Democratic.net: [RED DEMOCRATICA] CFR.org Daily Brief, August 20, 2009

Thursday, August 20, 2009

[RED DEMOCRATICA] CFR.org Daily Brief, August 20, 2009

August 20, 2009

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

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

-Afghans vote in presidential election.
-Bike bomb explodes in Baghdad.
-N. Korean delegation meets with Gov. Bill Richardson.
-Lockerbie bomber to be released.

Top of the Agenda: Afghanistan Votes

Afghans vote in presidential elections (LAT) today amid threats of violence from the Taliban. The vote will decide between incumbent President Hamid Karzai and thirty contenders. Ten candidates dropped out just before the election, most of them throwing their support behind Karzai.

There were several reports of violence around the country as Taliban insurgents attempted to make good on their pledge to disrupt the election. Police killed two Taliban fighters (Reuters) after a gunfight with police in Kabul.

Turnout appeared uneven across the country, with higher participation in the more stable north, the New York Times reports. Afghan poll monitors were covering more than 60 percent of polling places, but were not in force in some of the most insecure districts, according to the head of the Free and Fair Election Foundation of Afghanistan.

Analysis:
In an interview with CFR, leading Afghanistan expert Ahmed Rashid discusses the possibility that a low voter turnout caused by Taliban violence could lead to a constitutional deadlock.

In a new interview, CFR's Daniel Markey looks at neighboring Pakistan's stake in the election. He says Pakistan, confronting its own Taliban insurgency, has an interest in seeing Afghanistan's presidential elections yield a legitimate government that brings stability.

TIME considers the importance of the youth vote in Afghanistan.

Background:
A new CFR interactive timeline chronicles the U.S. war in Afghanistan.

Der Spiegel looks at the battle between German NATO troops and the Taliban for control over Afghanistan's Kunduz province.

A CFR Backgrounder profiles the Taliban in Afghanistan.

MIDEAST: Bike Bomb in Baghdad

A bicycle bomb went off (AP) near a Baghdad restaurant, killing two people a day after a string of explosions killed at least 101 people. Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki ordered a review of the city's security protocols and tactics.

Iran: Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad unveiled his new twenty-one member cabinet (PRESS TV), which includes female officials for the first time in the republic's thirty-year history. The vice-speaker of Iran's parliament said Ahmadinejad may face serious opposition to his cabinet list.

PACIFIC RIM: North Korea-Richardson Meeting

A North Korean delegation met with New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson (WashPost) in Santa Fe to demand that the United States engage in bilateral talks with the country. Richardson, who negotiated with Pyongyang in the 1990s, said he was not negotiating officially with the delegation, but was acting as "sort of a liaison."

China: Some thirteen hundred children living near a Chinese manganese factory in central Hunan province have lead contamination (Times of London). The factory, which has been shut down, had never faced any kind of environmental safety regulation since it's opening in May 2008.

SOUTH AND CENTRAL ASIA: New Pakistan Taliban Chief

The Pakistani Taliban's deputy head, Faqir Mohammad, said he has temporarily taken over command (Daily Times). The United States believes former leader Baitullah Mehsud was killed in a drone strike earlier this month. Faqir denies that Mehsud is dead, but says he is seriously ill.

CFR's Micah Zenko says U.S. air strikes in Pakistan are an ineffective counterinsurgency tool, and recommends that Washington create oversight mechanisms for its covert operations there.

AFRICA: Sudan Peace Deal

North and south Sudan signed a deal (Sudan Tribune) to resolve several disputed aspects of a 2005 peace agreement. The accord also settled disagreements (AP) over the hotly contested oil-rich region of Abyei, but the details of the agreement were not immediately made public.

Niger: Niger announced it has set October 20 as the date of its parliamentary elections (AFP). The announcement comes amid political unrest surrounding a new constitution that grants additional power to President Mamadou Tandja.

AMERICAS: Transferring Guantanamo Prisoners

Ten countries have told the Obama administration they will accept detainees from the prison facility at Guantanamo Bay, including Britain, France, Ireland, Italy, Portugal and Spain. The Washington Post reports four other EU countries have privately committed to taking some detainees, and five others are considering the possibility.

Blackwater: The CIA hired U.S. private security contractor Blackwater USA to help with a plan to assassinate al-Qaeda officials, the New York Times reports.

EUROPE: Lockerbie Bomber to be Released

Scotland's justice minister ruled that Lockerbie bomber Abdel Baset Ali Mohmet al-Megrahi Abdel Basset al-Megrahi will be released on compassionate grounds (Reuters). Al-Megrahi, a Libyan national who has been serving a life sentence in Scotland for his role in the 1988 bombing of Pan Am flight 103 that killed 270 people, is suffering from terminal prostate cancer.

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