European press review

Israel refuses to back down

Le Figaro in Paris reports on its front page on the latest developments in the Middle East after the murder of the Israeli tourism minister last week by the armed wing of the Popular Front For The Liberation of Palestine, which was outlawed by the Palestinian Authority yesterday.

"Despite the calls for restraint made by the United States and the European Union, the Israeli army is refusing to withdraw from the positions that it has taken up in the West Bank Palestinian towns", it says.

The paper says that the Israeli operation is "the biggest one undertaken in the Palestinian territories since the implementation, in 1995, of the Oslo agreements".

It adds that the Israeli army has said it will remain in place until the Palestinian Authority prevents "terrorists from leaving these towns to commit anti-Israeli attacks".

A "flexible" friend

Liberation in Paris says that international opinion is forcing the United States to be "flexible" regarding its war on terrorism.

It adds that at the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) forum in Shanghai the United States had to exclude a mention of the strikes on Afghanistan from the final statement "in order not to offend Indonesia and Malaysia, and explicitly mention the UN to please Russia and China".

The paper says that the "brutality" of the Israeli response to the murder of its tourism minister could stir up anti-American feelings in Arab countries, while US Secretary of State Colin Powell has had to say that he understands Saudi and Egyptian reserves about the strikes.

"But for how much longer will these countries show goodwill if the number of Palestinian deaths continues to rise as quickly as it did at the weekend?" it asks

Winning and losing the war

Following German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer's talks with aid bodies in Tajikistan and Pakistan, the Munich-based paper Sueddeutsche Zeitung says that he "was so impressed, that he refuses to demand a cease-fire" to allow humanitarian aid into Afghanistan.

The paper writes that the foreign minister's insistence that the war continue could give him two things to worry about.

It says he is rapidly loosing the support of his party, the Greens, but he has made the ministerial post his priority. The bigger problem, the paper believes, is regarding his insistence that the war is brought to a swift conclusion.

"The war against the Taleban would be won, but the battle against a humanitarian catastrophe could still be lost," it says.

Marching to different tune

The German paper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung puts the crisis in Northern Ireland in the context of the events of 11 September and says that "Northern Ireland's terrorists and their henchmen will now have to march to a different tune".

The paper writes that the IRA has been promising to decommission its arms for some time now, but has waited for "the right political context".

The IRA could, however, see its political support from Washington and financial support from friendly Irish Americans withdrawn, writes the paper.

Since "the difference between so-called freedom fighters and terrorists is not being made any longer on that side of the Atlantic".

The paper thinks that the only way for the IRA to help the republican cause now is to work together politically with the Protestants.

Hoaxing democracy

The London-based daily The Independent has some harsh words for the British government's plans to give courts the power to jail hoaxers who make threats to use biological, chemical or nuclear weapons for up to seven years.

In an editorial, it objects to the idea that the new legislation is to take effect from next weekend, even though the House of Commons will not be debating it for weeks.

"It is only in a parliamentary debate," the paper writes, "that questions which ministers can easily overlook in their haste, such as the precise scope of the law or whether a seven-year jail sentence is proportionate to the panic and inconvenience caused by hoaxes, can be raised".

Handling China carefully

Le Monde in Paris reports on its front page on Taiwanese President Chen Shui-bian's plans to visit Strasbourg on 9 and 10 November, when the European Parliament intended to present him with the Prize for Freedom.

The paper says it was awarded by Liberal International, which brings together almost 90 centre-right parties from around 60 countries and was originally going to present it in Denmark.

"But Denmark gave into pressure from continental China and the other members of the European Union," the paper says, explaining: "Beijing sees him as a representative of Taiwanese secessionism."

It adds that the European Parliament offered its services, but the French authorities, "whose relations with Beijing are blissful", refused him a visa.

It says they have granted one to his wife, but on the condition that she doesn't pass through Paris, leaves straight after the award ceremony and doesn't speak to the press before the visit.

It adds that the message is "Don't offend China, above all at this time when it is promising to lend a hand against worldwide terrorism".

Swiss mid-air suspense

"The suspense is due to end at midday today", Switzerland's La Tribune de Geneve says as 90,000 employees of the bankrupt national airline Swissair wait to be told their fate.

But the paper believes that whatever decision is taken it will leave people feeling very dissatisfied.

According to Swiss economists - most of whom are opposed to a rescue deal - Switzerland does not need a national airline in order for its economy to flourish, the paper points out.

"At the same time" - the paper wonders - "should one sacrifice tens of thousands of jobs linked directly or indirectly to the defunct national airline when other countries with lower per capita incomes have injected billions into theirs?"

The European press review is compiled by BBC Monitoring from internet editions of the main European newspapers and some early printed editions.