Austr---Labor...New Line of Attack Over Iraqi Prisoner Treatment--New WMW

[Gloria]

Full excerpts, links up now at http://www.zianet.com/insightanalytical
Tomorrow at Buzzflash.com


WORLD MEDIA WATCH FOR MAY 5, 2004

1//The Sydney Morning Herald, Australia--LABOR TAKES NEW LINE OF ATTACK OVER IRAQI PRISONER TREATMENT (Labor has condemned the Federal Government for an "immoral disinterest" in the handling of Iraqi prisoners, arguing that Australia, as a founding member of the coalition, has a legal responsibility for their treatment. That responsibility as an "occupying power" extended to the protocols governing those mistreated by US military police at Abu Ghraib prison, near Baghdad, said Labor's foreign affairs spokesman, Kevin Rudd…Mr Rudd said the Foreign Minister, Alexander Downer, bore "corporate responsibility" for the treatment of prisoners that raises "most serious concerns about Australia's legal obligations as an occupying power".)

2//The Times of India, India--ARE INDIANS SLAVING IN IRAQ? DELHI ASKS US (India on Tuesday expressed concern over "disturbing reports" about the conditions in which some of its nationals are being forced to work in Iraq and requested the US Embassy here for details of those compelled to remain in the war-ravaged country against their will…Four Keralites, who were "cheated" by job agents and taken to a US military camp in Iraq, managed to escape recently narrated their nine-month-long ordeal in the camp as slaves. One of them said "We were slaves in American kitchens".)

3//Foreign in Policy in Focus, US--COMMENTARY: INTELLIGENCE QUESTIONS IN NORTH KOREA (As the United States continues to struggle with the intelligence failures that led to war in Iraq and preceded 9/11, the Bush Administration’s politicized, inconsistent use of new intelligence coming out of Pakistan is complicating an already challenging assessment of North Korea’s nuclear weapons…Because the administration has not had access to Khan, the intelligence presented in the Times article is, at best, third-hand information: first passed from Khan to his Pakistani interrogators, then on to U.S. officials, and finally to the New York Times…Despite this, the Times reported that during his recent trip to Asia, Vice President Cheney used the new intelligence to pressure China for “stronger actions” against North Korea…Juxtaposed with Mr. Bolton’s statements concerning the intelligence previously reported in the Times—not to mention the somewhat dubious claims of the latter report—Cheney’s rationale for “pressing” China is deeply troubling.)



4//The Guardian, UK--BLAIR BANKS ON ECONOMY FOR VICTORY (Tony Blair and Gordon Brown launched their fight to retain political control of the country's big cities yesterday by focussing on the capacity of the economy to deliver jobs and better public services. Launching Labour's local election campaign Mr Blair said the 15 million voters had a choice between the high priests of Thatcherism and a government with a strong economic record… One opinion poll yesterday had him trailing Michael Howard in popularity, putting pressure on him to stop the rot in the local elections and prove he is still an electoral asset.)



5//The Moscow Times, Russia--HALLIBURTON MAN TO SUB FOR KHODORKOVSKY (The Central Bank of Russia and U.S. oil services giant Halliburton may seem like strange bedfellows, but they have at least one thing in common: has-beens from both organizations will soon be working for jailed oligarch Mikhail Khodorkovsky…Gerashchenko will take Simon Kukes' spot as chairman, while Ortiz, who used to run Halliburton Energy Services, will replace Khodorkovsky himself. Observers said the board reshuffle is designed to give the company more leverage in its ongoing legal dispute with the Kremlin…A spokesman for Yukos' holding company, Group Menatep, denied the two men were selected to put political pressure on the Kremlin.)