The rival Moro guerrilla groups in the Philippines have agreed to talks after a meeting in Manila with Saiful Islam Qadaffi, eldest son of Libyan President Moammar Qadaffi. The Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) and Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF)… Read moreMoro factions pledge peace in Philippines
Eight people were killed in a four-hour gun battle between police and thieves in the Villa Hermosa suburb of Guatemala City. An armed gang had robbed a jeweller in a shopping center, killing a security guard. Hundreds of Special Forces… Read moreCrime wars rock Guatemala
In an unusual ruling, a Danish court acquitted seven leftist activists—who had sent funds to the FARC in Colombia and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine—of sponsoring terrorism. The panel of judges ruled that though both groups were… Read moreDanish court: FARC, PFLP not terrorists
Security forces are on alert in Bolivia ahead of rallies planned in four eastern departments to inaugurate declarations of autonomy. Rejecting the draft constitution recently completed by supporters of President Evo Morales, regional assembly members in Santa Cruz Dec. 13… Read moreBolivia on the brink?
Iraq’s Foreign Minister Hosheyar Zebari met with officials in Damascus Dec. 12, with both governments agreeing to speed reactivation of the oil pipeline from the Kirkuk fields to Syria’s Banias terminal on the Mediterranean. The Syrian government pledged to help… Read moreIraq, Syria pledge pipeline reactivation
Ruling in a case brought by Nicaragua, the International Court of Justice found Dec. 13 that three Caribbean islands in the disputed San Andrés Archipelago belong to Colombia under a 1928 treaty. But the ICJ said the treaty did not… Read moreWorld Court rules for Colombia in round one of Nicaraguan maritime dispute
The legal advisor to the Convening Authority for Military Commissions at Guantanamo Bay testified before members of Congress Dec. 11 that evidence gathered from interrogation techniques such as waterboarding may be admissible during military commission proceedings if it is “reliable… Read moreWaterboarding evidence may be admissible in Gitmo trials: legal advisor
For once we get some joy from being able to say “told you so.” When the Liberty Seven were first busted lasted year, we called out the case against them as bogus. It is a glimmer of hope that a… Read moreMiami: case against Liberty Seven goes down to defeat
Democratic Republic of Congo Armed Forces (FARDC) troops clashed again Dec. 13 with forces loyal to renegade general Laurent Nkunda in the Gungu heights of North Kivu province. Earlier in the week, Nkunda’s fighters forced back government troops and reclaimed… Read moreDRC government loses ground in Kivu war
A Peruvian court Dec. 11 sentenced former president Alberto Fujimori to six years in prison for abusing his powers by ordering an illegal search of the home of Trinidad Becerra, wife of his fugitive spymaster Vladimiro Montesinos in November 2000…. Read morePeru: Fujimori convicted; new case opens in 1991 massacre
On Dec. 10, Chiquita Brands filed a motion to dismiss in a case brought by 144 survivors of Colombian paramilitary victims in federal district court in Washington DC. The case, first filed in June under the Alien Tort Statue, holds… Read moreColombia: Chiquita cases open window into para arms pipeline
Mexican army troops detained the supposed leader of the powerful Gulf Cartel in Tampico, Tamaulipas, Dec. 12. Forces of the Eighth Military Zone claimed Marco Antonio Ramírez del Río, alias “Tony La Palma,” is successor to Luis Reyes Enríquez, known… Read moreMexican troops hunt narco forces in Tampico
