Blair in Historic Trip to Libya for Gaddafi Talks--New World Media Watch

[Gloria]

Full excerpts, links up now at http://www.zianet.com/insightanalytical
Tomorrow at Buzzflash.com


WORLD MEDIA WATCH FOR MARCH 24, 2004

1//The Independent, UK--BLAIR IN HISTORIC TRIP TO LIBYA FOR GADDAFI TALKS (Tony Blair is preparing to make a historic trip to Libya tomorrow for talks with Colonel Muammar Gaddafi…The prospect of a visit was raised by Britain after Libya's renunciation of WMD before Christmas. It could even be followed by a return visit by Colonel Gaddafi. It will be hailed by Mr Blair as a vindication of his stand against rogue states. Speaking after Libya renounced its weapons in December, Mr Blair said: "Libya has begun the process of rejoining the community of nations and Colonel Gaddafi knows the way forward.")



2//Al Bawaba, Jordan--WIDE ROYAL PARDON IN JORDAN MAY INCLUDE CHALABI (Deputy speaker of the lower house and a representative of the Islamic Labor Front, Ali Abu Sukkar, told Al Bawaba Sunday morning that “unofficial meetings have taken place between several members of parliament and the prime minister regarding a possible royal pardon.”…“As Islamist deputies, we hope that financial crimes will not be included in this pardon, as any monetary interests that have been defrauded belong to the original owners…On the topic of Chalabi, (MP Jamal) Dmour explained that “Jordan is having to reconsider that way it handles its relationship with Iraq now that the old regime is gone…a fresh and clean start is required - one that does not carry any luggage from the past.”)



3//Deutsche-Welle/dw-Worlde.de, Germany--ONE YEAR LATER, GERMANY ANYTHING BUT SMUG OVER IRAQ WAR (Germany's steadfast opposition to the Iraq war led to a division within Europe and a new ice age with the Bush administration in Washington. One year later, wounds have (mostly) been healed…A year later, vast stores of weapons of mass destruction have yet to be found, and coalition forces in Iraq are suffering heavy casualties in a guerrilla war with Islamic Jihadists. But Schröder has gone out of his way to disperse any notions that Germany feels justified in its Iraq opposition. "We have to talk about the present and the future now," he said at a joint White House press conference with President George W. Bush on Feb. 27 this year… Feb. 27 marked the final stages of a return to normalcy in a German-American relationship thrown off-track by divisions over the Iraq war…German police have already begun training the first 150 Iraqi police officers in the United Arab Emirates…But Berlin continues to rule out any deployment of German soldiers on Iraqi soil, even under a NATO mandate.)



4//The Daily Star, Lebanon--INVESTORS HAVE MIXED VIEWS ON REBUILDING IRAQ (Iraqi businessman Hamood Hamdi al-Samarraie is pessimistic. Since the toppling of Saddam Hussein's regime, the occupation forces have not given Iraqis the opportunity to rebuild their country. And the country's infrastructure is continuing to deteriorate…Samarraie, who said he had attended four conferences aimed at rebuilding Iraq, thinks that a great deal of reconstruction buzz is just ink on paper. According to him, most if not all of the big contracts are awarded to US companies. Iraqi contractors get a very small portion of the pie, despite assurances from the CPA that Iraqis should be involved. He said his three companies, along with three other domestic firms, have been awarded a contract worth only $500,000.



5//Xinuanet News Agency, China--CHINA INDIGNANT AT US HUMAN RIGHTS MOVE (The US decision to introduce an anti-China human rights motion at the UN human rights conference is a "severe interference in China's internal affairs", a Foreign Ministry spokesman said here Tuesday…Kong said that the US decision was made with a motive on its domestic politics rather than care for human rights, which marked an attempt to interfere in China's internal affairs under the disguise of human rights.)