Some Arabic newspapers are sceptical about the establishment of an Iraqi interim governing council, while others point to the tensions arising from Washington's open-ended commitment to the country.
The roadmap to peace between Israel and the Palestinians also continues to occupy the region's press, and the treatment of Palestinians entering Egypt elicits indignation in one leading daily.
On Iraq:
There is no doubt that the decision to form an interim governing council after consulting with a number of Iraqi political leaders was an important step... However, what is being said in Washington on mortgaging Iraqi oil to cover the cost of rebuilding the country is a dangerous development for the establishment of a future Iraqi national government to govern the country.
Al-Sharq al-Awsat - London-based
The establishment of a governing council is a positive step in the right direction toward the establishment of a pluralistic democratic system representing all sectors of the Iraqi people and the drafting of a permanent constitution guaranteeing the rights of all Iraqis and providing security and stability. The political and popular forces, the tribes and all classes of the Iraqi people must be represented in the governing council. We strongly call on the people to use the line of the religious authorities and the nationalist leaders as their guide.
Al-Adalah - Iraq
The constitution they [the Americans] draft, or dream of drafting, will be a fabricated transitional one that tries to please all the parties and ends up pleasing no one. A constitution subject to the whims of some Kurds, the intransigence of some Sunnis or the extremism of some Shias would be a comic text or a form of dreamy surrealism, not a law for governing the land.
A constitution that each party wants to burden with its sins and blunders can only serve as an arena for a tug-of-war... This being the case, the constitution cannot serve as a canon to settle disputes, nor as a source of authority for the people.
Al-Hawzah - Iraq
Despite the Iraqi people's formation of a transitional council and the holding of its first meeting today, uncertainty is still facing the future of the country due to the occupation, since the establishment of a recognised government would require democratic elections... This is something which has not happened in Iraq due to US procrastination since occupation and the White House betting on the absence of government to help them achieve their interests in Iraq and legitimize the occupation...
The Iraqis who were happy with the fall of an oppressive regime are still scared of foreign occupation rule, no less dangerous than the previous dictatorship. It is up to the countries neighbouring Iraq to demand the holding of a general elections based on a democratic constitution, originating from Iraqis themselves.
Al-Vefagh - Iranian Arabic-language
The situation in Iraq has spoilt the US president's visit to Africa... [US Defence Secretary Donald] Rumsfeld has admitted in Congress that he does not have answers to major questions concerning his country's liabilities and the cost of the Iraq operation and even the number of soldiers required there to control the situation or how long its forces are to remain... At the same time, Rumsfeld overlooks the pain Washington is enduring and insists on the justifications for the war... It is not an exaggeration to say the US is experiencing a crisis in Iraq.
Al-Watan - Saudi Arabia
The issue is now very clear: Washington has failed to justify the war [against Iraq] and it is now facing a crisis of enormous proportions. It has failed to convince the world and has also failed to win the love of the Iraqi people. The Iraqi people have now realised the invading forces came to occupy their country on the pretext that it possessed weapons of mass destruction, and not to liberate them from a corrupt regime. The war has ended and no trace has been found of the said WMD.
Al-Thawrah - Syria
On Middle East peace:
Israel will be wasting a golden chance of promoting the peace process if it pursues its occupationist mentality and fails to benefit from the current truce which was reached through the intervention of an Egyptian delegation.
Al-Ahram - Egypt
Zionist circles in the US administration are trying to place obstacles before the roadmap, not only to sabotage the map but also to destroy the Arabs' rapprochement with the USA.
Al-Watan - Saudi Arabia
The major issue to be discussed in the Palestinian-Israeli question is the problem of the Palestinian captives whose number is estimated to 6,500, among whom are hundreds of children who are being subjected to various kinds of torture...
Ariel Sharon is a man who hates peace, despite his statement that he would make painful concessions. The words from Sharon's tongue are bitter. The latest problem is his refusal to release Palestinian captives, saying that their hands are full of blood... This butcher who mercilessly kills Palestinian children, women, and elderly men every day, destroying their houses... is saying this about the Palestinian prisoners who have not committed a crime but are only resisting the terror of his army.
Al-Bayan - United Arab Emirates
The Palestinian Prime Minister, Abu Mazen, is trying his best. What could one say about a man who has stumbled amidst Abu Ammar [Yasser Arafat], Ariel Sharon and the US administration?...Abu Ammar is playing the role of an unemployed person. The US administration is an absentee and Sharon an every day war criminal who is trying to delay the roadmap and the peace process.
Al-Hayat - London-based
Every Palestinian leaving from Gaza for Cairo for medical treatment is insulted and treated like a thief and terrorist at the crossing points, and any Palestinian landing at Cairo airport faces humiliation. The Palestinian people do not want special treatment at Cairo airports and crossing points. All they want is to be treated equally and with humility, as is the case with the Jews.
Al-Quds Al-Arabi - London-based
BBC Monitoring, based in Caversham in southern England, selects and translates information from radio, television, press, news agencies and the Internet from 150 countries in more than 70 languages.
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