[Airbornelawyer]

East Asia and the Pacific

• Indonesia: Final Round of Aceh Disarmament "Rebels in the Indonesian province of Aceh have begun handing in the remainder of their weapons. The fourth and final round of decommissioning is expected to last around four days. After this, the last of the Indonesian troops and police reinforcements sent to the province will be withdrawn. The moves are part of a peace deal between rebels of the Free Aceh Movement (Gam) and the government which ended 26 years of bitter conflict.…" (BBC)

• Australia: Australia’s National Security: Defence Update 2005 "A major review of Australia’s National security has been released today outlining current threats and challenges facing Australia and the measures the Howard Government is taking to keep Australia secure. Prime Minister John Howard today joined Defence Minister Robert Hill and Chief of the Defence Force Air Chief Marshal Angus Houston to launch the report, Australia’s National Security: Defence Update 2005, at Victoria Barracks in Sydney.…" (Australian Ministry for Defence)

• Australia: Army Battalion to Relocate to Adelaide "Army’s 3rd Battalion, the Royal Australian Regiment (3RAR), will relocate from Sydney to Adelaide as part of the Hardened and Networked Army strategy, Defence Minister Robert Hill announced today.Army’s 3rd Battalion, the Royal Australian Regiment (3RAR), will relocate from Sydney to Adelaide as part of the Hardened and Networked Army strategy, Defence Minister Robert Hill announced today.…" (Australian Ministry for Defence)

Europe

• France: Police Arrest More in Zarqawi-Linked Probe "French police seized weapons and arrested two people as part of a probe into an Islamic militant group said to have indirect links to al Qaeda's leader in Iraq, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, officials said on Thursday. The two arrests, on Wednesday, followed a string of dawn raids in the Paris region on Monday, when police arrested 25 people suspected of financing Islamic militancy by staging armed robberies. Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy, who has said the group has indirect links to key al Qaeda leaders and al-Zarqawi, told reporters explosives and weapons had been found in a car park in Clichy-sous-Bois, a northern suburb of Paris, on Wednesday.…" (Reuters Alertnet)

• United Kingdom: Britain drops plans to close "extremist" mosques "Britain announced on Thursday that it had dropped plans to close mosques deemed to be breeding grounds for extremism after opposition from police and the Muslim community. The controversial measure was proposed in the aftermath of suicide bomb attacks on London in July when four British Islamists killed themselves and 52 others on underground trains and a bus.…" (Reuters Alertnet)

• Sweden: Fire bombs thrown at Iraq voting station in Sweden "Fire bombs were thrown at a polling station for the Iraqi parliamentary election in northern Stockholm overnight but did not ignite, a police spokesman said on Thursday.…" (Reuters Alertnet)

Africa

• Ethiopia/Eritrea: Horn of Africa 'crisis', UN warns "The head of United Nations peacekeepers has warned of a "crisis" in the Horn of Africa, as UN troops started to leave Eritrea after being ordered out. Almost 90 western troops are leaving Eritrea. Jean-Marie Guehenno said he had never experienced a similar situation in 10 years in the job. …" (BBC)

• Rwanda: Rwandan rebels back from DR Congo "Fighters from the largest Rwandan rebel group based in Democratic Republic of the Congo have left their bases and returned home in order to disarm. Seraphin Bizimungu, known as General Amani, and 185 of his fighters crossed the border and were met by Rwandan army officers and demobilisation officials. The rebels were formed from ethnic Hutu extremists, who fled to DR Congo after the Rwandan genocide of 1994. …" (BBC)

• Sudan: Scores killed in ongoing clashes in West Darfur - ICRC "Continuing clashes between two communities of Arab nomads near the town of Zalingei in West Darfur have left around 60 people dead and hundreds of families displaced, aid workers said on Thursday.…" (Reuters Alertnet)

• Burundi: Burundi army says kills 120 rebels since October "Burundi's army has killed 120 fighters from the only remaining Hutu rebel group and captured more than 600 others since October in a major offensive in the rebels' stronghold.…" (Reuters Alertnet)

The Americas

• The Americas: USSOUTHCOM Headline News (Microsoft Word format)

• The Americas: NOTIMIL: Prensa al Día, defense and military news related to Ecuador and the Americas, provided by the Fuerzas Armadas Ecuatoriana. In Spanish.

• The Americas: Destaques da Imprensa, defense and military news related to Brazil and the Americas, provided by the Ministério da Defesa. In Portuguese.

• Colombia: Nueva brigada móvil se pone en marcha – New Mobile Brigade Starts Up - "Con la misión de fortalecer la capacidad ofensiva del Ejército Nacional en el área del Catatumbo (Norte de Santander) fue activada la Brigada Móvil 15 en la Escuela de Soldados Profesionales en Nilo (Cundinamarca)...." – With the mission of strengthening the offensive capacity of the Army in the area of the Catatumbo (Norte de Santander Department), the 15th Mobile Brigade was activated art the School of Professional Soldiers in Nilo (Cundinamarca Department). (Ejército Nacional de Colombia)