US embassy cable - 05AMMAN1241

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 AMMAN 001241 
 
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 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
 
TAGS: KMDR JO 
SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION ON HARIRI'S ASSASSINATION 
 
 
                        Summary 
 
-- Coverage of the assassination of former Lebanese 
Prime Minister Rafik Hariri and its aftermath dominate 
reporting in all papers published today, February 15. 
Banner headlines in all papers highlight reports that 
feature regional and international reactions to the 
assassination and explore the potential repercussions 
on Lebanon as well as the speculated involvement of 
Syria in the attack.  Majority of commentaries feature 
emotional condemnation and denunciation of the attack 
and urge the Lebanese people to pull together. 
 
                 Editorial Commentary 
 
-- "The crime of assassinating Hariri" 
 
Daily columnist Jamil Nimri writes on the back-page of 
independent, mass-appeal Arabic daily Al-Arab Al-Yawm 
(02/15):  "The tape that Al-Jazirah TV showed after 
the assassination was not convincing and did not 
establish the party responsible for Hariri's 
assassination.  The name of the organization, which 
was unknown previously, is meant to suggest a link 
with the Zarqawi grouping, and yet going to Lebanon to 
assassinate Hariri is meaningless and plays no part in 
the agenda of such organizations.  Moreover, the 
justification given for the assassination, namely 
Hariri's relations with Saudi Arabia, is weak and 
simply increases doubts about the existence of this 
group..  This crime is a disaster that has shaken 
Lebanon and the Arab world and gives rise to concerns 
about potential disastrous repercussions against 
Lebanon..  The question that poses itself is whether 
Syria, in view of the current situation and 
developments, would put itself in such a position 
increasing the pressures that it is already coming 
under.  Speculations circulated madly yesterday and 
all possibilities were put forth.  We cannot do 
anything but wait for a serious and reliable 
investigation by the Lebanese parties and particularly 
the opposition.  This is the only way to calm flaring 
tempers and ease the tension." 
 
-- "Assassinating Lebanon's peace and stability" 
 
Chief editor Taher Udwan writes on the back-page of 
independent, mass-appeal Arabic daily Al-Arab Al-Yawm 
(02/15):  "When it comes to such a serious event with 
all these aspects that are prone to explosion, one 
cannot rule out the presence of foreign hands that 
seek to take advantage of the domestic crisis and make 
Lebanon another case like Iraq, especially now that 
all accounts indicate that the losers in Iraq are 
going to lose the entire Middle East and that if there 
was no room for profit in Baghdad the disaster should 
be  general and comprehensive..  If international 
terrorism is not responsible, then the perpetrators 
are countries, governments and intelligence rings. 
This means that terrorism is becoming active in the 
region and is developing through the entry of new 
official members who have decided, it seems, to 
exercise state terrorism in this conflict of the age 
that was inaugurated by the American-British invasion 
and the occupation of Iraq.  What happened in Beirut 
yesterday is a serious indication of the future of the 
region that has been suffering from American military 
and political pressures for years.  Assassinating 
Hariri definitely sends a strong message to Syria that 
its coming days in Lebanon are going to be very 
difficult, as it appears Security Council resolution 
1559 is not much different from the resolutions that 
targeted Iraq prior to the invasion, the occupation 
and the disaster." 
 
 
-- "Who benefits from Rafik Hariri's assassination?" 
 
Columnist Lamis Andoni writes on the op-ed page of 
independent Arabic daily Al-Ghad (02/15):  "Various 
parties pointed accusatory fingers to Damascus after 
the assassination of the former Lebanese Prime 
Minister..  The question is: what does Syria gain from 
such an assassination, particularly in view of Syria's 
regional and international position after the 
escalation of the American campaign and the expanding 
coalition against the presence of the Syrian army in 
Lebanon from a small circle of right-wing parties that 
could be seen as allied with Israel to a larger sector 
involving all the political sects of Lebanon known for 
their position against Israel and even the U.S. policy 
in the region?  Unfortunately, one could say here that 
Syria might have been wise to rectify its position in 
Lebanon, and more specifically put an end to its 
security intervention that has upset its allies and 
its enemies.  I do not mean by this a Syrian surrender 
to American and Israeli demands.  But Syria's lack of 
timely movement and its insistence on intervention and 
on extending President Lahoud's term in office has 
forced the Lebanese to revolt, not to mention creating 
additional pressure of American and Israeli threats to 
Lebanon..  (There is an) alliance between Lebanese 
right-wing personalities and Israeli personalities and 
(U.S.) neo-conservative figures:  this alliance was 
openly declared in 1996 under the title of "the 
American committee for a free Lebanon" whose 
objectives included undermining the regime in Lebanon. 
The names of Americans on this committee included the 
most prominent names of the neo-conservative 
leadership, such as Richard Perle and Douglas Faith 
and others known for their close relationship with the 
Likud or for their participation in the document that 
was published under the name `a clean break from the 
realm', in which Perle and Faith had recommended to 
Netanyahu to follow a strategy of undermining the 
regimes in Iraq and Syria and to use Lebanon to strike 
against Syria, not to mention the establishment of an 
alternative state for the Palestinians in Jordan.. 
The war on Syria has already begun and will take 
different forms.  The repercussions of assassinating a 
prominent figure such as Hariri will weaken Syria and 
revive the ghost of separatism in Lebanon.  I mean to 
say here that while we  acknowledge Syria's sins and 
mistakes, we must not blind ourselves to the other 
factors in the formula as we start pointing fingers." 
 
-- "This is terrorism" 
 
Center-left, influential Arabic daily Al-Dustour 
(02/15) editorializes:  "The assassination of Rafik 
Hariri with such a despicable terrorist attack 
constitutes a real disaster, a resonating shock and a 
great loss.  It is a crime that reflects the brutality 
of its perpetrators and their satanic scheme of 
targeting the security and stability of all Arab 
countries..  The most serious thing about the 
religious rhetoric of terrorist groups is the fact 
that it can be used by numerous parties.  Its methods 
serve foreign schemes more than anything else, be it 
on the level of undermining stability, increasing 
domestic conflicts, creating sectarianism, or even 
using the war on terrorism to achieve other 
objectives.  It is clear that the terrorist attack did 
not target the life of Rafik Hariri as much as it 
wanted to ignite a stage of chaos and corruption, 
whereby the Arab and Muslim world would become ripe 
ground for plans of hegemony and whereby the Arab 
nation loses itself and become void of all form, 
identity and ambition and burdened by challenges and 
crises and thus fails to benefit or reap the fruits of 
its riches and resources." 
HALE