Re-nomination of Abdullah Gul for Turkey’s President re-ignites bitter debate between the Islamic-oriented AKP and its secular rivals:
- Turkish Presidential Pick Sets Up Clash, Again (New York Times)
Human Rights Watch report slams all sides in Somali conflict and alleges government soldiers and Ethiopian allies intentionally bombed civilian neighborhoods in Mogadishu to eliminate insurgents:
- Civilian Toll Cited In Somali Conflict (Washington Post)
In spite of economic incentives, or lack thereof, issues of corruption and the rule of law are the pivotal factors behind Hamas’ high optimism in Gaza and Fatah’s lackluster morale in the West Bank…
- Hamas Optimism vs. Fatah Despair (Christian Science Monitor)
…meanwhile Hamas continues to leave itself open to dialogue with Western countries even in spite of current economic embargoes against it:
- Hamas Says it’s Ready for Any Dialogue With the West (Deutsch Presse Agentur/Haaretz)
As Pakistan celebrates its 60th Anniversary, politicians and analysts reflect on the current dangerous state of affairs the Islamic Republic faces and a Bengali anthropologist sees the 1947 India/Pakistan partition as laying the groundwork for three, not two states:
- Pakistan Yearns for 60-Year Merry-Go-Round to Stop (Reuters/CNN International)
- Troubled Waters in Bangladesh (BBC News)
As the trial for Jose Padilla et al. comes to a close, while the prosecution paints him as a “star recruit†for Al-Qaeda, the defense charges that the allegations laid against him are “politically motivatedâ€:
- Defense Says Case Against Padilla Is ‘Politically Motivated’ (Washington Post)
- Feds: Padilla was Terror Cell’s ‘Star Recruit’ (CNN International)
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