Terrorism Weekly: A Plot for Christmas

“Yes, Virginia, there is a terrorism threat.”

Whether on the "left" or "right", the British media love a good terrorism plot. The timing of this one, in the notoriously slow period just before Christmas made it even more enthralling --- the same way that the Pakistani student bomb plot during the Easter break of 2009 similarly grabbed the headlines before turning out, for various reasons, to be a damp squib.

So for the last few days we have been treated to repeated stories about the arrest of 12 men for an alleged bomb plot. Note the word “alleged” in the previous sentence, for it is one that does not often appear in the assured British media when it comes to reporting terrorism. In the current example, the news has gone beyond noting g the arrests of the men to listing their alleged targets: from Big Ben to Westminster Abbey to the London Stock Exchange to the American Embassy, from celebrities to pubs and restaurants.

Click to read more ...

Turkey Analysis: Erdogan Faces Political and Paramilitary Challenges on the "Kurdish Question"

With Ankara's cease-fire with the Kurdish Workers' Party (PKK) still in effect, discussions on the political level continue

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has responded to criticisms from opposition parties over his silence on the demands of the pro-Kurdish Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) for bilingualism and autonomy.

BDP Co-Chairman Selahattin Demirtaş said it would begin a de facto bilingual system in municipalities in the eastern and southeastern parts of Turkey.which would enhance the country's democratic structure. Vice Chairman Meral Danis Bestas added:

Our proposal is that we want regional assemblies apart from Turkish Grand National Assembly (TBMM) and provincial assemblies. We bring this proposal to strengthen local governance because central government is not responding to demands. We don't want this only for a single region but for the whole country. We don't want Turkey to get divided but we want an urgent and democratic constitution in which everyone can feel himself/herself inside and and which can include rights and freedom in unity.

Click to read more ...

Belarus Updates: Detained Candidate Neklyaev Finally Sees His Lawyer

1124 GMT: Security Services have searched the home of the deputy chairman of the United Civil Party, Anatoly Lebedko.

Lebedko is in the KGB prison and is reportedly on hunger strike.

1120 GMT: On Wednesday at 9:30 a.m., a court will hear complaints by lawyers for detainees held by the state security service KGB.

Meanwhile, Presidential candidate Vitaly Rymashevsky was interrogated on Monday, with his lawyer managing to meet with him for a second time.

0730 GMT: Presidential candidate Vladimir Neklayev, beaten in the Election Day demonstrations of 19 December and then taken by security forces from his hospital bed, was finally allowed a visit from his lawyer on Monday afternoon.

Neklyaev's morale was "good", according to his lawyer Tamara Sidorenko; however, she added that Neklyaev was complaining of headaches and high blood pressure and "his face remains a huge bruise". Sidorenko said the Government must charge or release her client by Thursday. 

WikiLeaks, Iran, and the Green Movement: The Predictions of Iraq's President

Commenting a week after the demonstrations on 27 December 2009 and the regime's mobilisation of support three days later, Talabani assesses, "Tt was not that the Iranian regime was weak, but rather that the opposing side was strong....Whereas the demonstrations at first were attacking Iranian President Ahmadinejad, they have now shifted to being against Supreme Leader Khamenei."

Click to read more ...

Gaza-Turkey Video: The Freedom Flotilla's Mavi Marmara Returns to Port

On Sunday, hundreds of Turks gathered in Istanbul to welcome the Mavi Marmara, the main ship of the Gaza-bound Freedom Flotilla, which was attacked by Israeli forces on 31 May, killing nine Turkish passengers:

A day before the repaired ship entered the port of Sarayburnu, Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu reiterated Ankara's demands that West Jerusalem addressed damaged ties between two countries. He said:

We have the intention of making peace with Israel....Turkish citizens have been killed in international waters, nothing can cover up this truth. We want to both preserve relations and defend our rights. If our friendship with Israel is to continue, the way for it is to apologize and offer compensation.

The Latest from Iran (28 December): One Execution Delayed but Two Carried Out

2230 GMT: A Cleric and the Law. Ayatollah Vahid Khorassani has said that the confessions of those in prison are worth nothing.

2220 GMT: Subsidy Cuts, Fuel, and Ahmadinejad. A correspondent from Tehran summarises official statistics that show consumption of diesel fuel, gasoline, fuel oil, and kerosene has dropped 38% since the start of subsidy cuts on 19 December.

Consumption of diesel fuel initially fell 73% but has risen again, thank in parts to the government's partial restitution of subsidies for fuel for transportation.

President Ahmadinejad, speaking in Karaj on Tuesday, declared, "I announce with pride that in the past ten days, since the implementation of this law, we have been witness to a 38 percent drop in consumption just in the diesel fuel and heating oil sector."

Click to read more ...

Israel Analysis: Lieberman's Triple Attack on Turkey, Palestine, & His Own Prime Minister

On Monday, Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman launched a multi-front attack, bombarding Turkey, the Palestinian Authority...and his own Prime Minister.

Talking to Israeli diplomats, Lieberman pressed his belief that the "Palestinians never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity", saying that they "would find a reason not to sign a peace agreement even if the Israelis had offered Tel Aviv and a retreat to 1947 borders". He called Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's attempt to achieve a peace agreement "unrealistic" and said the Palestinian Authority, recognized by West Jerusalem since 1994, was an "illegitimate government that doesn't conduct elections".

Click to read more ...

WikiLeaks Shocker: Julian Assange and the Missing Library Book

In its four years of existence, WikiLeaks has whipped up a controversy or two, but it took Ms EA to uncover what may be the biggest scandal of all. On a trip Down Under, she happened to find this document which, strangely enough, has not appeared on WikiLeaks website.

Click to enlarge the "smoking gun", or rather "smoking book", from the past of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange:

That's right. The devious Julian strolled into the University of Melbourne in 2004, picked up Introduction to Non-Classical Logic by Graham Priest --- no doubt to confound the media interviewers who would try to trip him up six years later --- and never returned the book.

The Melbourne Library Police note, "Despite many attempts by staff he was unable to be contacted." I can help them out a bit if they wish, but I have a feeling they may have to take their place in a queue waiting to have words with Mr Assange....

Afghanistan: The Top 10 Myths of 2010 (Cole)

Myth: There has been significant progress in tamping down the insurgency in Afghanistan.”

Reality: A recent National Intelligence Estimate by 16 intelligence agencies found no progress. It warned that large swathes of the country were at risk of falling to the Taliban and that they still had safe havens in Pakistan, with the Pakistani government complicit. The UN says there were over 6000 civilian casualties of war in Afghanistan in the first 10 months of 2010, a 20% increase over the same period in 2009. Also, 701 US and NATO troops have been killed this year, compared to 521 last year, a 25% increase. There were typically over 1000 insurgent attacks per month in Afghanistan this year, often twice as many per month as in 2009, recalling the guerrilla war in Iraq in 2005.

Click to read more ...

Belarus Updates: How Many Thousands Protested on 19 December?

1330 GMT: Youth activists Volha Damaratskaya and Mikhail Matsevich have been sentenced to 10 days of imprisonment.

Police have searched the apartments of Vladimir Kobets, the detained head of Andrei Sannikov’s presidential campaign team, and of Mikita Krasnou, coordinator of the “Citizen” youth campaign.

1130 GMT: Two members of the Minsk Elections Commission have filed a dissenting opinion over the Presidential results, citing violations in the balloting.

0745 GMT: Activist Vera Lozovskaya has been summoned to the KGB for interrogation.

Click to read more ...