AMMAN, Jordan, May 25 (UPI) -- Arab press roundup for May 25:
The London-based al-Quds al-Arabi commented Thursday that Iraq's former deputy Prime Minister Tarek Aziz managed to turn the tables against the judge and prosecution in the trial against Saddam Hussein and seven of his aides in Baghdad. The independent Palestinian-owned daily said Aziz, who appeared for the first time since his arrest three years ago, surprised the court as he fiercely defended Saddam and asked why the current prime minister, Nouri al-Maliki, and his predecessor Ibrahim al-Jaafari are not being tried for trying to assassinate Saddam in 1982. It insisted the former official's testimony destroyed all the reports leaked by the American occupation authorities on his readiness to testify against Saddam in return for his freedom. The paper, distributed in many Arab capitals, opined the trial is gradually turning into a case against the "new Iraq and its symbols linked to the American occupation," adding the deteriorating security conditions in the country are serving those being tried. It praised the strength portrayed by the toppled Iraqi leader and his aides, saying they managed to steal the limelight before millions of Iraqis and Arabs following the trial. The paper insisted there must be a large number of Iraqis today missing the days when those being tried ruled Iraq "when their country was united and strong, constituting a major regional power... One that was secure with national unity, where the ugly image of sectarianism was unknown as it is seen today."
Lebanon's an-Nahar commented on the sixth anniversary of the liberation of southern Lebanon from Israeli occupation, saying the country has also achieved independence from Syrian dominance five years later. The anti-Syrian daily added the small country has achieved a "semi-miracle" in the past six years in confronting Israel and Syria, "although we are not comparing them, even if the injustice of brothers is more painful than the injustice of the enemy." It said the Lebanese remember the "martyrs" that fell for this independence, as well as Lebanese prisoner Samir Kantar being held in Israel and Lebanese prisoners held in Syria. "We remember the thousands of Lebanese who fled to Israel," in reference to the former allies of the Israeli occupation, saying the government should bring them back home before a new generation of Lebanese are born in Israel, "which only serves the enemy." The mass-circulation daily said the blood of martyrs achieved much for the country. "But to protect these achievements and sacrifices," it said, "we must retrieve freedom and sovereignty of ourselves and our minds, because it is not enough to be free from captivity and occupation without every Lebanese becoming a master of himself."
Qatar's al-Watan commented that Fatah and Hamas leaders are trying to assure the Palestinian people as they worry and hold their breath over the massive proliferation of gunmen in the streets and as the leaders launch a national dialogue Thursday. Assurances by Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh are not enough and they need to verify their assurances with action on the ground, it said. The pro-government daily said it was not enough for Abbas to say that civil war is a red line and for Haniyeh to say that civil war is not in the Palestinian dictionary while the tools are available with trigger-ready armed men in the streets. It added the priority for the leaders in the dialogue is not only confined to translating their assurances, but to see if it is possible to retrieve their forces "back to their barracks and prevent them from slipping into this satanic path as evil hands are trying to set the Palestinian arena on fire." It said all the Palestinian and Arab masses were looking at the dialogue as a real start to exit from the crisis, based on national unity as the savior of the Palestinians. The paper warned the leaders in the dialogue are before an opportunity that might not be repeated and they stand before a historic test.
The Palestinian al-Quds complained in its editorial that as the Israeli occupation forces killed and injured Palestinians in Ramallah on Wednesday, Israel's prime minister and his aides were waving slogans of peace in Washington. The Jerusalem-based daily said President George W. Bush was closing his eyes to the "comprehensive Israeli assault and describes the unilateral Israeli ideas, which consolidate the illegal occupation, as brave steps towards peace." It said the Israeli and American positions show the huge gap with the requirements for achieving peace and stability in the region. The moderate paper said Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, currently visiting Washington, was looking for a Palestinian partner who will completely submit to Israel's right-wing policies of expansion, warning that such a partner can never be found. It argued that Bush and Olmert's slogans for peace while Israel continues its aggression against the Palestinians are aimed at misguiding international public opinion and shifting attention from what Israel is doing in terms of "redrawing the map of the region with the mentality of occupation, settlements and expansion." It insisted that Israel's hostile policies and the total American support for them require a swift Arab-Islamic-international move to save the peace process and avert the region from a new explosion that will have disastrous effects on the peoples of the entire region.
Jordan's independent al-Ghad published a cartoon criticizing U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East and attempts to force Israel on the Arabs. The cartoon shows a smiling Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice standing in front of a distressed man tied to a chair representing the Middle East. Rice is holding a spiked club with one hand, and with the other trying to force-feed the man with a large spoon holding a big blob on it reading "Israel."
