The terrorist attacks in Saudi Arabia, with over twenty victims and new hostages, capture the attention of the international press, as they try to come to terms with the new recrudescence of the “network” of Al-Qaeda . “Religious terrorism reveals the vulnerability of Saudi Arabia”, is the headline carried for instance by Le Monde of 1st June. The version of the Saudi authorities, says the article published by the French daily, with regard to the massacre in the “Oasis” residential complex in Khobar, speaks of a “ splinter group” whose affiliation with the terrorist network of Al-Qaeda seems certain. “This attack comments Le Monde is a new and bitter setback for the Saudi kingdom, the leading world exporter of petroleum. The hereditary prince of Saudi Arabia, Addullah, who is de facto the real leader of the country, has pledged to eliminate by force the Islamic extremists, whom he accuses of wanting to ‘destroy the Saudi economy”. An editorial signed by Fulvio Scaglione in the Italian Catholic daily Avvenire (31/5) is also dedicated to Saudi Arabia: the latest terrorist attack is called “a ferocious attack, intended to cause as many Western victims as possible, at the heart of the world’s oil production, with the dramatic epilogue, perhaps unplanned, of the kidnapping of a group of technicians. Once again the military wing of al-Qaeda has shown it has ruthless brains, and considerable political lucidity. It’s not the cruel but inconclusive terrorism of the Palestinians, so pervaded by the rhetoric of martyrdom as to be transformed into a pure mystique of annihilation”. Al-Qaeda’s military operations, according to Scaglione, “are almost always directed against the complex and delicate balances that determine the economic trends of the industrialized world (…). It’s easy to imagine what would happen to the price of oil, and hence to the rate of inflation and unemployment in the Western countries, if an attack were sooner or later to strike not defenceless technicians but the oil wells and refineries themselves. Not only intractable economic but also political problems would be caused: India and China are now the driving forces of the world economy. If an oil crisis were to decelerate their growth, they would present the bill to us”. On the crisis in the Gulf, the Spanish daily Il Periódico (3/6) emphasises the “international criticisms of the US resolution on Iraq”. Idoya Noain writes from New York that “Chirac cites full sovereignty and military command among the changes he considers necessary”. Spanish Foreign Minister Moratinos says “Washington’s draft resolution has a need for improvements”. Chirac’s words, comments Noain, are crucial for Washington, seeing that “France is one of the five countries with the right to veto any resolution in the UN Security Council”. The debate in the press on the Christian roots of Europe continues. The Spanish daily El País (1/6) has asked two political candidates whether the European Constitution ought to make any reference to the Christian inheritance. Jaime Mayor (People’s Party) says yes: the reason “ is very simple: it means recognizing the obvious”. But, he says, “a reference to the Christian heritage must be included in the preamble without prejudice to other religious or cultural values and by recognising freedom of worship”. Of a different view is José Borrell (Spanish Socialist Workers Party), who thinks any such reference “would be contrary to the secular character and aims of the Union”. In Borrell’s view, “the preamble points out the influence of the cultural, religious and humanistic legacies of Europe without privileging any one of them, and is a balanced solution”. The German press devotes comment to the imminent celebrations to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the D-Day landings in Normandy (6 June 1944), in which a German authority, in the person of Chancellor Schröder, will participate for the first time. “ It will be a commemoration with a touch of nostalgia, because it is linked to the feeling that something is coming to an end or has already ended“, writes Klaus-Dieter Frankenberger in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (3/6). “ For today, just at a time of a great atmosphere of reconciliation, the question is raised whether the West has still be saved, and whether the common interests, objectives and values of Americans and Europeans can still represent an effective link, and basis for solidarity, also in the 21st century. It’s not only pessimists who, at the end of the disastrous experience of the Iraqi conflict, see a division in the West, indeed its dissolution as an entity capable of acting […] Probably, both sides, the Americans and the Europeans organized in the European Union, must adjust to the fact that Atlantic rivalry and competition in the field of projects for a world political order will not remain an exception in future“. Nonetheless, Frankenberger adds, “ this partnership can function only if both sides serve it and invest in it. Otherwise, the West will be extinguished“. The cover story in the weekly Der Spiegel (29/5) is also dedicated to the commemoration. “ The beaches of Normandy, that’s the calculation of the Germans and French, could present a favourable occasion to induce the President of the USA to make concessions during the secret talks and also to demonstrate a new unity to the eyes of the world“. ———————————————————————————————————– Sir Europa (English) N.ro assoluto : 1302 N.ro relativo : 42 Data pubblicazione : 05/06/04
