PEACE NEGOTIATIONS WATCH
Thursday, March 8, 2007
(Volume VI, Number 5)
Contents:
Burundi
AU creates South African force for
Burundi
The troops will help
integrate the
Forces
of National Liberation
rebels.
Chechnya
Chechnya Legislature
Confirms Putin Pick
Vote to approve the widely feared former security chief was nearly unanimous.
Democratic
Republic of
Congo
Senior UN children's
rights official visits DR Congo
The talks are
aimed
at drawing attention to the use of child soldiers in the
country.
Democratic Republic of Congo Negotiation Simulation Click here to access the DR Congo Negotiation Simulation.
Georgia
Separatist Abkhazia
holds parliament vote
Leader says that
elections
are going calmly and “in accordance with all democratic
norms.”
Georgia brands Abkhazia election 'illegal'
President Saakashvili says the results "will not be recognized by anyone.”
U.S. rejects validity of elections in breakaway Georgian region of Abkhazia
State Department spokesman claims the elections damage international efforts to settle the region’s status.
Ivory
Coast
Ivory Coast leader
signs accord with rebels
The accord is the
first fruit of a "direct dialogue" initiative launched at the beginning of
February.
Peace accord hailed across Ivory Coast
Although accord called a “source of hope,” some doubts linger regarding its implementation.
Kashmir
Murder charges filed against policemen linked to Kashmir
killing
The seven policemen were accused of killing a
carpenter and pretending he was an Islamic militant.
Top rebel linked to Hindu massacres killed in Kashmir
Police spokesman said
the death is a big setback to the
militants.
Kashmir Negotiation Simulation
Click here to access the
Kashmir
Negotiation
Simulation.
Kosovo
Talks end with rival
sides 'diametrically opposed' on Kosovo's future
U.N. envoy
says
he will now review the points raised during the final round of talks "and see
what sort of adjustments we might make."
War crimes trial of ex-Kosovo PM starts Monday
The trial of Haradinaj is the second case at the Hague involving Kosovo Albanian suspects.
American Troops In Kosovo May Lose Their Combat Status
Such a decision would indicate that Pentagon officials do not believe Kosovo is still a combat zone.
Kosovo Negotiation Simulation Click here to access the Kosovo Negotiation Simulation.
Moldova
Moldovan civil war
veterans call for withdrawal of Russian troops
Veterans
also
accused
Russia of sparking the 1992 separatist war.
Morocco
Associated Press: Morocco
Top official says Morocco will present an autonomy plan for
Western Sahara to the U.N. next month.
Nepal
Two killed in Nepal
ethnic clash
Deaths came
as
Nepal experienced nationwide strike and blockade organized by ethnic
groups.
Nepal's former rebel chief, PM discuss forming joint government
But no date was set for Maoists’ entry into the government.
Somalia
UN Somali relief
effort aiming for base in Mogadishu
Kenya was the
alternate location for the base of aid operation.
Mortars
slam into Mogadishu airport as peacekeepers arrive in Somalia; gun battle
ensues
Ugandan peacekeepers had just arrived
in the capital.
Sri
Lanka
Tigers accuse Sri
Lanka troops of killing six civilians
LTTE said five
civilians killed by security forces while the sixth was killed in a mortar
bomb attack by troops.
Norwegian ambassador to hold talks with Tamil Tiger leadership
Tiger spokesman declined to elaborate on what will be discussed.
Sri Lanka Negotiation Simulation Click here to access the Sri Lanka Negotiation Simulation.
Sudan
Ex-Sudan
PM Explains Resistance to U.N.
Claims the government is resisting U.N. peacekeepers in
Darfur because it knows the U.N. troops would help hunt down war crimes
suspects for the ICC.
A search for oil raises the
stakes in war-torn Darfur
The government has recently awarded
three new oil concessions in the region.
Genocide in Darfur: A Legal Analysis Click here to access the PILPG Report.
Peace Negotiations Watch is prepared by the Public International Law & Policy Group in cooperation with American University and is made possible by a grant from the Carnegie Corporation of New York and the Ploughshares Fund.
Burundi
AU creates South African force for Burundi
Agence France Presse, 2/28/07
The African Union on Wednesday officially created a peacekeeping force of more
than 1,500 South African troops for Burundi to help integrate the country's
last active rebel movement.
The pan-African body has taken over from the United Nations to facilitate the
integration of the Forces of National Liberation (FNL) into a broader peace
process.
"This unit will have some 1,500 South African soldiers and a mandate of six
months," Mamadou Bah, AU representative in Burundi, told journalists.
"We have to do everything so that the integration of the FNL ends within this
delay."
Bah signed an accord with Burundi foreign minister Antoinette Batumubwira for
the creation of the AU force in line with a September 7 ceasefire, which has
yet to be fully implemented even if fighting has stopped.
In December, South Africa's 768 UN peacekeeping troops in Burundi were
transferred under the authority of the African Union.
South Africa last week agreed to deploy a further 1,100 troops as part of the
AU special task force in Burundi.
The civil conflict in the small nation pitted the army, dominated until
recently by the Tutsi minority, against various Hutu rebel movements.
Chechnya Legislature Confirms Putin Pick
Musa Sadulayev, Associated Press, 3/2/07
Chechnya's parliament approved a widely feared former security chief as
president of the war-battered Russian republic in a nearly unanimous vote
Friday, a day after President Vladimir Putin nominated him.
The confirmation of Ramzan Kadyrov, which had been seen as a foregone
conclusion, cements his rise to power. His nomination won 56 votes in the
58-member, two-chamber legislature, with two ballots ruled invalid.
Human rights groups allege that security forces under Kadyrov's control abduct
and torture civilians suspected of ties to Chechnya's separatist rebels. Some
observers suggest he was tied to last year's murder of Anna Politkovskaya, a
journalist who had reported extensively on Chechnya's wars and sufferings.
Kadyrov has denied any involvement.
Kadyrov also is credited with a reconstruction boom that he administered as
the region's prime minister, under which the capital, Grozny, is being
transformed from a moonscape of rubble and shattered buildings in a region
devastated by two separatist wars since the Soviet collapse.
Kadyrov has been at the heart of a Kremlin strategy to crush continued rebel
resistance and establish order in the mostly Muslim region. He turned 30 in
October, the minimum age for president, and had been expected to seek the job.
He became acting president after last week's dismissal of Alu Alkhanov, who
had increasingly criticized Kadyrov.
Kadyrov is the son of Chechnya's first pro-Moscow president, Akhmad Kadyrov,
who was assassinated in 2004. The elder Kadyrov became president in 2003 in a
Kremlin-conducted aimed at undermining rebels by creating the image of
Chechens being allowed a high degree of self-determination.
As prime minister, the younger Kadyrov led a largely federally funded campaign
to rebuild the region. Two wars in the past dozen years between Russian forces
and separatist rebels who increasingly voiced militant Islamic ideology left
much of the republic in ruins and its people gripped by fear and resentment.
Major offensives died down early this decade, but small clashes continue and
rebels attack Russian forces with booby-traps and remotely detonated
explosives.
Construction and repairs have transformed the capital, Grozny, and the
second-largest city, Gudermes. Buildings have been plastered with banners
praising Kadyrov and his late father, part of a personality cult he claims to
oppose.
But prominent Russian groups boycotted a human rights conference in Grozny
this week, saying that attending would lend his government legitimacy. Council
of Europe human rights commissioner Thomas Hammarberg, who was at the
conference, said Friday that Chechnya continues to be plagued by allegations
of torture and by officials' failure to respond to families seeking
information about missing relatives.
Hammarberg declined to comment when asked for his opinion on Kadyrov as
president and he did not point to Kadyrov's forces as responsible for abuses.
Of the detainees whom he interviewed in Chechnya that complained of torture,
"several of them pointed at the activities of the federal police," he said in
Moscow.
He recommended that Chechnya set up a "truth commission" similar to those in
Latin American countries to try to bring those responsible for abuses to
light.
Analysts say Putin has entrusted Kadyrov with power in part because he is seen
as the only person who can keep large numbers of former rebels under control.
Many former rebels now serve in the police and security forces.
But his growing clout is also seen as a risk for the Kremlin, particularly
after Putin steps down at the end of his second term next year. Some see
Kadyrov's loyalty to Russia as closely tied to his relationship with Putin.
Kadyrov has repeatedly praised Putin but has criticized the Russian government
and the state-run oil company OAO Rosneft, calling for greater economic
freedom for Chechnya and for a larger share of its oil revenues.
Analysts say that with the power to foment new turmoil in fragile Chechnya and
create serious problems for Russia, he could take a more demanding stance if
his relations with the Kremlin become clouded.
The first war between rebels and Moscow's forces began in December 1994 and
ended 20 months later with a humiliating Russian withdrawal after rebels
fought them to standstill. Three years of de-facto independence followed,
during which Chechnya became notoriously lawless, plagued by kidnappings and
increasingly influenced by militant Islam.
Fighting resumed in 1999 after Chechen insurgents invaded neighboring
Dagestan, apparently aiming to set up an Islamic caliphate, and after some 300
people were killed in apartment bombings that Russian authorities blamed on
the rebels.
Chechen rebels have been involved in most of the terrorist attacks that have
plagued Russia for more than a decade.
Senior UN children's rights official visits DR Congo
Agence France Presse, 3/5/07
A senior UN official was set Monday to hold talks with the Democratic Republic
of Congo aimed at drawing attention to the use of child soldiers in the
restive African country.
Radhika Coomaraswamy, the UN secretary general's special representative for
children and armed conflict, is on a five-day tour were she will also
highlight sexual abuse of minors and infringements of children's rights.
Last month a United Nations mission (MONUC) condemned the alleged deployment
of between 150 and 230 children by the DRC armed forces.
Coomaraswamy will travel to the eastern provinces of Bukavu and Ituri on
Tuesday to meet with victims of war and non-government organisations to
discuss "serious violations of children's rights," said MONUC.
The visit has been organised by the UN Security Council following a report by
the secretary general on the use of child soldiers in the country, ravaged by
civil conflict.
Last month 11 soldiers were killed in renewed violence between Rwandan Hutu
rebels and DRC troops. A MONUC spokesman said 22,000 people were displaced
during the clashes.
Democratic Republic of Congo Negotiation Simulation
Separatist Abkhazia holds parliament vote
Agence France Presse, 3/4/07
The breakaway Georgian province of Abkhazia held elections to the territory's
parliament on Sunday, Russian news agencies reported, as Georgians outside the
territory held protests on its perimeter.
About 130,000 people are eligible to vote in the election to the 35-seat
parliament of Abkhazia, which is located in northwest Georgia by the Black Sea
and is not recognized internationally, the Interfax news agency reported.
Abkhazia's leader, president Sergei Bagapsh, said that the election was being
conducted fairly as he visited the Gali district that borders the rest of
Georgia and is mainly populated by ethnic Georgians.
"Despite the fact that Georgia tried everything to frighten the local
population in Gali, people are going to the polls and participating," Bagapsh
was quoted by Interfax as saying.
"So far the elections are going calmly in accordance with all democratic
norms," he said.
Officials at the Abkhaz administration in Sukhumi declined to comment on the
election when contacted by AFP by telephone from Tbilisi.
A few hundred opponents of the separatist administration protested at the
border overlooking Abkhazia after camping overnight around a bonfire and after
a larger protest was held on Saturday, local reporters at the scene said.
"No one is voting, neither Abkhaz or Georgians. Bagapsh had to go to Gali to
raise the level of activity," said protest leader Paata Shamugia, an official
for the Gali district appointed by Tbilisi, speaking by telephone.
Georgian national television showed footage of a bonfire by the television
tower in Sukhumi that it said had been lit in solidarity with the Georgian
state.
On Saturday Abkhaz officials threatened that their forces would fire on
demonstrators if they crossed a river into Abkhaz territory.
Georgia has long vowed to regain central control over Abkhazia, which broke
away from this ex-Soviet republic in a 1992-1993 war. Several thousand people
died and 250,000 people were forced from their homes.
Abkhazia is one of two separatist territories in Georgia that have de facto
backing from Russia, although Moscow officially recognizes Georgia's
territorial integrity. The other separatist territory is South Ossetia.
Of the two, Abkhazia is considered by analysts to have a better chance of
long-term survival, having a port, a tourism industry and a larger population.
Georgia brands Abkhazia election 'illegal'
Nikolai Topuria, Agence France Presse,
3/4/07
Georgia's pro-Western President Mikheil Saakashvili criticised Sunday
separatist authorities in the breakaway province of Abkhazia for holding what
he called "illegal" elections.
About 130,000 people were eligible to vote in Sunday's election to the 35-seat
parliament of Abkhazia, which is located in northwest Georgia by the Black Sea
and is not recognized internationally.
Abkhazia is one of two separatist territories in ex-Soviet Georgia that are
flashpoints in wider geopolitical tensions, the other being South Ossetia.
Both have de facto backing from Moscow, although Russia officially recognizes
Georgia's territorial integrity.
Several thousand people died and an estimated 250,000 people were forced from
their homes in the 1992-1993 separatist conflict over Abkhazia.
Saakashvili, who is also at odds with Moscow over his goal of joining NATO,
denounced the Abkhaz administration during a televised visit to a military
base being built at Gori, northwest of Tbilisi.
The election is "illegal" and the results "will not be recognized by anyone,
because between 400,000-500,000 (ethnic Georgian) people were driven out of
Abkhazia with the support of foreigners," he said, alluding to Russian support
to separatist fighters.
Georgians ejected from Abkhazia during fighting in the 1990s would not be
reconciled to their loss, he said, displaying a photograph of children killed
when rebels attacked a helicopter evacuated them.
"A new generation has grown up in Georgia that doesn't plan to compromise with
separatism and the use of force," Saakashvili said.
"Our enemies want us and those people forced from their homes to forget and
accept it but this isn't happening and won't happen," he said.
He added: "We don't want a new conflict. Our future is in a multi-ethnic
Georgia where the rights of all citizens are respected."
Georgia's Prime Minister Zurab Nogaideli Sunday called on Abkhaz authorities
to "relaunch talks, without any preliminary conditions and without mediators,"
but the offer was rejected.
Tbilisi "offers us nothing new, except a wide autonomy within Georgia and
provocations on the border," Abkhazia's foreign minister Sergei Shamba said as
quoted by the ITAR-TASS news agency.
Abkhazia's leader, president Sergei Bagapsh, said the election was being
conducted according to international standards, as he visited the Gali
district that borders the rest of Georgia and is mainly populated by ethnic
Georgians.
"Although Georgia has tried everything to frighten the local population in
Gali, people are going to the polls and participating," Bagapsh was quoted by
Interfax as saying.
"So far the elections are going calmly in accordance with all democratic
norms," he said.
Polling stations closed at 1700 GMT, with at least 44 percent of Abkhazia's
voters participating in the election, according to preliminary results.
Officials at the Abkhaz administration in Sukhumi declined to comment on the
election when contacted by AFP by telephone from Tbilisi.
Moscow has peacekeepers in both Abkhazia and South Ossetia and has given out
Russian passports to most residents.
Of the two separatist territories, Abkhazia is considered by analysts to have
a better chance of survival, having a port, a tourism industry and a larger
population.
On Sunday, at the border with Abkhazia several hundred opponents of the
separatist administration continued a demonstration, after camping around a
bonfire overnight and a larger protest on Saturday, local reporters said.
"No one is voting -- neither Abkhaz or Georgians. Bagapsh had to go to Gali to
raise the level of activity," said protest leader Paata Shamugia, an official
for the Gali district appointed by Tbilisi, speaking by telephone.
Earlier Abkhaz officials warned that their forces would fire on demonstrators
if they crossed a river into Abkhaz territory.
U.S. rejects validity of elections in breakaway Georgian region of
Abkhazia
Associated Press, 3/5/07
Elections in the breakaway Georgia region of Abkhazia damage international
efforts to settle the status of the region that the world recognizes as a part
of Georgia, the United States said Monday.
State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said in a written statement that the
United States does not recognize as legitimate the two-stage election that
ended during the weekend.
Officials of the breakaway government in the Black Sea region said they hoped
the Feb. 11 and March 4 elections would augment their push for legitimacy on
the international stage.
"The United States supports Georgia's sovereignty and territorial integrity
and is committed to a peaceful resolution of the conflict in Georgia's
Abkhazia region within Georgia's internationally recognized borders,"
McCormack said in his statement. "We do not recognize the `elections'
organized by Abkhaz de facto authorities."
By raising political tensions, he said, "these elections detract from
international efforts to achieve a just and lasting settlement of the Abkhazia
conflict."
Ivory Coast leader signs accord with rebels
Agence France Presse, 3/4/07
Ivory Coast President Laurent Gbagbo signed an accord here Sunday with rebel
leader Guillaume Soro to re-start a stalled peace process in the divided west
African country.
The accord is the first fruit of a "direct dialogue" initiative launched at
the beginning of February here in the capital of neighbouring Burkina Faso in
a bid to break an impasse between the Ivorian government and New Forces
rebels.
The deal foresees progress towards power-sharing in a future government, a
census of the electorate ahead of future polls, disarming rebels and
restructuring the army.
Gbagbo arrived here Sunday and was greeted by Burkina Faso President Blaise
Compaore, who has mediated in the peace process between the Ivory Coast
government and the rebels.
The conflict in Ivory Coast, a one-time bastion of stability in West Africa,
dates from 2002, when a failed coup against Gbagbo left rebels holding the
north of the cocoa-rich country.
This was the first official meeting between Gbagbo and Soro as part of the
latest round of negotiations begun last month here in Ouagadougou by
representatives of the two sides.
For the past four years, the rebels have urged Gbagbo to carry out a new
census of the Ivorian population to update the list of those eligible to vote.
They also want their militia to be part of the soon-to-be reunited national
army.
The president has always said he would only accept an update of the electoral
list from 2000, when he was elected, to include people who are now old enough
to vote and to exclude those who have died.
The United Nations has deployed an 8,000-strong
peacekeeping force, backed by 4,000 French troops, to patrol a ceasefire line
and prevent fresh fighting from breaking out.
UN Security Council resolution 1721 in November 2006 called for free, fair and
transparent elections by October 31, 2007, two years after Gbagbo's original
mandate ran out, in the former French colony.
The Security Council had wanted polls a year earlier but a previous resolution
to this effect failed to be implemented amid continuing disagreement between
the two sides.
Peace accord hailed across Ivory Coast
Agence France Presse, 3/5/07
Ivory Coast opposition parties and media on Monday hailed a new peace accord
signed by President Laurent Gbagbo and the country's main rebel leader,
calling it "a source of hope" but expressing some doubts as to its
implementation.
"This accord is a source of hope for the Ivory Coast and its people who have
suffered so much in this situation of neither peace nor war," Koffi Niamkey, a
spokesman for the Democratic Party of the Ivory Coast (PDCI), previously the
country's single party, told AFP.
"We hope that this time the signatories will respect their signatures,"
Niamkey added, a day after Gbagbo and insurgent chief Guillaume Soro signed
the new agreement in neighboring Burkina Faso.
Former prime minister Alassane Ouattara's Rally of Republicans party (RDR)
also said the accord, which is the first fruit of a "direct dialogue"
initiative launched last month, gave rise to optimism.
"We believe that if this accord is implemented, if the commitments made are
respected, there is no reason why we shouldn't believe in a return to peace,"
RDR spokeswoman Kamara Kandia told AFP.
The conflict in Ivory Coast, a one-time bastion of stability in west Africa,
dates from 2002, when a failed coup against Gbagbo left rebels holding the
north of the cocoa-rich country.
Sunday's deal called for a new government to be set up within five weeks and
for the gradual dismantling of a ceasefire zone, a demilitarised cordon
cutting from east to west through the country which is currently patrolled by
more than 10,000 United Nations and French troops.
The Ivorian media were on Monday exuberant in their praise of the deal,
calling it a victory for Gbagbo at the expense of failed international efforts
to resolve the conflict, although there was some doubt as to how it would be
implemented.
"We have a dream!" the pro-government Courrier d'Abidjan daily rejoiced.
"We can show the world that the African genius can easily meet the challenges
facing the continent as long as the Western miracle-makers stop trying to save
Africa from herself," the paper claimed.
"A political success for Gbagbo, a failure for the UN," the opposition-linked
24 Hours daily chimed in, insisting that the international community "lost its
hand in the Ivorian crisis in the least honourable way."
The opposition Le Patriote paper however emphasised that "on reading the
accord, questions linger on the reasons for the non-implementation of the
previous ones," which aimed to resolve the same problems.
The Community of Sant'Egidio, which claims to have helped mediate the deal,
meanwhile insisted it was "realistic and enforceable."
"I am moderately optimistic," said Mario Giro, an official of the Christian
lay association, insisting that unlike previous agreements the new accord
"takes into consideration the reasons that were the source of the crisis."
In addition to calling for the creation of a new government and the
dismantlement of the ceasefire zone, the latest accord demands progress on the
main stumbling blocks of previous peace efforts such as a census of the
electorate ahead of future polling, the disarming of rebels and their
integration into a future national army.
Murder charges filed against policemen linked to Kashmir killing
Agence France Presse, 2/28/07
Authorities in Indian Kashmir Wednesday filed murder charges against seven
policemen accused of killing a carpenter and pretending he was an Islamic
militant, police said.
"We have filed formal murder and abduction charges against seven policemen in
a court of law today (Wednesday)," police officer Uttam Chand told AFP.
The charges were filed in the presence of the seven accused in a high-security
court in Srinagar, summer capital of Indian Kashmir where a separatist
insurgency has raged since 1989.
"The accused were charged with hatching a criminal conspiracy, abduction with
the intent to murder, murder and destruction of evidence," the official said.
The victim, Abdul Rahman Padder, disappeared in Srinagar in December. He was
allegedly taken to neighbouring Gandherbal district by police, killed and
passed off as a hardcore Pakistani militant.
DNA tests proved that the body claimed to be that of a militant killed by
security forces was that of Padder.
Police are probing five cases, including that of Padder, in which civilians
were allegedly killed by the police and army and passed off as militants in an
attempt to win awards and advance careers.
The killings have sparked major protests in Indian Kashmir after years of
accusations by rights groups that security forces were executing civilians.
DNA tests conducted on another body have matched with the relatives of Muslim
cleric Shaukat Ahmed who disappeared in Srinagar in October.
Police and security forces are awarded money and promotions for killing
militants.
A demand for information about the whereabouts of thousands of missing persons
in Kashmir has gained momentum after authorities exhumed the bodies of the
five missing persons in February.
Indian human rights groups say 8,000 Kashmiri Muslims have disappeared -- most
of them after being detained by security forces -- since the insurgency began.
Government figures put the number of missing at between 1,000 and 3,900.
Top rebel linked to Hindu massacres killed in Kashmir
Agence France Presse, 2/28/07
A top commander of an Indian Kashmir Islamic militant group was shot dead by
security forces who said he was involved in the deaths of 35 Hindus last year,
police said Wednesday.
"Abu Talha, a Pakistani militant, was killed during a gunbattle in (southern)
Kathua district early Tuesday," a police spokesman said.
"His death is a big setback to the militants," the spokesman said, adding he
headed a list of the "most wanted militants" in the southern Kashmir region of
Jammu.
He said Talha was a top commander of Lashkar-e-Taiba, a hardline Islamic
militant group that regularly launches deadly attacks, including suicide
bombings, across Kashmir and was wanted for a massacre of 35 Hindus in Jammu
last year.
Lashkar wants to fold the region into Pakistan.
Kashmir is in the grip of a 17-year-old insurgency that has so far left more
than 44,000 people dead, by official count.
Kashmir Negotiation Simulation
Talks end with rival sides 'diametrically opposed' on Kosovo's future
William J. Kole, Associated Press, 3/2/07
Talks on the future status of Kosovo ended Friday with Serbian and ethnic
Albanian negotiators "diametrically opposed" to a plan that would put the
province on the road to eventual independence, a U.N. envoy said Friday.
Martti Ahtisaari told reporters that the talks in Vienna were over, and that
he had invited Serbian and Kosovo Albanian leaders to Vienna on March 10 for a
final meeting before he sends the package to the U.N. Security Council, which
has the final say on Kosovo's future status.
"I have to be honest in saying that, regarding the status question, the
parties remain diametrically opposed," he said.
Ahtisaari said he would now review the points raised over the final round of
talks "and see what sort of adjustments we might make."
He did not elaborate, but Ahtisaari has made it clear in the past that he
would be unlikely to make substantial changes to his 58-page draft unless both
sides agreed. Since neither side made significant concessions, the package was
likely to be delivered to the Security Council essentially as it is.
Kosovo's deputy prime minister, Lutfi Haziri, conceded the final round
produced "no movement in bringing the sides closer."
"It was bad theater by the Serb side," Haziri told The Associated Press,
adding that ethnic Albanian leaders "don't believe there will be substantial
changes in the content" of the final package.
The draft would grant greater rights and security to Kosovo's small Serbian
minority while putting the province under internationally supervised self-rule
and granting it trappings of statehood, such as a flag, anthem, army and
constitution.
Skender Hyseni, an ethnic Albanian representative at the talks, said the
process was wearisome "because Belgrade's side came with destructive stands
and made efforts to introduce a new document."
"Their behavior was disappointing," Hyseni said.
Serbia's foreign minister, Vuk Draskovic, said in Zagreb, Croatia, that his
country would never accept the "forcible reshaping" of its internationally
recognized borders.
An independent Kosovo would cause "emotional shock and a sense of humiliation"
among Serbs, and that in turn could undermine stability in the Balkans,
Draskovic warned.
Kosovo has been under international administration since 1999, when NATO
airstrikes on Belgrade ended a brutal Serbian crackdown on ethnic Albanian
separatists in the province. About 16,000 NATO-led peacekeepers still patrol
the region.
The hardening of positions amid a continuing stalemate raised new questions
about how the international community will reconcile ethnic Albanians' quest
for independence with Serbia's refusal to grant the province anything even
remotely resembling statehood.
Neither side is happy with the U.N. plan.
Serbs insist that Kosovo the heart of their ancient homeland should remain
part of their republic. And many ethnic Albanians feel the plan grants too
many concessions to the Serbian minority while falling short of establishing
the province as a fully independent state.
"Just as expected, there was no agreement" in the final round, said Leon
Kojen, who co-led the Serbian team. He said Serbia expected to get a "new
version" of Ahtisaari's proposal next week.
Ahtisaari's deputy, Austrian diplomat Albert Rohan, said that despite the
deadlock on the key question of whether Kosovo should be put on the road to
statehood or remain part of Serbian territory, the talks were "extremely
useful because the parties talked directly."
"These talks have presented an opportunity" to close gaps on other issues,
said Ahtisaari, a former Finnish president who has mediated in conflicts in
Asia and Africa.
The plan could lead to a Security Council showdown between the United States,
which backs Kosovo's independence, and Russia, a traditional Serbian ally.
However, Russian officials recently have suggested that Moscow might simply
abstain from a vote on the package rather than use its veto power to block it.
War crimes trial of ex-Kosovo PM starts Monday
Stephanie van den Berg, Agence France Presse,
3/4/07
The war crimes trial of former Kosovo prime minister Ramush Haradinaj charged
over atrocities committed against Serb and Albanian civilians when he was a
rebel leader starts before the UN court here Monday.
Haradinaj, who became the leader of the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo
party after the conflict, is the highest ranking Kosovo Albanian politician to
face war crimes charges before the International Criminal Tribunal for the
former Yugoslavia (ICTY).
The trial of Haradinaj and his two co-accused Idriz Balaj and Lahi Brahimaj is
only the second case involving Kosovo Albanian suspects at the court. The
three men face a total of 37 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity
including persecutions, murder, torture and rape.
During the 1998-99 Kosovo conflict Haradinaj, Balaj and Brahimaj were
high-ranking officers of the ethnic Albanian Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA)
which fought against Belgrade-controlled forces.
According to the prosecution the men formed a joint criminal enterprise aimed
at driving out Serb civilians and others perceived to be collaborating with
the Serbs or not supporting the KLA from the region under their control.
Haradinaj, 38, was indicted in 2005 while serving as the prime minister of the
Albanian-dominated Serbian province. After resigning, he surrendered to the
ICTY, but was allowed to return to Kosovo and retake leadership of his party
now a member of the ruling coalition in the UN-administered province.
The indictment charges him with allowing KLA troops under his command to
target Serb and other civilians that were seen as collaborators for
kidnapping, murder, detention and other mistreatment.
He is also charged with overseeing the setting up of detention centres were
civilians were unlawfully kept, abused and tortured by troops under his
command. A number of prisoners died as a result of the beatings while others
were executed on the orders of the accused, the prosecution says.
In an incident described in the indictment Haradinaj was personally present in
a detention camp for the beating of Kosovo Albanian Naser Lika with a baseball
bat and controlled the pace of the abuse.
Haradinaj's uncle Lahi Brahimaj, 37, was his deputy commander. The indictment
lists a host of incidents where Brahimaj arrested civilians and then brought
them to detention centres and even his own house to beat them. He is also
named as ordering the execution of many of the KLA's prisoners.
The third suspect before the court Monday is 35-year-old Idriz Balaj, the head
of the notorious Black Eagels special unit. According to the prosecution Balaj
personally carried out a host of abductions of civilians, beatings and one
rape.
The indictment describes the particularly gruesome mistreatment of three men
by Balaj.
The Black Eagles leader reportedly cut the men on their neck, arms and thighs,
rubbed salt into the wounds and sewed them up before tying them together with
barbed wire and dragging them behind his car.
During the same incident he cut off the nose of one of the men and stabbed
another in the eye.
All accused have insisted on their innocence.
This trial is the second case involving Kosovo Albanian war crimes suspects
before the ICTY. In November 2005 the court sentenced former KLA member
Haradin Bala to 13-years in prison for torture and murders committed at a
KLA-run prison camp. Two of his co-accused were acquitted.
Though still a Serbian province, Kosovo has been run by the UN since 1999,
after a NATO bombing campaign helped end a crackdown by Belgrade-controlled
forces against the KLA and its supporters.
American Troops In Kosovo May Lose Their Combat Status
Josh White, Washington Post, 3/4/07
Top Defense Department officials are considering a proposal to downgrade the
combat status of U.S. forces who are part of the NATO peacekeeping mission in
Kosovo, a decision that could cause the 1,500 U.S. soldiers currently deployed
there to lose hundreds or even thousands of dollars each month in tax benefits
and combat pay.
Such a decision, expected within the next month, would indicate that Pentagon
officials do not believe Kosovo is still a combat zone, despite rising
tensions in the Balkans over Kosovo's ongoing bid for independence and
frequent U.S. missions that involve dangerous interdictions of smuggling
rings, raids on armed extremist groups and encounters with improvised bombs.
It would also mean that hundreds of National Guardsmen and Reservists -- many
from Virginia and Massachusetts who are on lengthy deployments away from their
families and careers -- would lose a coveted tax exclusion that allows them to
earn their pay tax-free while tacking on hundreds more in combat pay. They
would also lose government-funded flights back to the United States when they
take leave.
The issue puts a spotlight on soldiers who are part of a U.S. mission that
began in 1999 but now receives little attention amid the worsening wars in
Iraq and Afghanistan. In recent interviews, soldiers and officers with the
Virginia Army National Guard there said they put their lives on the line every
day as part of the Kosovo Force, or KFOR -- and believe they deserve the
benefits of combat pay.
"I stand to lose a decent chunk of money, and it's hard to believe that if
that came through we'd get paid the same amount as someone who gets to go home
to their wife and kids every day, gets to have a beer with dinner, and we're
away for a year and a half," said Cpl. Will Larsen, 22, of Fairfax.
Larsen, an assistant infantry squad leader, put his senior year at Virginia
Tech on hold to deploy. "It's a very important time here, and it's a big deal.
The extremist ends on both sides are angry. . . . There are a lot of people
back home who don't even know we're here. I just don't want them to forget
about us."
Defense officials said all areas designated as combat zones are under a
periodic review and that early policy recommendations from the Pentagon are
that all areas in the Balkans -- designated as a combat zone under
presidential order since March 24, 1999 -- be downgraded because of improved
security there. Top military officers in Europe have officially disagreed, but
they have been told the change could come as early as April 1.
"Combat Zone Tax Exclusion and Imminent Danger Pay are both under review for
all designated areas," Maj. Stewart Upton, a Pentagon spokesman, said in an
e-mail. "The Department will not comment beyond that until the reviews are
complete."
John W. Warner (R-Va.), a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, on
Friday sent a letter to Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates urging him not to
change the status of the more than 500 soldiers from Virginia who are deployed
in Kosovo. Warner wrote that he thinks the soldiers "are performing dangerous
missions on a daily basis."
"I respectfully request that you carefully consider the ramifications of any
proposals that would adjust the combat zone designation for KFOR," Warner
wrote, according to a copy of the letter provided to The Washington Post. "I
am sure you agree that our soldiers and their families must receive
appropriate compensation for their service."
The soldiers in Kosovo understand their work is not as dangerous as that of
U.S. troops in Iraq, but they operate in a region where the government is
shaky and where criminal enterprises use violence as a means of intimidation.
Strife between Albanians and Serbs in Kosovo has calmed, but military
commanders are concerned about the possibility for increased tension as a plan
for Kosovo's statehood and separation from Serbia is scheduled to go before
the U.N. Security Council next weekend.
[Yesterday, several thousand ethnic Albanians marched through Pristina,
Kosovo's capital, and protested the proposed plan, saying it falls short of
full independence, the Associated Press reported. No incidents were reported
during the march, but last month a similar protest sparked a clash in which
two demonstrators were killed by U.N. police.]
Brig. Gen. Douglas Earhart, commander of the 29th Infantry Division and leader
of the Kosovo Multinational Task Force East, said that since the Sept. 11,
2001, attacks in the United States, the Kosovo mission has gone from a major
military operation to one out of the limelight. But Earhart sees his region as
vulnerable to radical Islamists because of high unemployment and porous
borders, combined with reports of armed extremist ethic groups forming camps
in rural outposts.
"This mission is absolutely critical now," Earhart said. "We stopped ethnic
cleansing effectively. We started a peace-enforcement mission. We're doing now
what we'd like to be doing in Iraq and Afghanistan."
His soldiers do daily patrols in local communities, seeking to get out in
front of potential violence and to help foster tolerance between ethnic
groups. Some soldiers have adopted a local school, organized ski trips for
Serbian and Albanian youth, and helped fix crumbling infrastructure. They also
conduct armed raids on smuggling hideouts and go after masked men who attack
drivers at night.
Sgt. James Gerlinger, 22, of Lynchburg, Va., frequently works with children in
Kosovo to help them set aside ethnic differences. Previously deployed for a
year to the U.S. military detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, he was
told he was going into a combat zone for his deployment to Kosovo and is
relying on the combat pay.
"We don't do this job for the money, and it's always mission first," Gerlinger
said, adding that he is concerned about morale in his unit if the combat-tax
exclusion is revoked. "I think a lot of times, any other mission than Iraq and
Afghanistan is long forgotten. While it may not be as dangerous, the sacrifice
here is still the same."
The Enlisted Association of the National Guard has contacted members of
Congress because it is concerned that soldiers deployed to Kosovo could suffer
financial hardship if they were to lose significant amounts of pay. "The
families are counting on this every month to pay their bills," said Frank
Yoakum, the group's legislative director. "And it's a morale killer. It says
that what they were doing was important yesterday, but today not so much."
Should a status change occur, Staff Sgt. Stanley Britton, 34, of South Boston,
Va., would probably lose about $1,000 of his monthly salary -- money he uses
to support his wife and two daughters while he is away from his job as a
sheriff's deputy in Halifax County. After a 2005 tour in Iraq, he said he
enjoys helping the people in Kosovo because they trust U.S. forces and come to
them for help. "It's an honor and a great opportunity to be a part of a team
and to help people who are in dire need of assistance," Britton said. "And
yes, I do think it's a combat zone here."
Kosovo Negotiation Simulation
Moldovan civil war veterans call for withdrawal of Russian troops
Associated Press, 3/2/07
Over 2,000 Moldovan veterans of a 1992 separatist war with the pro-Russian
province of Trans-Dniester on Friday accused Russia of sparking the conflict
and called for the withdrawal of Russian troops from the region.
The war left over 1,000 people dead, with the separatists backed by Russian
forces taking control of a sliver of land near the border with Ukraine.
Participants at the Friday gathering in Chisinau, which included President
Vladimir Voronin, warned that the conflict could re-ignite as Trans-Dniester
separatists continue to pursue their goal of gaining independence and then
joining Russia.
"We know very well where the war was planned in Moscow, which still holds the
reigns and fuels separatism," veterans union leader Eduard Maican said. He
called on Russia to honor pledges to withdraw its 1,500 troops from
Trans-Dniester, leftovers from the 14th Soviet Army.
Since 1992, the troops have acted as peacekeepers, with Russia, which openly
backs Trans-Dniester, officially acting as one of the mediators in trying to
find a settlement.
Voronin, a Communist who wants closer ties with the West, said the dispute
with Trans-Dniester was difficult to resolve because its roots were in Moscow.
"At times it appears we are close to resolving the problem ... to keep our
Republic of Moldova together," he said, adding that the Trans-Dniester crisis
would remain a top priority for his government.
On March 2, 1992, Trans-Dniester paramilitary troops occupied a police station
in the city of Tiraspol, sparking the war.
During the war, which lasted several months, Russian forces openly supported
the separatist militias, intervening with tanks to fight the more lightly
armed Moldovan troops.
Morocco
Associated Press: Morocco
John Thorne, Associated Press, 3/2/07
Morocco will present an autonomy plan for Western Sahara to the United Nations
next month, a top Moroccan official said Friday, outlining the government's
latest bid to resolve a three-decade conflict on its terms.
Morocco, which took control of Western Sahara in the 1970s after Spain pulled
out, says autonomy is the only way to end a conflict with the Polisario Front,
an Algerian-backed independence movement. It first proposed autonomy in 2000.
The Polisario Front, though, insists on holding a referendum on independence.
Morocco says a vote would be unworkable.
The stalled conflict has stranded 160,000 refugees in bleak camps in the
Algerian Sahara, poisoned relations between Morocco and Algeria, and inflicts
heavy costs on Morocco, already struggling with widespread poverty and
unemployment.
Last fall, key members of the U.N. Security Council made clear they wanted to
see real progress on Western Sahara before the U.N. mission's current mandate
runs out on April 30. The autonomy plan, expected to be presented at the
United Nations in April.
Khalihenna Ould Errachid, King Mohamed VI's chief adviser on the territory,
told The Associated Press that the autonomy plan would give Western Sahara a
parliament, a chief of state, Cabinet ministries and a judiciary.
"We can stay at an impasse, or seek a middle way that leaves neither winners
nor losers and that's autonomy," Ould Errachid said Wednesday in the first of
two interviews this week.
"If Polisario doesn't want to talk about autonomy, Morocco will go ahead
alone," Ould Errachid said, adding however that Morocco would not be likely to
press on with an autonomy plan without U.N. approval.
A Western Sahara parliament could create laws as long as they don't violate
Morocco's national law, while regional courts would fall under the Moroccan
legal system, he said.
The regional government would oversee day-to-day life in the territory in
areas like education, tourism and social services. Morocco would retain
control of foreign relations, defense, finance and border control, he said.
Western Sahara would also keep the main emblems of Moroccan sovereignty the
country's flag, its currency, the dirham, and its stamps. King Mohamed VI
would continue to be recognized as the highest religious authority in the
land.
Morocco currently subsidizes life for Western Sahara's 50,000 to 90,000
Saharawis and 200,000 Moroccan settlers. Under autonomy, the territory will be
expected to pay its own way, Ould Errachid said.
Western Sahara boasts phosphates, fisheries and possible offshore oil, but the
territory's disputed status has prevented their full exploitation. Last year,
the European Union signed a fishing deal with Morocco allowing European
fisherman to fish Western Sahara's waters.
In recent weeks, Moroccan diplomats have visited several Western capitals
including Paris, Washington and London to tout the plan, which has not yet
been presented in public.
Morocco and Mauritania split Western Sahara after its Spanish colonizers ceded
them the territory in 1975.
Spain initially planned for autonomy and groomed Ould Errachid for Western
Sahara's presidency, Ould Errachid said. But as the Moroccan-Mauritanian
takeover loomed, Ould Errachid went to Morocco and swore allegiance to then
king Hassan II.
Full-scale war with the Polisario Front broke out in 1976, and Morocco took
over most of Western Sahara after Mauritania pulled out in 1979.
The United Nations has said it upholds the principle of self-determination and
that any solution to Western Sahara must be accepted by both Morocco and
Polisario.
The U.N. brokered a cease-fire in 1991 and installed a mission to pave the way
for an independence referendum, but attempts have foundered on disagreements
about who should vote.
Morocco says a referendum is unworkable. It refused a 2003 U.N. peace plan,
accepted by Polisario, that envisaged temporary autonomy followed by a
referendum in which both Saharawis and Moroccan settlers would vote.
Two killed in Nepal ethnic clash
Agence France Presse,
2/28/07
At least two people were killed in a clash between
former Maoist rebels and ethnic activists in southwestern Nepal, officials
said Wednesday.
The latest deaths, which occurred Tuesday, brought
to 31 the number killed in ethnic clashes since the start of the year and came
as the Himalayan nation was gripped by a nationwide strike and blockade
organised by ethnic groups.
Members of the People's Rights Forum, a pressure
group which represents the ethnic Mahadhesis who make up around one-third of
the country's population, clashed with Maoist rebels in the town of
Nepalgunj.
"Two people were killed in the fighting," chief
district officer Narendra Raj Sharma told AFP by telephone from the
town.
The forum said the two were beaten to death.
"At least 14 others were injured," said forum
official Sarbadev Ojha.
The group, whose protests to demand autonomy left 29
dead earlier this year, resumed a blockade of customs offices and the main
highway leading to Kathmandu on Monday after suspending their demonstrations
for nearly two weeks.
Its blockade along the southern plains, known as
Nepal's bread basket, has brought border trade and transportation to a virtual
halt.
A previous 20-day blockade by the Mahadhesi
Janadhikar (People's Right) Forum left the capital short of fuel and other
essential supplies.
Their campaign has brought pledges from Prime
Minister G.P. Koirala to turn Nepal into a federal state and increase
electoral seats for Mahadhesis.
But the group has said it will not sit down for
talks until Home Minister Krishna Prasad Sitaula resigns over what it calls
the "excessive behaviour" of police in putting down earlier protests.
The campaign by the long marginalised Mahadhesis has
also sparked protests by other ethnic minorities.
A one-day general strike called by another ethnic
group to press for increased representation in parliament paralysed life
across the country, shutting schools, markets and businesses on
Wednesday.
The Nepal Federation of Indigenous Nationalities,
which represents 50 ethnic communities, says it also wants a greater political
voice for all minorities.
Protests by minorities have cast a cloud over a
peace deal signed late last year that ended a decade-long civil war and
brought Nepal's Maoists into parliament.
Nepal's former rebel chief, PM discuss forming
joint government
Agence France Presse,
3/2/07
Nepal's Maoist chief Prachanda met Prime Minister
Girija Prasad Koirala to discuss plans for the ex-rebels to join the
government but no date was set their entry, a minister said Friday.
"The Maoist chief met with the prime minister and
discussed joining the interim government to gear up for the constituent
assembly elections," Tourism Minister Pradeep Gyawali told reporters.
"The premier is eager to set up the interim
government soon including the Maoists," he said, but added no time was
set.
Gyawali also said that the ministries and
administrative positions for the Maoists have not yet been decided.
"The ministries and government positions will be
given to the Maoists after reaching a consensus between the top leaders of
eight parties," he said.
There was no immediate comment from the
Maoists.
Following the peace deal, the former Maoist fighters
took 80 seats in a new 330-seat interim parliament in January this
year.
Nepal is supposed to stage elections by mid-June for
a special assembly that will permanently rewrite the constitution and decide
the monarchy's fate.
The Maoists are strongly in favour of abolition of
the monarchy while some other political parties want it to retain a ceremonial
role.
Last month Prachanda accused the multi-party
government of seeking to delay the elections and warned that such a move could
hit the peace process.
Meanwhile, former Maoist rebels have surrendered
3,428 weapons to the United Nations and registered 30,852 people as combatants
as part of the peace process, figures showed.
The former rebels agreed to UN monitoring at sites
across Nepal as part of the peace deal to lay down arms and join the political
mainstream.
At least 13,000 people were killed in the bloody
"people's war" launched by the Maoists a decade ago in the impoverished
Himalayan nation.
However, the peace process has been clouded since
early this year by violent protests by ethnic Madhesis in the southern plains
who say they want a bigger political voice.
The Maoists have said the Madhesis' complaints are
genuine but have accused those loyal to King Gyanendra of fomenting the
protests in a bid to delay the assembly elections.
Nepal Negotiation Simulation
Somalia
UN Somali relief effort aiming for base in Mogadishu
Agence France Presse, 3/5/07
The United Nations wants to run its aid operation for south Somalia and
Mogadishu from the spot instead of from the safety of neighbouring Kenya,
senior relief officials said Monday.
"We believe it is time to change this attitude," said Philippe Lazzarini, the
chief UN humanitarian coordinator for Somalia.
The situation in much of central and south Somalia has been regarded since the
mid-1990s as too insecure and complicated to allow more than brief forays by
international UN aid staff from a regional base in Nairobi.
Most international aid has been directed towards less restive areas of
northern Somalia and Puntland.
"We believe there is a sense of urgency to beef up our actions in Somalia,"
Lazzarini told journalists.
The United Nations is working on securing a permanent presence in Mogadishu
and scaling up operations in the region, starting with overnight stays in the
coming weeks, he added.
"We believe that despite the insecurity we should find ways to deliver and to
overcome the problems," Lazzarini said.
UN officials said the step was essential to broaden relief deliveries and
build up support for health end education, thereby backing attempts by the
Somali government to set up stable institutions in Mogadishu and the
surrounding regions.
"We want Somalis to feel a difference with this situation," said Graham
Farmer, of the UN's Food and Agriculture Organisation.
The officials gave no details on how operations and relief supplies might be
organised, and Lazzarini indicated that he was hoping for a progressive
change.
The first Ugandan contingent of an 8,000 strong African Union peacekeeping
force backed by the United Nations is due to deploy in Somalia over the coming
weeks.
The government, backed by Ethiopian forces, late last year drove out an
Islamist movement that had taken control of south and central Somalia for six
months.
However, rebels in Mogadishu have vowed to kill the incoming peacekeepers,
reviving memories of the UN-backed, US-led operation in the mid-1990s which
ended in a bloody withdrawal, leaving parts of the country especially around
Mogadishu in the hands of rival warlords.
The UN's humanitarian coordination office (OCHA) earlier this year launched a
six month plan to help Somalia's institutions work and provide services to the
impoverished population, train police and assist some 250,000 internally
displaced people in the capital.
Lazzarini said the OCHA was likely to reduce its overall appeal for 237
million dollars in funding for aid in the whole country this year, which
targets some 1.8 million Somalis.
"Despite floods, conflict and drought, we are expecting a better harvest than
a few months ago. For Somalia this is good news," Lazzarini said, urging donor
nations to come up with the required funding.
UN officials indicated that one of their biggest obstacles to bolstering
operations in south Somalia was psychological resistance to change within the
aid community and governments, which had become deep-rooted since the bloody
setbacks in the 1990s.
"We don't want to depict a rosy situation in Somalia, but we think it is time
to see Somalia differently than sitting in Nairobi dealing with this country
in a remote way, as we have done until now," Lazzarini explained.
"Today we say the remote way is not sufficient."
Mortars slam into Mogadishu airport as peacekeepers arrive in Somalia;
gunbattle ensues
Salad Duhul, Associated Press, 3/6/07
Mortars slammed into Mogadishu's airport Tuesday during a ceremony welcoming
peacekeepers, and a fierce gunbattle ensued as authorities went house-to-house
searching for suspects, witnesses said.
There was no immediate word on casualties from the gunbattle, but a policeman
who was at the airport said one person was wounded in the mortar attack. The
violence is the latest example of the volatility the peacekeepers face in a
country that has seen little but anarchy for years.
"I saw around 100 gunmen engaging a fierce battle," Hassan Abukar Sidow told
The Associated Press. "They used heavy machine guns and rocket propelled
grenades."
The attacks came as Ugandan peacekeepers arrived in Somalia's capital to
protect the still-struggling transitional government and to allow for the
withdrawal of Ethiopian troops who helped the government topple an Islamic
militia.
The Ugandan troops are the vanguard of a larger African Union force authorized
by the United Nations to help the government assert its authority. Ethiopian
troops entered Somalia in late December, when an Islamic movement threatened
to attack the government.
Two cargo aircraft carrying soldiers and armored vehicles touched down at
Mogadishu's main airport in the center of the city early Tuesday and were
welcomed by top government officials. Paddy Akunda, the Ugandan forces'
spokesman, said 400 troops were on the ground so far in Mogadishu, with the
remaining 1,100 expected in the next 24 hours.
"We are very happy to be the first African Union peacekeepers to Somalia. We
are welcomed here," Akunda said during the ceremony. "We are not imposing
anything on Somalis. We know our mandate; we will work toward restoring law
and order in Somalia without targeting anybody."
Residents were not allowed inside the airport during the welcoming ceremony
for security reasons, Jelle said. Ethiopian and Somali troops have beefed up
security in the capital.
In Uganda, Deputy Defense Minister Ruth Nankabirwa said the troops understand
the dangers of working in Somalia.
"We have not just dropped our troops there without knowing the situation," she
said. "We will be the first people to make sure that they are safe so they can
carry on to other missions."
Insurgents, believed to be the remnants of the Islamic movement that tried to
seize power last year, have staged almost daily attacks against people
associated with the government, its armed forces or the Ethiopian military.
A police commander and another officer were ambushed late Monday at a major
intersection in the center of Mogadishu and two bystanders were wounded in the
fire fight, Mohamud Burale Coon, a shop owner, said.
Maslah Mohamed Abdi said his brother, who was the top cleric in one of
Mogadishu's main mosques, was killed outside his home. The same gunmen then
killed four businessmen who were chewing qat, a mild stimulant, in their home,
a neighbor said.
"The men stood at the door of a room ... and then opened fire," Halima Hashi
Adow said.
The cleric and the four men had been trying to hire gunmen to protect them,
their homes and their neighborhood. But the insurgents use the neighborhood to
launch mortar attacks on Ethiopian bases and did not want any private security
forces in the area, residents said.
African Union Peace and Security Commissioner Said Djinnit said the
peacekeepers are allowed to defend themselves if attacked, but would not
launch attacks on anyone.
"Our mission is to support all Somalis and the political process, which is
based on dialogue and reconciliation," Djinnit told journalists in the
Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa.
A Somali government spokesman, meanwhile, said local police are prepared to
fight the insurgency and crime wave.
"Security is paramount for the country to attain a lasting peace, and law
enforcement mechanisms such as the prisons and police force are now ready,"
Hussein Mohamud Hussein, the spokesman, said.
Tigers accuse Sri Lanka troops of killing six civilians
Agence France Presse, 3/4/07
Tamil Tiger rebels Sunday accused Sri Lankan forces of killing at least six
civilians in the embattled northeast as police investigated the
execution-style murders of five men near the capital.
The rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) said five civilians,
including a businessman, were killed by security forces while the sixth, a
student, was killed in a mortar bomb attack by troops.
The LTTE also said security forces had killed 66 civilians last month, and
blamed the forces for the "disappearance" of another 62 Tamils, claims denied
by the military.
The military said the Tigers had kept up artillery and mortar attacks against
security forces in the island's northern and eastern regions at the weekend
and troops retaliated.
The defence ministry said top commanders visited the restive eastern province
on Saturday to discuss "the security measures to be taken against the LTTE
atrocities in the area."
Elsewhere, security forces in the northern town of Vavuniya on Sunday found
two Tamil labourers shot in the head, local officials said.
Near the capital Colombo, police on Saturday found five men shot in the head
after being blindfolded in an apparent execution-style killing. An
investigation is underway.
The grisly find in a marsh at Kandana, 15 kilometres (10 miles) north of the
capital, was made after a child spied one of the bodies, a police spokesman
said.
Both local and international human rights activists have said abductions and
killings are rampant in Sri Lanka amid an escalation of fighting between
government troops and Tamil Tiger rebels in a 35-year-old ethnic conflict.
Norwegian ambassador to hold talks with Tamil Tiger leadership
Associated Press, 3/5/07
Norway's ambassador was heading for Tamil rebel headquarters Monday to hold
talks with the guerrilla leadership amid the collapse of a cease-fire with
government forces, a rebel spokesman said.
Tamil Tiger spokesman Daya Master declined to elaborate on what will be
discussed, but escalating violence has brought the island nation to the brink
of an open civil war.
"Yes, I can confirm that he is coming here to hold talks," Master said from
Kilinochchi, the rebels' de-facto capital in northern Sri Lanka.
Hans Brattskar will meet with the Tamil Tigers' top political chief, S. P.
Thamilselvan.
Since last year, fighting has killed at least 4,000 civilians and combatants,
according to European cease-fire monitors.
The country's international donors have called for an immediate cessation of
hostilities and a return to peace talks.
The Tamil rebels have been fighting since 1983 to carve out a separate
homeland for the country's ethnic Tamils after decades of discrimination by
the majority Sinhalese-dominated government.
More than 68,000 people have been killed in the fighting.
Sri Lanka Negotiation Simulation
Ex-Sudan PM Explains Resistance to U.N.
Jasper Mortimer, Associated Press, 2/28/07
The main Sudanese opposition leader says the government is refusing to allow
U.N. peacekeepers in Darfur because it knows the U.N. troops would help hunt
down war crimes suspects for the International Criminal Court.
Former Prime Minister Sadiq al-Mahdi said Khartoum's other reason for
rejecting U.N. forces was that it still believes it can defeat the Darfur
rebels militarily.
In an interview with The Associated Press while visiting Cairo, al-Mahdi
challenged the government's official line in the standoff with the U.N.
Security Council, which is that it supports the May peace accord and that U.N.
forces in Darfur would constitute a "colonialist" attempt to subjugate the
country.
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is still waiting for Sudanese President
Omar al-Bashir to reply to a Jan. 24 letter that put forward specific
proposals for the deployment of 22,000 U.N. and African Union troops to
Darfur, the vast western region of Sudan where more than 200,000 have died and
2.5 million people have fled their homes in four years of fighting.
The Security Council initially ordered the deployment in August.
On Tuesday, the chief prosecutor at the International Criminal Court accused a
minister of state in al-Bashir's Cabinet, Ahmed Mohammed Harun, of war crimes
and crimes against humanity in Darfur, saying he paid and recruited militias
responsible for murder, rape and torture.
The prosecutor also said the militia concerned, the janjaweed, was armed and
financed by the government a charge Khartoum has always denied.
The government rejected the prosecutor's remarks and reiterated it would not
surrender anybody for trial in the ICC.
Al-Mahdi, whose Umma Party traditionally wins the plurality of votes in
Sudan's elections, dismissed the sovereignty argument as inapplicable to gross
abuse of human rights.
"Atrocities have been committed and those who committed them have got to be
brought to book," al-Mahdi said.
Interviewed in his apartment in the Cairo suburb of Nasr City on Sunday, the
man who was twice prime minister said his party, were it to return to
government, would cooperate with the ICC and would allow the deployment of
U.N. peacekeepers in Darfur.
Al-Mahdi, whose government was toppled in a 1989 military coup led by
al-Bashir, is known to have influence in Darfur. In the 1986 polls the last to
be considered free and fair Umma Party swept Darfur by a landslide.
He is also the great grandson of the Mahdi, the 19th century nationalist who
ousted Egyptian colonial forces under the British general Charles Gordon.
Darfur played a major role in that rebellion and many of its tribal elders
today revere Sadiq because of his illustrious ancestor.
The government's rejection of the U.N. peace force is "irrational and very
insensitive to the humanitarian problem in Darfur," al-Mahdi said.
Wearing a white woolen hat and the white robes favored by Sudanese men,
al-Mahdi said the government had reasons other than sovereignty for blocking
the U.N. deployment.
"The existence of U.N. troops will make it more possible to police (for) the
ICC," he said. He added the janjaweed militia was actually "the irregular
troops of the government."
Al-Mahdi said the government was also rejecting the U.N. deployment because
"they want to keep the military option open."
The chief external spokesman of the Information Ministry in Khartoum denied
al-Mahdi's allegations. Bakri Mulah said the government is "not resorting to a
military solution" and seeks to solve the Darfur problem "through
negotiations."
The charge that the government fears U.N. forces would assist the ICC process
is "false," Mulah said. "The government has nothing to hide," he said, adding
it had allowed ICC inspectors to visit Sudan five times even though the
country had not ratified the ICC charter.
Al-Mahdi said that for peace to come to Darfur, the Khartoum-appointed
governors of the three states of Darfur North, South and West had to be
replaced because they implemented the counterinsurgency policies that led to
the atrocities.
"People now believe the present governors have blood on their hands," he said.
He also said peace would require new negotiations, particularly with the
groups that did not sign the May accord, and the deployment of U.N. troops.
"Before any more negotiations, we have to get people to keep the peace in
Darfur, and that is only possible through U.N. forces," al-Mahdi said. The
African Union peace mission was "completely inadequate."
Earlier this month, al-Bashir warned that if the world were to deploy UN
peacekeepers without Sudan's consent, they would receive "the lesson we taught
you" in the 19th century a reference to the Mahdi's victory.
Asked what he thought of al-Bashir exploiting his great grandfather, al-Mahdi
replied it was a "gimmick."
"There is no comparison between now and the 19th century," he said. "The U.N.
here is not contemplating conquering Sudan or conquering Darfur. It's there to
help us with containing certain humanitarian problems."
A search for oil raises the stakes in war-torn Darfur
Edmund Sanders, Los Angeles Times, 3/3/07
The Sudanese government is quietly escalating oil exploration inside the
Darfur region, a step that has led to protests from rebel leaders in a
volatile area where more than 200,000 people have been killed during three
years of fighting.
Political and humanitarian experts say oil in Darfur could deliver much-needed
development and investment to the region but that attempts to search for oil
now may intensify the conflict by raising the stakes in an already war-torn
area. The government has recently awarded three new oil concessions in the
region.
Rebel leaders say oil exploration in Darfur should be postponed until a peace
deal is signed by all parties and stability returns.
"We are still fighting for our lives and our country," said rebel commander
Jar Neby, who represents a faction of the Sudan Liberation Army. "We need
water right now, not oil. We can talk about these issues after peace comes."
Some political analysts believe that untapped oil reserves might have been an
underlying factor in the Darfur conflict all along, explaining why a seemingly
barren wasteland of western Sudan would spark such a bitter tug of war between
government forces and rebels, eventually drawing the intervention of
international players such as the United States, Libya and the United Nations.
"When you don't find a reasonable explanation, this is what you have to
conclude," said Eltayeb Hag Ateya, head of the Peace Studies Institute at
Khartoum University. "I believe there must be something else -- oil or some
natural resource -- about Darfur."
Salih Osman, a human rights attorney from Darfur, said government suspicions
about oil in Darfur explain why regime officials reacted so strongly to rebel
attacks in the region, starting in 2003. "I fear this will only make matters
worse," he said, referring to the newly expanded exploration.
The government is accused of arming Arab militias known as \o7janjaweed\f7 to
attack and destroy scores of Darfur villages over the last three years.
Government officials deny supporting the \o7janjaweed\f7 and blame rebels for
the violence.
A team of Middle Eastern oil companies, including Saudi Arabia-based Al
Qahtani Sons Group and Ansan Wikfs, based in Yemen, agreed in November to
spend $43 million for drilling rights to a 125,000-square-mile territory. The
largely uninhabited area, known as Block 12a, is north of where much of
Darfur's fighting is occurring.
The government's decision to offer new concessions in Darfur is part of an
aggressive search for oil in the northern part of the country.
Since discovering oil in the 1970s, Sudan has become one of Africa's biggest
producers. But most of the current production -- worth an estimated $6 billion
a year -- is in the south, and a 2005 peace agreement with former southern
rebels gives Sudanese there the right to break away from the rest of the
country in 2011, taking much of the oil with them.
"There's a real scramble to find oil in the north," said a government oil
official, who, like several others interviewed for this report, requested that
his name be withheld because of the government's sensitivity about speaking
publicly. "The likelihood that there is oil in Darfur is quite high."
The government awarded two smaller concessions east of Nyala, the capi
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