King Abdullah of Jordan predicted war within eighteen months if peace efforts in the middle east are obstructed. An American-Jordanian peace offensive reaches its apogee in coming weeks, the most crucial element being US President Barack Obama's meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu next Tuesday. Jordan and the US joined diplomatic forces in the region after Abdullah met with Obama in Washington last month. Their efforts aim for a general peace conference, at which Israel will normalise its relations with all its Arab neighbours, with some of whom it remains in an official state of war, in return for territorial and political concessions.
The toD verdict: On 4 June Obama will address the Muslim world in a landmark broadcast. Current American efforts will determine whether it will be hailed as a victory speech or derided as one of many hollow appeals for peace the region.
The UN added its voice to the chorus of peace calls, with Secretary General Ban Ki Moon urging Israel "to fundamentally change its polices" on settlements in the West Bank. The demands follow increased exposure of Israeli housing policy, particularly in East Jerusalem, where Israel is accused of deliberately manipulating regulation and planning laws at the expense of Palestinian residents. Pressure from the UN, however, is a far more familiar element in the middle east peace process and one which Israel and Arab states have had little compunction in ignoring in the past.
Attention will now turn to the recently elected Nethanyahu government, with a backlog of hardline pronouncements on Israeli security, for any indication of its willingness to talk. Nethanyahu recently vowed to the Knesset that he would not relinquish Israeli control of the Golan heights, captured from Syria in 1967, and a critical bargaining point in any peace between the two nations. On an international stage, however, Nethanyu appears more conciliatory. At meetings with Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak he expressed his desire to "resume peace talks between us and the Palestinians", but as yet he has refused to endorse the two state solution which has been the basis of prior negotiations.
US soldier kills five comrades outside Iraq counselling clinic
A US soldier opened fire on fellow troops after a dispute with staff at a military base's counselling centre in Iraq, killing five before being taken into custody. Monday's shooting was the sixth such attack since the 2003 invasion, in which a total of nine US soldiers have been deliberately killed by their comrades.
The shooting highlights the dangers of psychological stress in a combat environment. Up to one in five US soldiers is reported to be suffering from post traumatic stress in Iraq, with two-thirds reluctant to seek help for fear it will set back their military careers. There are an estimated five attempted suicides per day among US forces in Iraq.
Hundreds killed as Somali government denies collusion with Islamist insurgents
The Somali government denied reports that poorly paid soldiers had been selling military hardware to Islamic insurgents, their official enemies. President Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed blamed radical Islamists for the recent resurgence of violence in Mogadishu, who he claimed were the agents of foreign countries. Violence spread across the war-worn capital over the weekend. Seventeen-thousand people have fled the fighting, while three hundred of those who could not escape were wounded and over 120 killed.
Pakistan captures Taliban stronghold
Pakistani military spokesmen claimed a series of victories for government forces in the ongoing battle for the Swat Valley. Special forces heli-dropped behind Taliban lines, capturing the rear-base of Maulana Fazlullah, a militant cleric, and his retinue of 4,000 fighters. Interior Minister Rehman Malik was pleased by government successes, hoping that "the operations will be completed very soon". His hopes can only be shared by the estimated 360,000 people forced to flee recent fighting in the Swat Valley. Aid agencies and members of parliament have criticised army actions and the government's provision for displaced civilians. Brad Adams of Human Rights Watched warned Pakistan that the Taliban's exploitation of innocents was "not a blank cheque for the Pakistani Army".
Afghans hope for fresh start with new US commander
Controversial US tactics in Afghanistan maybe set to change with the dismissal of NATO's Afghan theatre commander General David McKiernan halfway through his tenure of command. McKiernan had pressed for an extra 30,000 troops for the next 12 months in Afghanistan, only a third of which were promised by the Obama administration. The radical move is said to be the first US dismissal of a general from a combat theatre since Douglas MacArthur's outspoken campaign to nuke China during the Korean War. Defence Secretary Robert Gates announced his replacement as Lieutenant General Stanley McChrystal, who earned his stars in American Special Forces and received personal praise from former president George W Bush. McChrystal's reputation however was tarnished by Senate scrutiny of alleged mistreatment of prisoners by units under his command in Iraq and Afghanistan.
While some speculated that the shake-up was a response to criticism of last week's deadly Farah airstrikes, the Defence Department claimed the move had been planned weeks before. Afghan President Hamid Karzai warned on Sunday that NATO risked losing "the moral war" with the Taliban if air strikes were not reigned in but US security advisor General James L Jones and Gates both defended US commanders' freedom of action in Afghanistan.
Meanwhile Taliban fighters staged an audacious raid on government buildings in southern Afghanistan, underpinning the need to reinvigorate the NATO-Afghan counterinsurgency. Four suicide bombers struck in the town of Khost, killing four Afghan soldiers and two bystanders in an attempt to storm the town governor's headquarters. It is the latest attack in what has been the deadliest year so far for coalition forces in the country.
