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Showing posts from February 6, 2011

Fatal Bombs in Iraq Seemed Aimed at Militia

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Source: NYT Marwan Ibrahim/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images The scene of car bombings in the northern city of Kirkuk on Wednesday. By  MICHAEL S. SCHMIDT Published: February 9, 2011 Enlarge This Image BAGHDAD — A  series of car bombs  shook the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk on Wednesday, killing 10 people and wounding at least 90 in a large-scale assault that appeared aimed at a local Kurdish militia. Emad Matti/APTN, via Associated Press A TV cameraman caught this image of an explosion in Kirkuk, Iraq, on Wednesday, one of several bombings within minutes. The bombings came two days after a group called  Ansar al-Islam , which has been linked to  Al Qaeda , posted leaflets saying it would attack the militia because it had arrested Muslim women. It was not clear whether the militia, Asayish, had arrested the women or why. Around 10:30 a.m. on Wednesday a pickup truck, apparently carrying milk, exploded near the militia’s headquarters, destroying the building, a local law enforceme

Is this Pakistanism in Sudan? Borders in Africa have long caused conflict. Now Sudan's Christian-Muslim divide could raise tensions

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Source: gaurdian The  referendum in Sudan , which will result in the secession of the south, is the first redrawing of an African colonial border by popular vote. The question many are asking is whether this will create a precedent across the continent. When African heads of state created the Organisation of African Unity in 1963, they committed themselves to fighting colonialism and its legacy. Yet the one legacy they had no intention of ending was the borders of their own countries. Some "decolonised" their national names. The Gold Coast became Ghana, Northern Rhodesia became Zambia, Nyasaland became Malawi. But almost none of them were prepared to decolonise their boundaries. The new African Union, formed in 2002, renewed this commitment. So the Southern Sudan referendum was truly historic. In this country, the size of western Europe, it took two civil wars, the death of more than a million people and the displacement of millions of others to reach the simple decision to

Q&A-How will Somali piracy affect shipping?

Source: reuters Thu Feb 10, 2011 11:34am EST (Clarifies that capacity cited in paragraph 16 is an annual figure.) By  Jonathan Saul Feb 10 (Reuters) - Escalating pirate attacks in vital shipping lanes have raised fears that insurance costs could rise and vessels could be diverted, adding to demand for bunker fuel at a time of rising oil prices. Suspected Somali pirates captured a U.S.-bound tanker carrying around $200 million worth of crude oil in the Indian Ocean on Wednesday in one of the biggest hijackings in the area so far. The hijacking of the Irene SL came a day after an Italian tanker was snatched, reinforcing industry fears that the piracy scourge is spinning out of control. [ID:nLDE7170PV] Below are some questions and answers about the rising risks global trade faces from seaborne gangs. WHY IS THE SOMALI PIRACY THREAT ESCALATING? Pirate gangs are making tens of millions of dollars in ransoms, and their growing capabilities in recent months have enabled them to carry out mo

Factbox: Security developments in Pakistan

Source: reuters ISLAMABAD  |  Thu Feb 10, 2011 9:39am EST (Reuters) - Following are security developments in Pakistan  at 0645 GMT on Thursday. MARDAN - A boy in a school uniform blew himself up at a  Pakistani  army recruitment center in the northwestern town of Mardan, killing at least 20 cadets, officials said. NORTH WAZIRISTAN - Taliban militants shot and killed two policemen, a school teacher and a construction worker, government officials and residents said. Notes left beside the bullet-riddled bodies said they were killed "because they are American spies." (Compiled by Zeeshan Haider; Editing by Michael Georgy)

Egypt and Pakistan; something borrowed, something new

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Source: reuters The Egyptian uprising contains  much that is familiar to Pakistan  – the dark warnings of a coup, in Egypt’s case  delivered by Vice President Omar Suleiman , the role of political Islam, and a relationship with the United States  distorted by U.S. aid  and American strategic interests which do not match those of the people. President Hosni Mubarak cited Pakistan as an example of what happened when a ruler like President Pervez Musharraf – like himself from the military - was forced to make way for democracy. ”He fears that Pakistan is on the brink of falling into the hands of the Taliban, and he puts some of the blame on U.S. insistence on steps that ultimately weakened Musharraf,”  a 2009 U.S. embassy cable published by WikiLeaks said. Comparisons with Pakistan tend to make you somewhat sceptical about the chances of Egypt’s uprising turning out well. Yet there is something quite new coming out of Egypt that has the potential to be transformative across the Muslim

Boy suicide bomber kills 31 at Pakistan army

Source: Reuters Pakistan blast at army center  (01:37) Report By Fayaz Aziz MARDAN, Pakistan  |  Thu Feb 10, 2011 11:00am EST (Reuters) - A boy in a school uniform blew himself up at a  Pakistani  army recruitment center on Thursday, killing 31 cadets, officials said, in an attack that challenges government assertions it has weakened militants. The army has carried out a series of offensives against the Qaeda-linked Pakistan i Taliban, which claimed responsibility for the attack. Operations in lawless tribal areas along the Afghan border have failed to break the resolve of Taliban fighters determined to destabilize the U.S.-backed government. The brazen bombing in the northwestern town of Mardan suggested militants are regrouping after a lull in major attacks. In a sign of how nervous the government is about security, soldiers at the gates of the military compound searched drivers before allowing them to transport coffins inside. Militant operations in recent months have been mostly

Will Taliban and Al Qaeda break up?

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'The conflict may escalate' Source: Rediff Afghanistan's Taliban have been wrongly perceived as close ideological allies of Al Qaeda and they could be persuaded to renounce the deadly global terrorist group, American scholars say. According to a report by the New York University, there was substantial friction between the groups' leaders before the 9/11 attacks and that hostility has only intensified. The prevailing view in Washington, however, is "that the Taliban and Al Qaeda share the same ideology," said Tom Gregg, a former United Nations official in Afghanistan and a fellow at the Centre on International Cooperation at NYU, which is publishing the report. "It is not an ideology they share; it is more a pragmatic political alliance. And therefore a political approach to the Taliban ultimately could deliver a more practical separation between the two groups," he was quoted as saying by the New York Times. "Al Qaeda i