy." (Saud Al-Samaka, Al-Qabas) JONES