Military

DATE=09/18/01

TYPE=WORLD OPINION ROUNDUP

TITLE=MORE GLOBAL REACT

NUMBER=6-12463

BYLINE=ANDREW GUTHRIE

DATELINE=Washington

EDITOR=Assignments

TELEPHONE=619-3335

CONTENT=

INTRO: Newspapers around the world continue to comment on the multi-national coalition the United States is building for an attack on global terrorism. However, after the latest series of comments from this country, fissures are beginning to appear in some quarters. We get a sampling now from ____________ in this extra World Opinion Roundup.

TEXT: In Pakistan's media capital, Karachi, many papers agonized in their editorials on whether Pakistan can protect its national interests while causing "minimal harm...to the Muslim world" and not bringing "any shame upon us." One paper, the Nation went so far as to comment: "Muslim leaders, generally lacking ...political spine, need to muster up the courage and the will ...to look beyond their own political survival."

In Europe, while many papers continued to support the American cause, President Bush's call for Osama bin Laden "Dead or Alive" is drawing criticism from some NATO nations. Other papers are upset with the President's use of the word "crusade" because of its historical connotations in the Muslim world. We begin our sampling in Pakistan, where the Karachi Urdu-language Jang suggests:

VOICE: Unfortunately, due to the U-S attitude towards Pakistan during the last decade, some Pakistani circles have reservations about new relations between the two countries which are not altogether unfounded. For that [,] America will have to restore its confidence in the eyes of the Pakistani nation.

TEXT: In another daily, named for the country, Pakistan, the paper proposes:

VOICE: The conflict has to be resolved. One solution could be the handing over of Usama bin Laden to an international forum acceptable to America and Taliban. [The] Taliban should keep in mind that Prophet Mohammed's ... teachings tell us to preserve our capability. Afghanistan should not give the United States a pretext to use destructive weapons. Pakistan too should move with utmost care.

TEXT: In a paper appealing to the common people, Khabrain, jointly published in Lahore and Rawalpindi, we read:

VOICE: The nation understands the pressure on President [General Pervez] Musharraf and wants [Editors: weak trans. Should be "desires"] that even if the situation forces him to accept U-S demands, he should take a decision that causes minimal harm to Pakistan and the Muslim world and [Editors: "one that"] does not bring any shame upon us.

TEXT: In the national daily, News, a signed column includes this sentiment.

VOICE: The painful suspense of how the U-S would wage its first war of the twenty-first century is perhaps not as crucial for us as the domestic antagonisms that it could breed...

TEXT: In neighboring India, we get this summary from the U-S Embassy in New Delhi. Editorials continue to urge India to exercise caution in its support of the U-S effort to get its prime suspect, Osama bin Laden. Front-page stories killed rumors that Pakistan has made demands of the U-S in return for its cooperation.

Various opposition parties also urged the government of India to be cautious regarding support for the United States. ... Most positive was the Hindu from Madras, which noted that President Bush's telephone call to [Indian] Prime Minister Vajpayee has set the stage for a qualitative dialogue between New Delhi and Washington on ways to launch a genuine international drive against terrorism.

Elsewhere in the region, the Iranian English-language Tehran, Iran Daily suggests that:

VOICE: Although the global community - - especially the United States' European allies- - originally voiced support for any U-S reprisal, they now seem to have second thoughts...Meanwhile, the Taliban militia and Osama bin Laden are believed by some to have been hired by the United States to serve its purposes in the region.

TEXT: In the Far East, China's special administrative zone of Hong Kong, with a freer press than elsewhere in the country, sees this in the Apple Daily News, about the U-S market's re-opening.

VOICE: The Federal Reserve is prepared for support. Such an attitude is timely and powerful. Although the support is not enough entirely to divert pessimism, it can alleviate the burden of enterprises and consumers and it is conducive to strengthening confidence among businesses and consumers.

TEXT: The Hong Kong Mail adds: "Now is the time for courage, determination, and cool heads," while the big South China Morning Post exclaims: "The drums of war are beating in America but, fortunately, they are beating slowly...This is a conflict without battlefields or beachheads... [and] ...will not be easy.

In South Korea, Seoul's Hankook Ilbo sounds concerned, as it looks to the future.

VOICE: The stars and stripes waving across the U-S, opinion survey results ... and President Bush's high approval rating ... are all driving the U-S into war... However, if the intended U-S war becomes prolonged, only bringing on heavy casualties and creating an explosion of anti-American sentiment in the Islamic world, the international community will not unite to fight terrorism but rather become split and go out of control...

TEXT: Turning to Latin America, in Chile, we read in La Nacion from Santiago, a somewhat uplifting appraisal.

VOICE: It's likely that the terrorist attacks in the United States will bring a fairly long period of instability to international markets... But sometimes crises are also opportunities. We musn't forget the desire of America's leaders and its people to ... perform in the face of adversity, and to recover, which could speed up economic activity [there] and [in] the rest of the world.

TEXT: In Africa, the South African financial daily Business Day, one columnist wrote apprehensively about curbing U-S freedoms in the rush to find terrorists.

VOICE: ...there is a danger that peaceful protesters will find it extremely difficult to be heard ...It would be a great pity if last week's horror encourages those who want to suppress debate and dissent about economic policy. Already, the shock has polarized the debate.

TEXT: And in the same paper, Tuesday's [9-18] Business Day, Professor John Stremlau, head of International relations studies at Witwatersrand University adds:

VOICE: Thank God for the meeting ... this week between Indonesia President Megawati Sukarnoputri and President Bush... [Ms.] Megawati offers a sharp contrast [to Islamic fundamentalists]... The United States is about to enter a civil, war between Islamic extremists and moderates. [Ms.] Megawati's visit is a reminder that it must proceed with care ... so as not to play into the hands of extremists...

TEXT: And lastly to Canada, where the National Post exclaims:

VOICE: Canada has for too long imagined itself the international Boy Scout that all countries and peoples can trust...[Foreign Minister John] Manley is more hardheaded than that. He knows we are at war and what that means. Canada needs to muster a proper diplomatic, financial, legal and military response to what took place last Tuesday. We hope Mr. Manley's resolve will stiffen the spine of those colleagues clinging to a world now lost.

TEXT: On that forceful note, we conclude this sampling of world press reaction to last week's terror attacks.

NEB/ANG/RH