Getting hot all over
The Arab press raced to keep up with the dramatic developments across the Middle East. Dina Ezzat reviews how it was done
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Because of Libya's failure to be as open with Arab countries as with the West, Rasmi, in Asharq Al-Awsat, depicts a Libyan unlocking the gates to relations with the US while ignoring that the door to ties with the Arab world remains closed;
Mocking US efforts in Iraq, cartoonist H Bleibel in the Lebanese daily Al-Mustaqbal draws US President George W Bush getting stuck in Iraq with the excess weight of democracy he tried to carry to the Iraqis
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Military operations and diplomatic squabbles were the order of the day this week. In Iraq, Palestine, Sudan and elsewhere in the region, the temperature was high, and that was clearly reflected in the headlines of the Arab press. A sample: "An assassination attempt targeting Hamas leader Sheikh Yassin", "Palestinian Prime Minister Abu Mazen resigns", "Israel threatens to expel Arafat", "An assassination attempt on the life of Shi'ite leader in Iraq", "US defence secretary in Baghdad" and "The US remembers 9/11".
The situation was particularly dramatic this week on the Palestinian front. Headlines and articles during the early days of the week seemed to have set the stage for the resignation of Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas, or Abu Mazen, who failed during his 100 days in office to reach an agreement with Palestinian President Yasser Arafat over a power- sharing formula. "Arafat and Abu Mazen can no longer work together. They dislike each other so much and their differences are so profound and embarrassing," the Arab press quoted Ahmed Qurieh, speaker of the Palestinian parliament who is tipped to be the next prime minister.
Throughout, the Arab press carried stories and commentaries that examined the reasons behind and the consequences of the falling out between Arafat and Abu Mazen. For many, the dispute was an expected outcome of a confused distribution of power between the two men whose disputes hurt the Palestinian people first and foremost. In its editorial on 1 September the UAE daily Al-Bayan asked the obvious question: "How long will the Palestinian leaders continue fighting?" "As they watch the horrid daily hardships sustained by the Palestinian people at the hands of the Israeli army, the Arab masses can only plead with the Palestinian leadership to [stop fighting] that is being deliberately stimulated by those who want to undermine the national legacies of these leaders," the Al-Bayan editorial said.
Similar appeals were voiced in the press across the Arab world. In its editorial on 3 September, the Yemeni daily Al-Thawra stressed the need for the Palestinians to do all they can to maintain their national unity "at this particular sensitive and dramatic crossroads where they stand now". Al- Thawra warned that if they failed to maintain their unity, Palestinians "would suffer a major setback" that would have very serious consequences.
Typically, it was Editor-in-Chief Abdel-Bari Atwan of the London- based daily Al-Quds who made the most explicit comments on the situation in his article, "An embarrassing Palestinian scene" on 3 September. Having pleaded with the Palestinians to end their pointless squabbles, Atwan strongly criticised the Americans for causing the failure of Abu Mazen's mission. "The US administration let Abu Mazen down so blatantly. It did not offer him any of the support required to help him cement his stance among his constituency. The US failed to even reduce provocations that included, among other things, the building of the separation wall, assassinations and violations of the truce," Atwan wrote.
And, as Abu Mazen's resignation became a foregone conclusion, the press started to speculate as to the future of Yasser Arafat. Most newspapers showed interest in statements made by Israeli Defence Minister Shaoul Mofaz on his intention to expel Arafat from the Palestinian territories. Stories later in the week indicated that Mofaz was planning to consult with the US administration on Arafat's possible exile.
Mofaz's provocative statements received an angry response from several commentators. In the daily London-based Al-Hayat, Abdel-Wahab Badrakhan called for action to be taken to "shut Mofaz up". "This war criminal Mofaz seems to be obsessed these days with expelling Arafat... What right does he have to expel the Palestinian leader?" Badrakhan asked.
With speculation on the rise, Egypt's role in minimising the political chaos within the Palestinian Authority received significant attention. Some papers suggested that Egypt was willing to offer refuge to Arafat if expelled. Others followed the more credible news of Egyptian efforts to help bring about inter-Palestinian unity and a new Palestinian-Israeli truce.
As the papers reported news of the deteriorating situation in the occupied Palestinian territories, they also covered news of a new Moroccan-Israeli rapprochement that was initiated last week with a visit by the Israeli foreign minister to Morocco, followed this week by a phone call from the Moroccan king to the Israeli prime minister.
Other items suggesting covert Arab-Israeli warmth, against the odds, were reported this week. These included the participation of dozens of Arab businessmen in an economic conference in Tel Aviv, as reported by Al-Quds.
Signs of activated Israeli- Jordanian links were also in the press with news of the accreditation of the new Israeli ambassador to Amman and the Jordanian decision to send an ambassador to its embassy in Tel Aviv that was left for two years at the care of a chargé d'affaires. These stories were accompanied by statements of concern made by senior Jordanian officials on the situation in the occupied Palestinian territories.
"The deterioration of the security situation requires an effort on the part of the UN to preserve security in Israel and the Palestinian territories. This effort may include sending international forces to separate the two sides," Jordanian Prime Minister Ali Abul-Raghib was quoted on 2 September by Al-Hayat as saying.
Talk of the need for the presence of international forces was the subject of more attention in the coverage of developments related to the situation in Iraq. A US-proposed UN Security Council draft resolution on Iraq urged greater participation of international forces in Iraq to maintain order and security.
Under the headline, "A step in the right direction", the UAE daily Al- Ittihad argued the need for intervention in Iraq on the part of the international community to try to contain the human tragedy in the country.
The proposed resolution was perceived not only as a way out for Iraq but also for the US that has so far failed to bring about stability.
On 1 September, Satei Noureddin dedicated his column in the Lebanese daily As-Safir to the Iraqi situation, arguing that it was primarily due to the huge security dilemma in Iraq now that the US was calling on the rest of the international community to come to the rescue.
The US this week seemed to be sending an SOS to even Iraqis. Stories of offers made by the US administration to former security members of the Saddam Hussein regime to take up new security responsibilities were easily spotted in the Arab press.
During his visit to Baghdad, US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld was reported to have discussed this option. In an interview with Al-Hayat published on 7 September, Rumsfeld said: "Of course we need more Iraqis to increase security in Iraq."
One thing that all newspapers reported about Iraq was the continuing violence and militant resistance. There was hardly a day without a story on the US and other foreign forces in Iraq. Getting most of the attention was news of attacks against Shi'ite figures, reflecting fear, perhaps even signs, of possible civil strife in Iraq. Commentators were equally preoccupied with the question of ethnicity in Iraq, an issue that was triggered on a large scale last week following the assassination of prominent Shi'ite leader Baqir Al-Hakim.
"With the slaying of Baqir Al-Hakim fresh in mind, there is need for a vision for the future role of Shi'ites in Iraq," wrote the prominent Kuwait daily Al-Seyassah on 7 September.
However,on the same issue, Al-Seyassah carried, "Hands off Iraq's Sunnis and Shi'ites" where Abdel-Amir Al-Turki argued the need to stop worrying about ethnicity in Iraq. "Civil and political rights were restored to all factions of the Iraqi people. This is the human side of the US military operation: its recognition of the diversity of the Iraqi people".
Similar views were reflected in several other Kuwaiti newspapers. However, the Arab press, for the most part, seemed to be truly concerned about the possibilities of a power struggle being played out by the many ethnic and religious groups in Iraq. On 6 September Asharq Al-Awsat carried three articles on the subject: Samir Attallah's daily column and two opinion pieces by Safinaz Kazim and Zein Al- Abedin Al-Rukabi. Despite the unmistakable difference in political disciplines of the three, the writers unanimously expressed concern over the attempts of some to instigate ethnic strife in Iraq.
Also in As-Safir, Hossam Aitani warned of the "Lebanonisation" of Iraq -- in reference to the Lebanese civil war that wrecked the country for around 15 years.
However, in another Lebanese daily, An-Nahar, Jihad Azzein warned against the obsession with potential civil strife in Iraq. In his article which ran on 3 September, Azzein argued that talking too much about civil strife may be unhealthy. "If we assume that civil strife is inevitable in Iraq then let us wait until it happens and stop acting as if it's already there," he wrote.
The impact of civil strife in Iraq on neighbouring countries was also approached, though timidly, by some segments of the Arab press. But known for tackling controversial issues head-on, Al- Quds suggested that Shi'ite-Sunni fighting could lead to a similar situation in neighbouring Saudi Arabia which is Iraq's opposite in that it has a Sunni majority and Shi'ite minority.
For its part, the Lebanese daily Al-Anwar reflected on the potential strife in Iraq among the Arabs and Kurds as well as Sunnis and Shi'ites and the potential roles therein for Turkey and Iran.
Equally attractive to news writers and commentators this week was the guessing game over the requested participation of the Iraqi Interim Governing Council -- as represented by its newly-appointed Foreign Minister Houchiar Zibari -- in Arab League meetings. For the most part, there were indications that Arab countries will allow Zibari to take Iraq's seat that was left empty after the fall of Baghdad to US occupation forces in April. This was the line encouraged by commentators.
In his regular column in the Sudanese daily Al-Ra'i Al-Am, Idris Hassan argued that it would be unrealistic for Arab countries to ignore the Interim Governing Council since it has already been received in several Arab capitals.
Towards the end of the week, the Arab press started to focus on the upcoming second anniversary of the 11 September attacks. The daily Saudi Al-Youm ran a feature article from its correspondents in the US about documentaries that were being produced about 9/11. Meanwhile, in an interview in Asharq Al-Awsat, Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al-Faisal was critical of the media and Congressional campaigns launched in the US which have been attempting to associate his country with terrorism. "These campaigns aim to distort US-Saudi relations," Al-Faisal said. "How can a country that has been friends with the US for over seven decades suddenly be turned into the No 1 enemy of the United States?" he asked.
