29 April, 2010 (00:43) | Daily Roundup | By: Jeff Kouba
A brief world news roundup for 29 April 2010.
United States & the Americas
- Pentagon – Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates today expressed satisfaction with the level of planning by the Defense Department and other elements of the U.S. government to counter threats from Iran.
- US Senate Armed Services Cmte – briefing on U.S. policy towards Yemen and Somalia
- AKI - An American citizen who was born in Pakistan faces up to 15 years in prison after he admitted to sending waterproof socks, ponchos and sleeping bags to Al-Qaeda fighters in Afghanistan. Syed Hashmi, 30, pleaded guilty to conspiring to provide support to Al-Qaeda in a New York court in New York and will be sentenced in early June.
- Guardian – It’s been five months since diplomat Richard Colvin first levelled the charge that all detainees handed over to Afghan authorities by Canadian troops had been tortured. Since then, politicians – and those citizens who have actually noticed – have been embroiled in procedural geekery, wrestling with the issue of the government’s refusal to release relevant documents to the case. Stephen Harper’s Conservative government has maintained since last fall that releasing the uncensored documents would threaten national security, defending their refusal by alluding to the Access to Information Act. The opposition disagreed. On Tuesday, the House of Commons came closer to a resolution
- Payvand – Iranian state-owned oil company Petropars and Venezuelan national oil company PDVSA founded a joint oil company “VENIROC” as each county holds 50 percent of the total share
- Defense Tech – Latin American drug cartels continue to launch scores of semi-submersible, cocaine hauling submarines northward from jungle hideouts to feed insatiable U.S. drug markets. The fiberglass vessels, typically 60 to 70 feet in length and able to haul 10 tons of cocaine, are assembled in remote workshops, hidden deep in coastal mangrove swamps and even far inland in Colombia’s mountainous jungle. Powered by diesel motors, the subs travel by night and lay low during the day, almost wake-less, they are incredibly difficult to spot from the air.
Russia, Caucasus & Central Asia
- RIA Novosti – Russia’s Moskva missile cruiser will make a port call in the southwestern Indian city of Kochi on Friday, a spokesman for the Russian Navy said on Wednesday
- Barents Observer – As BarentsObserver reported, Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev yesterday announced a deal on the delineation of the 175,000 square kilometer big area in the Barents Sea. The area is believed to contain huge amounts of natural gas, possibly far more than the nearby Shtokman field.
- Norway MFA – “This is a historic day. We have reached a breakthrough in the most important outstanding issue between Norway and the Russian Federation,” said Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg.
- Prague Watchdog – For many long years, Russia’s population has had an opportunity to observe the extraordinary relationship that ties a simple Chechen to his highly-placed Moscow patron. Such marriages are made in heaven: last week saw yet another demonstration of this secret agreement by which the protégé receives a lifelong right to kill anyone who, in his opinion, deserves to die.
- IRNA – Iran has planned to inaugurate copper wire factory in Belarus in the presence of Iranian Minister of Industries and Mines Ali-Akbar Mehrabian next week. IRNA Economic correspondent said that the factory’s production will be exported to Russia and Ukraine
- AP – The ousted president of Kyrgyzstan has been charged with organizing mass killings in the deadly uprising that forced him from office in this Central Asian country earlier this month, the leader of the interim authorities said Tuesday.
Middle East
- HRW – Detainees in a secret Baghdad detention facility were hung upside-down, deprived of air, kicked, whipped, beaten, given electric shocks, and sodomized, Human Rights Watch said. Iraq should thoroughly investigate and prosecute all government and security officials responsible, Human Rights Watch said.
- BBC – Twin suicide bombs have killed at least five people, most of them police officers, at a checkpoint in Baghdad.
- Times – An al-Qaeda front group in Iraq confirmed the killing of its two top leaders but vowed to keep up the fight, despite claims by US and Iraqi officials that the deaths could be a devastating blow to the terror network
- Al Jazeera – A court in Cairo has convicted 26 men of plotting attacks in Egypt and of having ties with the Lebanon-based group Hezbollah. The emergency state security court also sentenced the suspects – of Palestinian, Lebanese, Egyptian and Sudanese origin – to prison terms ranging from six months to life terms.
- ynet – Hamas blames Egypt for blowing up smuggling tunnel on Gaza border Wednesday and using toxic gas, killing four people; witnesses say explosion occurred on Egyptian side of tunnel
- IPS - When Ahmed al-Tayeb, the newly-appointed grand sheikh of Egypt’s prestigious Al-Azhar religious institution, relinquished his membership in President Hosni Mubarak’s ruling National Democratic Party (NDP), it carried significance
- Haaretz – A Hezbollah member of parliament in Lebanon has vowed that the militant Shi’ite group will continue to build its arsenal, media reports said Wednesday. Fadlallah was hitting back at a statement by U.S. Secretary of Defence Robert Gates on Tuesday accusing Iran and Syria of arming Hezbollah with increasingly sophisticated rockets and missiles, which he said undermined stability in the region
- SANA – Iranian Minister of Housing and Urban Development Ali Nikzad expressed Iran’s readiness to exchange scientific and technical expertise with Syria in all fields in the interest of the growing relations between Syria and Iran. He also highlighted the importance of banking cooperation and the speedy establishment of a Syrian-Iranian bank in Syria, which will be an important step for Syrian and Iranian businessmen
- Khaleej Times – Yemeni police arrested dozens of al Qaeda suspects in sweeps a day after a suicide bomber tried to kill Britain’s ambassador to Yemen, security officials said
- Al Bawaba – Yemeni Shi’ite rebels shot dead three pro-government tribesmen, the Interior Ministry stated on Wednesday, in violence that could strain the truce aimed at ending clashes
Iran
- TIME – Iran’s need to find fresh supplies of raw uranium is increasingly urgent, according to some reports. That may be one reason for the bear hug President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad gave Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe last Thursday
- Press TV – Three members of the terrorist group, Party for Free Life in Kurdistan (PJAK), have been killed in clashes with Iranian security forces in northwestern parts of Iran
- Yuriko Koike – Today, more than 6,000 North Koreans work in Iran and neighboring areas of the Middle East. Many are engaged in construction and the apparel business as low-wage workers. But in Iran and Syria, there are also a growing number of specialist workers. Indeed, when Israel attacked a nuclear facility in Syria in September 2007, it was revealed that North Koreans were involved in developing the site in cooperation with the Syria National Technical Research Center.
- ISNA – Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki arrived in Bhutan on Wednesday morning for 16th South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) summit. SAARC officials regard Iran’s presence in the two-day summit very important.
- IRIB – IRI Minister of Communication and Information Technology, Reza Taqipour said Monday that the Islamic Republic of Iran would launch a new satellite into orbit in the current Iranian year
- Asharq Al Awsat – the Iranian government issued a decision banning Sunni Muslims from praying at state universities and military camps, Asharq Al-Awsat has learnt
- GAO – Firms Reported in Open Sources as Having Commercial Activity in Iran’s Oil, Gas, and Petrochemical Sectors (PDF)
Marines from Easy Company, 2nd Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment, patrol through a wheat field during a patrol to a local village from Patrol Base Khodi Rhom in Garmsir District, Helmand province, Afghanistan, April 19. Marines alongside a section of Afghan national army soldiers, man PB Khodi Rhom to patrol and observe an area once known for large amounts of enemy activity. (photo by Lance Cpl. Dwight Henderson)
South Asia
- RFERL – The death of Haji Abdul Rahman, a tribal chieftain in Arghandab district, brings to 13 the number of community leaders and government officials who have been killed by suspected militants in less than two months in the restive Kandahar province
- NATO – Also in Helmand last night, a combined force searched a compound in a rural area north of Marjah after intelligence information indicated insurgent activity. During the search the joint force captured a Taliban leader, believed to be responsible for a local intimidation campaign and ordering attacks on coalition forces. Several other suspected insurgents we also detained. The security force also found more than 90 kg (200 pounds) of heroin
- Daily Times – The Supreme Court on Tuesday cancelled a controversial multi-billion dollar supply deal for liquefied natural gas (LNG), and directed the Petroleum Ministry to identify those responsible for lapses in the process for the award of the contract
- The National – In front of an audience of chanting party loyalists and political enemies alike, Pakistan’s president signed into law a sweeping constitutional amendment last week that returned Pakistan to parliamentary democracy, the fruit of a year of intense negotiations between the country’s divided elected leadership.
- Asia Times – An uneasy truce is in effect between Taliban-led militants and the army in Pakistan’s North Waziristan tribal area. Islamabad continues to resist pressure from the United States to launch an all-out offensive against what Washington sees as al-Qaeda’s command center. Al-Qaeda-linked militants have no desire to keep the status quo, and their capture of a high-level peacekeeping delegation could help the US get what it wants.
- Dawn – Officials say Pakistani security forces have killed seven suspected insurgents in the Orakzai tribal region near Afghanistan. Local official Jahanzeb Khan says security forces used heavy artillery to pound suspected insurgents’ hideouts in Babgram area of lower Orakzai on Wednesday.
- Geo – At least four policemen were killed and another six sustained injuries in suicide blast near Pir Bala police checkpost attack early on Wednesday morning, Geo news reported. According to CCPO Peshawar Liaquat Ali, the attack took place as the miscreants rammed their explosive-laden vehicle into police checkpost, resulting into killing of four policemen and injuring six others
- Khaleej Times – India and Pakistan’s leaders were due to meet Wednesday at a regional summit in Bhutan, but a spy scandal dented already slim hopes that they might find a way back to substantive peace talks.
- Times of India – In a new dimension to the sensational case of an Indian woman diplomat arrested on charge of spying for Pakistan, an Army officer and an external intelligence agency official have come under the scanner of security agencies.
- Hindustan Times – On the occasion of its ninth anniversary on Wednesday, the Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) once again warned of civil war if Telangana was not made a separate state soon.
Far East & Pacific
- B. Raman – Since the beginning of last year, the Chinese Navy, which no longer makes a secret of its aspiration of becoming a Pacific naval power on par with the US, has been adopting a dual strategy. This strategy is marked by an open and increasing assertiveness in the South and East China Seas and by a defensive extension of its capabilities, areas of operation and naval networking into the Indian Ocean and the Gulf areas
- Yonhap – South Korea will engage in prior consultations with China and Russia in referring last month’s deadly warship sinking to the United Nations, a ranking official here said Wednesday, as North Korea increasingly became a suspect in the naval disaster.
- Bangkok Post – Troops fired rubber bullets at supporters of the United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD) and live shots into the air to stop a red-shirt convoy moving to a fresh-food market on Wednesday. A soldier was killed and 18 people wounded in the afternoon clashes between troops and supporters of the UDD, the Erawan Emergency Centre said.
- Phnom Penh Post – Cambodian and Thai military commanders on Tuesday met for the third time in the past week to discuss patrols along the border, pledging not to engage in violence and to pass information regularly, Cambodian officials said
- Manila Times – Two government soldiers were wounded in a clash with al-Qaeda-linked militants in the restive province of Basilan in the southern Philippines, officials said Wednesday.
- Irrawaddy – Shan State Army-North (SSA-N), a Shan ethnic cease-fire group, is likely to split into two factions due to a disagreement over joining the military regime’s border guard force (BGF).
Europe
- Stephen Blank – Ukraine’s deal to extend the Russian navy’s access to Sevastopol while obtaining cut-price Russian gas is an impressive victory for Moscow and a major loss for Kiev, the European Union and potentially the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. The EU is paying for its failure to develop an effective energy policy on Russia and a coherent policy for Europe’s eastern fringes.
- Austria’s Der Standard – Vienna officials say Chechnya’s President Ramzan Kadyrov was the mastermind behind the murder of Umar Israilov in Vienna (in German)
- Russia Today – Russia’s archive agency has published on its website copies of previously top-secret documents that show the massacre of Poles in Katyn was approved at the highest level in the Soviet Union
- CNN – The eurozone faces its toughest crisis to date as the credit downgrade in Greece spooked global investors and raised the specter that the debt crisis may spiral to other European economies
- Spiegel – Far from living in closed-off communities, Muslims in Berlin’s Kreuzberg district live in a culturally diverse area. However, a new report finds that they still suffer from high levels of discrimination, particularly within the city’s school system
Africa
- Press TV – At least 15 people have been killed and 25 others wounded in heavy fighting between al-Shabab fighters and African Union troops in the Somali capital, Mogadishu
- AP – Hundreds of Somali soldiers trained with millions of U.S. tax dollars have deserted because they are not being paid their $100 monthly wage, and some have even joined the al-Qaida-linked militants they are supposed to be fighting,
- MEMRI – Somali Jihad Organization Claims Responsibility for Suicide Attack on ‘Crusader’ Base in Somalia To Avenge Deaths of Al-Qaeda In Iraq Commanders
- Daily Caller – Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter is often lauded by the Arab world for championing the Palestinian cause. However, after stumbling into the world of Sudanese politics, Carter has lost all credibility. Inexplicably, Carter gave his blessing (with perfunctory caveats) to a rigged election that has handed victory to a genocidal war criminal who granted safe haven to Osama bin Laden in the 1990s… Results from Sudan’s electoral commission show that El-Bashir has received an impossible 88 to 94 percent of the popular vote in a country where he was directly responsible hundreds of thousands of deaths. Carter endorsed this and gave his imprimatur to an electoral farce
- Khaleej Times – A joint command headquarters created to coordinate anti-al Qaeda operations in the Sahara desert will triple the troops at its disposal to 75,000 within two years, Algerian state television said on Tuesday.
U.S. Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates, right, escorts Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak through an honor cordon into the Pentagon, April 27, 2010. The two defense leaders were to meet with their senior advisors to discuss a broad range of security issues of importance to both nations. (photo by R. D. Ward)
The Global War
- Defense Update – China inaugurated a new missile assembly plant in Iran last month, Jane’s Defense Weekly reports. According to Robert Hewson, editor of Jane’s Air-Launched Weapons, quoted by UPI, the new production line is producing Iran’s Nasr-1 (Victory 1) medium range anti-ship missile which is actually the Chinese C-704 anti-ship missile
- Pentagon – The Department of the Army released today the 2010 Army Modernization Strategy (AMS). The Army plans to achieve its 2010 modernization goals by developing and fielding new capabilities; continuously modernizing equipment to meet current and future capability needs through procurement of upgraded capabilities, reset, and recapitalization; and meeting continuously evolving force requirements through Army priorities and the Army Force Generation Model.
- US House Armed Services Cmte – The Terrorism, Unconventional Threats and Capabilities Subcommittee will receive testimony on Closing the Gap: Addressing Critical Rotary Wing Shortfalls for U.S. Special Operations Forces in Fiscal Year 2011 and Beyond. Colonel Vincent Reap, testimony, and Garry Reid, testimony.
- Mineweb – How the Iron ore market got to where it is today
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30 March, 2010 (00:54) | Daily Roundup | By: Jeff Kouba
A brief world news roundup for 30 March 2010.
United States & the Americas
- White House – At 10:55 am ET (7:25 pm local), Air Force One touched down under the shroud of nightfall at Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan. President Obama had just made an unannounced 12 hour, 46 minute journey to meet with Afghan President Hamid Karzai. He would take a short flight aboard Marine One to Kabul where the two delegations convened. Following their meetings, the President returned to Bagram Air Base where he spoke to a crowd of U.S. and allied troops
- LA Times - As part of an effort to extend the military’s “warrior culture” to unmanned planes, the Air Force is overhauling how it trains the crews that operate its rapidly growing fleet of Predators, Reapers and other remotely piloted aircraft.
- Hurriyet – Turkey has urged the United States to block a bill branding the World War I killings of Armenians as “genocide,” saying this was “critical” to their relationship, the Foreign Ministry said Monday.
- UPI – The United States and India reached an agreement Monday allowing India to reprocess spent nuclear fuel from the United States for civilian energy purposes.
- Globe and Mail – Veterans and political leaders say they’re dismayed with criticism being levelled at a scholarship for the children of soldiers killed in the line of duty. Sixteen professors at the University of Regina have sent a letter to the school’s president saying the school should withdraw from the program known as Project Hero. The program, created by retired general Rick Hillier, offers free tuition to the children of dead Canadian soldiers. But the professors say the program is “a glorification of Canadian imperialism in Afghanistan and elsewhere.”
- CNN – The value of shares in a British company drilling for oil off the Falkand islands halved Monday, after it revealed the existing supply may not be commercially viable. Desire estimated that the North Falkland Basin could contain 3.5 billion barrels of oil as well as having “significant gas potential.” But potential revenues from oil and gas reignited a long-running dispute between London and Buenos Aires over ownership of the Falklands.
- LAHT – A soldier and two Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, guerrillas were killed in fighting in Huila province, a military spokesman said. One of the guerrillas killed was a commander in charge of field operations and finances for a FARC unit active in the southwestern province
- Columbia Reports – Colombian soldier Josue Daniel Calvo, who was released from FARC custody on Sunday, is reported to have been shot five times during his kidnapping at the hands of the FARC.
Russia, Caucasus & Central Asia
- Moscow Times – At least 38 people were killed and 102 wounded on Monday when suicide bombers detonated explosives filled with bolts and iron rods on two packed Moscow metro trains during the morning rush hour, the worst attack in the Russian capital in six years, officials said. (More photos from both scenes can be found here) No group immediately claimed responsibility for the blasts but suspicion was likely to fall on groups from the North Caucasus, where the Kremlin is fighting a growing Islamist insurgency.
- Kremlin – Transcript of Special Meeting Following Terrorist Attacks in the Moscow Metro
- Kavkaz Center – “Women suicide bombers, who arranged bombings in the Moscow subway, could be relatives of Sayeed Buryatsky, an ideologist of the North Caucasian militants, killed by Russian special services at the beginning of this month”, Nikolay Kovalev, an ex-chief of the Russian terrorist gang of the KGB and now a state duma deputy from the ruling United Russia party, told in an interview to the Russian agency Rosbalt, commenting on the bombings in Moscow subway. According to KGB officer, the fact that one of the explosions occurred on the subway station Lubyanka near the headquarters of the Russian main terrorist organization of the KGB, could be regarded as “an unambiguous response of the militants to the actions of Russian secret services in the North Caucasus”.
- Daily Mail – Police in Moscow were tonight searching for female accomplices of two women suicide bombers who killed at least 37 people and injured 65 by targeting two packed tube trains during the busy rush hour. Analysis of CCTV footage inside the Red Arrow underground trains of the two suicide bombers has revealed they were accompanied by two other women.
- Prague Watchdog – As it moves further and further away from Russia at a spiritual and ideological level, the Caucasus is receding ever deeper into its own social and political agenda. The greater the threat of the Kremlin’s losing the Caucasus, the more of a thorn the Caucasus becomes in the collective side of Russia’s political elite. In other words, the more independence the Caucasus acquires, the more the Kremlin strives to return it to the status of a governable region. It is now clear that the Islamic “fundamentalization” of those areas of the Caucasus (the Nogay districts, southern Dagestan, Kabarda) which had lost their Muslim traditions in Soviet times has become almost irreversible.
- Rosatom – March 29 in the IAEA headquarters in Vienna the agreement was signed to establish a low enriched uranium (LEU) guaranteed reserve in the Russian Federation. The document was signed by SC Rosatom’s director general Sergey Kiriyenko (on behalf of the Russian government) and IAEA director general Yukiya Amano. Besides, Amano and Alexey Lebedev, the director general of the Moscow Representation Office of the International Uranium Enrichment Center (IUEC), signed a contract to supply the first batch of LEU of 120 tons. Rosatom hopes to reserve not less than 40 tons of low enriched uranium (LEU) at the International Uranium Enrichment Center in Angarsk in frames of the building up the guaranteed reserve of LEU by yr end.
- SRI – A dispute between two former Soviet republics in Central Asia has caused a bottleneck in the shipment of some nonmilitary supplies destined for U.S.-led forces in Afghanistan, Tajik officials said. Tajikistan says freight traffic is being blocked from crossing its border with Uzbekistan, holding up many shipments, including the Afghanistan-bound supplies.
- Steve LeVine – Gazprom, the largest natural gas company in the world, is experiencing a moment of truth. And so, by extension, is Russia, which has relied on the behemoth for a large part of its tax revenue, and as a spearpoint of its foreign policy. The main ramifications are a shakeup in security presumptions in Europe and on the Caspian Sea, both of which until recently have seemed to be under Gazprom’s thumb.
Middle East
- Khaleej Times – Six people were killed and 15 wounded when four roadside bombs exploded near the house of a member of an electoral coalition in Iraq’s western Anbar province, police said on Sunday
- Aswat al-Iraq – Casualties from the two car bomb explosions that took place in Karbala on Monday rose to five dead and 64 wounded, a medical source said. “The casualties includes three Iranian pilgrims, a journalist, a photographer and three women,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.
- Al Sumaria – Three people were killed and 20 others were wounded due to a bombing targeting a house under construction owned by Al Qaem region near Syrian borders. When people gathered around the house of Mardi Mohammed Khalif after bombing his house, another blast occurred due to a barrel rigged with explosives, Lieutenant Jihad Al Mahalawi reported. More than 20 were wounded in western Baghdad in an armed attack targeting a crowd of boys. In Baaquba, three guys were killed and four others were wounded in a drive-by shooting in Al Saadiya District.
- Asharq Al Awsat – The Sadrist trend and its leader, Moqtada al-Sadr, who remains in Tehran, are currently being courted by Iyad Allawi’s Iraqiya bloc and Nuri al-Maliki’s State of Law coalition
- ITIC – Hamas Attacks the American Administration for Designating Al-Aqsa TV and the Islamic National Bank, Two Important Hamas Institutions, as Terrorist Entities
- Reuters – Hamas security forces took $400,000 from a bank in the Gaza Strip Monday, in a direct challenge to Palestinian authorities in the West Bank who had frozen the money to comply with money laundering regulations
- IDF – Last week, the Israel Air Force conducted a computerized trial run in order to test the joint operation of anti-missile defense systems. The exercise compared the manner in which missile defense systems work together against missiles launched into Israel, from both the Gaza Strip and other enemy countries
- MEMRI – The Arab summit in Libya ended yesterday, March 28, without resolutions on contentious issues. Many Arab leaders left the summit before the closing session, and Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa read the closing announcements without the accompanying speeches by other leaders that are customary at such summits.
- AKI – Police detained 22 people in several Turkish provinces on Monday for alleged links to Al-Qaeda, daily Hurriyet newspaper reported.The raids uncovered documents allegedly belonging to the terrorist group, as well as one unregistered gun and two shotguns, Hurriyet said. Anti-terror police earlier this year reportedly arrested 140 Al-Qaeda suspects in raids across Turkey, including the terror network’s alleged chief in that country
Iran
- NYT – Six months after the revelation of a secret nuclear enrichment site in Iran, international inspectors and Western intelligence agencies say they suspect that Tehran is preparing to build more sites in defiance of United Nations demands.
- Mehr – The chief of Russia’s state nuclear corporation Rostam announced on Thursday that Iran’s Bushehr nuclear power plant will be started up by autumn
- IRNA – Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mihman-Parast on Monday lambasted the Arab League for statement on Iranian islands of Abu Musa and the Greater and Lesser Tunbs and called the move as blatant violation of Iranian territorial integrity.
- Press TV – An Iranian diplomat has said remarks by Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh that Tehran was interfering in his country’s internal affairs were “unwise.”
- Iranian Diplomacy – It is no more a surprise to see Iran absent in Afghanistan affairs. Nowadays, the Bonn Conference and Iran’s contributions to Afghanistan look more like a fading memory. Iran, which had promised of loans and credit worth five-hundred million dollars for Afghanistan, and tried to serve a key role, more than many other countries, for reconstruction and stabilization of Afghanistan, is now trying to efface that memory, saying it is a wrong path, even for the international community. Iran’s empty seat in the Rome Conference was another step backward for Afghanistan’s influential neighbor.
- Radio Zamaneh – Thirty people were arrested yesterday at the funeral of Mahsoltan Rabani, wife of late dissident cleric Ayatollah Montazeri in Qom. Kalameh website reports that participants were arrested as they returned from the cemetery by security forces which had been deployed in the area since the early hours of the day.
- Press TV – Iran has initiated eight national and international projects to turn the country into the most preferred telecommunication hub in the region
- Fars – Director General of Iran’s Telecommunication Infrastructure Company (TIC) Mohammad Baqer Zohourifar announced the country plans to launch an optical fiber channel and an under-water communications cable in the Persian Gulf
- Asia Times – By all indications, this represents a cultural evolution in contemporary post-revolutionary Iran dominated by the Islamist discourse. Over the past 31 years, in the complex interplay of Iran’s dualistic, part Islamic, part pre-Islamic culture, the government has prioritized the Islamic and, yet, increasingly has discovered the trans-Iran potential of the pre-Islamic, particularly since the collapse of the Soviet Union and the rediscovery of cultural roots connected to Persian culture and language in certain parts of Central Asia and the Caucasus, above all Tajikstan.
- RFERL – From the 14th-century satirical poet Obeyd Zakani to Forugh Farrokhzad, one of Iran’s most famous 20th-century female poets, hundreds of writers, poets, historians, and thinkers are banned or censored.
- Payvand – Photos: The Erosion of Nomads’ Culture in Iran
The view from a C-130 flying from Mazar-e Sharif to Jalalabad, Afghanistan, March 25, 2010. The Torkham Gate is the busiest Afghanistan-Pakistan border crossing.
South Asia
- IRIN – Over a month since pro-government Afghan and foreign forces retook Nad Ali District, including the town of Marjah, in the southern province of Helmand from Taliban insurgents, thousands of the displaced are yet to return to their homes, according to aid agencies
- Army Times – Without Chinooks, there would be no FOBs. Convoys are out of the question. Most of the roads are just ruts — and those that are passable are lined with improvised explosive devices rigged by Taliban fighters. So the work of shuttling soldiers and delivering supplies falls mostly to the helos, aptly described by the soldiers who fly them as part taxi and part pickup truck
- Daily Star – Like farmers the world over Haji Afzal has locked in the price for his crop with a forward contract. Rather than a contract on the Chicago Board of Trade – like an American wheat farmer or a Thai rice grower – Afzal was paid 400,000 Pakistani rupees ($5,000) by a middleman for the world’s biggest drugs cartels
- AFPS – Two military journalists behind an ambitious NATO International Security Assistance Force project to traverse Afghanistan in one month and file daily reports in words, photos and video recapped their experiences in a March 25 “DoD Live” bloggers roundtable. And they pulled no punches in talking candidly with those they met. Raimondi recalled speaking with a sergeant stationed in the south who had witnessed 117 “ramp” ceremonies conducted planeside for fallen soldiers. “It was just crushing, really, knowing that there are people out there that have seen that many ramp ceremonies,” Raimondi noted.
- Pentagon – Lance Cpl. Jacob A. Ross, 19, of Gillette, Wyo., died March 24, while supporting combat operations in Helmand province, Afghanistan. He was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Lejeune, N.C.
- AP – The number of U.S. troops killed in Afghanistan has roughly doubled in the first three months of 2010 compared to the same period last year as Washington has added tens of thousands of additional Soldiers to reverse the Taliban’s momentum
- Dawn – Pakistan is negotiating with the United States to buy 14 additional F-16 fighter planes, Pakistan defence officials said following talks aimed at reversing tempestuous ties between the allies.
- Sify – The F-16IN Super Viper combat jet that is in the running for an Indian Air Force (IAF) order for 126 planes is the ‘most advanced’ ever built and will enable the IAF to seamlessly transit to fifth generation fighters, its manufacturer Lockheed Martin says. ‘The F-16, if selected, will be the most advanced ever built. The only other such aircraft in service is with the UAE Air Force,’ Orville Prins, Lockheed Martin’s vice president (Business Development) for India, told a group of visiting Indian journalists here.
- Geo – Nine militants have been killed during fresh offensive in Orakzai Agency. Two security men sustained injures in the action whereas two militant commanders including Mir Fazal have been arrested. According to sources, forces have launched massive operation in Feroz Khel, Waziri, Mashti, Saramela, Zaramela and other areas in Orakzai Agency
- The News – Four persons were killed when a US pilotless plane fired missiles at two houses in Hurmaz village in the Mir Ali subdivision in North Waziristan late on Saturday, tribal sources said
- Times of India – Armed Maoists blasted two school buildings at a village in Bihar’s Kaimur district, police said. Over 200 ultras raided the Duddha village and confined the villagers within their houses in the wee hours before detonating dynamites at a government school and a church-run educational institution.
Far East & Pacific
- Chosun Ilbo – Government and military officials have reportedly ruled out that an accident or collision with a reef caused the 1,200-ton Navy corvette Cheonan to sink in waters 1.8 km southwest of Baeknyeong Island near the de-facto sea border with North Korea on Friday. They say the explosion that sank the ship was strong enough to rip it in half
- Bangkok Post – North Korea will build a light water nuclear power plant “in the near future“, its official news agency said Monday, also taking a swipe at speculation about the health of leader Kim Jong-Il. The country “will witness the appearance of a light water reactor power plant relying on its own nuclear fuel in the near future in the 2010s”, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said in a lengthy commentary.
- NYT – Four employees of the British-Australian mining giant Rio Tinto, including an Australian citizen, were found guilty Monday of accepting millions of dollars in bribes and stealing commercial secrets. They were given sentences of 7 years to 14 years in prison, and were later dismissed by their employer
- Times – Burma’s opposition chose loyalty to its leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, over participation in the country’s first election for 20 years in a momentous decision that will lead to its dissolution as a legal party
- New Zealand Herald – The Auckland University-based Confucius Institute is banking on a pool of new language assistants to help reach its goal of having 50,000 Kiwis learning Mandarin in schools by next year. The institute, supported by the Chinese Government, was established in 2007 to make Mandarin the foreign language of choice in NZ. Its popularity continues to lag behind others such as French and Japanese.
- news.com.au – Naval commanders have been warned of a rising tide of alcohol-fuelled sex abuse and “sexually aggressive females” at training bases. As the Navy reels from the HMAS Success allegations, the Herald Sun can reveal that 251 complaints of unacceptable behaviour were made to fleet commanders in the last financial year.
- Brahmand – Royal Malaysian Navy Scorpene-type submarine Tunku Abdul Rahman has completed its first sea trials off the Malaysian coast, a media report said. ‘These trials demonstrate that the Royal Malaysian Navy has successfully established the country’s first ever submarine force,’ Pierre Quinchon, head of DCNS’s Submarine division was quoted as saying by Defense World website.
Europe
- Times Online – Saudi Arabia is pouring hundreds of millions of pounds into Islamist groups in the Balkans, some of which spread hatred of the West and recruit fighters for jihad in Afghanistan. According to officials in Macedonia, Islamic fundamentalism threatens to destabilise the Balkans. Strict Wahhabi and Salafi factions funded by Saudi organisations are clashing with traditionally moderate local Muslim communities.
- John Rosenthal – Last month, the European parliament rejected the so-called SWIFT agreement, which would have permitted American terrorism investigators to continue inspecting data on international financial transactions originating from European banks. The key to the defeat of the SWIFT agreement was thus the defection from the EPP mainstream of the German MEPs of Angela Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and its Bavarian sister party, the Christian Social Union (CSU).
- Joachim Starbatty – The European Monetary Union, the basis of the euro, began with a grand illusion. On one side were countries — Austria, Finland, Germany and the Netherlands — whose currencies had persistently appreciated, both within Europe and worldwide; the countries on the other side — Belgium, France, Greece, Italy, Portugal and Spain — had persistently depreciating currencies. Yet the union was devised as a one-size-fits-all structure. As a result, some countries had to use creative accounting to satisfy the fiscal criteria for entry — Greece, it’s long been known, went so far as to falsify its debt and deficit numbers. Germany and other “euro-optimists” hoped that the introduction of a common currency and the global economic competitiveness it spurred would quickly lead to sweeping economic and societal modernization across the union. But the opposite has occurred.
- Ambrose Evans-Pritchard – However you dress it, the Greek package agreed by EU leaders is a capitulation to German-Dutch demands. There will be no European debt union as long as Angela Merkel remains Iron Chancellor of Germany.
- euobserver – The integration of the three million Turkish nationals in Germany has once again emerged as a source of discord between Berlin and Ankara ahead of German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s visit to Turkey today (29 March).
- Khaleej Times – A 15-year-old boy was killed and his mother and sister injured late on Sunday after a bomb exploded outside a building in central Athens, police said. Bomb attacks by militant leftist groups are frequent in Greece and usually target police, public buildings or businesses. Sunday’s explosion was the first in years to kill someone. Police said the victims were Afghan immigrants.
- Ericsson – With a potential customer base of 1.3 billion, telecom operators are now taking steps to further expand and boost China’s communication infrastructure and related services. China Mobile and China Unicom today signed 2G/3G frame agreements with Ericsson. The framework contract is worth USD 1 billion and will be implemented during 2010.
Africa
- Daily Nation – Kenya is “a major base” for rebels battling the Somali Transitional Federal Government, a UN report says. The report also details Kenya’s training of TFG forces — in apparent violation of a UN embargo. It says Kenyans account for about half of all foreigners fighting in Somalia under the banner of al-Shabaab.
- BBC – Hundreds of Somalis have marched through the streets of Mogadishu, protesting against al-Shabab militants. The protesters, mostly women and children and wearing traditional white clothes, chanted slogans denouncing the al-Qaeda-inspired group.
- Shabelle – Heavy conformation between the transitional government troops backing by the African Union troops AMISOM has broken out in parts of the Somali capital Mogadishu, killing one, wounding 5, witnesses told Shabelle radio on Monday.
- Press TV – A senior leader of a Sufi group in Somalia has vowed to rid the country of extremists with Wahhabi tendencies who are threatening to topple the country’s administration
- EU NAVOR – Reports have been received by EU NAVFOR that the MV Iceberg 1 has been hijacked 10 nautical miles off the port of Aden, Yemen, outside the International Recommended Transit Corridor (IRTC). The Iceberg 1 is a Panama Flagged, Roll on Roll Off vessel with deadweight of 4500 tonnes.
- Magharebia – Two Algerian soldiers were killed and five others seriously injured in an attack on an army patrol near Kadiria, west of Bouira, El Watan reported on Friday
- Ennahar – The forces of the National army last night managed to recover large quantities of food that were intended for terrorists activating between Merouana and Batna, following a sweep operation preceded by bombardments of suspected sites.
- HRW – The rebel Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) killed at least 321 civilians and abducted 250 others, including at least 80 children, during a previously unreported four-day rampage in the Makombo area of northeastern Democratic Republic of Congo in December 2009, Human Rights Watch said in a report.
- VOA – A spokesman for the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA ) Justin Labeja said Monday a Human Rights Watch report of the massacre in Congo’s northeastern area of Makombo is, in his words, “fabricated.”
- Al Arabiya – Libyan leader Muammar Ghaddafi, who enraged Abuja after suggesting Nigeria be partitioned between Muslims and Christians, has now proposed the country is carved into “many” ethnic states, a report said Monday
- Daily Independent – Ex-militants of Urhobo extraction, under aegis of Niger Delta Freedom Fighters, have threatened to bomb Utorogu Gas Plant and other oil facilities in Delta Central over what they termed outright marginalisation of Urhobo ex-militants by Delta State Governor, Dr. Emmanuel Uduagahan, and his Deputy, Prof Amos Utuama.
- VOA – Niger’s military rulers have arrested members of the former government for questioning over what they say are subversive activities. The country’s former president remains under house arrest.
Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates, right, welcomes Japanese Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada before they meet for security discussions at the Pentagon, March 29, 2010. Army Lt. Gen. Lloyd Austin, center back, director of the Joint Staff, also participated in the talks. (photo by R. D. Ward)
The Global War
- Russia Today – The Arctic Five foreign ministers are due to meet in Canada soon to discuss the future of the Arctic. The countries have been locked in a tight race to lay claim to the riches believed to lie beneath the Arctic ice.
- MSNBC – U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton criticized Canada Monday for not inviting all those with legitimate interests in the Arctic to a meeting about the region.
- EUCOM - A chilly wind rolls over the hilltops and through a forward operating base here. Soldiers from the 2nd Stryker Cavalry Regiment start the engines of their armored vehicles and put on their Kevlar helmets, body armor and eye protection to prepare for the long day ahead. The 2nd SCR spent the month of March completing a Mission Rehearsal Exercise to prepare for its deployment to Afghanistan this summer. Approximately 3,5oo Stryker soldiers trained in many different fields of expertise — including basic soldier skills, field medical tasks and maintaining and operating unmanned aerial vehicles — to prepare for their deployment.
- UK MoD – Nearly a thousand Airborne troops have been training in Kenya in preparation for their deployment to Afghanistan later this year.
- US Navy – With the traditional first order “man our ship and bring her to life,” Sailors assigned to USS New Mexico (SSN 779) boarded the Virginia-class attack submarine during a commissioning ceremony at Naval Station Norfolk March 27
- Tony Badran – Last week, the Senate’s Foreign Relations Committee held a hearing on the nomination of Robert Ford as the new ambassador to Syria. While Ford’s confirmation still awaits a full Senate hearing, which has yet to be scheduled, the nominee’s statements painted a problematic picture of what the Obama administration’s Syria policy is premised on. Despite repetition by administration officials that they are “under no illusions” when approaching Syria, comments made at the hearing betrayed a line of thinking focused on what the administration believes Syria’s “real interests” to be, rather than what Syria sees them to be. This was evident in the discussion of Syria’s relationship with Iran and Iraq.
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2 December, 2009 (01:19) | Daily Roundup | By: Jeff Kouba
A brief world news roundup for 2 December 2009.
United States & the Americas
- VOA – In a few hours, President Barack Obama unveils a new U.S. plan for winning the eight-year war in Afghanistan. The president is expected to announce a substantial troop increase, while also mapping out a path to bring America’s military involvement in Afghanistan to an end
- Washington Post – President Obama has offered Pakistan an expanded strategic partnership, including additional military and economic cooperation, while warning with unusual bluntness that its use of insurgent groups to pursue policy goals “cannot continue.”
- Washington Times – The United States is about to lose a key arms-control tool from the closing days of the Cold War — the right to station American observers in Russia to count the long-range missiles leaving its assembly line. The end of full-time, on-site access will likely ignite complaints in Congress
- CSM – The Supreme Court Monday threw out a federal appeals court ruling requiring the release of photos that allegedly show abuse of US-held detainees in Iraq and Afghanistan. The court cited a new law that allows the Defense Secretary to withhold such photos
- National Post – NATO confirmed Tuesday that Canada’s area of operations in south Afghanistan will expand slightly to include a northern suburb of Kandahar City known as Arghandab.
- RFERL – Russia is building arms plants in Venezuela to produce AK-103 automatic rifles and cartridges and is finalizing contracts to send 53 military helicopters to the Andean nation, Moscow’s envoy to Venezuela said.
- NPR – The discovery of several massive oil fields in Brazil has put a spotlight on a company little known outside petroleum circles: state-owned Petrobras, which is now gearing up to pump as much oil as it can. Brazil hopes to be a major oil player once these fields are in full production
Russia, Caucasus & Central Asia
- Russia Today – The Russian lower house of parliament is discussing a draft law that may bring about considerable structural changes to the country’s court system. Defendants charged with terrorist offences may be tried by the Russian military criminal justice system due to the ineffectiveness of regional courts
- RIA Novosti – Russia’s Black Sea Fleet has terminated counterintelligence operations in Ukraine’s Crimea and is sending all ‘special service’ officers to other posts, a Russian intelligence source said on Tuesday.
- RIA Novosti – The Russian Armed Forces will conduct large-scale Vostok military exercises in Siberia and the country’s Far East in 2010, the Defense Ministry said on Tuesday
- Itar Tass – The Neustrashimy patrol ship of the Russian Baltic Fleet has started to practice in the Atlantic Ocean, a source at the fleet headquarters told Itar-Tass on Tuesday. “Warships of the Baltic Fleet, among them the Neustrashimy, will be on oceanic missions until the end of this year and in 2010,” he said.
- Kremlin – Prime Minister of India Manmohan Singh will make an official visit to Russia on December 6-8, 2009
- Caucasian Knot – Sunday. in Makhachkala, in the Shamil Avenue, unidentified persons shelled the car with Abrek Gadzhiev, head of the Magaramkent District of Dagestan. Mr Gadzhiev later died from his wounds in hospital
- EurasiaNet – For more than a decade Tajikistan and Uzbekistan have had a rocky relationship. But now, following an announcement by Tashkent that it is withdrawing from the Central Asian electricity grid, bilateral ties may take a dangerous nosedive
- Stephen Blank – Although they do not get a lot of attention abroad, water issues are truly vital in Central Asia. Since those states who have water do not have oil and gas and vice versa, a fundamental economic-political asymmetry exists between them. This has led to many continuing instances of disputes, rivalries, and clashes among them. However, as the quality of China’s water becomes an issue and given the geography of rivers in Central Asia (including Russia and China), China’s waste policies, which have hitherto been for the most part unilateral ones committed to development and heedless of other parties’ interests, have become an increasingly important issue in interstate relations
Middle East
- Air Force – Iraqi and coalition efforts had combined to sustain the stability in Iraq set new records in November with zero airstrikes, zero weapons releases and zero shows of force. The last time aircrews had a clean streak was in June; however, June also had 16 reports of troops in contact, but in November there were only five.
- AFPS – Iraqi police arrested 11 suspected members of the al-Qaida in Iraq terrorist group during two joint security operations in northern Iraq.
- Voices of Iraq – Security forces seized a weapons cache in a farm south of Kut city, Wassit province, and arrested a suicide bomber north of Hilla city, Babel province. “The cache embraced light and medium arms,” the Iraqi Interior Ministry said in a release on Tuesday received by Aswat al-Iraq news agency. It said that the cache was found relying on an intelligence tip-off
Daily Star – Britain is willing to step-up contact with Hizbullah as they begin to play a bigger role in Lebanon’s government, Foreign Secretary David Miliband told The Daily Star in an exclusive interview.Miliband told the paper this week he believed “carefully considered contact with Hizbullah’s politicians, including its MPs, will best advance our objective of the group rejecting violence to play a constructive role in Lebanese politics.”
- Al Manar – Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah announced on Monday the Resistance party’s new political document that was approved during the party’s General Conference that lasted for months.
- NOW Lebanon – March 14 General Secretariat Coordinator Fares Soueid told LBCI television on Tuesday that the existence of Hezbollah’s arsenal in an independent Lebanese state, as discussed in Hezbollah’s political platform, is “impossible.”
- David Schenker – Syria and Turkey: Walking Arm in Arm Down the Same Road?
- Hurriyet – An Iranian woman, the leader of an atheist sect who has been held in custody in Turkey for the past month, is seeking asylum. Iran would execute her if she returned, she says
- Press TV – Houthi fighters in Yemen say Saudi warplanes have pounded residential areas north of the country, killing several women and children
- Saba – A source at the Interior ministry has said that al-Qaeda was behind kidnapping and murdering a detective in Mareb province, 130 km from Sana’a. Al-Qaeda members brought around Major Bassam Suleiman Torboush, head of Investigation at the Criminal Investigative Department in the province and seized him on Monday. They took him to an unidentified location, tortured him and then slew him in a terrible way
Iran
- Payvand – “A 250 bar (atmospheric) pressure test has been successfully carried out at the Bushehr nuclear plant,” Atomic Energy Organization of Iran Director Mohammad Ali Salehi said at a press conference with visiting Russian Energy Minister Sergei Shmatko in Tehran
- Fars – Iran is due to boost the quality of centrifuge machines at its first enrichment facility in the central city of Natanz, Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) Undersecretary for Foreign Policy Affairs Ali Baqeri announced on Tuesday.
- Mehr – Iran has “serious grievances” with Russia and China for voting in favor of the IAEA Board of Governors’ resolution against Iran; however, Iran said its strategic relationship with China and Russia will not change.
- Press TV – Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) has confirmed that it has detained several British nationals in the Persian Gulf waters
- Xinhua – Iran’s Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said Tuesday that the presence of Iran in Latin America means a serious defeat for Israel’s foreign diplomacy, the state-run IRNA news agency reported
- IRIB – Iranian and Ecuadorian industry ministers reviewed ways to develop industrial cooperation. Minister of Industries and Mines Ali-Akbar Mehrabian held talks with his visiting Ecuadorian counterpart Cavier Abad on late Sunday, accoridng to IRNA
- BBC – The doctor who died at an Iranian detention centre holding opposition supporters was poisoned, the Iranian authorities have said. But it was still not known if Dr Ramin Pourandarjani committed suicide or was murdered, an Iranian prosecutor said.
An Afghan woman and a young boy cross an open wash near the village of Bahrabad, Afghanistan, Dec. 1. The Provincial Reconstruction Team-Kunar medical staff surveyed the local clinic to see if any assistance was needed (photo by Tech. Sgt. Brian Boisvert)
South Asia
- AFP – France will not deploy extra combat troops to Afghanistan but may send more military trainers for Afghan forces, President Nicolas Sarkozy’s special envoy to the region said Tuesday.
- Al Jazeera – A suicide bomber has killed a provincial politician as he received guests at his home in Pakistan’s northwest Swat valley. A man with explosives strapped to his body walked unchallenged into the grounds of the house of Shamsher Ali Khan, a provincial assembly member, and blew himself up
- Dawn – At least four suspected militants have been killed and six others injured during clashes with security forces in different parts of Khyber Agency on Tuesday. According to official sources, security forces destroyed four houses belonging to militant commanders.
- Geo – As many as 15,577 Cash Cards have been issued to displaced families of Wazirsitan, said an ISPR statement here on Tuesday. The operation Rah-e-Nijat in South Waziristan Agency continued today. On Jandola Sector, during last 24 hours, security forces cleared Dunai Killi, remaining portion of Janata and recovered huge cache of arms and ammunition. Security forces conducted patrolling in areas around Bxu, Bakka Khel, Rucha, Bapsa, Sagai and Talib Khel. On Shakai Sector, security forces carried out consolidation of their positions at Asman Manza, Mola Khan Sarai and Kundi Ghar Sar. On Razmak Sector, terrorists fired seven rockets at Lakki Ghund, five rockets at Mana Camp and four rockets at Ladha Bridge near Makeen which was responded effectively. Security forces cleared 30 compounds at Kam Narakai and 72 compounds at Mir Khoni and recovered cache of arms. About operation Rah-e-Rast in Swat and Malakand, security forces carried out search operation in area Gulibagh, Tiligram and apprehended 5 suspects. A destroyed bridge by the terrorists constructed by Army Engineers has been opened for all kinds of traffic. On a tip off, security forces raided at Sarga Moray near Batkhela, and apprehended 5 terrorists.
- The News – Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) denied that the two men arrested in Chicago on terrorism charges were among its members
- Times of India – With reports suggesting China was building over two dozen new airstrips along the Line of Actual Control, Pallam Raju said there was no need to be worried as India was adequately strengthening itself
Far East & Pacific
- CBS – Philippine prosecutors charged the heir of a powerful clan with murder Tuesday in the massacre of 57 people, more than half of them journalists or their staff who were accompanying the family and supporters of an election candidate.
- Stars and Stripes – SASEBO NAVAL BASE, Japan — A visit here Monday by a Chinese defense ministry delegation put the communist country’s top military officials unusually close to the U.S. Navy and its advanced Aegis weapons system technology.
- Kyodo News – North Korea has redenominated its currency, the won, for the first time in 17 years, with the exchange rate between the old and new bills at 100 to 1, diplomatic sources and news reports said Tuesday.
- Washington Post – Chaos reportedly erupted in North Korea on Tuesday after the government of Kim Jong Il revalued the country’s currency, sharply restricting the amount of old bills that could be traded for new and wiping out personal savings
- Chosun Ilbo – It looks as though North Korea’s hereditary dynasty is firmly in place after all. Kim Jong-un (26), the third son of North Korean leader Kim Jong-il and heir apparent to the throne, is said to be working at the powerful National Defense Commission and deeply involved in major policy decisions.
- news.com.au – Australia’s most notorious terrorist Willie Brigitte will be free from jail next year, having served less than half his sentence for conspiring to blow up the nation’s only nuclear reactor and the power grid. Caribbean-born Muslim convert Brigitte made headlines in 2007 when he was sentenced in France, following his arrest in Sydney, to a maximum nine years in jail for joining an al-Qaeda-backed Pakistani terror cell out to bomb Lucas Heights nuclear plant, the national electricity grid and/or a military base
Europe
- Prague Monitor – The government approved a medium-term concept of the Czech military missions abroad until 2013, submitted by the defence and foreign ministers, Martin Barták and Jan Kohout.
- euobserver – The European Union is celebrating the entry into force of a new set of rules today (1 December), hoping to put a full-stop behind the years of wrangling, set-backs and lowered ambitions that have marked this lengthy phase of institution building. The Lisbon Treaty, named after the Portuguese capital where it was signed in 2007, is coming into place a full eight years after member states decided that the European Union needed both to address its democratic legitimacy – sometimes described as its democratic deficit – and allow for more flexible decision-making.
- AP – Italy is considering taking in other prisoners from Guantanamo to help President Barack Obama close down the prison, the country’s foreign minister said Tuesday, a day after Italy accepted two former detainees
- BBC – Libya has sentenced two Swiss businessmen to 16 months in jail amid a row over the arrest last year of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi’s son in Geneva.
- UPI – The United Kingdom contracted gas purchases from the Russian-backed Nord Stream pipeline to meet more than 4 percent of its demand by 2012, officials said.
Africa
- Shabelle – the two warring sides of the Islamists and TFG have claimed victory over heavy fighting that started early on Tuesday morning at parts of Warshadaha Street in the Somali capital Mogadishu, officials told Shabelle radio.
- The Australian – Somalian kidnappers fired shots at Australian photographer Nigel Brennan and his Canadian companion, Amanda Lindhout, during the night-time exchange which secured their freedom. John Chase, a British-based hostage negotiator for AKE group, employed by the families to secure the release last week of the two journalists, said the pair were initially treated well until a failed escape attempt in January.
- Al Arabiya – Kidnapping has become a lucrative business for al-Qaeda’s north African branch, experts said Tuesday after a French national and three Spaniards were abducted in the Sahel within days of each other
- Sudan Tribune – The Halayeb triangle region on Sudan’s borders with Egypt will be included in the upcoming elections despite its status as a disputed area, the Sudanese electoral commission said.
- Global Dashboard – The UN is pessimistic about the situation in Guinea. In Tambacounda last night, in the south-eastern wastes of Senegal, I met a World Food Programme employee from Dakar. Like everyone else in this one-horse town, he was on his way somewhere else, in this case to Kedougou, near the border with Guinea. He is going to investigate whether there are sufficient telecoms and internet facilities there, in case war breaks out in Guinea and a flood of refugees pours into Senegal. Similar preparations are taking place in Guinea-Bissau, Mali, Sierra Leone and Liberia
- BBC – Rwanda is to be declared free of landmines – the first country to achieve this status. The announcement is to be made at the Cartagena Summit on a Mine-Free World in Columbia.
- AFRICOM – The multinational Eastern Africa Standby Force (EASF) Field Training Exercise began November 29, 2009 with an opening ceremony in Djibouti. The historical exercise brought approximately 1,500 troops, police and civilian staff together from 10 Eastern African countries working side-by-side for the first time.
Defense Secretary Gates escorts Serbian Defense Minister Dragan Sutanovac through an honor cordon into the Pentagon, Dec. 1, 2009. The two defense leaders will hold bilateral security discussions on a broad range of issues. (photo by R. D. Ward)
The Global War
- Daily Pioneer – A year after the fidayeen attacks on multiple targets in Mumbai, we are still trying to put faces to the names of those who masterminded the diabolical plot. That’s a difficult task: Terrorists morph into various persona and switch identities, all the while spinning a web to mislead police
- Bloomberg – Yukiya Amano, a disarmament negotiator for the only nation attacked with nuclear weapons, faces immediate tests from a defiant Iran and provocative North Korea as he takes over the International Atomic Energy Agency today from Nobel laureate Mohamed ElBaradei.
- TIME – While it is impossible, given their diversity, to paint one picture of women living under Islam today, it is clear that the religion has been used in most Muslim countries not to liberate but to entrench inequality. The Taliban, with its fanatical subjugation of the female sex, occupies an extreme, but it nevertheless belongs on a continuum that includes, not so far down the line, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Pakistan and the relatively moderate states of Egypt and Jordan.
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30 October, 2009 (00:49) | Daily Roundup | By: Jeff Kouba
A brief world news roundup for 30 October 2009.
United States & the Americas
- White House – Remarks by the President at the Signing of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2010
- CBS – U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said Thursday that Pakistan squandered opportunities over the years to kill or capture leaders of the al Qaeda terrorist network responsible for the Sept. 11 attacks
- Xinhua – India is planning to send an intelligence team to interrogate a U.S. citizen arrested by the FBI for allegedly plotting Mumbai-style attacks across cities in India, highly placed government sources said Thursday.
- canada.com – The fugitive son of an imam shot dead by U.S. federal agents Wednesday was arrested Thursday in downtown Windsor and in the custody Canadian border authorities, the FBI said in a statement.
- Russia Today – The first official visit of Ecuadorian President Raphael Correa on Thursday to Moscow ended with the signing of a contract on selling Russian transport helicopters worth $22 million to Ecuador.
- ISN – Poised to become a hub for the Latin American diamond market, Panama may also become a funnel for smuggling illegal diamonds abroad, writes Samuel Logan for ISN Security Watch
- LAHT – Brazil and Venezuela will sign “definitive” accords this week for a joint refinery in the northeastern Brazilian state of Pernambuco
- Prensa Latina – Colombian government sources confirmed on Thursday that a polemic military agreement between Bogota and Washington could be signed on Friday
- Columbia Reports – Venezuela claims to have documents proving that Colombia intelligence agency planned to commit espionage within its borders. Venezuelan Minister for the Interior Tareck El Aissami told the Venezuelan Congress that intelligence had uncovered evidence of “a spying operation against our country and others in the region,” Caracol Radio reported Thursday.
- Douglas Farah – On Tuesday I testified before three Subcommittees of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs on the issue of Iran’s involvement in Latin America. My oral testimony is a bit more detailed on Iranian banks in Ecuador, which I am including here.
Russia, Caucasus & Central Asia
- RIA Novosti – The visit to Russia by British Foreign Secretary David Miliband due later this week could foster better ties between Moscow and London, the Russian Foreign Ministry said on Thursday
- RIA Novosti – The leaders of Russia and Ecuador signed on Thursday in Moscow a declaration on strategic partnership in politics, security, environmental protection, education, science, culture and tourism. Rafael Correa, who is the first Ecuadorian leader ever to visit Russia, arrived in Moscow on a three-day visit on Wednesday to discuss energy, oil and defense cooperation.
- Russia MoD – In the North Caucasian Military District, in mountain range “Daryal” in North Ossetia-Alania, mountain practices are studied by 60 students of senior courses of the Far Eastern Higher Military Command School (Military Institute) named after Marshal of the Soviet Union Rokossovsky.
- Nosint – Russia’s Dmitry Donskoy strategic nuclear-powered submarine returned on Wednesday from a short sea test run to prepare for upcoming test launches of the troubled Bulava missile.
- Civil Georgia – A group of representatives of foreign diplomatic missions in Georgia and media visited villages located in Pankisi gorge on October 29 to, as organizers said, ascertain that Russia’s allegations in respect of the gorge were groundless.
- Itar Tass – The deputy prosecutor of Makhachkala’s Kirovsky district, Nazim Murtuzaliyev, was killed Thursday evening.
- EurasiaNet – Kazakhstan’s port city of Aktau on the Caspian Sea has had some ups and downs in its short history. Founded just half a century ago, it thrived as a center of the Soviet uranium and chemical industries but then plunged into decline amid the economic chaos that accompanied the collapse of Communism. The last decade has seen Aktau reinvent itself as an oil town, and it now figures prominently in President Nursultan Nazarbayev’s ambitious development strategy.
- Reuters – A subsidiary of China’s Sinopec will sign a deal this week to build a new processing facility at Kazakhstan’s Atyrau oil refinery, Kazakh state energy firm KazMunaiGas said. “Investment in the project will total $1.04 billion”
- Creelea Henderson – There are a number of compelling reasons why Russia might want to push ahead with the deal, but whether those reasons are compelling enough to overcome several stubborn obstacles, remains to be seen. The reasons why a supply contract with China may be attractive are fairly obvious. China is famously cash rich at a moment in history when Russia is cash poor.
Middle East
- Al Sumaria – Three civilians were killed and five others were wounded including a soldier in a bomb explosion targeting an army patrol in Mosul. Six civilians and a policeman guarding a cereal windmill were wounded in a roadside bomb explosion in Kazimiya, police said. A bomb planted in a minibus neat Al Hamza Square in Sadr City killed three women and wounded four people
- Voices of Iraq – Gunmen assassinated the chief of the sahwa (awakening) tribal forces in Umm al-Nakhl area, north of the city of Baaquba, on Wednesday, an official security source in Diala said.
- Press TV – Iraq has arrested some 60 security forces over the weekend twin bombings which targeted government buildings in Baghdad, killing up to 153 people
- MEMRI – The Kurdish Iraqi jihad group Ansar Al-Islam has issued a statement commemorating Baitullah Mehsud, the commander of the Pakistani Taliban who was killed in an airstrike in August 2009
- Loghman Amendi – Our Peshmerga Forces Intelligence Agency “EMNIET” revealed that Iran’s Intelligence Agency “Itlaat” has been training 50 spies in the Kurdish city of Diwandere.
- Daily Star – A Lebanese Hizbullah operative on trial in Egypt for allegedly plotting attacks in the country on Wednesday accused his interrogators of “brutal torture” that has left him deaf in one ear.Mohammad Mansur, on trial with 25 other defendants, toldAFPduring a break in a court session that he and all the others had been “brutally tortured,” saying his health was failing
- Al Manar – Once again, Maronite Patriarch Nasrallah Sfeir reiterated his refusal to the “principle” of “combining” majority and minority in one cabinet and claimed that Hezbollah serves Iranian interests more than Lebanese ones.
- Jerusalem Post – UNIFIL – the UN’s 13,000-strong peacekeeper force in southern Lebanon – is doing a good job of preventing Hizbullah from operating out in open areas, but dares not enter the hundreds of villages which dot the area, and which have become the central bases of operation for the Shi’ite terrorist group, an army source said
- NOW Lebanon – NOW’s correspondent reported on Thursday that UNIFIL’s Spanish contingent established a permanent observation post at the entrance of Odeissy village along the Israeli-Lebanese border.
- Al Arabiya – Yemen has arrested six Somalis, one suspected of having links with al-Qaeda, the interior ministry announced on Thursday. The arrests took place in Mokha, in the Red Sea province of Taez, a couple hundred kilometers (miles) from the Somali coast
- Saba – Three rebels have been killed and 18 others arrested in Saada city, including the terrorist Murad Hussein Dea’a. A rebel also was killed and two others seriously wounded when they were to hunt the troops by a sniper
Iran
- IAEA – IAEA Director General Mohamed ElBaradei has received an initial response from the Iranian authorities to his proposal to use Iran´s low-enriched uranium for manufacturing fuel for the continued operation of the Tehran Research Reactor, which is devoted mainly to producing radioisotopes for medical purposes.
- Press TV – The brother of Jundallah leader Abdolmalek Rigi has revealed that a go-between put the terrorist group in connect with the US administration. In a recent interview with Press TV, Abdulhamid Rigi, who is in Iran’s custody, claimed that the man acting as a go-between for Jundullah and the US government is named Amanollh-Khan Rigi
- Fars – Iran’s Defense Minister Brigadier General Ahmad Vahidi said Iran is ready to solve the ongoing crisis in Yemen. The Defense Minister strongly rejected any interference by Iran in Yemen’s internal affairs, as well as reports about Iran’s support for Shiite fighters in the country.
- ISNA – An Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman criticized the UAE for not extending residence of a number of Iranian nationals who have lived in the UAE for a long time.
- Uskowi on Iran – Iran War Art Part I
- Payvand – Photos: Families of Political Prisoners Rally in Tehran
An Afghan child stands with one of his family's cows during a veterinary medical outreach inside the Baraki Barak District Center Oct. 25, 2009. Nearly 500 farm animals from the district were treated by local veterinarians. (photo by 1st Lt. Rock Stevens)
South Asia
- VOA – Afghan election officials say they plan to increase the number of voting stations for next week’s presidential runoff election, despite concerns that could lead to more fraud than in the first vote.
- Dawn – Pakistani forces found a passport of a militant linked to two hijackers involved in the Sept. 11 attacks during an offensive against Taliban strongholds near the Afghan border, DawnNews reported on Thursday. The passport of Said Bahaji, a German of Moroccan origin, was among documents, weapons and militant literature seized by the government forces during their operation in South Waziristan and was shown to a group of journalists during an official trip.
- The News – Security forces were only a few kilometres from Srarogha, the stronghold of the Hakimullah Mehsud-led militants, on the 12th day of the operation Rah-e-Nijat in South Waziristan Agency
- Geo – At least seven militants were killed and five injured during ongoing military operation against Taliban in South Waziristan Agency (SWA) on right after Thursday morning, Geo news reported ISPR sources as saying. According to sources, reports regarding deadly clashes between security forces and militants reached here early on morning in parts of SWA including Sherongi, Laddha Road, Momi Karam, Kot Kai and Sararogha areas,
- Intellibriefs – Ilyas Kashmiri and Brigade 313: Some Myth Busters
- Times of India – Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Thursday denied Islamabad’s allegations that India was backing the insurgency in Balochistan and the Taliban to destabilise Pakistan
- BBC – A Maoist militia in India’s West Bengal state have killed two ruling Marxist party supporters, police say. Activists of the Kanu-Siddhu Militia (formerly the People’s Committee Against Police Atrocities or PCPA) also abducted three Marxists, police said.
- Greater Kashmir – Defence Minister A K Antony rejected his cabinet colleague Mamata Banerjee’s demand for deployment of army in Maoist-affected areas of West Bengal, saying use of armed forces for internal security was the “last resort”.
Far East & Pacific
- Yonhap – South Korea’s defense minister on Thursday challenged the assumption that his country’s troops will only play a “non-combat” role if they are deployed to Afghanistan, where the U.S. is fighting insurgents.
- BBC – A South Korean university lecturer has been charged with espionage after allegedly passing military information to the North. The man, identified only by his surname Lee, is said to have been recruited by the North while studying in India.
- NYT – Chinese President Hu Jintao has invited the North Korean leader Kim Jong-il for a visit as Pyongyang has reached out to its foes and signalled it could return to dormant nuclear talks hosted by Beijing.
- The Australian – So how did this group, along with two others, Saney Aweys and Abdirahman Ahmed – best described as a motley crew of individuals from different backgrounds and life experiences – end up being charged with conspiring to plan a terrorist attack on the Holsworthy army base in Sydney?
- Jakarta Post – Rising rice prices and possible shortages in the world’s poorest countries will hinge on what major growers India, China and Thailand do to make up for millions of tons of the staple lost to floods
- Chatham House – China’s response to the global financial crisis has led to limited geographical rebalancing in China’s growth towards its western regions
- Irrawaddy – Leaders of the United Wa State Army (UWSA) have told Burmese government negotiators that regime troops must withdraw from Wa territory before discussions can proceed about the formation of a border guard force. A similar stand was taken in separate talks between government negotiators and the National Democratic Alliance Army-Eastern Shan State, also known as the Mongla militia.
- US Navy – USS Blue Ridge (LCC 19) arrived in Singapore Oct. 29 for a scheduled port visit as part of the ship’s fall 2009 deployment. Blue Ridge serves under Commander, Expeditionary Strike Group 7/Task Force 76, the Navy’s only forward-deployed amphibious force. Blue Ridge is the flagship for Commander, 7th Fleet.
Europe
- UK FCO – David Miliband expressed deep concern following reports that Hossein Rassam has been sentenced to four years in prison following his arrest in June.
- AKI - Italy’s deployment of troops in Afghanistan is not a “short-term” commitment and a successful military mission in the war-torn country can only be achieved in the longer term, Italy’s defence minister Ignazio La Russa said on Thursday.
- DID – Germany has just added itself to the list of countries leasing UAV services for the Afghan conflict, by signing a contract with Rheinmetall Defense and their partners at Israel Aerospace Industries to provide an unspecified number of Heron UAVs
- RFERL – Russia enjoys dabbling in the domestic politics of its neighboring countries, publicly supporting its favorite politicians and demonstrating its contempt for those whom it dislikes. But it rarely — at least among its European neighbors — gets the result it is seeking. The most recent example is Moldova
- Hurriyet – Turkey’s procurement office has effectively blacklisted European missile manufacturer MBDA over an international legal dispute about a now-defunct deal for nearly 19,000 Eryx anti-tank missiles worth 404 million euros.
- Kathimerini – Six policemen, two of whom remain in serious condition, were being treated in the hospital in Athens after gunmen fired almost 100 rounds at a police station in one of the city’s northeastern suburbs late on Tuesday night.
- IslamOnline – Forty-five weekly schools that teach the Arabic language are gaining popularity among Ukrainian intellectuals and are helping introducing them to Islam and its civilization
- EUCOM – Members of the 52nd Fighter Wing deployed to Campia Turzii, Romania, recently donated their time and money to help renovate a children’s community center dedicated to helping local children with their academic studies
Africa
- Shabelle – at least 6 people have been killed and 15 others have been wounded in Galka’o town after bitter fighting between forces loyal to Puntland and businessmen in the north of the town, witnesses told Shabelle radio on Thursday.
- Air Force Times – What started out as “taxi duty” to pick up a U.S. military liaison in the Darfur region was now stretching into a five-hour confrontation between the Americans and the Sudanese. The soldiers were convinced the airmen were at the airfield to collect evidence of war crimes, not fly a husband back to his pregnant wife. The classified Air Force mission nearly cost the 11 airmen and six Guam National Guardsmen their lives and could have launched the U.S. into another armed conflict if they hadn’t kept their cool.
- Dipnote – The below blog details my trip to northeastern Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda to explore the international community’s effort to find a lasting solution to the crisis caused by the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA).
- This Day – National President, Association of Nigerian Traders (NANTS), Mr. Ken Ukaoha, yesterday in Abuja, said Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) from China to Nigeria has doubled from $3 billion in 2003, to $6billion
- Reuters – The African Union said on Thursday it was imposing immediate sanctions against the leaders of Guinea’s ruling military junta, which took power in a coup last December after the death of veteran leader Lansana Conte.
Marines, sailors, airmen, soldiers and West Point cadets unfurl an outfield-sized American Flag across Yankee Stadium prior to the first game of the World Series, Oct 28, New York. The ceremony honored military veterans. (photo by Sgt. Randall Clinton)
The Global War
- GAO – Challenges Confronting DOD’s Ability to Coordinate and Oversee Its Counter-Improvised Explosive Devices Efforts
- Israel MFA – Israel and France hold second round of talks on strategic issues in Paris. Subjects discussed included the bilateral relations of the two countries, the EU-Israel relationship and international issues.
- Spiegel – Muslims should make peace with Germany, argues former hate preacher Mohammed El Fazazi, the man who once provided religious instruction to the men behind the 9/11 terror attacks. SPIEGEL ONLINE has published an abridged version of his open letter to Muslims.
- AKI – The trial of five Muslim terrorism suspects has began in the northern Italian city of Bologna. The suspects were arrested in 2007 by Italian anti-terrorism police in the cities of Ravenna and Imola in the Emilia-Romagna region. They have been charged with subversion aimed at committing acts of international terrorism and fraud. An unnamed sixth suspect who is on the run is being tried in absentia.
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7 August, 2009 (00:48) | Daily Roundup | By: Jeff Kouba
A brief world news roundup for 7 August 2009.
United States & the Americas
- FBI – A New Jersey accountant pleaded guilty today to laundering portions of more than $300,000 stolen from the Coalition Provisional Authority in the Republic of Iraq and brought back to the United States by his wife, a former U.S. Army lieutenant colonel.
- Treasury Dept – The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) and the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) today announced a $9.4 million settlement with DPWN Holdings (USA) Inc., formerly known as DHL Holdings (USA) Inc and DHL Express (USA) Inc. – collectively DHL – concerning shipments to Iran, Sudan and Syria and failures to meet recordkeeping requirements.
- France24 – Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has fiercely criticised US plans to send troops to Colombia to help fight drug trafficking, but his outrage may be an attempt to divert attention from controversial anti-democratic measures at home.
Russia, Caucasus & Central Asia
- RIA Novosti – The prime ministers of Russia and Turkey signed an agreement Thursday on the two countries’ nuclear cooperation and Russian firms’ participation in the construction of Turkey’s first nuclear power plant.
- Kavkaz Center – Vilayat Dagestan Sources of “Jamaat Sharia” in the headquarters of Hasav-urt sector of the Dagestan Front report: “On Shaaban 15, 1430 (06.08.2009) at about 17.30 local time, two groups of Mujahideen of the Dagestan Front simultaneously carried out two special operations. In the first special operation, a black “BMW” car belonging to a murtad lieutenant from puppet “Chechen police” was attacked near “Bashir” trade center. The car with bullet holes drove away at high speed towards Chechnya. There is no information about casualties of collaborators.
- SRI – The joint acquisition of the upstream assets of MangistauMunaiGas, a Kazakhstan-focused oil company, by Chinese and Kazakh state oil firms has been delayed due to unidentified unresolved issues.
- EurasiaNet – The expected departure of the American and Russian envoys to talks over the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh territory is diminishing Azerbaijani expectations about a potential breakthrough in the peace process.
Middle East
- Asharq Al Awsat – Eleven people, including a woman, died in violence across Iraq on Wednesday as officials said a teenage girl has been jailed for trying to copy her father and brother and be a suicide bomber.
- AFPS – Iraqi police from the Basra special weapons and tactics team, along with U.S. advisors, arrested a suspected terrorist commander yesterday in an Iraqi-led operation in southern Iraq, military officials reported.
- Haaretz – The Pentagon has learned of intensive Israel Defense Forces preparations for a pointed attack against Hezbollah strongholds in southern Lebanon, the Saudi newspaper Al-Anba reported on Thursday.
- Jerusalem Post – Increasing tensions between Israel and Hizbullah are the result of growing concern that Syria will transfer “balance-altering” weaponry to the Iranian-backed group in the event of a new conflict with Israel, a top defense official has told The Jerusalem Post.
- ITIC – Explosion in Hezbollah weapons depot in the village of Khirbet Silim exposes the existence of an active Hezbollah military infrastructure south of the Litani river
- Fouad Ajami – Autocracy and the Decline of the Arabs; The Arabs, by their own testimony, have become spectators to their history. A struggle rages between the Iranian theocracy and the Pax Americana for primacy in the Persian Gulf and the Levant. The Arabs have the demography—360 million people by latest count—and the wealth to balance Iran’s power. But they have taken a pass in the hope that America—or Israel, for that matter—would shatter the Iranian bid for hegemony.
Iran
- BBC – Supporters of the Iranian opposition leader, Mir Hossein Mousavi, have taken to the streets of Tehran shouting “Death to the dictator”, reports say. Witnesses told the Reuters news agency the protesters were at Vanak Square, where riot police were deployed.
- CSM – A force to reckon with in President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s second term, the Guards are led by commanders whose worldview was forged during the devastating Iran-Iraq war.
- MEMRI – The Iranian authorities have called on the Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) to take firm measures to prevent the movement of foreign elements on their common border. They warned that any relaxation in this regard will threaten the strong relations between Iran and KRG.
U.S. Marine Corps Capt. Gus Biggio (left) with the civil affairs group from 1st Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment meets with Nawa District Administrator Haji Mohammed Khan at Patrol Base Jaker, Nawa District, Helmand province, Afghanistan, to discuss road improvement projects in the district (photo by Staff Sgt. William Greeson)
South Asia
- Dvids – Soldiers of Bravo Company, 1st Battalion, 4th Infantry Regiment at Forward Operating Base Baylough have one mission, disrupt the enemy. Austere FOB Baylough lies 7,500 feet above sea level in a valley below the Hindu Kush Mountains. Because of rocky terrain, most patrols to the remote, local villages in the Deh Chopan District, Zabul province, are dismounted, or foot patrols.
- Pentagon - Petty Officer 3rd Class Anthony C. Garcia, 21, of Tyndall, Fla. died Aug. 5 while supporting combat operations in Farah Province, Afghanistan.
- NATO - An Afghan-international security force assaulted a militant stronghold in the remote mountains of Khowst Province Aug. 4 in pursuit of a Haqqani commander responsible for facilitating foreign fighters, weapons, IEDs, and other explosive materials in the region.
- Geo – Provincial Minister of Balochistan Sardar Rustam Jamali has been killed in firing incident in Karachi. According to police sources, the unknown assailants got the Minister of Excise and Taxation out of his vehicle and shot three fires at him and fled from the scene here near Rado Apartments in Gulistan-e-Jauhar
- The News – Thirty-four people, including 27 soldiers, were killed when a Skardu-bound coach plunged into the Indus River at Mulopa Roundo, some 80 kilometres from the city, early on Thursday. The bus (BLN-7295) of a private transport company, carrying 35 people, including the driver, conductor and helper, had left Rawalpindi for Skardu on Tuesday
- Times of India – Ahead of Independence Day, Pakistan-based terror group Lashkar-e-Taiba is planning to target three major cities including Delhi where Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will unfurl the tricolour from the historic Red Fort, home ministry officials said.
- Sri Lanka MoD – Most wanted LTTE terrorist for International Police (Interpol) and local security divisions Kumaran Padmanadan alias KP has been taken in to custody by Sri Lankan law enforcement authorities, defence sources revealed
Far East & Pacific
- China Daily – China believes that the new round of China-India Boundary Talks to be held on August 7 and 8 in New Delhi will play a positive role in pushing forward bilateral relations with the common efforts being made by the two countries, said the spokesman of the Chinese delegation, Ma Chaoxu on Thursday.
- Japan Times - Prime Minister Taro Aso stressed on Thursday the need for Japan to stay under the U.S. nuclear umbrella, while opposition leader Yukio Hatoyama supported President Barack Obama in seeking a nuclear-free world.
Europe
- Russia Today – Russia and Turkey have signed an agreement that allows Russia to conduct exploration works in Turkish waters, signaling Ankara’s agreement to build the South Stream pipeline, said Russia’s energy minister. Prime Minister Vladimir Putin noted the importance of the South Stream pipeline, not only for Russian-Turkish relations but also for the international community.
- Xinhua – The Czech Republic has never been against Russia’s inclusion in a joint missile defense system, Czech Defense Ministry spokesman Milan Repka told the local media on Thursday in response to the news that Russia is to launch a radar base in three months.
- Payvand – The European Union will not send a traditional note of congratulations to Iran’s Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on being sworn in to a second presidential term., AP reported. EU spokesman Amadeu Altafaj Tardio says the EU “has not sent a congratulatory message and does not intend to do so.” He gave no further comment Thursday.
Africa
- Mareeg – Al Shabaab insurgent group in Somalia has denied having any links to an alleged plot to shoot up an Australian military base.
- Shabelle – the Islamic Council of Amal has held a pres conference in the Somali capital Mogadishu and denounced the transitional government for planning to take over the parts of the regions in the country, official said on Thursday.
- Magharebia – Algerian troops on Wednesday (August 5th) killed eight terrorists in Batna, local press reported. Some 23 armed fighters have been killed since the military offensive began on July 25th. The Algerian army is reportedly intensifying pressure ahead of Ramadan, a period often chosen by terrorists for perpetrating attacks
- CFR – Adam Hochschild emphasizes four major factors that continuously cause conflict in Congo: long-standing antagonism between certain ethnic groups, the 1994 Rwandan genocide, vast wealth in natural resources, and lastly, a vast population–65 million–in an area as big as the United States east of the Mississippi.
- BBC – An offer of an amnesty for militants in Nigeria’s oil-rich Niger Delta region has come into effect. In the next two months the government hopes about 10,000 rebels will exchange weapons for a pardon and retraining.
- VOA – Mauritania’s former military ruler has taken the oath of office as the nation’s new civilian president. His political opponents are still challenging the outcome of last month’s election.
The tug Mitchell Herbert helps manuver the Ohio-class ballistic missile submarine USS Alabama to be moored alongside the Ohio-class ballistic missile submarine USS Maine at the Delta Pier on board Naval Base Kitsap. (US Navy photo)
The Global War
- Air Force – U.S. and Japanese F-15 pilots began day and night air-refueling training July 27 and will continue through Aug. 7 in preparation for the Red Flag-Alaska exercise in October.
- Adm. Timothy Keating – Asia-Pacific U.S. Military Overview
- Australia MoD – Chief of Joint Operations, Lieutenant General Mark Evans, today joined colleagues from the United States sponsored humanitarian mission, PACIFIC PARTNERSHIP 2009, to announce the commencement of the mission’s operations in Solomon Islands. Speaking at the opening ceremony from the deck of US Navy Destroyer USS MUSTIN, Lieutenant General Evans said PACIFIC PARTNERSHIP 2009 is an excellent example of the synergy that comes from working collaboratively with the United States Military
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21 May, 2009 (01:45) | Daily Roundup | By: Jeff Kouba
A brief world news roundup for 21 May 2009.
United States & the Americas
- NY Times – An unreleased Pentagon report provides new details concluding that about one in seven of the 534 prisoners already transferred abroad from the detention center in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, has returned to terrorism or militant activity, according to administration officials.
- AP – In a major rebuke to President Barack Obama, the Senate voted overwhelmingly on Wednesday to block the transfer of Guantanamo detainees to the United States and denied the administration the millions it sought to close the prison.
- Jurist – A US military judge on Tuesday granted a government motion to postpone hearings for Saudi Guantanamo Bay detainee Ahmed Mohammed Ahmed Haza al-Darbi. Chief judge for military commissions Colonel James Pohl granted the government’s motion for a continuance until September 24, 2009, reasoning that such a delay will permit the government to implement changes, complete the Detention Policy Review, and finish reviewing individual cases in a way that will serve the interests of justice
- WNBC – Four New York City men were arrested Wednesday in connection with an alleged plot to blow up New York City synagogues and other city locations, WNBC’s Jonathan Dienst was first to learn. Raids by the FBI-NYPD Joint Terrorist Task Force in the Bronx captured the suspected ringleader and three followers in what law enforcement sources are calling a homegrown terrorist plot
- El Universal – The Ministry of Energy and Petroleum (Venezuela) reported on Wednesday on the seizure of 35 oil service suppliers which operated mainly in Lake Maracaibo, in addition to 39 business that were taken by the state last week.
- Columbia Reports – 112 members of the drug gang ‘Los Rastrojos’ Wednesday demobilized and handed over their weapons to authorities, the Colombian Army announced.
- LAHT – Two former police officials in the central Mexican state of Morelos have been arrested for their alleged ties to organized crime groups, the Attorney General’s Office said
- Reuters – Drug gangs have forced open a bloody new front in Mexico’s drugs war, extending their battles over smuggling routes into a formerly quiet northwestern state and further stretching the army
- Miami Herald – President Fernando Lugo dismissed the heads of Paraguay’s army, navy and engineering corps for allowing nearly 1,000 Marxist youth to host a congress on military grounds, the government said Wednesday.
- COHA – Guadeloupe – Another French Caribbean Hot Spot; The social unrest that plagued the French départments d’outre-mer earlier this year has largely subsided. Yet Paris’ problems with its organically connected Caribbean dependences are far from resolved. In fact, they’ve only just begun.
Russia, Caucasus & Central Asia
- Russia Today – Tempers flared in Geneva where representatives of Russia, Georgia, Abkhazia and South Ossetia attempt to put aside raw memories of last year’s war and strike a compromise
- Georgia Foreign Ministry – The fifth round of the Geneva Discussions was marred by the efforts of the Russian Federation to disrupt the discussions over the most serious issues. It is now obvious that Russia is trying to use the Geneva peace talks as a tool to blackmail the international community. This time Russia resorted to the threats to quit the Geneva Discussions, using it as a leverage on the developments in the United Nations. Yesterday the co-chairs expressed their strong regret over the actions of Russia
- Pavel Baev – Putin Raises the Stakes in his Black Sea Gas Gamble; On May 16 while Moscow was captivated by the spectacle of the “Eurovision” song contest, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin escaped to Sochi to devote himself to gas politics. Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi was his first guest, followed by the ceremony marking the signing of deals between Gazprom and its counterparts from Bulgaria, Greece and Serbia on constructing the South Stream gas pipeline. He then met with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Putin usually excels at this high-level networking, but this time tensions existed even with his close ally Berlusconi
- Asia News – Last week premier Putin signed various deals with Ulaan Baatar. Russia’s real target appears to be uranium reserves and to draw the nation into it’s sphere of influence. Mongolia matins a balance in its’ relationship with China, Russia and other powers.
- UPI – Russian development of Mongolia’s nascent massive uranium deposits will not be a one-way street, however. Bayar said during his meeting with Putin, “The two countries agreed to pay more attention in promoting Mongolia’s mineral resources sector and its infrastructure, and Mongolia intends to speed up cooperation with Russia in exploitation of nuclear energy for peace purposes.” To that end, among the items on the bilateral agenda is discussion of a joint Russian-Mongolian venture for processing nuclear fuel, which Putin said was “a matter of several weeks.”
- Itar-Tass - The construction of the ground section of the Nord Stream gas pipeline is “entering the home stretch”, Gazprom Board Chairman Valery Golubev said on Wednesday. “There is no doubt that the remaining 320 kilometres will be built by 2010 so that the gas pipeline could be commissioned by the middle of next year,” he said.
- RIA Novosti – Russia has put on a hold a contract to deliver MiG-31E Foxhound interceptor-fighters to Syria, a Russian business daily reported on Wednesday, citing defense-industry sources. There has been no official comment on the decision to freeze the contract, but an industry source quoted by the daily said the contract was terminated due to Damascus’s financial problems.
- Russia Today – Police in Russia’s Northern Caucasus republic of Ingushetia say they are hunting a group of up to 60 suspected militants, thought to be connected to recent attacks in the region.
- Kavkaz Center – Intensive fightings has been taking place for several days already in the mountains of the Provinces of Nokhchicho (Ichkeria/Chechnya) and G1alg1ayche (Ingushetia). Kavkaz Center’s sources reporting about fierce clashes in the vicinity of villages of Vedeno, Elistanzhi and Eshelhatoi. The infidels and apostates using heavy machinery supported by helicopter gunships. Assault aircraft a few time bombed the alleged positions of the Mujahideen.
- RFERL – Tajik Interior Ministry forces are conducting special operations against drug traffickers in Tajikistan’s Rasht Valley, amid reports that the operation is being used against leading warlords who are hiding in the region, RFER/RL’s Tajik Service reports. Tajik Interior Ministry spokesman Mahmadullo Asadulloev told RFE/RL that the operations have nothing to do with media reports that security forces are moving against former opposition warlord Mirzokhuja Ahmadov and his followers in the eastern part of the country.
- Chatham House – During the economic boom, Kazakhstan’s banks borrowed heavily on international markets to finance massive investments in construction and real estate. The international credit crisis has left the country’s banks extremely exposed, in turn putting a large section of the economy under threat.
- Israel MFA – Israel will open an embassy in Ashgabat, capital of Turkmenistan for the first time. The decision to open the embassy was reached in view of the development of the good bilateral relationship with Turkmenistan and the new momentum in relations with Central Asian countries.
Middle East
- CNN – A parked car rigged with explosives blew up outside a Baghdad restaurant Wednesday evening, an Iraqi government official said, killing at least 37 people and wounding 74 in the worst attack in nearly a month.
- MEMRI – Iraq has turned down an invitation by Turkey to a meeting in Ankara, the Turkish capital, of the ministers of water and oil of Turkey, Iran, Iraq, and Syria. National Center for the Management of Water Resources director-general ‘Oun Dhiab Abdullah said that it was unfair to trade water for oil because water is not a commodity, and because the Euphrates has been in existence since the Creation.
- Asharq Al Awsat – A high-level official in the Kurdish Peshmerga Affairs Ministry, has denied US reports about opening Kurdistan airspace for Israeli warplanes to attack the Iranian nuclear reactor.
- Jerusalem Post – A Lebanese deputy mayor who has been arrested for alleged involvement in a network accused of spying for Israel has admitted that he received orders from the Mossad last year to get close to the Hizbullah-led opposition and its leadership, the Lebanese newspaper As-Safir reported on Wednesday.
- Daily Star – Hizbullah Secretary General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said on Wednesday that the resistance was proud of its alliance with Syria and Iran and called for “awarenesss” among Lebanese to thwart a US-Zionist plot to stir strife between Sunnis and Shiites
- News Yemen – A suspected al-Qaeda operative has announced al-Qaeda in the Arab Peninsula benefits from tension in southern Yemen and conflict with al-Houthis in Sa’ada as such events weaken the regime and enable al-Qaeda to control power. Ghalib Abdullah Azzaidy said al-Qaeda is ready to stand by the movement in southern Yemen only if the southern leaders show commitment to the Islamic Shariah values and give up socialist or communist governance ideologies.
Iran
- Defense Update – Iran has successfully test-fired a Sejjill-2 medium-range surface-to-surface missile, a solid-fuelled missile developed in Iran (with North Korean assistance). This missile is also known by the names Ghadr-110 and Samen. The missile is capable of striking targets at ranges beyond 2,000 km (1242 miles) carrying a 1.2 ton warhead. Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad confirmed the news on a visit to Iran’s space and missile center at Semnan, from where the missile was launched
- Fars – The continued presence of the terrorists in Iraq is unacceptable to the Iranian and Iraqi nations and governments, Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) Saeed Jalili stressed on Wednesday.
- Al Arabiya – Iran’s electoral watchdog cleared three candidates on Wednesday to challenge incumbent President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in the June 12 presidential elections. The three candidates approved by the Guardians Council are former Prime Minister Mir Hossein Mousavi, ex-parliament speaker Mehdi Karroubi and the former head of the Revolutionary Guards Mohsen Rezai, an interior ministry statement said.
- Rooz – In his third set of remarks about the upcoming presidential election, and with only 25 days left until the election day, the Islamic Republic Supreme Leader once again praised the ninth administration’s performance and attacked Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s opponents.
- Press TV – Iran’s Defense Ministry has inaugurated the production line of advance surveillance systems, radars and electronic warfare equipment. Iranian Defense Minister Brigadier General Mostafa Mohammad Najjar said Wednesday that the ministry had successfully completed 30 projects on modern electro-optical surveillance systems.
- IRNA – Iran’s Embassy here has rejected a recent report by a US newspaper about Tehran-Beijing nuclear cooperation calling it a fabrication made by those who are against close ties between Iran and China. Releasing a statement, the embassy’s press department rejected on Wednesday the newly-published report which was written by Iranian-born journalist Amir Taheri who lives in Europe and his activities are against Iran.
- IRNA – Intelligence companies and institutions operating in the West, including the UK and the US under the guise of non-government organizations, are tools for exerting influence on other countries, particularly those in the Third World. Illegal activities of western intelligence companies in other countries, especially after the occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan, and the illegal actions of members of these companies in the two states, including killing and kidnapping, torture, blackmailing local officials, looting cultural and historical relics and interfering in policy making, have been the focus of attention by civil and human rights organizations and media.
- Payvand – Photos: Security Maneuver in Zahedan, Iran
An Afghan National Army artilleryman pulls the firing lever on a D-30 Howitzer during training on Forward Operating Base Airborne in Wardak province, May 5, 2009. U.S. Army soldiers assigned to the 4th Battalion, 25th Field Artillery Regiment and the French Operational Mentor Liaison Team instructed the Afghans during a 30-day training program. (photo by Spc. Matthew Thompson)
South Asia
- AFPS – Afghan army commandos, assisted by coalition forces, have killed 18 enemy fighters and confiscated significant arms and drug caches in the city of Marjeh in the Nad Ali district of Afghanistan’s Helmand province yesterday and today, military officials reported.
- NATO – National Security Forces (ANSF) and International Security Assistance Forces (ISAF) have reported intense fighting in the Marjah area of Helmand province; over the last few days. Marjah is known to be an insurgent stronghold, and recent events suggest there is an ongoing and concerted effort to build up the number of militants in the region. These militants include foreign fighters particularly from Balochistan, Pakistan
- Daily Times – e government has directed law-enforcement agencies to arrest seven “highly trained militants and Al Qaeda masterminds in Iraq” who – according to reports by intelligence agencies – have entered Pakistan, reported BBC Urdu. According to an official document the BBC claimed it had received, those who have entered Pakistan are planning to train ‘like-minded people’ and target key government officials, including President Asif Ali Zardari, the chief ministers of the four provinces and intelligence agencies’ officers and commanders
- Geo – Security Forces have cleared Sultanwas after intense clashes while 80 terrorists were killed during clearance of the area, Director General ISPR Major General Athar Abass said in a media briefing on Operation Rah-e-Rast, here on Wednesday. He said six vehicles of militants, which were under their, were also destroyed during the operation. Meanwhile, the ISPR confirmed that the security forces have successfully secured the Binai Baba Ziarat, near Shangla, a stronghold and a main terrorist den in the area
- The News – Security forces on Wednesday claimed to have killed over 200 militants during the ongoing military operation in Maidan area of Dir Lower since the launch of the offensive.
- IslamOnline – With the security forces making big gains on the grounds and seizing controls of more strongholds, the local Taliban group in restive Swat is reaching out for Uzbek and Tajik militants operating from North and South Waziristan for help
- Times of India – Responding to Pakistan’s queries, India on Wednesday handed over to it the third dossier of evidence on Mumbai attacks, which includes certified DNA report and statement of the lone arrested terrorist Ajmal Amir Kasab
- Walid Phares – In the May 2009 edition of India and Global Affairs, a Review of geopolitics published in India, I published an article titled “Countering Jihadi Strategies,” in which I analyzed the pre and post 9/11 and pre and post Mumbai strategies of the regional Jihadists from Afghanistan, Pakistan to India. I made a number of sugegstions for regional counter strategies.
- Sri Lanka MoD – Troops have positively identified bodies of seven LTTE leaders, says defence sources in Wanni. Accordingly, bodies of self-styled “Brigadier” Soosai, leader of the Sea Tigers, “Lieutenant Colonel” Verti, a senior intelligence leader, “Lieutenant Colonel” Ram Kumar, an Intelligence leader, “Lieutenant Colonel” Manimekala alias Komali , a senior female intelligence leader, “Lieutenant Colonel” Anna Thurai , political head in Batticaloa, “Colonel ” Rangan, a senior Sea Tiger leader, “Lieutenant Colonel” Vinodan , a senior intelligence leader have been identified.
Far East & Pacific
- Stephen Blank – China has exploited the current global economic crisis to intensify and accelerate its previous strategy for obtaining energy security and political influence abroad. Exploiting other countries’ and firms’ distress, using its enormous cash reserves, and benefitting from the fact that its economy appears to be less adversely affected than others have been, China, through its oil companies CNOOC, CNPC, Petro China, SINOPEC, or through governmental agencies, is either lending afflicted firms and countries money to obtain long-term contracts, access to energy, and other comodities at below market prices if possible, and at the current low market prices where necessary. China’s economic activities abroad during this crisis are not tied exlcusively to Central Asia or to energy alone. But its most striking recent moves have occurred in the energy sector.
- Gulf News – Malaysia has turned over five suspected Al Qaida-linked militants who have been sought for alleged involvement in high-profile kidnappings and deadly bomb attacks in the Philippines.
- Phnom Penh Post – The Association of Southeast Asian Nations Tuesday expressed “grave concern” but ruled out sanctions in its first official reaction to the trial of Myanmar pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
- Manila Times – A series of attacks by suspected militant factions on moderate Moro traditional political leaders in the predominantly Muslim areas in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) is feared to escalate as the May 2010 national elections draw near, according to some political observers in the South during the meeting of the royal family of Maguindanao held recently.
Europe
- Italy Foreign Ministry – Minister for Foreign Affairs Franco Frattini’s planned visit to Iran will not take place as a result of Teheran’s request to hold the protocol meeting with the Iranian president in a location other than the capital, Semnan. The Minister for Foreign Affairs did not accept the request received this morning, expressing his deep regret for a missed opportunity to examine the possibility and modalities for involving Iran in the stabilization of Afghanistan and Pakistan
- AKI – A trial of over 30 American and Italian officials for the alleged kidnapping of an Egyptian terrorism suspect in 2003 will continue, an Italian judge ruled on Wednesday. Oscar Magi threw out objections by defence lawyers and said the trial of 26 American and seven Italian officials for the CIA’s alleged 2003 kidnapping of Egyptian cleric Abu Omar will resume next Wednesday in the northern city of Milan.
- Ennahar – The Spanish police arrested on the night from Tuesday to Wednesday in Bilbao (northern) thirteen people, of North African origin, who might be connected with the nebulous Al-Qaeda in North Africa, told AFP the Spanish police source. According to these media, those arrested are of Algerian and Moroccan origins and suspected of drug trafficking and financing of the nebulous Al-Qaeda in the Maghreb.
- Xinhua – Leaders from China and the European Union (EU) kicked off their 11th summit in Prague Wednesday to exchange views on bilateral relations and major international and regional issues of common concern.
- euobserver – With Gazprom’s profits dwindling and its debt rising, supply contracts with EU countries could be renegotiated and pipeline politics are likely to sharpen, energy experts have told EUobserver.
- New Europe – In a move that may give fresh momentum to South Stream, Russian gas monopoly Gazprom on May 15 signed agreements with transit states Bulgaria, Greece, Serbia and Italy to construct the Gazprom-backed natural gas pipeline to Europe. The agreements were appropriately signed in the Russian resort of Sochi since the pipeline will run through the nearby Black Sea.
Africa
- Garowe - A meeting between government ministers and ex-warlords was held Tuesday in the Somali capital Mogadishu, where attendees agreed to ‘declare war’ on Al Shabaab hardliners, Radio Garowe reports.
- Shabelle – Al-Shabab has formed a new Islamic administration in Jowhar, the regional capital of Middle Shabelle Region in Southern Somalia, officials said on Wednesday. Jowhar is the home town of Somalia’s president Sharif Sheik Ahmed.
- Mareeg – At least one civilian was killed and five others were wounded after Islamist rebels have launched heavy attack on two bases of African Union troops in Mogadishu overnight, witnesses said on Wednesday.
- CSM – Somalis near the border with Ethiopia say that country’s troops have crossed over, raising speculation of another battle with the militant Islamists closing in on Somalia’s government.
- Sudan Tribune – The Sudanese army reacted strongly to statements by Chadian officials in which they said that they preparing for an offensive inside Sudan to pursue rebel groups seeking to oust president Idriss Deby. This week the acting Chadian defense minister Adoum Younousmi said that his army will “pass across the border to deal with these pockets of mercenaries”.
- Daily Independent – About 300 homes were razed by the Nigerian Joint Task Force (JTF) on Wednesday in Oporoza, the largest Ijaw community and headquarters of the Gbaramatu clan in Delta State. It was the sixth day of offensive which on Tuesday had hit Okerenkoko in the search for militants holding Nigerians and foreigners hostage
- UN – The United Nations humanitarian wing is urging greater protection for civilians in the South Kivu province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), which has witnessed a surge in sexual violence since the beginning of this year.
- BBC – Malawi’s main opposition party has called for the release of results from Tuesday’s general election to be stopped, citing “irregularities”. The Malawi Congress Party says its election agents were denied access to counting centres in its traditional stronghold in the Central Region.
Deputy Secretary of Defense William J. Lynn, left, escorts Brazilian Minister of Defense Nelson Jobim through an honor cordon into the Pentagon, May 20, 2009, to discuss bilateral defense issues. (photo by Petty Officer 1st Class Molly Burgess)
The Global War
- Asia Times – As a part of its plan to create a strategic corridor stretching from Afghanistan through Pakistan to Iran, al-Qaeda wants to ally with Jundullah, an Iranian insurgent Sunni Islamic organization opposed to Tehran. A similar alliance between al-Qaeda and a Pakistani militant group proved highly successful.
- US Navy – The U.S. ambassador to Bahrain and the commander of U.S. Naval Forces Central Command cohosted a reception aboard Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN 69) (Ike) May 17, during the carrier’s historic pierside port visit. Eisenhower became the first Nimitz-class aircraft carrier to pull in pierside in Bahrain May 16
- HS Today – Reveal Imaging Technologies Inc., Bedford, Mass., a developer of threat detection solutions, has announced an undisclosed client in Kuwait has purchased Reveal CT-80 automated explosives detection systems (EDS) to be deployed by the Ministry of the Interior
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22 April, 2009 (02:07) | Daily Roundup | By: Jeff Kouba
A brief world news roundup for 22 April 2009.
United States & the Americas
- WSJ – Computer spies have broken into the Pentagon’s $300 billion Joint Strike Fighter project, the Defense Department’s costliest weapons program ever, according to current and former government officials familiar with the attacks. Similar incidents have also breached the Air Force’s air-traffic-control system in recent months, these people say. In the case of the fighter-jet program, the intruders were able to copy and siphon off several terabytes of data related to design and electronics systems, officials say, potentially making it easier to defend against the craft.
- FBI – Somalian Pirate Brought to U.S. to Face Charges for Hijacking the Maersk Alabama and Holding the Ship’s Captain Hostage
- Globe and Mail – 30,000 Tamil protesters pack Parliament Hill; In largest rally of 14-day demonstration, community leaders call on Harper government to take a stand on civil war plaguing Sri Lanka
- Xinhua – The European Union (EU) has earmarked 4.5 million euros (5.8 million U.S. dollars) in a project designed to help Central American countries combat organized crimes and international drug trafficking, chief of Nicaraguan National Police (PN) Aminta Granera said on Tuesday.
- Xinhua – The Ecuadorian government has formally began negotiations with a Chinese firm to build the country’s biggest hydropower plant, the Energy Ministry said on Tuesday.
- Washington Post – Violence has plummeted here since President Felipe Calderón dispatched thousands of soldiers to take over public security, a strategy designed to crush the drug gangs that turned Juarez into a symbol of lawlessness.
- Independent – A Venezuelan opposition leader who says he is a victim of political persecution by the government of President Hugo Chavez has arrived in Peru but has not requested political asylum, Peru’s foreign minister said today.
- AFPS – The Navy’s longest-running annual multilateral exercise got underway yesterday off the Florida coast, with 11 participating nations working together to promote maritime security and stability in Latin America. Navy Adm. James Stavridis, commander of U.S. Southern Command, called the 50th UNITAS Gold exercise a milestone for naval cooperation in the Western Hemisphere. Initially launched to strengthen participants’ capability to defend the Americas against Soviet submarines, the exercise changed over time to address evolving security challenges, Stavridis noted.
Russia, Caucasus & Central Asia
- Energy Business Review – Russian Energy Ministry official said that Moscow and Beijing have signed a $25 billion agreement under which Russia will transport China with oil for 20 years in exchange for loans to Russian state companies, media sources reported
- SRI – Kazakhstan refused on Tuesday to take part in NATO-organised war games in Georgia in a show of support for Russia, which has bitterly criticised the plan.
- RIA Novosti - The first six Mi-28N Night Hunter attack helicopters have been delivered to Russia’s North Caucasus military district, a military source said on Tuesday. “The first six Mi-28N helicopters have been put in service with combat units [in North Caucasus],” the source told RIA Novosti, without specifying the schedule for further deliveries. The Mi-28N is the latest modification of the Mi-28 attack helicopter, manufactured by the Rostvertol plant in southern Russia.
- Itar-Tass - The Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) “exposed and cut short the operation of an officer of the Georgian intelligence who wormed his way into Russia for intelligence and other subversive activities,” a FSB representative told Itar-Tass on Tuesday. The FSB reported the arrest of a career officer of the Georgian special service of foreign intelligence, Mamuke Maisuradze, who was engaged, on orders of his superiors, “in creating a network of agents in the Krasnodar Territory”.
- RIA Novosti – A member of an illegal armed gang that targeted law enforcement officers in Ingushetia has been shot dead in the North Caucasus republic’s Nazran District, security services said Tuesday.
- RFERL – Chechen authorities have launched special operations to locate what they say are hundreds of resistance fighters in the mountainous Vedeno region of the southern Russian republic, RFE/RL’s Russian Service reports. Local law enforcement officials told RFE/RL that some 500 rebels, led by the self-proclaimed leader of a “Caucasus Emirate,” Doka Umarov, are still active in the Itum-Kala and Vedeno districts.
- ISN – President Nursultan Nazarbayev’s 15-19 April state visit to China may have gotten Kazakhstan over a big financial hump, but at a substantial cost. In a deal that emerged as the centerpiece of Nazarbayev’s visit, the China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC), the state energy giant, gained a major stake in the MangystauMunayGaz (MMG) energy concern
- EurasiaNet – With its energy strategy for Central Asia in grave danger of unraveling, Russia is striving to create an appearance of normalcy as the first step in reasserting its energy role in the region
- Robert Cutler – The leaders of Russia and Turkmenistan have been unable to agree on terms for the (re)construction of a Soviet-era gas pipeline in western Turkmenistan. While subsequent negotiations are not excluded, Ashgabat has declared its intent to allow companies other than Gazprom, including Western companies, to bid for the work. In the context of recent developments, a pattern begins to form that may signify the breaking of what is left of Russia’s hold on Central Asian gas transport, to which its relationship with Turkmenistan has been central in the post-Soviet era.
Middle East
- Al Sumaria – Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri Al Maliki reaffirmed his rejection to the return of defunct Baath Party to the political process. He stressed that Iraq which has overcome dictatorship and faced challenges, terrorism and outlaws still needs awareness and unity.
- MNF Iraq – Tikrit Emergency Response Battalion planned, led and facilitated an operation April 13, which led to the arrest of three suspected key members of a Bayji-based insurgent cell. According to Iraqi intelligence, the cell [comprised of members of the former Iraqi Army] led kidnapping raids and coordinates attacks against ISF and Coalition forces.
- Voices of Iraq – Joint security forces on Tuesday arrested five gunmen of the so-called “al-Naqshabandiya” group in east of Baaquba city, according to a security source.
- Israel MFA – Holocaust Martyrs’ and Heroes’ Remembrance Day 2009
- Haaretz – Egypt has accused Lebanese officials of providing Hezbollah operatives with false documents that they approved with official stamps, the pan-Arab newspaper Al-Hayat on Tuesday quoted Egyptian sources as saying.
- NOW Lebanon – Egypt’s foreign ministry summoned an Iranian official on Tuesday after Tehran criticized Egypt’s claim that it had arrested members of Hezbollah for allegedly planning attacks in the country. Foreign ministry official Mohammad el-Zarqani summoned Mohammad Rajabi, the head of Iran’s special interests office in Egypt, to Cairo’s “absolute rejection” of the criticism, a statement said.
- NOW Lebanon – Iranian Ambassador to Lebanon Mohammad Reza Shibani said on Tuesday that the partnership between Tehran and Beirut remained and assured that his government would provide Lebanon with the necessary support when needed. Shibani told al-Alam Iranian TV that accusations against Iran for supporting a specific Lebanese party, a reference to Hezbollah, came from biased parties, referring to the March 14 alliance.
- Daily Star – Unidentified men robbed a jewelry store in the Bekaa town of Anjar, and another five robbed Al-Mawarid Bank in the Bekaa town of Chtaura, the National News Agency (NNA) reported on Tuesday.
- Daily Star – Dubai’s top police officer denied claims Tuesday that a key suspect in the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri had been arrested in the emirate after spending over a year on the run. Mohammad Zuhair Siddiq was “not arrested on Dubai territory,” Dubai’s police chief General Dahi Khalfan told the Ash-Sharq al-Awsat newspaper, adding that he had no knowledge off his arrest elsewhere in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
- International Rail Journal – Jordan plans to start construction next year of a 1600km railway running from the Syrian border via the capital Amman to the Red Sea port of Aqaba with links to the Iraqi and Saudi borders. The project, which is due for completion in 2013, will cost Dinars 4.5 billion ($US 6.4 billion).
- Javno – A Turkish court on Tuesday sentenced the mayor of the biggest city in the Kurdish southeast to 10 months in prison for spreading propaganda for PKK separatist rebels, state-run Anatolian news agency said.
- Asharq Al Awsat – Turkish police detained 19 people in raids on suspected al Qaeda militants on Tuesday, state-run Anatolian news agency said. The operations took place in five provinces in central and southern Turkey. Police also seized guns and computers from suspected al Qaeda cell houses, Anatolian said.
Iran
- Press TV – Iran has explained why it needs a nuclear program, stressing that all nations should have the right to use peaceful nuclear energy. Mohammad Saeedi, the deputy director for international affairs of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI), issued a statement on Iran’s nuclear program in a conference in Beijing. Saeedi stressed that all countries should have the right to have nuclear power plants “without any discrimination.” He noted that Iran’s need for energy is rapidly increasing and the country will be forced to use new energy resources.
- IWPR – Tehran Accused of Complicity in Growing Weapons Trade; Officials in west of Afghanistan seeing more and more Iranian-made weapons in hands of insurgents. (I had posted about that here)
- Middle East Quarterly – A Target of Convenience by Michael Rubin; On April 13, Roxana Saberi, a 31-year-old Iranian-American journalist, appeared before a closed hearing of a revolutionary court to answer charges of spying for the United States — potentially capital charges.
- Rooz – Veteran politician Hashemi Rafsanjani coupled his “silence” over the mismanagement by ?Mahmud Ahmadinejad’s administration with his differences of view with ayatollah ?Khamenei and the latter’s express support of the current ninth administration.
- Fars – Meeting of the Iranian and Pakistani officials for finalizing a deal for exporting Iran’s gas to the energy-hungry south-Asian nation through a multi-billion-dollar pipeline would be held in May, an Iranian official said.
- UAE Daily News – Turkey’s Petrochemical Holding Corp. (Petkim) said monday it would build petrochemical facilities in Iran, the first-of-a-kind petrochemical cooperation between both countries. Petkim said in a statement it signed a prelimintary contract with Iran’s NPC International Limited (NPCI) to establish facilities to to produce 1.65 million tons of methanol and 300,000 tons of polyethylene each year
- ISNA – The Managing Director of Iran’s South Aluminum Corporation (Salco), Mohammad Mehdi Mostaghimi said Iran and China are working to implement Iran’s biggest aluminum industrial project.
- MEMRI – Iranian Judiciary Authority spokesman Ali Reza Jamshidi has said that the authority will deal harshly with websites that disseminate propaganda for the Baha’is.
U.S. Marines conduct a security patrol through the abandoned village of Now Zad in Helmand province, Afghanistan, April 12, 2009. (photo by Cpl. Pete Thibodeau)
South Asia
- AFPS – One militant was killed and a suspect was detained during a joint operation today by coalition and Afghan forces in southern Afghanistan. The operation’s target was an associate of a local Taliban leader suspected of aiding the transport of weapons, ammunition and fighters into northern Kandahar province.
- UNS – A Coalition forces precision strike destroyed an anti-aircraft weapons system in the Nad Ali district, Helmand province, in the early morning hours April 21. Coalition forces learned through villagers that militants in the area had obtained a ZPU-1 anti-aircraft gun and were staging it on the back of a pick-up truck for use against friendly forces’ helicopters.
- CSIS – a discussion with Michèle Flournoy, Undersecretary of Defense for Policy, on U.S. strategy in Afghanistan and Pakistan (video and audio)
- Daily Times – After a peace deal with the NWFP government, the Swat Taliban are expanding their operations into nearby regions. Dozens have been streaming into the Buner district to take over mosques and government offices, BBC reported. On Tuesday, local sources told Daily Times the Taliban were patrolling bazaars in some tehsils of the Buner district. They said armed Taliban were guarding the entry and exit points of Gadezai, Salarzai and Ghashezi tehsils and other areas of the district.
- The News – The frightened people of Buner, which has now fallen into the hands of the Taliban, have given horrible accounts of their ordeal, saying they were driven out of their homes at gunpoint by Afghan Tajiks. Let the whole Pakistan know that we have been invaded by the Afghan Tajiks who have come from the other side of the border. They are not the local Taliban the media has wrongly reported,î said an elderly man. These Afghan Tajiks are said to be using interpreters to communicate with the local Pakhtoons as they do not understand Pashtu.
- Times of India – The Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and Tehreek-e-Nifaz-e-Shariat-e-Muhammadi (TNSM) have now banned political parties in the Bajaur region of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA). Both the separatist organizations have also issued a jirga banning meeting of more than three persons at a same place. According to the Daily Times, the decision was taken after four persons were killed in a clash between the activists of these two groups. The latest ban adds to the long list of activities that the Taliban has prohibited in the region.
- Geo – Advisor to Prime Minister on Interior, Rehman Malik asked on Tuesday Tehrik Nifaz-e Shariat-e Mohammedi (TNSM) chief Maulana Sufi Mohammed to read the Constitution before challenging it as all state affairs were being run in accordance with the national document, what he said, is Islamic and conforms to the teachings of the Holy Quran and Sunnah. Malik said that over 10,000 foreign militants were taking refuge in tribal areas and Afghan currency and arms were being used in terrorist activities in Pakistan.
- Sri Lanka MoD – 53 Div makes-inroads as LTTE face last stand at Mullaittivu; Thousands of civilians kept pouring seeking safety with Sri Lankan security forces from LTTE hostage with latest estimates of the exodus surpassing 49,000: the most successful hostage rescue operation ever launched by a military force in modern time. Meanwhile, 53 Division troops operating Northwest of Karaiyamulliavalai have flanked the western edge of the NFZ facilitating safe passage of civilians across the shallow water stretch since yesterday evening (April 20). At least 12 terrorists were killed and 15 others wounded
- CBS – Sri Lanka’s Tamil rebels said Tuesday that 1,000 civilians died in a government raid on their territory that the military says freed thousands of noncombatants from the war zone. The military denied the accusation.
Far East & Pacific
- JoongAng – North cuts short meeting on Kaesong, South Korean delegation leaves after only a 22-minute session at complex; South Korea and North Korea met briefly at Kaesong for their first government-level encounter in more than a year but no details of the meeting were available as of press time.
- Yonhap – North Korea claimed Wednesday that South Korea has arbitrarily moved a military demarcation line marker in a “serious military provocation” violating the armistice of the Korean War.
- Xinhua – Chinese Defense Minister Liang Guanglie met with U.S. Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Gary Roughead here on Tuesday on the sidelines of a four-day celebration to mark the 60th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Navy.
- Irrawaddy – Burma’s military junta is carrying out a policy of “Burmanization” in areas under its control, using land confiscation and intermarriage, sometimes by force, to dilute ethnic identities, according to a new report by three exiled ethnic groups released on Tuesday.
- Straits Times – A powerful homemade bomb exploded at a public market in the southern Philippines, injuring two people, the military said on Wednesday. The improvised explosive device was fashioned from a 60mm mortar shell rigged to a timing device, and went off late on Tuesday at the market in a town in Sultan Kudarat province
Europe
- DutchNews – The security service AIVD on Tuesday warned companies, local government and other institutions to be aware of espionage, arguing that there are many foreign spies active in the Netherlands. ‘The Netherlands is an interesting target for many countries because of its high-value technological industry and the presence of large groups of migrants,’ the AIVD said at the presentation of its 2008 report. Morocco had attempted to build up a network of informers and Russia is also active in the Netherlands, the AIVD said. And China has not only tried to influence political decisions but has also attempted to access government and company computer networks, the organisation claims.
- Spiegel – Germany’s biggest terror trial since the 9/11 attacks begins on Wednesday. Four men will be put in the dock, but prosecutors still haven’t been able to catch a fifth man who is believed to have supplied detonators for bombs and also served as an informant for the Turkish secret service.
- David Perl, JCPA - The Growing Threat of Radical Islamic Groups in Germany
- CNN – Nine of the 11 Pakistani nationals being held in an alleged terror plot in northern England were released Tuesday, according to police
- HS – Finland expected to opt out of joint Nordic air patrols over Iceland; Disagreements in ministries over Nordic projects in Arctic Ocean
Africa
- Garowe – At least 7 people were killed and 15 wounded in southern Somalia after Al Shabaab hardliners attacked a clan militia base in the outskirts of Kismayo, Radio Garowe reports. The fighting erupted overnight Monday and continued into Tuesday morning, in a town called Bulo Haji, which is located 90km southwest of Kismayo, a strategic port city and the capital of Lower Jubba region.
- Garowe - A senior commander of the Islamic Courts Union (ICU) was gunned down in Mogadishu Tuesday for the second time in six days, Radio Garowe reports. Sheikh Mohamed Mohamud “Agoweyne” was shot to death by two young men armed with pistols, according to witnesses.
- Sudan Tribune – A Sudanese diplomat said today that some rebel groups in his country may have collaborated with the Lebanese group Hezbollah in smuggling arms to Egypt. It is not clear if he was referring to Darfur rebel groups fighting in Western Sudan. Khartoum has long accused Israel of providing support to Darfur rebels.
- Reuters – Gunmen in Nigeria attacked an oil tanker off the coast of the Niger Delta on Tuesday, kidnapping the ship’s captain and an engineer, private security sources said.
- The Standard – It had taken only 30 minutes to snuff out the lives of up to 30 men on Monday night, only hours after hordes of armed young men arrived in the village, in motorbikes and on foot, in clear view of the police. It was not immediately clear why the murders were committed, but residents suspect the proscribed Mungiki sect was avenging the killing of 15 of their members in neighbouring Kirinyaga District, actions that were similarly ignored by the police. The suspected Mungiki members were killed by self-styled four vigilante groups going by the name of ‘The Hague’, alluding the UN International Criminal Court that has been proposed for local leaders implicated in last year’s post-election violence.
- The Citizen – Three people are feared dead while four were seriously injured in fresh ethnic clashes on Friday between Kurya and Ngoreme tribes at a village in Serengeti District. More than 40 houses were torched at Mosongo village after three youths from Ngoreme tribe reportedly sparked the latest clashes.
The amphibious assault ship USS Boxer pulls pier side during a port visit to U.S. Naval Base, Marianas Islands. The Boxer Expeditionary Strike Group and the 13th Marine Expeditionary Unit are on a scheduled deployment supporting global maritime security (photo by Cpl. Karl Launius)
The Global War
- DOT, Maritime Administration – piracy resources and links
- Russia Today – A pro-al Qaeda magazine, Jihad Recollections, has put fitness tips and special diets for Osama bin Laden followers alongside articles of terrorist activity on its website, Gazeta.ru reports. The magazine warns Islamists against visiting Western style gyms, which are “full of music and semi-naked women.”
Sights & Sounds
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21 April, 2009 (01:56) | Uncategorized | By: Jeff Kouba
A brief world news roundup for 21 April 2009.
United States & the Americas
- VOA – U.S. President Barack Obama paid his first visit to the headquarters of the Central Intelligence Agency on Monday. Visit was part of an effort to boost agency morale only days after the release of once-secret memos that outlined the legal justification for harsh interrogation techniques used on terror suspects.
- Treasury Dept – The U.S. Department of the Treasury today targeted al Qaida’s support network by designating Abdul Haq, the overall leader and commander of the Eastern Turkistan Islamic Party (ETIP), a terrorist organization designated under E.O. 13224 for its support to al Qaida
- Asst Secretary Richard Boucher – Turkmenistan-U.S. Relations
- FOX – President Hugo Chavez said Sunday that Venezuela has acquired Russian-made surface-to-air missiles and announced the creation of an elite military unit trained to use the new weapons. Chavez said the missiles are for self-defense and denied that Venezuela poses a military threat to other countries.
- US Navy – Ships from nine different nations arrived at Naval Station Mayport on April 17 to participate in UNITAS Gold. UNITAS is a multinational exercise which brings partner nations’ navies to focus on logistics, communications, combat doctrines, and other interests. The exercise, which began in 1959, represents the continued effort to promote partnerships and understanding between participants. The exercise will last two weeks and will involve some 20 ships from Brazil, Canada, Chile, Peru, Colombia, Mexico, Germany, and the United States.
Russia, Caucasus & Central Asia
- Russia Today – President Medvedev has said that the new Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) should exclude the deployment of strategic weapons outside national borders.
- RIA Novosti – Russian President Dmitry Medvedev called on Monday for a forum of Euro-Atlantic states and international organizations to address a new European security treaty.
- Stars and Stripes – Russia has announced plans to increase the number of aircraft at its air base in Kyrgyzstan, adding to the number of troops it has there while the United States begins a pullout from its own air base in the country. The Collective Security Treaty Organization — often described as the Russian-led equivalent of NATO — made the announcement Monday, according to wire reports.
- RIA Novosti – Atomredmetzoloto (ARMZ), Russia’s leading uranium producer, said on Monday its uranium output had increased 4.5%, year-on-year, in January-March 2009 to 849 metric tons. ARMZ manages all of Russia’s uranium mining assets and also participates in production in the Central Asian Republic of Kazakhstan. The company is developing cooperation with Armenia, Canada, Mongolia, Namibia and Ukraine. It is owned by Atomenergoprom, which is part of Rosatom nuclear energy state corporation.
- Interfax – Unidentified attackers shot with automatic weapons Musa Esmurziyev, a prominent (Muslim) religious figure in Ingushetia, meanwhile he was in Nazran.
- Gulf News – Russian authorities say a sister of the police chief in the violence-plagued Ingushetia province has been killed in a grenade attack
- RFERL – Tajikistan will soon allow the United States to send non-military cargo through its territory for troops fighting in neighboring Afghanistan, a U.S. envoy said
- Trend – Chief Editor of the Photo and Video Department of the Russian Defense Ministry “Voeninform” agency Leonid Evseevich Yakutin died tragically. The famous military photo-correspondent shot himself via an award pistol on April 18, the ministry told ITAR-TASS on April 20.
Middle East
- MNF Iraq – A suicide vest bomber killed three civilians and wounded 19 others, during an attack near the mayor’s office in the Diyala provincial capital, Baquba at approximately 10 a.m. April 20. Among the 19 injured were eight U.S. Coalition Soldiers, two members of the local embedded provincial reconstruction team and three Iraqi police.The bomber, reportedly dressed in an Iraqi police uniform, detonated the vest as members were on their way to visit the municipal leader.
- UAE Daily News – The Iraqi troops have arrested the leader of the so-called Islamic State of Iraq organization, one of the affiliates of the terrorist Al-Qaeda Organization in Iraq, in north Baghdad on Monday. A joint force of the 12th division of the Iraqi army and Al-Huwaijah police force made the arrest as part of a crackdown in Hettin and Shobat districts, the Iraqi Ministry of Defense said in a statement. The detainee, Mu’ayid Saffah Yassin Owaish Al-Obaidi, known as Mu’ayid Hama, is the last amir (leader) of the Islamic State of Iraq.
- AFP - Syrian Prime Minister Mohammed Naji Otri will kick off a two-day visit to Iraq on Tuesday at the head of a ministerial delegation aimed at improving ties between the two neighbours.
- Washington Institute – Shortly after taking office, President Obama congratulated Iraqis on successful provincial elections. “Millions of Iraqi citizens from every ethnic and religious group went peacefully to the polls across the country to choose new provincial councils,” he declared on Jan. 31. But this was not quite the case. In the three provinces that comprise Iraqi Kurdistan, the regional parliament postponed the vote until May 19. Only recently have plans been made to hold the elections.
- Kurdish Media – Police started a large scaled operation against our party DTP in 13 provinces on 14th of April 2009. More than 300 members, executives and activists including three vice presidents of our party were detained. A tv station and the centre of The Union of South-East Municipalities were also targeted by the police. The operation is still going on, and we do not know when it will stop
- Naharnet – Egypt’s High State Security prosecution continued investigation into the so-called Hizbullah cell. The daily Al Mustaqbal said Monday that interrogation with detained member of the Muslim Brotherhood Nassar Jibril and others belonging to Aqsa Martyrs Brigades uncovered a link between Hizbullah and the two groups.
- Asharq Al Awsat – Sources inside the investigation of the “Hezbollah cell in Egypt” case have revealed that the cell recruited members to serve in the name of the Palestinian “Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade” and also that five key suspects have acknowledged being former members of the “Muslim Brotherhood” organization in Egypt. The same sources have also revealed that Egypt’s State Security Investigation Service’s [SSI] investigation into the case looked at the link between an employee of the Palestinian embassy in Yemen and a defendant in the Hezbollah cell in Egypt case.
- Jerusalem Post – Security sources also told A-Sharq al-Awsat, in a report published on Sunday, that Hizbullah intelligence had conducted geographic and social surveys of a number of Egyptian villages on the Israeli border.
- NOW Lebanon – The Egyptian newspaper Al-Jumhuriya reported on Monday that Nasser Abu Omra, a suspect arrested of being involved in the Hezbollah cell discovered in Egypt earlier this month, confessed before the Egyptian High State Security Prosecution that he tried to facilitate the travel of two Egyptians to Lebanon, where they were to receive military training and then head to Palestine.
- Rodger Shanahan – Hizbullah: Strategic successes and tactical failures
- Hizballah – Speaker Nabih Berri spoke on Saturday in Qana at the Amal Movement organized anniversary of the 1996 Qana Massacre, saying that “the Resistance is devoted to the security and interests of the Arab nation and Egypt.” He also called for the launch of a dialogue aimed at reconciling disputes between Egypt and other Arab countries, stressing that the resistance would never plan for attacks in Egypt. Berri also spoke about last week’s arrest of Hizbullah operative Sami Chehab in Egypt, explaining that, “The arrest of a Hizbullah cell in the Sinai Peninsula is a result of difference in points of views. One party views Gaza as a threat to the Egyptian regime, while the other party views Gaza as a base for resistance.” He emphasized that the Resistance has no plans to hit any strategic or tourist sites in Egypt, which they have been accused of by Egyptian authorities.
- Al Arabiya – Egyptian intelligence chief Omar Suleiman will visit Israel this week and meet Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, an official said Sunday, despite Cairo’s unease with the far-right politician. “General Suleiman will meet minister Lieberman during his visit in the coming days,”Danny Ayalon, Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister, told the Israeli army radio.
- HRW – Under Cover of War – Hamas Political Violence in Gaza; This 26-page report documents a pattern since late December 2008 of arbitrary arrests and detentions, torture, maimings by shooting, and extrajudicial executions by alleged members of Hamas security forces.
- Daily Star – Hariri announced on Monday the March 14 forces’ list in the district of Western Bekaa- Rashaya. During a gathering held in the town of Rashaya, Hariri said the majority would not “surrender the Western Bekaa-Rashaya district to the candidates of foreign tutelage.”
- UK MoD – In the first training exercise by UK Land Forces on Saudi Arabian soil since the first Gulf War, Royal Marines have deployed onto the country’s scorching deserts as part of the Royal Navy’s TAURUS 09 deployment.
Iran
- Press TV – An Iranian official says the country has full knowledge of nuclear fuel production and now seeks to expand its activities by exporting fuel. Despite mounting international pressure, Iranian scientists have acquired the desired know-how to produce nuclear fuel without receiving outside help, deputy head of the Iranian Atomic Energy Organization (IAEO) Abdallah Solat-Sana told IRNA on Monday.
- Payvand – President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran and his counterpart from Switzerland Hance Rodoulf Merets discussed major bilateral, regional and international developments in a meeting in Geneva Sunday night.
- The National – With just two weeks before candidates are to start registering for this summer’s presidential elections, the Principlists – a loose coalition of conservatives and hardline groups – are at odds over who to back. The disagreements are apparently over whether to support the incumbent president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, another candidate or remain silent on the issue. Without clearly defined political parties in Iran, the majority Principlist faction in parliament plays a decisive role in the elections.
- Iran Tracker – Iran’s Hard Power Influence in Iraq
- Vos Iz Neias – Four American banks, including Citibank and Goldman Sachs, have applied for opening a branch in Iran, an Iranian daily has reported. The banks made a formal request to the Central Bank of Iran (CBI) about 20 days ago to establish a branch in the country, the Jaam-e-Jam newspaper quoted an informed source as saying.
- ISNA – The Spokesman of Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) Mohsen Delaviz denied the news that some Egyptian nuclear experts have worked in Iran since 1990.
- Press TV – The Islamic Revolution Guard Corps has moved to focus its attention on Iran’s eastern borders to disrupt an ongoing enemy plot in the region. Commander of the IRGC Ground Forces Brigadier-General Mohammad Jafar Assadi described an on-the-go enemy conspiracy as the reason behind a strong IRGC presence building up in eastern parts of the country.
- Press TV – In a fresh crackdown on gunmen, Iranian police forces have killed four criminals and drug smugglers in heavy clashes in southern Iran. The armed fighting, which lasted 360 hours in Iran’s southern Fars province, led to the death of two Iranian soldiers. The Iranian armed forces managed to bring the region under control. Fifteen criminals were arrested, effectively dismantling the band dubbed “Criminals of the Mountain.”
U.S. Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Garrett Coxwell breaches a door to set up an overwatch position during a local security patrol in Helmand province, Afghanistan, April 9, 2009. Coxwell is assigned to Lima Company, 3rd Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment. The Marines are conducting security patrols to prevent enemy freedom of movement. (photo by Cpl. Pete Thibodeau)
South Asia
- AFPS – Afghan and coalitions forces killed two enemy fighters during a reconnaissance patrol today in Oruzgan province’s Khas Oruzgan district. The policemen and soldiers spotted the two militants setting up an ambush and armed with machine guns when they engaged them, killing both. In Helmand province’s Greshk district, Afghan police and coalition troops detained three suspected bomb makers today in a planned raid on a housing compound.
- Dawn – Six security personnel and two civilian drivers were kidnapped by suspected militants in the restive Swat region on Monday. Four Frontier Constabulary (FC) personnel in plain cloths and their civilian driver were kidnapped by suspected Taliban militants while they were on routine patrolling in a mountainous area of Khwzakhela tehsil. Muslim Khan said the act was a clear violation of the peace accord and a conspiracy to sabotage the agreement.
- Geo – Security forces backed by helicopter gunships targeted militants positions in Khyber Agency on Monday. A local activist of the banned militant outfit Jaish-e-Muhammad was arrested in Jamrud tehsil. According to sources, security forces bombed suspected militants hideouts by helicopter gunships in Landi Kotal and Jamrud tehsils of Khyber Agency.
- Robert Kaplan – Pakistan may well be the world’s most dangerous country, a nuclear Yugoslavia-in-the-making. One key to its fate is the future of Gwadar, a strategic port whose development will either unlock the riches of Central Asia, or plunge Pakistan into a savage, and potentially terminal, civil war.
- Asia Times – Monday’s launch of an Israeli-built surveillance satellite is as much a testament to New Delhi’s growing space prowess as it is to rapidly expanding India-Israel defense arrangements since the Mumbai terror attacks. India’s new satellite is meant to deter cross-border infiltration with technology that can decipher license plates from 550 kilometers above the ground.
- Sri Lanka MoD – Latest reports received from the Sri Lanka Army 58 Division indicate that over 30,000 civilians held hostage by LTTE terrorists at Puthumathalan and Amplalavanpokkani areas have been liberated. According to the sources, several thousands of others are waiting them to be rescued by the armed forces.
Far East & Pacific
- Xinhua – China will display its nuclear powered submarines for the first time in history during a fleet parade to mark the 60th anniversary of the People’s Liberation Army Navy, a senior navy officer said here Monday.
- China Daily – China plans to build five nuclear power stations in the eastern and southern regions this year, the country’s energy planner said in Beijing on Monday.
- Hindu – When Nepal’s Maoist revolutionaries waged an underground war against the state to end monarchy in the Himalayan kingdom, the Nepal Army was their biggest foe. Now, three years after the guerrillas signed a ceasefire, returned to mainstream politics and formed the government by winning a historic election, they have resumed their fight with the state forces, to the alarm of neighbour India. On Monday, India’s ambassador to Nepal Rakesh Sood met Maoist Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal Prachanda after indications that the government was planning to fire the current Nepal Army (NA) chief, Gen Rookmangud Katawal.
- news.com.au – Fiji’s military regime has ruled it cannot be legally challenged over its 2006 coup and has begun shredding documents that incriminate the regime.
- Irrawaddy – Despite claims by the Burmese junta that it is seeking talks with Karen rebel leaders, a combined force of Burmese and pro-regime Karen troops has been carrying out a sustained campaign against Battalion 201 of the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA) since last Thursday.
- Australia DoD – AE2 was the Royal Australian Navy’s second ever submarine. After five days operations in and around the Dardanelles she fell to Turkish gunfire on 30 April, 1915. The plaque unveiling at the RAN Heritage Centre will create a permanent memorial for the AE2. The Plaque at Garden Island is funded by the AE2 Commemorative Foundation with sponsorship from ASC and THALES. It is fitting that the memorial is at Fleet Base East, Sydney as this was the site where she left Sydney for deployment, just over 94 years ago.
Europe
- EurActiv – Europe’s hopes of securing natural gas from Azerbaijan via the Nabucco pipeline were further dampened on Saturday (18 April) when Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliev said he wanted Russia to serve as a transit route for selling gas to Europe. During a visit to Moscow, the president of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliev also confirmed his country’s interest in selling gas directly to Gazprom.
- Saban Kardas – Turkey’s Energy Minister Pressures Nabucco Partners
- Javno – A Russian Zenit-3SL rocket blasted off from the equator in the Pacific Ocean on Monday to put an Italian satellite into orbit that could aid some NATO operations, the firm that oversaw the launch said. “Italy’s Ministry of Defence… will be using some of the spacecraft’s capacity to support NATO’s European activities,” California-based firm Sea Launch said of the Sicral 1B satellite in a statement on its Web site.
- EUCOM – Twelve F-15E Strike Eagles from the 494th Fighter Squadron departed April 17, to participate in Strike Lance 2009 an exercise at Campia Turzii, Romania. The exercise will afford the squadron an opportunity to train against MiG-21L’s to improve their tactical flying skills.
Africa
- Garowe – At least 9 people were killed including civilians in central Somalia Monday after fierce fighting erupted among Islamist factions, Radio Garowe reports. The fighting erupted around noon and was still continuing into the early evening, as fighters loyal to the Islamic Courts Union (ICU) rulers in Hiran region and Hizbul Islam faction fought for control of Beletwein, the provincial capital.
- Javno – Algeria is suffering a potato shortage because officials have imposed strict controls on the use of fertiliser to stop al Qaeda militants using it as a bomb-making ingredient, farmers said. Security experts say ammonia, used by farmers to improve crop yields, has also been found in bombs detonated by Algerian militants affiliated to al Qaeda.
- IRIN - Agathon Rwasa, leader of Burundi’s notorious rebel Forces nationales de liberation (FNL), gave up his AK-47 and military uniforms on 18 April at a ceremony to mark the beginning of the demobilisation of thousands of combatants; FNL is due to become a political party soon.
- New Times – Infrastructure ministers from Partner States of the East African Community (EAC) have called for a new design of the East African Railway Master Plan to cater for links to neighboring countries. In a meeting held on Friday in Arusha, Tanzania, the ministers recommended that the Canadian consulting firm, CPCS Transcom International Ltd, which is carrying out the Master Plan study, includes railway links to Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) among others.
- BBC – A demonstration in Madagascar against the closure of two radio stations has led to fatal clashes between security forces and anti-government protesters. Police and soldiers opened fire on the protesters, who had blocked roads and refused to disperse.
The British military support ship Royal Fleet Auxiliary Wave Knight working in support of the Combined Maritime Forces, thwarted a pirate attack on the Merchant Vessel Handy Tankers Magic in the Gulf of Aden, April 18, which resulted in the release of 13 hostages and disrupted the activities of 7 Somali pirates.
The Global War
- Robert Kaplan – The Revenge of Geography; People and ideas influence events, but geography largely determines them, now more than ever. To understand the coming struggles, it’s time to dust off the Victorian thinkers who knew the physical world best
- Haaretz - Al-Qaida’s No. 2 leader Ayman al-Zawahiri on Monday urged the group’s followers in Iraq to break the borders of neighboring countries and liberate Jerusalem from Israel. In a new Internet recording posted on a militant Web site Monday, Osama bin Laden’s top lieutenant also lashed out at Egypt for mediating talks between rival Palestinian factions.
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1 April, 2009 (00:02) | Daily Roundup | By: Jeff Kouba
A brief world news roundup for 1 April 2009.
United States & the Americas
- Military.com – The U.S. government on Monday agreed to release a Yemeni surgeon – who reportedly treated al-Qaida wounded at Tora Bora in Afghanistan – under a new review ordered by President Barack Obama meant to empty the prison camps here by January 2010.
- Jurist – A judge for the US District Court for the District of Columbia granted a joint motion Monday for a stay of proceedings against Yemeni Guantanamo Bay detainee Ayman Saeed Batarfi, allowing for his eventual transfer. Batarfi, one of the longest held terror suspects at the military prison, had been detained without charges as an enemy combatant since his 2001 capture at the Battle of Tora Bora in Afghanistan. He had been detained for alleged association with al Qaeda forces during the battle, but his lawyers argued that he had been forced to administer medical treatment to al Qaeda forces. After a review of his case, the Department of Justice (DOJ) agreed that it did not have grounds to hold Batarfi, and joined in the motion to end proceedings against him. The US is currently searching for an appropriate destination country for Batarfi, and his release date has not been set.
- Al Jazeera – Four policemen have been killed after attackers ambushed their vehicles in Mexico’s western Michoacan state. Another four policemen were injured in the attack, which happened after officers were sent to a ranch to rescue a kidnap victim, local authorities said on Tuesday.
- Michael Yon – Nobody seems to dispute that tons of weapons apparently are flowing into Mexico. A big question is, where are they coming from?
- BBC – China and Argentina have made a tentative agreement to swap $10bn (£7bn) worth of their currencies. The move, which allows both countries to bypass the US dollar, makes it easier for Argentine businesses to buy Chinese imports directly in yuan.
- Washington Times – A leading opponent of President Hugo Chavez has taken refuge somewhere in the city of Maracaibo because he faces harassment and could be in danger, the leader of his party said Tuesday.
- Miami Herald – Cuba promises to be a hot topic at the upcoming Summit of the Americas in Trinidad and Tobago, as more Latin American leaders push for the communist country to be embraced by hemispheric organizations, Trinidad’s ambassador said Tuesday.
Russia, Caucasus & Central Asia
- Moscow Times – President Dmitry Medvedev called for a new world economic order, including the introduction of a new “super currency,” on Tuesday as he prepared for a G20 summit in London, where Russia has been jockeying for a more prominent role.
- Russia Today – Even though Russian and American leaders will discuss ‘resetting’ the countries bilateral relations at the G20 summit in London, US military vessels could still appear in the Black Sea, but under a Ukrainian flag.
- AP - Imprisoned former oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky returned to a Moscow courtroom cage on Tuesday for a new trial on multibillion-dollar embezzlement and money-laundering charges that his lawyer called “crazy.”
- Russia Today – The president of Russia’s Chechen republic has called for the country’s government to end the counter-terrorist operations in the region that began almost ten years ago. In his interview with RT, Ramzan Kadyrov said the mission has been accomplished and it’s time to let his republic move on.
- Prague Watchdog – “In April we are going to conduct major operations” (interview with a member of the Chechen mujahedin)
- Telegraph – Dubai’s police have arrested a Russian in connection with the murder of a Chechen warlord in the Arab city state.
- Itar-Tass – Servicemen clashed with an illegal armed group in a forest near Arshty in Ingushetia’s Sunzha district on Tuesday night, a source at the Ingush Interior Ministry told Itar-Tass. The republican staff announced a counter-terrorist operation in that area on Monday.
- EurasiaNet – As Turkey and Armenia inch closer to some potential form of reconciliation, Armenian attention is increasingly focusing on whether or not Turkey will opt to participate in the construction of a new Armenian nuclear power plant.
- Trend – Oil produced in Kazakhstan with Chinese participation hit roughly 20 million tons, the Kazakh Foreign Ministry told Trend Capital. “Some 20 million tons of oil are produced in Kazakhstan with the participation of Chinese companies. About 13 million tons account for the Chinese share,” the office said.
- Fars – Kyrgyzstan’s Parliament Speaker Aitibai Tagayev on Tuesday urged parliamentary and economic developments in the Iran-Kyrgyzstan ties.
U.S. Army soldiers load onto a C-130 aircraft as they prepare to leave for Afghanistan from Joint Base Balad, Iraq, March 28, 2009. The soldiers are assigned to the 100th Brigade Support Battalion. (photo by Sgt. Alex Snyder)
Middle East
- UK MoD – Due to improved security and the ability of Iraqi Security Forces to deliver security in southern Iraq with only minimal coalition assistance, Defence Secretary John Hutton has announced a change in coalition command structures today, Tuesday 31 March.
- Voices of Iraq – The Interior Ministry began using the unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) equipped with sensors and infra-red cameras in order to help in border surveillance and tracking down infiltrators, the director of the national command center said on Tuesday.
- TIME – The grouping of Sunni tribal sheiks in the once al-Qaeda–infested western province turned against the insurgents and sided with the U.S. military, providing the model for what became a nationwide campaign known as the Sahwa. But that model is in trouble. “The Sahwa has been infiltrated by al-Qaeda,” he says somberly. “A civil war is coming.”
- CBS – Iraqi journalists say that trying to go to Ashraf is a death sentence – “do not expect to come back,” they say. The reason is simple: Camp Ashraf is the target of those in Iraq’s government who are most friendly with the regime in Iran, and Iran wants the camp and its inhabitants shut down forever.
- Al Sumaria – Eight people including 4 police officers were killed and 10 other people were wounded when a suicide bomber broke into a police compound with his booby trapped car and blasted it there in the middle of Mosul city.
- Al Sumaria – Police said that an intelligence officer in the Ministry of Interior was killed after a bomb planted in his car blasted, a passerby was also killed and 8 others were slightly injured. The incident took place in Al Aazamiah region. In Baaquba, the police said that a bomb planted in a motorcycle blasted killing 3 workers and wounding 8 others.
- Daily Star – The tranquil scene at Lake Tharthar, Iraq’s largest stretch of water, belies its recent violent history as an Al-Qaeda stronghold until just six months ago. These days families gather around barbecues and fishermen work their nets where before bodies were often found floating in the shallows as local militias battled to oust Al-Qaeda fighters.
- IslamOnline – Um Omar’s life is worse than death. She faces a terrible punishment, being one of the former female bombers of Al-Qaeda, who renounced the group but could not escape a lifelong curse. “I don’t have a normal life anymore,” the Iraqi mother told IslamOnline.net from her home near the northern city of Mosul.
- NOW Lebanon – The source said that Hezbollah Deputy Secretary General Sheikh Naim Qassem, who was in charge of the electoral process, briefed Succariyeh and Rahme about their nominations by his party. “Hezbollah is almost done with its candidate lists and would announce them by the end of this week,” the source said, noting that Speaker Nabih Berri would announce the Development and Liberation candidates after requesting the bloc to present its candidate names to the Interior Ministry.
- Khaleej Times – The Egyptian authorities have destroyed six tunnels used to smuggle contraband fuel and food to the Gaza Strip, the official MENA news agency reported on Tuesday.
- MEMRI – At the Arab summit meeting held in Doha, Qatar, yesterday, Saudi King Abdullah refused a bilateral meeting with Iraqi prime minister Nouri al-Maliki. Saudi sources said the king does not meet with an individual who has failed to keep his promise
- Asharq Al Awsat – A Sanaa court sentenced two Yemenis to death on Tuesday for spying for Iran and acquitted a third for lack of proof.
- Saba – Security forces have taken urgent security measures to release a Dutch expert in water and his wife safely who have been kidnapped in Sana’a governorate
Iran
- KRSI – Sometimes news takes time to get out of Iran — particularly when it comes to internal strife in the upper political echelons. But eventually, major clashes leak out. This week the news emerged that Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, the mayor of Tehran and Ahmadinejad’s main rival in the Osulgarayn (Principalist) movement, resigned from his post just before the end of the previous Persian calendar year — approximately March 18 or 19. A number of days later, he was reinstated to his job after his resignation was rejected by senior officials, most likely the supreme Leader of Iran, Ayatollah Khamenei.
- Press TV – Iran tells an international conference on Afghanistan at The Hague that it is “fully prepared” to help reconstruct the war-ridden country. Afghanistan’s international supporters, including Iran and the United States, met in The Hague Tuesday to discuss combating insurgency and promoting democracy in the country.
- Mehr – A top Iranian Foreign Ministry official met Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov in Ashgabat on Tuesday and discussed the Caspian Sea legal regime as well as shipping and environmental issues in the sea with him.
- IRNA – Head of the Chamber of Commerce, Industries and Mines of Albania Gjoke Uldedaj met on Monday with his Iranian counterpart Mohammad Nahavandian. In the meeting, the two expressed their willingness to expand Tehran-Tirana relations in the trade and economic fields.
- Payvand – Photos: Spring Snow and Rain in Tehran
South Asia
- Australia DoD – A senior Taliban insurgent leader who was known to have facilitated Improvised Explosive Device (IED) and suicide bomb attacks in Oruzgan province has been killed in an operation by Australian Special Forces and Afghan National Army troops.
- AFPS – Next to a small village in Afghanistan’s fertile Jalrez Valley of Afghanistan’s Wardak province, a platoon of U.S. soldiers busy themselves fortifying a fighting position, stringing concertina wire, aiming mortars, and filling lots and lots of sand bags. “Apache,” a U.S. military combat outpost, is housed in an abandoned former district agricultural building.
- The News – Thirty militants were killed in a police operation in southern Afghanistan and three others died in an explosion during a bomb training session, authorities said on Tuesday. The operation in the south was launched on Monday in Uruzgan province and continued on Tuesday in neighbouring Helmand province, the interior ministry said in a statement.
- Dawn – Tahrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) Chief Baitullah Mehsud on Tuesday claimed responsibility for the attack on the police training academy in Manwan and said his militant group will ‘expedite such assaults.’ The militant chief also owned up to carrying out a suicide attack at a Police Special Branch in Islamabad on March 23 and a roadside bomb explosion in Bannu on Monday. ‘The enemies should not ignore might of the Taliban and they will suffer in Washington when we target the White House,’ he warned. He claimed the Taliban have the ability to carry out attacks in the US capital.
- Daily Times – A five-member larger bench of the Supreme Court restored Shahbaz Sharif as the chief minister of Punjab on Tuesday, suspending the February 25 verdict that had disqualified the Sharif brothers from electoral politics.
- Geo – The reconstruction of schools destroyed during last two years and restoration of infrastructure has yet to begin in Swat. More than 200 schools were destroyed during last two years turmoil in the region.
- Times of India – Altogether 53 militants, including 44 from the banned ULFA, on Tuesday surrendered before the Army in Assam’s Tinsukia district on Tuesday.
- Sri Lanka MoD – At least 20 terrorists were killed and 11 injured during heavy fighting ensued between 58 Division troops and LTTE in general area Iranapalai, East of Puthukkudiyirippu today(March 31). According to military, troops had advanced further into LTTE defences forcing terrorists to flee leaving dead and weaponry. Terrorists were caught in total disarray as 9GW, 8 GR and 12 GR infantrymen launched a two-pronged assault at LTTE resistance positions since early this morning.
Far East & Pacific
- Xinhua – China on Tuesday denied rumors on a so-called “cyber spy network,” saying they were purely fictitious.
- Jakarta Post – Top Southeast Asian military brass toured a tank base north of Beijing on Tuesday, highlighting China’s growing engagement with a region that has long felt neglected by the United States.
- The National – North Korea has put all regular and reserve forces on combat alert ahead of its rocket launch, a South Korean aid group said today. The hardline communist country has confined all regular soldiers to barracks as well as alerting reserve forces, said the Good Friends group which has contacts in the North.
- Asia Times – Indonesia’s Prosperous Justice Party was the most popular party in Jakarta in 2004. With its leader chosen as parliamentary speaker, it seemed poised to unify the Islamist vote. However, heading into next week’s legislative elections, PKS seems likely to lead the way of historic low totals for religious parties.
- RSIS – The first ever Indonesian court ruling of convicts as terrorists and the branding of the Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) organisation as a “terrorist” one is examined in great detail in this paper. Beginning with the historical development of other counter-terror trials that took place in the Archipelago, it attempts to compare the cases of Abu Dujana and Zarkasih to their precedents and highlights some of its downplayed, but astonishing significances
- AFP – Authorities in the Philippines declared a state of emergency Tuesday on the restive island of Jolo after the expiry of a deadline by Islamic militants threatening to behead a Red Cross hostage.
- Reuters – Maoist-led guerrillas stormed an army base on the restive southern Philippines island of Mindanao Tuesday, and at least 17 people were killed, the military said.
- Independent - A major blackout that wreaked havoc during rush hour in Australia’s largest city has exposed a flaw in the city’s terrorism warning system, the government acknowledged today.
- Irrawaddy – Burma has officially informed Bangladesh that it has erected a fence on its border to stop smuggling, including drug trafficking, according to Bangladesh media.
- Phnom Penh Post – The following is a translation of Kaing Guek Eav’s address to the court during his trial’s substantive hearing Tuesday, March 30, 2009. In his remarks, Kaing Guek Eav, better known as Duch, accepted responsibility for his role in the atrocities committed by the Khmer Rouge regime.
Europe
- CSIS – Over the past year, an interdisciplinary team of CSIS scholars engaged in a comprehensive assessment of Turkey’s internal developments and changing relations with its neighbors and the United States. This study was released at recent CSIS event.
- RIA Novosti – The European Union and Ukraine must work with Russia in modernizing the Ukrainian natural gas pipeline network, the German chancellor said on Tuesday.
- RFERL – A new deal between Azerbaijan’s state-owned oil and gas company SOCAR and Russia’s Gazprom energy giant appears to have dealt a serious setback to the proposed Nabucco pipeline, which was designed to provide European consumers with an alternative to Russian supplies.
- Vladimir Socor – Moldovan President Vladimir Voronin has pulled back at the last moment from the brink of a separate deal to put Russia in the driving seat of negotiations on Transnistria. The March 18 joint declaration by Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, Voronin, and Transnistria leader Igor Smirnov triggered that process. A meeting of Voronin and Smirnov in Tiraspol on March 25 was scheduled as next in the sequence, potentially leading to the presentation of a fait accompli by Moscow to the Western negotiators in the 5+2 format.
- Balkan Insight – Bosnia and Herrzegovina has deported a former Islamic fighter and Al-Qaida officer, 38-year old Ali Hamad, to his home-country of Bahrain, Bosnian immigration officials told media on Tuesday.
- AKI – Scores of people have been arrested following anti-mafia police operations in two southern Italian regions. All those arrested are accused of drugs trafficking.
Africa
- Sudan Tribune – Arab and South American states concluded their summit in Qatar today without taking any position on the International Criminal Court (ICC) arrest warrant for Sudanese president Omer Hassan Al-Bashir. The South American states have refused to add language to the final declaration adopted by the summit rejecting the ICC arrest warrant or expressing support for Sudan against threats to its sovereignty and territorial integrity.
- China Daily – A second group of Chinese navy escort ships will set sail for the Gulf of Aden Thursday to replace a flotilla sent earlier to guard against pirates.
- afrol – The Ugandan government has said there is no need for renewed peace talks with the Lord’s Resistance Army after its leader Joseph Kony failed to sign a peace deal agreed by all rebel factions in April last year.
- BBC – The new president of Madagascar, Andry Rajoelina, has announced the makeup of his new transitional administration. He said the cabinet would govern until general elections could be held within the next two years.
- All Africa – The wrangles between Uganda and Kenya over Migingo Island will not affect the East African regional integration, the East African Community (EAC) has said.
The attack submarine USS Annapolis (SSN 760) rests in the Arctic Ocean after surfacing through three feet of ice during Ice Exercise 2009 on March 21, 2009. The two-week training exercise, which is used to test submarine operability and war-fighting capability in Arctic conditions, also involves the USS Helena (SSN 725), the University of Washington and personnel from the Navy Arctic Submarine Laboratory. (photo by Petty Officer 1st Class Tiffini M. Jones)
The Global War
- TIME – Israeli fighter-bombers, backed by unmanned drones, were responsible for a mid-January attack on a 23-truck convoy in the Sudanese desert carrying arms to Hamas militants, two highly placed Israeli security sources revealed to TIME. The attack was a warning to Iran and other adversaries, showing Israel’s intelligence capability and its willingness to mount operations far beyond its borders in order to defend itself from gathering threats. The sources revealed exclusive details about the bold air attack on what they said was an Iranian weapons convoy, which was transporting rockets and explosives destined for Gaza, where an Israeli assault was ongoing.
- China Daily – China expressed surprise about reports India had planned a secret military exercise targeting Beijing, the Foreign Ministry said yesterday. India’s Hindustan Times reported last week that the Indian army had on March 25 concluded a three-day military exercise codenamed Divine Matrix, based on the assumption a “nuclear-armed China will attack India before 2017″.
- NATO – NATO’s Afghanistan Report, 2009
- Islamic Finance blog – This paper—delivered at the Eighth Harvard University Forum on Islamic Finance in April 2008—tries to determine the primary cause or causes of the financial crises that have plagued almost every country around the world over the last three decades. Risk-sharing, which Islamic finance wishes to introduce, can help instill greater discipline in the system and curb lax lending
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20 March, 2009 (00:15) | Daily Roundup | By: Jeff Kouba
A brief world news roundup for 20 March 2009.
United States & the Americas
- WSJ – Attorney General Eric Holder said some detainees being held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, may end up being released in the U.S. as the Obama administration works with foreign allies to resettle some of the prisoners.
- HS Today – FBI counterterrorism agents and federal prosecutors in San Diego are conducting a grand-jury investigation of Islamist extremists suspected of recruiting local Somali-American youths to attend a terrorist training camp in the Middle East and return to launch attacks on fellow Americans.
- US Senate Armed Services Cmte – To receive testimony on United States Pacific Command, United States Strategic Command, and United States Forces Korea.
- AFPS – After years of downsizing, the U.S. Navy has nearly achieved its end-strength goal of 329,000 sailors, a senior naval officer said here today. The Navy has been reducing its ranks by 8,000 to 10,000 servicemembers a year for the past six to seven years, Holloway said, noting his service now is close to reaching its designed end-strength goal of about 329,000 sailors.
- US Army – Sergeant earns Silver Star for charging into face of enemy during ambush in Afghanistan
- Japan Today – Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez will visit Japan in early April to meet with Prime Minister Taro Aso, visiting Venezuelan energy minister Rafael Ramirez said Thursday. Ramirez announced Chavez’s planned visit when speaking to reporters after meeting with Aso at the prime minister’s office in Tokyo. Ramirez told Aso that Chavez is looking forward to visiting Japan in the near future, a Foreign Ministry official said. Chavez is known for his anti-American stance. His visit to Japan would be his second following one in 1999, the year he took office, according to Japan’s Foreign Ministry. Chavez and Aso are expected to discuss measures to expand bilateral economic relations, including boosting Venezuelan exports to Japan and cooperation on LNG projects in Venezuela.
- France24 – Venezuela will go ahead with the nationalization of the local unit of Spanish bank Grupo Santander, President Hugo Chavez said on Thursday, weeks after officials said the purchase was on hold. Since first winning office a decade ago, Chavez has nationalized large swathes of the OPEC nation’s economy and this year has moved to increase state control of farms and food production despite a sharp drop in oil income.
- Xinhua – The governments of Bolivia and U.S. are working in frame agreement to redirect their bilateral ties, based on respect to their sovereignty and dignity, Bolivian Foreign Minister David Choquehuanca said on Thursday. Choquehuanca said both nations are on permanent communication and they will hold meetings in Washington and La Paz.
- COHA – Bolivia’s Evo Morales’ European Tour 2009: Russia Flies the Flag Over Latin America and Everyone’s A Winner… Mostly
- AP – A purported top leader of Mexico’s Sinaloa drug cartel was in police custody Thursday. Vicente “El Vicentillo” Zambada was arrested before dawn Wednesday at a home in an elite Mexico City neighborhood, said Gen. Luis Arturo Oliver, the Mexican Defense Department’s deputy chief of operations. Oliver said Zambada became a top Sinaloa cartel leader last year, with control over logistics and the authority to order assassinations of government authorities and rivals.
Russia, Caucasus & Central Asia
- Kremlin – Dmitry Medvedev submitted the Agreement Between Member States of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation on Conducting Joint Military Exercises to the State Duma for ratification. The Agreement Between Member States of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation on Conducting Joint Military Exercises was signed in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, on 27 June 2007.
- RFERL – Russian strategic bombers have carried out their first training exercise of the year, firing cruise missiles at a training ground in northern Russia, Interfax news agency reported.
- RIA Novosti – The Russian Navy maintains a fleet of about 60 nuclear-powered and diesel-electric submarines, a senior Navy official said on Thursday. “These 60 vessels include 10 nuclear-powered strategic submarines, over 30 nuclear-powered attack submarines, diesel-electric submarines and special-purpose subs,” the source said. Delta-IV and Delta-III class subs form the backbone of Russia’s strategic submarine fleet. They each carry 16 ballistic missiles with multiple warheads, and feature advanced electronics and noise reduction.
- Itar-Tass – The Sevmash military shipyard in Severodvinsk is about to lay down a new fourth-generation submarine, chief press officer of the shipyard Mikhail Starozhilov told Itar-Tass on Thursday, March 19, Russia’s Submariner Day. He also noted a leading fourth-generation nuclear-powered, missile-carrying submarine “Yuri Dolgorukiy” (Project 955) is passing mooring exercises at the shipyard and is being prepared for a trial sea voyage.
- Interfax – Russian state revenues in 2009 will be 27.6% down on 2008 and 40% on what the amount prescribed in the initial 2009 budget, Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin said after a government meeting in setting out key points of a planned revised budget for this year.
- Russia Today – Ukraine has officially asked Russia to lend it $US 5 billion. Prime Minister Yulia Timoshenko is expected to visit Moscow to negotiate the credit.
- RIA Novosti – Police in the Russian North Caucasus republic of Kabardino-Balkaria have killed several militants hiding in the basement of a house, law enforcement agencies said Thursday.
- APA - Armenian armed forces began to hold trainings in the occupied lands of Azerbaijan, APA Karabakh bureau reports. Armenian armed forces began to carry out maneuvers with personnel, heavy artillery and armoured equipment in Uzundere, Aghdam. The trainings are continuing at present. Sounds of firing are heard in the villages near the contact line of Armenian and Azerbaijani troops.
- Robert Cutler – Turkey’s efforts to extract advantageous terms for permitting the transit of Azerbaijani gas to Europe are holding back a decision to further develop the Shah-Deniz gas field. That won’t last, given the range of routes available.
- Civil Georgia – Georgia will start building 500 kilovolt electricity line to Turkey this September to increase its export capabilities, the Georgian Energy Ministry said on March 19. The new high-voltage power line will add up to already existing 200 kilovolt line, linking the two countries.
- Oil and Glory – After much gnawing over the notion, the Bush administration decided last year to issue a White House invitation to Turkmenistan President Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov. That was wise, this trained dentist is one of a handful of indispensable players in Eurasian energy. Alas, the invitation was also late, geopolitical rival Vladimir Putin had marked up a several-year-long head start of mutual state visits between Moscow and Ashgabat.
- HRW – The Turkmen government should use the opportunity of today’s UN review of its record on human rights to commit to a genuine reform agenda, Human Rights Watch said today.
Middle East
- Al Sumaria – An old man and his wife were killed in their house as gunmen attacked them in Abdul Rahman Al Ghafeqi Street in June 1 District in southern Kirkuk. A police source in the city reported that a man and his wife were killed in a landmine explosion as they were driving in Mulla Mohammed village in Al Saadiya District. In Mosul, police Major Khalaf Mohammed said that a policeman was killed and two others were wounded in a suicide car bombing targeting a police patrol in Al Nabi Younes region in central the city.
- Deborah Haynes – The SAS are the unsung heroes of Britain’s six years in Iraq. Admired by their US counterparts, feared by insurgents and revered by the Iraqi military, British special forces have played a vital role in capturing or killing militants as well as reconciling rebels and training Iraqi commandos. Their formidable reputation and experience of covert missions in a war zone, however, mean that the two squadrons will be moved to Afghanistan to combat the Taleban leadership and opium smugglers, who help to fund insurgents.
- Voices of Iraq – Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa arrived in Najaf on Thursday morning to meet top Shiite cleric Sayyid Ali al-Sistani, said a media source.
- Haaretz – Israeli-manufactured unmanned aerial vehicles have been operating in the skies of Iraq and Afghanistan in the service of the United States-led coalition for the last three years. According to reports in foreign media, the unpiloted aircrafts are products of the Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI).
- NY Times – Israel arrested 10 Hamas leaders in the West Bank late Wednesday and early Thursday, including four legislators, in what Hamas said was an attempt to put pressure on the organization after the collapse of negotiations for the release of a captive Israeli soldier, Cpl. Gilad Shalit.
- MSNBC – Egyptian-mediated talks between the rival Palestinian groups Hamas and Fatah broke up Thursday, without a deal on a national unity government, participants said.
- Al Manar – Syrian President Bashar al-Assad will visit Jordan on Friday, for the first time in five years, for talks on regional developments, the palace said, 10 days ahead of an Arab summit.
- SANA – Turkish Foreign Minister Ali Babacan has said that issues of the Middle East are linked to each other and that results can be achieved regarding the peace in the Middle East if there was a position to address these problems as a whole. In a statement Thursday, Babacan added that Turkey is in constant contact and dialogue with both Syria and Iran on issues of the region.
Iran
- Jerusalem Post – A top-ranked Iranian defector told the United States that Iran was financing North Korean moves to make Syria into a nuclear weapons power, leading to an Israeli air strike that destroyed a secret reactor, a report said Thursday. The article in the daily Neue Zuercher Zeitung goes into detail about an Iranian connection and fills in gaps about Israel’s reported September 6 2007 raid that knocked out Syria’s nearly completed Al Kabir reactor in the country’s eastern desert. (original NZZ report here)
- Michael Ledeen – The Bush administration negotiated extensively with Tehran, in an effort to “bring Iran back into the family of nations.” Indeed, by early autumn 2006, they were convinced that a deal had been struck, and they were preparing the script for the public announcement. They were deceived, and the tale is worth careful study by anyone who thinks Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei’s Iran really wants good relations with the United States. Most of the story was broadcast by the BBC late last month, and it featured the Bush State Department’s point man on things Iranian, former undersecretary of state Nicholas Burns, who confirmed the basic facts on camera.
- McClatchy – In an unprecedented video message released today on the celebration of the Persian new year, President Barack Obama speaks directly to the Iranian people and government, saying his administration “is now committed to diplomacy that addresses the full range of issues before us” and that that the process “will not be advanced by threats.”
- MEMRI – In Iran, it was reported that Iranian journalist and blogger Omid Reza Mir Sayafi, in his 20s, has died in Evin prison in Tehran. He was imprisoned in November 2008 for insulting Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. It was also reported that 15 Kurdish political prisoners were executed recently.
- IRIB – The Public Relations of the Islamic Revolution Guard Corps (IRGC) revealed destruction of organized anti-IRI networks in the country. “Some of these networks organized plots against religious, security, culture and public virtue in Persian language in Internet,” the IRGC Public Relations reported on Thursday.
U.S. Army Sgt Robert Newman, right, leads his fire team on an early-morning patrol mission near Forward Operating Base Baylough in Zabul province, Afghanistan, March 19, 2009. Newman is assigned to Company B, 1st Battalion, 4th Infantry Regiment, U.S. Army Europe. (photo by Staff Sgt. Adam Mancini)
South Asia
- Al Jazeera – Dad Mohammad Khan, a prominent Afghan politician, has been killed by a roadside bomb, Afghan officials say. Four other Afghans died alongside Khan when a bomb blew up their vehicle on Thursday.
- ABC – Three of the most dangerous Taliban leaders in Pakistan, once arch-enemies, have formed an alliance that could threaten thousands of American troops set to arrive across the border in Afghanistan this year, according to an exclusive interview with one of the commanders.
- Australia DoD – An Australian soldier has been killed by an improvised explosive device (IED) while conducting operations in southern Afghanistan. Australian soldiers were conducting a route clearance early this morning local time when the IED was detected. In the course of dealing with the device there was an explosion.
- Geo – At least eight people were killed and 30 others wounded when security forces and militants clashed here on Thursday. According to reports, suspected militants fired mortar shells at a FC post in Tehsil Landi Kotal after which fierce clash erupted between security forces and militants.
- Daily Times – Security forces arrested 14 Taliban at the Gammon checkpost in Khawazakhela tehsil of Swat district on Thursday, official sources told Daily Times. Armed Taliban came out on the roads in Alam Gunj and Dakorak areas to protest the arrest. However, the sources said the security forces released the Taliban soon after the arrest.
- Mukhtar Khan – A Profile of Militant Groups in Bajaur Tribal Agency
- Dawn – New CIA chief Leon Panetta was in India Thursday for high-level talks on the worsening violence in Pakistan and Afghanistan, sending a signal of the deepening ties between Washington and New Delhi, AFP reported. Panetta, who arrived in New Delhi late Wednesday, held ‘exhaustive discussions’ with Indian Home Minister Palaniappan Chidambaram, an Indian official said on condition he not be named.
- AKI – The kidnappers of a Canadian journalist have demanded two million dollars for her release. Khadija Al Qahar was kidnapped with two local guides in Pakistan’s restive Northwest Frontier Province on 20 November last year. A video-tape was delivered to the local press club on Wednesday. In the video the kidnappers reportedly threatened to kill the Canadian if their demands were not met by 30 March.
- Javno – Thousands of people marched in the streets of a southern Kashmir town on Thursday, accusing Indian police of killing a Muslim carpenter, witnesses said, the second incident in a month involving security forces. Villagers accused federal police of gunning down Malik near his home on Wednesday night. Police said they retaliated after coming under heavy fire from separatist militants.
- Sri Lanka MoD – At least 23 terrorists were killed and as many reported injured on Wednesday (March 18) as 58 Division infantrymen ran into identified LTTE resistance positions located in general area Northeast of Puthukkudiyirippu.
- Daily Star – The Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) authorities are about to complete the process of rebuilding the paramilitary force that lost most of its high officials during the mutiny at the BDR headquarters. The authorities have already appointed most of the 12 sector commanders, commanding officers of 46 battalions, directors of various branches and institutions and other officials. The BDR mutineers killed all 12 sector commanders, three of four directors for training, communications and administration, and three commanding officers of four battalions in Dhaka sector, sources said
Far East & Pacific
- Chosun Ilbo – Two American journalists were arrested by North Korean soldiers on entering the reclusive country to report about North Korean refugees at the border with China in Yanji, Jilin Province on Tuesday.
- Yonhap – North Korea has been deploying new intermediate-range ballistic missiles capable of hitting Alaska, the commander of the U.S. Forces in Korea said Thursday.
- Straits Times – Australia and China will hold the second round of a ‘strategic dialogue’ on global and regional security in Beijing next week, Foreign Minister Stephen Smith said on Friday.
- VietNamNet – Vietnam and China discussed measures to promote cooperation at the third session of their steering committee for bilateral cooperation in Hanoi on March 19. The Chinese official announced that his government has decided to provide preferential loans worth US$300 million to Vietnam. They welcomed the result of border demarcation and landmark planting to build a common borderline of peace, friendship and long-term stability. Delegates agreed to proceed with negotiations of maritime issues to maintain peace and stability at sea.
- Irrawaddy – Burmese military preparedness along the country’s land and sea borders with Bangladesh was stepped up this week, although the reason for the latest increase in tension is not clear. Bangladeshi border troops were put on alert on March 16 after reporting unusual movements by Burmese forces, who also began to build a barbed wire fence along the 200 km frontier between the two countries.
- Earth Times – A road bomb planted by suspected Muslim separatists killed four paramilitary soldiers patrolling an insurgent-infested zone in Thailand’s southern province of Pattani, military sources said.
- Manila Times – The chairman of the Philippine National Red Cross on Thursday expressed confidence that a leader of a radical Muslim group would honor their “gentlemen’s agreement” and free one of the three hostages the group was holding—if the military pulled back from where the captives were being held.
Europe
- Khaleej Times – Britain’s tight timetable for building a new generation of nuclear-armed submarines raises questions over its ability to maintain a continuous nuclear deterrent in the 2020s, lawmakers said on Thursday. Since 1968, Britain-one of the five legally-recognised nuclear weapons states-has had a policy of having at least one nuclear-armed submarine on patrol at all times. But a report by parliament’s Public Accounts Committee said there were doubts over Britain’s ability to continue to do so as it replaces its existing submarines equipped with Trident missiles with a new fleet.
- France24 – An estimated 213 separate demonstrations take place on Thursday all over France, according to the CGT union, which also includes 18 more marches than there were on the previous general strike. French unions staged a massive movement on January 29, when 2.5 million demonstrators took to the streets. “To say that the country is paralysed by this strike would be an exaggeration,” said FRANCE 24 correspondent Richard Tompsett, reporting from Paris’s Saint Lazare train station at 7:30 am this morning.
- Jurist – The Italian judge presiding over the kidnapping trail of 26 Americans and seven Italians on Wednesday postponed the trial until April 22. Judge Oscar Magi suspended the case in order to allow Italy’s Constitutional Court to explain its ruling last week excluding certain evidence from the case on the grounds of national securit.
- Expatica – The German city of Munich, best known for Bayern Munich, lederhosen and its beer festival, is also home to the world’s largest community of Uighurs, an ethnic minority from China’s extreme west. And the southern city, Germany’s third largest, is also the first city in the world to say it is prepared to take in 17 Uighurs held in Guantanamo Bay for seven years, although they were cleared of any wrongdoing.
- RFERL – Among the issues European leaders meeting in Brussels plan to discuss at their two-day summit is an initiative by the European Commission to spend 5 billion euros for investments in European infrastructure. Originally, it was expected that the Nabucco pipeline project would get part of that money. Nabucco is meant to bring gas from the Caspian Sea to Southeast and Central Europe, bypassing Russia. However, it appears the EU funding deal is now off the table, at Berlin’s insistence.
- CSM – Norway’s biggest headache right now is not the financial crisis. Rather, the predominantly Christian nation is plagued by a religious dilemma over the right of a Muslim woman to wear a hijab as part of her police uniform. As the controversy has escalated, the country has seen the physical collapse of the justice minister, the public burning of a hijab, and a substantial rise in the popularity of Norway’s anti-immigrant opposition party just six months before general elections.
- Al Arabiya – Believers file quietly out of a mosque into the cold night in Rosengard, a neighborhood at the center of a heated debate over Sweden’s failure to integrate immigrants amid reports that radical Islamists now control the area.
- The Local – Sten Tolgfors on Thursday presented a government bill designed to shape the future look of Sweden’s defence forces. “This is the largest reform in several decades,” said Tolgfors, adding that Sweden will be well suited to defend against existing threats. “This will be a major strengthening of Sweden’s defence capabilities.” According to Tolgfors, Sweden is set to have a more usable military with smaller and more flexible units which can cooperate with one another..
- Czech News – An unknown perpetrator fixed a pig head without eyes on the fence of the mosque in Prague’s Kyje district along with an inscription Stop Islam on Wednesday night, police spokesman Jan Mikulovsky told CTK, adding that the police are checking whether an offence or a crime has been committed.
Africa
- Shabelle – Ethiopian officers have met with government officials in Eel Barde town in Bakool region, witnesses told Shabelle radio on Thursday. Reports say that the Ethiopian troops were from Ethiopia and met with the transitional government officials those were chased forcibly from Bay and Bakol regions after bitter fighting between them and Islamist insurgents of al-Shabab who controls the regions. Locals who refused to be disclosed told Shabelle radio that the meeting had been a closed doors meeting and talked more on matters relating yesterday’s fighting in Bay and Bakool regions and added that the Ethiopian officers gave a military supply and other equipments to the transitional government officials.
- Sudan Tribune – Ethiopia on Thursday said that its forces has entirely destroyed OLF (Oromo liberation Front) and ONLF (Ogaden National Liberation Front) rebels who were regrouping in the south east part of the country. According to a statement released by the ministry of defense, Ethiopian forces in a military mission carried out during the past few days have killed and captured undisclosed number of top military leaders and fighters of the OLF and ONLF.
- Press TV – The government of Botswana has withdrawn its peace-keeping troops from war-torn Sudan. Speaking to Press TV in the country’s capital, Gaborone, Justice, Defense and Security Minister, Dikgakgamatso Seretse, said the southern African country decided to pull out its troops from Sudan because of unrest where its peace keeping contingent are deployed.
- MAP – China donated Morocco some 1.46 million dollars (12 million dirhams) to fund technology-related projects. The donation agreement was signed Thursday by Minister in charge of Economy and Finance, Salaheddine Mezouar, and visiting Chinese Vice Minister of Commerce, Fu Ziying. The two officials lauded, on this occasion, the friendship and cooperation relations shared by Morocco and China, expressing their countries’ readiness to boost bilateral relations and hoist them to the level of the excellent political relations.
- BBC- Namibia’s President Hifikepunye Pohamba has declared a state of emergency in six northern districts after floods killed at least 90 people. He said the floods could be one of the worst disasters of its kind in recent memory and warned of food shortages. Angola has also been affected by the floods – 25,000 people have lost their homes and several others have died in the southern province of Cunene.
- IRIN – Guineans and the international community are watching to see whether the country’s coup leader will accept a civil society proposal to hold an election in 2009 that would put a civilian leader in his place.
- afrol – The Gambian court has freed opposition leader Halifa Sallah from jail with all the charges against him dropped. Mr Sallah who was arrested earlier this month, was charged with spying, sedition and holding illegal meetings. His release comes just a day after human rights organisation Amnesty International appealed for his release saying he was at risk of being tortured in jail also saying the country will not hold a fair trial for the man.
- UN – The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has registered more than 5,200 refugees in Chad who fled intensified fighting between Government forces and rebels in the north of their native Central African Republic (CAR) last December.
The Los Angeles class attack submarine USS Scranton gets under way after a routine port visit to Souda Bay, Crete, Greece, March 17, 2009. Scranton is part of the Eisenhower Carrier Strike Group and is deployed to the U.S. 6th Fleet area of responsibility. (photo by Paul Farley)
The Global War
- AP – Osama bin Laden urged Somalis on Thursday to overthrow their new president, issuing a statement that clearly outlines al-Qaida’s ambitions in a nation long feared to be a haven for the terrorist network. Bin Laden’s 11 1/2-minute audiotape was entirely focused on Somalia.
- Pajamas Media – Sharia and Jihad Review with Steve Emerson
- CNN – Russian military aircraft flew just 500 feet over two U.S. Navy ships this week as the ships participated in a joint military exercise with South Korea in the Sea of Japan, according to U.S. military officials. On Monday, two Russian Ilyushin IL-38 maritime patrol aircraft, known as “Mays,” overflew the U.S. aircraft carrier Stennis while it was in international waters in the Sea of Japan.
- CSIS – Choosing Asia as Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s first overseas trip has gotten the Obama administration off on the right foot in dealing with this vitally important region. What’s needed now is a clearly articulated vision of America’s future role in Asia and a well thought out strategy for getting us from here to there. This was one of the central conclusions of a report on “The United States and the Asia-Pacific Region: Security Strategy for the Obama Administration.”
- platts – Refiners in the Asia-Pacific are girding for tough times, more so than their peers elsewhere in the world. Not only is regional products demand fading faster than the economic decoupling theory, but new high complexity capacity coming on stream in China and India threatens a flood of middle and light distillates at a time major Western export markets are vanishing. Analysts sketching the unfolding gloom and doom scenario of forced run cuts, shriveling refining margins and the possible mothballing of plants are sounding the alarm bells in particular for Japan and South Korea and for hydroskimmers across the Asia-Pacific.
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c.jpg "Deputy Secretary of Defense William Lynn escorts Brazilian Minister of Defense Nelson Jobim")
