CONFLICT & TERR0R 12/27

Heavy sea battle in Sri Lanka: military and Tigers
Posted on Wednesday, December 26, 2007 at 5:51am
Sri Lanka's navy clashed with suspected Tamil Tiger vessels off the island's northern coast of Jaffna, the defence ministry and the rebels said. Full Story

Experts worry about college stadium security
Posted on Wednesday, December 26, 2007 at 5:57am
After more than a decade in counterterrorism, Jim McGee can no longer relax and enjoy watching a sports event. The fans look like potential victims of terrorism to the former FBI agent turned college instructor. The players are possible targets and the security gaps are easy to detect. Full Story

Army could be called for polls
Posted on Wednesday, December 26, 2007 at 8:25am
Interior Minister Hamid Nawaz Khan said on Tuesday that the army would be deployed at sensitive places across the country to assist police and Rangers during the January 8 elections, APP reported. He told Geo News that the Interior Ministry had not received requests from the provinces till yet regarding the armys deployment, adding that it was difficult to provide the number of sensitive locations where army and Rangers would be deployed. Full Story

Iraqi cabinet approves bill to free prisoners
Posted on Wednesday, December 26, 2007 at 8:27am
The Iraqi cabinet approved a draft law on Wednesday which could see thousands of prisoners freed, one of the main demands of Sunni Arab politicians boycotting the Shi'ite-led government in Baghdad. U.S. forces and Iraqi authorities each hold about 25,000 prisoners, many from the Sunni Arab community that fought an insurgency against the American-backed government after the overthrow of Saddam Hussein in 2003. Full Story

Gunmen in Somalia kidnap aid workers
Posted on Wednesday, December 26, 2007 at 8:28am
Security forces on Wednesday pursued and surrounded kidnappers who abducted two foreign aid workers in northern Somalia hours earlier, a regional official said. A witness said the victims, women from Spain and Argentina, were kidnapped by six gunmen near the building where they worked for the aid group Doctors Without Borders in the Puntland region. Full Story

Suicide attacks are part of al Qaeda's plan to disrupt Pak elections
Posted on Wednesday, December 26, 2007 at 8:31am
Pakistan's top security brass believe that the recent suicide attacks are part of a vicious campaign launched by al-Qaeda and its allied militant organisations to disrupt the January 8 elections. Security officials have termed the recurring suicide attacks, including the recent Charsadda bombing which targeted former Interior Minister, Aftab Ahmed Khan Sherpao, as a part of an al-Qaeda plan to derail the electoral process. Full Story

South Korea cabinet OKs probe of president-elect
Posted on Wednesday, December 26, 2007 at 8:33am
South Korea's cabinet on Wednesday approved a special counsel to look into securities fraud allegations against president-elect Lee Myung-bak, the presidential Blue House said in a statement. Conservative Lee will become the country's first president-elect to face a criminal investigation and the probe is likely to undermine his leadership when he takes office in late February. Full Story

France seeks return of Chad aid workers
Posted on Wednesday, December 26, 2007 at 6:14pm
Paris on Wednesday said it would seek the repatriation of six French aid workers after a Chadian court condemned them to eight years hard labour for the attempted kidnapping of 103 children from the former colony. The French foreign ministry said inquiries about repatriation to allow the six to serve their sentences in France had been made on Wednesday, immediately after the verdict was handed down. Agency reports suggested that the six members of the Zoes Ark charity could be returned to France in days. Full Story

Colombia approves Chavez hostage plan
Posted on Wednesday, December 26, 2007 at 6:15pm
Colombia agreed on Wednesday to allow Venezuelan planes and helicopters to land in the country and pick up three hostages held for years by Marxist guerrillas, including a child born in captivity. The plan was proposed earlier by Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, a fiery left-wing leader who has been negotiating with Colombia's guerrilla leaders and is authorized by them to receive the captives. Full Story

14 terrorists due to surrender in Western Algeria
Posted on Wednesday, December 26, 2007 at 6:17pm
Judicial police of the locality of Tlemcen (300 Kms west of Algiers) dismantled this month, two networks working for the support and supply of terrorist groups. Five terrorists were arrested bearing nicknames were arrested in the first operation at the small village of Tadjmout located in the southern borders of Tlemcen. Full Story

Karzai, Musharraf pledge cooperation on fighting militants, other issues
Posted on Wednesday, December 26, 2007 at 6:18pm
The presidents of Pakistan and Afghanistan pledged Wednesday to increase the cooperation of their intelligence agencies and tighten border controls in an effort to crack down on Taliban and al-Qaeda-linked militants along the two countries' chaotic border region. Full Story

Russian Withdraws Presidential Candidacy
Posted on Wednesday, December 26, 2007 at 6:19pm
The number of candidates challenging the Kremlin's choice for president dwindled Wednesday when the leader of a pro-business party dropped out of the race. Boris Nemtsov, a former deputy prime minister, said he was withdrawing so as not to split the vote with what he described as the only other remaining candidate from the liberal opposition, former Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov. Full Story

Colombians rescue kidnapped 9-year old
Posted on Wednesday, December 26, 2007 at 9:59pm
An elite anti-kidnapping force has rescued a 9-year old boy who was snatched seven months ago by leftist rebels, authorities said Wednesday. Police freed the boy Tuesday in the city of Neiva after several months of investigation, said Col. Jorge Armando Molina, head of police in the southern province of Huila. One person was arrested in connection with his abduction. Full Story

Thaksin faces arrest if he returns to Thailand: senior official
Posted on Thursday, December 27, 2007 at 12:23am
Deposed prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra would face arrest on corruption and fraud charges if he returned to Thailand, a senior official at the Attorney General's office said Thursday. "If they were in Thailand, police can arrest him and his wife because both are still wanted on Thai arrest warrants," Samphan Sarathana, chief of international affairs for the Attorney General, told AFP. Full Story

Musharraf, Karzai pledge to fight terror
Posted on Thursday, December 27, 2007 at 12:24am
The presidents of Pakistan and Afghanistan pledged during an unusually friendly meeting Wednesday to share intelligence and tighten border controls to quash rising militant attacks.

Talks between the two leaders  who frequently argue over the source of cross-border terrorism  came amid a wave of violence in Pakistan blamed on local Islamic extremists in the largely lawless border region. A suicide bombing during a prayer service at a mosque Friday killed 56 people and an attack on a military convoy in the area Sunday killed nine. Full Story

Militants free seven Pakistani security personnel: officials
Posted on Thursday, December 27, 2007 at 1:25am
Suspected pro-Taliban militants released seven Pakistani security personnel kidnapped about three weeks ago in a troubled tribal region near the Afghan border, officials said. The militants abducted the seven from two security posts in early December and then blew up the posts located around Khar, the main town of the Bajaur tribal district bordering Afghanistan. Full Story

Sri Lankan military bomb rebel navy basePosted on Thursday, December 27, 2007 at 1:26amAir force fighter planes destroyed a separatist Tamil Tiger rebel naval base in the country's north Thursday, a day after a fierce sea battle killed at least 40 rebels and 12 navy troops, Sri Lanka's military said. The planes bombed and destroyed a naval training camp in the northern rebel stronghold of Mullaitivu early Thursday, military spokesman Brig. Udaya Nanayakkara said. He did not give details of casualties. Full Story

Diplomats expelled from Afghanistan
Posted on Thursday, December 27, 2007 at 1:27am
The Afghan government expelled two senior European diplomats Thursday on accusations they held unauthorized meetings with Taliban militants, officials said. The diplomats  one worked for the U.N. Assistance Mission in Afghanistan and the other was the acting head of the European Union mission  had traveled to Musa Qala, a former Taliban stronghold in southern Helmand province on Monday, where they met with local leaders, said Aleem Siddique, a spokesman for the U.N. mission. Full Story

Some tourists shunning India's Goa over protests
Posted on Thursday, December 27, 2007 at 1:33am
Tourists are cancelling holidays to the Indian beach resort of Goa over fears of violent protests against government plans to build more industrial parks here, an official and a hotelier said. Opposition political parties and environmental groups have set a Friday deadline for visitors to leave the former Portuguese enclave on the Arabian Sea. Full Story

Putin heir Medvedev's popularity soars
Posted on Thursday, December 27, 2007 at 3:06am
The popularity of Russia's First Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev has more than doubled since President Vladimir Putin named him his preferred successor two weeks ago, an opinion poll showed on Thursday. According to the poll, conducted by the independent Levada Centre polling company, 79 percent of those questioned would vote for Medvedev if a presidential election were held this weekend. Full Story

11 more churches torched in Orissa
Posted on Thursday, December 27, 2007 at 3:08am
Eleven churches and prayer houses were ransacked and torched in several areas of Kandhamal district in Orissa in the early hours on Thursday. Seven churches and prayer houses were attacked and set afire in Gandapadar, Badahapanga, Bhandarapada, Pisupadar, Masapadar, Minia and Adigara under Phulbani Sadar police station area, police said. Full Story

Reporters hold Sri Lanka minister
Posted on Thursday, December 27, 2007 at 3:54am
Police in Sri Lanka have been sent to rescue a minister held by journalists at a TV station after one of his aides allegedly assaulted one of them. The minister, Mervyn Silva, went to state-run Rupavahini television to complain that one of his speeches had not been covered in the news. A "henchman" manhandled the news director, the station said and journalists wanted an apology. Full Story

Abbas wants settlement freeze at summit
Posted on Thursday, December 27, 2007 at 4:15am
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas will demand Israel commit to a freeze on all settlement construction at a peace summit Thursday, the first since the two sides agreed to resume peace talks at a U.S.-sponsored conference last month. On Wednesday, Abbas appealed to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to press Israel on the construction issue, Abbas aide Nabil Abu Rdeneh said. A State Department spokesman said Rice called both Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and urged them to make progress toward an agreement. Full Story

Kenyans vote amid fears of corruption
Posted on Thursday, December 27, 2007 at 4:16am
President Mwai Kibaki tried to fend off a fiery opposition leader Thursday in an election that was shaping up to be the closest in this East African country's history. Allegations of corruption  including voter intimidation and violence  have been central campaign themes, with both Kibaki and challenger Raila Odinga vowing to end the graft that has scared off foreign investment and cost taxpayers millions of dollars. Full Story

Police enforce curfew after India religious riots
Posted on Thursday, December 27, 2007 at 4:18am
Hundreds of federal police enforced a curfew in parts of eastern India on Thursday after clashes between Hindus and Christians in which one person was killed and 14 churches and 3 Hindu temples were damaged. Police said the clashes had ended but curfews remained in place in three towns in central Orissa. Full Story

Courtesy Terrorism Research Center, Inc.