Democratic.net: [RED DEMOCRATICA] CFR.org Daily Brief, August 3, 2009

Monday, August 3, 2009

[RED DEMOCRATICA] CFR.org Daily Brief, August 3, 2009

August 3, 2009

View this newsletter as a web page on CFR's website.

Top of the Agenda: Ahmadinejad’s Second Term

Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei formally endorsed President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s reelection (NYT) on Monday. His disputed election over opposition candidate Mir Hossein-Mousavi has spurred massive political unrest lasting nearly two months.

Opposition leaders and some senior Iranian political figures mostly avoided the endorsement ceremony, including Mousavi and former presidents Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani and Mohammad Khatami. According to PRESS TV, leaders from the three branches of Iranian government were in attendance, including Secretary of the Expediency Council Mohsen Rezaei, an unsuccessful conservative presidential candidate who at one time questioned the election’s outcome.

The endorsement ceremony comes a day after Iran began the trial of 100 one hundred reformists who object to the reelection of Ahmadinejad. The trial faces wide condemnation (Reuters) from opposition leaders, including Khatami, who said it would “directly harm the system and further damage public trust.”

Reformist figure and former vice president Mohammad Ali Abtahi, who is charged with involvement in the protests, testified that he has changed his opinion of the election (Telegraph), and that he now believes the “issue of fraud…was a lie.” Opposition leaders said Abtahi was coerced into making that statement through torture.

Analysis:
On NPR, Farideh Farhi, an Iranian specialist at the University of Hawaii, says the protest movement has ultimately been directed at Khamenei, because he has "chosen to take responsibility not only for the fraud that occurred during the election, but also by threatening violence after the election and actually implementing violence after the election."

GlobalPost correspondent Iason Athanasiadis, who reported on the demonstrations in Iran and was imprisoned for three weeks, writes about Iranian journalists who remain in jail.

Background:
This CFR Backgrounder looks at new questions about the role and power of the Iranian president raised since Ahmadinejad’s reelection.

MIDEAST: Israeli Evictions

The Israeli government evicted nine Palestinian families from their homes (BBC) in occupied East Jerusalem.

Jewish settlers moved into the houses almost immediately. Israel has received international condemnation for the evictions. UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process Robert Serry said they violated the Geneva Conventions on occupied territory.

Lieberman: Israeli police recommended indicting Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman (YNet) on charges of fraud, bribery, money-laundering, and obstruction of justice, following a three-year investigation. Lieberman, who was named foreign minister in March, said he is innocent and would resign if indicted.

Iraq: Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and Kurdish regional president Massoud Barzani held talks (al-Jazeera) to discuss disagreements over land and oil. Separately, an Iraqi court sentenced former Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz (AP) to seven years in jail for his role in displacement of Kurds from northeastern Iraq during Saddam Hussein's rule.

PACIFIC RIM: Three Hundred Arrested in China

Chinese police arrested more than three hundred (Bloomberg) in connection with last month’s ethnic clashes between Uighurs and Han Chinese in Xinjiang province. Authorities encouraged the public to turn in those involved in the clashes.

China Plague: Thousands of people are quarantined in northwest China after two people died of pneumonic plague (Xinhua). The World Health Organization said the spread of the plague should be relatively easy to contain due to the area’s sparse population.

Malaysia: An estimated 15,000 people demonstrated (Sun Daily) in Kuala Lumpur against the Internal Security Act, which allows people to be detained without trial. Police used tear gas and water cannons to break up the protest, and arrested more than 580 demonstrators. Most of them were released on Monday. Prime Minister Najib Razak said he had already agreed to review the law.

Reuters has a Q&A on the protest.

SOUTH AND CENTRAL ASIA: Pro-Taliban Cleric Charged

Pakistan will prosecute pro-Taliban cleric Sufi Muhammad (Daily Times), who brokered a failed Swat Valley peace deal, on charges of treason, aiding terrorism, and conspiracy.

Afghanistan: Taliban insurgents killed nine U.S. and NATO soldiers (VOA) in Afghanistan over the weekend. The deaths in the first two days of August followed seventy U.S. and NATO troop deaths in July.

AFRICA: Several Hundred Dead in Nigeria

Muslim clerics and a Nigerian army official say the death toll in violence in Nigeria has risen to more than seven hundred (This Day) as security forces fight militant Islamist group Boko Haram.

Uganda: The Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) rebel group has killed at least ten people (AFP) in the last two weeks in attacks against towns in the Central African Republic. The LRA leaders are wanted by the International Criminal Court.

AMERICAS: Chavez Aids FARC

The New York Times reports Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez continues to provide aid to the Colombian rebel group FARC (NYT), according to new evidence obtained from computer material captured from the group. The information shows Chavez helped arrange weapons deals in Venezuela, among other assistance.

This CFR Backgrounder profiles FARC.

Colombia: A Colombian judge convicted 15 soldiers (Latin American Herald Tribune) in the killing of two restaurant workers. Ten of the soldiers were found guilty of having taken part in the killings, and the other five were convicted of helping to cover up the details of the case. The soldiers claimed the workers were rebels.

EUROPE: Georgia Border Dispute

Georgia has accused Russia of shifting the border of South Ossetia (France24) deeper into Georgian territory, escalating tensions that caused a war last year. Georgia said Russian officials entered a village and marked off the new border with posts.

TRANSNATIONAL: New NATO Chief

Former Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen takes over today (BBC) as chief of NATO. In a speech, Rasmussen said during his term he hopes to see Afghans take over "lead responsibility for security in most of their country.”

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