A brief world news roundup for 21 October 2009.

United States & the Americas

• VOA – U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates told Japan’s new leaders Tuesday the Obama administration is committed to implementing a wide-ranging defense agreement reached by the previous American and Japanese governments, which some in Japan’s new ruling party would like to change. Secretary Gates says there are “no alternatives” to the complex agreement.
• McClatchy – The Supreme Court agreed Tuesday to consider whether a federal judge can order the release of Guantanamo Bay detainees into the United States, setting up a key conflict over judicial authority amid the war on terrorism.
• Reuters – The splits inside NATO over the Afghan war have turned the alliance into a rotting corpse that will be virtually impossible to revive, says the former head of Canada’s armed forces
• AP – Uruguay’s Supreme Court on Monday declared unconstitutional a law that has provided amnesty to military officials accused of murders, disappearances and other human rights violations during the country’s dictatorship
• MercoPress – Argentine president Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner regretted last week’s incidents suffered by United States ambassador Vilma Martinez and said “in all places there are always intolerants”. In spite of the Thursday incidents at the University of Cuyo, Mendoza, where the ambassador was unable to give a lecture and was just spared from a full tomato hit, Mrs. Kirchner said “Ms Martinez was very pleased to have visited Mendoza, where she plans to return”.
• IPS – People in the town of Ixcan in northwestern Guatemala could relive the pain of the country’s 36-year civil war if the army reopens a military base in the area, where more than 100 massacres of indigenous villagers were committed during the armed conflict.
• Guardian – Farmers in Columbia’s Chocó province say mining and logging firms are pushing them off the land by force or trickery
• Columbia Reports – The Ecuadorian Police Tuesday said they had received threats allegedly from Colombia’s FARC, due to an operation in which they seized more than eight tons of cocaine hydrochloride that apparently belonged to the rebel group.
• Javno – The death toll has already reached 2,000 this year in Ciudad Juarez, in a new record for Mexico’s most violent city, according to an AFP count based on police reports. Last year, 1,653 violent deaths were reported in the border city across from El Paso, Texas, in what was already considered a record.
• LA Times – A Monday deadline passes with no agreement on reinstating the ousted president. The de facto leaders say the decision should rest with the Supreme Court, whereas Zelaya’s side favors Congress.

Russia, Caucasus & Central Asia

• Kremlin – Press Statement following Russian-Serbian Talks; You know that Russia has always been a major energy-producing country. We specifically put forward a number of new ideas in this field because European security is not only based on respect for international principles, the principles of international law, but also requires the regulation of energy issues. And one of Russia’s recent initiatives is devoted to precisely this subject. We are open to talking about the current energy security architecture with all countries and with our close partners in Serbia.
• RIA Novosti – Russia and Serbia signed on Tuesday agreements on the Serbian leg of the South Stream natural gas pipeline and an underground gas storage facility. Russian President Dmitry Medvedev arrived in Belgrade earlier in the day for talks with his Serbian counterpart, Boris Tadic, focusing on energy cooperation.
• Press TV – The National Bank of Belarus (NBB) has registered a second bank in the country with Iranian capital, an official at NBB says. The new Iranian bank, which was registered last week as “Honor Bank”, will provide financial services for foreign trade relations between Iran and Belarus.
• Caucasian Knot – Last night, the DDoS-attacks (Distributed Denial of Service attack), which continued during the last two months on the website of the Ingush opposition “Ingushetia.Org”, reached its maximum
• RIA Novosti – Ingushetia’s parliament approved on Tuesday a former Federal Security Service officer as prime minister of the volatile south Russian republic, following his predecessor’s dismissal earlier this month.
• Kavkaz Center – According to Russian occupier sources, on October 18, Mujahideen of Vilayat Ghalghayche (Ingushetia) eliminated 3 Russian terrorists from the “special detachment of FSB” (former KGB), aged from 28 to 42 years: 1 captain and 2 lieutenants.   Terrorists were destroyed during a “special operation” against Mujahideen, which they were carrying out
• Itar Tass – Two militants were destroyed in a special operation in Chechnya. The identity of the criminals was established. Both of them were on the wanted list for participation in illegal armed groups. During the armed clash, one OMON commando died and another got bullet wounds and was hospitalised.
• WSJ – The United States does not intend to put any part of its revised missile shield in non-NATO countries, a senior defense official said in Georgia Tuesday, in an apparent attempt to calm Russian nerves.
• EurasiaNet – Kyrgyzstan’s cabinet resigned on October 20 as President Kurmanbek Bakiyev announced a broad plan to restructure the government. Political experts in Bishkek offered guarded praise for Bakiyev’s reform scheme, with some suggesting that it represented perhaps the last, best hope for his administration to contain corruption in the Central Asian state
• SRI – The president of resources-rich Turkmenistan has sacked several top officials in the energy sector, denouncing their “irresponsible approach” to their jobs, the official news agency reported
• Turkmenistan.ru – Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov received Chief Executive of OAO Gazprom Alexei Miller in Ashgabat on October 19. During the meeting, they discussed issues of long-term strategic cooperation in the gas sphere
• RFERL – Tajik police have arrested four armed men in the Tajik enclave of Vorukh in Kyrgyzstan’s Batken Province, RFE/RL’s Tajik Service reports. The police believe the men, who were detained on October 19, were part of the armed group that crossed from Tajikistan’s Isfara district into Kyrgyz territory after a shoot-out at the Koktosh border crossing last week.
• UPI – Azerbaijan is ready to sell its gas to Iran and Russia amid lingering disputes over the sale price for its natural gas to Turkey, said Azeri executives.
• Trend – Reciprocal interests of Azerbaijan and Switzerland in the energy sphere may help the countries in forming a new transportation route to be named “Southern corridor”, said the President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev on the joint press conference with the President of Switzerland Hans-Rudolf Merz in Bern, State News Agency Azertaj reported on Tuesday.

Middle East

• Voices of Iraq – Security forces arrested on Tuesday an operative of al-Qaeda in Iraq (AQI) Organization in area west of the holy city of Karbala. “The operative is wanted for security forces in Babel province,” Major Alaa Abbass, the Karbala police media director, told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. “He is wanted for committing sectarian cleansing crimes.” Major Abbass said that the operation relied on intelligence tip off.
• AFPS – Iraqi police, aided by U.S. advisors, arrested seven suspected terrorists today in northern Iraq, military officials reported. Iraqi police, with U.S. advisors, arrested two suspects near Wajihijah, northeast of Baghdad, during an operation targeting a suspect believed to be associated with key members of al-Qaida in Iraq and the Islamic State of Iraq terrorist group.
• Understanding War – With parliamentary elections currently slated for January 16, 2010, Iraqi politicians and parties are maneuvering in advance of the vote. New alliances are being forged and unpopular incumbents are trying to hold onto their seats at all costs as the parties that have dominated the Iraqi government for the past five years are now being challenged by political newcomers. The last few months leading up to the vote have proved especially dynamic.
• NOW Lebanon – Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea told Al-Arabiya television on Tuesday that the telecommunications portfolio will not go to Hezbollah and his allies and that the permanent solution in Lebanon is to shy away from the concept of having “a winner or a loser.” Geagea also stated that the Free Patriotic Movement will not get the Interior Ministry given the previous agreement that grants the sovereign Interior and Defense Ministries to the President, the Foreign Ministry to Hezbollah, and the Finance Ministry to March 14.
• Asharq Al Awsat – New information has been obtained by Asharq Al-Awsat concerning the vehicle used by elements of Al-Qaeda organization that infiltrated the Kingdom from Yemen to carry out a terrorist operation inside Saudi territories. The truck was rented by a member of Al-Qaeda organization from the coastal city of Jeddah (west of the country) who was not one of the suspects.
• Naharnet – Yemen president Ali Abdullah Saleh said that the Shiite northern rebels appear to have gone through combat training similar to that of Lebanon’s Iran-backed Shiite Hizbullah militia, which fought a fierce guerilla war with Israel in the summer of 2006 in south Lebanon. “They have been trained in the same manner followed by Hizbullah in South Lebanon,” he said, pointing to unconfirmed reports of the presence of “trainers from southern Lebanon in Saada,” the rebels’ stronghold.
• News Yemen – The State Security and Terrorism Court in Sana’a on Tuesday sentenced 10 Houthis to death and five others to 15-year prison terms.

Iran

• Press TV – Following a terrorist attack in the border province of Sistan-Baluchistan in Iran, local officials say gunmen have fatally shot two policemen in the region. The two policemen, killed in separate attacks in the city of Iranshahr, were shot as they patrolled the area on their motorbikes.
• Fars – Commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Ground Force Brigadier General Mohammad Pakpour urged Iranian officials to issue the required orders for his troops to attack the Jundollah terrorist group in Pakistan.
• Mehr – The CIA and certain neighboring countries’ intelligence agencies set goals for the Jundullah terrorist group, Major General Yahya Rahim Safavi said here on Tuesday.
• AP – Talks meant to persuade Iran to send most of its enriched uranium abroad — and thus delay its potential to make a nuclear weapon — bogged down Tuesday over fierce Iranian resistance to French participation, diplomats said.
• Payvand – Iran’s former minister of culture, Safar Harandi’s speech at Tehran University became the target of student protests today… An eyewitness has informed Zamaneh that these claims raised the students’ protests. Zamaneh was also told that the number of student protesters was about 1500 who were chanting : “Government risen from a coup; Resign! Resign!” and “Death to the dictator!”
• Asia Times – Conventional wisdom suggests that the terrorist strike by Jundallah in southeastern Iran on Sunday might have had the backing of the United States or Britain. But Jundallah today holds “fatal” attraction for a number of foreign powers that are interested in disorienting Iran’s policies.
• NPR – Michele Norris speaks with C. Christine Fair, professor of security studies at Georgetown University, about the group that took responsibility for a suicide bombing in southeast Iran this weekend.
• Office of Supreme Leader – On the occasion of the auspicious birth anniversary of Hazrat-e Ma’soume, thousands of women scholars, involved in Koranic studies, met the Leader of Islamic Revolution, Ayatollah Sayyed Ali Khamenei. Ayatollah Khamenei in the a speech referred to women’s active participation in all scientific fields as a point of honor and said Koranic studies should be manifested in all aspects of social life. The Islamic Revolution Leader urged taking principles of human sciences from Koran and said “if we do so, the Koranic researchers could establish a firm base for human sciences.”
• Payvand – Photos: The Life of Nomads in Iran

South Asia

• Stars and Stripes – It was another frustrating start to a mission for the U.S. soldiers tasked with advising and assisting the Afghan National Security Forces in Farah province in western Afghanistan. They’ve been here for two months as part of a policy that doubled the number of U.S. troops training Afghans by bringing in the 82nd Airborne’s 4th Brigade Combat Team. That the ANA were a few hours late on that day’s mission was almost a given, according to the troops.
• ABC – Afghan President Hamid Karzai agreed today to a runoff election against his top challenger after a U.N.-backed audit found that he had failed to win more than 50 percent of votes in the fraud-plagued election.
• Free Range International – As the cool weather finally moves into Afghanistan I have to tell you that from my perspective not much is happening.  I am not talking about security incidents – they almost doubled last week from a near all time high the week before.  There is lots of villianary going on – the weather is perfect for it – but nothing seems to be really changing.  One gets the impression that the players from all sides want to maintain the current status quo because all the sides are benefiting
• Pak Tribune – Two simultaneous explosions went off on the campus of the Islamic University in Islamabad killing 4 including 2 women and injuring many others, despite heightened security at schools all across the country.
• Geo – Two bombs planted near a government girls’ school in Peshawar have been defused. According to sources, unknown miscreants planted two bombs near government girls’ high school in Bhana Mari. Bomb disposal unit, ambulances and heavy police contingents have reached the scene after getting the news of bombs. The source of bomb disposal unit said 14 kilograms of explosive and bullets were put in a pressure cooker whereas five kilograms explosives and shrapnel put in a tin box to make bombs
• Dawn – At least 20 militants and four soldiers died in fierce overnight fighting between the militants and security forces pressing a major offensive for a fourth day Tuesday, officials said. Pakistan faces its toughest military test against the militants to date in waging its ground assault in South Waziristan.
• Al Arabiya – Soldiers backed by jet fighters and artillery seized Kotkai town in fighting late on Monday, security officials said. Kotkai is the home town of Qari Hussain Mehsud, a senior Taliban commander known as “the mentor of suicide bombers”, and is a gateway to a militant stronghold at Sararogha.
• IslamOnline – With his forces already meeting fierce resistance from Taliban militants, army chief General Ashfaq Kayani reached out to the powerful Mehsud tribe to make clear the offensive is not directed at the tribe, but few bad apples who happen to be Mehsuds (see message here)
• Malik Siraj Akbar – Revisiting the Che Guevara-like days of Baloch resistance movement with Asad Rehman
• Times of India – The Obama administration has given a thumbs-up to India’s developmental work in Afghanistan, rejecting Islamabad’s complaints that New Delhi’s activities there are detrimental to Pakistan’s security.

An amphibious assault vehicle from to the 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit debarks the well deck of the amphibious dock landing ship USS Rushmore and heads ashore to Indonesia to support Marine Exercise 09. MAREX is a multilateral training exercise designed to enhance interoperability and communication between the U.S. and Indonesia militaries. Rushmore is part of the Bonhomme Richard Amphibious Ready Group transiting the U.S. 7th Fleet area of responsibility. (photo by Seaman Sarah Bitter)

Far East & Pacific

• Irrawaddy – More than 100 Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA) soldiers have defected to the Karen National Union (KNU) since June, following fighting and DKBA forced recruitment, according to Karen sources.
• Aaron Friedberg – China’s Rise: Strategic Implications For Asia
• Yonhap – North Korea’s top official in charge of inter-Korean relations visited China over the past week, raising speculation about the North’s diplomatic moves to improve its relations with regional countries, a diplomatic source in Beijing said Tuesday.
• Manila Times – Former President Joseph “Erap” Estrada vowed on Tuesday to launch an all-out war to end decades of deadly Muslim and communist insurgencies should he be reelected as president in the 2010 elections.
• The Australian – The navy’s $6 billion Collins-class submarines face serious operational restrictions after being hit by a run of crippling mechanical problems and troubling maintenance issues. Some senior engineering experts now contend that the Swedish-supplied Hedemora diesel engines may have to be replaced – a major design and engineering job that could cost hundreds of millions of dollars and take years to complete.
• Xinhua – Myanmar and Thailand will construct another friendship bridge to connect two border trade towns of the two countries to boost bilateral trade, sources with the Union of Myanmar Chambers of Commerce and Industry (UMFCCI) said on Tuesday

Europe

• Copenhagen Post – A controversial Russian natural gas pipeline being constructed in the Baltic Sea is being given the go ahead by the Danish government, reports Politiken newspaper. The Nord Stream pipeline, whose majority owner is Gazprom, is designed run 88km into Danish territorial waters around the island of Bornholm and another 49km into the Danish economic zone.
• NYT – Poland, smarting after President Obama announced last month that he would scrap Bush-era plans to deploy an antiballistic missile system in Eastern Europe, will accept an offer to host parts of a new, more mobile missile defense system, Polish officials said Tuesday.
• NOW Lebanon – French newspaper Le Figaro reported on Tuesday that companies in France with the consent of the government delivered high tech anti-spy equipment to the Lebanese Internal Security Forces (ISF), while the CIA provided similar support to help uncover the assassins of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.
• Hurriyet – Greece’s new prime minister urged Turkey on Monday to withdraw thousands of its troops from Cyprus to help ongoing talks aimed at reunifying the divided island
• Prague Monitor – The use of obsolete pistols threatens lives of Czech soldiers in Afghanistan, Defence Minister Martin Barták said in his written answer to deputy Josef Senfeld’s (Communists Party, KS?M) question, the iHned server has written.

Africa

• Garowe – At least 11 people were killed in fighting in the Somali capital Mogadishu overnight Sunday and into Monday morning, Radio Garowe reports. The battles started after Al Shabaab insurgents attacked Somali government troops and African Union peacekeepers (AMISOM) at bases around the Villa Somalia presidential compound, witnesses said. Somali police spokesman Col. Abdullahi Hassan Barise told a Monday press conference in Mogadishu that government forces killed insurgents, including a man from Yemen.
• Shabelle – the African Union officials AMISOM especially the Burundian troops have said on Tuesday that their forces will go to further areas in or around the Somali capital Mogadishu
• BBC – The US is preparing to give Mali’s army millions of dollars worth of military hardware to help them fight al-Qaeda’s North African branch. Trucks, powerful communication devices and clothing are among $5m (£3m) of equipment being handed over.
• France24 – Violence broke out when demonstrators protesting poor housing conditions clashed with the police in the Algerian capital of Algiers on Monday in a rare display of social discontent.
• Vanguard – Henry Okah, former leader of the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger-Delta, MEND, yesterday, went to hold talks with President Umaru Yar’Adua on the post-amnesty programme. He was reportedly flown to Abuja from South Africa in a Presidential jet. It was not however clear whether the emergency meeting was convened in response to fresh threat of attack by MEND.
• ICRC – Violence resulting from the presence of the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) in south-eastern Central African Republic and skirmishes between the LRA and the Ugandan armed forces have caused the displacement of several thousand civilians

Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates is greeted by Foreign Affairs Minister Katsuya Okada on his arrival to the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Tokyo, Oct. 20 (photo by Master Sgt. Jerry Morrison)

The Global War

• Jerusalem Post – The IDF and the US military will begin a major joint air defense exercise Wednesday, highlighting military ties between the two allies at a time of heightened tensions over Iran’s nuclear program
• ISN – On the battlefields of Iraq and Afghanistan, US soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines have confronted third-party national combatants. Widely known as ‘foreign fighters,’ these individuals have gained deadly skills, combat experience and global connections that can be exported and exploited to devastating effect
• MEMRI – In a communiqué dated October 20, 2009, Al-Furqan, the media division of Al-Qaeda’s “Islamic State of Iraq” organization (ISI), congratulated Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) for the launch of their new media division, Al-Andalus

Sights & Sounds

Africa Today – Elections go ahead in Niger as ECOWAS’s patience runs out. 7 people dead and 30 missing after the collapse of multi storey building in Kenya. Thousands of refugees still stranded in northern Angola.

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Henry Farrell and Eric Posner: Worldwise: The Perils of Global Legalism; Eric’s new book, “The Perils of Global Legalism”… Debating the limits of international law… When does international law work?… Remaking the world in Sweden’s image… Can the EU serve as a model for the rest of the world?… What if an international law violates a nation’s values?

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Pentagon – BG Robert Brown, Multi-National Division-North Deputy Commanding General (support), speaks via satellite with reporters at the Pentagon, providing an update on ongoing security operations in Iraq

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