Georgetown Security Law Brief

Iran pushes ahead with new nuclear plant: UN report

05/22/13:  Reuters reports Iran is pressing ahead with the construction of a research reactor that Western experts say could offer it a second way of producing material for a nuclear bomb if it decides to make one, a UN report showed on Wednesday.  Iran has transported the reactor vessel to the heavy water plant near the central town of Arak but has not yet installed it, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said in a confidential report issued to member states. Western concerns about Iran are focused largely on uranium enrichment plants at Natanz and Fordow, as such material refined to a high level can provide the fissile core of an atomic bomb. But experts say Arak may also be a proliferation issue as it could yield plutonium for nuclear arms if the spent fuel were reprocessed. Iran has said it has no fuel reprocessing plans. As reported by Reuters on Tuesday, the IAEA report showed Iran increasing its capacity to refine uranium by installing hundreds more centrifuges at Natanz, underlining Tehran's defiance of Western demands to curb the activity. But, in a development that could help buy time for diplomacy between Iran and world powers, the report showed limited growth of Iran's most sensitive nuclear stockpile and it remained below an Israeli "red line" for possible action.

Iran and Hezbollah support for Syria complicates peace-talk strategy

05/22/13:  The New York Times reports as evidence grows of increased Iranian support for the Syrian government, the Obama administration’s strategy to bring the bitter fighting there to a close faces more challenges than ever.  With White House support, Secretary of State John Kerry has pushed for an international conference in Geneva in June that would bring representatives of the Syria government together with the opposition. The aim would be to negotiate a transitional government that would take over if President Bashar al-Assad vacates his post and to put an end to the civil war that has killed more than 80,000. But the stepped-up support Mr. Assad has received from Iran and Hezbollah in recent months appears to have fortified his belief that he can hang on to power and prevail militarily — or at least control a strategically significant swath of the country. The limited assistance the United States and its partners have so far been willing to provide the rebels seems unlikely to prompt Mr. Assad to look for a political way out, critics maintain. And persistent divisions within the ranks of the Syrian opposition, which is again seeking to select a new political leadership, can only be a source of comfort to the Syrian president.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un sends envoy to China

05/22/13:  The BBC reports North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has sent a special envoy to Beijing, state media has announced, amid cooling relations between the two neighbours. Choe Ryong-hae, a top military official, flew to the Chinese capital on Wednesday, KCNA said. The brief dispatch gave no details of the visit, which comes amid an apparent toughening of Beijing's stance in the wake of Pyongyang's third nuclear test. Chinese media said Mr Choe met Wang Jiarui, a top foreign affairs official. The visit - the duration of which remains unknown - follows weeks of high tension on the Korean peninsula. China is North Korea's biggest trading partner and closest ally. It has traditionally sought to maintain stability in North Korea, avoiding any crisis that could trigger the fall of the regime and propel a flow of refugees across the border. But in recent weeks, following Pyongyang's 12 February nuclear test and amid strident rhetoric from its leaders, China has expressed frustration with North Korea, with state media openly debating the benefits of close ties. Beijing supported expanded UN sanctions against Pyongyang after its nuclear test and some of its banks have recently suspended trading with North Korea's Foreign Trade Bank. It is also under domestic pressure after unidentified North Koreans seized, and subsequently released two weeks later, a 16-strong Chinese crew who had been fishing in the Yellow Sea.

As Chinese leader’s visit nears, US urged to allow counterattacks on hackers

05/22/13:  The New York Times reports with President Obama preparing for a first meeting with China's new president, a commission led by two former senior officials in his administration will recommend a series of steps that could significantly raise the cost to China of the theft of American industrial secrets. If milder measures failed, the commission said, the United States should consider giving companies the right to retaliate against cyberattackers with counterstrikes of their own. The recommendations are from the private Commission on the Theft of American Intellectual Property, which is led by two figures who parted company with the White House on strained terms: Dennis C. Blair, Mr. Obama’s first director of national intelligence, and Jon M. Huntsman Jr., the former ambassador to China. The commission’s report will be published Wednesday, two days before Mr. Obama’s national security adviser, Tom Donilon, travels to Beijing to prepare for the meeting. That two-day meeting, scheduled to start in California on June 7, has been highly choreographed on both sides. Mr. Donilon was preceded to Beijing by the Treasury Secretary, the Secretary of State and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. All have prepared to line up new initiatives, consultations and military-to-military exchanges intended to show a maturing relationship between the world’s two largest economies. But the recent disclosures about Chinese cyberattacks and the theft of industrial secrets, an operation managed partly from a Chinese People’s Liberation Army unit outside Shanghai, may affect the ability of Mr. Xi and Mr. Obama to forge anything the two men could claim to be a partnership.

Torture victim’s body found near US base, Afghans say

05/21/13:  The New York Times reports the footless corpse of an Afghan man missing since November was found on Tuesday near the former American Special Forces base to which he was last seen being taken, according to Afghan officials and victims’ representatives. Afghan investigators said that after his disappearance, the man, Sayid Mohammad, was seen in a video being tortured by an Afghan-American named Zakaria Kandahari, whom the officials identified as the chief interpreter for an American Army Special Forces A Team stationed at the base. The American military denies that Mr. Kandahari is an American citizen, and said he was no longer working for the A Team when the video was made. Mr. Mohammad’s body was found about 200 yards outside the perimeter of the base, in Nerkh District in Wardak Province.Mohammad Hanif Hanafi, the district governor, said it was found by laborers digging a water ditch when they unearthed what appeared to be a military-style black body bag. Relatives of Mr. Mohammad said his corpse was largely complete, except both feet had been cut off. Afghan officials say the partial remains and clothing of another missing person had been found earlier near the base, which is now occupied by Afghan Special Forces after the American unit left in March. Afghan officials are seeking Mr. Kandahari’s arrest on murder, torture and abuse of prisoner charges, and accuse the American military of shielding him from capture.

Syria and Israel in exchange of fire

05/21/13:  The BBC reports Israeli and Syrian forces have exchanged fire across the ceasefire line in the occupied Golan Heights. Israel returned fire after one of its military vehicles was hit by shots from Syria, Israel's defence forces say. Media reports say no-one was hurt. Syria says it destroyed an Israeli vehicle which it says crossed the ceasefire line into territory its forces control. Syria and Israel have traded fire a number of times in recent weeks. The Israeli military said its troops "returned precise fire" after the vehicle was hit. A statement from the Syrian army said it had "destroyed an Israeli vehicle with everything that it had in it". The statement said the vehicle was shot after it crossed the ceasefire line and headed towards the rebel-held village of Bir Ajam. It warned that any attempts to violate its sovereignty would be "met with immediate and firm retaliation". Syrian gunfire has hit the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights in two previous incidents this week, without causing injury. There have been sporadic exchanges of fire between the two sides in recent months.

Saudi Arabia detains 10 more in Iran spying case

05/21/13:  Reuters reports Saudi Arabia has detained 10 more people in a spying case it announced in March that it said was linked to Iran, state television reported on Tuesday. "Initial investigation carried out by the authorities led to the detention of 10 others for involvement in spying activities," state television news channel al-Ekhbariya reported, citing the Interior Ministry. It said the new group includes eight Saudis, a Lebanese and a Turk. In March Turki said Saudi security forces had arrested 18 people, including 16 Saudis, an Iranian and a Lebanese. In his statement, Turki said the Lebanese man held in March had now been released. All of the Saudis arrested in March were members of the kingdom's Shi'ite Muslim minority, leaders of that community said.

In Litvinenko case, secrecy wins out over inquiry

05/20/13:  The New York Times reports ever since Alexander V. Litvinenko died, his supporters have nurtured a hope of one day learning answers to two critical questions: Did the Kremlin plan his poisoning in central London in November 2006? And could British spymasters have prevented it? The answers would have weighty implications for both Moscow and London. Mr. Litvinenko, 43, was a turncoat KGB officer, a whistle-blower assailing organized crime and the Kremlin; he was a newly naturalized British citizen with ties to the late Russian oligarch Boris A. Berezovsky; and according to his widow, he was an employee of the British Secret Intelligence Service, MI6. The toxin that killed him, moreover, was a rare radioactive isotope, polonium 210, the bulk of which is produced supposedly under strict safeguards in Russia. British prosecutors accused another former KGB officer, Andrei K. Lugovoi, of murder — a charge he denied. Last Friday, Robert Owen, the senior judge acting as the coroner at an oft-postponed inquest into Litvinenko's death, ruled in favor of a request from the British foreign secretary, William Hague, to exclude evidence relating to the “possible involvement of Russian state agencies” and to the British authorities’ “knowledge and/or assessment of threats to Mr. Litvinenko’s life.” With those words, the central questions — and the likelihood of answers — were removed from the inquiry.

Indian and Chinese Premiers pledge cooperation on border issues

05/20/13:  The New York Times reports the prime ministers of India and China papered over their recent border dispute on Monday with a friendly joint statement and an array of promises for future economic and military cooperation. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh of India emphasized in his remarks that friendly relations between the Asian giants depended on “peace and tranquillity on our borders.” The two sides promised to appoint special representatives to investigate the reasons for the recent border spat. On April 15, a contingent of 50 Chinese troops was found to have set up camp in the mountainous Ladakh section of Kashmir that India claims as its own. India then stationed troops about 300 yards away from the Chinese troops and the two camps faced each other for weeks before the dispute was resolved. The two sides pledged Monday to enhance cooperation and agreed to joint military training exercises later this year. Their statement also referred to improved cooperation on maritime security. China’s growing maritime presence, including the building of ports in countries like Sri Lanka and Pakistan in what has been called a “string of pearls” strategy, has alarmed India. Mr. Li is scheduled to leave India on Tuesday to visit Pakistan.

Colombia Farc rebels ask for 'more time' for peace deal

05/20/13:  The BBC reports Colombia's left-wing Farc rebels have rejected criticism that efforts to end almost fifty years of conflict are moving too slowly. Farc lead negotiator Ivan Marquez said achieving lasting peace in Colombia would take "more time". He spoke as the rebels and the Colombian government marked six months since peace talks began. President Juan Manuel Santos has said he hopes a deal can be reached within months rather than years. Peace negotiations began in Cuba in November. Mr Marquez told reporters in the capital, Havana, on Sunday that he did not understand why the pace of talks was being described as slow. Talks remain stalled over the issue of land redistribution in Colombia, the first of a five-point agenda. The Colombian government has promised to return millions of hectares of stolen land to displaced peasants, one of the rebels' main demands. But Bogota insists that the rebels must first put down their guns and cease hostilities.

Russia expels former American embassy official

05/20/13:  The New York Times reports a former senior Justice Department official at the American Embassy here was declared “persona non grata” and barred from Russia this month, according to people familiar with the case, possibly because he had rebuffed an effort by the Russian Federal Security Service to recruit him as a spy. The former official, Thomas Firestone, had been living and working in Moscow as a lawyer for an American law firm, and had extensive contacts in the Russian government. He was detained at Sheremetyevo airport outside Moscow on May 5 while trying to return to Russia from a trip abroad; the authorities held him for 16 hours and then put him on a flight to the United States. Mr. Firestone was contacted in March by Russian intelligence operatives who sought to enlist him to spy for the Russians, according to one person who is familiar with the case. Mr. Firestone turned them down, the person said. It was not clear whether the episode was the cause of his ejection from Russia. The Obama administration has raised the matter of Mr. Firestone’s expulsion with the Russian government, according to one American government official. Spokesmen for the White House, the State Department, and the American Embassy in Moscow all declined to comment.

M23 rebels attack DRC army as UN force deploys

05/20/13:  The BBC reports heavy fighting has taken place between government and rebel forces in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. This was the first clash between the two sides since the UN began deploying an attack force to the area last week. Meanwhile, Rwandan President Paul Kagame told the BBC that UN troops had "in some cases" made the situation in DR Congo worse. The UN has nearly 20,000 peacekeepers in eastern DR Congo, where armed groups have wreaked havoc for two decades. The BBC's Maud Jullien in the capital, Kinshasa, says it is the most serious fighting in the area since the M23 withdrew from the regional capital, Goma, in December 2012. An army commander, Lt Col Mamadou Ndala, said 600 commandos were being deployed to protect the city, which the rebels seized last November before pulling out under intense diplomatic pressure, AP news agency reports. M23 rebels attacked government troops about 12 km (7 miles) north of Goma, said army spokesman Olivier Hamuli. The army pushed back the rebels after two hours of heavy fighting, but sporadic clashes were continuing, he added. The M23 had probably launched the attack to disrupt the deployment of the UN brigade, government spokesman Lambert Mende said. But the M23 accused government troops of attacking them first.

Bombing kills key figure in northern Afghan province

05/20/13:  The New York Times reports a suicide bomber disguised as a police officer killed 14 people on Monday, including the head of a provincial council in northern Afghanistan, officials said. The head of the council, Rasul Mohseni, commonly known as Rasul Khan, was widely regarded as the most powerful man in Baghlan Province and was a veteran commander who had led northerners in revolt against the Taliban regime. He was killed along with four of his bodyguards and three police officers, as well as six civilians, according to Zubair Akbari, the province’s director of public health. Nine other people were wounded. Mr. Mohseni, who was viewed as more powerful than either Baghlan’s governor or its police chief, had been accused of quietly rearming militia fighters in the north in case the Taliban again proved to be a threat. His brother Mustafa Mohseni is an Afghan general, and another brother, Azim Mohseni, is an influential member of Parliament. They were all prominent members of the Jamiat-i-Islami party, formerly led by Burhanuddin Rabbani, who was assassinated in 2011 by a Taliban suicide bomber pretending to be a peace emissary.

Kenneth Waltz, foreign-relations expert, dies at 88

05/19/13:  The New York Times reports Kenneth N. Waltz, a pre-eminent thinker on international relations who was known for his contrarian, debate-provoking ideas, not least his view that stability in the Middle East might be better served if Iran had a nuclear weapon, died on May 12 in Manhattan. He was 88.  Leslie H. Gelb, emeritus president of the Council on Foreign Relations, characterized Mr. Waltz as one of five “giants” who shaped the study of international relations as a discrete discipline, the others being Hans Morgenthau, Henry A. Kissinger, Samuel P. Huntington and Zbigniew Brzezinski. The field developed in the 1950s, when the experiences of two world wars and the beginning of the cold war drove scholars to try to explain more precisely how nations interacted. The goal was to build a conceptual framework on which international politics could be analyzed, something earlier courses on military and diplomatic history had not offered. One of Mr. Waltz’s propositions was that wars are not caused simply by human aggression or bad governments but by the anarchic, dog-eat-dog nature of international relations. Each nation-state, he said, will push as far as it can to advance its own self-interests.

Iran hangs two men for spying for Israel and US

05/19/13:  The BBC reports Iran has hanged two men convicted of spying for Israel and the US, the authorities there have said. Mohammad Heydari was found guilty of passing intelligence on "security issues and national secrets" to Israeli Mossad agents in exchange for cash. Kourosh Ahmadi was convicted of providing intelligence to the CIA, Tehran's prosecutor's office said. Iran has repeatedly accused Israel and the US of carrying out covert intelligence operations. It comes amid continuing tension over its nuclear programme, which Tehran insists is for peaceful purposes but Western nations suspect is being used to build an atomic weapon. It is not clear when Heydari and Ahmadi were arrested or where they were tried. Their execution was handed down by Tehran's Revolutionary Court and confirmed by the Supreme Court, Iran's Fars news agency reported. It said the two men were hanged at dawn. Earlier this year, the Supreme Court overturned the death sentence given to Amir Mirzai Hekmati, an Iranian-American national accused of spying for the CIA. The judge found the verdict was "not complete" and ordered a retrial. Both Mr Hekmati and the US deny the spying allegations.

Nigeria army's offensive to continue "as long as it takes"

05/19/13:  The BBC reports  Nigeria's army has vowed to continue its offensive against militants in the north-east "as long as it takes" to achieve its main objectives. Brig Gen Chris Olukolade told the BBC the aim was to assert Nigeria's "territorial integrity as a nation". Earlier, a 24-hour curfew was imposed in parts of the city of Maiduguri, where the military said it had arrested 65 "terrorists". Maiduguri has been an important base for Boko Haram Islamist militants. Earlier this week, Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan declared a state of emergency in three north-eastern states - Borno, Adamawa, and Yobe - after a series of deadly attacks by militant groups.  Nigerian military spokesman Brig Gen Olukolade said the army would continue its operation "as long as it takes to achieve our objective of getting rid of insurgents from every part of Nigeria". Earlier, an army statement named 12 areas of Maiduguri, the capital of Borno state, which would now be under permanent curfew.

Ban Ki-moon urges North Korea to end missile tests

05/19/13:  The BBC reports UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has called on North Korea to refrain from carrying out any further missile tests. He was speaking as Pyongyang test-fired a fourth short-range missile over the weekend. Such launches are routine but come as countries in the region are trying to break a stalemate in relations there, the BBC's Lucy Williamson says. Mr Ban urged Pyongyang to lower the tensions in the region and "resume dialogue" over its nuclear programme. Speaking in Russia after talks with President Vladimir Putin, Mr Ban called the missile tests "a provocative action".

Karzai seeks Indian military aid amid Pakistan row

05/19/13:  The Miami Herald reports Afghan President Hamid Karzai will seek increased military aid from India during a three-day visit starting Monday and will discuss recent cross-border clashes with Pakistan, India's archrival, an aide said. The comments follow a weekend report by the Times of India that said Afghanistan's ambassador to India had said the country needs India's help with "equipment and weapons to fight." The Press Trust of India later quoted a spokesman for India's foreign ministry as saying the country is ready to meet any such request. "Yes, we will ask for assistance for the strengthening of our security forces," Karzai spokesman Aimal Faizi said in a briefing Saturday ahead of the trip. He did not comment on the Indian reports. Karzai's visit could irk Pakistan, especially if any arms deal materializes. Pakistan considers Afghanistan its own backyard and suspects rival India of seeking greater influence there as a strategy to hem in the country from both sides. Pakistan and India have fought three wars since they were divided into two countries when they gained independence from Britain in 1947. Afghanistan and India signed a strategic partnership agreement in 2011 that has included Indian military training of Afghan security forces. Faizi indicated Saturday that Karzai would seek to expand that cooperation.

US rues Russian missiles sent to Damascus

05/18/13:  The BBC reports the US has chided Russia for what it calls an "unfortunate decision" to send missiles to the Syrian government. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen Martin Dempsey said the shipment "will embolden the regime and prolong the suffering" that has killed 80,000. The sophisticated anti-ship missiles could be used to counter any future foreign military intervention, US officials told The New York Times. Some 1.5 million people have fled the conflict, says the UN refugee agency. Most have fled to Jordan and Lebanon, but not all have been registered yet, meaning the true total is likely to be far higher, according to the UNHCR. Meanwhile, Syria's national production has dropped by 40% and the number of people living below the poverty line has risen from two million to five million in just two years, according to the man in charge of the UN's plans for reconstructing Syria after the conflict. Abdullah al-Dardari, a former deputy prime minister in President Bashar al-Assad's administration, told the BBC that rebuilding what has been destroyed would cost up to $80bn.

Commentary: It's not just China, India is also buying and building aircraft carriers

05/17/13:  Foreign Policy published an article by John Reed who notes that as China commissioned its first-ever aircraft carrier aviation unit, Asia's other rising power, India, gave its carrier aviators a serious equipment upgrade with the introduction of 16 brand-new Russian-made MiG-29K and four MiG-29KUB carrier-borne fighters earlier this week. India has operated old British aircraft carriers for decades. Right now it flies aging Sea Harrier jump jets from INS Viraat, formerly the Royal Navy carrier Hermes. These Sea Harriers are subsonic attack planes with limited payloads operating from a carrier that was built in the 1950s. The supersonic MiG-29K is an updated, naval version of the Soviet Union's 1980s-vintage MiG-29, which was designed to counter U.S. Air Force F-15s and F-16s in the skies over Europe should the Cold War ever turn hot. The planes are way faster than the 1980s-vintage Sea Harriers and can carry more weapons capable of shooting down enemy planes and hitting enemy ships. The Indian navy's new MiGs are going to be flown off of India's newest carrier, the former Soviet navy "aircraft-carrying cruiser" Admiral Gorshkov. That vessel has been massively refurbished at a Russian shipyard into the soon-to-be delivered INS Vikramaditya, a full-on carrier that, after much work, looks remarkably similar to China's first carrier, the Liaoning -- herself an old Soviet carrier.

UN: 3 peacekeepers abducted between Israel-Syria

05/17/13:  The Miami Herald reports armed men broke into a UN outpost in a buffer zone separating Israel and Syria and abducted three UN military observers, the UN peacekeeping chief said Thursday. Herve Ladsous told a group of reporters that the unarmed observers were held by the Syrian men for about five hours and released unharmed Wednesday morning. It was the third abduction of UN peacekeepers in the tense region since March and underlined again their vulnerability in the spillover of the conflict in Syria, which is now in its third year. Ladsous called the latest abduction "a very serious incident ... that illustrates the very difficult conditions that now prevail" in and around the area separating Syrian and Israeli forces which is supposed to be free of armed groups. UNTSO, the first UN peacekeeping mission, was established in May 1948 to help supervise a truce after an Arab-Israeli war that followed the breakup of Palestine into two states. According to the UN, its military observers, numbering about 150, have remained in the Middle East to monitor cease-fires, supervise armistice agreements, prevent isolated incidents from escalating and assist other UN peacekeeping operations.

Syria crisis: Russia 'sends sophisticated weapons'

05/17/13:  The BBC reports Russia has sent sophisticated anti-ship missiles to Syria, US media report.  The New York Times quotes unnamed US officials as saying the missiles could be used to counter any potential future foreign military intervention in Syria. Without confirming details, Russia's foreign minister said Russian supplies did not break any international rules. It comes amid growing alarm that chemical weapons may be being used in Syria, something US President Barack Obama has said would be "a red line". Meanwhile efforts continue to arrange an international conference on Syria. The United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon met Mr Lavrov in Sochi on Friday to discuss the plans for the conference, which would aim to bring together the Syrian opposition and members of President Bashar al-Assad's government.

Yemeni kidnappers release Red Cross hostages

05/16/13: The BBC reports kidnappers in southern Yemen have freed three Red Cross workers and their Yemeni interpreter. The foreign workers - a Swiss, a Kenyan and Egyptian - were kidnapped on Monday in the city of Jaar in Abyan province. The release followed mediation from local tribal leaders. Kidnaps of foreigners are common in Yemen. Tribes have been known to kidnap them as leverage for getting grievances addressed by the government. But militants linked to al-Qaeda have also claimed responsibility for abductions. Earlier this month a Finnish couple and an Austrian man abducted in December were freed. In February, a Swiss teacher was freed by her kidnappers in Yemen after nearly a year in captivity, following mediation by the Qatari government.

UN calls for political transition in Syria

05/16/13:  The New York Times reports as the bloodletting continued unabated in Syria, the 193-member General Assembly passed a nonbinding resolution on Wednesday calling for a political transition to end the civil war there, putting the onus on the government of President Bashar al-Assad to stop the killing.  But even as the vote was being tallied, members recognized that it, like every other diplomatic initiative, would probably fail to stem the violence or coax out a political solution. While the resolution passed 107 to 12, it fell far short of the 133 votes in support of a similar resolution last August. The 59 abstentions reflected the widespread sentiment that the new initiative might not help push both parties toward new peace talks in Geneva proposed by the United States and Russia.

White House releases Benghazi emails, documents

05/16/13:  The Washington Times reports the White House released more than 100 pages of e-mails Wednesday in an effort to quiet criticism that President Obama and his aides downplayed the role of terrorism in the deadly attack on the US diplomatic compound in Benghazi, Libya The documents detail discussions between top administration officials on developing “talking points” to describe the attack last Sept. 11 that killed Ambassador Christopher Stevens and three other Americans. The CIA originally drafted those talking points, and Republican lawmakers have said the administration scrubbed the memos to remove any references to a terrorist attack. In the early days and weeks following the attack, the administration portrayed it as a mob assault fueled by protests about an anti-Islam video. But in the CIA’s original set of talking points, the first bullet point included a reference that the Benghazi attack was “spontaneously inspired by the protests at the US Embassy in Cairo and evolved into a direct assault against the US consulate and subsequently its annex.” It said the agency’s assessments could change “as additional information is collected and analyzed.” The second bullet point said the Benghazi assailants were “a mix of individuals from across many sections of Libyan society.”

China joins Arctic Council but a decision on the EU is deferred

05/16/13:  The BBC reports China is one of a number of countries that has gained permanent observer status on the Arctic Council. At a meeting in Sweden, the eight members of the Council accepted India, Italy, Japan, South Korea and Singapore. However following dissent from Canada, a decision on the EU's application has been deferred. The permanent observers have no decision making powers. The opening up of the Arctic to shipping and oil and gas exploitation has fuelled worldwide interest in the region.  With a changing climate allowing ships to travel more cheaply and quickly across the Northern route, Asian countries with ship building industries are particularly interested in closer links to the region and the Council. The Artic Council was set up in the 1990s and has been mainly concerned with environmental matters including climate change and pollution, both of which are being felt more heavily in the Northern regions. It has eight permanent members made up of the five coastal Arctic countries, Norway, Russia, Canada, US and Denmark - it also includes three other non coastal members, Finland, Iceland and Sweden. It has limited powers, issuing non binding protocols on member states - but as the ice recedes and the wider exploitation of the region becomes possible, the rest of world has taken notice and wants to be involved. Already six European countries are permanent observers. Now the Council has accepted some of the world's most important emerging powers into what has been dubbed the "coldrush club", a name that reflects the opportunities many see for the exploitation of oil and gas resources in the region.

Russia building up missile systems while seeking to limit US defenses

05/16/13:  The Washington Times reports Russia is engaged in a major buildup of both nuclear and conventional missile defense systems at the same time Moscow is seeking legal limits on US missile defenses, according to US officials. The Russian military is developing and deploying an array of new and modernized anti-missile interceptors that are part of a strategic doctrine that calls for defending against what Moscow believes to be an increasing threat posed by offensive ballistic missiles, said US officials with access to intelligence reports. New systems monitored by US intelligence agencies under development or in the deployment phase include an advanced S-500 missile defense system currently being built in addition to the already available, and very capable, S-400 and S-300 defenses. Additionally, the Russians are upgrading the SH-08 nuclear-tipped anti-missile interceptors that have been deployed around Moscow for more than two decades. US officials said the defenses are assessed as effective against cruise missiles, bombers, jet fighters, short- and intermediate-range ballistic missile, and intercontinental ballistic missiles. Disclosure of the Russian missile defense buildup comes as the Obama administration is seeking to reach an agreement that critics say could result in legally binding restrictions on US defenses.

Weapons, ammunition shipments slowing to Syria’s moderate rebel factions

05/14/13:  The Miami Herald reports disagreements among the countries backing the rebels in Syria have led to a drop in weapons shipments, leaving rebels vulnerable to a government military offensive. The precise nature of the dispute is unclear, but one of the effects is that Saudi Arabia has stopped sending weapons via Turkey and has shifted its supply channels to northern Jordan. The result has been fewer guns and bullets for the rebels in northern and central portions of the country. The lack of military supplies has shown in the rebels’ lackluster performance against a government offensive that now threatens the city of Qusayr, which has been in rebel hands for the past year. Several villages near Qusayr have fallen to government forces in recent weeks along a smuggling route that rebels had long used to move supplies and people into Syria from Lebanon. Yazed al Hasan, a spokesman for the Farouq Battalions, a rebel group that began in the central Syrian province of Homs but whose influence now extends to the Turkish border, where it controls two crossing points, said the consequences of the drop in shipments from Turkey was clear. “The shortage of ammunition means losing the Qusayr front,” he said. He said Farouq had more than 1,000 fighters in Qusayr, which is now largely surrounded by Syrian soldiers and pro-government militia. Last week, the US State Department issued a statement expressing concern that the Syrian government had dropped leaflets telling “all civilians to evacuate or be treated as combatants.”

Cyberattacks against US corporations are on the rise

05/14/13:  The New York Times reports a new wave of cyberattacks is striking American corporations, prompting warnings from federal officials, including a vague one issued last week by the Department of Homeland Security. This time, officials say, the attackers’ aim is not espionage but sabotage, and the source seems to be somewhere in the Middle East. The targets have primarily been energy companies, and the attacks appeared to be probes, looking for ways to seize control of their processing systems. The attacks are continuing, officials said. But two senior administration officials said Sunday that they were still not certain exactly where the attacks were coming from, or whether they were state-sponsored or the work of hackers or criminals. Another official said that in the new wave of attacks, “most everything we have seen is coming from the Middle East,” but he did not say whether Iran, or another country, appeared to be the source. Last week’s warning was unusual because most attacks against American companies — especially those coming from China — have been attempts to obtain confidential information, steal trade secrets and gain competitive advantage. By contrast, the new attacks seek to destroy data or to manipulate industrial machinery and take over or shut down the networks that deliver energy or run industrial processes.

CIA agent intercepted in Moscow

05/14/13:  The BBC reports an alleged CIA agent has been briefly detained in Moscow for allegedly trying to recruit a Russian intelligence officer, Russian media report. He was held overnight before being released to US officials, Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) said. Photos have emerged of the man, said to be an employee of the US embassy, being held face down on the ground. The US ambassador to Moscow, Michael McFaul, has been summoned to the Russian foreign ministry. The man was reportedly arrested with a large sum of money, technical devices and written instructions for the agent he had tried to recruit. Named as Ryan Fogle, he is said to be third political secretary at the US embassy. There was no comment from the embassy. Russia and the US recently said they wished to step up security co-operation after the Boston Marathon bombing. While it is a sensitive time for US-Russian relations because of the crisis in Syria, the FSB's claims to have unearthed a CIA agent are unlikely to have any long-term political consequence, the BBC's Steve Rosenberg reports from Moscow.

Arrests and calls for calm in Turkey

05/14/13:  The New York Times reports Turkish officials said Sunday that they had arrested nine people accused of carrying out twin bombings in this town near the Syrian border the day before, as the investigation moved at a clip that underscored the intense pressure on the government to contain the fallout from the attacks.  Officials said the detainees were all Turkish citizens and asserted that the group had been backed by the intelligence services of President Bashar al-Assad of Syria. Anxieties were high in Turkey’s ethnically and religiously mixed southern border region, where some saw the bombings — which killed 46 and injured more than 100 — as a menacing consequence of the government’s strong support for Syria’s rebels. Officials’ repeated calls for calm reflected fears not only of the conflict’s spreading across the border, but also of the contagion of its sectarian fighting, with massacres and forced relocations compounding the horrors of the war. Turkey, like Syria’s other neighbors, is increasingly worried that the conflict will inflame border areas, where tensions among various groups are deepening amid the flood of traumatized Syrian refugees.

Commentary: Should we arm the Syrian rebels?

05/11/13:  Foreign Policy published an article by Rosa Brooks discussing arming Syrian rebels. As tempting as it is, past experience suggests that arming the Syrian opposition could be every bit as hazardous, difficult and uncertain as putting US boots on the ground. I don't mean to suggest that arming the Syrian opposition should be taken off the table entirely. But if we proceed, we should do so only with the utmost caution: After all, history suggests that US efforts to arm insurgents tend not to end well. Like so many global tragedies, this is one with no simple solution. It's a mess, and any "solution" will be messy, as well. But as with any proposed intervention with humanitarian motives, "do no harm" should be our first priority. If we can help, we should, even if there is some risk involved -- but if our actions are likely to just make things worse, we should refrain, painful as that is.

Benghazi e-mails put White House on the defensive

05/11/13:  The New York Times reports a long-simmering dispute over the White House’s account of the deadly assault on the American diplomatic compound in Benghazi, Libya, flared up on Friday, with a disclosure of e-mails that show the White House was more deeply involved in revising talking points about the attack than officials have previously acknowledged. The e-mails, which the administration turned over to Congress, show the White House coordinating an intensive process with the State Department, the CIA, the FBI and other agencies to obtain the final version of the talking points, used by Susan E. Rice, the ambassador to the United Nations, in television appearances after the attack. The State Department, in particular, pushed to remove references to al Qaeda and Ansar al-Sharia, the Libyan militant group suspected of carrying out the attack as well as warnings about other potential terrorist threats from CIA, which drafted the initial talking points. Officials stuck to their contention that the only wording change the White House made was to change the description of the Benghazi annex from a consulate to a diplomatic post. Indeed, the e-mails do not reveal major new details about the attack or other discrepancies in the administration’s evolving account of it.

Kofi Annan: Africa plundered by secret mining deals

05/11/13:  The BBC reports tax avoidance, secret mining deals and financial transfers are depriving Africa of the benefits of its resources boom, ex-UN chief Kofi Annan has said. Firms that shift profits to lower tax jurisdictions cost Africa $38bn (£25bn) a year, says a report produced by a panel he heads. "Africa loses twice as much money through these loopholes as it gets from donors," Mr Annan told the BBC. It was like taking food off the tables of the poor, he said. The Africa Progress Report is released every May - produced by a panel of 10 prominent figures, including former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo and Graca Machel, the wife of South African ex-President Nelson Mandela. African countries needed to improve governance and the world's richest nations should help introduce global rules on transparency and taxation, Mr Annan said. The report gave the Democratic Republic of Congo as an example, where between 2010 and 2012 five under-priced mining concessions were sold in "highly opaque and secretive deals".

Russia says no new plan to sell air defense systems to Syria

05/10/13:  Reuters reports Russia's foreign minister said on Friday Moscow had no new plans to sell an advanced air defense system to Syria, but left open the possibility it could deliver such systems under an existing contract. The Wall Street Journal this week reported that Israel had informed the United States a Russian deal was imminent to sell S-300 anti-aircraft missile systems to the government of President Bashar al-Assad. That would significantly boost Syria's ability to stave off outside intervention in its civil war, such as the air strikes launched by Israel this month. Asked by a journalist in the Polish capital about the reports of a missile deal, Sergei Lavrov said: "Russia is not planning to sell. Russia already sold them a long time ago. It has signed the contracts and is completing deliveries, in line with the agreed contracts, of equipment which is anti-aircraft technology." The question referred to S-300 systems, but in his reply the minister did not specify whether the items already being delivered were S-300 complexes or another system. Lavrov, in Warsaw for a meeting on regional cooperation with his German and Polish counterparts, said the deliveries were in line with international law and for self-defense only. Russia is Syria's main arms supplier and has continued fulfilling defense contracts despite the civil war. Moscow, along with China, has blocked moves in the United Nations for international intervention to halt the bloodshed in Syria.

Guatemala ex-leader Rios Montt denies genocide

05/10/13:  The BBC reports the former military leader of Guatemala, Efrain Rios Montt, has protested his innocence at the end of his trial on genocide charges. It was the first time General Rios Montt, 86, had spoken during the court proceedings. He said there was no evidence he had ordered the extermination of the Ixil ethnic group during his time in office, in the early 1980s. Gen Rios Montt is accused of genocide and crimes against humanity. An estimated 200,000 people were killed in Guatemala's civil war, the vast majority of them indigenous Mayans. Gen Rios Montt has maintained a silence in the courtroom as the multiple charges have been laid out before him. However, the BBC's central America correspondent Will Grant says that as the closing arguments were being made, he was not going to leave the hearing without protesting his innocence himself. "I have never ordered genocide," he told the three-judge tribunal. "I am innocent. I never had the intent to destroy any national race, religion, or ethnic group." Speaking for nearly an hour, he argued that as president he was in charge of maintaining the integrity of the national territory of Guatemala rather than overseeing the civil war at a local level. "The commanding officer in charge of the units in the El Quiche region is accountable for the actions," he said.

 

Philippines eyes Golan peacekeeper pull-out after abductions

05/10/13:  The BBC reports the Philippines' foreign minister says he wants to pull its peacekeepers from the UN force in the Golan Heights after four were seized by Syrian rebels. Albert del Rosario said the soldiers were being held as human shields and that peacekeepers' exposure was "beyond tolerable limits". The UN peacekeepers patrol the line separating Syria and the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights. A total of 342 are Filipinos - about a third of the UN contingent. The four peacekeepers were abducted by Syrian rebels on Tuesday. Two months ago Syrian rebels held 20 Filipino peacekeepers in the same area for a few days before releasing them. Footage released online on Thursday showed the abducted peacekeepers and a rebel - thought to belong to the Yarmouk Martyrs Brigade, the group behind the March abduction - saying the four had been taken for their own safety because of fighting between Syrian rebels and government troops.

US imposes sanctions on those aiding Iran

05/10/13:  The New York Times reports the United States on Thursday expanded its roster of those violating Iran sanctions, blacklisting four Iranian companies and one individual suspected of helping the country enrich nuclear fuel. It also singled out two other companies, including a Venezuelan-Iranian bank, accused of helping Iran evade other Western-imposed prohibitions on oil sales and financial dealings.  The penalties announced by the Treasury and State Departments came a day after the Senate introduced legislation that could effectively deny the Iran government access to an estimated $100 billion worth of its own money parked in overseas banks, a step that proponents said could significantly damage Iran’s financial stability. That legislation, known as the Iran Sanctions Loophole Elimination Act, is expected to be integrated into a broader House measure introduced in February. The actions on Thursday appeared to signal an accelerated American effort to squeeze Iran economically over the lack of progress in negotiations on the disputed Iranian nuclear program, which Iran says is peaceful but the West has called a guise to achieve the ability to make atomic bombs. The latest round of negotiations last month ended inconclusively, and Western critics of Iran have accused it of stalling for time while it continues to enrich uranium.

Karzai says US can keep Afghan bases after 2014

05/09/13:  The New York Times reports Afghanistan is ready to let the United States and its allies keep military bases here after the end of the NATO combat mission next year, President Hamid Karzai said on Thursday, offering a concrete public signal that foreign troops would remain welcome in the coming years. The US and Afghanistan are negotiating a security agreement that would allow American forces to stay here beyond the end of 2014, and Mr. Karzai said the Obama administration has asked for nine bases spread across the country. “We agree to give them these bases,” Mr. Karzai told students during a speech at Kabul University. “We consider our relations with the United States beyond 2014 to be positive for Afghanistan.” The American reaction, though, was far less positive than what one would expect. Officials characterized Mr. Karzai’s comments as premature, at best, and said they appeared to reflect the Afghan government’s desire for a larger force than the United States is likely willing to commit. The Obama administration has yet to decide how large a force it would like to keep in Afghanistan, but administration officials have signaled that it is unlikely to total more than 10,000 service members. They said it was more important now to hash out a range of issues, such as whether American troops would continue to have legal immunity in Afghanistan after 2014, than to talk about the specifics of where troops would be based. The American officials also stressed that no matter the final number of troops, the United States envisions using Afghan bases — not its own — to house its forces.

US fears Russia may sell air-defense system to Syria

05/09/13:  The New York Times reports the US, which is trying to bring Syrian rebels and the Syrian government to the negotiating table, is now increasingly worried that Russia plans to sell a sophisticated air defense system to Syria, American officials said Wednesday.  Russia has a long history of selling arms to the Syrians and has a naval base in the country. But the delivery of the Russian S-300 missile batteries would represent a major qualitative advancement in Syria’s air defenses. The system is regarded as highly effective and would limit the ability of the United States and other nations to operate over Syrian airspace or impose a no-fly zone. It is also able to track and fire missiles at multiple targets, including aircraft and some missiles. “There are concerns that this might happen,” said a senior United States official who spoke on the condition of anonymity, referring to the possible delivery of the S-300. A Western intelligence service has also warned that the Russians may soon send S-300 air defense batteries to Syria, said another American official who asked not to be identified because he was discussing intelligence reports. Russia and Iran have supported Mr. Assad politically and have provided military support — support that American officials say has fortified Mr. Assad’s determination to hang on to power. American officials had been concerned that Russia might sell S-300 air defense batteries to Iran. But after the United States and Israel raised alarms, the weapons were not provided to the Iranians. 

Diplomat says questions over Benghazi led to demotion

05/09/13:  The New York Times reports a veteran diplomat gave a riveting minute-by-minute account on Wednesday of the lethal terrorist attack in Benghazi, Libya, last Sept. 11 and described its contentious aftermath at a charged Congressional hearing that reflected the weighty political stakes perceived by both parties. During a chaotic night at the American Embassy in Tripoli, hundreds of miles away, the diplomat, Gregory Hicks, got what he called “the saddest phone call I’ve ever had in my life” informing him that Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens was dead and that he was now the highest-ranking American in Libya. For his leadership that night when four Americans were killed, Mr. Hicks said in nearly six hours of testimony, he subsequently received calls from both Secretary of StateHillary Rodham ClintonandPresident Obama. But within days, Mr. Hicks said, after raising questions about the account of what had happened in Benghazi offered in television interviews by Susan E. Rice, the United Nations ambassador, he felt a distinct chill from State Department superiors. “The sense I got was that I needed to stop the line of questioning,” said Mr. Hicks, who has been a Foreign Service officer for 22 years. He was soon given a scathing review of his management style, he said, and was later “effectively demoted” to desk officer at headquarters, in what he believes was retaliation for speaking up. House Republican leaders made the hearing the day’s top priority, postponing floor votes so that the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform could continue without interruption. The Obama administration appeared focused on the testimony, with senior officials at the White House, the State Department and the Pentagon responding through the day to Republican accusations of incompetence and cover-up in campaign war room style.

Turkey deploys chemical defense team at border

05/09/13:  The Miami Herald reports Turkey's state-run agency says the country has stationed a team of eight experts to screen injured Syrians at the border to ensure they are not victims of any chemical attack. The Anadolu Agency says Thursday that a chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear defense vehicle, manned by the team, has been deployed at the main Cilvegozu border gate with Syria. The move follows allegations of possible chemical weapons use in Syria's civil war between President Bashar Assad's regime and rebels who want to overthrow him. The agency says the team examines injured Syrians for signs of chemical agents before sending them to nearby hospitals for treatment. Officials in Syria's capital, Damascus, deny claims the Assad regime has used chemical weapons. The rebels also deny any allegations of chemical weapon use.

Okinawa piques Chinese papers

05/09/13:  The New York Times reports Chinese state-run newspapers began carrying commentaries on Wednesday and Thursday questioning Japan’s sovereignty over the island of Okinawa, the latest sign of growing nationalism and territorial ambitions among a significant sector of China’s elite. People’s Daily, the official newspaper of the Chinese Communist Party, published an opinion column on Wednesday by two academics who noted that the Ryukyu Islands, of which Okinawa is the most important, for many years had been an independent kingdom that paid tribute to China. Japan took control of the islands in a series of moves through the 1870s, formally annexing them in 1879 and abolishing the local monarchy. Global Times, a sometimes stridently nationalistic newspaper, published a news article on Thursday asserting that questions about Okinawa’s sovereignty could help China in its long-running territorial dispute with Japan over seven uninhabited islands northeast of Taiwan, known as the Senkaku in Japan and the Diaoyu in China and Taiwan. The Chinese government has not endorsed the idea that Okinawa, the site of extensive American military bases, should be independent of Japan. At a regularly scheduled news conference on Wednesday, a Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokeswoman answered three questions about Okinawa with almost identical language, but did not take a clear position on sovereignty. The Japanese government quickly dismissed the People’s Daily column. “It is beyond doubt that it belongs to Japan, and that is the fact historically and internationally, so such an argument is absolutely undignified,” Yoshihide Suga, the chief cabinet secretary, said in a regularly scheduled news conference on Wednesday.

Pakistan election: Sharif 'would end' war on terror role

05/09/13:  The BBC reports the man tipped to be Pakistan's next prime minister, Nawaz Sharif, has said he would end the country's involvement in the US-led war on terror if elected. Mr Sharif told the BBC that the move was necessary for there to be peace in Pakistan and elsewhere in the world. Pakistan has been part of the US-led fight against Islamist militancy in the region since the 9/11 attacks. Voters in Pakistan are due to go to the polls on 11 May following an election run-up marred by violence. It is the first time in the country's history that an elected government will hand over power to another elected government. The remarks by Mr Sharif, leader of the Pakistan Muslim League-N (PML-N), may cause concern among Western leaders, the BBC's Orla Guerin reports from Islamabad. They fear it could lead to militants having greater freedom to operate in Pakistan, as foreign troops prepare to leave Afghanistan in 2014. One of the key questions for the West is how Pakistan's next prime minister will tackle militants on home soil, our correspondent says. Asked whether he would take Pakistan out of the war on terror, Mr Sharif said: "Yes, we have to." But he declined to say whether he would stop military operations against the Taliban and al-Qaeda. The business magnate, who served as Pakistan's prime minister twice in the 1990s, said he wanted to work with other countries to find a lasting peace in the region. Meanwhile, there was further violence on Wednesday ahead of the elections. At least three people were killed and about 25 injured - including six policemen - in a suicide bombing outside a police station in the Bannu region of north-western Pakistan on Wednesday.

 

UN official warns Egypt law could prompt crackdown

05/09/13:  The Miami Herald reports the UN's top human rights official is urging Egypt's government to make sure that a draft law on civil groups doesn't allow a security crackdown on them. Navi Pillay, the UN high commissioner for human rights, says the draft law "risks placing civil society under the thumb of security ministries, which have a history of abusing human rights and an interest in minimizing scrutiny." She said Wednesday that a controversial constitutional referendum in December backed by Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi also may give his government "excessive power over the judiciary" by letting him directly appoint the nation's highest judges. Pillay also says Egyptian prosecutors are not properly investigating serious human rights abuses such as slayings, torture, rape and other sexual attacks on protesters and the poor treatment of detainees.

Bodies pour in as Nigeria hunts for Islamists

05/08/13:  The New York Times reports a fresh load of battered corpses arrived, 29 of them in a routine delivery by the Nigerian military to the hospital morgue here. Unexpectedly, three bodies started moving. “They were not properly shot,” recalled a security official here. “I had to call the J.T.F.” — the military’s joint task force — “and they gunned them down.” It was a rare oversight. Large numbers of bodies, sometimes more than 60 in a day, are being brought by the Nigerian military to the state hospital, according to government, health and security officials, hospital workers and human rights groups — the product of the military’s brutal war against radical Islamists rooted in this northern city. The corpses were those of young men arrested in neighborhood sweeps by the military and taken to a barracks nearby. Accused, often on flimsy or no evidence, of being members or supporters of Boko Haram — the Islamist militant group waging a bloody insurgency against the Nigerian state — the detainees are beaten, starved, shot and even suffocated to death, say the officials, employees and witnesses. Then, soldiers bring the bodies to the hospital and dump them at the morgue, officials and workers say. The flood is so consistent that the small morgue at the edge of the hospital grounds often has no room, with corpses flung by the military in the sand around it. Residents say they sometimes have to flee the neighborhood because of the fierce smell of rotting flesh. From the outset of the battle between Boko Haram and the military, a dirty war on both sides that has cost nearly 4,000 lives since erupting in this city in 2009, security forces have been accused of extrajudicial killings and broad, often indiscriminate roundups of suspects and sympathizers in residential areas.        

Kurdish PKK rebels 'begin leaving Turkey' after truce

05/08/13:  The BBC reports Kurdish rebel fighters have begun leaving south-eastern Turkey for their safe havens in Iraq under a ceasefire, Kurdish sources say. "We know that they have started moving," Selahattin Demirtas, a pro-Kurdish politician involved in the peace process, told AFP news agency. The Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) announced last month a phased withdrawal to start early in May. More than 40,000 people have died in their 30-year fight against Turkey. There was no immediate official confirmation of the move from Turkey but an unnamed security source told Reuters news agency: "We have observed movement among [PKK] group members, but have not been able to establish whether this is regrouping or preparation for a withdrawal." The PKK is believed to have up to 2,000 fighters inside Turkey and their full withdrawal may take up to four months. They are expected to cross the border on foot, heading for their bases in the Qandil Mountains of Iraq. Abdullah Ocalan, the veteran PKK leader in prison in Turkey, ordered the withdrawal in March as part of peace negotiations with Ankara.

Israel PM Netanyahu 'curbs settlement construction'

05/08/13:  The BBC reports Israel's prime minister has issued an unofficial order to stop the approval of new plans or tenders for Jewish settlement construction in the West Bank, a leading pressure group says. Peace Now said it appeared Benjamin Netanyahu was responding to US efforts to restart Middle East peace talks. The Israeli government has neither confirmed nor denied the report. Direct negotiations with the Palestinians stalled in 2010 following a dispute over settlement construction. About 500,000 Jews live in more than 100 settlements built since Israel's 1967 occupation of the West Bank and East Jerusalem. The settlements are considered illegal under international law, though Israel disputes this. After the Palestinians were granted "non-member observer state" status at the United Nations last November, a move which Israel strongly opposed, Mr Netanyahu's government announced plans to build 3,000 new homes in settlements.

UN peacekeeper killed in eastern Congo

05/08/13:  The Miami Herald reports the spokesman for the United Nations peacekeeping mission in Congo confirmed that a U.N. peacekeeper was killed in South Kivu province, located in the troubled east of the country. Felix Prosper Basse told reporters during a press conference Wednesday that the Pakistani peacekeeper was killed Tuesday by unidentified assailants, who were armed. No further details were immediately available. Over 17,000 peacekeepers are deployed in Congo, especially in its volatile east, where numerous armed groups as well as units within the regular army vie for control of lucrative mines and trade routes. Last December, the newly former M23 rebel group overran the provincial capital of Goma, before international pressure succeeded in convincing them to withdraw from the city.

Syrian rebels used Sarin nerve gas, not Assad’s regime: U.N. official

05/07/13:  The Washington Times reports testimony from victims strongly suggests it was the rebels, not the Syrian government, that used Sarin nerve gas during a recent incident in the revolution-wracked nation, a senior UN diplomat said Monday.  Carla de Ponte, a member of the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Syria, told Swiss TV there were “strong, concrete suspicions but not yet incontrovertible proof,” that rebels seeking to oust Syrian strongman Bashar al-Assad had used the nerve agent. But she said her panel had not yet seen any evidence of Syrian government forces using chemical weapons, according to the BBC, but she added that more investigation was needed. Damascus has recently facing growing Western accusations that its forces used such weapons, which President Obama has described as crossing a red line. But Ms. del Ponte's remarks may serve to shift the focus of international concern.