VZCZCXRO5131
PP RUEHBC RUEHDE RUEHKUK
DE RUEHMS #1535/01 3041257
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 311257Z OCT 06
FM AMEMBASSY MUSCAT
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 7345
INFO RUEHEE/ARAB LEAGUE COLLECTIVE
RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON 0450
RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS 0342
RHMFISS/CDR USCENTCOM MACDILL AFB FL

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 MUSCAT 001535 
 
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:  FERNANDEZ COMMENTS, DPRK NUCLEAR PROGRAM, 
IRAQI DEATH STATISTICS, IRAQ DETAINEE TREATMENT, DEFINITION OF 
TERRORISM 
 
¶1.  SUMMARY:  Alberto Fernandez's Al-Jazeera remarks received 
extensive coverage in local press; government-owned "Oman Daily 
Observer" ran positive pictures of U.S. soldiers and Iraqi children; 
 private daily "Al-Shabiba" criticized the "double standards" of 
U.S. policy on Israeli and North Korean nuclear programs and 
disputed U.S. statistics on Iraqi civilian casualties;  state Arabic 
daily "Oman" condemned U.S. treatment of Iraqi detainees;  private 
Arabic daily "Al-Watan" awkwardly parsed the differences between 
terrorists and criminals.  END SUMMARY. 
 
-------- 
COVERAGE 
-------- 
 
¶2.  Each of Oman's Arabic-language dailies and the English-language 
"Times of Oman" (privately owned, circulation 25,000) reported NEA's 
Alberto Fernandez's remarks on Iraq.  The "Times" drew on Reuters 
coverage, as did the Arabic "Al-Watan" (privately owned, circulation 
42,000).  "Al-Watan" also carried an editorial that mentioned the 
remarks (Para xxx).  "Oman" (government-owned, circulation 38,000) 
front-paged its coverage, compiled from wire services, as did 
"Al-Shabiba," (youth-oriented, privately owned, circulation 
20,000). 
 
¶3.  The "Observer" printed positive pictures of U.S. soldiers 
interacting with Iraqi children this week. (Comment: this is very 
likely a conscious move, of a kind seen occasionally in Oman, by the 
state press to dampen anti-American sentiment in the country.  End 
Comment.) 
 
--------------------------------- 
BLOCK QUOTES: "FAILED" IRAQ GOALS 
--------------------------------- 
 
¶4.  On October 28, "Al-Watan" commented on remarks by Alberto 
Fernandez in an editorial headlined "Witnesses from their Own 
Household": 
 
"The situation is increasingly deteriorating and has even become 
worse for America and Britain.  This is due to several factors: the 
military intervention in Iraq and Afghanistan, the continuous and 
unconditional support for Israel, the sluggishness in taking 
practical measures to find a fair solution to the Palestinian issue, 
and the loss of reliability of Western proposals regarding human 
rights, freedom, and democracy.  All these have made Washington and 
London lose their campaigns to 'win the hearts and minds' of Arabs 
and Muslims, and at the same time escalated the rate of threats of 
'Islamic Terrorism' against Western interests, whether inside or 
outside the concerned countries.  All this explains an increasing 
awareness in the Western countries that the war in Iraq has failed 
to achieve its declared goals, as evidenced by the statement of U.S. 
State Department public diplomacy official Alberto Fernandez, who 
said that 'arrogance and stupidity' had characterized his country's 
Iraq policy.   Despite his later written apology, his direct chief, 
Karen Hughes, Undersecretary of State, has also admitted that some 
mistakes have been made that increased terrorist threats.  British 
Interior Minister John Reed has admitted the same, although he used 
to deny such incidents when he was in government handling the 
defense  portfolio." 
------------------------------- 
DOUBLE STANDARDS ON NORTH KOREA 
------------------------------- 
 
¶5.  On October 28, youth-oriented, privately owned "Al-Shabiba" 
wrote about "The North Korean Nuclear Test and the U.S. Challenge:" 
 
"The North Korean nuclear test has caused much confusion for the 
U.S. president's administration, which is principally occupied with 
the Iranian nuclear issue. It has also confused U.S. allies and may 
even have increased Iran's obstinacy and insistence on enriching 
uranium. It might also have increased the possibility of more 
cooperation between Iran and North Korea in the nuclear field.  This 
means that the Republican Party's popularity might deteriorate 
further with the approach of November's midterm congressional 
elections.  Hence, the Democratic Party would gain more support 
against President Bush's Party.  UN Resolution 1718, which calls on 
Pyongyang to get rid of all nuclear weapons, is a very difficult 
matter and constitutes double standards.  Israel possesses more than 
400 nuclear warheads, in addition to nuclear ballistic missiles, but 
no UN Security Council resolution has ever condemned it.  The path 
has now been open to other countries to enter the [nuclear] club to 
 
MUSCAT 00001535  002 OF 002 
 
 
break the arrogant and oppressive methods employed by the 
superpowers. In addition to those countries that already admitted 
their possession of nuclear arms, we can see that Iran, Brazil, 
South Africa, Japan, and many other countries are on the same 
track... The provocative policies and the oppressive methods used by 
America against other countries are primarily responsible for 
inciting the nuclear aspirations of these countries." 
---------------------- 
IRAQI DEATH STATISTICS 
---------------------- 
 
¶6.  On October 22, a columnist for "Al-Shabiba" wrote about Iraqi 
civilian deaths in "Half A Million Omitted by Mistake!": 
"If the difference in the death toll's statistics was one thousand 
or even ten thousand, it would have gone unnoticed, particularly 
after the destruction of Al Basra and Al Kufa.  But the true 
difference between the international estimate and the U.S. one is at 
least half a million.  The U.S. claims that Iraqi casualties do not 
exceed 50,000, a number which is most suitable to the death toll of 
traffic accidents or measles victims.  No doubt Iraqis would mock 
the approved American figures about the death toll, and more than a 
quarter million widows and children may send their mourning clothes 
to any fact-finding body to enable it to discern the truth.  As the 
birth has a certificate, the death has a certificate as well, unless 
these certificates were exterminated during the wave of burning and 
destruction of the documents, chips, and facts." 
----------------------- 
IRAQ DETAINEE TREATMENT 
----------------------- 
 
¶7.  On October 29, government-owned, Arabic-language "Oman" wrote 
about "The Best Bad Picture": 
 
"A picture has come to light portraying seven Iraqi men wearing 
simple country garments, with their eyes strongly blindfolded and 
their hands shackled, driven by a U.S. marine on Iraqi soil.  A 
photographer who was accompanying the American occupation forces 
boasts that he took this picture, which won first prize in an 
international photography competition.  If the promoters of this 
picture want to say that this is rare behavior by the Marines, facts 
and daily incidents prove otherwise... Those Iraqi youths were 
dragged from their homes, not from a battlefield.  The proof is that 
they were wearing winter clothes usually worn by Iraqi men at 
home... Human rights organizations, journalists' trade unions and 
photographers' associations all over the world must take a strong 
stance against such ugly practices of the American invasion forces 
in Iraq.  These organizations have thousands of photographs that 
constitute conclusive evidence of these criminal practices in Iraq. 
In this bad time, the bad deeds are documented, without any 
objection from anyone." 
------------------------ 
CRIMINALS VS. TERRORISTS 
------------------------ 
 
¶8.  On October 29 a columnist in "Al-Watan" wrote a (by local 
standards) less-than-usually coherent editorial on "Criminality, Not 
Terrorism": 
 
"What is the difference between criminality and terrorism, and the 
criminal and the terrorist? The dictionary definition points out 
that terrorism is a synonym for intimidation and fear-inducing. 
Criminality means criminal actions such as killing, stealing, 
cheating etc., and causing death to thousands of innocent civilians 
in Bosnia, Afghanistan, Iraq, Palestine and Lebanon, besides making 
other thousands homeless, destroying the infrastructures in these 
countries and causing pollution to the environment, which might 
remain for many years to come.  All these acts are nothing more than 
flagrant evil and inhuman deeds, whatever veils are used to hide 
them.  Those who perpetrate such acts should be subject to criminal 
laws and human rights conventions... The current international 
system, with its imbalanced standards, might prevent bringing true 
criminals to justice.  But it is more probable than ever before that 
this will change, since most members of the world community are 
moving towards a safer, fairer, and more secure global system.  When 
this phase is reached, everybody will be accountable for his own 
deeds... The court of history will publish many black books about 
those who pride themselves on their sin... The seasons of lament are 
coming soon.  Someone might deceive others for a while, but cannot 
continue that role forever.  When he is discovered, all the false 
veils will fall, and his ugly face will appear." 
GRAPPO