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March 24, 2010 (12:58 am) | Daily Roundup | By: Jeff Kouba
Quote of the week
History, that is, the unconscious, general, hive life of
mankind, uses every moment of the life of kings as a
tool for its own purposes
A brief world news roundup for 24 March 2010.
United States & the Americas
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State Dept - Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is in Mexico City, Mexico
for the Merida U.S.-Mexico High Level Consultative Group meeting on
March 23. This is the second formal meeting of the High Level
Consultative Group and has been in preparation for several months;
the first was held in Washington in December 2008. Secretary Clinton
and Mexican Foreign Secretary Patricia Espinosa chair an interagency
discussion on the evolution of the Merida Initiative that focuses on
enhanced engagement in support of our shared goals of breaking the
power of drug trafficking organizations; strengthening the rule of law, democratic institutions
and respect for human rights; creating a 21st century border; and building strong and resilient
communities
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CNN – Iran is helping train Taliban fighters within its borders, according to U.S. military and
intelligence officials.
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MercoPress – Argentina has US regulatory approval to restructure 20 billion USD in defaulted
debt and expects to launch the deal within three weeks, announced the government on Monday
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AKI – A powerful documentary has revealed the violent face of Columbia’s outlawed armed
militant group FARC. Peruvian director Judith Velez’s 64-minute film, called ‘Liberenlos ya!’ (or
‘Free Them Now!’) charts FARC’s evolution from its creation in the 1960s as a Marxist guerrilla
group through to its more recent involvement in drug trafficking and kidnappings
-Leo Tolstoy, War and Peace
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Alyssa Lappen
World News
American Power
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American Thinker
Analyst Network
Andrew Erickson
Ann Marlowe
Anne Applebaum
Anthony Clark Arend
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OGJ – Rebels of the Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia (FARC) have kidnapped five
oil workers in the northeastern Colombia town of Tame, according to government officials
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Columbia Reports – Seven guerillas from the leftist insurgent group ELN were captured by
Colombian authorities on Tuesday in the Norte de Santander department.
Armies of Liberation
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LA Times – As the death toll keeps climbing in Calderon’s crackdown on the drug trade, there is
a growing feeling that the army has been less than effective as a police force. When Mexican
President Felipe Calderon declared war on drug cartels in 2006, he summoned his military to
serve as the tip of the spear
Arms Control Wonk
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Guardian – Despite crackdown by Felipe Calderón, more than 2,000 people killed this year as
drug cartels vie for turf
Russia, Caucasus & Central Asia
Armenian Observer
Babylon and Beyond
Baloch, Balochistan and
Others
Bangkok Pundit
Belmont Club
RIA Novosti – Russia started the modernization of its naval forces after about two decades of
inactivity, mostly because of lack of money. Now that money is available, Russia intends to
close the gap between itself and other major naval powers, especially the western navies
Bill Gertz
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Russia Today – Three militants have been killed by Special Forces in a village in Russia’s
Southern Republic of Ingushetia
Bruxelles 2
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Georgia MFA – Statement of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Georgia on assigning the
international code to Sokhumi airport by Russia
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Caucasian Knot – On March 21 in Tbilisi, a conference named “Concealed Nations, Crimes-inProgress: Circassians and Peoples of Northern Caucasus between Past and Future” passed a
resolution and addressed the parliament of Georgia with a request to recognize the genocide
committed in the 19th century by Russian Empire against Circassians.
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RFERL – Talks between Turkey and Azerbaijan over securing the Nabucco gas pipeline have
stalled due to disagreements over Turkey’s attempts to normalize relations with Armenia
Middle East

Al Sumaria – Following IHEC preliminary results of votes count, Alsumaria News released
expectations on the new map of Iraqi Parliament. After counting 95% of polling centers, State
of Law Coalition is expected to occupy 92 seats followed by Al Iraqiya with 89 seats. Iraqi
National Alliance is expected to occupy 64 seats and Kurdistan Alliance 42 seats while
Accordance List is expected to occupy six sears and Iraq’s Unity Coalition three seats.

AFPS – A suspected al-Qaida in Iraq explosives cell leader was killed and a suspected terrorist
was arrested in operations in Iraq in recent days, military officials reported.

Voices of Iraq – Police forces on Tuesday arrested seven suspected gunmen in the south of
Khanaqin district, according to a security source. “They are suspected of having links to alQaeda and Ansar al-Sunna armed groups,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.
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IDF – Lt. Gen. Ashkenazi participated in a Knesset meeting of the Foreign Affairs and Defense
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Daniel Hernandez
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Defense and the
National Interest
Diplomacy Monitor
Dipnote
Douglas Farah
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Dumb Looks Still Free
MEMRI – The Kuwaiti daily Al-Siyassa reported that an attack by a hit squad from the Islamist
organization Fath Al-Islam on UNIFIL has been thwarted. The squad was dispatched by
Hizbullah.
East Asia Forum
NOW Lebanon – A Lebanese military court on Tuesday handed 20 people jail sentences of up to
15 years after convicting them on charges of belonging to Al-Qaeda and plotting “terrorist
attacks,” a judicial source said.
Erkan Saka
UPI – Riyadh has reportedly been mulling the purchase of S-300PMU Russian air-defense
missile systems and other arms worth as much as $4 billion, possibly as an inducement to
Moscow not to supply such advanced weapons to Iran.
Ethan Zuckerman
Saba – President Ali Abdullah Saleh received on Monday the US Under Secretary of Defense for
Intelligence James R. Clapper along with the accompanying delegation, currently on an official
mission to Yemen. During the meeting, the discussion addressed bilateral relations and joint
cooperation spheres topped by security and training counterterrorism forces and coastguards
Exploring the Heart of
Asia
Al Qaeda
Eye on the UN
Armenia

Rooz – March 20, 2010 was the last day of the Iranian calendar year 1388. That year began
well, with a surplus of some items such as potatoes which was distributed free by the
government. But the distribution was limited to the election season and as the year grew to its
end, the distribution ended too. Interestingly enough, at the end of the year the administration
pushed a bill through the Majlis to provide the public with water, electricity, power, gasoline
and natural gas at market prices without the traditional subsides. Meanwhile, the Iranian
economy suffered from severe stagnation and unemployment in 1388 as the country’s
important and money-making firms were handed over to the Islamic Passdaran Revolutionary
Guards Corps
IRNA – China on Tuesday again called for more diplomatic efforts to pursue proper settlement
of the Iranian nuclear issue.

Yitzhak Shichor – Hobson’s Choice: China’s Second Worst Option on Iran

Press TV – Iran announces a joint Tehran – Ankara plan to triple bilateral annual trade volume
from the current $10 billion to $30 billion in the future. Minister of the Economy Shamseddin
Hosseini made the remark after the Iranian and Turkish officials signed an agreement to
increase Iran-Turkey customs cooperation.
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EastSouthWestNorth
Eternal Remont
European Tribune
Life after oil – Whereas oil revenues account for 40% of the Mexican state budget, they account FDD
for more than 70% of Yemen’s national budget! Moreover, oil accounts for almost 90% of the
value of Yemen’s exports and as much as 30% of Yemen’s total GDP. The figures for the entire foreign notes
year of 2009 are not yet ready, but the figures for the first 10 months of the year look
Foreign Policy Passport
disastrous
Foreign Policy Watch
Iran

AP – Osama bin Laden’s teenage daughter has left Iran after living under house arrest there
since her family fled Afghanistan in 2001, her family said Tuesday. Iman bin Laden, 18, arrived
in Syria last week to live with her mother, according to the girl’s brother, Omar, and his wife,
Zaina Alsabah
FrontPageMag
Gates of Vienna
Georgien
Ghosts of Alexander
Global Dashboard
Global Geopolitics
Global Guerrillas
Global Incident Map
Global Voices
Grand Trunk Road
Guardian news blog
Payvand – Photos: A Grim Future for the Historic Atroosh House
Idle Wordship
Imad Moustapha
IMINT and Analysis
Information
Dissemination
Iran Watch
Islam in Europe
Soldiers from 2nd Platoon, A Co, 1-503d Infantry Battalion, 173rd
Israel Matzav
Airborne Brigade Combat Team and soldiers of the Afghanistan national
Jihad Monitor
srmy 6th Kandak provide security at the scene of an oil tanker that was

Newsweek – Taliban leader Mullah Mohammad Omar, who remains in hiding and has not been
http://peacelikeariverblog.com/
Azerbaijan
Baluchistan
Blogs
Caucasus
Central Asia
China
Commodities
Daily Roundup
deadly buses
Diplunacy
Elections
Energy
Europe
France
Georgia
GWOT
India
Ingushetia
Intelligence
Iran
Islam
International Observer
Asia Times – When the Taliban controlled Afghanistan, Pakistan achieved ‘’strategic depth”, the
elusive goal of a pliant buffer between India and Russia. The arrests of top Taliban leaders who
were negotiating a settlement directly with the United States and Kabul shows that Pakistan is
determined to assert its influence and carve out a settlement that preserves the strategic
imperative that Afghanistan represents.
Australia
Iraq
IntelliBriefs
South Asia
As-Sahab
Insurgency Research
Group
Intel Fusion
emergencies. (photo by 2nd Lt. Jeff Hall)
Africa
Inner City Press
Intel Daily
reaction force when reports arrive of AAF activity or local national
Afghanistan
Bolivia

ABCT and the ANA 6th Kandak routinely conduct as a joint quick
24
From Beirut to the
Beltway
H-Diplo
District, Wardak province, Afghanistan, Jan. 3. Soldiers from the 173rd
Categories
Bloggers Roundtable
Robert Ebel, CSIS – Geopolitics of the Iranian Nuclear Energy Program: But Oil and Gas Still
Matters
attacked by anti-Afghanistan forces near Sheikhabad, Sayed Abad
ubiwar.com
: Links for 23 April 2008
Free Range
International
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
manifa que no fue” de
Colonia
Committee and referred to recent events in Gaza and the Iranian nuclear issue
Jihad Unspun
Jihad Watch
Johnson’s Russia List
Joint Chatter
Joshua Kucera
Jurist
Kaukasus
Kiev Ukraine News
Israel
Japan
Jihad
Media
National Security
NATO
Nuclear Weapons
Pakistan
Politics
Religion of Pieces
Russia
Somalia
South Asia
Sri Lanka
Syria
Terror Groups
Turkey
Kings of War
3/24/2010
Peace Like A River
seen publicly for nine years, has appointed two of his top Taliban militia commanders from the
south to replace his former deputy and longtime comrade-in-arms Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar
who was arrested by Pakistani forces in Karachi last month. Abu Zabihullah, a senior Taliban
operative whose has supplied accurate information to NEWSWEEK in the past, says that the
one-eyed Taliban leaders has confirmed Abdul Qayum Zakir, a former Guantánamo inmate, and
Akhtar Mohammad Mansoor, a portly and personable rear-echelon leader, as his deputies,
replacing Baradar. Their appointments, Zabihullah says, are meant “to convey a good message
that, despite our leader’s arrest, the Taliban is back to business-as-usual operations without a
problem.”
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AFPS – An Afghan and international security force captured a Taliban commander in Helmand
province’s Reg-e Khan Meshin district, near Marja. He is believed to be responsible for placing
improvised explosive devices and for the movement of militant personnel and weapons to
various insurgent networks. The team also found a large amount of cash on the Taliban
facilitator.
IRIN – Hidden on roadsides, behind boulders or on cultivated land, improvised explosive
devices (IEDs) are killing or maiming dozens of civilians every month, according to rights
groups and government officials.
USASOC – Among the most important members of any combat unit is the medic. A member of
an elite Afghan Commando unit recently learned this first hand. Staff Sgt. Amrullah Nabiullah,
with the 3rd Commando Kandak, was participating in a cordon and search in Helmand province
when insurgents engaged him and his unit with small-arms fire

HRCP – State of Human Rights in 2009 report; 647 women killed in the name of ‘honour’ last
year in Pakistan (25M PDF)

Hindustan Times – Pakistan is considering offering a railway corridor to link India to Central
Asia and Europe as part of efforts to boost regional cooperation and trade. Pakistan’s Railways
Minister Ghulam Ahmed Bilour said that he would soon submit the proposal on this issue to the
Cabinet for approval.

Sanaullah Baloch – Iran-Pakistan Pipeline Deal: The Baloch perspective

AP – Two highly experienced Taliban militants were arrested while planning to attack top hotels
and kidnap diplomats in Pakistan, and one of the men claimed to have helped plan previous
strikes
Page 3 of 27
Kinshasa on the
Potomac
La Russophobe
Laura Mansfield
Lawhawk
Turkmenistan
Ukraine
Uncategorized
United Nations
US Military
les carnets de clarisse
Lynsey Addario
Archives
MahdiWatch
March 2010
Mark Eichenlaub
December 2009
Mark Steyn
November 2009
Martin Kramer
October 2009
Melanie Phillips
August 2009
Memeorandum
July 2009
Metroblogging
Islamabad
June 2009
May 2009
Michael Fumento
April 2009
Michael J. Totten
March 2009
Michael Ledeen
February 2009
Michael Yon
January 2009
Michael Young’s
Columns
December 2008
Mideast Monitor
November 2008

Reuters – Zarbakht Khan is still waiting for Swat Valley’s corrupt and slow-moving courts to
settle an eight-year land dispute which has drained his bank account and eroded his confidence
in the state
MilBlogs
October 2008
Miserable Donuts
September 2008
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MEMRI - Khalid Khawaja, a former official of the Pakistani military’s Inter-Services Intelligence
(ISI), has claimed that he arranged five meetings in the past between former Prime Minister
Nawaz Sharif and Al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden on separate occasions, according to a
Pakistani daily
Mohammed Ali Abtahi
August 2008
Mtholyoke Irhistory
July 2008
Mudville Gazette
May 2008
National Review Online
April 2008
nazarian
March 2008
New Atlanticist
February 2008
New Yorker in DC
January 2008
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Dawn – The Indian Navy arrested 174 fishermen and took away 30 fishing vessels and their
catch worth millions of rupees from the Pakistan territorial waters in the Arabian Sea on
Tuesday early hours
Times of India – Kanu Sanyal, veteran Naxal leader and one of the founding members of
Naxalite movement, was found hanging at his residence at Sephtulajote village, 25 km from
Siliguri, on Tuesday
Times of India – A CPM leader was shot dead by Maoists here in West Midnapore district, police
Nosemonkey’s EUtopia
said on Tuesday. Hemanta Pradhan (45) secretary of the CPM’s local committee at Dhanghori,
was forcibly taken out of his house last night by a group of 20-25 armed Maoists and shot dead.
Nosint
Asian Tribune – Even as the Sri Lankan Government claimed it has eliminated the Terrorist
Observing Japan
Movement – Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) last year, a shocking report has emerged
that core cadres had “sneaked into Tamil Nadu, with the plan of eliminating Prime Minister Dr
Oil and Glory
Manmohan Singh” when he visited here last week.
Chatham House – Eleven months after the Sri Lankan army crushed the Tamil Tiger rebels in
controversial circumstances, the country is about to choose a new parliament, the second
election this year. But far from ushering-in a reconciliation process, there is talk of
authoritarianism, breaches of international law and abuse of state power. (PDF)
Far East & Pacific
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One World Journeys
Onnik Krikorian
Voice of Russia – Russian Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov will meet his Vietnamese
counterpart Phung Quang Thanh in Hanoi on Monday to discuss a set of bilateral and
international issues of common interest. The talks, due to be followed by Serdyukov’s sit-down
with President Nguen Minh Tiret, will focus on the further development of bilateral militarytechnical cooperation. Russian military supplies to Vietnam have skyrocketed since 2008, which
saw the two signing a sheaf of military deals worth more than one billion dollars. Right now,
Vietnam remains Russia’s third-largest regional partner after India and China in terms of
military-technical collaboration
Oxblog
Opinio Juris
Pajamas Media
MineWeb – China is far for more protective of its base metals reserves and resources,
Ecclestone asserted. The nation’s strategy “now would appear to be to keep major reserves in
the ground in China and buy up the production and producing facilities of other countries.”
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By N2H
RSS Feeds
RSS Feed via
Raw RSS2 Feed
Patrick Lang
Paul Gregory
PostGlobal
Publius Pundit
VietNamNet – A Google spokesperson has told VietNamNet said that the web’s dominant search
engine is considering Vietnam’s complaint that its ‘Google Maps’ site misrepresents the land
Race of Iran
demarcation line between Vietnam and China.
Ramblin’ Gal
Irrawaddy – Environmentalists and sections of the regional media are blaming the Chinese
dams being built or operating on the upper reaches of the Mekong for contributing to the
RealClearWorld
dramatic drop in water levels that are affecting communities in Burma, Cambodia, Laos,
Red Team Journal
Thailand and Vietnam, the lower Mekong countries
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Translation
On Violence
openDemocracy
UPI – Royal Dutch Shell and China National Petroleum Corp. reached a 30-year deal Tuesday to
develop so-called tight gas located in central Sichuan province.
October 2007
Oliver Kamm
Chosun Ilbo – North Korea’s worst concentration camp is a reeducation center where women
who escaped to China are subjected to the most brutal treatment, NGO Good Friends said
Monday
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November 2007
Subscribe in NewsAlloy
Registan
Rethinking Security
Robert Amsterdam
http://twitter.com/plar
3/24/2010
Peace Like A River
Page 4 of 27
The Australian – Almost the first thing Rio Tinto did in the wake of Stern Hu’s arrest on July 5
last year was to isolate a small team of specialist executives to manage the dangerous personal
and commercial fallout of a situation that marked a complete breakdown of the mining giant’s
relationship with China.
Roberts Report
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Allen Nairn – According to senior Indonesian officials and police and details from government
files, the US-backed Indonesian armed forces (TNI), now due for fresh American aid,
assassinated a series of civilian activists during 2009.
Safrang
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Jakarta Post – Former Aceh military commander Maj. Gen. Soenarko has denied allegations that Security Affairs
Army Special Force that once he led perpetrated a series of political murders in the run-up to
Security at National
the 2009 legislative elections in Aceh.
Journal
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Europe
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UK FCO – The Foreign Secretary David Miliband has announced that a member of the Embassy
of Israel has been asked to withdraw from the UK following the misuse British passports in the
assassination of a senior Hamas official in Dubai this January.

Defense Tech – Massive electronic attacks by foreign intelligence services have targeted the
security of many of Britain’s largest companies, according to UK’s Intelligence and Security
Committee (ISC). The ISC went on to say that in many cases, the attacks have been
successful. The objective was to steal government, defense and technology information.
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UK FCO – Annual report on human rights
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BBC – France’s president has said the country will rid itself of bases run by the Basque
separatist group Eta
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Russia Blog
Russia Monitor
Samizdata
Security Dilemmas
Shariah Finance Watch
Sharon Chadha
Shuja Nawaz
Siberian Light
Small Wars Journal
Smooth Stone
Solomonia
US Army – The nation of Turkey officially has joined Multi-National Battle Group-East in the
overall mission to provide safety and security and freedom of movement anytime and anywhere Somewhere in Africa
in Kosovo. Senior leaders of MNBG-E and the Turkish forces in Kosovo met at Camp Bondsteel
Soob
March 9 to sign documents making Turkey a part of the battle group. MNBG-E now comprises
Sources and Methods
Soldiers from the nations of Greece, Poland, Ukraine, Turkey and the United States.

Vladimir Socor – Nord Stream Downloads Financial Risks on German and Italian Governments

WSJ – Germany set conditions for participating in a Greek aid package, including the
“necessary” involvement of the IMF, but again insisted an agreement wouldn’t come out of a
meeting of EU leaders this week
Statistics Canada
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Spiegel – A verdict has been reached in one of the last war crimes trials to take place in
Germany. Heinrich Boere, now 88, will spend the rest of his life in prison for the murder of
three Dutch civilians in 1944
Strategy and National
Security Policy
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EUbusiness – The European Commission criticised Bulgaria and Romania Tuesday for a lack of
progress in fighting corruption and organised crime, urging the EU’s two newest members to
prioritise the issues.
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State Failure
Steve Coll
The Local – A researcher for a former Social Democratic member of the German parliament was
spying for the Berlin intelligence agency for two years, daily Berliner Zeitung reported Tuesday. Steven Pressfield
Strategy Page
SVarchive
Syria Comment
Africa
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Search:
Shabelle – at least 3 people have been killed and 4 others wounded in Mogadishu after heavy
clashes between the transitional government troops backing by AMISOM and Islamist fighters
restarted in parts of Hodan district in Mogadishu, witnesses and officials told Shabelle radio on
Tuesday
Sudan Tribune – Southern Sudan army, the Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA) has been
accused of killing and raping civilians in Central Equatoria state
ICG – Libya’s peace diplomacy in Chad has met with some success, but lack of follow-up to
implement the deals suggests Muammar Gaddafi is less interested in the country’s long-term
stabilisation than in asserting his regional influence. The International Crisis Group examines
how Libya’s foreign policy towards Chad has evolved from open imperialism to support in peace
negotiations with Chad’s armed rebellion and its neighbour Sudan. Libya has been the most
important country for Chad since Gaddafi came to power in 1969, but its approach has had
mixed results
BBC – Libya has freed more than 200 Islamist inmates as part of its programme of
rehabilitation of militant groups. It was “an historic event”, said Col Muammar Gaddafi’s son
Saif al-Islam, whose Gaddafi Foundation has tried to engage with Islamists in recent years.
Talisman Gate
Teaching Terror
Terror Finance Blog
Terrorism Awareness
Project
Tesaket
The 8th Circle
March 2010
M T
1 2
8 9
15 16
22 23
29 30
« Dec
W
3
10
17
24
31
T
4
11
18
25
F
5
12
19
26
S
6
13
20
27
S
7
14
21
28
Afghanistan
Al Qaeda Australia
Canada
The Acorn
Azerbaijan Bolivia
The American
Congo Energy
China Courts DR
France
The Arabist
Europe
The Cable (FP)
global economy Hamas
The Capitol Tribune

Magharebia – Algerian security services killed three terrorists on Sunday (March 21st) in a
sweep operation near Tebessa. The three men were among the first to join the GIA in 19921994 and were sentenced to death in absentia in 2008 by the court of Tebessa

This Day – The Federal Government yesterday gave a firm commitment on the country’s
The DEW Line
intention to comply with all international requirements necessary for a safe implementation of a
nuclear power programme. Nigeria’s expression of commitment came on the heels of an
The Glasshouse
assurance by the United States of America that it would back an African bid to acquire nuclear
The Global Buzz
power plant.

CSM – The military junta announced it will audit all uranium exploration permits awarded before The Latin Americanist
last month’s Niger coup. Evidence has emerged that the permits enriched the ousted president
The Long War Journal
and devastated the Tuareg population

AllAfrica – The Chinese Government invested $7.24 billion in different sectors of the Nigerian
economy in 2009, Mr Rong Yansong, Commercial Counsellor, Chinese Embassy, said in Enugu

BBC – Kenyan police freed an Australian terrorism suspect mistakenly believing he was just an
illegal immigrant, the force has told the BBC.

ISN – After decades of military rule, Guinea is preparing its first democratic elections since
independence in 1958, but despite strong international pressure, its powerful military remains
the biggest threat to democracy
The China Observer
The Cutting Edge
The Lowy Interpreter
Georgia Germany
Hizballah India
Ingushetia Iran Iraq
Israel Japan
Korea Korengal
Lebanon Mexico
Nabucco NATO Nigeria
Pakistan
Russia
Somalia South
Sri Lanka Syria
Taliban terrorism
Thailand Turkey Ukraine
Ossetia
US Military US Navy
Venezuela
Yemen
The Quatto Zone
The Stark Tenet
The Strategist
The Tailor of Panama
Street
The Tension
The Terror Wonk
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3/24/2010
Peace Like A River
Page 5 of 27
The Tribunal Report
Thinking About Asia
This Could Get
Interesting
Thomas Joscelyn
Thunder Pig
Thunder Run
Tony Badran
Tony Karon
Totalitarianism Today
Townhall Columnists
Transmission
U.S. Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates, right, and Navy Adm. Mike
Turan and Iran
Mullen, back right, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, exchange
ubiwar
greetings with U.S. Ambassador to Mexico Carlos Pascual and Mexican
officials after landing in Mexico City, March 22, 2010. (photo by U.S.
UKDF Defence
Viewpoints
Air Force Master Sgt. Jerry Morrison)
The Global War
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Ukrainiana
Air Force – Ballistic missile defense has come out of the world of the controversial and
improbable and now is in the realm of the accepted and possible, the deputy Defense secretary
said March 22 here. Deputy Secretary William J. Lynn III spoke to the 8th Annual U.S. Missile
Defense Conference held at the Ronald Reagan Building here.
GQ – On December 30, in one of the deadliest attacks in CIA history, an Al Qaeda double agent
schemed his way onto a U.S. base in Afghanistan and blew himself into the next life, taking
seven Americans with him. How could this have happened? Agency veteran Robert Baer
explains, offering chilling new details about the attack and a plea to save the dying art of
espionage

TIME – China-India Competition: Is a Military Clash Inevitable?

Stars and Stripes – Navy personnel from Guam and Hawaii will join in the annual nationwide
fleet protection exercise Solid Curtain-Citadel Shield this week, the first time servicemembers
from the islands have participated, according to a Navy spokeswoman from Guam
Ushahidi
Uskowi on Iran
Victor Davis Hanson
Voice of Criticism
Walid Phares
War and Health
War Is Boring
Washington Note
Washington Realist
Watandost
Sights & Sounds
Westhawk
Read more of Cables, dispatches and memoranda »
Window On Eurasia
Sphere: Related Content
Winds of Change
Tags: human rights, Mexico
World Defense Review
No Comments World Focus
Cables, dispatches and memoranda
March 23, 2010 (12:46 am) | Daily Roundup | By: Jeff Kouba
World is Round
World Policy blog
World Politics Review
A brief world news roundup for 23 March 2010.
WorldwideStandard
United States & the Americas
Yale Avalon

Marine Times – Eight Marines were charged in the biggest criminal
case against U.S. troops to arise from the Iraq war. Six have had
charges dismissed, and one was acquitted. Whether the only
remaining and perhaps highest-profile defendant stands trial may
hinge on what happens this week in a military courtroom.

Air Force Magazine – Joint Strike Fighter Unit Cost Report March
2010 (PDF)

WSJ – A suspected al Qaeda organizer once called “the highest
value detainee” at Guantánamo Bay was ordered released by a
federal judge in an order issued Monday. Mohamedou Ould Slahi
was accused in the 9/11 Commission report of helping recruit
Mohammed Atta and other members of the al Qaeda cell in Hamburg, Germany, that took part
in the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.


Asia Times – A plea bargain between the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the United States
spy who helped plan the 2008 terror attack in Mumbai means his role and links with Pakistani
intelligence may be forever hidden from India. The chilling question at the heart of the case is
whether the Barack Obama administration shared all “actionable intelligence” with Delhi over
agent-turned-terrorist David Coleman Headley
Google – On January 12, we announced on this blog that Google and more than twenty other
U.S. companies had been the victims of a sophisticated cyber attack originating from China,
and that during our investigation into these attacks we had uncovered evidence to suggest that
the Gmail accounts of dozens of human rights activists connected with China were being
routinely accessed by third parties, most likely via phishing scams or malware placed on their
computers… So earlier today we stopped censoring our search services—Google Search, Google
News, and Google Images—on Google.cn
http://peacelikeariverblog.com/
YaleGlobal
Zee Beam
Zenpundit
Institutes/Think
tanks/Orgs
Afghan Conflict Monitor
Africa Center for
Strategic Studies
African Union
AIFD
AIIA
America.gov
American Center for
Democracy
American Enterprise
Institute
American Foreign Policy
Council
Amnesty International
3/24/2010
Peace Like A River
Page 6 of 27
Canada DND – The Canadian Army regrets to announce the death of Cpl. Darren James
Fitzpatrick at the University of Alberta Hospital Saturday as a result of wounds he sustained in
Afghanistan on March 6.
Anti-Defamation League

TIME – Caught up with internal politics and crises, Mexico wants resurrect its diplomatic oomph
– establishing a hemispheric organization that excludes the U.S
Arab Reform Initiative

MercoPress – Anglo-Australian mining company Rio Tinto announced it has signed a deal with
China to develop a massive iron ore mine in West Africa. China’s state-backed metals group
Chinalco will pay 1.3 billion US dollars for 47% of the Simandou project in Guinea





AFP – A negotiated Middle East peace will only be possible if Iran, the Islamist Hamas
movement and the Shiite Hezbollah military group are part of the dialogue, Brazil’s President
Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said Monday
Belfer Center
Russia Today – Moscow has reportedly dropped the idea of deploying an additional military
contingent on the territory of Kyrgyzstan despite the earlier agreement between presidents
Dmitry Medvedev and Kurmanbek Bakiyev
Nosint – The Russian Northern Fleet’s strategic nuclear Delta-IV class submarine K-407
“Novomoskovsk” will be launched after in November after modernization at the Zvezdochka
shipyard in Severodvinsk

Diplomatic Courier – The Nord Stream Pipeline will take power away from Ukraine for awhile,
which will create a power vacuum. In 2007 and 2009, Ukraine turned off gas supplies to the EU
over price disputes with Russia. The EU pressured Russia to stop insisting on payments because
the EU cannot survive without Russian gas. Without control over EU gas, Ukraine will not have a
bargaining chip against Russia since the latter could independently continue supplying the EU
with gas while debating with Ukraine
Neftegaz – Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin on Monday will take part in the opening
ceremony of a trans-Atlantic sea cargo transportation route in St. Petersburg and hold talks
with the Danish premier, the government said Sunday. Putin’s Danish counterpart Lars Lokke
Rasmussen will also attend the opening of the cargo route Guayaquil (Ecuador) – Panama Canal
– Rotterdam – Bremerhaven – St. Petersburg.
Rosatom – Russia will strive to control a quarter of the global nuclear power market and will
boost nuclear energy use at home, starting with a $6 billion investment this year, Prime
Minister Vladimir Putin said

RIA Novosti – A militant killed on Monday morning during a special operation in the capital of
Russia’s North Caucasus republic of Dagestan was the so-called “emir of Grozny,” a Federal
Security Service (FSB) spokesman said

Kavkaz Center – An interview with a Russian mercenary, engaged in banditry in the Caucasus
Emirate, has been published by several media outlets in Moscow. A Russian terrorist, “a
sergeant commander in a motorized rifle brigade” of the Russian Armed Forces gang, told
newsmen about the military situation in the Province of Nokhchicho (AKA Chechnya), where he
is currently engaged in banditry, and in the Caucasus Emirate as a whole

Prague Watchdog – Ibrahim Yevloyev is an Ingush, and all his efforts to evade the mountain
law by which the Ingush have lived for a thousand years will ultimately bring no benefit either
to himself or to his relatives.

Caucasian Knot – The builders of Olympic objects in Sochi, who were on strike because of nonpayment of their promises wages, also complain of impossibility to receive medical servicing

Georgian Times – Georgian Mineral Waters and Wine May be Back to Russian Market from 1
July

IWPR – The village of Bagaran is just 90 kilometres from the Armenian capital Yerevan, but its
residents do not have running water in their homes and see no prospect of getting it.

APA – Strong blasts have been heard in the occupied Shahbulag mountain and Uzundere of
Aghdam from yesterday evening. APA’s Karabakh bureau reports that shakes were felt in the
front line villages as a result of the blasts. Armenian armed forces supposedly continue largescale military exercises in the occupied Azerbaijani lands.

Khaleej Times – Secularist Iyad Allawi edged ahead of Shia PM Nuri al-Maliki in a neck-andneck election race that has laid bare the ethnic and sectarian divisions threatening Iraq’s fragile
stability.

AFPS – Iraqi soldiers and U.S. advisors arrested suspected al-Qaida in Iraq bombing-cell
members yesterday during combined operations in central and northern Iraq.

Voices of Iraq – The Diala police will begin the integration of 18,000 Sahwa fighters within
security authorities as of next April, according to media spokesman of the Diala police.

BESA
BIISS
Bipartisan Policy Center
British American
Security Information
Council
Brookings Institute
BSEC
Carnegie Endowment
for International Peace
Carr Center for Human
Rights Policy
CDFAI
CDISS
Center for a New
American Security
Center for Applied Policy
Research
Center for
Contemporary Conflict
Center for Defense
Information
Center for European
Policy Analysis
Center for Military
Readiness
Center for Naval
Analyses
Center for Policing
Terrorism
Center for Public
Integrity
Center for Security
Policy
Center for Strategic and
Budgetary Assessments
Center on Law and
Security
BNE – A wave of demonstrations is spreading across Kyrgyzstan as the population expresses its
Centre for European
anger over recent utility price hikes and the privatisation of key state assets.
Policy Studies
Middle East

Asia Foundation
Association for Asia
Voice of Russia – Russia sees Latin America as an emerging global force and plans all-round ties Research
with countries in it. President Medvedev told this to the press after emerging from talks with
Baker Institute
his Guatemalan counterpart Alvaro Colom Caballeros in Moscow on Monday
Brahmand – Russia will help Ukraine to ensure the technical maintenance of the Zaporozhye
submarine, the only one Ukraine has, a top Russian Navy official has said.

Arms Control
Association
AS-COA


AREU
El Universal – Power cut of 2,000 MW required if Guri dam level reaches 240 meters;
Government authorities believe that the water level of the Guri reservoir will reach the critical
level of 240 meters above sea level by June, and at point additional power rationing will be
required.
Russia, Caucasus & Central Asia

APEC
Centre for European
Reform
Centre for the Study of
Terrorism and Political
Violence
Centre of International
Relations
CERES
IDF – On Monday (Mar. 22) the Israel Air Force successfully struck a weapons-smuggling tunnel
overnight in the Rafah border area of the southern Gaza Strip. The aircraft hit their target and
Chatham House
returned safely to their base. The attack comes as a response to the continued rocket fire
Chicago Council on
towards Israeli territory
Global Affairs
http://peacelikeariverblog.com/
3/24/2010
Peace Like A River
Page 7 of 27
Jerusalem Post – After getting a top Palestinian official suspended over an embarrassing sex
tape, self-styled anti-corruption campaigner Fahmi Shabaneh feels unstoppable. The former
Palestinian intelligence agent is already zooming in on his next targets, including his former
boss and a top Islamic court judge. He also set up a Web site so ordinary Palestinians can send
him evidence of official misconduct, thievery and nepotism. “I’m going to the end,” he said of
his unprecedented crusade.
CIA

ITIC – Fatah unofficially inaugurated the Dalal al-Magribi Square in Al-Bireh, named after a
Fatah terrorist who participated in the mass-murder attack on Israel’s Coastal Road
Claremont Institute

NOW Lebanon – The National News Agency (NNA) reported on Monday that four Israeli planes
at 11:15 a.m. flew over Baalbek in the Bekaa, returning to Israel at 11:20 a.m. Israeli
warplanes also conducted mid-altitude flights over Hasbaya, Rashaya and the West Bekaa at
11:15 a.m., added the NNA.


IWPR – The great popularity of Sheikh Nabulsi, whose programme attracts all sorts of listeners
from housewives to workers and young people, is a sign of the growing influence of Islam in
Syrian society in recent years. This trend, which affects all social classes, has also manifested
itself through a surge in the sales of religious books, an increase in the number of mosques and
Koranic institutes, the rise of Muslim clerics as media icons, and the growing number of veiled
women.

SANA – President Serzh Sargsyan of Armenia and his wife, Mrs. Rita Sargsyan on Monday
started a 3-day official visit to Syria.

Saba – Security authorities arrested 73 Ethiopians who have entered Yemen illegally, Interior
Ministry reported on Monday. It is worth mentioning that the security authorities have arrested
more than 700 Ethiopians including women who entered the country illegally in February.


Iran



CIGI
CISAC
COHA
Combat Studies
Institute
Combating Terrorism
Center (West Point)
Committee on the
Present Danger
Congressional Budget
Office
Congressional Research
Service
Council of Europe
Council on Foreign
Hurriyet – Another 10 people were detained Monday by Istanbul police as part of the Ergenekon
Relations
investigation.
CSIS
State Dept – Assistant Secretary of State for Political-Military Affairs Andrew J. Shapiro and
Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs Alexander Vershbow will travel
to Bahrain and Oman March 23-24, 2010, to co-lead the fifth round of the Gulf Security
Dialogue.

CICC
Czech IIR
Defense Academy of the
UK
DIIS
Payvand – Hassan Lahoti, the grandson of Iran’s Chairman of the Expediency Council and son
Director of National
of Faezeh Hashemi was arrested by Iranian authorities last night after he returned to Iran.
Intelligence
Reformist website Jaras reports that the arrest was confirmed by the Hashemi Rafsanjani family
EastWest Institute
ISNA – Iran is to host an international conference of “Nuclear Energy For All, Nuclear Weapon
For None” on April 17-18. Foreign ministers, representatives and nuclear experts from 60
countries will take part in the conference.
ECCHR
Iran Focus – London’s marine insurance market has added Iran to a list of areas deemed high
risk ahead of possible U.S.-backed sanctions, the Lloyd’s Market Association (LMA) said
Monday.
Embassy.org
Radio Zamaneh – European Union members have agreed to act in unison against Iran’s
jamming of satellite broadcasts and internet controls. In the meeting today in Belgium, the
European Union “calls on the Iranian authorities to stop the jamming of satellite broadcasting
and Internet censorship and to put an end to this electronic interference immediately.”
ESISC
EPPC
EU DELAFG
European Council on
Foreign Relations
European Court of
Human Rights
European Policy
Institutes Network
FBI
FCO (UK)
FDD
Federal Register
Foreign Policy Centre
Foreign Policy in Focus
Foreign Policy Institute
U.S. Army soldiers from the Ground Combat Platoon, Echo
Company, 4-3 Aviation Battalion and a platoon of Afghan National
Army prepare for a CH-47 Chinook helicopter to land so they can
board it after a patrol they conducted in the village of Akbar Kheyl,
Pole-Elam district, Logar province, Afghanistan, March 18. The
mission was to communicate with village leaders and assess
humanitarian conditions (photo by Sgt. Russell Gilchrest)
South Asia



Foreign Policy Research
Institute
FSI Stanford
German Institute for
International and
Security Affairs
GFSIS
Global Muslim
RFERL – Afghan President Hamid Karzai has met with a senior delegation from the militant
Brotherhood Daily
Hizb-e Islami, one of the groups that have been fighting against central government and NATOReport
led forces in Afghanistan
GLORIA Center
CentCom – Shaping operations – mainly political — already have begun in and around
Kandahar, the official said. Government officials and NATO commanders are working with local
Government
councils and provincial officials to get buy-in from the people of the city. The area around
Accountability Office
Kandahar is just as important, the official added, and shaping operations in the outlying areas
also are going on
GUAM
UK MoD – It is with sadness that the Ministry of Defence must announce that a soldier from A
Company, 3rd Battalion The Rifles (3 RIFLES), serving as part of the 3 RIFLES Battle Group,
http://peacelikeariverblog.com/
HCSS
3/24/2010
Peace Like A River
was killed in Afghanistan

Australia DoD – Following the announcement of the five soldiers wounded in Afghanistan, a
sixth soldier has now been identified as suffering a blast related injury.

Navy Times – As U.S. troops patrolled the eastern edge of the Arghandab River valley, slowly
treading through knee-high brush and ducking through flourishing orchards, they heard an
increasingly familiar crackle on the radio. “They see us,” said an Afghan interpreter working
with the Americans, referring to Taliban operatives on the other side of the river. “They are
calling for help.”

ISAF – Afghan-ISAF Operations in Eastern, Southern Afghanistan

Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan – As many as five of the U.S military armored tanks were
destroyed through Monday, Mar, 22, 2010, in Helmand’s Nad Ali district. At least dozens of the
American soldiers are likely to have been killed in the detonations that targeted 5 of the of U.S
armored tanks through much of the day.

Lieutenant Colonel Ehsan Mehmood Khan – A Strategic Perspective on Taliban Warfare (PDF)

Daily Times – Terrorists blew up a primary boys school in Nawagai tehsil of Bajaur Agency on
Sunday, raising the number of schools destroyed to 76

Khaleej Times – Gunmen riding a motorcycle Monday shot dead a college principal and
renowned educationist in Quetta, the capital of Pakistan’s restive southwestern province of
Baluchistan, police said



Frontier Post – India has planned to construct 313 dams in Indian Held Kashmir to tap vast
power potential, which would contribute negatively towards Pakistan in forum of water
whortage, and land desertation, whereas Indian authorities were adopting non-cooperative
approach in terms of taking Pakistan on board over the projects as per Indus Water Treaty
Times of India – Train movement in West Bengal’s West Midnapore district was disrupted when
Maoists triggered a blast on Monday, the first day of their 48-hour bandh in six states
OGJ – Russia’s Sovcomflot oil line will undertake a trial shipment of oil to Japan this summer,
reported to be the first shipment ever to sail the entire Northern Sea Route from northwest
Russia to Asia. The decision by Sovcomflot follows earlier plans by China and Russia to begin
shipping oil through the Arctic Circle, aiming to decrease sailing time and avoid piracy and
terrorism along the main existing routes from Hormuz through the Straits of Malacca.

Andrew Erickson, Gabriel Collins – China’s Oil Security Pipe Dream: The Reality, and Strategic
Consequences, of Seaborne Imports (PDF)

VOA – A respected economist warns that Australia’s dependence on mineral exports to China
has made its economy highly vulnerable to a crash. Frank Gelber, who is the chief economist at
research firm, BIS Shrapnel, says the mining boom has the potential to expose the country to
fluctuations in commodity prices and Chinese demand. China’s demand for iron ore, coal and
liquefied natural gas has made it Australia’s biggest trading partner.

Guardian – Shell has strengthened its hold on Australia’s bulging gas reserves after Arrow
Energy agreed to a joint $3.2bn (£2.1bn) takeover by the Anglo-Dutch oil company and
PetroChina, which is majority-owned by the Chinese government.

Bangkok Post – The Internal Security Act (ISA) is expected to be extended by the cabinet on
Tuesday, but only in Bangkok and areas immediately adjoining the capital, and security units at
key points are now carrying weapons. Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thaugsuban, in charge of
security, said on Monday that he will recommend to the cabinet on Tuesday that the use of the
Internal Security Act (ISA) in the capital and two immediately adjoining provinces be extended
until March 30 to deal with red-shirt protesters.



Henry Jackson Society
Heritage Foundation
Homeland Security
Policy Institute
Hoover Institution
Hudson Institute
Human Rights Watch
Hungarian Institute of
International Affairs
IASC
ICPVTR
ICSR
IFPA
IFPRI
IISS
INEGMA
INSS
Institute for CounterTerrorism
Institute for Defense
Analyses
Institute for the Analysis
of Global Security
Institute for the Study
of War
International Criminal
Court
International Criminal
Tribunal
International Crisis
Group
International Federation
of Journalists
International Maritime
Bureau
BBC – North Korea is to put a US citizen on trial for illegally entering the country, its state news International Monetary
agency has said. The citizen was named as 30-year-old Aijalon Mahli Gomes, from Boston, the
Fund
Korean Central News Agency reported.
International Red Cross
Chosun Ilbo – North Korea will convene the second session of the 12th Supreme People’s
Assembly in Pyongyang on April 9, the official Korean Central News Agency reported on
Interpol
Saturday. The upcoming session is expected to be told how to overcome the disastrous
Investigative Project on
currency reform and approve various economic policies. Delegates may also confirm Kim’s son
and heir apparent Kim Jong-un in some nominal senior post to pave the way for the succession Terrorism
UPI - A Myanmar ethnic rebel group warned the ruling military that clashes are inevitable in
the run-up to a national election this year. The head of the Karen National Union, the political
wing of the Karen National Liberation Army, joined the call by opposition groups to boycott the
election, although no Election Day has been set.
Europe

Heidelberg Institute for
ICR
ICT
Geo – Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif has said that India is creating problems for Pakistan
by stealing its share of water. Speaking at a ceremony on Green Tractor Scheme here on
IDMC
Monday, the chief minister said that the nation must learn to stand on its feet. He also urged
the need to hold eyeball-to-eyeball talks with India to raise water issue on the basis of equality IDSA
Far East & Pacific

Page 8 of 27
General Dynamics – General Dynamics United Kingdom Limited has been selected by the
Ministry of Defence to provide the next generation of armoured fighting vehicles to the British
Army. The MoD has chosen General Dynamics’ ASCOD SV tracked vehicle as the winning design
for the demonstration phase of the Specialist Vehicle competition, providing both the Scout
variant and the Common Base Platform for up to 580 SV vehicles. ASCOD SV is the latest
generation of a proven European design which has been significantly redesigned by General
Dynamics’ UK engineering team, and will provide unparalleled military capability for the British
Army over the 30 years of the vehicles’ life.

France24 – A day after France’s ruling UMP party suffered a drubbing in regional elections,
French President Nicolas Sarkozy met with his prime minister, François Fillon, amid
expectations of a cabinet reshuffle.

The Independent – French train lines, public transport, schools and day care centres face
disruptions next week as unions strike in protest over president Nicolas Sarkozy’s policies on
http://peacelikeariverblog.com/
IPIS
IPP (Kg)
IRIN
IRS Islamabad
ISCIP
ISEAS
ISIS
Islamic Development
Bank
ISN
ISRIA
ISS (EU)
ISS EU
3/24/2010
Peace Like A River
jobs and the economy
Page 9 of 27
ITIC at the CSS

Macleans – German intransigence over bailing out Greece has raised the chances that the debt- IWPR
laden country will be forced to turn to the International Monetary Fund for assistance, possibly
Jakarta CSIS
by the end of this week, in an embarrassing setback for European political union.

Spiegel – German Chancellor Angela Merkel has been consistent in her refusal to consider a
European Union bailout for Greece. But Brussels continues to insist that a plan is in the works.
On Monday, Barroso urged Berlin to make a “constructive contribution” to solving the crisis

AKI – Italy’s largest Muslim organisation, the Union of Islamic Communities of Italy (UCOII) has JCPA
elected its first woman to a senior position. Italian convert Khadija Patrizia Del Monte, from the
JFIR
northern city of Reggio Emilia, was elected vice-president during the organisation’s annual
general assembly in Bologna on Sunday. Del Monte converted to Islam in 1990
JINSA
Expatica – Spain said Monday it has raised its terror alert level due to “recent events,” six days
after a French police officer was killed in an attack blamed on the Basque separatist group ETA. Lowy Institute
The alert went from “low intensity” to “high intensity” within the level two on a scale of four,
Manhattan Institute
indicating a “probable risk of a terrorist attack,” the interior ministry said in a statement.
Margaret Thatcher
Copenhagen Post – Soldiers’ union HKKF support programme shows high numbers of war
Foundation
veterans have tried to kill themselves. The issue of reintegration help for soldiers has come to


Jamestown Foundation
Jane’s
the fore after figures from the soldiers’ union HKKF show that 281 soldiers have tried to commit Marshall Center
suicide after returning from war.
Memorial
Africa
MEMRI

Garowe – Prominent Somali cleric, Sheik Nur Barud Gurhan described the on-going clashes in
the war-torn Somalia between pro-government forces and rebel fighters as un-Islamic and not
holy war (Jihad).

Shabelle – the Islamist forces of Ahlu Sunna Waljama’a clerics in Abudwaq district in Mudug
region have captured more than10 people charging for the violation of night curfew that the
administration imposed at the district before a night, witnesses and officials on Monday

MESH
Middle East Forum
Middle East Institute
Middle East Intelligence
Press TV – An international conference organized by the Organization of the Islamic Conference Bulletin
(OIC) has raised $850 million to help people in Sudan’s Darfur. The Sunday one-day conference MIT CIS
co-chaired by Egypt and Turkey in Cairo planned to raise $2 billion to help the war-ravaged
MONUC
Darfur region

Al Arabiya – French President Nicolas Sarkozy has asked Sudan to take part in a Franco-African
summit in May, but has made clear that Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir should not
attend, the Elysee said on Monday
National Bureau of Asian
Research

IRIN – During wartime, trains heading south to this former garrison town used to deliver
violence and terror; now they are bringing lower prices. The first two trains in about a decade
arrived in the southern city of Wau in March 2010, one with goods and the other with
maintenance crews and supplies, Sudan Railways official Al Haji Maktoub said.
National Defense
University
National Intelligence
Council

Sudan Tribune – The UNAMID chief Ibrahim Gambari and the leader of the rebel Sudan
Liberation Movement (SLM) Abdel Wahid Al-Nur agreed to cooperate together to enhance the
humanitarian situation and the protection of the civilians in Darfur.

National Security
The Standard – The country is on high alert after a wanted terrorist Immigration officials
Network
arrested at Busia border post mysteriously disappeared from police custody. The man,
identified as Hussein Hashi Farah, is on the list of prohibited immigrants. He holds an Australian
NATO Russia Council
Passport.
UPI – Nigerian rebels in the oil-rich Niger Delta took responsibility for an explosion at a pipeline Naval War College

operated by Royal Dutch Shell in the south of the country.




Vanguard – The National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN) is to build a study centre for the
Niger Delta militants, the Vice Chancellor of the university, Professor Olugbemiro Jegede has
said
Reuters – Ugandan Lord’s Resistance Army rebels killed at least 10 people and kidnapped more
than 50 in attacks on three villages in the eastern Central African Republic at the weekend,
local officials said Monday.
New Times – Armed forces from the five member states of the East African Community (EAC)
are set to hold a three-day meeting, beginning today in Kigali. The conference aims at
mainstreaming HIV/AIDS prevention, control, treatment, and care with an aim of reducing the
prevalence of this disease among the armed forces of the partner states.
Times of Zambia – The Zambia China Business Association (ZCBA) has said the Chinese
business community has become more willing to partner with the Zambian private business
community in trade and investments. And Mr Mpondela said the association would be
undertaking a trade mission to China for the 106th Chinese export and import Fair in October
also known as the Canton Fair.
National Security
Council
NEFA Foundation
Nelson Institute
NESA
New America
Foundation
Nixon Center
NOSI
NPEC
Nuclear Suppliers Group
Nuclear Threat Initiative
OCHA
OECD
OIIP
Organization of the
Islamic Conference
OSCE
Osservatorio
Oxfam International
Pacific Council on
International Policy
Partnership Africa
Canada
PINR
Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates, right, escorts Canadian
http://peacelikeariverblog.com/
3/24/2010
Peace Like A River
Page 10 of 27
Potomac Institute
Defense Minister Peter MacKay through an honor cordon into the
Pugwash
Pentagon, March 22, 2010. The two North American defense
Quilliam Foundation
leaders will hold security discussions on a number of issues,
including their NATO deployments in Afghanistan and efforts to
Rand Corporation
combat the effectiveness of improvised explosive devices. (photo
Refugees International
by R. D. Ward)
Regional Centre on
Conflict Prevention
The Global War

CentCom – Pakistan’s Chief of Army Staff, Gen. Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, met with U.S. Central
Command Commander, Gen. David Petraeus here this weekend to reaffirm the strategic
partnership between Pakistan and the United States.
Research Centers

Asharq Al Awsat – Pakistan wants to investigate a disgraced scientist on charges of transferring
nuclear secrets to Iraq and Iran, a government lawyer said Monday, just before important
nuclear talks begin with Washington. The petition by the Pakistan government for court
permission to investigate Abdul Qadeer Khan comes days before the opening of strategic talks
between the United States and Pakistan, where Islamabad will likely ask for a civilian nuclear
deal similar to the one between India and Washington.
SAIS


ONI – Information suggests that al-Qaida remains interested in maritime attacks in the Bab-alMandeb Strait, Red Sea, and the Gulf of Aden along the coast of Yemen. Although it is unclear
how they would proceed, it may be similar in nature to the attacks against the USS COLE in
October 2000 and the M/V LIMBURG in October 2002 where a small to mid-size boat laden with
explosives was detonated. Other more sophisticated methods of attack could include missiles or
projectiles. Although the time and location of such an attack are unknown, ships in the Red
Sea, Bab-al-Mandeb Strait, and the Gulf of Aden along the coast of Yemen are at the greatest
risk of becoming targets of such an attack.
IAEA – The Nubian Sandstone Aquifer System (NSAS) is one of the oldest and largest aquifers
in the world. Scientists have many unanswered questions about the aquifer, which stretches
beneath four northeast African countries.

ODI – Development, security and transitions in fragile states

EUCOM - USS Vicksburg (CG 69) completed a unique Passing Exercise (PASSEX) off the
Western Coast of Norway, including operations above the Arctic Circle.
Sights & Sounds
RUSI
SCIS
SCO
Senlis Council
SIIA
SIPRI
SITE Institute
Small Arms Survey
South Asia Analysis
Group
South Asia Terrorism
Portal
Sri Lanka RCSS
Strategic Studies
Institute
Stratfor
Read more of Cables, dispatches and memoranda »
Swedish National
Defence College
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Center
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The Fletcher School
Cables, dispatches and memoranda
March 22, 2010 (1:19 am) | Daily Roundup | By: Jeff Kouba
A brief world news roundup for 22 March 2010.
United States & the Americas
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Mark Steyn – More prosaically, it’s also unaffordable. That’s why
one of the first things that middle-rank powers abandon once
they go down this road is a global military capability. If you take
the view that the U.S. is an imperialist aggressor,
congratulations: You can cease worrying. But, if you think that
America has been the ultimate guarantor of the post-war global
order, it’s less cheery. Five years from now, just as in Canada and
Europe two generations ago, we’ll be getting used to
announcements of defense cuts to prop up the unsustainable
costs of big government at home. And, as the superpower
retrenches, America’s enemies will be quick to scent opportunity.
The Henry L. Stimson
Center
The National Security
Archive (GU)
Turkish Weekly Journal
UCLA Burkle Center
UCSD IRPS
UN FAO
UN ODC
UN Population Fund
UNESCO
UNICEF
UNIFIL
AP – In the video, the second of his presidency directed at Iran, Mr. Obama said that the United
States’ offer of diplomatic dialogue still stands but that the Iranian government has chosen
United Nations
isolation. He said the U.S. believes in the dignity of every human being.
UNOMIG
McClatchy – Barely a week after French, German and British leaders pounced on the Pentagon
for its handling of a $35 billion contract for aerial refueling tankers, the Defense Department
UNOSAT
said Friday that it’s considering extending the deadline for bids and a European company now
UNPO
says it may compete.

Macleans – Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez denied that the government plans to impose
controls on the Internet, saying Sunday that his administration aims to increase Web access
rather than limit it.
US Army War College

Miami Herald – The killing of a veteran radio reporter by a motorcycle gunman in a
northwestern state capital reignited concerns Saturday about the safety of journalists in
Colombia
US House Armed
Services Cmte

NYT – Traffic jams are nothing new in Mexico’s largest cities, but drug traffickers intent on
frustrating the authorities have added them as a new weapon to their arsenal, blocking city
streets and creating long lines of frustrated motorists, law enforcement officials said.
Russia, Caucasus & Central Asia
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US DOJ
US House Cmte on
Foreign Affairs
US House Intelligence
Cmte
US Institute of Peace
RIA Novosti – Russia and Ukraine could agree on the extension of the Black Sea Fleet’s
http://peacelikeariverblog.com/
3/24/2010
Peace Like A River
Page 11 of 27
presence in the Crimea while Viktor Yanukovich serves his first term as Ukrainian president
US Mission to UN
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Nosint – The Russian Navy ideally needs to have at least 50 nuclear-powered submarines, a
high-ranking Navy officer said during a live interview with Ekho Moskvy radio station on
Saturday. The Russian Navy has some 60 strategic, multi-functional and diesel-powered
submarines in its fleet that are combat ready.
US Senate Armed
Services Cmte
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RIA Novosti – Tajikistan’s highlands; The Afghan-Tajik border divides Badakhshan, a unique
cultural crossroads high in the mountains. Local Tajiks are the descendants of ancient East
Iranian tribes. (photos)
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Press TV – Azerbaijan’s energy minister says Iran and Iraq should also be involved in the
Nabucco pipeline for the strategic project to be undertaken.
US Senate Foreign
Relations Cmte
US Senate Intelligence
Cmte
US State Dept
US Supreme Court
Middle East
US Treasury

Al Sumaria – Iraqi Interior Ministry affirmed that it is fully ready to take over the security of
Iraq. The Ministry denied any delay in the withdrawal of US Forces from Iraq.
USAID

Jerusalem Post – By understanding the reasons a Hamas founder’s son switched sides, the
gov’t can identify the next potential informant.
USC Center on Public
Diplomacy

Naharnet – Head of the Palestinian Armed Struggle in Lebanon Mounir al-Maqdah denied an
Israeli report that he had defected to Hizbullah with around 2,000 of his armed fighters. The
Israeli DEBKAfile website had quoted Israeli army sources as saying that the first major
Palestinian defection to Hizbullah has given Iran and its proxy a large foot inside Palestinian
President Mahmoud Abbas’ Fatah movement and increased Hizbullah’s fighting strength by
some 15 percent
Washington Institute for
Near East Policy
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Watson Institute
Woodrow Wilson Center
The National – Jordan is likely to become the next Arab state after the UAE to sign a contract to World Bank
build civilian nuclear reactors, one of the region’s top energy officials said.
World Economic Forum
Asharq Al Awsat – Lebanese anti-aircraft guns opened fire on two Israeli warplanes that were
World Security Institute
violating its airspace at medium altitude on Sunday, the military said.
NOW Lebanon – Head of the Administration and Justice Commission MP Robert Ghanem told
the Voice of Lebanon radio station on Sunday that the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL)
interviewing Hezbollah members in its investigation of the 2005 assassination of former Prime
Minister Rafik Hariri does not mean that their party was involved in the crime.
Iran
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Sunday Times – Taliban fighters being taught at secret camps in Iran; in camps along the
border between Afghanistan and Iran, Taliban recruits are being taught how to ambush British,
American and other Nato troops using guns and improvised explosive devices (IEDs).
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ITIC – The announcement released by the authorities also claims that the US created a network
of human rights activists which served as a front for the activity of the opposition organization
Mojahedin-e Khalq in Iran. The network recruited Iranians through the Internet, sent them to
training in Iraq and other countries, created networks for gathering intelligence (specifically
regarding the activities of Iran’s nuclear scientists), recruited and organized Iranians residing
abroad, prepared reports designed to encourage psychological warfare against Iran, organized
illegal gatherings following the presidential elections, released false information on Iran’s
internal situation, and attempted to hack into servers used by the Iranian government, disrupt
municipal management systems across Iran, and establish a security cover for an armed
struggle against the regime (IRNA, March 14).
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IRIB – The Islamic Republic of Iran, Tajikistan and Afghanistan launched a joint Persianlanguage TV station, said Iran’s Ambassador to Dushanbe Ali Asqar She’rdoust.
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Payvand – Photos: Norouz Behind Evin Prison’s Walls in Tehran
South Asia
WTO
Journals
African Journal of
International Affairs
Australian Journal of
International Affairs
Caucasian Review of
International Affairs
Central European
Journal of International
and Security Studies
China and Eurasia
Forum Quarterly
Comparative Strategy
Conflict Management
and Peace Science
Defense and Security
Analysis
European Foreign Affairs
Review

RFERL – A suicide bomber has killed 10 civilians when he detonated his explosives near a crowd European Journal of
in southern Afghanistan, while a roadside bomb in the east killed two others, officials said
International Relations

WSJ – Militants in Afghanistan are building bigger and bigger roadside bombs, eschewing the
European Security
kinds of sophisticated munitions that were used in Iraq in favor of mammoth explosives capable
of destroying any U.S. armored vehicle.
Foreign Affairs
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Virginian Pilot – A Navy SEAL from Virginia Beach died Thursday of injuries sustained in combat
in Afghanistan. Chief Petty Officer Adam Lee Brown, 36, a decorated combat veteran, was
fatally wounded during a battle with heavily armed militants, according to a statement Friday
from Naval Special Warfare Group 2 at Joint Expeditionary Base Little Creek-Fort Story.
Foreign Policy
Foreign Policy Analysis
Georgetown Journal of
International Affairs
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Dawn – Missiles fired from US drones Sunday killed at least four militants in a restive Pakistani
tribal area bordering Afghanistan, security officials said.

Dawn – The bullet-riddled bodies of four tribesmen killed for allegedly spying for the United
States were found Sunday in Pakistan’s North Waziristan tribal region, witnesses and officials
said
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Geo – Security forces have arrested seven militants from Mohmand Agency including an
extremist commander Chota Usman. According to Frontier Constabulary (FC) sources, Chota
Usman belonged to tehsil Pandyali of Mohmand Agency and involved in several attacks on
security forces.
International Studies
Quarterly

The News – Twenty-three militants and three members of the local armed Lashkar were killed
in clashes and air strikes in Kurram and Orakzai Agencies on Saturday, tribal and official
sources said.
Journal of Conflict
Resolution
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Al Jazeera – An umbrella group of aid organisations and political parties from Pakistan’s semiautonomous regions near the Afghan border have issued a declaration calling for the army to
crush the Taliban.
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Geo – The local Taliban, as a result of a pact with Masozai national Lashkar, handed over 22
hostages to the Lashkar in Kurram Agency. The national Lashkar in return announced a
ceasefire and all out support for an Islamic set up.

RFERL – Pakistani officials say five people have been killed in two separate bombings in
http://peacelikeariverblog.com/
Intelligence and
National Security
International Security
Joint Force Quarterly
Journal of East Asian
Studies
Journal of International
Affairs
Journal of Slavic Military
Studies
3/24/2010
Peace Like A River
Page 12 of 27
Pakistan’s southern province of Balochistan
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Times of India – With US promising access to Headley, India is fast preparing the chargesheet
against him, hoping to extract information on the Karachi Project – a plot scripted by ISI and
aimed at launching terror attacks on India through Lashkar’s collaborators in India
Times of India – Even before India’s efforts to engage Pakistan on the Afghanistan issue could
gain momentum, claims by Afghan agencies that Iran was secretly helping the Taliban have
further compounded India’s concerns. The disclosure that Iran was supplying weapons to the
Taliban, accompanied by “evidence” in the form of seizure of arms in Herat, comes just ahead
of foreign minister S M Krishna’s crucial visit to Tehran.
Journal of Strategic
Studies
Middle East Quarterly
Middle East Review of
International Affairs
Military Review
MIT International
Review
Far East & Pacific
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New Zealand
International Review
NY Times – While exports to the United States might rebound this year, in the long run the
decline in American demand and the growing importance of China represent a fundamental shift Parameters
in the geopolitics of oil.
Polish Quarterly of
OGJ – China National Petroleum Corp completed construction of a 1,090 m tunnel beneath the
International Affairs
Amru River for a planned 1,000 km extension from Russia’s East Siberia Pacific Ocean pipeline.
Proceedings
China Daily – China and Russia signed 15 deals cumulatively worth $1.6 billion in the Russian
city of Vladivostok over the weekend, with more coming up on Monday
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Jakarta Post – Indonesian officials have asked Philippine authorities to track down an
Indonesian fugitive wanted in connection with several beheadings who is now helping to train
militants in an insurgency-wracked Philippine region, security officials said Sunday.
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Washington Post – But they are angry about a major military buildup here, which the
government of Guam and many residents say is being grossly underfunded. They fear that the
construction of a new Marine Corps base will overwhelm the island’s already inadequate water
and sewage systems, as well as its port, power grid, hospital, highways and social services
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Irrawaddy – Bangladesh Prime minister Sheikh Hasina met China’s Prime Minister Wen Jiabao
on Thursday to seek Chinese grants in the agricultural, power and infrastructure sectors. Some
of the grants are for construction of road and rail infrastructure connecting Chittagong with
Kunming through Gundam in Burma. According to the Dhaka-based The Daily Star, Bangladesh
has already constructed a road up to the Burmese border along the propose route
Bangkok Post – Resource-poor Japan is planning to build at least 14 nuclear power plants over
the next 20 years to reduce its reliance on other countries for its energy needs, a report said
Sunday.
Europe
South African Journal of
International Affairs
The Washington
Quarterly
West Point CTC Sentinel
World Defence Systems
World Policy Journal
World Politics
Media
Adnki
AgriMarket
Asia Media
Barents Observer

Expatica – Belgium’s foreign ministry announced it will extend its military presence in
Afghanistan by a year, keeping the same number of soldiers but switching the accent onto
Afghan troop training
BBC

Ice News – The volcanic eruption still taking place in southern Iceland is being described as
small and the amount of ash created is also small. Fears remain that the Fimmvorduhals
eruption will trigger a much larger eruption at Katla.
Breitbart

Mail Online – More than 70 people were arrested during clashes between right-wing and antifascist protesters which brought a town centre to a standstill. Police condemned the violence in
Bolton, Lancashire, yesterday which erupted between supporters of controversial right-wing
group The English Defence League (EDL) and Unite Against Fascism (UAF).
CBC

Christian Science
Monitor
Commentary
Al Jazeera – Sheikh Daud Ali Hasan, a senior commander of al-Shabab, an armed group fighting
to topple Somalia’s government, has been shot dead near Kismayo. At least three masked men Current
armed with pistols shot Hasan several times in the head and chest as he was coming out of a
Diplomatic Courier
mosque on Friday night
Earth Times
Garowe – Somalia’s interim president Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed says he does not welcome
direct military intervention from the US to support his fragile government in overcoming the
powerful insurgents
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Canada.com
City Journal
Africa

Boston Globe
UN – Expressing grave concern over trafficking in small arms and light weapons, particularly in
Central Africa, the Security Council today encouraged States in that subregion to join forces in
order fully to implement measures to curb the illicit trade and to create mechanisms and
regional networks for sharing information on the circulation and trafficking of weapons.
EIN News
Financial Times
Global Security
Newswire
GlobalPost
The Global War
Globe and Mail

Russia Today – India has successfully test-launched the “BrahMos” supersonic cruise missile,
which was developed and produced jointly with Russia.

ADM Michael Mullen, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff – Chairman’s Corner: Three Principles HS Today
for Use of Military
Inter Press Service
Sights & Sounds
Hemscott
International Railway
Journal
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Cables, dispatches and memoranda
Live Leak
March 19, 2010 (12:58 am) | Daily Roundup | By: Jeff Kouba
Lloyds List
http://peacelikeariverblog.com/
3/24/2010
Peace Like A River
A brief world news roundup for 19 March 2010.
United States & the Americas
Page 13 of 27
Mathaba
Miami Herald
National Ledger
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Hindustan Times – As David Coleman Headley (49), the Lashkar-eTayyeba (LeT) operative accused of scouting potential sites for
terrorist attacks in India, prepared to plead guilty in a Chicago
court on Thursday, the security establishment in Delhi hinted that
the duration of his sentence would be the acid test to determine
whether he indeed had links with a US intelligence agency

Chicago Tribune – Americans who have been charged or suspected
of terror-related activities over the past year include…
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CBS – A Yemeni-American Muslim preacher known for his ties to
extremists operating in the U.S. called on American Muslims in a
new audio message to turn against their government because of
its actions against Muslims around the world.
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Treasury Dept – The U.S. Department of the Treasury today designated the Islamic National
Bank (INB) of Gaza for being controlled by Hamas, a Specially Designated Global Terrorist, and
for providing financial services to Hamas members and employees, including members of the
organization’s military wing.
New York Post
New York Sun
New York Times
News on the net
Newser
Newsy
Online newspapers
Opinion Journal
Portfolio
Prospect Magazine
DOJ – Innospec Inc., a Delaware corporation, pleaded guilty today to defrauding the United
Nations (UN), to violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) and to violating the U.S.
embargo against Cuba. Innospec pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Ellen Segal Huvelle in
the District of Columbia to a 12-count information charging wire fraud in connection with
Innospec’s payment of kickbacks to the former Iraqi government under the UN Oil for Food
Program (OFFP), as well as FCPA violations in connection with bribe payments it made to
officials in the Iraqi Ministry of Oil. Innospec also admitted to selling chemicals to Cuban power
plants, in violation of the U.S. embargo against Cuba.
Real Clear Politics
VOA – CIA Director Leon Panetta says aggressive attacks against al-Qaida in Pakistan have
forced Osama bin Laden and his top associates deeper into hiding, and weakened the terrorist
group’s ability to plan sophisticated operations. Panetta told The Washington Post newspaper
that in a recently intercepted message an al-Qaida lieutenant urged bin Laden to come to the
group’s rescue and provide leadership.
The Economist
Sky News
TCS Daily
Telegraph TV
The Atlantic Monthly
The Epoch Times
The Guardian
The Independent

State Dept – Ballistic Missile Defense System Joint/Combined Warfighter Conference 10-1

National Post – Former Somali fighter warns of growing radicalism in Canada
The National

Press TV – Gunmen have shot dead five salesmen at a car sales lot in northeastern Mexico in
what authorities believe to be drug-related violence. The execution-style killing of the salesmen
took place on Wednesday when suspected drug cartel gangsters raided a used car dealership in
the city of Mazatlan with grenades and Molotov cocktails.
The New Atlantis
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
TIME – Ex-Guatemala President To Be Tried in U.S.; Guatemalan officials say Portillo’s efforts
paid off — at least in his case. Wednesday night, a panel of judges approved Portillo’s
extradition to the U.S. on charges that he laundered tens of millions of dollars he embezzled
while he was President, including $2.5 million in donations from the Taiwanese government
meant for children’s schoolbooks
Expatica – All three fighter jets vying to be picked for a multi-billion-dollar contract to supply
the Brazilian air force have passed a technical evaluation, news reports said Thursday. The
foreign companies competing to supply Brazil’s air force with 36 new fighter jets are France’s
Dassault with its Rafale fighter; Sweden’s Saab with the Gripen NG aircraft; and US-based
Boeing with the F/A-18 Super Hornet.

El Universal – According to the Ministry of Planning and Finance, Venezuela’s domestic debt
increased by 74 percent in 2009

Columbia Reports – Colombia’s Defense Ministry revealed on Wednesday that four members of
the country’s Armed Forces have died in captivity of the FARC and ELN

COHA – The Future of Inter-American Relations, with Canada and the U.S. Barely Holding On
Russia, Caucasus & Central Asia
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RIA Novosti – The first 10 Pantsir S1 (SA-22 Greyhound) antiaircraft surface-to-air missile
systems entered service with the Russian Air Force, a Defense Ministry spokesman said on
Thursday. Pantsir-S1 is a short-to-medium range combined surface-to-air missile and
antiaircraft artillery system manufactured by the Tula-based Instrument Making Design Bureau
(KPB).
Itar Tass – A Baltic Fleet company commander was sentenced to a three-year suspended term
for beating up his subordinate, a spokesman for the Fleet’s military prosecution office told ItarTass on Thursday
Joshua Kucera – The Georgian government has developed a new strategy for re-engaging with
— and ultimately re-incorporating — the separatist territories of Abkhazia and South Ossetia,
and is working to gain international support and funding for its plan
Kavkaz Center – Fightings are continuing for the second day near the village of Khaji-Aul,
Vedeno District of Caucasus Emirate’s Nokhchicho (AKA Chechnya / Ichkeria) Province,
occupation sources report. In a course of action 3 puppet soldiers were eliminated and at least
2 others were wounded. These data was given by the command of Russian invaders
The New Criterion
The New Yorker
The Telegraph
Times Online
Topix
Toronto Star
Toronto Star
UPI
Washington Examiner
Washington Post
Washington Times
Weekly Standard
World Affairs Journal
World newspapers
World Tribune
Iran
Al Ahwaz
Al Alam
Azarmehr
Fars News
Iran Daily
Iran Defense Forum
Iran Focus

Russia Today – Special forces have blockaded a gang of militants believed to have links to Al
Qaeda in Russia’s southern republic of Chechnya. Six gunmen were reportedly killed since the
operation kicked off on Wednesday
Iran Human Rights

RIA Novosti – Police forces have killed a notorious militant leader in an ongoing operation in
Russia’s North Caucasus republic of Chechnya, Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov said on
Thursday. “It is a citizen of one of the Middle Eastern countries, Abu Haled of Arab nationality.”
Iran Media

RFERL – RFE/RL’s North Caucasus Service is reporting a claim that Russia’s most wanted man
— Islamist insurgent leader Doku Umarov — has been killed. There was no way to immediately
verify the authenticity of the statement, which was made in a phone call today to RFE/RL by a
Iran Tracker
http://peacelikeariverblog.com/
Iran Mania
Iran Press News
Iran VNC
3/24/2010
Peace Like A River
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Page 14 of 27
man identifying himself as a Chechen militant. The caller said Umarov was killed on March 10 in Iran’s government
a gunfight near Arshty, close to Chechnya’s border with Ingushetia.
Iran.ru
Vadim Borshchev – Kadyrov intends to ask Russia’s Interior Ministry not to send any more
IRIB News
federal police to the republic, since the units of FSB and Interior Ministry troops are more than
enough to deal with military and policing tasks. To complete the picture, the Chechen President IRNA
gave a brief outline sketch of the checkpoints which for some unknown reason continue to exist
on the Kavkaz federal highway, intimidating people and preventing the movement of traffic and IRVAJ
freight. This concluding passage in the statement is of interest, as it provides a complete
ISNA
rationale for Kadyrov’s desire to get rid of the “stray” police units.
Mehr News
Turkmenistan.ru – Today, as part of his two-day official visit to Tajikistan, Turkmen President
Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov held talks with his counterpart Emomali Rahmon. As the
NCRI
Turkmenistan.ru correspondent reports from Ashgabat, following the talks the sides signed a
package of documents, which included two intergovernmental agreements – on cooperation in
NIAC
the field of communications and on cooperation in standardization, metrology, certification and
Office of President
accreditation
Asia Times – Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and his Kazakh counterpart, Karim Masimov, Office of Supreme
have renewed pledges to boost bilateral trade. Increased Kazakh electricity sales to Russia
Leader
could be one result. Early progress on other energy-related issues appears unlikely
Pars Times
AgriMarket.Info – Kazakhstan continues strengthening own positions on grain markets of the
Persian Gulf countries and, especially, Iran, which is one of the largest importers of grains in
Payvand
the world. Last year, Iran consumed over 30% of Kazakh grain export volumes
Persia House
Middle East
Persian Mirror

RAND – The Iraq Effect; The Middle East After the Iraq War
PRESS TV

Voices of Iraq – More than four thousand prisoners have been transferred from U.S. to Iraqi
prisons since the beginning of 2009, director of Iraqi prisons said on Thursday.
Radio Farda

AKI – The decapitated corpses of a policeman and an army officer were found in northern Iraq
on Thursday, according to unnamed police sources cited by Iraqi media. Gunmen reportedly
abducted the two men from their vehicle near the town of Sherquat in Salah al-Din province on
Wednesday

Jerusalem Post – Israel warned of a harsh response on Thursday afternoon after a Thai
greenhouse worker was killed when a Kassam rocket fired by Gaza terrorists exploded in the
Netiv Ha’asara area. A small Islamist faction calling itself Ansar al-Sunna claimed responsibility
for the attack. In a statement e-mailed to reporters in Gaza, the al-Qaida-inspired faction said
the attack was a response to Israel’s “Judaization” of Islamic holy places in Jerusalem and
elsewhere in the West Bank.
Radio Sedaye
Radio Zamaneh
Rooz Online
Tehran Times
Middle East
Al Arabiya
Al Bawaba

Haaretz – Lebanese police in southern Lebanon arrested a Saudi man allegedly spying for the
Israeli secret service Mossad, local radios reported Thursday.

MEMRI – Kuwaiti Defense Minister Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak said yesterday that Kuwaiti Emir
Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad had asked French President Nicolas Sarkozy to sell the country Rafale
fighter jets.
Al-Jazeera

Saba – The Houthi group hands over 177 civilian and military captives who were arrested
during the confrontations with the Yemen army that ended last month.
Arab News


Al Sumaria
Al-Manar TV
Asharq Alawsat
Guardian – Turkish police today detained about 20 people, including serving military officers, as
part of an investigation into an alleged plot to topple the government. The operation was part
Bahrain News Agency
of an investigation into the “Ergenekon” network, an alleged rightwing militant group that
Bahrain Tribune
prosecutors say had planned to overthrow prime minister Tayyip Erdogan’s AK party
government, according to broadcaster NTV.
bitterlemons
SE Times – Hundreds of thousands of Armenians working in Turkey could face expulsions if
Daily Star
foreign parliaments continue to pass resolutions describing the World War I-era massacres of
Armenians as genocide, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned this week
Dar al-Hayat
Iran
Debka

Russia Today – The first nuclear reactor at Iran’s Bushehr nuclear power plant is due to be
launched this summer, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said on Thursday.

Channel 4 – Channel 4 News can reveal the Taliban insurgency against British and American
forces is being supported by Iranian weapons smuggled over the border including mines,
mortars and plastic explosives. The exclusive images and documents show, for the first time,
the full extent of Iranian support for the Taliban in the shape of tonnes of weapons of the type
being used against UK troops in Helmand province.
Gulf Daily News
Gulf in the Media
Gulf News
Haaretz
Heyetnet

Press TV – Iranian security forces have killed several members of the terrorist group, Jundallah
during a clash southeast of Iran. The clash took place when the terrorists tried to enter Iran
from Pakistan.
Hurriyet

UPI – Tehran said it would enact temporary rationing to cut gasoline demand as the country
faces potential sanctions and pressure on imports, officials said.
IslamOnline

IWPR – Hundreds of thousands of Iranians visit Syria every year for religious tourism,
recreation or business. Their growing numbers reflects the close political and strategic ties
between the Iranian and Syrian leadership
Jerusalem Globe

MEI – The Kurds of Iran: A Look at their Past, Present and Future (Youtube)
Jordan Times
infolive.tv
Jerusalem Post
Kurdish Media
Kuwait News Agency
Kuwait Times
Maan News Agency
Middle East Media
Center
Middle East Times
http://peacelikeariverblog.com/
3/24/2010
Peace Like A River
Page 15 of 27
Moqavemat
Naharnet
News Yemen
Qatar News Agency
Saba News
Sabah
SANA
Saudi Press Agency
Today’s Zaman
UAE Daily News
Voices of Iraq
U.S. Army soldiers patrol in the village of Wosulwali Kolangar in the
Ya Libnan
Pole-Elam district in Afghanistan
Yemen Gazette
South Asia


Yemen Observer
AFPS – In Kunar province, a combined Afghan-international force went to a compound in the
Zawya
Chapa Dara district after residents asked for help in removing the local Taliban threat.
Military
Intelligence information confirmed militant activity and the location of a Taliban commander
believed to be responsible for planning attacks against Afghan and coalition troops. Several
Africom
armed militants threatened the combined element as it surrounded the compound, forcing them
Air Force Live
to engage the insurgents. These armed militants, including the targeted Taliban commander,
were killed.
Air Force Magazine
Al Jazeera – The US has said a new offensive to drive the Taliban from the southern
Air Force Times
Afghanistan city of Kandahar is under way and will steadily “ramp up” in the months ahead.

UK MoD – It is with sadness that the Ministry of Defence must confirm that Lance Corporal
Scott Hardy and Private James Grigg, both from 1st Battalion The Royal Anglian Regiment,
were killed in Afghanistan on Tuesday 16 March

Spiegel – New documents obtained by SPIEGEL ONLINE show that the German Defense Ministry Army Times
sought to cover up the full extent of the Sept. 4 bombing in Kunduz, Afghanistan, which killed
Bloggers Roundtable
142 people including civilians. In particular, the ministry wanted to withhold details until after
national German elections
BNET Government
Dawn – Suspected member of Tehreek-e-Taliban, Ismail Mehsud has been arrested from
Brahmand
Sohrab Goth area of Karachi. Security forces told DawnNews that Ismail Mehsud has been

nabbed by intelligence agency after a report that he had been preparing to carry out terror
attacks within the city.

Geo – Six militants were killed during clashers with security forces in Darra Adam Khel.
According to sources, militants stormed security forces check post in Sapna Thana Camp in
Darra Adam Khel late on Wednesday night. Six militants were killed and five security personnel
wounded in retaliatory action of forces

Times of India – At least 12 people were injured, four of them critically, in a bomb explosion in
a jeep near Lakshmipur in Bihar’s Jamui district on Thursday.

Colombo Page – Sri Lanka President Mahinda Rajapaksa today ceremoniously opened the
bridge that links the Mannar Island to the main land. Mannar Island, situated in the
northwestern coast of Sri Lanka’s Northern Province is linked to the main land by a causeway.
The old bridge was destroyed during the war between the Tamil Tiger rebels and the Sri Lanka
Army renovated the bridge at a cost of Rs. 2.46 billion. The construction of the bridge which
commenced three years ago was funded by the Government of Japan through the Japan
International Cooperation Agency (JICA).
Far East & Pacific

Chosun Ilbo – A U.S. expert has raised the over reports that North Korea exported unenriched
uranium to Syria before a reactor there was bombed by Israel, claiming the material may have
been intended for Iran. Leonard Spector, a deputy director of the Monterey Institute of
International Studies’ James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies, made the remarks
Tuesday

Yonhap – Japan’s foreign ministry said Thursday there won’t be any individual reparations to
victims of the country’s brutal colonial rule of Korea, insisting that a 1965 government-level
deal between Seoul and Tokyo addressed all compensation issues.

Jakarta Post - During interrogation, a recently arrested terrorism suspect said his group was
aiming to build an Islamic country through military force, National Police spokesman Insp. Gen.
Edward Aritonang said Thursday.




Armed Forces Journal
Army Live
CentCom
CJTF82
Combined Arms Center
Combined Joint Task
Force
CSTC-A
Defence Talk
Defend America
Defense Industy Daily
Defense Link
Defense News
Defense Procurement
News
Defense Procurement
News
Defense Tech
Defense Update
DoD Buzz
DoD Inspector General
DoD Live
AKI – An Iranian has been arrested at an Indonesian airport near the capital Jakarta for
dodvclips
allegedly smuggling crystal methamphetamine into the country inside a chessboard. The arrest
was the latest in a series of arrests of Iranians accused of drug smuggling in Indonesia over the DSCA
past few months.
Dvids
Irrawaddy – About 20 Burmese junta soldiers were killed and eight were injured in an ambush
in Nam Zam Township in Shan State by Shan State Army-South (SSA-S) soldiers on Saturday, Elite UK Forces
according to a rebel spokesperson
Estripes
Phnom Penh Post – Cambodian authorities say another villager from Banteay Meanchey
province has been shot and killed by Thai soldiers – the third reported case in less than a week. EUCOM
Yort Yay says the Thai soldiers also placed a bomb and 90 tablets of amphetamines near the
Flightglobal
victim’s body to accuse him of being a drug trafficker.
New Zealand Herald – Three activists cleared by a jury after intentionally damaging a
Government spy base committed an act akin to protecting al Qaeda and the Taleban, says an
http://peacelikeariverblog.com/
Foreign Military Studies
Office
3/24/2010
Peace Like A River

Page 16 of 27
American security expert. Ralph Cossa, president of the Pacific Forum Centre for Strategic and
International Studies, told the Herald from Hawaii yesterday that he was disappointed but not
shocked to hear of the decision of a Wellington jury to acquit the trio on charges of burglary
and wilful damage at the Waihopai base near Blenheim.
G2 Solutions
BBC – Australia’s prime minister, Kevin Rudd, has warned China that it faces international
scrutiny over the way it conducts a spying trial next week. The case involves an Australian
citizen, Stern Hu, who is employed by the mining giant Rio Tinto.
India Defence



euobserver – Germany has performed a dramatic u-turn and now says it would support
International Monetary Fund aid for Greece, were it requested. “We see no need for immediate
action now. Greece has not asked for aid,” a German source working closely on the subject told
EUobserver.
EurActiv – Socialist MEPs today (18 March) returned from two days of talks with high-level US
officials, including Deputy Secretary of State James Steinberg, to explore grounds for a
compromise on the SWIFT data-sharing agreement, after an interim deal was blocked by the
European Parliament last month.
ynet – Two Israeli aircraft appearing to be spy planes flew near Budapest’s international airport
last week but did not land there, Hungarian media reported Thursday. According to the reports,
the planes were on a “spy mission” that may be connected to the assassination of a Syrian
national in his vehicle Wednesday in the Hungarian capital.

Iraq Status Report
Joint Chiefs of Staff
JTF Gitmo
Marine Corps Times
Merln
MNSTC-I
Multinational Force-Iraq
NATO
NATO ISAF
Naval Technology
Georgian Times – The first secretary of the Embassy of Georgia in Slovakia, Aleksandre
Chkuaseli, has been assaulted late last night. The diplomat was assaulted in the entrance hall of Naval Vessel Register
his apartment
Navy Times
Africa

Global Security
Israel Defense Forces
Europe

Global Firepower
PACAF Pixels
Sudan Tribune – Finally, collaborated reliable sources have confirmed the arrival of a notorious
Ugandan rebel armed group, the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) in the Sudanese troubled region
of Darfur. Since late last year, the LRA attempts to relocate into Darfur has been the subject of
speculations
Al Arabiya – Sudan’s government and a Darfur rebel group, the Liberation and Justice
Movement (LJM), signed Thursday a framework peace accord, as talks with a larger Justice and
Equality Movement appeared to falter. The agreement for a ceasefire and talks was signed in
Doha by Ghazi Salahuddin, an adviser to Sudanese President Omar al-Beshir, and LJM leader
El-Tijani El-Sissi, weeks after Khartoum signed a similar accord with Darfur’s powerful insurgent
Justice and Equality Movement (JEM).
PACOM
Pentagon TV
Russian Strategic
Nuclear Forces
SETAF
SHAPE
Sine Pari

Khaleej Times – At least 11 civilians and eight troops have died in attacks by Ugandan LRA
rebels in the northeast of Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), a local association said
Wednesday

BBC – Nigeria has recalled its ambassador to Libya after leader Muammar Gaddafi suggested
Nigeria be divided into two states – one Christian and one Muslim.

Afrol – Congo Brazzaville was today given a debt cancellation of US$ 2.4 billion by its main
creditors. This amounts to 100 percent of all Congolese bilateral debts and will significantly
lower budget costs.
US Army

ICG – Madagascar has been in crisis since the bloody upheavals in early 2009. Several rounds
of mediation under the auspices of the African Union (AU) and others have not unlocked the
stalemate. Despite the signing of several documents, and the AU’s announcement of individual
sanctions against members of the regime on 17 March, negotiations have stalled, mainly due
to the refusal of the Rajoelina government to implement the power sharing agreed in Maputo in
August.
US Fifth Fleet
AFRICOM – Major General William B. Garrett III visited South Africa on March 7, 2010 for a
week-long tour, marking his first visit to that country
YouTube – dvidshub

SOCOM
SouthCom
US Air Force
US Coast Guard
US Marines
US Naval Institute
US Navy
YouTube – mnfiraq
YouTube –
soldiersmediacenter
YouTube – US Navy
Energy
Alexander’s Gas/Oil
BP
Downstream Today
EIA
Energy Business Review
Energy Charter
Energy Intelligence
EnergyBulletin
On Feb. 24, Supreme Allied Commander Adm. James G. Stavridis
greets Spain's top defense leaders in Madrid. This was his first
official visit to the country since taking command in July 2009.
(photo by Sgt. Intisar Sabree)
The Global War

Air Force – One of the U.S. military’s greatest advantages over its adversaries is its ability to
move an enormous amount of equipment and people quickly anywhere in the world, the
commander of U.S. Transportation Command told the House Armed Services Committee March
http://peacelikeariverblog.com/
EnergyCurrent
Gazprom
Hans Stege
IAEA
International Energy
Agency
3/24/2010
Peace Like A River
Page 17 of 27
17

J.E. Dyer – Without turning this into “Bomb 101,” the point to take away is that we move the
little bombs, which are the workhorses of our inventory, on a more routine basis than we do the
big, exotic bombs. Presidents since Bill Clinton have wanted the military to be prepared to
attack Iranian targets if it should become necessary, and having the right bombs staged
forward is part of that effort. We can deduce from the shipment to Diego Garcia that the
military is updating CENTCOM’s inventory and that Obama hasn’t ruled out a military approach
to Iran. But there are no grounds to conclude that a strike must be imminent.
International Energy
Forum
Iran Oil Gas
MineWeb
Nord Stream
OGEL

Nosint – The United States on Tuesday handed over a fleet of modern AH-1 Cobra helicopters
to Pakistan, which has been inducted in the Army Aviation, a private channel reported on
Tuesday
Oil and Gas Eurasia

AP – The British Embassy says British, French and U.S. troops will march with Russian soldiers
on Red Square to mark the 65th anniversary of the defeat of Nazi Germany.
Petroleum News
Oxford Institute
Petroleum World
Sights & Sounds
Pipeliners
Read more of Cables, dispatches and memoranda »
Platts
Rosneft
Sphere: Related Content
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Tags: Chechnya, Sudan, terrorism
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Steel Guru
Cables, dispatches and memoranda
The Energy Blog
March 18, 2010 (1:06 am) | Daily Roundup | By: Jeff Kouba
The Oil Drum
A brief world news roundup for 18 March 2010.
United States & the Americas

Washington Times – Iran is assisting al Qaeda by facilitating links
between senior terrorist leaders and affiliate groups, the commander
of U.S. forces in the Middle East told Congress on Tuesday

Pentagon – DOD News Briefing with Gen. McChrystal and
Ambassador Sedwill from Afghanistan

Jerusalem Post – After visiting the grave of late Palestinian leader
Yasser Arafat in Ramallah on Wednesday, Brazilian President Luiz
Inacio Lula da Silva said the security barrier must come down.
Earlier, the Brazilian president placed a wreath on Arafat’s tomb,
despite criticism from Israel.
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World Nuclear
Association
Russia, Caucasus,
Central Asia
abc.az
AKIpress
APA
Asbarez
Baku Today
Columbia Reports – The air forces of Colombia and Ecuador will standardize their radars to
improve surveillance capabilities over their border, in a move that furthers the normalization of
diplomatic relations between the two countries
Baybak
Prensa Latina – During his recent visit to the violence-torn Ciudad Juarez the Mexican President
Felipe Calderon denounced that violence in that bordering city originates in US territory.
CACI Analyst
Russia, Caucasus & Central Asia

USGS
Atomenergoprom
Mail Online – Argentina upped the ante over the Falkland Islands today by threatening to ban
firms operating in the British colony. Today it was reported a Royal Navy attack submarine has
Axis News
been sent to the Falklands to boost security amid mounting speculation oil has been discovered.
Azer News
MercoPress – Russian President Dmitry Medvedev will travel to Argentina on April 14 and 15,
the first official visit by a Russian head of state in 125 years of bilateral relations, the Argentine
Foreign Ministry said Tuesday.

Transneft
RIA Novosti – The Russian Defense Ministry plans to overhaul its air force fleet. According to
various media reports, the Ministry wants to buy at least 1,500 aircraft, including 350 new
warplanes, by 2020. The fleet would include 70% new equipment at that point, said Air Force
Commander-in-Chief Colonel General Alexander Zelin.
Belta
Caucasian Knot
Caucaz
Central Bank of Russia
Chechen Press
Civil Georgia

AP – Russia must defend its claims to mineral riches of the Arctic in increasing competition with
other powers, President Dmitry Medvedev said Wednesday.
Eurasian Home

Kremlin – Opening Remarks at Security Council Meeting on Climate Change
EurasiaNet

Xinhua – Russian President Dmitry Medvedev will tour to Kiev on May 17 for a two-day visit,
the Ukrainian president’s office said on Wednesday. Viktor Yanukovych’s office said in a
statement that the two presidents discussed the visit in a telephone conversation.
Ferghana

Russia Today – Ukraine is not going to be a member of any other countries’ military-political
alliance, according to the country’s ruling coalition. Its non-allied status will be legally
established, governmental newspaper “Golos Ukrainy” published on Tuesday.
Georgian Times

Caucasian Knot – Week in the Caucasus: review of main events of March 8-14
Interfax

EurasiaNet – A World Bank offer to underwrite an environmental feasibility study for the
proposed Rogun hydropower project could mark a decisive moment in Tajikistan’s efforts to
become an electricity exporter
ITAR-TASS
Middle East
Georgian Daily
Government of Russia
Kavkaz Center
Kommersant
Al Sumaria – Targeting Christians in Mosul has resurged. A Christian citizen was killed on
Wednesday morning in Al Sa’a District in Mosul. Unknown gunmen in a civilian car assassinated
Sabah Korkis, 54 years old, while he was heading to work.
Kremlin

IRIB – The first Iranian bank opened in Basra, southern Iraq. The Bank Melli (National) of Iran
(BMI) has previously opened its first branch in Baghdad three years ago.
PanArmenian

IRNA – Governor General of Khuzestan Province said more investment in Chazzabeh border will

http://peacelikeariverblog.com/
Muslim Uzbekistan
Prague Watchdog
3/24/2010
Peace Like A River
Page 18 of 27
be made to develop ties with neighboring Iraqi province of Maysun.
Regnum

RFERL – Iraq has agreed with Turkey to renew an accord to operate an oil pipeline from its
northern oil fields near Kirkuk to the Turkish Mediterranean port of Ceyhan, a senior Iraqi oil
official has said
RFE/RL

NOW Lebanon – The Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) issued a statement on Wednesday that
Israeli jets violated Lebanese airspace three times on Tuesday between 8:00 a.m. and 6:25
p.m. The warplanes flew over the southern villages of Naqoura and Alma al-Shaab as well as
over Beirut and Baabda before heading back to Israel.
Rosatom
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

Al Arabiya – Yemen has beefed up security around oil and maritime installations for fear of
retaliation by al-Qaeda after several strikes against the jihadist network, the interior ministry
said on Wednesday
Peter Savodnik – Now the numbers are ebbing—and with them, Egyptians’ hopes for a better
future. According to the Suez Canal Authority, 17,228 ships passed through the 101-mile canal
in 2009, compared with 21,415 in 2008, and 20,384 in 2007. The decline is mostly due to the
global economic downturn and low oil prices. “The falling cost of fuel means it wasn’t as
expensive to go around Africa,” says Simon Kitchen, a senior economist at the Egyptian
investment bank EFG-Hermes, based in Cairo. “You’re paying for an extra 20 days’ fuel, but
you’re not paying the canal fee.” (The average fee paid per ship comes close to $250,000.)
Hurriyet – Turkey’s prime minister said Tuesday it was “only rumors” that Iran was making
nuclear weapons, stressing the Islamic republic’s right to develop civilian atomic power.
Iran

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
RIA Novosti
Rosoboronexport
Russia Finance Ministry
Russia Today
Russian Railways
Sberbank
The Moscow News
The Moscow Times
Times of Central Asia
Today
Transneft
Trend News
TIME – China has taken the lead in pushing back against new sanctions at the U.N., arguing
that dialogue with Iran needs to be given a lot more time to produce results. China’s position is
important to the Islamic Republic because of the growing energy ties between the two
countries. China exports gasoline to Iran and has tens of billions of dollars invested in
developing two large oil fields near Iran’s border with Iraq. Chinese companies are also drilling
offshore in Iran’s giant South Pars natural gas field. Still, there are signs that officials in Beijing
might be looking for less controversial places from which to buy much needed oil to fuel its own
humming economy
The Hindu – Iran and Pakistan have signed in Turkey, the final agreement to launch the IranPakistan gas pipeline with a provision for India’s possible participation in the project at a later
date.
Turkmenistan.ru
Ukrainian Journal
Uza
Voice of Russia
YouTube: RussiaToday
South Asia
Afghan Daily
Fars – Iran and Belarus plan to establish a join trading company to help expand their bilateral
ties and exchanges, a senior Iranian trade official announced on Wednesday.
Afghan News
Iranian politics
Asian Tribune
Afghan Wire
Press TV – Iran has sent a naval battle group to international waters, including the Gulf of
Aden, to confront threats to the country’s shipping lanes. According to an announcement by the AIMS
country’s naval forces, the group was dispatched to the Gulf of Aden and the North Indian
APP
Ocean to “combat the ominous phenomenon of piracy.”
Asia Times
Suzanne Maloney – What to Read on Iranian Politics; An annotated Foreign Affairs syllabus on
South Asia
Bakhtar News

RFERL – Afghan officials say two would-be suicide bombers dressed in burqas were shot dead
today as they tried to enter the compound of an international aid organization in the southern
province of Helmand
Baloch Voice

MEMRI – The interior ministry of Afghanistan said that five would-be suicide attackers were
killed in the country’s southern Paktika province on Tuesday, according to a Pashtu-language
Afghan daily. A statement from the ministry said that the five would-be suicide attackers
entered the province’s Barmal district carrying heavy and light weapons
Colombo Page

Ropert Kaplan, The Atlantic – Divided by geography, cursed by corruption, stunted by poverty,
staggered by a growing insurgency—Afghanistan seems beyond salvation. Is it? From Somalia
and the Balkans to Iraq, the U.S. military has been embroiled in conflicts that reflect an age-old
debate: Can individual agency triumph over deep-seated historical, cultural, ethnic, and
economic forces? Drawing on his experiences in Iraq, the commander of U.S. and NATO forces
in Afghanistan, Stanley McChrystal, has his own answer to that question.
Chitral News
Daiji World
Daily Star
Daily Times
Dawn
Deccan Herald
e-Ariana

AP – A month after losing control of their southern base in Marjah, the Taliban have begun to
fight back, launching a campaign of assassination and intimidation to frighten people from
supporting the U.S. and its Afghan allies.

Dawn – A bomb attack in a restive Pakistani tribal area on Wednesday destroyed a tanker
carrying fuel for Nato forces in Afghanistan, officials said.

Geo – A US missile strike Wednesday killed at least eight people in North Waziristan Agency
(NWA) areas near Miranshah, Geo News reported. According to sources, the first strike took
place in Hamzoni village of Dattakhel near Miranshah
Greater Kashmir

WSJ – A drone strike last week in Pakistan apparently killed a top al Qaeda trainer who helped
supervise December’s suicide bombing at a Central Intelligence Agency post in Afghanistan,
U.S. officials said.
Howrah

Press TV – A Pakistani court has charged five Americans with funneling money to outlaws and
plotting terror attacks across the country. On Wednesday, the court charged five young
Americans with planning terrorist attacks in the nuclear-armed country.
Indian Express

Asia Sentinel – After the failure of high level talks between India and Pakistan over their long
running disputes, both countries are now locked in an escalating proxy war in Afghanistan.
Islamic Emirate of
Aghanistan

Times of India – With its favourite anti-India terror group in Afghanistan – the Haqqani
network, which was responsible for the attacks on Indian embassy in Kabul – coming under
heightened international scrutiny, Pakistan’s ISI is planning to use one of its old proxies,
Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, to target Indian interests in the war-torn country.

Hindustan Times – A number of deserted training camps and a bunker of Maoists were
unearthed during joint anti-Naxal operations by West Bengal and Jharkhand armed police in
forested areas on the border. Meanwhile, Home Secretary Ardhendu Sen said six companies of
http://peacelikeariverblog.com/
Economic Times
Frontier Post
Geo TV
Hindustan Times
HRCP
IRIN Afghanistan
Kashmir Times
Khaleej Times
LankaWeb
NDTV
3/24/2010
Peace Like A River
central forces, in addition to the 18 in the state, arrived yesterday for posting in Maoist-hit
West Midnapore, Bankura and Purulia districts
Far East & Pacific

Reuters – North Korea has increased its missile arsenal by 25 percent in the past two years to
about 1,000, expanding the threat the state poses to the region, the South’s defense chief said
Wednesday

Chosun Ilbo – North Korean leader Kim Jong-il has only three years to live based on all medical
information compiled so far, Assistant U.S. Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs
Kurt Campbell told South Korean officials. Campbell made the comments in a closed-door
meeting during his trip to South Korea last month, sources said.



GSN – Japanese Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada said today it was possible that U.S. nuclear
weapons could be brought into his country’s territory in the event of a security crisis, Kyodo
News reported




Japan Times – What has caused concern in Asia and beyond is the opacity of China’s military
buildup. A consensus has emerged that Beijing’s real military spending is at least double the
announced figure. The official figures of the Chinese government do not include the cost of new
weapons purchases, research or other big-ticket items for China’s highly secretive military. The
real figures are thought to be much higher.
Zee News - Bangladesh and Myanmar today held talks to narrow their differences over
demarcation of maritime boundary in Bay of Bengal. Officials said the sixth round of
negotiations, being held in Myanmar’s new capital Nay Pyi Taw, would follow up the decisions
taken at the previous round of talks held at port city Chittagong in January this year.
Pak Tribune
Pakistan Christian Post
Pakistan Conflict
Monitor
Pakistan Observer
Quqnoos
Sarai
Sri Lanka News
TamilNet
The Post
The Statesman
Times of India
Zee News
Far East
Asahi Shimbun
Asia Media
Jakarta Post – National Police spokesman Insp. Gen. Edward Aritonang said Wednesday that his Bangkok Post
team had detected the whereabouts of wanted terrorists Umar Patek and Heru Kuncoro.
Brisbane Times
However, the police refused to reveal the location for fear of spoiling the hunt. Umar Patek and
Dulmatin are believed to be members of a group responsible for blasting two cafes, full of
Caijing
Westerners in Bali in 2002.
Canberra Times
Jakarta Globe – A man believed to have been a close aide of slain terrorist master Noordin M
Top told a Jakarta court on Wednesday that Al Qaeda was responsible for the hotel bombings in China Daily
the capital last year and not Jemaah Islamiyah, as many had previously suggested.
China Digital Times
news.com.au – Indonesian police arrested 68 Afghan migrants after their boat ran into trouble
en route to Australia, an official said today. Indonesia is a popular route for undocumented
China Online
migrants hoping to reach Australia.
China Post
Europe

Pajhwok
CFR – Sheila A. Smith discusses the opportunities ahead for the United States and Japan before The Hindu
the House Committee on Foreign Affairs’ Subcommittee on Asia. (PDF)
The Nation
USNI – Let’s take a moment to compare some naval forces in the Pacific Basin. Using the
The News
official DOD Annual Report to Congress on the Military Power of the PRC 2005 and 2009, it
looks like China’s Navy is growing. But…when China’s rate of growth is compared with other
neighbors, that burst of growth over the past five years looks a lot less daunting

Page 19 of 27
Chosun Ilbo
Helsingin Sanomat – The story of Mirja Nordling would be interesting as such – that of a Finnish
girl who became a Muslim woman and moved to Pakistan to live with her husband and her inlaws. But the story has an even more exciting aspect. Instead of falling in love with an ordinary
Pakistani man, she found Osama Jusufzai, the son of a renowned and influential former
brigadier, ex-security secretary of the tribal areas
Far Eastern Economic
Review
Global Forum of Japan
GMA News

Expatica – Greece hopes to earn some 350 million euros (480 million dollars) by reselling a
German-built submarine whose delivery was dogged by technical concerns, the Greek defence
minister said on Wednesday.
Inquirer.net

BBC – Spain’s prime minister has blamed the killing of a French policeman shot dead near Paris
on the Basque separatist group Eta
Jakarta Post

Prague Monitor – Energy security is the basic theme of the Czech foreign policy comparable
with defensiveness, Czech Prime Minister Jan Fischer said at the 10th energy congress of the
Czech Republic yesterday
Japan Focus

EUCOM – Headquarters Allied Air Command Ramstein (HQ AC Ramstein) will conduct another
Baltic Region Training Event (BRTE) in the airspace above Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, March
17.
Japan Today
Irrawaddy
Japan Times
JoongAng Daily
Korea Herald
Korea Times
Kyodo News
Macau Daily Times
Malaysiakini
Manila Standard
Manila Times
Narinjara
New Zealand Herald
Pacific Islands Report
Pacific Magazine
U.S. Marines and sailors conduct a combined arms exercise using
their ground forces and air assets during a simulated attack through
the mountainous terrain of Djibouti, March 13, 2010. The Marines
and sailors are assigned to the 2nd Light Armored Reconnaissance
Platoon and Combined Anti Aircraft Teams 1 and 2, 24th Marine
http://peacelikeariverblog.com/
Philippine Inquirer
Phnom Penh Post
Potala Times
3/24/2010
Peace Like A River
Page 20 of 27
Prime Minister Australia
Expeditionary Unit. (photo by Lance Cpl. David J. Beall)
Radio Free Asia
Africa
Saipan Tribune

McClatchy – After two years, al Shabab has strengthened its hold over much of southern
Somalia, and its threat to the Western-backed Somali government in Mogadishu is matched
only by its brutal treatment to those Somalis it sees as enemies

RSF – Reporters Without Borders firmly condemns three new arrests of journalists by the AlShabaab militia. They are radio Markabley manager Ahmed Omar Salihi, who was arrested
yesterday and was held overnight in the southern city of Bardhere, and two of the station’s
reporters,

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
ISN – A new UN monitoring report gives fresh and detailed evidence of Eritrea’s support for
Somali armed opposition groups. Eritrea says its intentions are misunderstood, but the country
has found itself on a dead-end road and is now forced to recalibrate its policy
Seoul Times
South China Morning
Post
Star Online
Sydney Morning Herald
Taipei Times
The Australian
The Straits Times
Garowe – The United Nations Security Council rejected a controversial Memorandum of
Understanding (MoU) which war-torn Somalia recently signed with neighbouring Kenya over the VietNamNet
delimitation of the maritime boundary.
Xinhuanet
Sudan Tribune – Darfur powerful group, Justice and Equality Movement and five factions from
Addis Ababa Roadmap group have agreed in Doha to join their efforts and to work together
Yomiuri Shimbun
Magharebia – A new video issued by Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) may foreshadow
a rise in terrorist attacks, according to regional analysts.
Yonhap
VOA- Just more than a month after taking power in Nigeria, Acting President Goodluck Jonathan Africa
has dismissed the Cabinet appointed by President Umaru Yar’Adua
African Elections Project
Daily Independent – Another fresh spate of killings in Jos on Wednesday leaves 13 dead, when
African Press Agency
Muslim herdsmen disguised as soldiers butchered and then burned around a dozen Christians,
close to the site of a recent sectarian massacre, officials and witnesses said.
African Update
Al Jazeera – A major tourist attraction housing the burial grounds of the former kings of
Africasia
Uganda’s largest kingdom has been gutted by fire, sparking fears of renewed tension between
the government and ethnic Baganda
Afrique en ligne
Jeffrey Gettleman – Africa’s Forever Wars; Why the continent’s conflicts never end.
Afrol
All Africa
Angola Press
blogAfrica
Bua News
Business Day (SA)
Daily Independent
Daily Observer
Daily Trust
East African Business
Week
East African Standard
U.S. Navy SEALs and German forces freefall parachute onto a
Ennahar
frozen a lake in Northern Norway during Exercise Cold Response
Eritrea Daily
2010. Cold Response is a Norwegian-sponsored multinational
invitational exercise, with more than 9,000 military personnel from
Garowe
14 countries focused on cold weather maritime and amphibious
Ghanaian Chronicle
operations. (photo by Seaman Matt Daniels)
Hirondelle
The Global War



IOL
UPI – The secret intelligence war between Iran and its allies, Hezbollah and Hamas, on one side
Magharebia
and the United States and Israel on the other is likely to heat up in the months ahead
Brahmand – Indian Navy will soon have the Akula-II nuclear-powered submarine. According to
Maghreb Arabe Presse
The Times Of India, a supplementary agreement to this effect was signed during the recent visit
Mareeg
of Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin in New Delhi. India has thus received a 10-year lease
for the K-152 Nerpa submarine from Russia.
Mmegi
Honolulu Advertiser – The commanding officer of the Pearl Harbor-based fast-attack submarine
Namibia Economist
USS Chicago was stripped of command after he was found guilty of drunkenness and conduct
unbecoming an officer during an ROTC visit last week, the Navy said

Pan African News
BNA- Global copper consumption totaled 18.4Mt in 2009, up 1.8% compared to the previous
Punch
year, while China’s apparent demand increased 39% to 7.14Mt, according to the latest report
from the UK-based World Bureau of Metal Statistics (WBMS). However, usage in the EU plunged
Shabelle
17% to 3.15Mt, the report added.
SomaliNet
Sights & Sounds
Standard Times Press
Read more of Cables, dispatches and memoranda »
Sudan Tribune
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Sunday Mail (Zmbw)
The Citizen
Tags: Indonesia
The Namibian
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The Nation
3/24/2010
Peace Like A River
Page 21 of 27
Cables, dispatches and memoranda
March 17, 2010 (1:15 am) | Daily Roundup | By: Jeff Kouba
The New Times
The New Vision
The News (Lr)
A brief world news roundup for 17 March 2010.
This Day Online
United States & the Americas
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Politico – President George W. Bush and his senior aides
considered — and rejected — a military response to Russia’s 2008
invasion of Georgia, according to a new history of the conflict and
interviews with former officials in the Bush administration.
Sunday Herald – Hundreds of powerful US “bunker-buster” bombs
are being shipped from California to the British island of Diego
Garcia in the Indian Ocean in preparation for a possible attack on
Iran. The Sunday Herald can reveal that the US government
signed a contract in January to transport 10 ammunition
containers to the island. According to a cargo manifest from the
US navy, this included 387 “Blu” bombs used for blasting
hardened or underground structures. Experts say that they are being put in place for an assault
on Iran’s controversial nuclear facilities. There has long been speculation that the US military is
preparing for such an attack, should diplomacy fail to persuade Iran not to make nuclear
weapons.
HS Today – Years before the explosion of homegrown jihadists that erupted very publicly with
the November 5 jihadist-inspired killing spree by Muslim Army Major Nidal Malik Hasan at Ft.
Hood, the US Intelligence Community had been warning that Islamist terrorists were being
breed on American soil, and that it was just a matter of time before they began murdering in
the name of Allah
CNN – Abu Zubaydah, considered one of al Qaeda’s senior lieutenants, lay in a pool of blood on
a street in Faisalabad, Pakistan, having been shot three times during a U.S.-coordinated raid on
a house where a group of suspected terrorists was building a bomb. CIA operative John
Kiriakou, who helped plan the raid, rushed to the scene. But when he gazed down at the
critically wounded man, it didn’t quite look like the person he had seen in a 4-year-old passport.
In his new book, “The Reluctant Spy,” Kiriakou gives an insider’s view of his secret life as a spy
and his role in fighting the war on terror.
Times of Zambia
Vanguard
Waaga Cusub
Zimbabwe Standard
Europe
AGI
ANSAmed
Austrian Times
Balkan Insight
Baltic Times
Business New Europe
Cafe Babel
Copenhagen Post
Corriere della Sera
Czech News
Der Spiegel
Deutsche Welle
EUbusiness
EUobserver
Miami Herald – A new party accused of ties to far-right criminal bands has emerged as a
surprising force in Colombian politics, adding to worries that President Alvaro Uribe has failed to EurActiv
weaken drug-funded paramilitaries in the provinces
EuroNews
Columbia Reports – The operation to free FARC hostages Pablo Emilio Moncayo and Josue
Daniel Calvo will begin in the next 72 hours, according to Colombian media. Both men are
Europa Survey
Colombian soldiers. Moncayo has been held by the FARC since 1997, while Calvo has been held
European Affairs
since April 2009
El Universal – Colombian exports increased by 6.4 percent in February 2010 over the same
European Union
period last year, despite a 73 percent fall in shipments to Venezuela, according to estimates
European Voice
made by the National Tax and Customs Agency (Dian), local media reported on Tuesday. As a
result of the decline in sales to Venezuela, Chile became the third largest importer of Colombian Eurostat
goods, after the United States and the Netherland.
Expatica
Russia Today – The first days talks between Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko and
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has seen the two nations reach agreement on oil shipments
to Belarus.
Germany Chancellor
Miami Herald – Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko offered to help Venezuela
strengthen its military, saying Tuesday that President Hugo Chavez’s government should not
have to worry about foreign threats.
Germany Federal
Government
Helsingin Sanomat
UPI – A consortium of Indian energy companies announced said it would purchase 45 percent of
Interlic
the crude oil produced by its partners in Venezuela.
France24 – American FBI agents have flown to Mexico to join investigations into the weekend
Kathimerini
killings of three US consulate staff in Mexico’s Ciudad Juarez, as relentless drug-related violence
Media Center Belgrade
claimed more than 100 lives in three days
New Europe
NIS News
Radio France
Radio Netherlands
Radio Srbija
SE European Times
Standart
Stockholm News
The Local (De)
The Military Sealift Command oceanographic survey ship USNS
Henson is anchored in the Port of Cartagena during Oceanographic
Southern Partnership Station 10. O-SPS 10 is a joint project to
improve interoperability between the U.S. Navy and its Colombian
and Brazilian counterparts
Russia, Caucasus & Central Asia
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NDU – The Military Doctrine of the Russian Federation – 2010 (PDF)
http://peacelikeariverblog.com/
The Parliament
UK Parliament
UK Prime Minister
Latin America
Brazil Sun
Buenos Aires Herald
3/24/2010
Peace Like A River
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Xinhua – Russia and India could set up a joint venture to prospect and mine uranium, the head
of Russia’s state nuclear giant Rosatom said on Monday. Kiriyenko said the two countries might
jointly build nuclear fuel manufacturing facilities in Russia and India.
Business News Americas
CANA
Kremlin – Dmitry Medvedev and Vladimir Yakunin discussed the development of high-speed rail Colombia Reports
in Russia and preparations for this summer’s rail traffic. Mr Yakunin briefed the President on the Columbia National Army
operation of high-speed Sapsan train on Moscow-St Petersburg line and on a joint project with
El Ciudadano (EC)
Finland to launch high-speed train en route from St Petersburg to Helsinki.

Chatham House – The Modernization of Russia: Possibilities and Limits

Valery Dzutsev – Heavily dependent on Moscow’s benevolence, Kremlin-selected leaders of the
North Caucasus republics normally approve of all proposals from Moscow with alacrity. This
time, however, only the president of Ingushetia, Yunus-bek Yevkurov, succumbed to
Bastrykin’s menacing proposal about fingerprinting (RIA Novosti, March 4). This may be
another indicator of Yevkurov’s low political savvy and complete dependence on Moscow.
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Page 22 of 27
Kavkaz Center – A correspondent of the Kavkaz Center news agency reported from Chechnya
about a battle that took place in the area of the village Bamut in Achkhoi-Martan district,
Province Chechnya of the Caucasus Emirate, between the Mujahideen and Russian invaders
from the Russian terrorist group of GRU (military intelligence) special troops on Sunday and
Monday, March 13 and March 14. The KC correspondent reported with reference to interception
of Russian troops radio communications that at least 4 to 5 Russian soldiers had been
eliminated and 2 others wounded by the Mujahideen.
El Universal
Granma
LANIC
Latin American Herald
Tribune
Latin American Post
Latin Business Chronicle
Latinamerica Press
MercoPress
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Caucasian Knot – On March 13 and 14, in Kabardino-Balkaria, two attacks on law enforcers
were committed; fortunately, without victims.
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APA – The OSCE’s monitoring on the line of contact of Azerbaijani and Armenian troops failed
today. Today the vehicles carrying OSCE representatives stuck in the swamp in that area. The
vehicles were removed from the swamp with the help of the local residents and equipment
Santiago Times
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Steve LeVine – BP and the Coming New Struggle in Baku Oil
Trinidad Express
Middle East
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Prensa Latina
Tico Times
Venezuela Analysis
Foreign Ministries
Al Sumaria – Eight people were killed and 12 others were wounded when a suicide bomber blew
a car bomb next to a workers gathering in central Fallujah. The suicide bomber blew himself up Afghanistan
inside the car bomb killing and wounding a number of people, police said
Albania
Voices of Iraq – Quick Response forces arrested on Tuesday eight al-Qaeda wanted men in
Algeria
northern Wassit, commander of the QRD said.
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Khaleej Times – Kurdish guerrillas fighting Turkish forces no longer believe they can achieve
their aims through violence and would disarm if their leader were freed from prison, a former
commander says.
Argentina
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Al Manar – Violent clashes broke out early Tuesday in occupied Jerusalem between hundreds of
Palestinians and Israeli occupation police amid heightened anger at the opening of a synagogue
a few meters away from the holy Aqsa mosque
Australia

Jerusalem Post – Hamas on Tuesday called on Palestinians to launch an intifada to prevent the
“Zionist plot” to take over Jerusalem. In an interview with Al Jazeera, Musa Abu Marzouk,
deputy chairman of the Hamas political bureau, urged the Palestinians to join forces against
Israel’s “intentions” to drive out Muslims and Christians from Jerusalem.
Azerbaijan

ynet - Fatah’s military wing, the al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades, announced Tuesday that they are
demanding the Palestinian Authority leadership to allow them to resume the armed struggle
against Israel and release the terrorists arrested by Palestinian security forces. A statement
issued by the organization, whose vast majority has disarmed, noted “We intend on preventing
any attempts to judaize Jerusalem” and “the ongoing violation of the al-Aqsa Mosque opened
the gates to a campaign against the enemy without limitations.”
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Naharnet – Lebanese Citizen Arrested for Allegedly Spying for Israel
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SANA – Italian President Giorgio Napolitano and his wife will pay a three-day state visit to Syria
this week upon an invitation extended by President Bashar al-Assad
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SANA – Syrian Minister of Agriculture and Agrarian Reform Adel Safar has warned that food
deficit in the Arab world is likely to reach USD 27 billion in 2010 and USD 40 to 50 billion in
2020.
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Austria
Bahrain
Bangladesh
Belarus
Belgium
Bhutan
Bolivia
Bosnia Herzegovina
Botswana
Brazil
Bulgaria
Al Arabiya – Yemen accused northern rebels on Tuesday of violating a ceasefire deal with Sanaa
Cambodia
aimed at a war that drew in neighboring top oil exporter Saudi Arabia. “The (rebels) returned
again to some sites after leaving, established new checkpoints, and committed numerous
Canada
violations and attacks
Chile
BBC – Two al-Qaeda militants killed in Yemen have been identified, government officials have
said. A third suspected senior militant has also reportedly been killed in two days of air raids by
China
the Yemeni airforce.
Columbia
Saba – The Chinese military ship “Shan LOG” left on Tuesday the port of Aden after a goodwill
visit to the port lasted several days
Croatia
Iran
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Armenia
Cuba
Radio Zamaneh – Tehran Security authorities announced that police forces have been deployed
all across Tehran to ensure the security of the city adding that the number of deployed forces
will increase in the coming hours. The heavy security measures are “a preventive act in
anticipation of disturbers of public peace and order in the events of the last Wednesday Eve of
the year,” according to the authorities.
Cyprus
Czech Republic
Denmark
Ecuador
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Payvand – Photos: Assailants attack Iranian opposition leader’s home
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Intellibriefs – A senior Iranian aerospace official announced here in Tehran that President
Egypt
Ahmadinejad’s declaration about sending heavier homemade satellites into the higher orbits will
El Salvador
come into effect in two years
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Press TV – Iran’s Guardian Council has approved the budget for the next Iranian calendar year
which allows the Iranian president to go ahead with his plan to cut costly state subsidies.

ITIC – Following the publication of the preliminary results of the general elections for the Iraqi
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Estonia
Ethiopia
3/24/2010
Peace Like A River
parliament held this week, Iran’s conservative media has expressed satisfaction over what
appears to be a success for the main Shi’ite factions which took part in the elections.
Page 23 of 27
Finland
France
Rosatom – The strength and tightness testing of the leak-tight enclosure system (LES) was
successfully carried out at Bushehr NPP (the Islamic Republic of Iran) being built by JSC
Atomstroyexport.
Georgia
scientist Abd Al-Qadr Khan denied a report in the Washington Post newspaper yesterday about
Tehran’s contacts with Pakistan two decades ago vis-à-vis purchasing an atom bomb.
Guatemala
Mehr – Tehran and Islamabad will sign the operating contract of gas export from Iran to
Pakistan by Friday, the Iranian deputy oil minister said here on Tuesday. The Mehr News
Agency quoted Hojjatollah Ghanimifard as saying that the contract will be inked in Turkey,
adding, Pakistan has declared its readiness to transit gas to India.
Honduras
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IRNA – An informed source told IRNA late Monday night President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has
approved of appointing Mahdi Safari as Iran’s new ambassador to China
India

Asharq Al Awsat – Khalid Bin Laden, son of Al Qaeda chief Osama Bin Laden, has called on Iran
to release the members of his family who have been “imprisoned” by Tehran, stressing that the
Iranians have rejected several requests by “scholars and dignitaries to mediate their release.”
Indonesia
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Germany
Iran MFA – Bushehr power plant is not Iran’s last big project, he said, adding that the country is
Ghana
in need of 20 more power plants similar to that of Bushehr. Iran may consider inking
agreements with other countries capable of constructing large power plants upon schedule in
Great Britain
the future, he said.
Greece
MEMRI – In an interview in Pakistan with the Iranian news agency IRNA, Pakistani nuclear
Hungary
Iceland
Iran
Iraq
South Asia
Ireland
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IRIN – With the exception of small pockets of resistance, Taliban fighters have been driven out
of Marjah town in Helmand Province, southern Afghanistan, but many local people are
struggling to return to some kind of normality and are fearful of the future
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Star and Stripes – Marines endure fleas, flies, filth in Marjah
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AFPS – In the Nad-e Ali district of Helmand province today, Afghan and international forces
captured several men, including a senior Nad-e Ali Taliban commander suspected of providing
insurgents with weapons and illegal explosive material.
Jordan
Pentagon – The Department of Defense announced today the death of a Marine who was
supporting Operation Enduring Freedom. Cpl. Jonathan D. Porto, 26, of Largo, Fla., died March
14 while supporting combat operations in Helmand province, Afghanistan
Kenya
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Israel
Italy
Japan
Kazakhstan
Kyrgyzstan
Defense Tech – I was on a conference call last week with JIEDDO commander Lt. Gen. Michael
Laos
Oates, who discussed IED networks in Afghanistan, where IED attacks have doubled over the
past year. While Oates was careful not to reveal much in the way of breaking news, he provided
Latvia
some interesting detail on the bomb networks in Afghanistan.
Lebanon
Telegraph – The Taliban’s chief military commander was in secret talks with Hamid Karzai’s
family just weeks before his arrest by Pakistan intelligence officers, it has been claimed.
Libya
AKI - Top Afghan Taliban commanders arrested in Pakistan last month are living in comfortable
Lithuania
safe houses run by the country’s top intelligence service, or ISI, as they are considered the
main avenue for reconciliation with Taliban leaders. Sources in the Pakistani security agencies
Luxembourg
believe they are the key to the Taliban leaders and since they are Pakistani hands, the process
has to be conducted through Pakistan and secure the country’s strategic interests after
Madagascar
international forces leave Afghanistan
Malaysia
RFERL – The chief minister of Pakistan’s Punjab Province, Shahbaz Sharif, is under fire for
asking the Taliban not to attack his home province in retribution for counterinsurgent
Mexico
operations. Sharif’s Pakistani Muslim League Nawaz Group (PML-N) is considered a conservative
Moldova
party that wants to woo the Islamist vote.
Dawn – A US missile strike and clashes between extremist gunmen and tribesmen killed at least Mongolia
20 militants on Tuesday in northwest Pakistan near the Afghan border, officials said.
Morocco
Geo – A blast occurred near Chandni Chowk in Garden area of Karachi on Tuesday, killing one
woman and injuring three others, including children. According to SP Umar Farooq, the blast
Mozambique
left four people injured, including women. The police sources said that unidentified men hurled
Myanmar
explosives in trash bump
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The News – Police have seized 4.5 tonnes of explosives, rifles and suicide vests during raids in
Lahore, officials said on Tuesday.
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Times of India – Three persons, including a policeman, were killed and eight others with three
securitymen among them, injured as militants struck at two crowded places in Srinagar and
Sopore township of Baramulla district within a space of nearly seven hours

UPI – Mumbai police have arrested two men suspected of planning terrorist attacks on the
Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, a fuel storage depot and a shopping center.

Colombo Page – Sri Lanka’s former military chief and defeated presidential candidate General
(retired) Sarath Fonseka appeared before the first of the two scheduled court martial
proceedings held today at the Navy headquarters in Colombo
Far East & Pacific
Namibia
Nepal
Netherlands
New Zealand
Nicaragua
Nigeria
Norway
Oman
Pakistan
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Bangkok Post – Red-shirt protesters splashed blood in front of the entrance to Government
House late Tuesday afternoon, in a brahman-like ritual aimed at toppling the government

RSIS – The Abhisit government continues to hold sway despite the haunting by Thaksin’s Red
Shirts. Both camps are wrestling for power although Abhisit appears to hold the upper hand.
Will the masses be able to tilt this delicate balance of power (PDF)
Paraguay

Chong Wook Chung, RSIS – The Korean Peninsula in China’s Grand Strategy: China’s Role in
Dealing with North Korea’s Nuclear Quandary
Philippines

Xinhua – China on Tuesday reaffirmed its commitment to developing a good-neighbor
relationship with India and urged joint efforts to solve the border issue. Qin made the
comments amid Indian Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao’s ongoing visit to the United States.
Poland
Yonhap – South Korean Foreign Minister Yu Myung-hwan left for China on Wednesday for talks
Qatar
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Panama
Peru
Portugal
3/24/2010
Peace Like A River
expected to focus on resuming six-nation talks on ending North Korea’s nuclear programs and
other bilateral issues.
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UK FCO – Continuing his visit to China, David Miliband met with Chinese Foreign Minister Yang
Jiechi, Premier Wen Jiabao and State Counsellor Dai Bingguo to discuss major international
foreign policy issues
OGJ – PetroVietnam Gas Corp. (PV Gas) has formed a partnership with a Chevron Corp.-led
consortium to construct a $1 billion pipeline that would transport natural gas from Chevron’s
fields in southern Vietnam to the Mekhong Delta region
Europe
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Romania
Russia
Rwanda
Saudi Arabia
Khaleej Times – Three grenades exploded in a Thai military base in central Bangkok on Monday,
Senegal
wounding two soldiers, the military said, as anti-government protesters massed at another
barracks on the outskirts of the city
Serbia
AP – From the safety of a forest camp, a commander of a new Indonesian militant group looks
Slovakia
into a camera and ridicules the notorious extremist group Jemaah Islamiyah: They are not
violent enough, come and join us, he shouts, an automatic rifle in one hand. The emergence of Slovenia
the previously unknown group calling itself al-Qaida in Aceh shows how Southeast Asian
South Africa
militants are adapting even amid a Western-funded crackdown that began following the 2002
Bali nightclub bombings and has taken out scores of top leaders.
South Korea
Brisbane Times – Yesterday Father Dave was among church and community leaders who
Spain
gathered to protest at the impending deportation of Dr Leghaei, the moderate Iranian Shi’ite
preacher who is not allowed to know why he has been ordered to leave Australia or why ASIO
Sri Lanka
considers him a risk. After 11 years of failed appeals, all the way to the High Court, Dr Leghaei
had been given a deadline of Friday to leave.
Sudan
SMH – The Chinese-born benefactor of the former defence minister Joel Fitzgibbon says she
Sweden
fears arrest and ”prolonged criminal investigation under incarceration” by Chinese authorities if
a document she claims is forged is published. Other documents and information obtained by
The Age from several sources indicate Ms Liu has developed close ties to Bank of China
executives and other Chinese officials in the course of expanding her $60 million Australia
property portfolio.
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Page 24 of 27
Russia Today – The Nord Stream pipeline project is close to securing $5.5 billion worth of
finance, with nearly 30 foreign banks expected to approve loans later on Tuesday. Things may
run less smoothly for another Russian-backed project South stream, as gas consumption
plummeted in Europe last year.
RIA Novosti – Ukraine is seeking to modernize its gas transportation system to make it more
competitive, Prime Minister Mykola Azarov said on Tuesday. Azarov said Ukraine would
negotiate with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and the World Bank on
cooperation in the implementation of infrastructure and investment projects.
euobserver – The Danish minister of justice has called on the European Commission to put a
stop to a lawsuit by a Saudi lawyer who is using the UK’s famously libel-happy courts to go
after Danish newspapers for their publication of cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed.
EurActiv – Finance ministers from the 16-country euro zone agreed on Monday (15 March) to
mobilise financial aid for Greece rapidly if needed, but revealed little of how their standby plan
for the debt-stricken nation would work
Switzerland
Taiwan
Tajikistan
Tanzania
Thailand
Tunisia
Turkey
Uganda
Ukraine
Uruguay
Uzbekistan
Vatican
Venezuela
Vietnam
Zimbabwe
Defense
Javno – Croatian Prime Minister Jadranka Kosor said on Tuesday she believed that an upcoming Ministries
EU-Balkans summit would take place despite uncertainty over participation of Serbian and
Kosovo leaders.
Albania

Prague Monitor – The Chamber of Deputies Friday approved the proposal that British experts
should assist with training at the Czech Military Academy in Vyškov, south Moravia, until
October 2015
Argentina

Information Dissemination – The German Navy’s Lack of Power Projection
Australia
Africa
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Armenia
Austria
Garowe – Somalia’s embattled government has signed a power-sharing agreement with an
Islamist militia, Ahlu-Sunnah Wal-Jamaa that is backing its much-awaited military offensives
against powerful Islamist insurgency. The agreement gives Ahlu-Sunnah militia, which holds
several towns and districts in central Somalia, five ministerial posts, diplomatic posts as well as
senior positions in the police and intelligence services.
Azerbaijan
Daily Champion – There was pandemonium yesterday in the oil city of Warri, Delta State, as
four governors escaped death when two bombs planted by the Movement for the Emancipation
of the Niger Delta (MEND) exploded at the government house annex, venue of the Vanguard
Newspapers post-amnesty dialogue
China
Bahrain
Bangladesh
Belarus
CSM – Inside Al Shabab: How the Somalia militant group rules through fear; As the Somalia
government fends off militant group Al Shabab, the Al Qaeda-linked insurgency shows its power Belgium
through intimidation of a whistle-blower.
Bolivia
Ennahar – The Mauritanian national “Abou Mohamed the Mauritanian”, accused of belonging to
Bosnia Herzegovina
terrorist groups was presented yesterday before the criminal court of Algiers. “Abu Mohamed
the Mauritanian” joined the terrorist groups in 2007 helped by Abu Zahra, who had made him
Brazil
an appointment in Timbuktu in Mali to put him in contact with terrorists in the Algerian Sahara.
Abu Mohamed had left Mauritania in 2007 to Mali where he found the two terrorists Abu Zahra
Bulgaria
and Khattab, who were responsible for receiving new recruits.
Cambodia
Russian Railways – During a working visit to Libya on 14 March, Russian Railways President
Vladimir Yakunin travelled to construction zones involved in a project to lay a modern highCanada
speed rail track more than 550 km in length on the Sirt – Benghazi route, to run along the
Chile
Mediterranean coast and link major Libyan cities
Nosint – Although the Asia–Paci?c region remained the main destination for Russian arms
exports for 2005–2009, accounting for 69 per cent of Russian arms exports, Russia has
significantly increased its volume and share of deliveries to North Africa in recent years.
Columbia
Croatia
Czech Republic
Denmark
State Dept – The United States welcomes the decision of the governments of Algeria, Burkina
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Page 25 of 27
Faso, Chad, Libya, Mali, Mauritania, and Niger to meet on March 16 in Algiers to collectively
confront the threat of terrorism

Magharebia – Algerian security forces dismantled a terror-support group in Bordj Menaïel,
L’Expression reported on Tuesday (March 16th). Six suspects, aged between 20 and 30, are
accused of providing logistical support to al-Qaeda’s El Ansar brigade and informing terrorists
about the movements of security services in the region
Ecuador
Egypt
Estonia
Finland
France
Georgia
Germany
Great Britain
Greece
Hungary
Iceland
India
Indonesia
Ireland
Israel
U.S. Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates, right, escorts Singapore
Deputy Prime Minister and Defense Minister Teo Chee Hean into
Italy
the Pentagon, March 16, 2010. The two defense leaders will hold
Japan
security discussions on a broad range of global and regional
Jordan
issues. (photo by R. D. Ward)
Kazakhstan
The Global War
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Kenya
Asia Times – The diplomatic quarrel between the United States and Israel has reached crisis
levels because when Vice President Joseph Biden said provocative steps by Tel Aviv endangered Kyrgyzstan
the safety of US troops, he was echoing the collective view of top US military commanders
Latvia
throughout the Middle East
Lebanon
US Embassy Israel – Remarks by VP Biden; “The Enduring Partnership Between the United
States and Israel” Tel Aviv University
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Lithuania
NOW Lebanon – US Special Envoy to the Middle East George Mitchell delayed on Tuesday a visit
Malaysia
to region, Israeli President Shimon Peres’ press office said, amid heightened tensions between
the two close allies.
Mexico
AP – The announcement of the approval of 1,600 new Jewish homes in east Jerusalem, which
Mongolia
the Palestinians want to be the capital of a future state, while Biden was in Israel deeply
embarrassed the U.S. administration, and Clinton has called it an insult. The uproar has led
Namibia
many to believe that U.S-Israeli ties may be at their lowest point in history.
State Dept – Well, we – Israel is a strategic ally of the United States and will continue to be so. Nepal
The Vice President, during his trip to Israel last week, restated that commitment.
Netherlands

UPI – Most of the U.S. Special Operations forces in Afghanistan now are under direct control of
Gen. Stanley McCrystal, the top U.S. commander in that country said.
New Zealand

US Navy – The Navy’s Fleet Survey Team (FST) is completing the final report of a survey it
conducted earlier in March of the Karnaphuli River at Chittagong, Bangladesh, strengthening
the relationship between the Bangladesh and U.S. navies
Nigeria
Norway
Peru
Sights & Sounds
Philippines
Read more of Cables, dispatches and memoranda »
Poland
Sphere: Related Content
Portugal
Tags: Israel
Romania
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Russia
Saudi Arabia
« Older entries
Serbia
Slovakia
Slovenia
South Africa
South Korea
Spain
Sri Lanka
Sweden
Switzerland
Thailand
Turkey
Uganda
Ukraine
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Page 26 of 27
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