Cablegate: Media Reaction Report - Middle East - Lebanon - Hezbollah -

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Lucia A Keegan 08/17/2006 10:10:37 AM From DB/Inbox: Lucia A Keegan

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SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION REPORT - Middle East - Lebanon - Hezbollah -
Iran
PARIS - Wednesday, August 16, 2006

(A) SUBJECTS COVERED IN TODAY'S REPORT:

Middle East - Lebanon - Hezbollah - Iran

B) SUMMARY OF COVERAGE:

Chinese and Korean irritation at Japanese Prime Minister Koizumi's
visit to a Japanese war memorial - where war criminals among those
honored - leads in both Le Figaro and Liberation today. Saturation
coverage of issues affecting post-conflict Lebanon continues in the
electronic media and with double page spreads in both Le Figaro and
Liberation. The mandate and composition of the UN peacekeeping
force, expected to be led by France, and the roles of Iran, Syria,
and Hezbollah - especially during the period of Lebanese
reconstruction - are the major stories. (See Part C)

Diplomacy is much in the news and Foreign Ministers seem to be
everywhere. French FM Douste-Blazy is in Lebanon today apparently to
underscore Lebanon's responsibility for disarming Hezbollah. Foreign
Minister is expected to speak about Hezbollah's victory during his
visit to Algeria today. Israeli FM Tzipi Livni will be meeting with
UNSYG Annan in New York today. German FM Steinmeyer cancelled a
planned visit to Damascus after hearing about Bashar al-Assad's
provocative speech yesterday.

Le Parisien titles its report "The Last Word Rests with the
Diplomats." The article says peace is "fragile," with Iran
threatening to retaliate against Israeli or U.S. attacks. FM
Douste-Blazy is in Beirut to discuss the deployment of an
international force, which Le Parisien says could operate under
French command.

Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy, a guest on FR2 television last
evening, said that "France had worked hard for peace in Lebanon and
is now satisfied with the new hope for peace in the region, as hope
lies solely in diplomacy." He also mentioned that France could lead
the international force, "but that the decision remained in the
hands of the President."

Le Figaro characterizes Bachar al-Assad's speech as "a discourse of
war" in which he announces a "New Middle East" "defined by
Hezbollah" to stand as "a rival of America's 'Greater Middle East.'"
There are extensive quotes from the speech, including criticism of
the Bush Administration, "which believes only in preventive war, not
peace." France is also criticized, says the reporter, "for having
initiated the UN resolution on Syria." But the journalist writes
that "under these attacks, what can be perceived are Damascus's
fears and concerns about regional boundaries.

Liberation and Le Figaro, which notes that some 14, 000 British
citizens convert to Islam every year, 60% of them women, report on
accusations made in the British press that the British government is
proceeding with 'profiling' methods when screening travelers at
airports. Speaking about the foiled terrorist attempts during his
televised interview, Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy said the
attacks in London, "should be taken seriously" and added that the
"terrorist threat in France remained high and permanent." He also
mentioned that a meeting between the British, German and French
Interior Ministers would take place on Wednesday to "discuss the
terrorist threat in Europe and to harmonize European policies."

As part of its series on "born again" cities around the world, Le
Figaro looks at Kabul. Correspondent Adrien Jaulmes, for whom
Embassy Paris helped facilitate interviews in Afghanistan, drafts an
optimistic portrait of a "prosperous city."

(C) SUPPORTING TEXT/BLOCK QUOTES:

"Frightening Hezbollah"
Yves Threard in right-of-center Le Figaro (08/16): "The support of
Hezbollah by returning Lebanese is indeed frightening, as is the
tone of Nasrallah's victory speech in which he hailed the victory of
the 'anti-Zionist resistance.' Jus as frightening are the reaction
of Iran's officials and the nature of Al-Assad's speech... Although
the weapons have been put down, hope has not returned: on the
contrary... Western democracies carry their own responsibilities for
having allowed the Iranian revolution to take place... and for
having fraternized with Saddam Hussein's Iraq ... as well as having
tolerated the rise of fundamentalism... The result stands before our
eyes, personified by Hezbollah, an organization which looks like a
fascist movement: few are the western leaders who acknowledge
this... The true threat comes from Iran more than the birth of a
'Shia crescent.' Lebanon paid the price of our silence. It is time
we engaged and demanded the disarmament of the militia... Otherwise
Iran will feel it has a free rein."

"French Diplomacy to the Rescue"
Hubert Coudurier in regional Le Telegramme (08/16): "Philippe
Douste-Blazy is back in Beirut... where Condoleezza Rice is
unwelcome. France is imposing itself in the Middle East peace
process as it tries to adopt a balanced stance between the American
and Israeli interests on one hand, and the interests of Lebanon and
its two cumbersome tutors, Damascus and Tehran... This is why
Douste-Blazy is cautious and is insisting on adding Muslim soldiers
to the French and other western soldiers of the international
force... The Foreign Minister's previous remarks about Iran playing
a stabilizing role elicited a certain degree of irony among his
detractors. Nevertheless, with President Chirac having decided to
keep Syria out of the equation... France has no choice, if it wants
to play its score, but to do it through a Paris-Tehran axis. This is
forcing Douste-Blazy to soften his initial remarks about Iran's
nuclear ambitions, which were deemed too pro-Atlantist."

"The U.S. Worried About Iran's Strategic Advantage"
Guillemette Faure in right-of-center Le Figaro (08/16): "The U.S. is
worried about the strategic advantage which Iran has gained from the
conflict... U.S. military experts are astounded at Hezbollah's
resistance, which they compare to what they are facing in Iraq...
While the White House is trying to portray the cessation of
hostilities in a positive light for Israel, Henri Berkley, formerly
of the State Department said it was not realistic on the part of the
U.S. to expect a complete victory from Israel... Others say that
America's concern is not only based on the direct threat which
Hezbollah holds over Lebanon and Israel, but on the strategic
advantage that Hezbollah provides for Iran. Meanwhile President Bush
insisted that Lebanon and Iraq are the two fronts of the same war,
the war against terrorism aided by Iran."

"Lebanon and Gaza: Two Different Stories"
Left-of-center Le Monde in its editorial (08/16): "The situation in
Lebanon cannot be compared to the one in Gaza. What isn't working in
Gaza is Israel's unilateral pullout. The Lebanese issue is
different: Israel has no conflict with Lebanon, but with Lebanon's
armed party, Hezbollah. Israel's withdrawal (from Lebanon) in 2000
was negotiated... and Hezbollah has violated the terms of the UN
resolution. The first case requires a resumption of talks with the
Palestinians. The second requires the end of the war and disarming
Hezbollah. The withdrawals are not at issue here."

"The Peoples' Voice"
Dominique Quinio in Catholic La Croix (08/16): "The public debate in
Israel is telling: Nobody can ignore what the war will have cost,
and everybody can see that, for a majority of Israelis, their army
did not achieve its goals... The ceasefire's ramifications for
Lebanese opinion are more difficult to determine. But one thing is
certain: military options lead to an impasse... They do not
eliminate the enemy; they reinforce him." HOFMANN

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