Despite tough talk from Maliki, his government won’t remove Blackwater from his country; but the Interior Ministry continues its investigations to see what that company’s involvement may have been in other shooting incidents as well as if weapons were being illegally smuggled into Iraq:
- Iraq Says Won’t Move to Expel Blackwater (Reuters/Washington Post)
- Iraq Expands US Security Firm Probe (Al-Jazeera International)
Seeking to put an end to a very old and brutal culturally established practice, Islamic scholars use the death of Zahra al-Azzo to debunk the popular notion that honor killing is condoned by Islamic teachings:
- A Dishonorable Affair (New York Times)
U.S. stymies German attempts to try CIA Agents accused in connection with the kidnapping, torture, and illegal detention of two German citizens:
- Germany Gives Up on Extradition of CIA Suspects (Reuters/Washington Post)
Musharraf aims to ensure victory for himself through more illegal arrests and detentions of opposition leaders from mostly conservative parties rather than hard campaigning and adhering to the rule of law:
- Police Arrest Musharraf Critics (Washington Post)
Deep political divisions along largely sectarian lines bar parliament from convening the necessary number of members to elected a new president:
- Lebanon Vote for President Is Postponed (New York Times)
“They are trying to go back to the old game to keep putting pressure until people start censoring themselves”—Gasser Abdel Razak, Human Rights Watch activist
- Jittery Egypt Renews Government Crackdown on Dissent (Reuters/Washington Post)
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