US embassy cable - 04AMMAN4493

UNCLAS AMMAN 004493 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR NEA/ARN, NEA/PA, NEA/AIA, INR/NESA, R/MR, 
I/GNEA, B/BXN, B/BRN, NEA/PPD, NEA/IPA FOR ALTERMAN 
USAID/ANE/MEA 
LONDON FOR GOLDRICH 
PARIS FOR O'FRIEL 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
 
TAGS: KMDR JO 
SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION ON IRAQ 
 
                        Summary 
 
-- Lead story in all papers today, June 3, focuses on 
the results of King Abdullah's visit to Kuwait and the 
establishment of a Jordanian-Kuwaiti company with 
start up capital of 100 million Dollars.  Other 
stories continue to highlight developments in the 
Iraqi and Palestinian fronts. 
 
                 Editorial Commentary 
 
-- "The governing council reproduces itself" 
 
Daily columnist Fahd Fanek concludes on the back-page 
of semi-official, influential Arabic daily Al-Rai 
(06/03):  "At least on the surface, the last word was 
not for America or the United Nations.  However, we 
will soon hear the word of the Iraqi people, the 
people concerned: will the resistance stop to give the 
new government a chance or will the security situation 
become worse?" 
 
-- "Alawi and Al Yawar: further reading" 
 
Columnist Moufaq Mahadeen writes on the op-ed page of 
independent, mass-appeal Arabic daily Al-Arab Al-Yawm 
(06/03):  "The American occupation appointed two 
presidents in Iraq, one for the government and one for 
the state.  The first is Dr. Iyad Alawi, who is from 
Baghdad and former Baathist.  The second is engineer 
Ghazi Al Yawar, who is from Mosul and whose father was 
close President Saddam Hussein.  This means that the 
American occupation has reached the conclusion that 
the complete isolation of the Baath party and its 
representatives and the regime of Saddam Hussein from 
the political scene is impossible, and that it would 
be better for the occupation to inherit that regime in 
new form and names rather than to eliminate..  The 
other issue has to do with Al-Yawar.  Despite 
political hints about the years that this engineer 
spent in Saudi Arabia, the American occupation wanted 
to deliver a different message by choosing him for 
this position.  Al-Yawar belongs to the tribe of 
Shammar, which is the tribe that competes with the 
tribe of Anza to which the royal Saudi family belongs. 
This means that the American occupation is more likely 
preparing to surround Saudi Arabia, limit its 
influence and drown it in new problems that could 
reach Syria, where the Shammar tribe is present as 
well, and which is considered a strong ally of 
Riyadh." 
 
-- "Not only incomplete sovereignty but non-existent" 
 
Columnist Haydar Rasheed writes on the op-ed page of 
independent, mass-appeal Arabic daily Al-Arab Al-Yawm 
(06/03):  "With different names and some different 
faces, what happened in Iraq complements the formula 
of the interim governing council.  It was done by 
American will and desire, and the worst thing about it 
is the continued allocation of seats on sectarian and 
ethnic bases and frail party representation.  While 
this gives the coalition forces the ability to pass 
new resolutions at the United Nations without 
referring to its presence in Iraq as an occupation 
force, it also highlights the marginal role that the 
United Nations is doing in Iraq..  All this shows that 
the sovereignty that the Iraqis are enjoying is not 
only incomplete but completely absent." 
GNEHM