News and Analysis (1/4/07)

Going into business for themselves is among the means India’s Muslims are struggling to break free from second-class status

• India Awakens to its Other Pariahs: Muslims (Christian Science Monitor)

How a cavalier attitude toward civil liberties can harm national security: Federal prosecutors rely on vague wiretapped conversations to prosecute Jose Padilla because coerced confessions are inadmissible in court

• In Padilla Wiretaps, Murky View of ‘Jihad’ Case (New York Times)

While the hunt for some 3,500 ICU soldiers in Mogadishu intensifies…

• Somali militia ‘still in hiding’ (BBC)

…Somalis see ominous signs of warlordism returning as the ‘transitional government’ takes power again

• Somali Militia Attack Revives Fears of Chaos (Reuters)

Iraq holds off on the execution of two former top Ba’ath ministers after fallout from Saddam’s death

• No date for Hanging Saddam Aides (Reuters)

Palestinian factions to continue to target each other in the Gaza Strip…

• Gunmen Target Three Hamas Officials (ABC News)

…as Israel launched a deadly raid in the West Bank

• Israeli military raids Ramallah

Alejandro

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