No two ways about it
After a most heinous act of terror in a most holy land, it was obvious to Gamal Nkrumah that the Arab press unanimously decried the attack
News of the massive bombing in a residential compound reserved for foreigners in the Saudi Arabian capital Riyadh, the ramifications of US President George Bush's speech urging Arab countries to democratise and the prospects of a prisoner swap between Israel and the Lebanese resistance group Hizbullah dominated the Arab press this week. Other stories which featured prominently included the Mauritanian presidential elections, the rapidly escalating number of attacks on US troops in Iraq and the release of 300 Moroccan captives by the Sahrawi liberation front POLISARIO.
"We will get the perpetrators no matter how long it takes," Saudi Interior Minister Prince Nayef was quoted as saying in the Saudi mass-circulation daily Okaz. "No mercy or pity should be felt for anyone thinking of carrying out such acts," Prince Nayef told the newspaper. Reports have laid responsibility for the blast on Al-Qa'eda, led by the Saudi-born fugitive and multi-millionaire Osama Bin Laden who has long been opposed to the Saudi royal family.
The Riyadh bombing occurred on the very day that Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah pledged to "continue tracking down groups of terrorist cells". The London-based Al-Hayat quoted Abdullah as saying he was ashamed of the behaviour of the Saudi youths who embarked on such terrorist acts. He added that he sympathised with the families of these young men because they had "shamed their families and the entire country". He stressed that the Saudi state was determined to "wipe out the terrorists" and vowed to "purify the country of terrorists and their sympathisers".
The crown prince's statements came amid news of the temporary closure of the American embassy in Riyadh and two other consulates in Saudi Arabia because of possible terrorist attacks. The US, Britain and a number of other Western nations have issued similar warnings and travel bans to Saudi Arabia and other Gulf Arab states.
There was some consensus of opinion in Arab papers that it was no longer possible to keep seething Saudi militant Islamists out of sight or ear shot. There was also marked unanimity that the actions of the Saudi terrorists were murderous.
The ramifications of the Riyadh bombing and details of the tragedy were splashed on the front pages of Al-Hayat and other Arab papers throughout the week. On Tuesday, the paper published a detailed report on the efforts by the Saudi government to bring the terrorists to book. The report stated that Saudi security forces had rounded up a number of suspects who were being held in special detention centres. It also covered the meeting between Richard Armitage, US assistant secretary of state for North African and Near Eastern affairs, and Abdullah in Riyadh, pointing out that Armitage applauded Saudi efforts to contain terrorism.
More clashes between terrorists and Saudi security forces were covered by papers in the Gulf. Saudi papers focussed broadly on the psychological and social impact of the Riyadh bombing on the Saudi populace. Other reports contained some hard facts. The pan-Arab London-based Asharq Al-Awsat ran an article that revealed that the vehicle used in the Riyadh bombing was not a stolen police car as initially reported but rather a van freshly painted with the colours of Saudi police vehicles. The Saudi press, especially Al-Riyadh and Al- Jazira, stressed the Saudi authorities' control of the security situation and the Saudi population's commitment to assisting the authorities to resume a semblance of normalcy.
A shootout between Saudi security forces and suspected terrorists in Mecca was also widely covered by the Saudi press.
Asharq Al-Awsat tackled the Riyadh bombing from a different angle. It appealed directly to the reader's sense of justice and compassion. It stressed that most of the victims were Arab or of Arab descent. It focussed on individuals and families, the victims and their loved ones and put the spotlight on the personal tragedies that had befallen expatriate communities in Saudi Arabia, especially those of Arab origin.
In heart-rending fashion Asharq Al-Awsat showed photographs of the victims: Lebanese newlyweds blasted; a husband, his pregnant wife and their two children; a bride. The paper interviewed some of the victims' relatives, adding the attack came as a grievous shock.
The Lebanese daily An-Nahar buried the Saudi-bombing story in an inside page, focussing instead on the prisoner exchange deal between Israel and Hizbullah, narrowly approved in an Israeli cabinet meeting on Sunday. As the paper went to press the future of the deal was in doubt because of Israel's refusal to free the Lebanese detainee Samir Al-Kuntar. The deal is not expected to be made without the release of Kuntar who has been incarcerated since 1979.
The prisoner swap story grabbed the headlines of An-Nahar and other Lebanese newspapers throughout the week. An-Nahar carried its own front page reports on Monday and Tuesday warning of probable Israeli treachery. Israel, the Beirut-based paper speculated, would sabotage the deal by excluding Kuntar.
Asharq Al-Awsat carried a detailed account of the proposed deal claiming that Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon brushed aside Israeli Defence Minister Shaul Mofaz's suggestion that Israel kidnaps Hizbullah leader Hassan Nasrallah.
The deteriorating security situation in Iraq was highlighted by most Arab papers. Al-Hayat ran a front page story on Tuesday about the killing of an American soldier and clashes between forces of the Kurdish Workers Party (PKK) and the US military in northeastern Iraq. Likewise, Al-Hayat carried a lead article on Thursday on the general strike in the Iraqi city of Najaf in protest at the deteriorating security situation in the country.
Al-Nahar also devoted considerable space to the escalation of the casualty and death toll of American troops in Iraq and its implications on the 2004 presidential elections. On Sunday the paper reported the leak of a Democrat strategy memo which explained how President Bush distorted intelligence pertaining to the military capabilities of Iraq.
An-Nahar said many Americans now openly questioned the wisdom of Bush's decision to go to war over Iraq's alleged weapons of mass destruction and Baghdad's alleged ties with Al-Qa'eda. The Lebanese daily wondered how much of the Bush administration's decision to go to war against Iraq was based on sound intelligence.
An-Nahar reiterated the view prevalent in the Arab world that key officials in the Bush administration manipulated intelligence information to justify the attack on Iraq. The paper also wrote of the deepening partisan rift over a US Senate inquiry into pre-war intelligence on Iraq.
Syria's daily Al-Thawra blasted Bush's speech in which he urged Arab countries to seek democratic reform. The paper was also very critical of how Bush has justified the US war against and occupation of Iraq. The Bush administration "is practicing the role of guardian over sovereign states. Threatening to impose democracy by force kills democracy and assassinates freedom," warned Al-Thawra. "Can there be a democratic revolution by occupying a sovereign country's territory? Can it be by jets and cannons?" the paper asked. "[US President Bush's speech] is not in the interests of the US or of the region."
Other Arab publications picked up the theme. Perhaps the most distinguished Arabic-language publication, Al-Hayat, over the weekend also highlighted the controversial speech by Bush in which he lauded Saudi efforts at combating terrorism and stated that Egypt can lead the Arab world to democracy.
Abdul-Wahab Badrakhan on the Bush speech in Al-Hayat on 8 November launched a tirade against the US president. "The speech of democratisation can be easily discredited, simply because it has no relevance to any sort of criticism against Sharon."
In an outspoken opinion piece, Badrakhan warned of the repercussions of Bush's pontification. "Bush has spoken as if the mere fact that the fall of the former Iraqi regime, the presence of his troops in Baghdad, the control of his employees over the decision of governing, and the luring of major corporations owned by his friends to conduct business in Iraq, were prominent factors in announcing that the new era of democratisation has started in Iraq." He ended by saying that the Bush administration is deluding itself and "living an illusion".
"Why doesn't Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Iran and Syria speak with one voice when addressing the US? I am not asking for the impossible. I am not asking for a political or military alliance or an axis against this country or the other. However, I call on these countries to unite in defending their interests, before the US isolates them as a service to Israel," wrote Jihad Al-Khazen in Al-Hayat.
"Together they can resist and prevail. I say to Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Iran and Syria that should they not speak in one voice, no-one will hear them and their voice will be lost and so will they," Al-Khazen said.
The stalled Sudanese peace process featured, albeit sporadically, in the Arab press. In an unprecedented development, Al-Hayat published a front page interview with Rebecca Garang, wife of the leader of the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA) John Garang. Mrs Garang told Al-Hayat that in the battlefields of southern Sudan she follows her husband's orders because he is her commander. At home, though, and when her husband takes off his military fatigues, she metamorphoses into the lady of the house and runs the show.
The Mauritanian presidential elections were given wide coverage in the Arab press. The Arab Maghreb country had acquired notoriety in the Arab world after establishing diplomatic relations with Israel, much to the chagrin of other predominantly Muslim nations. "Mauritanian President Mouawiya Ould Taya wins a fourth term in office," reported Al-Hayat. The paper noted that opposition figures declared the results null and void.
Another Maghreb story that attracted some attention was the release of 300 Moroccans who, after more than three decades, were the world's longest- serving prisoners of war, held captive by the Algerian-baked POLISARIO. The release was thanks to the good offices of Seif Al-Islam Gaddafi, son of the Libyan leader. "POLISARIO hands Seif Al-Islam 300 Moroccan prisoners of war and Mohamed VI calls on Algeria to resume dialogue and find a solution to the Sahrawi question," Al-Hayat reported on Saturday, prominently displaying a photograph of Moroccan King Mohamed VI and Seif Al-Islam.
The Moroccan newspaper Al-Mithaq Al-Watani picked up the story of the Moroccan hostages, highlighting "blatant human rights violations committed by POLISARIO in Tindouf". Algeria refuses any proposal that runs counter to the separatism thesis, the Moroccan paper said. It lamented Algeria's refusal to settle the Sahrawi dispute amicably, stating that Morocco voiced its wish to consolidate ties with Algeria. Morocco deplores Algeria's failure to positively respond to the calls made by Rabat to improve bilateral relations. Algeria, which has been prey to militant Islamist violence since the cancellation in 1992 of the legislative elections that the now outlawed Islamic Salvation Front, better known by its French acronym FIS, was poised to win, is POLISARIO's staunchest ally.
Al-Hayat also turned the spotlight on another of Gaddafi's sons, As-Saidi, who last week tested positive for a banned substance while playing for the Italian football club Perugia.
Al-Ahram Weekly Online : 13 - 19 November 2003 (Issue No. 664)
Located at: http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2003/664/pr2.htm