Northern Iraq--Calm Like a Bomb/ATimes--New World Media Watch

[Gloria]

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

WORLD MEDIA WATCH FOR JUNE 9, 2004

FYI: A Daily Update with News from Iraqi Newspapers from the Institute for War and Peace Reporting, London

“IWPR's Iraqi Press Monitor is a daily survey of the main stories in Iraq's newspapers. It features the top 7 stories of the day, along with a political cartoon. Stories are selected and summarised by Ali Mohammed Jawad and Ali Kadhim Marzook in Baghdad.
Monday through to Thursday, the service focuses on key news stories, while on Friday it reviews the leading opinion pieces.”

http://www.iwpr.net/index.pl?iraq_ipm_index.html

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1//The Independent, UK--BLAIR PLANS SHOW OF STRENGTH TO SQUASH LEADERSHIP RUMOURS (Tony Blair will seek to shore up his position as Prime Minister after Thursday's local and European elections by implementing a fightback plan in which he will outline new policies on health, education, crime and transport…Downing Street has abandoned the idea of trying to "move on" from Iraq, recognising that it cannot possibly control events on the ground. It is braced for further setbacks as al-Qa'ida tries to disrupt the path to Iraqi elections due early next year but hopes that British politics will be dominated by domestic issues.)



2//The Jordan Times, Jordan--GOV’T DENIES SENDING ENVOY TO MEET CHALABI (The government on Tuesday denied claims by an aide to Iraqi politician Ahmed Chalabi that it had sent an envoy to Baghdad to discuss Chalabi's 1992 embezzlement conviction in Jordan. “No envoy from Jordan has gone to Baghdad to meet Chalabi,” Minister of State and Government Spokeswoman Asma Khader told AFP. “Nothing can be discussed outside Jordanian law,” she said, adding that the conviction by a Jordanian court against Chalabi for fraud and embezzling millions of dollars still stands. An aide to the former Iraqi Governing Council member, who has fallen out of favour with Washington, told reporters in Baghdad earlier Tuesday that Chalabi had refused to discuss his case with a Jordanian envoy. “Somebody presenting himself as an envoy of the highest judicial authority tried two or three times to meet Ahmad Chalabi in Baghdad to try to reach a compromise to close the case, but Chalabi refused to meet him,” Mithal Al Alloussi said.)



3//Inter Press Service News Agency, Italy--LIBERATED KURDS FIND LITTLE FREEDOM (It is hard to find people here willing to talk openly against either of the ruling Kurdish parties. While nowhere near as oppressive as Saddam's regime, the U.S.-backed Kurdish leaders of Northern Iraq have virtually banned dissent. The area even has its own secret police, the Asayeech, to keep people in line. Kurds outside Iraq are often critical of this, but most of them see the current leadership by the two armed factions as a temporary step on the road to ultimate separation from Iraq.)



4//Asia Times Online, Hong Kong--NORTHERN IRAQ – CALM LIKE A BOMB (The United States has let loose a Kurdish "monster", not only on Iraq itself, but also on the region at large, a "monster" which cannot easily be put back into the box. If a diplomatic solution cannot be crafted that satisfies all of Iraq's three factions, and it is doubtful that one can, then a great deal of military muscle will be needed in the entire region to keep the disenfranchised Kurds "in check". And that muscle will have to come increasingly into play in northern Iraq, Turkey, Syria, Iran, Armenia and Azerbaijan. In the end, the handover of sovereignty on June 30 may not change anything, except that it may well accelerate Iraq's descent into sectarian violence, with Turkey and Syria cooperating militarily to secure their interests in northern Iraq by taking control of that region, and the southern regions of Iraq moving significantly closer into cooperation with Iran, with the US military caught in the middle.)

5//The Sydney Morning Herald, Australia--THAILAND TELLS US: KEEP YOUR SOLDIERS (Thailand has joined Malaysia and Indonesia in rejecting an expanded United States military role in fighting terrorism in South-East Asia… He also backed claims by Malaysia's Deputy Prime Minister, Najib Razak, that the regional terrorist threat was being exaggerated, and discounted the likelihood of another serious attack. "That's a US notion, but I don't see any conditions leading to that kind of incident," said Mr Chavalit, who is a former defence minister and army commander. His comments followed remarks at the weekend by the US Defence Secretary, Donald Rumsfeld, who said he hoped US forces would soon be hunting terrorists in South-East Asia.)

[dusty64]

1. All the news the corporate

media sees fit NOT to print.