US embassy cable - 05MUSCAT1183

UNCLAS MUSCAT 001183 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR NEA/ARPI, NEA/PPD, NEA/P, INR/R/MR 
 
LONDON FOR TSOU 
PARIS FOR ZEYA 
USCENTCOM FOR PLUSH 
FOREIGN PRESS CENTER FOR ASILAS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KPAO, KMDR, OIIP, MU, Public Affairs 
SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION: SHARM EL-SHEIKH AND THE ROOTS OF  TERROR 
 
-------------------- 
In Search Of Answers 
-------------------- 
 
1. "Al-Watan," a privately-owned Arabic daily, carried an op-ed 
piece by Mohammed Naji Amayrah on July 24 under the headline "The 
Sharm El-Sheikh Explosions And The Search For Actual Causes": 
 
"The explosions in Sharm El-Sheikh killed more than 80 people, 
most of whom were Egyptians.  In the face of such attacks that 
claim the lives of innocent Arab civilians, children, and women, 
condemnation is a must, and denunciation of these attacks is the 
least we can do.  The question is, what shall we do next?  We 
must search for the root causes that lie behind such terrorist 
operations.  No wise person would ever classify such criminal 
acts as a patriotic struggle or a just battle against foreign 
domination.  The victims of these acts themselves reveal the 
fallacy and naivet of such classification." 
 
--------------- 
Conference Call 
--------------- 
 
2. The government-owned Arabic daily "Oman" featured an editorial 
on July 24 entitled "The Sequence of Violence - Is There An End 
To It?": 
 
"The bloody explosions at the Egyptian resort of Sharm El-Sheikh 
are part and parcel of the series of violent attacks that have 
become characteristic of the current age.  Witness the recent 
bombings in London and Turkey...The war against terrorism 
launched by the United States has not made tangible achievements, 
despite removing the ruling regimes in Afghanistan and Iraq. 
Terrorist operations have continued and even increased, using 
ever more sophisticated technologies...This dangerous atmosphere 
cries out for an international conference to study the causes of 
terrorism, so that countries can apply prudence and forethought 
to this serious problem." 
 
----------------- 
Looking Backwards 
----------------- 
 
3. "Oman" also published an op-ed by Murtadha bin Hassan Ali on 
July 26 entitled "Terrorism And Its Relation To Intellectual, 
Economic, and Social Backwardness": 
 
"More than four thousand innocent people have been killed in the 
terrorist attacks on New York, Washington, Madrid, London and 
other cities over the past four years.  Terrorist murderers are 
also responsible for the deaths of almost one-and-a-half million 
Arabs and Muslims in Iraq, Turkey, Pakistan, Algeria, and 
Afghanistan during the past twenty years...Arabs and Muslims are 
morally and religiously obliged to oppose these ideologues and 
extremists, who crazily encourage the murders in the name of 
Islam.  It cannot be denied that some Arab countries have failed 
to challenge terrorist ideology from the beginning...The Arab- 
Islamic situation carries the germ of `backwardness' and should 
be dealt with practically.  The existence of antagonistic 
external forces does not absolve Arabs and Muslims from their 
responsibilities." 
 
BALTIMORE