TOKYO MEDIA REACTION - PALESTINE AND AFGHANISTAN

UNCLAS TOKYO 002558 SIPDIS STATE FOR I/RF, PA/PR/FPC/W, IIP/G/EA, EAP/PD, R/MR, EAP/J, EAP/P, PM; USTR FOR PUBLIC AFFAIRS OFFICE; TREASURY FOR OASIA/IMI; SECDEF FOR OASD/PA; CP BUTLER OKINAWA FOR AREA FIELD OFFICE; PACOM HONOLULU FOR PUBLIC DIPLOMACY ADVISOR E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: OIIP KMDR KPAO JA SUBJECT: TOKYO MEDIA REACTION - PALESTINE AND AFGHANISTAN ¶1. LEAD STORIES: Friday morning's Tokyo Shimbun led with the finding that senior Japanese Embassy officials in Washington used a MOFA "slush fund" in January 2000 in order to "entertain" a visiting delegation headed by the commissioner of the Board of Audit of Japan. ¶2. "Abbas Not Likely to Join Race" On the disclosure by a senior PLO official on Thursday that Palestine President Abbas will not seek reelection in January, the top-circulation, moderate Yomiuri wrote from Jerusalem (11/6): "The retirement of Abbas, a proponent of peace talks with Israel, is bound to deal a heavy blow to Middle East peace negotiations since there is no apparent successor.... However, there is a possibility that Abbas may be trying to achieve a breakthrough in the continuing stalemate by announcing his intention not to run in the next election, and not his immediate resignation. One view holds that he is making a political gamble to invoke U.S. cooperation by playing up the sense of crisis over the prospect of peace talks ahead of the election." ¶3. "UN Workers to Pull out of Afghanistan" On Thursday's announcement by the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan that some 600 UN officials will be temporarily evacuated in response to a recent fatal terrorist attack on a local UN facility, the top-circulation, moderate Yomiuri stated (11/6): "The current situation, in which the safety of UN officials is being threatened, is likely to have adverse effects on civilian assistance operations [in Afghanistan] by foreign countries.... There are mounting concerns that civilian assistance operations by the UN and others will be stalled due to the deteriorating security situation, setting off a 'negative chain reaction' causing poverty to spread further and the security situation to worsen." ROOS