[infowar.de] IRNA 18.10.01: Blair sets up special unit for Muslim media

[Georg Schoefbaenker <schoefbaenker -! - aon - at>]

Infowar.de, http://userpage.fu-berlin.de/~bendrath/liste.html
-------------------------------------------------------------
http://www.irna.com/en/head/011018200743.ehe.shtml

Blair sets up special unit for Muslim media 

 London, Oct 18, IRNA - Prime Minister Tony Blair is setting up a      
special unit in his office to liaise with the foreign media of Muslim 
countries because of his concern about the opposition to the so-      
called global war against international terrorism.                    
   Regular on-the-record but off-camera briefings will be held two or 
three times a week for the Arab and Muslim press, Blair's Director of 
Communications and Strategy Alistair Campbell announced Thursday.     
   He said that British Embassies in Islamic countries would also be  
stepping up their activities to promote the objectives of the         
military strikes against Afghanistan.                                 
   `A positive political agenda of engagement with Arab countries and 
the Islamic world' is specifically mentioned as one of the wider aims 
of defeating international terrorism, according to a paper presented  
to parliament by Foreign Secretary Jack Straw this week.              
   The initiative follows reports that the British government is      
losing the propaganda war with both Islamic countries and the         
domestic Muslim population in the UK, where there is both opposition  
and scepticism about the declared war.                                
   Speaking to Arab and Muslim journalists on Thursday, Campbell      
admitted that there were concerns to acknowledge and address but      
denied there was any hidden agenda and repeated Blair's words that    
the "war was against terrorism not Islam."                            
HC/KS                                                                 
End                                                                   


---------------------------------------------------------------
Liste verlassen: 
Mail an infowar -
 de-request -!
- infopeace -
 de mit "unsubscribe" im Text.