Stories about War & Conflict from February, 2008
Iran:Governor of Basra accused Iran of plotting his assassination
We read in Juan Cole’s blog that Al-Hayat reports in Arabic that the governor of Basra, Muhammad Misbah al-Wa'ili, has charged the Iranian deputy consul in that city of plotting his, al-Wa'ili's, assassination. He demanded that the central government look into the charges.Watch video too.
The groundswell of opposition to AFRICOM from African bloggers
At the tail-end of U.S. President George Bush’s six-day, five-country farewell tour of Africa came the announcement the Pentagon’s plans for a second U.S. military base on the continent of Africa is dead. Questions from the blogshpere flew: What exactly are U.S. interests in Africa?
Iran:UN report on Iranian nuclear activity
Negarakha says[Fa] a UN report on Iranian nuclear activity just got announced and we don't know that we should be happy or sad. The blogger says while Iranian government celebrates,western countries say the report proves new sanctions should be imposed on Iran.Read about report here.
Serbia: Bloggers Discuss Rally and Rioting in Belgrade
Yesterday, Kosovo is Serbia rally was held in Belgrade. According to unofficial sources, 150,000-200,000 people attended it to protest against unilateral proclamation of independence of Kosovo. The rally went peacefully but was followed by rioting. Buildings of the American, Croatian and Turkish embassies were set on fire. Many people were injured, at least one person was killed. Sinisa Boljanovic translates reactions by several Serbian bloggers who blog at B92's blog portal.
Sri Lanka: Tamil Identity
groundviews on the idea of Tamil identity and nationalism in Sri Lanka.
Palestine in the Aftermath of Kosovo
Diana, from Kabobfest, discusses Palestinian politics, following the declaration of Kosovo as an independent state.
Lebanon: US Embassy in Serbia on Fire
From Lebanon, Sophia keeps us up-to-date with the attack on the US Embassy in Serbia in this post.
Middle East: Wishing Kosovo all the Best!
Bloggers and some politicians in the Middle East were quick to draw parallels between Kosovo's independence from Serbia and the Palestine Question. Following the news from the Balkans, here's a snapshot of more reactions from Israel, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Egypt.
Serbia: Political Unrest, Now and 17 Years Ago
Anegdote watched the rioting in Belgrade from his balcony and wrote about how history seems to be repeating itself: “Many people were injured in Belgrade today, and one person died. But that feels like nothing compared to knowing that lunatics are once again politicians and that people are capable of...
Serbia: “People's Protests”
Hugh Griffiths writes on his B92 blog about the history of the “so-called ‘people’s protests'” in Serbia – “which are in actual fact not organised by the people themselves, but by those working in state institutions.”
Serbia: Belgrade Riots
Limbic Nutrition on the situation in Belgrade: “The violence tonight was fully expected. Western embassies were texting and emailing their citizens all week warning us to stay away from the demonstrations. Since Monday, the day after rioters attacked the US and Slovenian embassies in response to Kosovo’s declaration of independence,...
Serbia: Twitter Updates from Belgrade
Mini-updates on Twitter from Belgrade 2.0 blogger Viktor Marković are here.
Armenia: Karabakh Control
Nazarian reports that a day after the 19 February presidential election marked the 20th anniversary of the Karabakh movement. Demanding the unification of the territory of Nagorno Karabakh with Armenia proper and causing a war with neighboring Azerbaijan, Nazarian wonders if it the Karabakh movement wasn't a mistake now that...
Afghanistan: Local Charity Aids Needy People
Mohammad reports that Ahmad Shah Massoud Foundation distributes winter aid for hundreds returning refugee families in the north and south of the Afghanistani capital, Kabul. Ahmad Shah Massoud had been a Defense Minister before he was killed in a suicide attack in 2001.
Colombia: Witnessing a Murder
Six years later, Catalina Restrepo of Cosas del Alma [es] shares her difficult experience of witnessing a violent murder in her town in Colombia, as she prepared to go to school.
Kosovo: Views from the Russophone Blogosphere
According to the Yandex Blogs portal, over 3,700 posts on Kosovo independence have appeared in the Russian-language blogosphere in the past three days. Some of these posts have received dozens, if not hundreds, of comments. Below are a few snippets of this lively discussion, all translated from Russian.
Afghanistan: The two Kandahar bombings
Peter Marton analyzes the two recent bloody bombings in Kandahar, an uneasy province of Afghanistan, both of them with a lot of random killing.
Spanish reactions to Kosovo's independence
Two days after Kosovo's declaration of independence in spite of Serbia's opposition, the debate about the merits of recognising it as a state is still raging. Within the European Union, countries such as France, UK, Germany or Italy have recognized it, while others such as Slovakia and Spain have strongly opposed it as they consider that the declaration does not respect international law.
Myanmar: Suicide Attacks
Dawn reflects on a recent suicide bombing attack in Myanmar.
Serbia: Bloggers Discuss Kosovo Independence
Sinisa Boljanovic translates some more reactions from the Serbian blogosphere to the declaration of Kosovo independence.
Serbia: Anger, disbelief over proclamation of Kosovo independence
Ljubisa Bojic translates some reactions from the Serbian blogosphere to the declaration of Kosovo independence.