---

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

---

1. Global Terrorism Monitor

Terrorism is a global phenomenon, and The Global Terrorism Monitor, is the only publication that directly addresses the key transnational issues this represents. Published monthly, it includes expert analysis, statistical trends, and the policies, practices, and technologies that help to mitigate this persistent threat.
http://secure.netsolhost.com/573566.585211/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=SFNT&Store_Code=TP
--------------------------------------------------
GTM Africa
--------------------------------------------------
Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF, Doctors Without Borders) has listed "Fleeing Violence in the Central African Republic (CAR)" as one of the top ten most underreported humanitarian stories of 2006. They explain:
"In 2006, civilians in the Central African Republic (CAR) once again fell victim to horrific violence in the latest bout of conflict in a string of coups and rebellions that have plagued the country since it achieved independence from France in 1960. And once more, the plight of the country's 3.6 million people went largely unnoticed. Since November 2005, fighting has occurred between government troops and various rebel groups in the country's northwest. Civilians suspected of supporting one side or the other, are targeted or caught in the crossfire. Many villages along the roads have been attacked, looted, or burnt. An estimated 100,000 civilians were forced to flee their homes, with some fleeing to neighboring Chad ? where MSF is providing assistance ? while others sought refuge in the country's forests, exposed to harsh elements and lacking adequate shelter, food, clean water, and health care."
http://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/news/car.cfm

Kenyan police have fought a deadly battle with suspected members of the banned Mungiki sect, believed responsible for beheadings, extortion, and other crimes. Three policemen were killed on Monday. On Tuesday Mungiki attacks left four people dead, and a gunfight with police killed another 27. This incident follows the presidential order to shoot-to-kill, in an effort to put an end to these criminal activities. On Wednesday, protestors accusing the police of extrajudicial killings were dispersed with tear gas, while another beheaded body was recovered. The bodies of people shot dead on Tuesday are missing. Police operations in Nairobi on Thursday left 12 Mungiki suspects dead. Several of the dead came from Mathare slum dwellings, which has been sealed off for a third day in support of police operations. On Friday a member of parliament claimed that ten of his colleagues were kidnapped by armed Mungiki and forced to take an oath of allegiance. The incident allegedly occurred in 2000, and has not been confirmed.
http://www.eastandard.net/hm_news/news.php?articleid=1143969646
http://www.nationmedia.com/dailynation/nmgcontententry.asp?category_id=1&newsid=99790
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/6731291.stm
http://www.eastandard.net/hm_news/news.php?articleid=1143969601
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/6685393.stm
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/africa/article2631536.ece
http://www.nationmedia.com/dailynation/nmgcontententry.asp?category_id=1&newsid=99942
http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,,2099006,00.html

The trial of former Liberian President Charles Gankhay Taylor has opened in the Special Court for Sierra Leone. For reasons of security, the trial is taking place at the International Criminal Court in The Hague. In March 2003 Taylor was indicted on 17 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity over his role in the war in Sierra Leone, including blood diamonds, but in March 2006 condensed the charges to 11 counts to better focus the trial. When the trial opened on Monday, Taylor dismissed his lawyer and refused to appear in court.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/6717485.stm
http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/06/04/news/hague.php
http://www.monitor.co.ug/news/news06051.php
http://www.boston.com/news/world/articles/2007/06/03/during_taylors_brutal_rule_us_watched_waited/
http://www.sc-sl.org/Taylor.html
https://terrorismcentral.com/Library/Biographies/Bios/Taylor/BioTaylor.html

Liberia and Sierra Leone reopened the Mano Bridge, over the River Mano that separates the two war-torn countries. This is a vital step in resurrecting trade and reuniting families.

Libya and the UK signed a prisoner exchange agreement, but there is confusion over whether it would include the repatriation of convicted Lockerbie bomber Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al-Megrahi.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article1901466.ece
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/6731739.stm

Nigerian governors in the Niger Delta states, the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), and other armed groups have called for the release of imprisoned militant Mujahid Dokubo-Aser, who is in poor health. MEND has offered a ceasefire in exchange for Asari's unconditional release, which would represent an initial step towards dialog for peace.
http://www.vanguardngr.com/articles/2002/politics/june07/09062007/p309062007.html
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article1901466.ece
http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0607/p06s02-woaf.html

Militants of the Joint Revolutionary Council released this statement:
"On behalf of the Joint Revolutionary Council and its alliance members, we wish to announce that the following persons taken from the premises of Schlumberger Oilfield Services in the early hours of Saturday May 2, 2007 will not be released until our request for the unconditional release of our patriotic and esteemed leader is granted. The hostages are:  James Thorburn (Edinburgh); Salman Anmad (Gojra);  Janvande Mortel ( The Hague);  Massoud Ahmadi (Paris - France).  The current leaders of the Nigerian state must show unwavering commitment to the unconditional release of the flag bearer of the Ijaw and Niger Delta struggle. There will be no negotiation. We repeat, there will be no negotiation for the release of these hostages. Our only request is the unconditional release of Alhaji Mujahid Dokubo-Asari. We will reject in all fullness, any attempt by the Government of Yar?Adua to subject our leader to a conditional release as he was not party to or guilty of any crime."
http://www.vanguardngr.com/articles/2002/niger_delta/nd408062007.html

In the Niger Delta, hostage negotiators are thriving.
http://royaldutchshellplc.com/2007/06/07/the-wall-street-journal-page-one-dirty-work/

In Somalia on Monday attackers threw a grenade at a convoy of Ethiopian and Somali government troops. The grenade failed to affect its target, but the convoy opened fire, killing three civilians and injuring five others. On Tuesday, Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi paid a surprise visit where he said that when there is peace, Ethiopian troops will withdraw. On Wednesday, three private radio stations in Mogadishu were shut down. Somali and Ethiopian troops conducted house to house searches in Mogadishu. Mayor Mohammed Dheere warned that about a thousand young boys were being trained as suicide bombers. Lack of funding to support Somali troops has led to an increase in criminal activities, and pushed troops out of the city center, and sent many for further training. The number of security incidents continues to rise. On Saturday a remote controlled bomb hit a government convoy: casualties are unknown.
http://www.news24.com/News24/Africa/News/0,,2-11-1447_2123943,00.html
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/06/05/africa/AF-GEN-Somalia-Ethiopia.php
http://www.garoweonline.com/artman2/publish/Press_Releases_32/Somalia_Three_Mogadishu_Private_Radio_Stations_Shutdown.shtml
http://allafrica.com/stories/200706060480.html
http://www.garoweonline.com/artman2/publish/Somalia_27/Somalia_troops_withdrawn_from_central_city_due_to_rising_insecurity.shtml
http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/RWB.NSF/db900SID/EVOD-73YJJ6?OpenDocument

Somali pirates have held the Taiwan-flagged Ching Fong Hwa 168 and its 16 crewmembers since mid-May. One crewmember has been killed because the ship's owners have not paid a ransom. US warships fired warning shots at a Danish ship hijacked in late May, but was forced to abandon the pursuit when it entered Somali territorial waters, where it requires permission to operate.
http://somalinet.com/news/world/Somalia/10846
http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,2181,00.html

Amnesty International is calling for people around the world to go to a new website using satellite cameras to monitor highly vulnerable villages in Darfur to attempt to prevent further attacks against civilians.
http://www.eyesondarfur.org/

Terrorism charges against eleven Zimbabwean opposition supporters have been dropped.
http://www.mg.co.za/articlePage.aspx?articleid=310784
--------------------------------------------------
GTM Americas
--------------------------------------------------
Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF, Doctors Without Borders) has listed "Living in Fear in Colombia" as one of the top ten most underreported humanitarian stories of 2006. They explain:
"Colombia is now in its fifth decade of violent conflict, and only Sudan has more internally displaced people. Massacres, executions, intimidation, and fear remain inescapable parts of everyday life for civilians living in conflict-affected areas. To date, almost three million people inside Colombia have fled their homes as the result of a conflict fueled by the narcotics trade that involves government military forces, paramilitary groups, and armed guerrillas from ELN and FARC. Since 2002, President Alvaro Uribe has launched large-scale military campaigns aimed at regaining the territories occupied by rebel groups and has put government troops in more than 1,000 towns. Although most Colombians believe the security situation has markedly improved, with fewer kidnappings, less criminal activity, and safer roads, for people living in areas fought over by various armed groups, the violence and suffering has not diminished. People in these conflict zones are often cut off from basic health care services, including immunization programs, and the perception that they support the armed groups that operate locally makes it too dangerous to seek care outside their villages, even in medical emergencies. Many of the displaced have sought safety in the shantytowns springing up outside of Colombia's major cities. Once there, they endure poverty, appalling living conditions, limited access to medical and counseling services, and an ever-present risk of disease outbreaks. While physical health is an ongoing concern, mental disorders, including acute trauma caused by witnessing or being the victim of violent events, continue to go largely untreated. Through fixed and mobile clinics in the provinces of Antioquia, Bogota, Choco, Cordoba, Norte de Santander, Narino, Sucre, Bolivar, and Tolima, MSF can meet only some of the vast needs brought about by Colombia's ongoing war."
http://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/news/colombia.cfm

Colombia has begun releasing Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) prisoners, beginning with high-ranking "foreign minister," Rodrigo Granda. Although they hope this gesture will lead to freedom for the 56 hostages in FARC hands, such an exchange is not likely to happen soon. The situation has gained more public attention following the discovery that a boy was born in captivity to one of the hostages three years ago.
http://uk.reuters.com/article/homepageCrisis/idUKN08379339._CH_.242020070608
http://edition.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/americas/06/06/colombia.farc/index.html
http://www.miamiherald.com/915/story/131938.html

Trinidad's radical Islamic group Jamaat al Muslimeen is under greater scrutiny following news of the alleged plot described below.
http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/html/20070603T200000-0500_123879_OBS_ISLAMIC_GROUP_IN_TRINIDAD_FACED_SCRUTINY_AHEAD_OF_NEW_YORK_PLOT.asp
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/06/03/world/main2879733.shtml
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6716765.stm

Kareem Ibrahim of Trinidad and Abdul Kadir a former Guyanese politician, appeared in court in Port-of-Spain, Trinidad. They are thought to be associates Jamaat al Muslimeen, which was responsible for a 1990 attempted coup in Trinidad. They have been detained in connection with an alleged plot to blow up New York's JFK airport. The judge remanded them in custody until 11 June for a bail hearing. An extradition hearing was set for 2 August, which they plan to contest. Abdul Nur turned himself in to a Guyana police station on Tuesday.
http://www.trinidadexpress.com/index.pl/article_news?id=161156992
http://www.guyanachronicle.com/topstory.html#Anchor-------43806
http://www.trinidadexpress.com/index.pl/article_news?id=161156984
http://www.caribbeannetnews.com/news-1867--13-13--.html
http://www.amny.com/ny-woguya045242558jun04,0,2358970.story
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6724651.stm
http://newyork.fbi.gov/filelink.html?file=dojpressrel/pressrel07/plot060207.pdf

The above case highlights US fears that militant Islam could gain a foothold in the Caribbean.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/article1877515.ece
http://www.nypost.com/seven/06032007/postopinion/editorials/caribbean_terror_editorials_.htm

Military tribunals at the US detention center in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, opened on Monday with a decision to dismiss all charges against Omar Khadr and Yasser Ahmed Hamdan. Presiding military judge Colonel Peter Brownback ruled that only those deemed "unlawful enemy combatants" could be tried, but these two, and the 385 other detainees, have only been named "enemy combatants". The Pentagon is appealing the ruling.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/05/world/americas/05gitmo.html
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/americas/article2617407.ece
http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0606/p01s01-usmi.html
http://www.thestar.com/article/222697
http://www.defenselink.mil/news/commissions.html

Abdullahi Sudi Arale, recently detained in the Horn of Africa, has been transferred to Guantanamo Bay on suspicion of being a courier between the al Qaeda network in East Africa and al Qaeda in Pakistan.
http://www.defenselink.mil/releases/release.aspx?releaseid=10976

Amnesty International, Cageprisoners, Center for Constitutional Rights, Center for Human Rights and Global Justice, Human Rights Watch, and Reprieve have compiled a briefing paper, "Off the Record", which lists the names of 39 people who passed through US custody and then disappeared. They demand that the whereabouts of these Ghost Prisoners be revealed, and that the use of secret prisons end.
http://web.amnesty.org/pages/stoptorture-070607-features-eng
http://www.cageprisoners.com
http://www.ccr-ny.org/v2/reports/report.asp?ObjID=QTCm433A4f&Content=1045
http://www.chrgj.org/
http://hrw.org/reports/2007/us0207/
http://www.reprieve.org.uk/
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6728675.stm
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/politics/article2631542.ece

"Secret detentions and illegal transfers of detainees involving Council of Europe member states: second report" from the Council of Europe reveals new evidence that US high-value detainees were held in secret CIA prisons in Europe. (See GTM/Europe, below)

"Review of DoD-Directed Investigations of Detainee Abuse" is an August 2006 Department of Defense Inspector General evaluation report. A redacted version released this week provides further information on the torture and other controversial interrogation techniques adopted by the military, many based on Communist-era tactics. A Congressional hearing on this matter is planned for later this year. Comprehensive documentation of precursor documents can be found in "The Torture Papers: The Road to Abu Ghraib", edited by Karen Greenberg and Joshua Dratel (Cambridge University Press).
http://www.dodig.osd.mil/fo/Foia/ERR/06-INTEL-10-PublicRelease.pdf
http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1627229,00.html
http://www.cambridge.org/uk/catalogue/catalogue.asp?isbn=0521853249

US officials operating in California have arrested Hmong refugees Harrison Jack, Vang Pao, Llo Cha Thao, Youa True Vang, Hue Vang, Chong Vang Thao, Seng Vue, Chu Lo, Lo Thao, Nhia Kao Vang and Vang Pao, were allegedly planning to overthrow the government of Laos. All have been charged with: conspiracy to violate the Neutrality Act; violation of the Neutrality Act; conspiracy to kill, kidnap, maim and injure persons in a foreign country; conspiracy to damage government buildings and property in a foreign country; and conspiracy to receive and possess machine guns and explosive devices. Defendants Harrison Jack, Vang Pao, Lo Cha Thao Lo Thao, Hue Vang and Chong Vang Thao also are charged with conspiracy to receive and possess missiles (Stingers) designed to destroy aircraft.
http://sacramento.fbi.gov/dojpressrel/pressrel07/sc060407.htm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6721313.stm

The trial of former Ku Klux Klan (KKK) member and Mississippi sheriff's deputy James Ford Seale, in connection with the 1964 race hate murders of Charles Eddie Moore and Henry Hezekiah Dee, has begun.
http://www.sunherald.com/218/story/68262.html
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6699925.stm
http://abcnews.go.com/2020/story?id=3157885&page=1
--------------------------------------------------
GTM Asia Pacific
--------------------------------------------------
In Australia, fresh evidence will be used for Faheem Khalis Lodhi to appeal his terrorism conviction.
http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,21864744-1702,00.html

Indonesian police have captured Yusron Ahmahmud, ("Mahfud", "Abu Dujana"), who is suspected of being the current leader of Jemaah Islamiah.
http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/news/world/jemaah-islamiah-leader-arrested/2007/06/10/1181089412879.html

Abu Sayyaf leaders Khadaffy Janjalani and Jainal Antel Sali Jr. were killed in the Philippines last August. Four informants have received a $10 million US Rewards for Justice payment.
http://usembassy.state.gov/posts/rp1/wwwhs190.html
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/06/03/asia/AS-GEN-Asia-Security-Summit-Philippines.php
http://www.manilatimes.net/national/2007/june/08/yehey/top_stories/20070608top5.html

On Saturday, suspected Muslim militants remotely detonated a bomb in a parked bus, injuring 11 people.
http://www.sunstar.com.ph/static/net/2007/06/09/11.wounded.in.bus.bomb.in.southern.philippines.html

The Philippines continues operations against the New People's Army (NPA), with frequent encounters. A serious battle took place on Thursday, in which four soldiers and two rebels were killed, and 13 people were injured.
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/MAN286179.htm

Singapore's Home Affairs Ministry has arrested Abdul Basheer Abdul Kader, a 28-year-old law student and lecturer. They called him an example of a worrying trend of individuals self-radicalized or inspired by the internet, and not recruited by terrorists.
http://www2.mha.gov.sg/mha/detailed.jsp?artid=2307&type=4&root=0&parent=0&cat=0

In southern Thailand on Monday, a section of the Hat Yai to Yala rail line was sabotaged, which caused a train to derail, injuring 14 passengers. On Tuesday in Narathiwat a soldier was injured while escorting teachers. In Yala, another soldier was injured in a roadside bomb explosion, and gunmen riding in a pickup truck shot and killed a man riding his motorcycle. Rebels set fire to a mobile phone tower in Pattani. On Wednesday 51 Cambodians were arrested for illegally entering Thailand, and are being questioned for possible connections to the insurgency. There was another sabotage incident on the Yala rail, but it was detected and repaired. One primary school was set fire, destroying computers. A group of 20 armed people stormed a second school and held ten village defense volunteers at gunpoint before starting a fire, which spread to the classrooms and left nearly half the school in ashes. A bomb explosion killed one child and injured two. On Thursday in Yala a bomb exploded, injuring a policeman, and the other four in the patrol were uninjured. In Narathiwat, six assailants at a busy market shot and killed a man in his pickup truck. In Pattani, two schools, to health stations, and a local administration office were set on fire. Late on Friday a bomb exploded in a phone booth next to a crowded Yala teahouse, killing one woman and injuring 29. Mobile phone service was shut down to prevent further remote detonations in the area. A drive-by shooting in Narathiwat killed two local government officials, and a roadside bombing injured two marines. On Saturday an award-winning village headman in Yala was ambushed and shot dead inside his pick-up truck. A Narathiwat policeman was shot and seriously injured, and an armed assault on a 12-man marine patrol injured three soldiers. A bomb buried under the road went off when a bomb squad was called to check on a suspicious object, injuring five.
--------------------------------------------------
GTM Europe
--------------------------------------------------
Meeting in Germany, the G8 reported on their support for UN counterterrorism efforts, and adopted a Statement on Counter-Terrorism. The Statement condemns all acts of terrorism, whatever their motive. It again pledges closer cooperation and identified areas of new and continuing threats related to abuse of information and communication technology; critical infrastructure protection; and nuclear terrorism.
http://www.g-8.de/Content/EN/Artikel/__g8-summit/anlagen/report-on-g8-support-to-the-un-counter-terrorism-efforts,property=publicationFile.pdf
http://www.g-8.de/Content/EN/Artikel/__g8-summit/anlagen/ct-statement-final,property=publicationFile.pdf

The Council of Europe parliamentary rapporteur Dick Marty released "Secret detentions and illegal transfers of detainees involving Council of Europe member states: second report". It reveals new evidence that US "high-value detainees" (HVDs) were held in secret CIA prisons in Poland and Romania during the period 2002-2005 and alleges a secret agreement among NATO allies in October 2001, which provided the basic framework for this and other illegal CIA activities in Europe. Mr. Marty cross-referenced the credible testimonies of over 30 members of intelligence services in the US and Europe with analysis of data strings from the international flight planning system. Other findings include:
* US HVDs were held at the Stare Kiejkuty intelligence training base during the period from 2002 to 2005
*A secret agreement between the US and NATO allies in October 2001 provided the framework for the CIA to hold HVDs in Europe
* Former Polish President Kwasniewski and former Romanian President Iliescu knew about and authorized such secret detentions
* Flights to Poland, including one that may have carried Khalid Sheikh Mohammed from Kabul to Szymany on 7 March 2003, were deliberately disguised through the filing of dummy flight plans and the complicity of Polish air traffic controllers
* Mistaken terror suspect Khaled El-Masri was "homeward rendered" by the CIA from Kabul to the Bezat-Kuçova Aerodrome in Albania on 28 May 2004
https://wcd.coe.int/ViewDoc.jsp?Ref=PR400(2007)
http://hrw.org/english/docs/2007/01/08/usint16108.htm

Radovan Stankovic was serving a 20-year sentence for crimes against humanity, imposed by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY). He escaped from a Bosnian prison on 25 May, and Interpol has now issued an international wanted persons notice. The head of the prison has been dismissed, and nine corrections officers responsible for guarding him as he traveled to a dentist appointment have suspended, and they face criminal charges.
http://www.interpol.int/Public/News/2007/warCrimEscape20070601.asp
http://www.javno.com/en/world/clanak.php?id=47649
http://www.un.org/icty/cases-e/index-e.htm

In "France: Terror Expulsions Policy Lacks Basic Safeguards", Human Rights Watch reports that France has pursued a policy of forcibly repatriating non-French citizens accused of links to terrorism or extremism. It explains, "At first glance French law appears to contain adequate protections against expulsion for long-term or otherwise integrated foreign residents. The appeals processes available to individuals subject to forced removal from France appear to satisfy the requirement for due process. But on closer examination, the process is insufficient to ensure that fundamental rights are indeed protected. Forced removal is a dramatic measure with serious?and potentially irreparable?consequences for the individuals and their families.  The greatest danger is that in its haste to forcibly remove, France may send individuals back to countries where they risk being tortured or subjected to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, a serious violation of France?s obligations under international law."
http://hrw.org/reports/2007/france0607/

French police arrested three suspected members of Basque separatist group ETA on Thursday, coinciding with a Spanish crackdown on the group following its declaration that the ceasefire is over.
http://edition.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/europe/06/07/spain.eta/

An Italian court has begun hearing a case against 26 US and seven Italian intelligence agents accused of kidnapping the Imam of Milan's most important mosque, Osama Moustafa Hassan Nasr ("Abu Omar"). The case adds yet more detail regarding the US policy of extraordinary rendition. The US suspects have refused to attend, and are being tried in absentia.
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/politics/article2631542.ece
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/6732869.stm
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/5F64D474-7F81-4387-9DEB-C7DE274A7ED9.htm
http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1630860,00.html

Italian police in Milan arrested about ten people on Thursday. They are suspected of providing logistical and financial support to al Qaeda in the Maghreb (formerly the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat).
http://edition.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/europe/06/07/italy.qaeda.ap/index.html

Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF, Doctors Without Borders) has listed "Consequences of Bitter Conflict in Chechnya" as one of the top ten most underreported humanitarian stories of 2006. They explain:
The conflict in Chechnya and its consequences on civilians has been almost entirely hidden from the rest of the world. While it may be decreasing in intensity, for many people who lived through the ebb and flow of this bitter twelve-year war, physical and mental scars remain. The majority of Chechens displaced to neighboring Ingushetia during the worst phases of the conflict have now returned home. Even though reconstruction has gathered pace in the capital, Grozny, and a few other towns over the past year, thousands of returnees still find themselves without homes to go back to and have to settle instead for miserable living conditions in temporary accommodation centers (TACs). The Russian government has promoted a policy where local Chechen authorities take increasing responsibility for security, yet violence, abductions, and abuses continue. The past year also saw an increase in violence in the neighboring republics of Ingushetia and Dagestan, but international aid workers, observers, and journalists still have limited access to the region. MSF continues to provide much needed medical and psychosocial care to the most vulnerable Chechens, both in the TACs and in impoverished rural areas where the local health infrastructure is nearly absent. Another evident casualty of the years of conflict has been the republic's TB control system, and MSF now supports four of the five existing TB facilities. In 2006, MSF introduced a reconstructive surgery program in Grozny, deploying maxillofacial, vascular, and trauma surgeons to help repair physical scars caused by the war."
http://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/news/russianfederation.cfm

The Supreme Court of the Chechen Republic sentenced Arsan Mukayev to life in a high-security prison and fined him 50,000 rubles ($1,930) following his conviction on charges of the 2001 killing of a deputy prosecutor and 12 other murders, membership in an armed group, attempted murder of law enforcement officers, ethnically motivated killings, robbery, and illegal possession of weapons.
http://en.rian.ru/russia/20070604/66652218.html

Spain's Civil Guard report that they have closed the last active unit of the October First Anti-Fascist Resistance Group (GRAPO), with the arrest of the six people who formed the last active unit of the leftist radical and designated terrorist group.
http://www.expatica.com/actual/article.asp?subchannel_id=81&story_id=40624
http://www.elmundo.es/elmundo/2007/06/06/espana/1181150787.html (in Spanish)

Just 14 months after declaring a permanent ceasefire, Basque separatist group ETA has called it off, and promised to resume its terrorist campaign on all fronts. Announced at the start of the tourist season, Spain has increased its terrorism alert level. Shortly thereafter, Batasuna political leader Arnaldo Otegi was arrested, and ETA prisoner Inaki de Juana Chaos was taken from hospital where he was recovering from a lengthy hunger strike, and has resumed the hunger strike. Spanish Prime Minister Zapatero has held high-level direct talks with ETA to attempt to defuse the crisis.
http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSL0526292220070605
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L08688871.htm
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/article1909865.ece
http://www.economist.com/opinion/displaystory.cfm?story_id=9302700
http://news.independent.co.uk/europe/article2636184.ece
http://www.eitb24.com/new/en/B24_52226/politics/DE-JUANA-AGAIN-IN-PRISON-Defence-will-appeal-Inaki-Juanas/
http://www.eitb24.com/new/en/B24_52526/politics/BASQUE-TOWN-ELGOIBAR-Basque-leftist-movement-protests/
http://www.elmundo.es/elmundo/2007/06/08/espana/1181297145.html?a=6158743857effe902397d4561eb0ef242dc&t=1181342157 (in Spanish)
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6732957.stm

Turkey has designates temporary security zones near the Iraqi border, and has launched limited incursions following Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) assaults launched from Iraq into Turkey. On Monday PKK launched an armed assault on a Turkish paramilitary base in eastern Turkey, killing at least eight policemen and one attacker. There were several clashed during the week, and on Thursday night a roadside bomb killed three soldiers and one militant. Another militant was killed on Friday.
http://www.thenewanatolian.com/tna-27108.html
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6734905.stm
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/36CDB844-B917-49E0-A251-6FFAA98A5AEB.htm
http://www.thenewanatolian.com/tna-27119.html

UK Home Secretary John Reid has proposed controversial new anti-terrorism measures, including longer pre-charge detention, enhanced sentences, intercept as evidence, and stop and question powers for police.
http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/about-us/news/new-counter-terrorism
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article1899345.ece
http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/news/archives/2007/06/07/reids_new_tack_on_antiterror_measures.html
http://politics.guardian.co.uk/terrorism/story/0,,2097148,00.html

The Animal Liberation Front has claimed responsibility for two incendiary devices at a cattle farm, causing half a million pounds in damages.
http://www.oxfordmail.net/display.var.1459479.0.farmers_fear_animal_extremist_attacks.php
http://www.thisisoxfordshire.co.uk/mostpopular.var.1449538.mostviewed.farmers_fury_as_activists_admit_attack.php

In Northern Ireland, Irish National Liberation Army (INLA) member John Kenneway was found hanged in his cell in Maghaberry Prison. Kenneway was part of the prison gang that shot and killed Loyalist Volunteer Force (LVF) leader Billy Wright n the Maze Prison in 1997. He had been returned to prison after his early release license was revoked, and this week was refused temporary compassionate leave to attend a grandchild's christening. The matter is under investigation.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/northern_ireland/6736185.stm
http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/breaking/2007/0609/breaking12.htm

Scotland's First Minister Alex Salmond has condemned a cooperation agreement between the UK and Libya that could permit convicted Lockerbie bomber Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al-Megrahi to be transferred back to a jail in Libya.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/6735139.stm
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uklatest/story/0,,-6693715,00.html
http://scotlandonsunday.scotsman.com/index.cfm?id=906522007
--------------------------------------------------
GTM Middle East
--------------------------------------------------
Egypt released 130 members of Egyptian Islamic Jihad, many held without charge after their prison terms had expired. They have detained 75 Muslim Brotherhood supporters, ahead of next week's election.

In Gaza, Palestinian television journalists protested last Sunday and Monday over "Swords of Truth" threats to behead female presenters. They have been responsible for firebombing internet and video stores in past months. As mortars continued to land in the desert, Israel Defense Forces sent ground troops and tanks, backed by helicopters, about a kilometer inside Gaza. Air strikes continued during the week. On Wednesday a Hamas militant was killed in an Israeli air strike. Factional fighting erupted on Thursday, leaving one Fatah man dead and five injured. It was the first such case after a 2-week truce, but launched an escalation in the fighting that raised the number injured to 17. On Friday two 14-year-old children were shot dead. Today a Fatah security officer was pushed off the roof of a 15-story building, a Hamas mosque preacher was killed, and at least 11 people were injured in factional fighting. The casualty for this weekend alone is five dead and 53 injured.

In Iraq, surging insurgent violence maintained its pace, and Turkey is now involved in northern Iraq, which is a center of incursions by the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). There have also been reports of Iranian shelling, also directed against the PKK. The president of Iraq's Kurdish region has rejected Turkey's ultimatum against the PKK.
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/06/08/europe/EU-GEN-Turkey-Northern-Iraq.php
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=2&article_id=82827
http://www.thenewanatolian.com/tna-27121.html

On Monday a bomb planted inside an ambulance killed one and injured three in the central Bab al-Muadham area of Baghdad. In southern Zaafaraniya district, a roadside bomb killed three and injured eight. In Soura, a roadside bomb near a police patrol injured four policemen.  Mortar attacks in two nearby districts killed one and injured eight. 28 bodies were found across the city. In the town of Khaldiya, police found five bodies. In central Kirkuk a roadside bomb injured three policemen. In Mosul, a suicide truck bomber attacked the home of a local police brigadier, injuring 11 people, and a roadside bomb that exploded near a fuel truck injured the driver and set the truck afire. A roadside bomb near Yusufiya killed one policeman and injured three. The Iraqi army killed seven insurgents and arrested 57. Fighting between US soldiers and gunmen in Diwaniya injured four civilians.

On Tuesday in Baghdad's southwestern Amil district a roadside bomb killed three Iraqi soldiers and injured two. In southern Baghdad a US patrol was attacked with small arms fire, killing one soldier. In eastern Baghdad, three police commandos were injured after shooting dead a female suicide bomber, whose vest exploded. 33 bodies were found across the city. A Baiji police officer was killed in a drive-by shooting. A US soldier died of gunshot wounds in Diyala province. In the western city of Falluja a suicide bomber blew up himself and his car in a market, killing at least 19 and injuring another 25. In Iskandariya, a roadside bomb exploded near a police station, injuring four. Police also found two bullet-ridden bodies in the town. In Jbela, gunmen attacked a funeral. They shot and killed Moqtada al-Sadr's local political head, Abdul Raheem Nayef, and injured seven mourners. A car bomb in the town of Mahmudiya killed one civilian and injured a second. Clashes between insurgents and police left two insurgents dead, including one identified as a Saudi. In Najar, a local representative of Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani was shot and killed outside his home. The US military reports detaining four insurgents suspected of arranging t transportation of roadside bombs and other weapons from Iran to Iraq. Iraq's Defense Ministry reports that Iraqi soldiers killed seven suspected insurgents and detained more than 100 across the country. In a Baghdad operation, Iraqi and US forced killed one suspected insurgent and detained three. US and Iraqi troops conducted an operation near Baquba, with air support. 19 suspected insurgents were killed in Kabat village, two Iraqi soldiers also died, and one US soldier and a civilian were injured.

Wednesday, seven people were killed and 25 injured when bombs in two parked cars exploded, one after the other, in the northeastern Kadhimiya district of Baghdad. A roadside bomb in eastern Baghdad killed one US soldier. In western Mansour district a roadside bomb killed one and injured eight. Gunmen in police commando uniforms kidnapped a Ministry of Public Works director from his office. 32 bodies were found across the city. An improvised explosive device in Baiji killed one US soldier. In Balad, gunmen killed two policemen, and nearby a roadside bomb killed two girls and injured their father. An explosion in Diyala killed one US soldier and injured a second. A roadside bomb in Kirkuk targeted a police patrol, killing two officers and injuring three. In Mosul, gunmen attacked a police patrol, killing one and injuring a second. British soldiers undertook a raid in Basra, when they came under attack with machinegun and rocket-propelled grenades. One British soldier was killed and three injured. The US military reports that Iraqi and US soldiers killed two suspected al Qaeda and detained ten other insurgents in Baghdad.

On Thursday a car bomb exploded near a restaurant in the Sadr City district of Baghdad. At least five people were killed and 15 injured. 32 bodies were found across the city. In central Diwaniya a police officer was shot and killed in front of his home. The bodies of five men kidnapped from Falluja at the beginning of the week were round just north of the city, tortured and shot. Mahmudiya police found two bodies, tortured and shot.  A suicide truck bomber in Mosul attacked police headquarters in Rabea. Nine people were killed and 22 injured, including five civilian British contractors. An Aswat al-Iraq female journalist was shot and killed, also in Mosul. Near Ramadi police opened fire and blew up a truck before the suicide bomber reached their checkpoint. Six people, including one policeman, were injured. Several incidents in Samarra left a policeman and four other people dead, and nine injured. In Tikrit police arrested local al Qaeda leader Salam Mulla Mustafa and four of his aides. Nearby, a roadside bomb targeted the convoy of a senior police officer, injuring two of his bodyguards. Iraqi and US soldiers detained 16 suspected insurgents during raids in the Sadr City district of Baghdad, for involvement in the transport of explosives and other weapons from Iran to Iraq. Across the country, Iraqi soldiers killed eight suspected insurgents and arrested 40.

This Friday in Baghdad's southern Bayaa district, an armed group blew up the Sunni Fatah-Basha mosque. There were no casualties. Seven bodies were found across the city. An armed assault targeted the Baquba home of senior police official Colonel Ali Dilayan Ahmed. His wife, two brothers, and 11 bodyguards were killed, and four of his children kidnapped. A roadside bomb south of Baquba killed two senior police officers and injured a third. Twelve people were killed and 33 injured when a minibus exploded in Qurna, near Basra. Nineteen people were killed and 20 injured when a car bomb exploded in Dakok. Gunmen attacked a police patrol in central Mosul, killing one policeman and injuring a second. Clashes between two armed groups in Mosul left seven dead. The bodies of four men kidnapped from Ramadi were found, tortured and shot, near Falluja. A mortar attack in a residential area of Samarra killed three and injured seven. Iraqi and US soldiers operating in Anbar province report killing one suspected insurgent and detaining 12.

On Saturday 12 Iraqi soldiers were killed and 30 were injured when a suicide truck bomber attacked an army checkpoint on a road south of Baghdad. A roadside bomb hit a minibus in Baghdad's eastern Balidiyat district, killing four and injuring seven. In southern Zaafaraniya district a roadside bomb injured three policemen. In the northern neighborhood of al-Shaab, a car bomb attack no a police patrol killed one policeman and a bystander, and injured eight, while a car bomb near a police patrol in Adhamiya killed two policemen, while a third was shot dead immediately thereafter. Kirkuk police report finding the bodies of three Iraqi soldiers, tortured, bound, and shot. A roadside bomb in Mosul killed one policeman and injured two. A nearby mortar killed one civilian and injured four. The US launched an air assault at a Shiite mosque in Baguaba then came under fire. No casualty figures were released. Mortars or rockets were fired into the US Camp Bucca prison in southern Iraq, killing six civilian detainees and injuring 50. Iraqi and US soldiers raiding al Qaeda targets in Falluja report killing five suspected insurgents and detaining two. A teenage boy was injured with a stray bullet. Raids in Baghdad and Taji led to nine other arrests. Raids targeting weapons trafficking left one suspected insurgent dead and three arrested. Operations in Diyala province left one US soldier dead. US attack helicopters n Baquba killed eight suspected insurgents.

Today in southwestern Baghdad's Saidiya district a car bomb killed one civilian and injured three, while in Bayaa district another car bomb near a gas station killed one civilian and injured five. In western Baghdad a drive-by shooting killed the leader of the Shiite Dialog Faction, Jawdet Kadhem al-Obeidi, and injured his driver. A roadside bomb in Hawija targeted a police patrol but injured three civilians. A car bomb exploded on a bridge near Iskandariya, but no information on casualties is yet available. Near Tikrit a suicide truck bomb killed 14 policemen and injured about 50 at a police station. A roadside bomb in the Tuz Khurmato district south of Kirkuk killed one soldier and injured six. One US soldier was killed and a second injured in combat operations in southern Baghdad. Iraq's defense ministry reports that Iraqi forces killed five insurgents and detained 56 across the country.

In Lebanon, fighting that began in the northern refugee camp of Nahr al-Bared has spread further south, to the Ain al-Hilweh camp. Fighting at the beginning of the week left at least four dead and eight injured. After these overnight clashes a bus bomb exploded in a Christian suburb of Beirut, injuring at least ten people. The Lebanese army continues to lay siege to the camps, while Jund al-Sham and Fatah al-Islam promise to escalate the fighting. There were sporadic clashed on Tuesday and Wednesday, with several casualties. On Thursday, an explosive charge planted in a car parked near a Beirut warehouse exploded, killing one man and injuring three. And Lebanese troops renewed heavy shelling of Nar al-Barad. Six Lebanese soldiers died on Saturday and today five more were killed. The army has lost 57 soldiers, and about 50 Fatah al-Islam are thought to have been killed. Civilian deaths have not been reliably ascertained.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=1&categ_id=2&article_id=82764
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/FB6DB194-3DF2-4D0D-91D3-69D9660F1DD2.htm
http://edition.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/meast/06/04/lebanon.explosion.ap/index.html
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=1&categ_id=2&article_id=82811
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/0632A487-B8E7-4C35-8C47-844477B137DB.htm
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/E15CE5DA-071F-45A6-A4D6-063CC1CEF985.htm

"Into Battle" explains how Fatah al-Islam gained a foothold in northern Lebanon.
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/3cb0fe96-1238-11dc-b963-000b5df10621.html
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/01b81b7e-15dc-11dc-a7ce-000b5df10621.html

Saudi Arabia has detained eleven suspected militants, including one involved in the Abqaiq oil installation last February.
http://aawsat.com/english/news.asp?section=1&id=9200

In the West Bank on Wednesday, the Israeli army shot and killed a 67-year-old Palestinian man during a night time raid. He was killed answering the door, and his 65-year-old wife was seriously injured. Three young children were injured. On Friday two Palestinians hunting for game were shot: the 17-year-old youth was killed, and the other man was injured. Another raid on Saturday killed an unarmed shopkeeper.

Fierce fighting flared in southern Yemen, where the guerilla war with Zaidi Shiite rebels has contributed to a declared national emergency.
http://yementimes.com/article.shtml?i=1057&p=front&a=3
http://www.arabamericannews.com/newsarticle.php?articleid=8849

Yemen is discussing procedures for the US to repatriate Yemeni prisoners detained in Guantanamo Bay.
http://www.sabanews.net/view.php?scope=f9129&dr=&ir=&id=132726
--------------------------------------------------
GTM South Asia
--------------------------------------------------
In an exclusive Al Jazeera interview, Taleban leader Mansour Dadullah says that Osama bin Laden is alive and well and carrying out his duties.
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/CC6B9CA5-FE43-4F75-8BF6-AA5A235E96AA.htm

Afghanistan's insurgency is spreading to previously stable provinces, threatening humanitarian projects, pushing civilians towards the Taleban, and fueling the raging guerilla war. Fighting on Monday reportedly killed two dozen Taleban near Kandahar. The Taleban reported killing 27 Afghan and US troops. Neither claim could be verified. On Tuesday, NATO helicopters fired on a boat in Helmand River. It sank, reportedly killing 30 Taleban. Airstrikes in Kandahar reported killed up to 40 Taleban. Two Afghan soldiers were killed and three injured. One of five Afghan health workers was beheaded because officials did not hand over the body of the late Taleban commander Mullah Dadullah. Dadullah's body was handed over to his family on Thursday, in exchange for the four surviving hostages. Near Kandahar two roadside bombs exploded but missed the passing vehicles. On Wednesday heavy fighting in Helmand killed two NATO soldiers. In eastern Paktika province, a roadside bomb killed a district police chief. On Tuesday night in a peaceful residential area of Kabul, journalist Zakia Zaki was shot dead as she slept with her baby son. None of her six children were injured. Six suspects have been detained. On Friday, a female television news presenter was shot and killed in her Kabul home. On Saturday, six hours of fighting in Badghis province killed 30 Taleban and two policemen. A general was shot dead while having his hair cut in Kandahar. NATO air strikes in Zabul province reportedly killed 27 Taleban, and a British soldier died in Helmand. Today, President Karzai escaped an apparent assassination attempt in which rockets were fired at a meeting he was addressing in Ghazni province.
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/asia/article2617439.ece
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/6726117.stm
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/FD02BFA1-69BB-4E7C-AE84-57A14B5E624B.htm
http://www.thedailystar.net/2007/06/10/d706101306101.htm
http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticleNew.asp?xfile=data/subcontinent/2007/June/subcontinent_June404.xml§ion=subcontinent&col=

Former Bangladesh premier Khaleda Zia, her son Tarique Rahman, Jamaat chief Matiur Rahman Nizami and 25 others were charged with murder yesterday in the August 21 grenade attacks on an Awami League (AL) rally about three years ago.
http://www.thedailystar.net/2007/06/06/d7060601011.htm

Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF, Doctors Without Borders) has listed "Clashes in Central India" as one of the top ten most underreported humanitarian stories of 2006. They explain:
"Ongoing conflict in several parts of India ? including northeastern Assam and Manipur states highlighted in last year's Top 10 Underreported Humanitarian Stories list ? has gone virtually unnoticed by the outside world for years. In central India's Chhattisgarh state, clashes between Maoist insurgents, Indian security forces and anti-Maoist militias, also known as Salwa Judum, has been occurring for more than 25 years, resulting in the displacement, sometimes reportedly forced, of more than 50,000 civilians. Others flee into neighboring states while thousands of people have lost their livelihoods and have little access to their land, food, essential health care, or emergency medical services. MSF provides medical treatment in camps for displaced people in Dantewada district, located in south Chhattisgarh. Medical teams also provide mobile health services and nutritional support to those in need in remote rural areas. Surprisingly, the situation in Chhatisgarh is only one of several armed conflicts occurring throughout India for years, with civilians caught between various belligerent parties. As a consequence, many people continue to live in an atmosphere of fear and violence with little or no access to health care."
http://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/news/india.cfm

In northeastern India's state of Assam, a new rebel group, the Karbi Longri North Cachar Hills Liberation Front, has claimed responsibility for two attacks on Monday. The first killed four policemen and injured two, while the second killed two. Ajit Boro, a local leader of the ruling Congress party in Assam, was kidnapped on Monday, and his mutilated body found thereafter. The Black Widows faction of the Dima Halam Dago tribal rebel group were responsible, and are planning additional actions prior to state elections next week. There is no news of the second man kidnapped at the same time.
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/06/04/asia/AS-GEN-India-Rebel-Attack.php
http://www.telegraphindia.com/1070607/asp/frontpage/story_7888471.asp

The most violent of at least ten armed groups in the area is the United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA). They have shifted camps to Nepal. ULFA commander responsible for procurement, Diwakar Moran, was arrested in Assam on Saturday.
http://www.thedailystar.net/2007/06/08/d706084309121.htm
http://www.thestatesman.net/page.news.php?clid=2&theme=&usrsess=1&id=158697
http://www.newkerala.com/news5.php?action=fullnews&id=35943

Atta ur Rehman and Faisal Bhatti have been arrested in southern Pakistan in connection with the 2002 kidnap and murder of US journalist Daniel Pearl.
http://www.thehindu.com/holnus/003200706070307.htm

A roadside bomb in southwestern Baluchistan province hit a bus, killing three and injuring seven. There was no claim of responsibility but ethnic Baluch rebels have been associated with similar incidents.
http://www.dawn.com/2007/06/09/top15.htm

Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF, Doctors Without Borders) has listed "Civilians Under Fire in Sri Lanka While Assistance is Limited" as one of the top ten most underreported humanitarian stories of 2006. They explain:
"Civilians in Sri Lanka have born the brunt of major fighting that resumed in August 2006 between government forces and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), especially in the country's east and northeast. Bombing has been intense in war-affected regions, leading to the displacement of tens of thousands of people. Others are trapped and cannot flee. The level of violence directed at civilians has increased ? a brutal reality that was underscored by the murders of 17 aid workers from Action Contre la Faim (ACF) in early August. These killings occurred in a general climate of suspicion, accusations, restrictions, and surveillance of NGOs, with Sri Lankan politicians and media outlets accusing international organizations of supporting the Tamil rebellion. As a result, some authorities have tried to evict or restrict humanitarian organizations from accessing conflict areas even as hospitals that fall under the Ministry of Health had requested outside help. As in any armed conflict, warring parties must respect the independence and neutrality of humanitarian aid workers if civilians are to receive lifesaving emergency assistance. After having to evacuate in October, MSF was again able to provide surgical care to people in the northeastern town of Point Pedro by the end of December. But insecurity and limitations placed on humanitarian organizations continue to make it increasingly difficult to deliver aid to people most affected by the conflict and several regions, particularly in the east, are entirely cut off from outside assistance."
http://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/news/srilanka.cfm
http://www.nation.lk/2007/06/10/inter1.htm

There is a new trend for Tigers to use Hindu temples to conceal their armories and for shelter.
http://www.dailynews.lk/2007/06/06/sec01.asp

Fighting between the Sri Lankan army and Tamil Tiger rebels that began last weekend continued as this week began, with both sides claiming to have taken dozens of lives. Wednesday, a landmine derailed a train near Batticaloa, injuring four. The blast was blamed on the Tigers, who say the breakaway Karuna faction was responsible. On Friday Sri Lankan troops reportedly overran four Tamil Tiger bases late Friday and early Saturday in eastern Batticaloa district, killing 30 Tamil Tiger rebels. Today Prime Minister Wickramanayaka said that police are hunting for another explosives-laden truck.
http://www.thedailystar.net/2007/06/05/d70605013017.htm
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/FDDA1FE6-7F7E-4CBD-BB88-D284F64A7D9D.htm
http://www.thedailystar.net/2007/06/10/d70610015024.htm
http://www.colombopage.com/archive_07/June10141038JV.html

---

2. Political Risk Monitor

What may appear to be a small local event, like publishing a cartoon, can often turn out to have a surprising international impact. Your subscription to the Political Risk Monitor provides this analysis, as well as detailed profiles of individuals and other entities. Each monthly issue also includes quick tips for executives managing multinational operations.
http://secure.netsolhost.com/573566.585211/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=SFNT&Store_Code=TP
--------------------------------------------------
PRM Africa
--------------------------------------------------
The G8 met with the leaders of Algeria, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa, the African Union, the AU Commission, the Chair of NEPAD, the Prime Minister of Ethiopia and the UN Secretary General to discuss growth and responsibility in Africa. They addressed issues of peace and security; economic growth and investment; good governance and reform-partnership; improving health systems, including the battles against HIV/AIDS, TB, and malaria. The G8 acknowledges that it did not deliver on its 2005 promised, and pledges to deliver on a $60 billion anti-HIV/TB/Malaria package, a $50 billion increase in aid, and debt relief of 18 countries - a genuine economic and social benefit. Anti-poverty campaigners called the pledged money a betrayal and a fraud.
http://www.g-8.de/Content/DE/Artikel/G8Gipfel/Anlage/Abschlusserkl_C3_A4rungen/WV-afrika-en,property=publicationFile.pdf
http://www.g-8.de/Content/DE/Artikel/G8Gipfel/Anlage/Abschlusserkl_C3_A4rungen/wv-afrika-annex-en,property=publicationFile.pdf
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/06/09/wgeight109.xml

Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF, Doctors Without Borders) has listed "Congolese Endure Extreme Deprivation and Violence" as one of the top ten most underreported humanitarian stories of 2006. They explain:
"In 2006, people living in the vast Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) voted in democratic parliamentary and presidential elections for the first time in decades. The elections may have thrust the DRC into the media spotlight for a brief moment, but the extreme deprivation and violence endured by millions of Congolese continued unabated and out of view. The mineral rich east of the country remains gripped by violence, with various armed groups, including the national army, using force against the civilian population and creating brutal living conditions. In early 2006, fighting between the Congolese army and the Mai Mai rebel forces in southeastern Katanga province were responsible for the displacement of tens of thousands of people. People forced to live in overcrowded conditions in and around the town of Dubie had virtually no access to their fields for cultivation or to clean water. With little assistance arriving, they fall prey to hunger and disease. There are also alarmingly high rates of sexual violence against women in the eastern province of North Kivu ? from January to June alone, MSF treated nearly 150 women every month in three clinics across. In the northeastern Ituri district, ongoing fighting involving the Congolese army, supported by the UN peacekeeping force MONUC, and various militias has led to the destruction of numerous villages, violence against civilians, and significant displacement. In June, 50,000 displaced people sought safety in Gety, a town of 5,000 people 60 kilometers south of the district capital Bunia. After fleeing their destroyed villages and spending weeks or months in the forest, they arrived in a terrible physical state, with MSF treating hundreds of severely malnourished children just after opening its assistance program. MSF repeatedly responds to outbreaks of meningitis, malaria, cholera, and measles throughout the country, indicating how an already weak public health system has been shattered by more than a decade of war. The consequences are even seen in some areas not affected by current fighting: MSF recently began supporting a hospital in Maniema province, where the mortality rate was nearly three times the emergency threshold."
http://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/news/drc.cfm

Ethiopia charged 55 opposition members with trying to launch a rebellion.
http://www.mg.co.za/articlePage.aspx?articleid=310548

A drop in Mauritania's oil production has led the new President Sidi Mohamed Ould Cheikh Abdallahi and his cabinet to take 25 percent pay cuts.
http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?click_id=68&art_id=nw20070607220847714C334254&set_id=

Nigeria's Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) invited former state governors to meet and discuss their management of public funds. Ten of the governors accepted the invitation.
http://www.efccnigeria.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1441

The UNs refugee agency reports that of some 391,000 people who fled deadly fighting in the Somali capital Mogadishu since February, up to 90,000 have returned, but insecurity is preventing more. Living conditions remain difficult: garbage is not collected, school are closed, and jobs have been lost or their businesses torn down. Shabelle River flooding has destroyed homes and crops. Some homes and offices have been taken over by government officials.
http://www.unhcr.org/news/NEWS/466002064.html
http://ochaonline.un.org/webpage.asp?Page=873&Lang=en

Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF, Doctors Without Borders) has listed "Somalis Trapped by War and Disaster" as one of the top ten most underreported humanitarian stories of 2006. They explain:
"The current conflict in Somalia may generate fleeting worldwide attention, but the abysmal day-to-day living conditions faced by Somalis remains largely forgotten. For the past fifteen years, Somalia has been in the grip of internal conflict that has had catastrophic consequences on the health of its people. Somalia has some of the world's worst health indicators: it is estimated that life expectancy is 47 years and more than one quarter of children die before their fifth birthday. The conflict in 2006 was characterized by intense bursts of violence in the capital, Mogadishu, and outlying regions. In July, a coalition under the umbrella of the Islamic Courts wrested control of Mogadishu from the militias that had preyed on the local population for years, and quickly gained influence in the country's central and southern areas. Then in late December, the Western- and Ethiopian-backed Transitional National Government drove the Islamic Courts from areas they controlled. Against this backdrop of political insecurity, Somalia was hit by torrential rains in November that flooded the Shebelle and Juba rivers, leaving tens of thousands of families homeless and destroying their subsistence crops. This occurred just six months after the Bay region, nestled between the two rivers, endured a drought that saw MSF admit more than 600 severely malnourished children to its hospital in Dinsor. MSF teams are trying to fill some of the huge gaps in medical care through primary care and surgical hospitals and clinics, as well as treatment programs for malnutrition, tuberculosis, and kala azar in several regions, including Bakool, Bay, Galguduud, Lower Juba, Mudug, Middle Shabelle, and Mogadishu. Few aid agencies choose to work in Somalia, though, because violence is so widespread and the country's clan structure so complex. But with no state medical services, there is a desperate need for increased assistance."
http://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/news/somalia.cfm

Somalia's first president Aden Abdulle Osman has died aged 99.

Last November, Sudan, the UN and the AU agreed to create a hybrid force in Darfur as the third phase of a three-step process to replace the existing but under-resourced AU Mission in the Sudan (AMIS), which has been unable to end the fighting. This week the updated report has been submitted to the Security Council, and will also be submitted to the AU Peace and Security Council. The dire humanitarian situation remains unchanged. Since fighting between government forces, their allied Janjaweed militias, and rebel groups erupted in 2003, more than 200,000 people have been killed and over two million displaced. Of those displaced, the number able to return since last January has now passed 100,000. The number of Darfur refugees in neighboring countries had fallen from 515,000 to 270,000.
http://www.un.org/Depts/dpko/missions/unmis/
http://www.iom.int/jahia/jsp/index.jsp

The G8 this week acknowledged the ongoing conflict and strife, and called for all parties to end hostilities and fulfill their obligations. They emphasize that there is no military solution to the conflict.
http://www.g-8.de/Content/EN/Artikel/__g8-summit/anlagen/g8-summit-statement-on-sudan-darfur,property=publicationFile.pdf

The treason trial against Ugandan opposition leader Kizza Besigye and ten others has resumed briefly on Monday, and the nest day was for a second time postponed indefinitely.
http://www.monitor.co.ug/news/news06052.php
--------------------------------------------------
PRM Americas
--------------------------------------------------
Bermuda's pro-independence government has called for final control over the police force, which is currently held by the island's governor, who is appointed by the Queen of Great Britain.
http://www.bermudasun.bm/main.asp?SectionID=24&SubSectionID=270&ArticleID=33995&TM=48858.42
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/americas/article2631529.ece
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/worldnews.html?in_article_id=460718&in_page_id=1811

A Chilean supreme court judge has ordered that former Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori be placed under house arrest to prevent his fleeing Chile to avoid extradition to Peru.
http://www.theage.com.au/news/world/perus-fujimori-faces-house-arrest/2007/06/09/1181089394420.html
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N07177767.htm

Costa Rica has broken diplomatic ties with Taiwan after 60 years to develop closer ties to China. Taiwan condemned China's "checkbook diplomacy". Costa Rica sited too little aid as a motive for breaking with Taiwan.
http://english.rti.org.tw/Content/GetSingleNews.aspx?ContentID=38046
http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2007/06/10/2003364584
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2007-06/08/content_6214767.htm

Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF, Doctors Without Borders) has listed "Violence Rages in Haiti's Volatile Capital" as one of the top ten most underreported humanitarian stories of 2006. They explain:
With the exception of a short respite following presidential elections in February 2006, violence and insecurity was widespread throughout the Haitian capital, Port-au-Prince. Even with a newly elected government in place, the violence ranged from confrontations between various armed groups in the city and the Haitian National Police and UN Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH), to extensive kidnappings and sexual violence. The number of patients treated at four MSF medical structures in Port-au-Prince gives an indication of the human consequences of this relentless, low-intensity urban conflict. Since December 2004, MSF has treated more than 7,000 people for violence-related injuries, including more than 3,000 gunshot victims ? nearly 1,000 women and children ? and 2,600 stabbing victims. Following a sharp increase in violence, in early 2006 MSF called on all armed groups to respect civilians' safety and allow access to emergency medical care. In the impoverished slum of Cite Soleil, where 200,000 people are effectively cut-off from health care services, MSF continued to work in St. Catherine Hospital and Chapi health center helping victims of violence and providing maternal and primary health care services. The high level of maternal mortality in Haiti led MSF to open another health care structure in March 2006 to provide emergency obstetric care to women living in the most violent areas. The majority of the 1,200 mothers who give birth each month require emergency obstetric care. MSF also treats victims of sexual violence in the capital, offering comprehensive psychological and medical treatment.
http://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/news/haiti.cfm

The US Congressional Budget Office has estimated costs for immigration reform legislation currently being debated at about $18 billion over the next ten years, primarily from huge costs of additional border control and law enforcement measures. Immigrants would also contribute tens of billions to the US economy, countering claims that immigrants drain the economy. http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2007/06/05/fiscal_lift_burden_in_immigrant_legislation/
http://www.cbo.gov/

A series of amendments to the immigration bill this week will delay passage and may have upset the initial bipartisan compromise, but efforts are under way to revive it.
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/06/10/america/NA-GEN-US-Congress-Immigration.php
http://www.guardian.co.uk/usa/story/0,,2099061,00.html
http://test.denverpost.com/headlines/ci_6103644
http://www.woai.com/news/local/story.aspx?content_id=c017843a-63d9-485f-9f66-4c24d03c5a4e

The Senate Committee on Armed Services held a nomination hearing for Lieutenant General Douglas E. Lute, to be Assistant to the President and Deputy National Security Advisor for Iraq and Afghanistan. Lute has long been skeptical of the surge, but the proposed "war czar" would give it some more time.
http://armed-services.senate.gov/e_witnesslist.cfm?id=2808
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/americas/article2636169.ece
--------------------------------------------------
PRM Asia Pacific
--------------------------------------------------
In central China hundreds of students from universities in Henan province rioted after a fellow student was beaten for selling flowers on the street without a license.
http://www.chinaworker.info/en/content/news/201/
http://chinadigitaltimes.net/2007/06/video_of_zhengzhou_riot_shanghaiist.php

The overall security situation in East Timor is stable, but foreign troops were deployed in the district of Viequeque, which remains tense in the wake of two deadly shootings last weekend
http://www.un.org/Depts/dpko/missions/unmit/index.html

Japan's westernmost Yonagunijima island has established direct relations with Taiwan, including an office in Taiwan, in the hope that Taiwanese investment and tourism could help the island, and its rapidly falling population, survive.
http://www.asahi.com/english/Herald-asahi/TKY200706070543.html

Malaysia banned 37 publications it claims twisted the facts of true Islam or contained elements that misled the faithful.
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/06/06/asia/AS-GEN-Malaysia-Books-Banned.php

Amid continued political violence, opponents of Philippine President Gloria Arroyo's administration have won a majority in the Senate. The lower house remains controlled by her allies, so a successful impeachment is unlikely.
http://english.people.com.cn/200706/06/eng20070606_381603.html

Thailand's military-backed interim government lifted a ban on political activities.
--------------------------------------------------
PRM Europe
--------------------------------------------------
Belgium is holding a highly competitive general election today.

The Czech Republic's Cerne Jezero (Black Lake) in Bohemia is the place where several chests containing Nazi secret police documents were found. This week domestic intelligence revealed that this was in fact Czechoslovakia's largest misinformation campaign, undertaken by the communist-era secret police, the StB.
http://www.radio.cz/en/article/92206
http://launch.praguemonitor.com/en/102/czech_national_news/7874/

In the first round of French parliamentary elections projections indicate a big win for President Sarkozy.

French resistance fighter General Alain Le Ray - the first man to escape from the Nazi Colditz high security prison in eastern Germany - has died, aged 96.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/08/world/europe/08ray.html
http://www.lemonde.fr/web/article/0,1-0@2-3382,36-921066@51-921144,0.html (in French)

"Georgia's South Ossetia Conflict: Make Haste Slowly" is a new International Crisis Group report that finds:
"Frequent security incidents in Georgia?s breakaway region of South Ossetia could degenerate into greater violence unless all sides resume substantive dialogue and avoid pressing unilateral efforts to end the stalemate. Resentful of Russia's role in the resolution process, Tbilisi is eager to change the negotiation and peacekeeping format as well as the status quo on the ground. But focusing on containing Russia, however legitimate, will not resolve inter-ethnic issues and satisfy Ossetian aspirations and fears. The Georgian government needs to work on changing perceptions, through bilateral efforts and by embarking on a substantive dialogue with the de facto authorities in South Ossetia."
http://www.crisisgroup.org/home/index.cfm?id=4887&l=1

In Germany, massive anti-globalization riots rocked the streets of Rostock, leaving hundreds of police and protestors injured.
http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,486543,00.html
http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,486575,00.html
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/politics/article2611754.ece
http://www.upi.com/International_Intelligence/Analysis/2007/06/04/analysis_rostock_burns_after_g8_riots/1093/
http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,486573,00.html

A court in Rome acquitted all five people charged with the murder of Roberto Calvi, "God's banker". US President Bush, on a visit to Albania, insisted he would not compromise on the future of the territory. Serbia reminded him that Kosovo's future lies with the UN, not the US.
http://news.independent.co.uk/europe/article2621811.ece
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/6726353.stm

Kosovo's Prime Minister Agim Ceku, with the provisional government, has called on world powers to either adopt a UN resolution granting independence or allow it to take its own path.
http://en.rian.ru/onlinenews/20070608/66930635.html
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/06/10/europe/EU-GEN-Serbia-Bush-Kosovo.php

Turkey's election shambles continues. The center-righter alliance has fallen apart. Former Kurdish deputies and former Prime Minister Necmettin Erbakan have been banned for criminal connections associated with alleged tied to Kurdish guerillas.
http://www.thenewanatolian.com/tna-27117.html
http://www.thenewanatolian.com/tna-27118.html

Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko has set 30 September as the date for early parliamentary elections.
--------------------------------------------------
PRM Middle East
--------------------------------------------------
This week marked the 40th anniversary of the 1967 Arab-Israeli War. The 6-day War commemorations emphasized that regional peace cannot be achieved by force.
http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs//2007/sgsm11026.doc.htm
http://www.unhchr.ch/huricane/huricane.nsf/view01/1A29FB98288E024BC12572F10030A61C?opendocument
http://www.amnesty.org/resources/Israel_Report0706/
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/867362.html
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=17&article_id=82741
http://www.ft.com/sixdaywar
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6709173.stm
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/A8B9A7F9-E273-427E-93AD-AD19DEEE5376.htm

Iran has released three Finnish fishermen, detained last week while fishing in the Gulf. They returned to Dubai after nearly two weeks in captivity. An Iranian judge reports that two of the three Iranian-American detainees have admitted their guilt, and today Iran confirmed that it is holding a fourth. The US Department of state accused Iran of "hostage diplomacy".
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L0640531.htm
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/07/world/middleeast/07iran.html
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6738425.stm
http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200704/s1891523.htm

In Iraq, only a third of Baghdad is secured, and the US surge is falling short of its goals. Time is running out for a political solution.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/04/world/middleeast/04surge.html
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/1aa174d6-1457-11dc-88cb-000b5df10621.html
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/7309B35E-93F5-417C-94B6-62A6E4CAC670.htm

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has urged the Iraqi Government to bring to justice those responsible for killings that occurred during the 1990 invasion and subsequent occupation of Kuwait. The Security Council joined the call for justice.
http://www.un.org/Docs/journal/asp/ws.asp?m=s/2007/321
http://www.un.org/Docs/journal/asp/ws.asp?m=s/2007/321?

Note this excellent Christian Science Monitor series, Shiites Rising:
The origins of Shiite Islam
http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0606/p13s01-wome.html
Islam's minority reaches new prominence
http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0606/p01s03-wome.html
Sect leaders craft message for masses
http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0607/p01s04-wome.html

Israeli courts denied only three out of 400 police wiretapping requests. This and other data was sent to a Knesset committee investigating wiretaps.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/868821.html

Israel is engaging in diplomacy with Syria, in an effort to renew peace talks.
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/B1067432-2FB5-498C-A363-F23454A6DB68.htm
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/868826.html

Jordan arrested seven members of the Islamic Action Front, an influential Islamic opposition party, on suspicion of threatening national security.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=2&article_id=82800

Syria sentenced Abdel-Jabbar Allawi to death, commuted to 12 years in prison, for membership in the Muslim Brotherhood, and jailed three other dissidents.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=2&article_id=82749

Following war, dislocation, locusts, and food insecurity, Yemen has declared a national emergency and called for international assistance.
http://yementimes.com/article.shtml?i=1057&p=front&a=1
--------------------------------------------------
PRM South Asia
--------------------------------------------------
India's efforts to use caste-based quotas for affirmative action led to serious violence at the end of May that only abated this week. The recent confrontation in Rajastan state between the Gujjars, designated an Other Backward Caste, and the Meenas, designated as a scheduled tribe, revealed both contradictions and opportunities. The Meenas continue to resist the entry of the Gujjars to the ST list. This situation is under review, but it raised the specter of widespread caste conflict.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/6719655.stm
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/DEL302300.htm
http://www.dnaindia.com/report.asp?NewsID=1102035
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/6705521.stm
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Opinion/Sunday_Specials/Special_Report/Its_time_to_get_proportional/articleshow/2112028.cms

Pakistani lawyer Iqbal Kazmi was kidnapped on Wednesday, after filing a complaint against government officials. Police found him on Friday, lying in bushes near a rail station. He claims that he was kidnapped, tortured, and the lies of his family threatened. Kazmi's complaint was related to increasingly violent anti-government demonstrations that followed President Musharraf's suspension of Supreme Court Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammed Chaudhry for alleged misconduct,
http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticleNew.asp?xfile=data/subcontinent/2007/June/subcontinent_June317.xml§ion=subcontinent&col=

In "Pakistan: Emergency Rule or Return to Democracy?" the International Crisis Group says, " With rumors of emergency rule - in effect martial law-? flying about Islamabad, the US should lead an immediate move by the international community, including the EU and Japan, to urge peaceful transition to democratic rule in Pakistan."
http://www.crisisgroup.org/home/index.cfm?id=4884&l=1

Prime Minister Musharraf has cancelled a decree placing restrictions on the media.
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/E17E5977-0306-4C72-B76E-C1E436474681.htm
http://www.pakistantimes.net/2007/06/10/national2.htm

Sri Lanka's Supreme Court has ordered an immediate end to the eviction of Tamils from the capital Colombo by the police. They began to trickle back slowly on Saturday. Prime Minister Wickramanayaka said, "We regret and ready to take the responsibility over this unfortunate incident", and a report on the matter is pending.
http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?ReportID=72629
http://www.thedailystar.net/2007/06/10/d70610130299.htm
http://www.colombopage.com/archive_07/June10135305JV.html