BRITAIN

BRITAIN
The Daily Telegraph, London, May 5: The vagaries of democratic politics in Israel have once again left its friends in frustrated suspense. Ariel Sharon had correctly concluded that the Palestinians would not be a valid partner for peace while Yasser Arafat remained in overall control, and that in the chaotic absence of such an interlocutor it was prudent to withdraw from the Gaza Strip and erect a defensive barrier along the West Bank.
The danger now is that the prime minister will be held hostage by the Right wing of his party. His apparent readiness to modify the original plan is likely to please nobody. The settlers who campaigned so effectively for Sunday's (Likud) vote will probably balk at anything short of full rejection of withdrawal. And Mr. Bush, Israel's closest ally, will be entitled to feel let down by the equivocations of a prime minister whom he went out of his way to accommodate.
Gordian knot
The prime minister should ... cut the Gordian knot of Likud factionalism and go for a nationwide referendum on disengagement. He is likely to get cabinet and Knesset approval for the necessary legislation, and there is little doubt that he would win support for the plan in a popular vote. At the moment, having badly misjudged the extent of his influence over Likud, Mr. Sharon appears to be heading toward a deeply unsatisfactory compromise. Given the overall strength of his position, something much bolder is feasible: face down the right-wingers by going over their heads to parliament and the general public.
SOUTH AFRICA
The Cape Times, Cape Town, May 5: Robert Mugabe marked World Press Freedom Day in typical fashion: he ordered a privately owned weekend newspaper that was critical of him and his regime to shut down.
The Zimbabwean president has little time for the niceties of democratic practice let alone media freedom. He has illustrated this in many ways including repeated assaults on the independence of the judiciary and the rule of law itself. His thugs in the army and police -- not to mention the so called "war veterans" -- have simultaneously terrorized the people of that country.
And all of this after a highly dubious 2002 election.
Court action
Today, the leader of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change, Morgan Tsvangirai, is disputing that election result in court. As part of his case Tsvangirai has taken steps to get President Thabo Mbeki to hand over a report by two South African judges on that poll.
His actions will raise awkward questions for Mbeki ... focussing on why any such report has been kept secret...
The South African observer team declared it legitimate but much of the rest of the world remains skeptical.
The answers to questions sparked by Tsvangirai's request will reveal whether that attitude is informed by fact, or by the same sort of sentiment that gave rise to a rapturous public reception for Mugabe when he arrived for Mbeki's inauguration on April 27.
LEBANON
The Daily Star, Beirut, May 5: As the Middle East region suffers continued stress, conflict and stalemate, Arab leaders over the next eight weeks have a rare opportunity to do a rare thing: take the initiative and "sell" to the world their vision of a Middle East that is considerably better off than it is today.
To move this vision forward, it is time to look back and relaunch the Arab Peace Initiative which was presented to the world at the Beirut Arab League summit of 2002. The formula was, and still is, simple: full Arab recognition of Israel in exchange for a Palestinian state based on the land Israel has occupied since the 1967 war.
International conference
To get this vision off the ground, Arab leaders must build on the current diplomatic movement in the region and abroad, and consider holding an international conference to promote, indeed push, the peace initiative as a viable plan that should be put into action by the international community.
Why now? Because the "Quartet" (the US, EU, UN and Russia) which designed the "road map" for peace between Israel and the Palestinians met Tuesday at the ministerial level for the first time in nearly a year. This year's Arab summit, already postponed once, is scheduled for later this month; June will see meetings of both the G8 group of industrialized nations and NATO.
It is not often that so many important international gatherings take place in such a short space of time - indeed, it is akin to a certain alignment of the stars. When an opportunity such as this one occurs for presenting a vital international issue to the world community for resolution, it must not be missed.