[Airbornelawyer]

Middle East:

• Iraq: Incidents in Iraq, Dec. 16 - (Reuters Alertnet)

• Middle East / South & Central Asia: Ongoing operations – Miscellaneous releases from U.S. Central Command.

• Iraq: Ongoing operations – Miscellaneous releases from Multi-National Force Iraq.

• Iraq: Iraq insurgents say election truce won't last - Iraqi secular insurgents and Islamist militants said on Friday they would soon resume attacks on U.S. troops and their Iraqi allies, saying they had only observed an election truce to let fellow Sunni Arabs vote.… (Reuters Alertnet)

• Iraq: Iraqi Army "Future Leaders" put through their paces at Baghdad academy - Situated near a pleasant suburb of southern Baghdad, in a bend of the River Tigris, is Al-Rustamayah Iraqi Military Academy (IMAR). This formidable looking building, which commands an area blessed with acres of date palms and small arable land to the south, is the training centre for potential officers wishing to join the new Iraqi Army.… (U.K. Ministry of Defence)

• Iraq/Bulgaria: Bulgaria begins withdrawing troops from Iraq - Bulgaria has begun withdrawing its 334-strong light infantry battalion from Iraq following the war-torn country's parliamentary elections this week, Bulgaria's Defence Ministry said on Friday.… (Reuters Alertnet)

• Israel/"Palestinian Authority": Palestinian gunmen kill West Bank settler - Palestinian gunmen killed a Jewish settler in a drive-by shooting in the occupied West Bank on Friday and wounded two other Israelis. ... Two militant groups, the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, part of the mainstream Fatah movement, and Islamic Jihad, claimed joint responsibility for Friday's shooting.… (Reuters Alertnet)

South & Central Asia:

• Afghanistan: Suicide bomber dies in attack on Kabul peacekeepers - A car bomb exploded in the Afghan capital on Friday between two Norwegian peacekeeping vehicles and near a building where a new parliament is to meet next week, killing the suicide attacker and wounding two passers-by. The explosion on a road between Kabul zoo and the former royal palace in the west of the city slightly damaged one of the Norwegian vehicles, but there were no casualties among the soldiers, a spokesman for the peacekeepers said. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack, saying the bomber had intended to target the "bogus" parliament but took the opportunity to attack the peacekeepers when he saw them.… (Reuters Alertnet)

• Pakistan/USA: - The mid-life upgrade (MLU) programme for Pakistan Air Force’s F-16 fleet will start in the first quarter of next year, defence sources told Daily Times. The US-assisted MLU programme will help enhance the operational capabilities and reliability of the F-16s, as the fleet will undergo structural and avionics up-gradation under this programme.… (Americans will upgrade Pakistani F-16s next yearDaily Times)

• Sri Lanka: Sri Lanka in new peace talks bid - The Sri Lankan government has formally invited the Tamil Tigers to restart peace talks and will agree to a rebel demand for them to be held overseas. The government had previously insisted talks be held in Sri Lanka. Last week, Japan offered to host new talks. The rebels and the government have observed a truce since 2002 but talks have been stalled since April 2003. … (BBC)

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

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

East Asia and the Pacific

• The Philippines: Negotiators hold meeting to prevent military-MILF rift - Government negotiators talking peace with the country’s largest Muslim rebel group, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, on Friday briefed senior security leaders on the progress of the negotiations. This was a government effort to calm down a brewing rift between the military and the MILF. The military has accused the MILF of violating a four-year-old truce. It claims to have uncovered secret MILF training courses and massive recruitment in at least 8 provinces and towns in the southern Philippines. The rebel group has strongly denied this.… (Manila Times)

• Indonesia/Thailand: Indonesia to propose joint patrol - President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono of Indonesia will propose a joint naval patrol with Thailand aimed at suppressing arms smuggling to Indonesia and militants creating unrest in Thailand's deep South. Gen Yudhoyono has been visiting Thailand yesterday and today at the invitation of the Thai government.… (Bangkok Post)

• Papua New Guinea/Australia: Australia Helps Strengthen PNG Defence Force - Australia will continue to help the Papua New Guinea Government to reform and strengthen its Defence Force and will focus on increasing PNG’s regional counter terrorism capabilities over the next year.… (Australian Department of Defence)