SLEEPING WITH THE ENEMY/ATimes--New WMW (info on AlQaeda "link")

[Gloria]

Full excerpts, links up now at World Media Watch URL below
Tomorrow at Buzzflash.com


WORLD MEDIA WATCH For September 10, 2003

1//Asia Times Online, Hong Kong--PART 1: SLEEPING WITH THE ENEMY (On May 23, as Bush issued his first Executive Order seizing control of Iraq's assets, Bremer for his part signed a decree which simply dismantled the huge Iraqi army - with more than 400,000 officers and soldiers. Furious with this decision, a great deal of them subsequently fell or are falling right in the lap of the Iraqi resistance movement…The official spin was that it should signal the end of the former government. Instead, it bolstered the resistance. European intelligence analysts comment that this may have been perversely what the Pentagon had in mind: to force the elusive nexus between the "remnants of Saddam's regime" and Islamists related to al-Qaeda… In a startling development, Washington was forced to swallow its own propaganda and start recruiting hundreds of real "remnants of Saddam's regime" - the feared Mukhabarat - to try to at least to identify the more than 40 different groups that compose the resistance. Members of the American-appointed interim governing council could not be but furious. This is not only a sensational case of sleeping with the enemy, but it also painfully highlights how the Americans simply have no access to ground intelligence.)



2//The Moscow Times, Russia--GAIDAR INVITED TO SHOCK, AWE IRAQ (The architect of Russia's at times disastrous transition to a market economy, Yegor Gaidar, has been invited by the U.S.-led coalition authority in Iraq to help craft a recovery plan for that country's war-torn economy…His scheme to privatize as rapidly as possible saw the crown jewels of the economy handed over to a handful of well-connected insiders for next to nothing. This time, however, it's unlikely that Gaidar will have quite as much influence. An official at the U.S. Embassy in Moscow said Gaidar had been invited to take part in an international conference in Baghdad later this month "with a view to explaining how European experience with economic reform might help Iraq manage its transition."… The decision to pick some of the world's most experienced brains on transition economies comes as U.S. President George W. Bush seeks to extend responsibility for postwar Iraq to non-coalition countries. Ironically, it also comes shortly after Iraq's new oil minister, Ibrahim Bahr Al-Uloum, told the Financial Times that his country is preparing to privatize its oil sector.)



3//Arab News, Saudi Arabia--RUSSIA EXPECTS $60B SAUDI INVESTMENT (Russia expects Saudi investments worth $ 60billion (SR225 billion) for new projects, Al-Hayat Arabic newspaper reported yesterday quoting a Russian diplomat in Riyadh… Riyadh and Moscow, the world’s No. 1 and No. 2 oil producers and exporters, signed a landmark energy accord during the crown prince’s visit. The visit also saw the signing of three other agreements. “The energy accord will make the two countries the center of international oil policy making, ensuring the interests of producers inside and outside the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries,” the diplomat said…The Russians expect that the Saudis will channel part of their huge deposits in America and other international markets to projects in Russia. Economic analysts have estimated Saudi funds abroad at between $ 600billion and $ 800billion.)



4//The News International, Pakistan--EGYPT TV BANS VEILED PRESENTERS (A group of television presenters in Egypt say they have been banned from appearing on screen since they began wearing the Islamic veil. Some say they are considering taking legal action against the state owned broadcasting organisation as a result… Muslim women in Egypt began a protest against the veil in the 1930s, and by the 60s the veil was a thing of the past. But with the re-emergence of movements of Islamic revival, the veil has come back…The case highlights a dilemma for the Egyptian state. Under the Egyptian constitution, Islam is the state religion and Islamic Sharia is the main source for legislation… But the government apparently fears that such public display of Islamic symbols, of which the veil is the most potent, will play into the hands of Islamic activists whose aim is to enforce Islamic Sharia in all spheres of life.



5//The Jakarta Post, Indonesia--EDITOR GETS FIVE MONTHS FOR INSULTING PARTY LEADER (The South Jakarta District Court on Tuesday sentenced Karim Paputungan, an editor of the Rakyat Merdeka daily newspaper, to five months in jail on charges of insulting Akbar Tandjung, the chairman of the Golkar Party, the political horse of former autocrat Suharto… Ironically, Akbar, who was found guilty of corruption by a Jakarta district court last year and was sentenced to three years imprisonment, has remained a free man as he appeals his case to the Supreme Court, having already lost one appeal at the higher court. Karim has become the first Indonesian chief editor convicted in a case involving press freedom in the country under current President Megawati Soekarnoputri, whose Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan) won the general election of 1999 largely on its reform platform and anti-Soeharto credentials.)