Media commentators around the world are convinced Israel's assassination of Hamas leader Sheikh Ahmed Yassin will only lead to more violence in the troubled Middle East.
A leading German daily argues that such actions will lose Israel friends internationally and a Russian paper believes that the killing has put the final nail in the coffin of the stuttering Roadmap peace plan.
It's hard to see how his martyrdom will make Israel any safer. Hamas will now redouble its efforts to send human torpedoes into Israel... The US war on terrorism may also suffer as moderate Arab leaders feel compelled to distance themselves further from Washington... The hard, tragic truth is that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is locked in a cycle of violence in which assassinations, suicide bombings and mutual demonisation seem destined only to grow... This cannot go on forever, and the United States must try, once again, to help both sides find a way out.
The New York Times - US
Israel's assassination of the founder and senior leader of Hamas, Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, is part of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's attempt to radically reshape the Israeli-Palestinian conflict - an initiative that is looking as reckless as it is bold.
The Washington Post - US
Although he was blind, he was not blind to political realities. Now Hamas has been unleashed.
Sueddeutsche Zeitung - Germany
It is a short-sighted act, which carries within itself the seeds of new violence and which will only be counterproductive.
Die Presse - Austria
The number of Israel's friends has become smaller, in part because it is brutal in the choice of its methods.
Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung - German
Civilised states consider it unacceptable that a country which in other respects belongs to the community of democratic states should use methods employed by terrorists.
Nepszabadsag - Hungary
Sheikh Yassin's assassination, long foreshadowed, has always risked exposing Israel to yet more terrorist attacks. If the decision to ensure that the missiles found their mark this time was essentially made to serve a political need of the moment for Mr Sharon, he has taken a terrible risk.
The Sydney Morning Herald - Australia
The deputy director of the Russian Academy of Sciences' Institute of Oriental Studies, Anatoliy Yegorin, feels that this dramatic turn of events could completely bury the Middle East peace process.
Krasnaya Zvezda - Russia
The only peace plan that exists at the moment, the Road Map, is dead. The situation in Israel and the Palestinian territories is becoming just as unpredictable as in Iraq.
Nezavisimaya Gazeta - Russia
The killing of Sheikh Yassin has shown how powerless the Islamic world is in helping Palestinian people who have been oppressed and victimised by ruthless Jews. Israeli arrogance has now become out-of-control.
Berita Harian - Malaysia
Israeli assassination of Yassin adds fuel to the fire and is no help to Middle East peace.
Renmin Ribao - China
With the current international situation, the shockwaves caused by Yassin's death will be limited. The focus of attention of Western societies, including the US, is still on al-Qaeda. Israel fully realises that the US loathes Hamas and its spiritual leader, so it will stop at nothing.
Zhongguo Qingnian Bao - China
His spirit will continue to rage and inspire Palestinian society to continue fighting. Israeli violence will likely be followed by thousands of attacks from Palestinians. Learning from history, violence will never solve any problem.
Republika - Indonesia
The bloody murder of Sheikh Yassin is no ordinary incident. It is perhaps the most tragic and dangerous in the history of Israel and Palestine. The martyrdom of the most popular Palestinian leader has further strengthened the determination of Palestinian Muslims.
Jang - Pakistan
Israel's patron, the US, should feel ashamed and withdraw its support from the terrorist state of Israel. We have no expectations of an effective response to the incident from the coward rulers of Muslim countries.
Islam - Pakistan
The martyrdom of Sheikh Yassin is the biggest blunder of Israel, who will have to pay a high price for it for a long time to come.
Express - Pakistan
The martyrdom of Sheikh Yassin, in addition to making the situation in the occupied territories more complex and generating the negative reaction of Islamic countries and fair-minded international organisations, will also make the situation more difficult for Ariel Sharon's government.
Iranian television
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.
~RS~q~RS~~RS~z~RS~56~RS~)
One-Minute World News
News services
E-mail this to a friend
Printable version
