The Waxing of the Shi'ite Crescent--A Times Online

[Gloria]

From the new World Media Watch up now at http://www.zianet.com/insightanalytical
Tomorrow at Buzzflash.com


WORLD MEDIA WATCH FOR APRIL 20, 2005



1//Asia Times Online, Hong Kong--THE WAXING OF THE SHI’ITE CRESCENT (Since the Islamic revolution took place in Iran in 1979, one of its prime objectives was to strengthen Shi'ites all over the Muslim world. Before that revolution, they were a disinherited, underprivileged and neglected community in Lebanon and Iraq. . … . After 25 years of underground struggle, this community succeeded in toppling Saddam, ironically, with the help of the US. The overthrow of Saddam, the newfound status of the Shi'ites in Iraq, their victory in the January 2005 elections, and the election of Jaafari were all well received in Tehran. They summed up what Iran had wanted in Iraq since 1979. Jaafari, who has been active in Shi'ite politics since 1968, raises hopes throughout the Muslim world that struggle, persecution and long years of banishment will not prevent the Shi'ites from rising to power in their respective communities, just like they did in Iran in 1979, and Iraq in 2003. A member of the pan-Shi'ite United Iraqi Alliance, and a brother-in-law of Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, Jaafari's appointment as premier raises more than an eyebrow in the Arab world.)



2//Xinhua News Agency, China--PAKISTAN MILITARY DISUPUTES US GENERAL’S REMARKS (Pakistani military Tuesday disagreed with remarks by a top US general in Afghanistan that Islamabad is planning to launch an operation against militants in its North Waziristan tribal region. "We decide for ourselves what needs to be done and when and where," a spokesman of the armed forces' Inter-Services Public Relations said in a statement while commenting on the impression created by the remarks from commander of the coalition forces in Afghanistan, Lt. General David Barno. . … . It was reported that Barno told reporters that "We collectively feel that there is a need to undertake an operation in North Waziristan. That's an area where I think the Pakistani military is about to undertake a military operation to keep pressure on terrorist networks.")



3//The Moscow Times, Russia--UNITED RUSSIA GROUP CALLS FOR LIBERAL POLICIES (A group of influential United Russia politicians on Tuesday called for the party to adopt a more liberal platform in what appeared to be a move sanctioned by the Kremlin to form a liberal faction that could sideline existing liberal parties. Vladimir Pligin, chairman of the State Duma's Constitutional and State Affairs Committee, told a news conference that the party should adopt a clear liberal ideology based on "democratic values, civil liberty and the sovereignty of the state." He predicted that United Russia would get more than 35 percent of the vote in the 2007 Duma elections with such a program. . … . A senior Kremlin official said by telephone Tuesday that there was an understanding in the presidential administration that liberal ideas should be present in the national political spectrum. "And if these ideas are promoted by United Russia, they pose no potential danger for the Kremlin," he said. He spoke on condition of anonymity, citing Kremlin rules on speaking to the press. . … . "Showing the people a fake discussion between United Russia's different ideological factions, the party of power will present this as a real political competition between real political parties," said Sergei Mitrokhin, a senior member of the Yabloko party. He added that such a move would also help the Kremlin to deflect growing criticism over not allowing opposition voices in the national media.)



4//The Sydney Morning Herald, Australia--CHINA MAKES SOME ROOM AT THE SUMMIT (In a change of China's position, the Premier, Wen Jiabao, has told the Prime Minister, John Howard, that Beijing will support Australia's membership of the East Asian Summit. Thirteen East Asian countries - plus India and New Zealand, but not Australia - have been invited to the inaugural meeting of the group in December. It is widely viewed as an important new forum for Asia's political and security affairs. . … . China had maintained a studied neutrality on the question of Australia's membership. . … . The US is excluded from the summit and is seeking to be admitted as an observer. A White House official told the Herald last year that Beijing was seeking to turn the group into "a plaything of the Chinese".)



5//Inter Press Agency News Service, Italy--MPs DEMAND MORE BUDGETARY CONTROL FROM IMF AND BANK (Hundreds of members of parliaments around the world are calling on the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank, two institutions that lend billions of dollars every year, to roll back dozens of conditions they impose on borrowing countries and let local legislators have the final say in domestic economic policies. The appeal came on Saturday as the two institutions started their spring meetings in Washington under tight security. The parliamentarians called on the two organisations, known as the Bretton Woods institutions (BWI), and their principal shareholders within the industrialised nations ”to ensure that the democratically elected representatives of recipient nations are the final arbiters of all economic policies in their countries.” . … . The petition, the first of its kind, contends that poverty is better fought if policies have local backing and are under the control of sovereign parliaments. If adopted by the two public lenders, approval of PRSPs would shift from the boards of the Bank and Fund, where they are dominated by rich nations, to the national parliaments of recipient countries.)