US TURNS TO ARABS TO KEEP THE PEACE (Iraq)--ATOnine/New World MEdia Watch

Up now at site below (in sig); tomorrow at Buzzflash.com

WORLD MEDIA WATCH For July 18, 2003

1//Asia Times Online, Hong Kong--US TURNS TO ARABS TO KEEP THE PEACE (The United States is turning to Arab regimes for support against increasing armed resistance in Iraq, official sources here say. A source close to the Egyptian foreign ministry confirmed reports that surfaced in the Arab press late last week that the United States has sought the help of Egyptian peacekeeping forces…Analyst Anas Fouda wrote on the popular bab.com website that Egypt helped persuade Palestinian groups to stop resistance activities against Israel, and that Egyptian support to the US presence in Iraq could be calculated to have a similar effect. "But this time if Arab countries send troops to protect the Americans, the public will not look at this as effort to establish peace but as an effort to legitimize American occupation," he said.)



2//F.A.Z./ Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Germany--TRYING TO BE FRIENDS AGAIN (It was planned more to set the tone for a further relaxation in bilateral tensions than to reach any hard decisions on the issue that is still bitterly dividing the two countries, and German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer's trip to the United States appears not to have surpassed that modest expectation. As Fischer returned home to Germany on Thursday, neither he nor the Americans were claiming that they had moved any closer on the question of Iraq and how it is to be governed.)



3//Gulf News Online, United Arab Emirates--IRAQI DIESEL FLOWING FREELY TO UAE MART (Iraqi diesel has emerged as a major attraction in UAE markets in the post-Saddam Hussain era. The chaos on the administration front and a difficult law and order situation have added a new dimension to the diesel business, which has flourished with the lifting of UN sanctions. During the past few weeks the Iraqi diesel supply business has become so lucrative that some operators have bought back the old vessels they had sold for scrapping.)



4//The Straits Times, Malaysia--US-JAKARTA TIES HIT ROCKY PATCH (There are tremors of apprehension in the United States about a serious downturn in its relationship with Indonesia.Matters came to a head on Wednesday when the US House of Representatives voted down funds for military education and training to Indonesia until the murder of two Americans in Papua last year is investigated properly…They are standing firm on this matter, despite the desire of President George W. Bush's administration to restore the funding, which was cut off after the involvement of the Indonesian army in massacres in the former East Timor… Last week's furore over the intrusions of US F-18 jets into Indonesian airspace indicates how, given the current tense state of relations, a small incident may cause ties to plummet further.)



5//The Moscow Times, Russia--JUST HOW FAR WILL PUTIN LET THE PENDULUM SWING?(Apart from the already evident economic damage to the country from the Yukos affair, President Vladimir Putin could be politically weakened if he continues to sit on the fence as two Kremlin clans do battle, analysts said…"The raid against Yukos opened the door for attacks on large business groups," Makarkin said. The clan of siloviki, which is widely believed to be led by deputy heads of the presidential administration Viktor Ivanov and Igor Sechin, is trying to gain influence and resources ahead of the elections to have more leverage over the president, the analysts said.)

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