“The battle in Iraq is being waged on two fronts”, is the front-page headline in the Herald Tribune (7/4). Commenting on the new outbreak of armed clashes in Iraq, which have caused scores of victims both among the coalition forces and among Iraqi Shiites, the American daily notes that “American military commanders have sworn to root out the rebels after the massacre and mutilation last week of four American civilians. Scenes of Iraqis dragging carbonized bodies through the streets, and hanging two others from a bridge, have aroused growing repulsion and have shown the deep American feeling in the city”. “Iraq, between revolt and chaos”, is the headline on the front page of Le Monde (7/4), in which it is noted that “with the revolt of the radical Shiites, Iraq is descending into chaos”. “The US army writes Rémy Ourdan in the résumé of his article launched major operations against the Shiite rebels in Baghdad and the Sunni rebels in Falluja on 5 April, after the clashes between the coalition forces and the followers of the Shiite leader Moqtada al-Sadr had caused scores of victims in the course of last weekend. The coalition has issued an arrest warrant for Moqtada al Sadr. In the capital, where violent clashes took place, the American forces ordered the intervention of two helicopters against the positions controlled by the militia of Al-Sadr”. Commenting on the role of Europe in the difficult “transition” of Iraq, Vittorio E. Parsi, writing in the Italian Catholic daily Avvenire (7/4), declares: “Italy has the right to ask its allies in the European Union to abandon an ambiguity that is no longer acceptable. Is Europe willing to support in practice the creation of a responsible Iraqi government representative of the country, or not? Does it believe it is in the interest of collective security to contribute to the stabilization and democratisation of Iraq, or does it prefer to leave the Iraqis to sort things out by themselves?”. In Parsi’s view, “it would be unforgivable if the forthcoming elections to the European Parliament were to prevent European governments and EU leaders from clarifying what is Europe’s political and military strategy. This is not the time for confused declarations (…). It is on the contrary the time for responsibility and concrete measures, in the consciousness that not even the hoped for involvement of the UNO would in itself be able to produce the immediate cessation, without further cost, of the violence in Iraq”. The terrorist attacks in Madrid continue to reverberate in the German press. “ The previous days have demonstrated two things: with stricter security measures and a higher level of attention, it is possible to prevent such attacks“, writes the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (5/4). “ The Europeans have for years forged privileged relations with the States of the Maghreb, by entering into dialogue with them. The time has come to develop this further by greater cooperation at the level of security“. Wolfgang Storz writing in the Frankfurter Rundschau comments: “ In Europe too we must take into account the eventuality of a war of terror against our metropolitan cities: it’s possible everywhere and at any time“. And he adds: “ Safeguarding tolerance and liberties, and ensuring the greatest possible security: reconciling these needs is becoming a difficult task“. Writing in the Süddeutsche Zeitung, Stefan Ulrich observes: “ A week before the Christian feast of redemption, Europe is beleaguered by terrorism. […] However widespread the terrorist threat is, the message is clear, especially now as Easter approaches: Death instead of resurrection. Hatred instead of love. Vendetta instead of forgiveness, and especially: fear instead of relief. ‘Do not be afraid’, is the message one constantly reads in the Bible. ‘Be afraid’, is the counter-message of the terrorists“. “An international crime”. That’s how La Vanguardia (7/4) defines the genocide in Rwanda, ten years after. “France and the United Nations receive the strongest denunciations without exculpating the USA for their role in the tragedy”, writes Myriam Josa, correspondent in the country. According to the Spanish daily, “In Rwanda, justice, AIDS, democracy and poverty are problems unresolved by Kagame, in power since 1994”. “New bombardments in the rebel cities”. A thousand Shiites and Sunnis “march from Baghdad to Falluja, wrested from the troops of the USA”: news of the insurgence is carried on the front page of the Madrid daily El Mundo (8/4) according to which “there are thousands of Shiites and Sunnis who want to get food and medicines to the population under siege by American troops for the last three days”.———————————————————————————————————– Sir Europa (English) N.ro assoluto : 1287 N.ro relativo : 27 Data pubblicazione : 10/04/04
