Des Browne: talk to the Taliban
Speaking at the ongoing Labour Party conference, UK Defence Secretary Des Browne has said that any peace process in Afghanistan would invariably have to involve the Taliban, and that any solution would have to be "Islamic-based". The issue of negotiating with the Taliban has bitterly divided policy-makers and analysts, but with no imminent military victory in sight in Afghanistan, speaking with elements of the radical Islamist group may become inevitable.
Bangladesh's cartoon furoreKeep up to date with the latest developments and sharpest perspectives in a world of strife and struggle.
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toD contributor Animesh Roul looks at Bangladesh's own "cartoon" controversy on the Counterterrorism blog. The publication last week of a satirical cartoon critiquing the trend of Arabised naming in Bangladesh was met with violent protests by hard-line Islamist groups in the country. An editor has been sacked, while Bangladesh's "caretaker government", which is maintaining a state of emergency, has arrested Arifur Rehman, the cartoonist, and suspended publication of the satirical magazine Aalpin in which the cartoon was published.
Extremists attack reconciliation meeting
A US-backed "reconciliation meeting" of Shia and Sunni tribal sheikhs north of Baghdad was struck by a suicide bomber, with at least fifteen people killed. The bomb blasted the kind of meeting that has become the cornerstone of US counterinsurgency tactics in the restive areas north and west of Baghdad.
Only six months ago, the highway from Baghdad to the borders with Syria and Jordan was considered a death-trap, the site of routine ambushes and attacks by insurgents. Thanks in large part to improvements in security in western Iraq, the road has re-opened to traffic, with rebel and bandit greatly diminished.
Bombings across Iraq killed 37 people and wounded scores, shattering what had been a relatively calm period since the beginning of Ramadan.
Speaking at the General Assembly, the Emir of Qatar - a key US-ally - has said that Iraq is too large a crisis for the US to handle alone.
No presidential decision in Lebanon
Lebanon's parliament failed to agree on a successor to President Emile Lahoud, with the required two-thirds quorum failing to be met. Opposition parties boycotted the presidential polls in the parliament.
Bush faces Arab apathy
Traditional Arab allies of the United States have informed White House officials that they are not interested in participating in a planned "peace conference" on the Palestinian-Israeli conflict unless it discusses concrete goals and paves a realistic path for reaching them. Israel has hoped to set vaguer terms for the November talks.
"Don't misuse human rights"
Speaking before the United Nations General Assembly, Sri Lankan president Mahinda Rajapaksa asked the international community not to use human rights as a tool to "victimise" smaller states for "petty political advantage", particularly when those states are embroiled in a struggle against terrorism. Human rights observers have been critical at times of the Sri Lankan army's prosecution of its war against the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).
Predictably, ahead of Rajapaksa's speech LTTE officials released a statement calling on the international community to further scrutinise the alleged abuses of the Sri Lankan military, which the rebels accuse of conducting a campaign of "genocide" against Tamils.
Pirates of the Atlantic
Naval authorities in the Sierra Leone claim to have caught "pirates" from neighbouring Guinea as they tried to rob two local fishing vessels. Guinean officials have revealed that the men involved in the attempted robbery including fisheries officials and officers in the Guinean armed forces.
Bali bombers' appeal hopes dashed
An Indonesian court has rejected the final appeals of two of the convicted Bali bombers. The appeal of a third convicted Islamist militant has already been rejected. The three men will face execution by firing squad for their involvement in the 2002 attack on tourist resort in the island of Bali that left more than 200 people dead, including many Australians.
Avoiding conflict in the Horn of Africa
In a Council on Foreign Relations' Academic Module, analysts look at how US policies can be changed to minimise the risk of further violence and war in the Horn of Africa, with particular emphasis on ongoing tensions between Ethiopia and Eritrea.
Eritrea insists that Ethiopia implements a ruling on borders as part of their 2000 pact.
