A proposal to make Buddhism the national religion of Thailand in the country’s new constitution has sparked huge debate. Though overwhelmingly Buddhist (95% of the country), Thailand is in the grips of escalating strife in the southern, predominantly Muslim parts… Read moreThailand debates religion —as terror escalates
Leaders of the South Asian Association of Regional Cooperation (SAARC) nations, meeting in New Delhi, pledged to make “tangible progress” in the next six months on issues of water, energy, food and environment. Two agreements were signed — on setting… Read moreEnvironment, free trade, terror top South Asia summit agenda
Thailand’s daily The Nation reports that “suspected militants” fired grenades into two mosques in Yala’s Yaha district April 4, wounding 15 Muslim worshippers. In the first attack, assailants fired M-79 grenades into the Hassaladawa Yaha mosque during morning prayers. The… Read moreThailand: more mosques attacked
Indonesia has collected DNA samples from relatives of major terrorism suspects, police officials said March 26 at the opening of a new DNA laboratory developed jointly with the Australian Federal Police. Indonesian national police chief General Sutanto told reporters that… Read moreIndonesia: DNA surveillance of “terrorists”
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
Suspected Islamist separatists shot and killed three Buddhist women involved with a project for victims of Thailand’s insurgency March 19. The victims were headed to work at a farm project funded by Thailand’s Queen Sirikit in the Nong Chik district… Read moreBuddhist women killed in new Thailand attack
More than 500 Muslim villagers gathered at southern Thailand’s Sabaiyoi town March 18 to demand justice after a midnight attack on an Islamic school left two young students dead and eight wounded. Students were asleep at the boarding school when… Read moreThailand: who is behind school-house attack?
From AP, March 16: NORTHAMPTON – Maha Ghosananda, a Nobel Peace Prize-nominated monk who rebuilt Buddhism in Cambodia after the fall of the Khmer Rouge, has died. Ghosananda, who lived in Leverett and Providence, R.I., was believed to be in… Read moreGhosananda, “Gandhi of Cambodia,” dies in Massachusetts
Rear Admiral Paul Zukunft of the US Joint Inter-Agency Task Force-West claimed evidence that secret laboratories for producing methamphetamine are operating in areas of the Phiilippines where Maoist and Islamic rebels have a strong presence, and that the guerillas are… Read moreNarco-guerillas in the Philippines?
Eight Thai civilians—all Buddhists—were killed in the troubled south of Thailand when their van was shot upon by suspected Islamist guerrillas March 15. Thai security officials suspect that the attack was meant coincide with the founding of the National Revolutionary… Read moreDeadly separatist attack in southern Thailand
Australia’s military adventure in East Timor is starting to smell more like a small counterinsurgency war than a “peacekeeping” mission—if the world were paying any attention. From Catholic News, March 14: Timor priest accuses Aussie troops As fugitive Timorese rebel… Read moreEast Timor: headed towards counter-insurgency?
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
