US embassy cable - 04YEREVAN722

UNCLAS YEREVAN 000722 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR INR/R/MR-STHIBEAULT, EUR/PPD-MLOGSDON AND 
SRUEDY, EUR/CACEN-ESIDEREAS, EUR, EUR/ACE, EUR/SNEC, 
EUR/SE 
 
E.O. 12958; N/A 
TAGS: KMDR, OPRC, PGOV, PREL, KPAO, AM 
SUBJECT: REACTION FROM YEREVAN, ARMENIA: SHEIKH AHMED 
YASSIN'S ASSASSINATION 
 
1.  SUMMARY: The assassination of the founder and 
spiritual leader of the Palestinian Hamas movement, 
Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, was reported on all Armenian TV 
channels, the reports being mainly factual.  However, 
some local papers published commentaries.  The 
following is the summary of the articles. END SUMMARY 
 
MIDDLE EAST ON THE VERGE OF A NEW WAR? 
 
2. Government official Armenian language daily 
HAYASTANI HANRAPETUTIUN (03/24) draws parallels between 
the reaction of Washington and Moscow.  "Ahmed Yassin's 
assassination showed that the Israeli-Palestinian 
conflict is entering a new and uncompromising phase, 
where the situation can shift from separate terrorist 
acts to a large-scale war.  An interesting observation: 
while Washington's calm reaction (to put it mildly) to 
Sheikh Ahmed Yassin's assassination was understandable, 
Moscow was also strangely restrained in its statement." 
 
THE AMERICAN BALANCE 
 
3. Oppositionist Armenian daily HAYKAKAN ZHAMANAK 
(03/24) also focused on the reaction of the Bush 
Administration to the assassination.  "The main 
initiator of the Middle East peace process, the United 
States has still not condemned the assassination of the 
spiritual leader of the extremist Palestinian 
organization HAMAS, Sheikh Ahmad Yassin.  The White 
House is trying to maintain a balance, which angers the 
Arabs.  Observers note that the Bush administration 
would have adopted a clearer position had it not been 
for the November 2 presidential elections.  Unlike the 
United States, almost all European countries, including 
Great Britain, have condemned the HAMAS spiritual 
leader's assassination." 
 
SHEIKH'S LESSONS 
 
4. Oppositionist Armenian daily ARAVOT (03/24) stresses 
the attitude of the world toward this killing.  "The 
fact of the assassination of the founder and spiritual 
leader of the Palestinian Hamas movement, Sheikh Ahmed 
Yassin, by the Israeli air force had a litmus paper 
effect by simply showing how far the world, or at least 
its civilized part, is from the realization of the 
importance of strengthening the universal principles 
and standards of political culture.  In addition to the 
Arab world, a number of European countries joined the 
ranks of those who condemned the actions aimed at 
neutralizing Yassin.  It is interesting that they 
included that dedicated member of the international 
counter-terrorism movement, Great Britain.  However, 
when we `translate' what has happened into a simple and 
understandable language, we get the following story. 
There is a rather large group of Palestinian killers, 
who have been consistently stripped of their 
intelligence ever since their childhood and have become 
like zombies, who couldn't care less about their own 
lives, and who regularly carry out bloody terrorist 
acts against peaceful Israeli citizens.   However, for 
some reason, the world voices its `justified' protests 
when the main organizer and the `brain center' of the 
suicide terrorists is killed, even though it seems that 
this should not have been the case.  The arguments are 
extremely ironic.  `A dangerous new wave of violence is 
going to start now,' threatens a scared Europe, 
implying that the old wave of violence was less 
dangerous in the days of Yassin, who did nothing but 
organize terrorist acts all the time.  `The United 
States, who has always been against extra-judicial 
killings, does not want to condemn Yassin's 
assassination,' Russia says in bewilderment, while 
Russian media runs headlines about the Russian Special 
Forces killing some more or less important Chechen 
rebels for weeks on end.  It is quite appropriate here 
to remember one of Putin's famous statements: `There 
should be no mercy towards terrorists; if necessary, 
we'll destroy them in a bathroom.'" 
 
WALKER