VZCZCXRO0059
PP RUEHBC RUEHDE RUEHKUK
DE RUEHMS #1345/01 2551345
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 121345Z SEP 06
FM AMEMBASSY MUSCAT
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 7130
INFO RUEHEE/ARAB LEAGUE COLLECTIVE
RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON 0435
RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS 0327
RHMFISS/CDR USCENTCOM MACDILL AFB FL

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 MUSCAT 001345 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR NEA/ARP, NEA/PPD, NEA/PI, AND INR/R/MR 
STATE PASS USTR FOR N. MOORJANI, J. BUNTIN 
LONDON FOR TSOU 
PARIS FOR ZEYA 
USCENTCOM FOR PLUSH 
FOREIGN PRESS CENTER FOR SILAS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: OIIP KPAO KMDR MU
SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION: SEPTEMBER 11 FIFTH ANNIVERSARY, ARAB LEAGUE 
PEACE PROPOSAL 
 
¶1.  SUMMARY:  Omani press gave wide (and surprisingly acerbic) 
coverage to the fifth anniversary of the September 11 attacks. 
Columnists in government-owned "Oman" suggested that 9/11 was an 
Israeli conspiracy and that the post-9/11 U.S. "adventure" has made 
the world less secure.  After the recent Arab League ministerial 
meeting about the peace process, privately-owned "Al-Watan" wrote 
that Israeli invasions and the world's failure to implement UN 
resolutions are responsible for the current deadlock.  END SUMMARY. 
 
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COVERAGE 
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¶2.   Oman's Arabic dailies covered the 9/11 anniversary in different 
ways, but in general focused on the tragedy's uncertain legacy.  On 
September 12, the front page of government-owned "Oman" (circulation 
38,000) proclaimed, "On the Anniversary of September 11 the World 
Renews its Campaign against Terrorism / Zawahri Singles out the Gulf 
and Israel in His Threats,"  accompanying the headline with color 
image of victims' families laying flowers on a memorial pond at the 
World Trade Center site in New York.  On September 12, private 
dailies "Al-Shabiba" (circulation 20,000) and "Al-Watan" 
(circulation 42,000) did not front-page 9/11 features, but inside 
carried full-page spreads with color photographs and articles about 
U.S. memorial ceremonies.  On September 11 itself, "Oman" headlined: 
 "Five Years since September 11, the Anniversary and the Results: 
Bin Laden Free and American Difficulties in Iraq and Afghanistan," 
over an article commenting on internal divisions among Americans 
concerning how to confront and prevent terrorism.  Also on September 
11, "Oman" carried inside-page stories headlined : "German Political 
Expert: America Changed after 9/11 but Not for the Better / Bush 
Failed in Achieving Democracy in Iraq and Afghanistan, and Europe 
Works to Carry its Costs," and "The World is as Far as can be from 
Security -- Attacks Increased wherever Western Interests are Found." 
 On September 11, youth-oriented "Al-Shabibah" front-paged AFP 
covering quoting the Secretary, "America is Now More Secure; the 
Search Continues for Bin Laden." The same AFP piece was carried by 
"Al-Watan" in tandem with MCT (former Knight-Ridder) wire coverage 
of 9/11's impact on U.S. civil liberties. 
 
--------------------------------------------- --- 
BLOCK QUOTES: PROBLEMS WITH ARAB LEAGUE PROPOSAL 
--------------------------------------------- --- 
 
¶3. On September 7, "Al-Watan" (privately owned daily, circulation 
42,000) suggested a "New Mechanism to Move the Peace Process 
Forward": 
 
"The ministerial council of the Arab League announced that the Arab 
countries are going to demand a new mechanism for resuming the 
Middle East peace process and define a timeframe for settling the 
Arab/Israeli conflict in the Security Council.  However, there are a 
couple of facts to consider in light of that announcement:  first 
that a new or an old "mechanism" is irrelevant to the problem at 
hand.  Instead, we need to end Israel's continuous invasions and 
projects to swallow up more Arab territories, actions that are 
responsible for the deadlock.  The second is that there is a lack of 
will on the part of the international community to force Israel's 
adherence to Security Council resolutions." 
 
------------------------- 
9/11 IN ISRAEL'S INTEREST 
------------------------- 
 
¶4. On September 11, government-owned Arabic daily "Oman" 
(circulation 38,000) carried an an op-ed piece on "U.S.-Israeli 
Disagreement over Priorities in the Region:" 
 
"There have been many efforts to drag America into a clash with 
confrontational groups, among them the small cell that helped plan 
the 9/11 operations while maintaining ties to Israeli intelligence. 
Although this page was closed for a while, it is considered one in 
lengthy chain of events that constitute Israeli efforts to draw the 
American machine to the Arab region... The Israelis dreamed of 
showing [America] as the enemy of the Arabs, so that Israel remains 
the only strategic partner, being able to realize all its political 
and strategic interests....  However, even if we discard the 
conspiracy theory and all Israeli technical contributions to the 
9/11 operation, it would be equally true that Israel and its people 
in the American administration have worked hard to push America and 
its citizens into an open confrontation with Arabs and Muslims in 
Afghanistan and Iraq.  Washington has realized none of its interests 
 
MUSCAT 00001345  002 OF 002 
 
 
in these cases; rather, all the war's political and strategic 
advantages have gone to Israel.  America's fighting on two fronts 
has given the Israelis more scope to isolate the Palestinians and 
work for international recognition of their security necessities as 
an excuse for assassinations, destruction, and arrests, along with 
the discarding of any peace projects for the region." 
 
--------------------------------------------- ------- 
WORLD AT RISK AFTER 9/11 DUE TO "AMERICAN ADVENTURE" 
--------------------------------------------- ------- 
 
¶5. Another columnist for "Oman" wrote about 9/11 as "A Day that 
Changed the Course of History": 
 
"This has become a definitive date in the calendar of humanity, such 
that events are characterized as pre or post-9/11... Since then, 
Afghanistan was attacked and the Taliban was demolished as a 
government but not a movement.  Then it was Iraq's turn, and 
American forces invaded the country under the pretext that it was 
providing support and coverage to Al Qaeda.  The Americans recently 
discovered that the former Iraqi president did not have anything to 
do with Al Qaeda... but despite this discovery nobody questioned 
America!  America's anger increased after 9/11 and brought down 
human societies using all the technical and military expertise 
available in efforts to eliminate terrorism. However, [America] 
could not eliminate the roots of the problem and instead complicated 
it.  More anti-American movements appeared and extremism increased. 
The safety and stability of whole world is endangered because of the 
American adventure." 
GRAPPO