JAPAN

JAPAN
Yomiuri Shimbun, Tokyo, April 26: South Korea should leave the long-standing territorial dispute over the Takeshima group of islets to be settled by the World Court, given the assurance expressed by President Roh Moo Hyun about his country's claim.
Japan has twice proposed referring the controversy to the court, only to have the proposals rejected by South Korea. Seoul has not even acknowledged the existence of the dispute. This uncompromising attitude has prevented any attempt to resolve the controversy. The Japanese government should continue to propose, at every opportunity, that the problem be brought before the World Court.
Troubled waters
The waters around Takeshima encompass areas claimed by both Japan and South Korea as their exclusive economic zones. Only a few days ago, Japan and South Korea came very close to starting a skirmish in the troubled waters due to a dispute over an attempt by Seoul to name seafloor topography near Takeshima and register such designations at an international conference in June.
It is important for Japan and South Korea to cooperate in resolving such problems as the threat posed by North Korea's nuclear weapons program and its abductions of Japanese. The territorial dispute between Tokyo and Seoul must be prevented from adversely affecting efforts to settle important problems unrelated to the controversy. Japan and South Korea should deal with the territorial row in a calm manner.
BRITAIN
Financial Times, London, April 25: Four months after Iraqis risked suicide-bombers and reprisals to go to the polls, the country's political class has finally seen fit to come forward with a government. All now hinges on whether this will lead to the national unity coalition Iraq so badly needs. On the face of it, little has changed.
The naming of a new prime-minister designate, Jawad al-Maliki from the Shia Islamist Daawa party, to replace the inept Ibrahim al-Jaafari, also of the Daawa, does not substantially alter the uneasy balance of power, between the majority Shia and the Sunni Arabs and Kurds, or within the triumphant but fissiparous Shia bloc.
While winners and losers alike scrabbled for the levers of power and the spoils of office, Iraq has been not so much stuck in a vacuum as sucked into a whirlwind. Sectarian carnage and militia rule -- especially after the destruction of a Shia shrine in February -- have advanced the demographic and geographic fragmentation of the country. The failure of the sectarian model fathered by the U.S. occupation points towards the break-up of Iraq.
Venal incompetence
At the same time, the venal and violent incompetence of Shia politicians has placed the Shia clerical leadership -- which has traditionally rejected a direct role in government on the Iranian model -- at centre stage. A hardline Sunni Islamist is now the speaker of parliament. The secularism for which Iraq stood -- and stood out in the region -- has suffered eclipse.
Mr. Maliki has something of a reputation as a bridge-builder. He will need to be. He will have to find a formula to share not only power but also Iraq's oil resources, and to reinstate basic services ordinary Iraqis have been deprived of, such as electricity and water.
Most of all, he must offer Iraqis security by regaining the state's monopoly of violence. How difficult that will be was made clear by the rejection by Jalal Talabani, Iraq's Kurdish president, of the new prime minister's plan to merge all militias (including the Kurdish peshmerga) into the federal army. Nor will his Shia allies voluntarily fold their armed wings -- including Abdelaziz al-Hakim's Badr corps or Moqtada al-Sadr's Mahdi army.
The U.S. has hailed Mr. Maliki's emergence as a decisive step forward, but without much conviction. A more realistic approach may emerge from the congressionally mandated Iraq Study Group, headed by James Baker, former secretary of state. It will need to come up with some alert new thinking, including ways to bind Iran positively into the future of Iraq - a tall order while the Bush administration is on a collision course with Tehran.
JORDAN
Jordan Times, Amman, April 26: Another chain of deadly bombings, another day of carnage and mourning and another stain on the image of the Arabs were added Tuesday to a long list of similar painful happenings in our region. Not much seems to be known about the murderous perpetrators, and speculation moves around a possible local grouping or the pernicious Al Qaeda.
What is known is that the barbaric crime targeted Egyptians and places where they make their livelihood: A restaurant, a caf & eacute; and a supermarket. This shows hatred and a base nature, and has little to do with any "ideological" belief. Not that any such belief should prompt murder of any kind.
Having chosen a national holiday, thus a time of maximum population concentration, the criminals showed desire to inflict extreme suffering. It also suggests familiarity with the environs and "an Egyptian context," according to some analysts.
Vile act
What warped mentality could guide someone towards such vile act? What justification can anyone find for the murder of tens of people and injury of scores of others? For murder, period. What evil mind would cold-bloodedly contrive to take the life of others?
Whether Al Qaeda whose head had just declared Western citizens legitimate targets of his terrorist organisation because of their support of governments conducting a "crusader war against Islam" or a home-grown demented group, the perpetrators have to be apprehended and brought to justice.
Being morally repugnant as they are, such acts are sanctioned neither by normal people nor by religion.
Killing goes against human values and against the teachings of any faith.
Together with heads of state, Islamic groups Hamas, Muslim Brotherhood condemned the attacks. The barrage of accusations is reassuring. Humanity can still assert itself.
But citizens need to be alert as well. And governments should be reminded that unaddressed grievances often fester to bursting point, poisoning minds and debasing mankind.
The sooner the murderers are apprehended and brought to justice the faster we can leave behind another dark episode in this region plagued by destruction.
ITALY
La Repubblica, Rome, April 26: Not even Osama bin Laden's nonsense can wake the U.N. Security Council up, although it has done all it could: it condemned the civil war in Darfur, Sudan ... and on Tuesday, it adopted sanctions against four people involved in the massacres. It is not allowed to do more by the two friends of Khartoum: China, which relies upon Sudanese oil, and Russia that sells weapons to Khartoum ...
Wasted occasion
Nevertheless, the U.N. had laid the premises for a change: its Commission had identified the serious violations of human rights, committed mainly by Khartoum, and those responsible (for them) ... And surprisingly, the Council then accepted the request to defer the issue to the International Criminal Tribunal. But this is where it all went aground. Twelve months have passed, and the Chief Prosecutor has still not formally asked Khartoum to allow investigations in Sudan. Truly a wasted occasion.