Events in Iraq have been making international news headlines for months. The latest revelations of abuses at Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison have been met with widespread criticism, which is reflected in editorials and commentaries in world press.

The BBC News Monitoring Service listens to radio broadcasts, reads newspapers, watches television and surfs the Web for views from around the world. Below are a few quotations from major publications of the Middle East and Spain. Also, read the BBC's Arab media anger at prison scandal, a roundup of the articles by media commentators in the Middle East on the current events in Iraq.

We invite you to take them as starting points for discussion on the NOW message boards.

NOW does not endorse any of the views expressed here — they should serve merely as examples of the world dialogue on the situation in the Iraq.

		Saudi Arabia: "The much-touted interviews that US President George W. Bush gave two Arabic television stations yesterday failed to impress the majority of Saudis who watched them.... Many of those interviewed also doubted Bush’s sincerity in saying that those responsible for the mistreatment of Iraqi prisoners would be punished.... Some Saudis though were ready to believe Bush’s pledge to punish those responsible, making the distinction that they liked Americans in general, but despised the actions of the US administration." — ARAB NEWS, 5/6/04 Egypt: "On Monday the IGC [Iraqi Governing Council] began a series of meetings with Iraqi political and tribal figures to discuss the ways in which the selection of the caretaker government will be handled. Despite recent US shifts over the UN and a U-turn on its debaathification policy, scepticism remains over Washington's endgame. Iraqi observers criticise the 'mixed messages coming from Washington' over the options it will pursue in Iraq." — Al-Ahram Weekly, April 29-May 5, 2004 Iraq: "The reckless and aggressive US policy in war-ravaged Iraq may lead the country into an unbridled civil war involving all sectarian and ethnic factions. Simultaneously the US-led occupation is waging an internecine warfare across a battered, disrupted land." — Editorial in IRAQ TODAY, May 3, 2004 Spain: "Western democracies demand that their military authorities behave according to their own values. The requirement is still more evident when the mission is to rebuild a country and establish a law-based state. It is known that, in situations like the ones being experienced in Iraq, a certain state of brutalization can be reached, but it cannot be an excuse for negligence. Such things happen, but the authorities cannot remain impassive - not only because they are a crime but also because, in the end, there is a very high cost in terms of support from citizens themselves, from Iraqis and from international public opinion. " — ABC, May 6, 2004 Syria: "After the scandals of the Abu Ghurayb prison, can the US administration still talk about human rights and freedom? Should European reactions remain confined to denunciation and condemnation?" — AL-THAWRAH, May 6, 2004 Palestine: "The Iraqis are now starting on the Palestinian experience. The Americans have come to Iraq to establish the freedom of torture and prisons." — AL-AYYAM, May 6, 2004