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FM AMEMBASSY ABU DHABI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 7225
RUENAAA/SECNAV WASHINGTON DC IMMEDIATE
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHINGTON DC IMMEDIATE
RHEHAAA/WHITE HOUSE WASHDC PRIORITY
RHEHNSC/WHITE HOUSE NSC WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RUEHZM/GULF COOPERATION COUNCIL COLLECTIVE
RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON 1121
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RHWSMRC/MCF01 SACCS USCINCCENT MACDILL AFB FL

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ABU DHABI 003877 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR NEA/ARP; NEA/PPD; NEA/RA; INR/R/MR; PA; INR/NESA; INR/B; 
RRU-NEA 
IIP/G/NEA-SA 
WHITE HOUSE FOR PRESS OFFICE; NSC 
SECDEF FOR OASD/PA 
USCINCCENT FOR POLAD 
LONDON FOR MCKUNE 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: OIIP KMDR TC
SUBJECT:  MEDIA REACTION: UAE FNC ELECTIONS/RICE VISIT 
 
¶1.  Summary:  An article in "Al-Khaleej" is sarcastic about Rice's 
visit stating that the US only serves Israel and thus will never 
ever be any good to the Arabs.  "Al-Bayan" states that the US puts 
other priorities which do not serve peace in the region.  Several 
articles in "Al-Ittihad" and "Al-Bayan" discuss the Federal National 
Council elections scheduled for December.  End Summary. 
 
 
¶2.  Under the headline "Any thing left for compromise?", 
Sharjah-based pan-Arab daily "Al-Khaleej" (circulation 90,000) wrote 
in a 10/04 editorial: 
 
"Poor Israel, she is so peaceful, so scared, and so desperate for 
frequent visits from Secretary Rice so that the secretary can get 
some encouraging compromises so that Israel can be satisfied with 
the Arabs and continue in her march to peace which is always 
interrupted by the Arab terrorists.  Poor Israel, she offers 
compromises, one after the other, yet, the Arabs insist on raping 
her land, attacking her, and committing massacres continually. The 
Arabs refuse Israel's offers for peace and security.  Israel 
deserves sympathy and she qualifies for genius record for her record 
in humanity.  This is what seems to be promoted by Rice and the 
other American delegates in their visits and meetings. They call for 
what they consider "incentives" for Israel. "Incentives" in the 
American region-accredited dictionary means political compromises 
which the Arabs have been offering since the 1970s.  America 
demands, the Arabs answer, and Israel is never satisfied. 
Washington and its Zionist entity want to exploit the Arabs' bad 
situation.  They want to cancel the Palestinian cause... to uproot 
the Arab-Zionist struggle in favor of Israel and at the expense of 
Arabs, Palestine, and the other occupied Arab lands.  American wants 
to market the Zionist terror and considering it as moderate 
position...  And if the Arabs object they will be labeled 
terrorists.  Poor Arabs, if they continue to believe Rice' the 
other's promises.  Poor Arabs if they continue to offer compromises 
and incentives because Washington's strategy is to deprive the Arabs 
of everything.  Poor Arabs if they continue to believe the Bush 
administration's promises and lies.  Whoever serves Israel and puts 
their services at her disposal will never ever be any good to the 
Arabs." 
 
¶3. Under headline "Rice and priorities", Dubai-Based Arabic Daily 
"Al-Bayan," (circulation 85,000) wrote a 10/04 editorial: 
 
"The drastic internal Palestinian situation comes as an 
unprecedented catastrophe.  The fact that the US puts other 
priorities over it does not serve peace or stability in the region. 
It obviously does not serve the spread moderation so as to 
effectively thwart extremism". 
 
 
¶4. A UAE columnist, Mohammed Al-Hammadi, wrote a 10/04 op-ed in Abu 
Dhabi-based semi-official Arabic-language daily "Al-Ittihad" 
(circulation 65,000): 
 
"... I believe that the phased transition policy adopted by the UAE 
during the electoral process is important, although it did not meet 
the high expectations of many people.  One of the simplest benefits 
of a transitional phase is that citizens can test at this stage 
their rights to see to what extent their situation can change and 
what their benefits are once they have obtained their transition to 
democracy.  If the results are positive, there is no doubt that 
their participation in the next elections, which will be general, 
will be bigger and more serious.  If we want to know how much our 
society would be democratic in the future, we must know how many of 
the 6689 nominees believe in democracy; the higher the number, the 
greater the hope to achieve greater democracy.  Finally, we have to 
thank the great efforts exerted by the workers of the Federal 
National Council in the past few months to turn that dream of 
elections into reality so as to have this important political 
process succeed...  Because this is the first experience, it is 
expected that it will be under the microscope.  Whatever the level 
of satisfaction is, we must be convinced that everyone is required 
to support such an experiment in order to have it successful." 
 
 
¶5. A UAE columnist, Mohammed Khalfan Al Sowafi, wrote in a 10/04 
op-ed in Abu Dhabi-based semi-official Arabic-language daily 
 
ABU DHABI 00003877  002 OF 002 
 
 
"Al-Ittihad" (circulation 65,000): 
 
"... Preparations prior to elections can be understood as an open 
opportunity to establish a base for a strong electoral culture in 
the UAE and for delivering the required thoughts to the community by 
an important segment serving the electoral process in the future. 
Perhaps community involvement or the involvement of a large segment 
of university students is like building the core infrastructure for 
Electoral Action.  It will allow elite students and others to 
spearhead electoral work in a better way and will therefore 
communicate their ideas in this regard to other members of society. 
They would also work to raise public awareness of electoral work in 
the next stage.  The December elections represent a complete 
experience of election work....  Some may consider the required 
participation by youth as insubstantial when faced with the great 
challenges experienced during this initial experience, specifically 
in terms of time, but the importance of the contribution of 
university students in the national action is significant.  Instead 
of merely spreading awareness among members of the electoral 
community, this experience brings an integration between segments of 
society; reflecting a large portion of the aspirations and dreams of 
the youth..." 
 
 
¶6. Under headline "Diverse Lists", a UAE columnist, Mara'a 
Al-Helyan, wrote in a 10/04 op-ed in Dubai-Based Arabic Daily 
"Al-Bayan," (circulation 85,000): 
 
"We talked yesterday about how surprised some people were to see 
their names on the UAE election lists.  Many asked what they should 
do next.  Some started to use their names to maneuver and negotiate. 
 Some started to say that they are free to give their votes to 
whoever they like.  Of course they are free and that is the main 
principle of democracy.  Some are dreaming of a seat in the FNC, and 
the glory of giving talks to their constituents.  Some realize that 
they need money, lots of it, to publicize their national programs. 
What is surprising is that the artists found themselves off of the 
lists. Later, very few names of artists were found in the lists. 
Then, the singers and modern and classical Arabic poets found out 
that they were not included in the lists.  Just one or two names 
were there.  There were many folklore poets in the lists, however. 
The lists include people of all ages, affiliations and academic 
degrees.  The lists did not have tribal conditions.  That is why 
they are so diverse.  A friend of mine who has an advance degree in 
law was in the list.  He told me that he honestly did not know what 
to do next.  Initially, I thought of telling him that he needs at 
least two million AED for the campaign but later I thought I better 
not tell him this!" 
 
 
SISON