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CONTENTS:

NEWS HIGHLIGHTS OF THE WEEK:

1. Global Terrorism Monitor
2. Political Risk Monitor
3. AML/CFT Monitor
4. Emerging Threat Monitor
5. Critical Infrastructure Monitor
6. Disaster Reduction Monitor
7. Recommended Reading
8. Asset Management Network News

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1. Global Terrorism Monitor

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GTM Africa
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The Global Terrorism Monitor is a monthly 16-page print publication. News highlights from the past week are provided in this free email update, but detailed analysis, background information and source documents are only available to subscribers. For subscription information, emailinfo@tamni.com.

Foreign Policy in Focus has released new policy analysis, "Desert Faux: The Sahara's Mirage of Terrorism" that addresses the purpose and efficacy of the US Trans-Sahara Counter-Terrorism Initiative.
http://fpif.org/fpiftxt/3136

Algeria has begun implementing the amnesty that was approved last month, by freeing the first group in what is expected to be up to 2,000 Islamic militants that will be released over the next several days.

In Democratic Republic of Congo, government troops supported by UN peacekeepers fought former militiamen with the Patriotic Resistance Front in Ituri (FRPI) who have joined the new militia, Movement for the Revolution in Congo (MRC). The joint force encountered heavy artillery and mortar fire when they attacked the militia on Monday. On Wednesday, about 50 Congolese soldiers mutinied. Unhappy about their conditions of service, they refused to fight, threatened their commanders, fired shots in the air and at a UN helicopter, and ransacked the UN camp, stealing food rations. The joint operation was suspended, leaving up to 10,000 militiamen to continue their attacks against villagers in Tcheyi. During the abortive operation, six militiamen and one army soldier were killed, and at least ten were injured. About 300 villagers joined 4,000 that had previously fled militia attacks.

The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) freed six of the foreign hostages they hold. Two US and one British national are still detained because they are considered of higher value since their countries have vested oil interests in the region. MEND says they will continue attacks in other regions, and called for neutral arbitration of the conflict. Itsekiri youths in Delta State, associated with the Iwere Development Association, have issued a 21-day ultimatum to stop operating in ancestral lands since they can no longer guarantee the safety of the workers involved in oil exploitation.

A UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) staff member, Robert McCarthy, was abducted in Somalia by armed men, but was released unharmed.

In Sudan's Darfur region, increased killings and movement restrictions in recent months have led to a UN Security Council resolution that would impose a travel ban, asset freezes, and International Criminal Warrants on up to ten members of the government and others involved in the crisis. The measures are likely to be adopted within the next two weeks.  
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GTM Americas
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Members of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) are suspected in an attack on a town councilors' meeting in the village of Rivera. The suspected rebels, dressed as police, opened fire on the meeting, killing at least seven people.

The second-largest rebel group, the National Liberation Army (ELN) is in peace talks with the Colombian government. In support of that, they declared a ceasefire ahead of legislative elections this month, and called for voters to support candidates committed to the peace process.

Following a court order, the US Department of Defense has released records of combatant status review tribunals and administrative review board summaries of 317 of the nearly 500 people held at Guantanamo Bay. These records had previously been redacted to remove names and other identifying information. This is the first time names of detainees have been publicly disclosed since the facility opened in early 2002. Also note a list of detainees identified and verified by the Washington Post. This Newsletter will share the findings as analysts study the 5,000 or so pages.
http://www.defenselink.mil/pubs/foi/detainees/csrt/index.html
http://www.defenselink.mil/news/Mar2006/20060303_4387.html
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/nation/nationalsecurity/guantanamo_detainees.html
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-gitmo4mar04,0,7448482.story?track=tothtml

The US Senate Committee on Armed Services held hearings on current and future worldwide threats to national security. Testimony included warnings of the surge in attacks in Iraq and warnings of civil war and the impact of al Qaeda in Iraq.
http://armed-services.senate.gov/e_witnesslist.cfm?id=1758

Kevin Jonas, Jake Conroy, Lauren Gazzola, Darius Fulmer, Andy Stepanian, and Josh Harper were found guilty in US federal court of charges of "animal enterprise terrorism". The six animal rights activists are members of Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty (SHAC), which has been associated with violence and intimidation against animal researchers. This is the believed to be the first case under the Animal Enterprise Protection Act of 1992
http://www.fbresearch.org/AnimalActivism/IllegalIncidents/SpecialReportSHAC.htm
http://www.huntingdon.com/
http://www.shac.net/
http://www.nal.usda.gov/awic/legislat/pl102346.htm
http://www.the-scientist.com/news/display/23185/
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GTM Asia Pacific
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Australian Broadcasting Corporation reporter Sally Neighbour has interviewed Jack Thomas, ("Jihad Jack"), the first person convicted under Australia's new anti-terrorism laws.
http://abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200602/s1579621.htm
http://www.abc.net.au/4corners/content/2006/s1579056.htm

Burmese soldiers fought Indian separatist rebels with the Nationalist Socialist Council of Nagaland in northern Burma. At least ten soldiers and three rebels were killed, and there were several injuries.

Indonesian soldier Yuli Harsono was sentenced to four years in prison and a dishonorable discharge by a military court. He was convicted of stockpiling explosives and ammunition for the militant Muslim group, the Indonesian Mujahiddin Council (MMI). MMI was founded by militant cleric Abu Bakar Ba'asyir.

In the Philippines province of Basilan, an Abu Sayyaf gunman is suspected of shooting dead Mayor Luis Biel in his office. The suspect was killed in the security response, and an investigation to determine the motive is under way. On Mindoro, New People's Army (NPA) guerillas ambushed and killed two police officers and their driver. Three were injured. They had been involved in guarding a telecommunications tower previously attacked by NPA. NPA was also suspected in a landmine that killed two policemen and a civilian.

A spate of attacks in southern Thailand included shootings and bomb attacks that killed at least two and injured more than a dozen. Twenty arson attacks were coordinated across Pattani and Songkhla. Songkhla has experienced little of the violence common in the south, and this incident has raised warning flags and increased security in the area.
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GTM Europe
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Fehriye Erdal has been sentenced in Belgian court to four years in prison for membership in the Revolutionary People's Liberation Party - Front (DHKP-C). The Turkish group is banned and listed internationally as a terrorist group. She is wanted in Turkey in connection with the assassination of a Turkish businessman, but was not extradited because at the time Turkey had a death penalty. At the trial, four other defendants were acquitted, and six received jail sentences of between four and six years on weapons and false document charges. When police arrived at Erdal's home to take her into custody she had fled. An international arrest warrant has been issued, and Turkey has demanded her recapture.

Rachid Ramda's trial has opened in France, regarding his involvement in the 1995 Paris Metro bombings that left eight people dead. He had been in a UK prison for ten years fighting his extradition to France, which finally took place last December. Two other Algerians were sentenced in 1999 to life in prison for membership in the Armed Islamic Group (GIA), which claimed credit for the bombings. Allegations of torture related to the police investigation were made in a recent book, "Place Beauveau", (Jean-Michel Decugis et al, Laffont), and are under investigation.

Ireland's investigation into the 1974 Dublin and Monaghan bombings has been given new security documentation that has been described as a breakthrough. The Irish government has extended the deadline for the final inquiry report to the end of May. The loyalist Ulster Defense Force (UVF) admitted responsibility for the attacks that killed 33 people, but aspects of the police inspection left open other questions.
http://www.taoiseach.irlgov.ie/eng/index.asp?docID=2044

The Smithwick Inquiry into allegations that a rogue Garda officer helped the Irish Republican Army (IRA) to murder two senior Royal Ulster Constabulary men has opened in Dublin.

The UK House of Lords defeated a government bill to outlaw glorification of terrorism by 160 votes to 156.

Northern Ireland police raided a bar after receiving information that members of the Ulster Freedom Fighters (UFF) had gathered for a show of strength. 17 men, including about half dressed in combat-style uniform, were arrested. They are being held and questioned under the Terrorism Act. Eleven will be charged in court on Monday.

The BBC has launched a groundbreaking television series in which Archbishop Desmond Tutu brings together the victims and perpetrators in the Northern Ireland conflict for the first time.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/low/programmes/4758802.stm
http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbctwo/programmes/?id=facing_truth
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GTM Middle East
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In a 2-year-old manifesto posted on a web site, al Qaeda urges its members to attack oil pipelines and tankers in Iraq and Saudi Arabia, which are under the control of infidels and therefore legitimate targets. However, oil wells are must be preserved because its wealth should be used for Muslims.
http://www.riskcenter.com/story.php?alter=print&id=12370&PHPSESSID=e2fc3b8e964175f9e0c77092b26dd91e

UK-based Al-Hayat newspaper interviewed Palestinian leader Abu Mazen, who said he has preliminary intelligence of al Qaeda operating in Gaza and the West Bank.
http://english.daralhayat.com/Spec/03-2006/Article-20060303-c098ab0b-c0a8-10ed-00c1-5565d99ff30d/story.html

British members of militant organization Hizb ut-Tahrir, Ian Nisbet and Reza Pankhurst from London, and Maajid Nawa, have been granted early release in Egypt. They had been arrested in 2002 and convicted, along with 23 Egyptians, in the state security court. They will return to the UK, where Hizb ut-Tahrir has not yet be banned.

Khaled al-Dahdouh, an Islamic Jihad commander, was blown up as he drove through Gaza City. He had survived eight Israeli assassination attempts, but Israel denied involvement in this attack.

In southern Iran, the center of the oil industry, bombs went off in the governor's offices of the cities of Dezful and Abadan. There were no serious casualties and no claim of responsibility.

Two Arab separatists, Ali Affrawi and Mehdi Navasseri, were executed for two bombings in Ahvaz, an oil-rich city in Iran, that killed six and injured nearly 100 people. The two men, in their early 20s, were hanged with a crane that let them strangle in public for 40 minutes. The execution was broadcast on state television. That evening, a percussion bomb was set off in the same area, shattering windows but causing no casualties.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=2&article_id=22640
http://www.irna.ir/

A BBC poll conducted by GlobeScan and the Program on International Policy Attitudes finds:
"... in 33 of 35 countries surveyed, more people than not believe that the war in Iraq has increased the likelihood of terrorist attacks around the world.  On average, 60 percent of the respondents have this perception, while just 12 percent think the Iraq war has decreased the likelihood of terrorist attacks; another 15 percent think it has had no effect either way."
http://www.globescan.com/news_archives/bbcpoll06-4.html

Five days after the 22 February bombing of the al-Askari shrine more than 1,300 Iraqis had been killed in a deadly surge of sectarian conflict. Curfews helped lower the level of violence, but deadly attacks continued through the week. Among these were a suicide bomber at a gas station in a Shia area of Baghdad in which 24 people died and a car bomb that killed 23 near a Shia mosque in the north of Baghdad on Tuesday. On Wednesday, a series of car and suicide bombs and mortar attacks killed at least 67. Bombs and gunfire killed at least 31 on Thursday. Former UN human rights chief in Iraq John Pace told BBC News that up to three-quarters of corpses in the mortuary each month display signs of extrajudicial torture or execution. On Friday, as the commander of coalition forces in Iraq said the main crisis caused by the al-Askari has passed, as many as 25 Shiites, including a woman and three children, were summarily executed and suspected al Qaeda fighters attacked a power plant. On Saturday an explosion in a Baghdad market killed seven and injured 15.

Iraqi border guards report the arrest of Abdullah Saleh al-Harbi, one of the suspects in last week's attack on a Saudi oil facility.

Yasser Furaihat and Salim Suwaid have been in Jordanian prison since they were sentenced to death for killing US diplomat Lawrence Foley in 2002. When the two prisoners were removed from Juwaida prison in Amman, fellow prisoners believed they would be executed and began to riot. The rioting spread to two other prisons, and a number of policemen have been taken hostage.

In Lebanon on Wednesday a small bomb exploded in a courthouse, causing minor damage. It went off at night and was only detected the next morning. Although raising fears that another string of bombings had started, it is thought most likely to have been planted by a person in court trying to interfere with his trial.

Saudi Arabia reports that five militants suspected of participating in the foiled suicide bombing of the Abqaiq oil-processing facility were killed on Monday, including alleged leader of al-Qaeda in Saudi Arabia. Fahd Faraj al-Juwair, and Ibrahim al-Mutair, and Abdullah al-Shammari, all on the most-wanted list. .

An Israeli arrest operation in the West Bank killed a 15-year-old Palestinian and injured a second.

Yemen President Ali Abdullah Saleh granted amnesty to 627 rebels that had been captured during a 2004 uprising in the northwest Saada province in which hundreds of people were killed. Cleric Hussein al-Houthi, with the Zaidi sect of Shia Islam, led the rebellion against the Sunni majority. Al-Houthi was killed while fighting in 2004, and sporadic clashes continue. More than 30 suspected rebels associated with assaults against security forces were excluded from the amnesty and still face trial.
http://www.sabanews.net/
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GTM South Asia
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In Afghanistan, a Taleban attack south of Kandahar killed one Canadian soldier and injured six on Thursday, and a suicide bomber on Friday killed himself. On Sunday, a Canadian soldier who had removed his helmet as a mark of respect during a meeting with tribal leaders in Kandahar, was critically injured after being struck repeatedly by a man, not a council member, with an ax, before other soldiers killed the attacker.

Bangladesh achieved a major victory with the arrest of Shaikh Abdur Rahman, head of the outlawed Jamaat-ul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB), following a 30-hour siege involving elite troops and police. JMB is connected with multiple attacks, including many targeted at the judicial system, in which at least 28 people have died. Among the charges he faces will be sedition. Watch for our special report on this event in next week's issue.

A Bangladesh court has sentenced 21 people to death for setting off six bombs across western Jhenidah district, as part of more than 400 coordinated attacks across the country on 17 August 2005. No one was killed in these attacks. Special tribunal judge Jhenidah, Ansur Rahman Khane said he convicted the Jamaat-ul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) members based on circumstantial evidence. Three of those convicted were sentenced in absentia.
http://www.thedailystar.net/2006/03/01/d6030101075.htm

Today, a homemade bomb exploded near a Muslim shrine, injuring three. Those responsible and the motive are as yet unknown, but there is no evidence of JMB involvement.

The Indian state of Chhattisgarh was the scene of renewed Maoist rebel violence in which two trucks, carrying civilians, were blown up by landmines. At least 25 were killed and as many as 100 injured, many critically. In an attack today, more than 20 armed rebels evacuated then blew up a railway engine to hinder iron ore exports from the region. Maoist violence in Jharkhand killed two policemen in an armed assault on a police post and a third in a land mine explosion.

In Indian-administered Kashmir, three Hizbul Mujahideen were killed in separate encounters with security forces that injured four troops and two civilians on 28 February. The next day, two special operations police were killed in a militant attack.

Nepal's Maoist rebels are suspected in Monday's marketplace bombing in the western town of Pokhara, a major tourist destination. Twelve people were injured, two critically. A Maoist ambush in the eastern Kavre district killed 3 soldiers, 16 rebels, and one civilian.  On Tuesday, bombs carried by rebels accidentally exploded, killing three Maoists and two civilians, while a Maoist attack on security forces killed 10 soldiers, one policeman, and 18 suspected rebels.

The World Food Program's office in Nepal was attacked with two bombs inside their compound. Although no casualties or major damage were caused, the office has been closed pending investigation. Three government buildings were bombed at the same time.

Child Workers in Nepal Concerned Centre (CWIN) says that the long-running Maoist conflict has killed at least 434 children, orphaned more than 8,000, and displaced 40,000. Unattended bombs left behind fighting has killed many children who mistake then for toys. Rebels have recruited child soldiers, and the government has used children as informers and porters.
http://www.nepalnews.com/archive/2006/feb/feb28/news09.php
http://www.cwin.org.np/

For background to Nepal's long-running conflict, see
http://www.politicalriskmonitor.com/2006/02/PRM2601.shtml
https://terrorismcentral.com/Newsletters/2005/020605.html#FeatureArticle

President Pervez Musharraf said that his country was doing all it could to combat terrorism and offered to fence and mine the border with Afghanistan.
http://www.presidentofpakistan.gov.pk/PRInterviewList.aspx
http://www.abcnews.go.com/WNT/story?id=1668178&page=1

In Pakistan's Balochistan province gunmen attacked a passenger train on Monday. It was derailed, but no casualties were reported. Nearby, soldiers supervising track repairs were attacked. One died and three were injured. Pakistan Workers Party leader Nasrullah Kakar, was shot dead on Wednesday. Those responsible and the motive are unknown, but he supported President Musharraf over Baloch nationalist groups.

Pakistani forces in North Waziristan, near the Afghan border, launched a large raid on a training camp of suspected foreign militants on Wednesday. At least 40 people were killed and 30 wounded, including women and children as well as a suspected Chechen commander. On Thursday, tribal militants and suspected Taleban remnants occupied government offices to protest the assault. Militants in the region continued to battle Pakistani troops, leaving as many as 70 dead in fighting this weekend, which still continues.

Sri Lanka's government and Tamil Tiger rebels agreed to abide by the 2002 ceasefire when they met last week. Barely a week later, a Tamil Tiger militant has been shot dead. The Sri Lankan army denies involvement in the ambush.

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2. Political Risk Monitor

The Political Risk Monitor is a monthly 16-page print publication. News highlights from the past week are provided in this free email update, but detailed analysis, background information and source documents are only available to subscribers. For subscription information, email info@tamni.com.

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PRM Africa
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Benin's presidential poll is taking place today.

Comoros has announced presidential primaries will be held 16 April, provided sufficient financing can be obtained.

Equatorial Guinea and Gabon have agreed to resolve their 34-year-old border dispute over three small islands - Cocotier, Conga, and Mbanie - in their oil-rich waters.

Eritrea has rejected proposals for fresh talks over the border dispute with Ethiopia, saying that the binding UN border commission ruling must be implemented, which Ethiopia has refused to do.

Guinea has closed indefinitely all schools following the collapse of talks between government and the two main teaching unions, which represent 80 percent of public and private sector workers. The unions have called a 5-day general strike over unpaid wages and poor living conditions.

Ivory Coast's five factional leaders held their first direct talks inside the country since the civil war broke out, dividing the nation between a rebel-held north and government south, in 2002. Although no concrete measures were agreed, they all committed to peace and agreed to future political discussions. Meanwhile, peacekeeping groups complain of harassment from Ivorian troops they believe has been deliberately designed to provoke an incident.

Ivory Coast has extradited Youssef Fofana to France. The French citizen of Ivorian decent is suspected of leading the gang that viciously killed Ilan Halimi last month in what is believed to have been an anti-Semitic attack.

Kenya's Standard newspaper was subjected to an extraordinary attack in which masked police raided the offices, burning thousands of copies of the paper, and briefly shut down the KTN television station. The newspaper has been critical of government corruption, while the government says the paper invents stories and is responsible for inciting ethnic hatred. The editor of the Standard described the incident in this way, "The commando-like raid in thick of the night by balaclava-clad policemen clutching assault rifles was an extraordinary act of aggression against press freedom... The raid had little to do with perceived grievances over a specific incident, but everything to do with a dangerous intolerance in government that, in all probability, relates directly to the increasing media focus on the role of some of its senior members in graft". The US embassy said, " These acts of thuggery have no place in an open democratic society", as it joined nearly 30 other countries in condemning the operation. The paper came out as usual a day after the raid.
http://www.eastandard.net/hm_news/news.php?articleid=37310
http://www.eastandard.net/hm_news/news.php?articleid=37311

Somalia's parliament met in Somalia for the first time since it was formed in late 2004. About 205 of the 275 Members of Parliament attended the meeting in the central town of Baidoa because of the fear that the capital Mogadishu is too dangerous. Several Mogadishu warlords, allied to parliamentary Speaker Sharif Hassan Sheikh Adan, refused to attend.

In Puntland, an autonomous province of Somalia, gunmen loyal to Planning Minister Abdurraham Farol entered the parliament on Sunday. Following an overnight siege, they were forced out, leaving three people dead. President Mohamud Muse Hersi dismissed the minister.

South Africa's ruling African National Congress (ANC) party won most of the local government elections held last week but slow turnout and the loss of the Cape Town municipality indicate a growing revolt over the lack of long-promised basic services, including sanitation, running water and electricity.

Ugandan opposition leader and defeated presidential candidate Kizza Besigye will challenge in court official election results that gave President Museveni a third term. Dr Besigye believes the results were manipulated and many supporters were not allowed to cast their ballots. Election observers did not find organized electoral fraud, but did criticize the politically-motivated arrest and imprisonment of Dr Besigye when he announced he would stand, as well as lack of an even playing field in the media and operational difficulties. President Museveni says that Dr Besigye doesn't understand democracy, and that he and his party, the Forum for Democratic Change, should cut their links to terrorist groups.
http://allafrica.com/stories/200602271072.html
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?view=BLOGDETAIL&grid=P30&blog=africa&xml=/news/2006/02/27/blafrica27.xml
http://ec.or.ug/
http://www.fdcuganda.org/
http://www.nrm.ug/
http://www.upcparty.net/

All Zanzibaris age 18 and above are required to carry identification cards from 1 April. Refusal to register or carry the card can lead to prosecution, including prison or fines.

Ahead of elections anticipated later this year, Zambia deregistered 13 opposition parties for not submitting annual returns. The move followed a decision by three leading opposition parties to field a joint presidential candidate.

Zimbabwe's Millers Association reported that only a 2-week supply of wheat is left. Bread prices have risen by a third.
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PRM Americas
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Costa Rica's new president will be Nobel laureate Oscar Arias. Rival candidate Otton Solis has conceded after losing a series of legal challenges in the extremely close election held last month.

Former Ecuador President Lucio Gutierrez has been released from prison following a judge's dismissal of national security charges that stemmed from Gutierrez's refusal to acknowledge his interim successor, Alfredo Palacio. Although he said he will run for President in October, he must first obtain approval from electoral officials.
http://www.oscararias.com/ (in Spanish)
http://www.tse.go.cr/ (in Spanish)
http://www.pac.or.cr/ (in Spanish)
http://www.gam.org.gt/

Death squads have returned to Guatemala, nearly ten years after peace accords were signed between the government and the Guatemalan National Revolutionary Unity guerillas.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/02/23/AR2006022302285.html
http://www.fhrg.org/mambo/index.php

Haiti's electoral council says the second round of parliamentary elections, scheduled for 19 March, will be delayed because complaints from the first round are still being addressed. In turn, the inauguration of President-elect Rene Preval,, set for 29 March, will also be delayed. These events will probably take place in early April.

Mexico's "dirty war" of the 1960s-1980s is the topic of an investigation by the Special Prosecutor, whose report has not yet been publicly released. However, the National Security Archive has posted a draft that documents hundreds of killings and disappearances and other abuses of human rights.
http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB180/index.htm

The US government has agreed to pay Ehab Elmaghraby $300,000 to settle a lawsuit regarding his illegal detention and deportation following the 9/11 attacks. This is the first case involving claims of dozens of Muslims that were arrested and held without counsel for lengthy periods.
http://jurist.law.pitt.edu/paperchase/2006/02/us-settles-post-sept-11-detainee.php
http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/02/28/news/detain.php
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/3634C392-2774-4C64-9457-3CB13EF1D4FD.htm

The US army has agreed to a criminal investigation into the death of US football star Pat Tillman, who was killed by US fire in Afghanistan.

Former Republican congressman Randy Cunningham ("Duke") of California has been sentenced to more than eight years for taking $2.4 million in bribes and evading $1 million in taxes. Although the harshest penalty ever given in a congressional corruption case, the judge said the sentence was lenient because it took into account his decorated service in Vietnam.

In North Carolina's University at Chapel Hill, a recent graduate drove a rented vehicle into a crowded pedestrian plaza to "avenge the deaths of Muslims". The Iranian student, Mohammed Reza Taheriazar, caused no serious injuries but has been charged with nine counts of attempted premeditated murder and assault with a deadly weapon. Muslim students at the university were outraged by a campus newspaper's decision to print one of the cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad, and held peaceful protests.
http://www.charlotte.com/mld/charlotte/news/14015547.htm
http://www.newsobserver.com/102/story/414855.html
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PRM Asia Pacific
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As Australia continues investigations into the Australian Wheat Board (AWB) connection with the Iraq oil-for-food scandal, Trade Minister Mark Vaile announced that Iraq has agreed to purchase up to 250,000 tons of wheat from Australia. AWB is the second largest wheat exporter in the world, after the US.
http://www.trademinister.gov.au/releases/2006/mvt013_06.html

Australia will pay A$400,000 in damages as well as court costs (up to A$1 million) to an 11-year old Iranian boy for post-traumatic stress disorder that stemmed from his detention in immigration camps between the ages of five and seven. Shayan Badraie and his family now have permanent residency. Australia abolished the policy of mandatory detention for illegal migrants with children last July.

China announced that its military spending in 2006 will rise by 14.7 percent this year, to $35.1 billion. The Chinese military has 2.5 million members and is the largest in the world. The US believes that China understates its military spending by as much as two-thirds, but even if this is the case China, with more than three times the population of the US, spends far less on the military than the US. In 2005, China's defense spending was $30.2 billion (1.36 percent of GDP), while US military spending was $401.7 billion (3.6 percent of GDP).
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/english/doc/2006-03/04/content_526551.htm

Taiwan's President Chen concluded a National Security Conference with remarks that included:
"The National Unification Council will cease to function. No budget will be earmarked for it, and its personnel must return to their original posts. The National Unification Guidelines will cease to apply.... Ceasing the function of the National Unification Council as well as ceasing the application of the National Unification Guidelines do not involve changing the status quo. Instead, they are based solely on the democratic principle of respecting the people's right to determine their own future. As long as the principle of democracy is honored and the freewill to choose by Taiwan's 23 million people is respected, we will not exclude any possible form of future development of cross-strait relations. We are, however, adamant that no one set preconditions or give an ultimate goal regarding the people's right to choose."
Chinese President Hu Jintao characterized this decision as a "dangerous step on the road toward 'Taiwan Independence.... It's our unswerving will and determination to oppose 'Taiwan Independence' secessionist forces and their activities and to safeguard the peace and stability across the straits".
http://www.gio.gov.tw/taiwan-website/4-oa/20060227/2006022703.html
http://english.gov.cn/2006-02/28/content_213399.htm

East Timor has called for the roughly 400 soldiers, a quarter of the army, to return to work or face dismissal. They are protesting poor pay and conditions and selective promotions.

Fiji has scheduled its general election for 6-13 May.

Indonesian police used water cannon and tear gas to disperse hundreds of protesters in Jakarta demonstrating in support of the ongoing protest in Papua province, where indigenous tribesmen are seeking local rights and benefits from the US gold and copper mining operation of Freeport.

Kazakhstan's Interior Minister Baurzhan Mukhamedzhanov said that a parliamentary official has confessed to ordering the murder of opposition figure Altynbek Sarsenbaiuly, who was killed along with his bodyguard and driver two weeks ago. The investigation continues, and there have been accusations that this is a cover-up.

Philippines President Gloria Arroyo lifted the state of emergency on Friday, a week after it was imposed in response to an alleged coup plot, for which some 16 people have been charged.

Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra has promised not to return to government if his party garners less than half the votes cast on 2 April. As pro- and anti-Thaksin demonstrations continue, students at the King Prachadhipok Institute, which serves business and political leaders, released preliminary findings of a study into the election process. They believe the Election Commission needs reform, following a loss of public trust and widespread belief that it is corrupt and not free of political influence.
http://www.kpi.ac.th/

An Uzbekistan court has sentenced Sunshine Uzbekistan opposition group leader Nadira Khidoyatova to ten years in prison for tax evasion and money laundering. International observers and human rights groups believe the trial was politically motivated, and suspect she has been abused in detention.
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PRM Europe
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The Council of Europe has released the report on alleged illegal detentions and rendition flights in Europe. Information, provided by Council members, highlights the lack of effective oversight of foreign security services. Secretary General Terry Davis said, "Europe appears to be a happy hunting ground for foreign security services".
http://www.coe.int/T/E/Com/Files/Events/2006-cia/

Bosnia and Herzegovina's case against Serbia and Montenegro for violations of the 1948 Genocide Convention is being heard by the International Court of Justice, the international organ for adjudication of crimes between States. This is the first case in which a State, rather than individuals, has been prosecuted for genocide.
http://www.icj-cij.org/icjwww/ipresscom/ipress2006/ipresscom_2006-09_bhy_20060227.htm

The German government is under pressure to hold an inquiry into its support for the US-led invasion or Iraq, which it publicly opposed, following fresh evidence of information sharing between the respective military agencies. German military intelligence is believed to have helped the US identify Iraqi military targets.
http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/03/02/frontpage/germany.php
http://service.spiegel.de/cache/international/0,1518,403330,00.html
http://service.spiegel.de/cache/international/0,1518,403486,00.html
http://service.spiegel.de/cache/international/0,1518,403535,00.html
http://service.spiegel.de/cache/international/0,1518,403845,00.html

Kosovo's President Fatmir Sejdiu has nominated former Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) leader Agim Ceku as the new Prime Minister. Serbia and Montenegro says that Ceku should be tried for war crimes, not elected to office.

Italy's Mitrokhin Commission, a parliamentary investigation into the 1981 attempted assassination of Pope John Paul II, believes that leaders of the former Soviet Union were behind the plot.
http://news.independent.co.uk/europe/article348978.ece

Montenegro will hold an independence referendum on 21 May.

Pro-Russian Prime Minister of Chechnya, Sergei Abramov, has been unable to work since he was injured in a car accident last year. He has resigned and been replaced by militia leader Ramzan Kadyrov, who was already acting as caretaker. Kadyrov is the son of assassinated president Akhmad Kadyrov and his militia has been associated with numerous kidnappings, murder, and torture.

Turkish police report that honor killings and blood feuds have claimed 1,190 lives n Turkey over the past six years. Most of the victims and nearly all of the perpetrators were male. Although penalties for such crimes have been strengthened, honor killings are popular among a significant percentage of the population.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_ID=10&article_ID=22666&categ_id=2

Britain's Foreign Secretary Jack Straw warned Russian oligarch Boris Berezovsky that reported coup plans could jeopardize his status as a refugee in the UK. Russia's prosecutor general has opened a criminal case against Berezovsky and sent an extradition request to the UK.
http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200506/cmhansrd/cm060227/wmstext/60227m02.htm#60227m02.html_sbhd0
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PRM Middle East
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A $76 million European Union donation to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) will permit continued humanitarian services to Palestinian refugees despite suspension of other donor funds. The situation is also complicated by the continued closure by Israel of the main goods crossing.
http://www.un.org/unrwa/news/releases/pr-2006/hqg03-06.pdf"

Hamas met in Russia, and said it is prepared to renew a yearlong ceasefire with Israel as long as it also refrained from use of force. South Africa has also invited Hamas for a diplomatic visit.

"The Next Iraqi War? Sectarianism and Civil Conflict" is a new report from the International Crisis Group. They say:
" The bombing of the al-Askariya shrine in Samara and the subsequent reprisals are but the latest, most serious signs efforts to hold Iraq together verge on collapse. There is still a little time to stop the slide into civil war if Iraqi leaders and the international community act urgently but the winners of the December 2005 elections must not only strongly condemn sectarian-inspired attacks and urge restraint. They must also establish a government of genuine national unity with popular credibility and Sunni Arab leaders in more than token positions; address Iraqis' top concerns ñ safety and basic amenities; begin to disband the sectarian militias; and revise the constitution's provisions on federalism and oil. The U.S., the EU and regional players must push for these crucial steps, or risk Iraq's disintegration and the Middle East's destablisation."
http://www.crisisgroup.org/home/index.cfm?id=3980&l=1

An Israeli family, Haim Eliahu Habibi, his Christian wife Violet, and their 20-year-old daughter Odelia entered the Basilica of the Annunciation in Nazareth on Friday evening and set off firecrackers during a church service. The congregation panicked and riots broke out. The clashes following the incident injured five police officers and dozens of other people. Mr. Habibi told a court that he acted to draw attention to their three children who were taken into care by social services in the past.

Lebanese political leaders have begun a National Dialog to help resolve sectarian divisions and foster unity.

Saudi Arabia has extended the ban on female drivers to include use of golf carts.

Abed Abdulrazzak Kamel has been executed by a Yemeni firing squad. In 2002 he shot dead a US surgeon and two of her colleagues at a Baptist mission hospital because he believed they were trying to convert Yemeni Muslims.
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PRM South Asia
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Afghanistan's main prison, the Pul-e-Charkhi jail in Kabul, was taken over in part by hundreds of rioting prisoners. Unrest began on Saturday night with demands for better conditions, and there was a brief lull on Monday when officials distributed food and water and restored electricity, and the inmates turned over four dead and several injured. On Tuesday, fighting resumed, but on Wednesday the government announced that police had regained control.

Of two Nepalese men kidnapped by a criminal gang in Kabul two weeks ago, one died in captivity and the other was freed by police.

Asadullah Sarwari, intelligence chief under the communist government in 1978, has been sentenced to death in Afghan court for ordering hundreds of executions. This is the first war crimes sentence passed in Afghanistan.

In India, hundreds of thousands of protestors rallied against the visit of US President Bush, denounced as a war criminal. Although most were peaceful, Hindu-Muslim riots in Uttar Pradesh left four dead and dozens injured. Additional police have been deployed, and an investigation is underway.  

The Indian rail ministry completed an inquiry into the February 2002 fire on a train in Gujarat that claimed 59 lives and sparked religious riots in which more than a thousand people, mostly Muslims, were killed. The inquiry has concluded that the fire was accidental. Hindu nationalists have rejected the finding, and a separate inquiry has not yet completed its investigation.

Indian-administered Kashmir's Police Criminal Investigation Department (CID) rejected the Army's claim that the four young men killed on 22 February died in crossfire. They found that one of the victims was wanted as an informer and when he declined and ran away, passing playing children, the victims were shot. The incident had generated serious protests among the local population.
http://www.indianexpress.com/full_story.php?content_id=88739

For background to Nepal's long-running conflict, see
http://www.politicalriskmonitor.com/2006/02/PRM2601.shtml
https://terrorismcentral.com/Newsletters/2005/020605.html#FeatureArticle

Anti-US demonstrations broke out ahead of President Bush's visit to Pakistan, at the same time a general strike to protest the Prophet Muhammad cartoons took place. Pakistani President Musharraf discussed Pakistan's efforts in countering terrorism and asked for assistance to resolve the long-standing conflict in Kashmir.

See Emerging Threats for discussion of President Bush's visits to India and Pakistan.