· May, 2007

Stories about War & Conflict from May, 2007

D.R. of Congo: Park rangers attacked by rebels

  28 May 2007

“At 4h00 this morning Mai Mai rebels attacked the Burusi Patrol Post here in Virunga, leaving one park ranger dead, four critically wounded, as well as kidnapping Officer Monya. There were 10 Park Rangers stationed at Burusi, including the Conservateur and the Conservateur Communicateur,” writes Atamato from Virunga National Park...

Niger: environmental war

  28 May 2007

“Earlier this year, I mentioned the emergence of a new rebel movement among the Touareg minority in northern Niger. Since then, the Mouvement des Nigeriens pour la Justice (MNJ) has stepped up its activity, claiming responsibility for a pitched battle with government troops in March and a recent attack on...

Iraq: US and Iran Meet Over Iraq

“Iranian and American officials (their ambassadors to Baghdad as far as I know) will meet to talk tomorrow in Baghdad. The dialogue, however, started about a week ago…. I'm honestly not expecting much good from such meetings, not in the foreseeable future because the tone of their dialogue on the...

Cambodia: Myanmar and Cambodia

  28 May 2007

The latest cartoon by Cambodian blogger/cartoonist Sacrava mocks the recent contacts between Cambodia's strong man Hun Sen and Myanmar's generals. Myanmar recently extended pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi's detention for one more year.

Syria: Presidential Referendum and Lebanon Clashes

Today, Syria is reelecting president Bashar Assad for a new seven-year term in office. The process is done through a referendum, which means there will be no other challengers. The referendum paper has a green circle that says "Yes" and a gray one that says "No". The result is expected to be 99.xx% in favour of the president - as is the tradition in Syria for the last 37 years. Yazan Badran sums up the reactions of Syrian bloggers here.

India: Muslims and the Media

  25 May 2007

After an attack on a mosque in Hyderabad, is the media missing the bigger picture? iFaqeer comments “Of course, he is taking it from the perspective of a “Security” hawk within the Indian establishment and not looking, as I am trying to do, beyond the tension between Muslims and other...

Sri Lanka: S. Bose(1975 – 2007), Poet, Editor & Writer

  25 May 2007

The following poem was written by S. Bose, a writer-poet (Tamil) from Vavuniya, Sri Lanka and was translated by a friend of mine for Global Voices Online readers. Chandrabose Sudhakar or S.Bose was shot dead by armed men in his own home on April 16th, 2007. The killers who spoke...

Turkey: Plans to Attack Kurds

Turkish blogger Murat Altinbasak links to a news article which discusses Tuesday's deadly rush hour bombing at an Ankara shopping district in which at least six people died and more than 100 were injured. His conclusions are: “Turkey plans for attack on Kurds.”

Palestine: Explosions Close to Home

‘We go to sleep now waiting for the next round of Israeli attacks against “Hamas targets”. That is what they are calling them now. Last night, I couldn't sleep again. The drones were waxing and waning in intensity overhead. And then of course the Apaches. And the explosions. But this...

Palestine: Political Groups Silent on Lebanon Fighting

Palestinian Pundit Tony publishes an interview conducted by the Electronic Intifada (EI)with blogger and professor Asa'ad Abu Khalil regarding the latest fighting in Lebanon here. “EI: What has been the reaction to these events Lebanon and are any groups or parties condemning the bombardment of Nahr al-Bared camp? ABUKHALIL: As...

Lebanon: Urgent Aid Needed

‘They called it a second nakba (catastrophe). “The first one in 1948 was a black and white nakba, it was easy to know who our enemies were. This one is more colorful.” This is how Palestinian refugees from Nahr al Bared camp described their flight to Badawi refugee camp, about...

Lebanon: Fighting Resumes

Writing from Lebanon Blacksmith Jade says: “After a two-day long truce, fierce fighting in and around the Nahr el Bared refugee camp resumed on Thursday night as the Lebanese Army evacuated journalists, and intercepted a group of Fatah al Islam gunmen as they tried to flee the camp.”

Iran:Neo-Cons To Plot Iran Strategy Amid Caribbean Luxury

Thanks to Sibil Tala we get information about a “Neo-Con” led conference about Iran.According this information the workshop, entitled “Confronting The Iranian Threat: The Way Forward,” is to include “30 or so leading experts who will analyze the implications of Iran’s activities, the diplomatic challenges, military and intelligence capabilities, the...

Lebanon: Where's Our Patriotism?

After relegating herself to the status of spectator of the recent violence in Lebanon, Marie-Josee takes up her pen, this time to write about how the country's trivialization of the deaths of Lebanese soldiers shows a “fundamental lack of patriotism” (Fr) on the part of Lebanon's government and its people.