The following are excerpts from editorial opinions from newspapers from around the world which may be of interest to Royal Gazette readers.Daily Star, Beirut, Lebanon, on the root of violence in Lebano>The fighting, human suffering, political complications and security threats that emanate from the recent events at Nahr al-Bared refugee camp in North Lebanon cannot be resolved only in Nahr al-Bared. They neither originated nor will end there. They represent a legacy of political and security events in the past half-century that will become a continuing trajectory if they are not addressed in their full regional and global context. ... If there is a single thread that runs through the modern history that has brought us to this point, it is the lingering problem of Palestinian refugees and their unachieved rights, which in turn has expanded over the years to become the wider Arab-Israeli problem.

At the same time, the particular threats and tensions in Lebanon today are widely linked by many people to the often antagonistic relations between Syria and Lebanon. The ongoing UN investigation into the murder of Rafik Hariri and many others in this country in the past two years may shed light on who is responsible for these crimes, and who may be behind the intermittent bombs that terrorise, kill and maim innocent Lebanese. Until then, the Nahr al-Bared crisis must not be allowed to become yet another unresolved political dilemma whose fundamental causes are swept under the rug. ...The Hindu, Madras, India, on amendments to Sri Lanka's Citizenship AB>The readiness shown by the Sri Lanka government to amend the Grant of Citizenship to Persons of Indian Origin Act, 2003 to enable an estimated 28,500 'Ceylon Tamil refugees' living in various camps across Tamil Nadu to get Sri Lankan citizenship is commendable. These poorest of the poor among the refugees, who fled the north-east of the island in 1990 on account of the ethnic conflict, could not become Sri Lankan citizens because of an anomaly in the Citizenship Act as amended in 2003. The legislation stipulates continuous stay in Sri Lanka from 1964 as a condition for the grant of citizenship; and does not provide for those who had to leave the country for reasons beyond their control. ...

In one callous stroke, the Citizenship Act of 1948 rendered nearly 90 per cent of a million-strong population of people of recent Indian origin, overwhelmingly `plantation Tamils,' stateless. The Government of India, which unfortunately compromised on this issue after taking a firm stand initially, must share responsibility with the Sri Lankan state for the long-term injustice done to these hapless people. ... The real breakthrough came with the Indo-Sri Lanka Agreement of July 1987, when Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi persuaded President J.R. Jayewardene to agree to confer citizenship on those `stateless' people who remained in Sri Lanka. But bureaucratic resistance to the implementation of what was agreed on as well as some residual legal issues remained. The JVP's progressive initiative to win for the 28,500 'Ceylon Tamil refugees' (possibly a slight underestimate) the citizenship rights they are entitled to should bring to a close an unsavoury historical chapter in the India-Sri Lanka relationship.The Wall Street Journal Asia, Hong Kong, on electoral-fraud charThailand's generals swept into power last year promising to ferret out "rampant" corruption and return power to the people quickly. To that end, today's expected judicial ruling on electoral-fraud charges levied against the country's two biggest political parties sounds like it could clear the path for democracy. Yet it may do just the opposite.

Bangkok's generals justified September's coup in part by charging former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra with corruption. So it made sense to press an existing fraud case against his political party, Thai Rak Thai, announced last June by the attorney general's office. The attorney general alleged that Thai Rak Thai rigged parliamentary elections by hiring small parties to "run" against them, splitting the opposition vote and ensuring a victory. The Democrat Party, in contrast, was accused of paying parties not to run. ...

We cannot comment on the merits of the legal case against either party. But the findings of the judicial body will be open to question because the generals disbanded Thailand's constitutional court soon after overthrowing the country's democratically elected government. In its place, they decreed the formation of a nine-member constitutional tribunal. Even though the tribunal is populated with respected jurists, it's unclear if they have been influenced or pressured by the generals — and so any ruling they make may be viewed by the Thai public as politically motivated, whether that's true or not. ...

King Bhumibol Adulyadej summed the mess up nicely last Thursday, when he spoke to the constitutional tribunal. "Either way the ruling goes, it will be bad for the country, there will be mistakes," he said. How big a mistake, however, is still an open question.The Independent, London, on politics and televinTelevision has become the primary political battleground in Venezuela. At midnight on Sunday, Radio Caracas Television ended its final broadcast — a consequence of President Hugo Chavez's refusal to renew its public broadcasting licence. RCTV has already been replaced with a new state-funded channel that will, in the President's words, "better reflect society". The channel's closure brought some 5,000 anti-Chavez protesters on to the capital's streets. Ugly scenes followed as police tried to scatter them. ...

We should be wary of regarding this as a typical case of autocratic suppression. Venezuela has long been a deeply divided country. And this is reflected in the public debate about broadcasters' rights. Many Venezuelans, like the President, genuinely wanted the closure of the station. ...

Yet the Venezuelan President is quite wrong to suggest that he is bolstering democracy by driving dissenting voices from the airwaves. ...

All governments need media opposition to keep them honest. But it appears that President Chavez does not have much time for this concept.

Ominously, another Venezuelan TV station, Globovision, was accused yesterday - on what appears to be flimsy grounds - of calling for Mr Chavez's assassination. If this growing intolerance of opposition voices is an indication of the shape of things to come, Mr Chavez is taking his country down a dangerous road indeed.The El Paso Times, El Paso, Texas, on security problems posed by North Korea andanFor its part, North Korea is dragging its feet on the agreed shutdown of its Yongbyon nuclear reactor, allowing U.N. nuclear inspectors on site, and stopping its production of nuclear weapons, though no one seems to know for sure how extensive that production is. ...

Then there's Iran which, far from stopping its uranium-enrichment program as demanded by the UN Security Council, is actually expanding its nuclear activities.

A report from Mohamed ElBaradei, head of the UN's International Atomic Energy Agency, blamed Tehran for blocking inspection efforts so that the agency could no longer monitor activities and says that they were of a peaceful nature.

Particularly chilling was the IAEA's expression of concern about its "deteriorating" understanding of certain parts of Iran's nuclear program. ...

The UN is considering increasing sanctions against Iran, which will do absolutely no good. Iran is obviously intent on producing nuclear weapons, and nothing short of force will stop it.

As for North Korea, its intentions are the same, but its methods are slightly different.

Iran and North Korea pose significant security problems for their areas of the world and for the United States. If their nuclear ambitions aren't checked, the world could pay a high price later on.The Mountain Press, Sevierville, Tennessee, on unannounced presidential candtesIf you need any more indication that we start our presidential elections much too soon, look at the storm over two people who haven't even said they're going to run. ...

Each day mass e-mails are sent out to tell of the latest news about unannounced candidate Fred Thompson. And each day pundits speculate over when and where Al Gore will jump into the Democratic race for president.

It's as if both Thompson and Gore are waiting — and maybe secretly hoping — for the current field of candidates to implode, paving the way for a new candidate to emerge as a favourite.

Of course if Thompson and Gore indeed plan to enter the race but don't handle this right, there will be a lot of resentment among faithful in each party. They'll also be behind in fundraising. ...

The early start to the 2008 presidential election has driven a lot of this. But states don't help by bunching the primaries so early in the presidential election year. If we grow tired of it all even before 2008 gets here, then something is wrong with the system.Northwest Arkansas Times, Fayetteville, Arkansas, on immigrationformThe more debate we hear, the more sceptical we become that Congress and the president have the capability to solve the political quagmire that an estimated 12 million illegal immigrants represent. ...

At stake is the security of America's borders and the very way this land of immigrants turns foreigners into US citizens. Our economy is a key part of this debate as well. ... President Bush supports the current proposed legislation. ...

But aside from his signature, can he deliver enough votes in Congress to make a difference? ...

On Thursday, the Senate unanimously backed requiring that illegal aliens pay back taxes on earnings collected in the United States while they were illegal. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid isn't pleased, saying the legislation would create "a permanent underclass of people here to work in low-wage, low-skill jobs, but do not have a chance to put down roots." It's a very good point. And yet the dirty secret of too many American businesses today is that they employ (knowingly or not) illegal aliens who will do anything to stay in this county. ...

As long as illegal immigration is an open spigot, setting limits on legal immigration is an exercise in futility. Control the borders, then we can have a healthy debate over what our nation should do about the millions of illegal immigrants whose migration happened because our government allowed it to happen.