Major clashes broke out in Basra, Iraq’s second city, March 21—apparently between Fadhila and Mahdi Army forces, two Shi’ite factions. The fighting comes only days after the withdrawal of British troops from the city, citing recent “progress” in security there…. Read moreIraq: clashes in Basra, terror in Mosul
On March 21, Hardy and Kathy Will, parents of slain New York Indymedia journalist Bradley Roland Will, visited the Oaxaca barrio where their son was gunned down while filming street protests Oct. 27. Accompanied by dozens of supporters, they left… Read moreOaxaca: Brad Will’s parents visit slay site
In the early morning hours of March 19, some 75 members of the Popular Assembly of the People of Oaxaca (APPO), who had been maintaining a vigil encampment in front of the Senate building in Mexico City since early October,… Read moreOaxaca protest camp evicted by Mexico City police
The Colombian government says that it will seek the extradition of eight unnamed people affiliated with the US banana giant Chiquita Brands International for their alleged involvement in the company’s payments to illegal right-wing paramilitary groups. The Chicago Tribune reports… Read moreColombia seeks eight in Chiquita terrorist scandal
Colombian prosecutors have opened a criminal probe of 20 leading political figures for signing a 2001 document with Salvatore Mancuso and other leaders of the illegal paramilitaries in a secret meeting at Mancuso’s base at Santa Fe Ralito, Córdoba department…. Read moreColombia: probe widens in para scandal
At least three suspected Shining Path guerillas were killed March 20 in a gun battle with Peruvian solidiers in Huachocolpa, Huancavelica department. According to a statement from Peru’s Defense Ministry, the confrontation occurred in the early morning hours when soldiers… Read morePeru: army kill three in clash with Shining Path
The threat of terrorism has allowed governments around the world to crackdown on the rights of ethnnic minorities, according to the latest annual report by the London-based Minority Rights Group International. The report finds that key allies of the US… Read moreReport: ethnic minorities under threat in GWOT
Mamdouh Habib, a “rendition” victim and former detainee at Guantanamo Bay, is running for a state parliamentary seat in New South Wales, Australia. He was picked up in Pakistan in October 2001, transferred to Egypt where he was tortured, then… Read moreEx-Gitmo detainee runs for office in Australia
Indonesian police shot dead a suspected Islamist militant believed to be linked to Abu Dujana, the purported current leader of the Jemaah Islamiah network, blamed for the 2002 Bali bombings that killed more than 200 people. One militant was also… Read morePolice kill jihadist in Indonesia
As Bangladesh prepares to hang six militants convicted in a string of bombings, a newly “interrogated” member of the network claims some 5,000 followers of outlawed Islamist groups are still active in the country, and receiving aid from supporters abroad,… Read moreBangladesh: terror suspect claims 5,000 militants
Residents of Somalia’s capital Mogadishu report that hundreds of militants clashed with Ethiopian and Somali government forces, in fighting that left dozens dead in the northeastern quarter of the city March 20. Insurgents set fire to the bodies of killed… Read moreSomalia: pitched battle in Mogadishu —as “official” regime moves in
Continuing protests over the suspension of the chief justice, thousands of opposition activsts and lawyers rallied in major cities across Pakistan and clashed with police, demanding President Pervez Musharraf’s resignation. In Islamabad, around 1,000 protesters staged an angry rally outside… Read morePakistan: protests sweep nation over judicial crisis
