VZCZCXRO6600
PP RUEHBC RUEHDE RUEHKUK
DE RUEHMS #1507/01 2950958
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 220958Z OCT 06
FM AMEMBASSY MUSCAT
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 7309
INFO RUEHEE/ARAB LEAGUE COLLECTIVE
RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON 0448
RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS 0340
RHMFISS/CDR USCENTCOM MACDILL AFB FL

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 MUSCAT 001507 
 
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:  SECRETARY'S MIDDLE EAST TOUR, CHALLENGES 
FOR ARAB GOVERNMENTS, JAPANESE DPRK POLICY, TALIBAN RESURGENCE 
 
 
¶1.  SUMMARY:  Youth-oriented "Al-Shabiba" calls Secretary Rice's 
Middle East tour "nothing new."  Privately owned "Al-Watan" writes 
about political challenges facing Iraq, Lebanon and Palestine, and 
claims the Taliban is resurgent in Afghanistan.  Government-owned 
"Oman" says Japan's North Korea policy is worthy of emulation.  END 
SUMMARY. 
 
-------- 
COVERAGE 
-------- 
 
¶2.  Omani dailies reported on the heavy death toll in Iraq this 
month, and covered President Bush's statements regarding Iraq and 
Vietnam.  Continuing coverage of North Korea's nuclear program was 
prominent in all papers. 
 
------------------------------------------ 
BLOCK QUOTES: MIDDLE EAST TOUR NOTHING NEW 
------------------------------------------ 
 
¶3.  On October 21, youth-oriented, Arabic language "Al-Shabiba" 
(circulation 20,000) commented on "Secretary Rice's Middle East 
Tour": 
 
"Rice's tours of the Middle East usually bring nothing new and are 
only aimed at securing U.S. and Israeli interests...in her recent 
tour, did Rice bring anything new to the Arabs?   All indicators in 
the Middle East region confirm that the answer is no.  We Arabs are 
still looking forward to a change in U.S. policy and for new results 
that guarantee a halt to Israeli military operations against the 
Palestinian people and   construction of new Israeli settlements, in 
return for the suspension of operations being carried out by the 
Palestinian resistance against Israel. This is to encourage the 
establishment of a new platform from which an active and productive 
peace process could be launched, and to make a success of the Arab 
move within the UN Security Council's circles.   Also, as one of the 
Middle East countries partly occupied by Israel, Syria has joint 
interests with its neighbors.  America and the other international 
forces should be aware of this and urge Israel to start negotiations 
with Damascus.  The U.S. should also review its threatening policy 
for the sake of reaching a full and final peace in the area, and 
realize that Syrian participation in the Arab-Israeli dialogue is 
essential.  Arabs must also exert their utmost efforts to achieve 
national reconciliation in Iraq by urging America to start 
withdrawing its troops. 
 
------------------------------------- 
ARAB GOVERNMENTS' DIFFICULT REALITIES 
------------------------------------- 
 
¶4. On October 17, a columnist in privately owned "Al-Watan" 
(circulation 42,000) wrote about "Three Governments Seeking A 
Solution:" 
 
The nearer we are to the end of Ramadan, the more we approach the 
most intense point of conflict for three Arab governments that are 
currently preoccupied with their own difficult realities.  The 
Lebanese government will confront the circle of risk from the first 
day of Eid al- Fitr and the following days.  The opposition is 
fighting assiduously to overthrow it, while the majority is sticking 
to it and almost trying to support it by force to avoid its 
collapse.  Yet Siniora's government has the blessings of Saudi 
Arabia, Egypt, Jordan, and the United States, among others.  U.S. 
Assistant Secretary of State David Welch might visit Beirut to 
express support for the existing government...meanwhile, the 
opposition insists that the present government should not supervise 
the presidential elections....  [In Palestine], Abbas and Haniya 
seem like parallel lines that will never meet.  Though the situation 
in Lebanon has not developed to the stage of armed fighting, the 
Palestinian land has currently reached the zero point of tension and 
one bullet might set the whole area on fire. Moreover, while the 
superpowers support Seniora's government in Lebanon against the 
opposition, we find that Israel, America and some other Arab 
countries are supporting Abbas and expressing their enmity towards 
Hamas and its leader.  At the same time, Israel is working openly to 
divide the two parties and kindle civil war between them.  The third 
point of tension is Iraq, where some parties are plotting a horrible 
collapse of Al Maliki's government.  The major problem is not 
between this government and its predecessor, but in the occupation 
forces and their inability to exercise full power over the 
country....  These three countries are fighting now for existence. 
 
 
MUSCAT 00001507  002 OF 002 
 
 
---------------------------------- 
JAPAN MOST BALANCED ON NORTH KOREA 
---------------------------------- 
 
¶5.  On October 16, government-owned "Oman" (circulation 38,000) 
wrote about "The Japanese Lesson" regarding North Korea's nuclear 
weapons: 
 
"Japan's reaction to the North Korean nuclear test appears to be the 
most balanced stance from both the political and military aspect. 
This is expressed by the Japanese Prime Minister's statement that 
his country would not be dragged into a nuclear arms race.  However, 
he stressed the necessity of applying severe sanctions on North 
Korea.  In fact, this is a reflection of a Japanese political 
principle, which considers that world civilization should transcend 
the need to show power, including nuclear power.  Japan possesses 
huge technological capabilities and could surmount North Korea's 
capabilities in this field very shortly....  Japan's trend could be 
a suitable example to follow by countries all over the world, to get 
rid of the desire to dominate through possessing nuclear power in 
what is now called the balance of terror....  Japan feels 
that...Pyongyang could be tamed to a friendly reconciliation due to 
its need for more external aid.  Of course, this would be true only 
if North Korea is not willing to commit suicide, a matter that is 
not accounted for in Pyongyang's policy, at least at this time.... 
Could Japan's stance constitute a basis for a new initiative in 
international relations?  We hope so." 
---------------------------- 
TALIBAN'S STAR SHINING AGAIN 
---------------------------- 
 
¶6.  On October 21 a columnist in "Al-Watan" wrote about "Afghanistan 
and A Return to the Pre-Taliban Era": 
 
"Five years have passed since the invasion of Afghanistan and the 
situation looks as if nothing new has happened. What remains from 
the invasion campaign is only its empty slogan...Afghanistan has 
regressed even to the pre-Taliban era....  The Taliban's star has 
started to shine again.  This militant movement has managed to 
control the eastern and southern regions of Afghanistan during the 
last five months and return to the strongholds that it left at the 
beginning of the U.S. campaign...the existence of more than 80,000 
Pakistani soldiers throughout the Pakistani borders has not deterred 
Al Qaida and Taliban operations on Afghan soil.  Also, the Karzai 
government has failed to dominate all the Afghani lands, and its 
influence does not exceed the Afghani Capital of Kabul...the Taliban 
has succeeded in increasing its forces from 100 members to nearly 
400...it is very difficult to say that there is any true political 
system being built in Afghanistan....no progress has been witnessed 
in rehabilitation and reconstruction despite the fact that almost 24 
reconstruction agencies are currently operating in Afghanistan.  The 
problem now is not bound to the failure of the American war against 
terrorism only, but also to the failure of the American example for 
managing the international conflict in its new form.  America has 
entered into Afghanistan knowing that it deals with a state that 
could be classified as a failure by all academic standards. 
However, the ideological rashness of the new conservatives has made 
them blind and unable to see the truth, and has tempted them to 
believe that it is very possible to establish a modern state simply 
through a radio and television culture, shaving the beards of the 
Afghani men and removing the veils from the Afghani women's faces." 
 
FONTENEAU