News and Analysis (10/22/07)

Ankara braces itself for the possibility of a large cross-border raid after as 12 Turkish soldiers are killed and an unknown number are taken hostage along the Turkish/Iraqi Kurdish border in retaliation for an earlier raid killed at least 32 Kurdish militants:

DespitIn the face of repeated denials from Iran about developing a nuclear weapon, Vice President Cheney issues vague threat to Tehran saying, “the international community is prepared to impose serious consequences”:

Kyrgyz leader Kurmanbek Bakiyev dissolves parliament and seeks to start fresh with a new legislature and constitution that includes a proportional all party list and raises the number of MPs, however opposition members criticize him for contradictions and loopholes in the new constitution and see the parliament’s dissolution “as a step towards authoritarianism”:

Political deadlock between pro-government March 14 forces and the Hizballah and Aounist-led opposition delays Lebanon’s presidential election:

Muslim-American activist and former member of Virginia Commission on Immigration argues that his resignation from the Commission was “so as to not allow partisan politics and a drummed-up controversy to derail the commission or to undermine the good work of the governor to bring some sanity to a General Assembly bent on creating a police state in Virginia for immigrants”:

In the wake of the recent attacks against Bhutto’s convoy, analysts find that the Pakistani army has neither the political will, nor the capability to fight Taliban and Al-Qaeda militants in the outlying tribal regions, while Musharraf and the military use the incident to justify a ban a street rallies that have been the bread and butter of the former PM’s means of rallying support:

    Alejandro

    Alejandro Beutel is program assistant for the Minaret of Freedom Institute with expertise in religious freedom, democratization and security issues.


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