Frederick Vreeland, a former deputy assistant secretary of state for Near East and South Asia affairs and former US ambassador to Morocco, has an op-ed in the March 3 New York Times on the usually obscure crisis in Western Sahara,… Read moreWestern Sahara makes NYT op-ed page —but not Sahrawi perspective
Twelve Islamic militants were convicted of terrorism-related charges in Morocco March 2, including eight with alleged ties to al-Qaeda who supposedly had volunteered to fight in Iraq. The appeals court in Sale handed down prison terms of two to 15… Read moreTerror convictions, clemency in Morocco
Australian “peacekeeping” troops killed four in a raid on rebels in East Timor March 4, but their leader Alfredo Reinado escaped. Reinado, who deserted the army last year and is wanted for his alleged role in deadly clashes that brought… Read moreDisplacement crisis, growing Australian intervention in East Timor
Increasing violence between guerillas and government forces in Central African Republic (CAR) has displaced an estimated 220,000 people, including 150,000 “internally displaced persons” (IDPs) and 66,000 refugees who have fled to Chad and Cameroon. In December, France sent special forces… Read moreDisplacement crisis, French intervention in Central African Republic
With key pillars of the Coalition of the Willing starting to defect, the US seems to be pressing allies for cannon fodder in some unlikely corners of “New Europe.” Sifet Podzic, chief of the Joint Command of the Armed Forces… Read moreBosnia: no more troops to Iraq
Days after a Russian general unsubtly threatened to nuke Poland and the Czech Republic following the announcement that they would host US anti-missile bases, comes the disturbing news that US radar stations related to the missile defense program are slated… Read moreUS plans anti-missile radar bases for Caucasus
The latest entry in the global wave of anti-Semitism which the left is always trying to tell us is “illusory.” This sort of thing seems to be especially popular in Russia of late. From JTA, March 2: Vandals scrawled swastikas… Read moreVladivostok synagogue vandalized —again
The potential for Iraqi Kurdistan to be the flashpoint for a wider regional conflict is becoming increasingly clear. On March 1, a former member of the Turkish National Security Council (MGK) weighed in on the brewing crisis in Kirkuk, which… Read moreTurkey rattles sabre at Iraqi Kurds; Kurdish guerillas attack Iran
“Zionists are the true incarnation of Satan,” Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad announced in a lecture to Sudanese officials and intellectuals during his visit to Khartoum March 1. “The Zionist regime is the symbol of hedonism and the incarnation of the… Read moreAhmadinejad does Sudan, bashes “incarnation of Satan”
The Bosnian Serb Republic issued a formal apology Feb. 28 for crimes committed in Bosnia’s 1992-5 civil war, and especially the Srebrenica massacre. But the statement stopped short of using the word “genocide.” (Jurnalo, Germany, Feb. 28) Meanwhile, Sarajevo Univeristy… Read moreBosnia: “genocide creation” apologizes for genocide —almost
Pakistan’s daily Dawn reports March 2 that the country’s security forces have captured Mullah Obaidullah Akhund, deputy to the elusive Taliban chief, Mullah Mohammad Omar. The newspaper cited a government official in Quetta, who spoke on condition of anonymity. Mullah… Read morePakistan cracking down on Taliban —or backing them?
Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki’s new security plan for Baghdad grants military commanders sweeping powers to arrest people and restrict their basic freedoms of speech and association, Human Rights Watch says in a March 2 statement. On Feb. 13, al-Maliki… Read moreIraq: rights observers protest martial law
