Open Source Daily INTSUM: Wednesday, Nov. 2, 2005

[Airbornelawyer]

From Various Sources:

Worldwide

• CrisisWatch N°27, 1 November 2005 "Twelve conflict situations around the world deteriorated in October 2005, according to the new issue of CrisisWatch,* released today. …" (Source: International Crisis Group)

Middle East

• Security incidents in Iraq, Nov 2 (Source: Reuters Alertnet)

• Iraq car bomb kills 23 at Shi'ite mosque (Source: Reuters Alertnet)

• Country needs you, Iraq tells Saddam's officers "The Iraqi government issued a plea on Wednesday to former junior officers in Saddam Hussein's military who were sacked by the U.S. occupiers after his fall to return to the army as it battles a fierce Sunni Arab insurgency. …" (Source: Reuters Alertnet)

• Facilitating "The Coalition remains quite active along the Syrian border in the area of Qaim. In Husaybah, multiple airstrikes were conducted on al Qaeda safe houses and resulted in the destruction of an IED cell and the death of yet another al Qaeda facilitator, Abu Asim.…" (Source: Bill Roggio's blog, The Fourth Rail)

Asia-Pacific

• Militants stage attacks in Thai south "Militants launched a series of bomb attacks in Thailand's restive Muslim south on Wednesday, causing a fire at a gas station and partial blackout on the last day of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, officials said. …" (Source: Reuters Alertnet)

• Afghan police kill Taliban commander. "Police killed a suspected Taliban commander and another insurgent in a three-hour gunbattle near Kabul airport, said Afghan officials on Tuesday. …" (Source: Daily Times (Pakistan))

• Australia warned of terror threat "Australia has received specific information this week about a possible terrorist threat to the country, Prime Minister John Howard has said…." (Source: BBC)

• Sri Lanka: Security Situation Report. (Source: Sri Lanka Army)

• South Asia Terrorism Update (Source: South Asia Terrorism Portal)

Africa

• Ethiopia clashes kill 23, special forces in capital "Twenty-three people including several women were killed in the Ethiopian capital on Wednesday, hospital sources said, when police opened fire at stone-throwing youths in the worst anti-government protests in months. …"(Source: Reuters Alertnet)

• DRC-UGANDA: Hunt for LRA rebels intensifies, MONUC deploys troops to border "The hunt for Ugandan Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) rebels in northeastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) intensified on Wednesday when the UN mission there, known as MONUC, deployed a team of observers to the border with Sudan and announced that it would send 150 peacekeepers by the end of the week…." (Source: Reuters Alertnet)

The Americas

• Venezuela threatens US over F-16s "President Hugo Chavez has warned the US he could give some of his country's F-16 fighter jets to Cuba or China…." (Source: BBC)

• USSOUTHCOM Headline News (Microsoft Word format)

Europe

• Kosovo "army" threat adds to war of words "An armed group in Kosovo has given ethnic Albanian leaders until the end of the week to declare independence from Serbia, according to a communique published on Wednesday. …"(Source: Reuters Alertnet)

From the RFE/RL Newsline:

Transcaucasia And Central Asia

• U.S. GENERAL MEETS WITH KYRGYZ PRESIDENT
  General John Abizaid, commander of U.S. Central Command (CentCom), met with Kyrgyz President Kurmanbek Bakiev in Bishkek on 1 November to discuss bilateral cooperation, RFE/RL's Kyrgyz Service reported. "Our country adheres closely to its international obligations, both bilateral and multilateral, which is demonstrated by U.S.-Kyrgyz cooperation in the fight against international terrorism and the use of the Ganci air base by coalition forces," Bakiev told a news conference. Bakiev also told reporters that the two men planned to discuss "a new draft agreement" on the U.S. air base in Kyrgyzstan. Reports did not provide further information on the base-agreement talks.

• REPORT SAYS UZBEKISTAN IS DE-MINING BORDERS
  Uzbek forces have removed land mines along the Uzbek-Kyrgyz border and are working to de-mine the Uzbek-Tajik border, the UN Integrated Regional Information Networks (IRIN) reported on 31 October, quoting Kyrgyz officials. IRIN said that Kyrgyz border troops have inspected the border and declared it mine-free. Meanwhile, Jonmahmad Rajabov, the head of a Tajik de-mining center, said that Tajikistan "welcomes" Uzbek efforts to rid the border of land mines. Uzbekistan mined its borders with Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan in 1999-2000 to ward off incursions by religious extremists.

Eastern Europe

• BELARUSIAN MILITARY DENIES 'AGGRESSION' AGAINST LITHUANIA
  The Belarusian military has expressed its surprise at Lithuanian President Valdas Adamkus's statement that Belarus might attack Lithuania, Belapan reported on 1 November, citing Colonel Ihar Azaronak, chief of the Western Operational and Tactical Command of Belarus's Air Defense Forces. Adamkus told the German daily "Die Welt" on 26 October that he does not exclude the possibility of Belarusian armed forces attacking Lithuania. Azaronak said there has been no transfer of troops near the Belarusian-Lithuanian border nor changes in the schedules of units on routine and combat-alert duty. Adamkus' statement might have been due to an army exercise held in October in the northwestern sector, but the exercise had been scheduled and all neighboring countries had been notified, Azaronak added.

Eastern Europe

• ALBANIA RETIRES ITS MIG AIRCRAFT
  Albanian General Pellumb Qazimi told Reuters in Tirana on 1 November that his country's remaining handful of decrepit Soviet-designed MiG jet fighters has been retired from service and will be sold for scrap or to other buyers. He said that if anyone wants to buy the fighters "they are welcome," adding that some interested parties want to "turn them into bars." The planes, which took the lives of 35 Albanian personnel but fought no enemy, will not be sold for military purposes except to museums. Qazimi said Albania is now seeking to build up a fleet of modern multirole helicopters able to "interact" with NATO aircraft.

Southwestern Asia And The Middle East

• AHVAZ BOMBERS ARRESTED IN IRAN
  The public affairs office of the Ministry of Intelligence and Security announced on 1 November that the individuals responsible for the 15 October bombings in the southwestern city of Ahvaz have been arrested, Fars News Agency reported. These arrests prevented future bombings that are intended to create ethnic differences, according to the ministry. On 30 October, the ministry announced that a total of 30 people were arrested in connection with bombings in Ahvaz in June and October, IRNA reported. Everybody reportedly pleaded guilty, and some said they brought the explosives from Al-Basrah, Iraq. The ringleaders reportedly were identified and their names submitted to the Foreign Ministry, which will submit extradition requests. Intelligence and Security Minister Hojatoleslam Gholam Hussein Mohseni-Ejei said on 29 October that some of the people who were arrested are connected with the United Kingdom, ISNA reported. Interior Minister Hojatoleslam Mustafa Purmohammadi said on 29 October that British forces are active in southern Iraq and are therefore responsible for events that occur in Iran, ISNA reported.