Burundi to hold talks with holdout rebel group this month
Associated Press, 10/1/05

Talks with Burundi's only holdout rebel group will be held later this month in Tanzania, the communications minister said Saturday.

Tanzania, which is meditating talks between the Burundi's new government and the holdout National Liberation Force rebel group, will set the date for the negotiations to be held in the Tanzanian capital, Dar es Salaam, said Communications Minister Karenga Ramazani.

Officials of the National Liberation Force were not immediately available for comment as most of them are in Dar es Salaam. Burundi's President Pierre Nkurunziza was sworn-in as president Aug. 26, after his former Hutu rebel group, the Forces for the Defense of Democracy, won local and parliamentary elections in June and July.

The elections were part of a series of peace deals aimed at ending Burundi's 12-year conflict that killed 250,000 people, mostly civilians. Most rebels have taken part in the peace process, except the National Liberation Force, which has agreed to a cease-fire that it has repeatedly violated.

Nkurunziza has made it a top priority for his new administration to bring the National Liberation Force into his government. Regional leaders declared the National Liberation Force a terrorist organization in August 2004 after the rebels attacked a refugee camp in Burundi, killing at least 160 Congolese refugees.

Disappearances in Chechnya serious problem: Putin
Agence France Presse, 9/27/05

President Vladimir Putin said Tuesday that the disappearance of people in Chechnya is a major problem and that security fears and joblessness in the war-torn republic must be resolved.

This is an issue "raised constantly at all levels in recent years," Putin said during a live, nationally televised phone-in with citizens around Russia. He was answering a Chechen woman who said she that her son had disappeared in the republic several years ago -- one of thousands of people kidnapped or missing after detention by security forces during two wars in the last decade.

"The most important thing is the political resolution of the conflict," he said, calling on Chechens to participate in local parliamentary elections that have been set for November. Putin also noted that massive unemployment in the destroyed Chechen economy was "a huge problem." He said that 500 people would apply there for one job vacancy.

Plans are being drawn up for the economic development of Chechnya and the surrounding North Caucasus region, he said, "but these can not be carried out today or tomorrow -- especially in unstable conditions and insufficient guarantees of security."

In answer to a man who said that he was unable to get compensation for the destruction of his home during the fighting, Putin blamed local authorities for ineffectiveness in handing out funds provided from the federal government. "What I can tell you for sure and promise is that all necessary means will be used" to make sure compensation is delivered, he said.

Putin also lashed out at corruption in the North Caucasus, saying "this is a matter that the law enforcement bodies should look at."

Rwandan Hutu rebels appeal for talks as deadline to return home looms
Agence France Presse, 9/2/05

Rwandan Hutu rebels in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo called Thursday for urgent talks with the DRC, Rwanda and Uganda ahead of a looming deadline set by the three nations for them to disarm and return home.

Just 48 hours before the expiry of the deadline to leave the DRC or face possible attack, the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) appealed for emergency meeting to discuss its unfulfilled March pledge to do so. "The FDLR proposes to urgently meet the tripartite group to find ways and means for the full implementation of the Rome declaration," rebel chief Ignace Murwanashyaka said in a statement received here.

Under its March 31 declaration made in the Italian capital, the FDLR agreed to end its armed struggle against the government in Kigali and return home but has since demanded security and safety guarantees to meet its vow. Rwandan officials, who accuse members of the FDLR of participating in the country's 1994 genocide, have thus far refused to agree to the conditions and insisted that anyone accused of genocide-related crimes be brought to justice.

The presence of the FDLR in the eastern DRC has long been a bone of contention between Kigali and Kinshasa, with Rwandan authorities complaining that the group is mounting attacks from the dense forests there and refusing to rule out military intervention. Last month, officials from Rwanda, the DRC and neighboring Uganda gave the FDLR until the end of September to implement its Rome promises or face unspecified "serious consequences."

In his statement, Murwanashyaka complained that Rwandan instransigence as well as inaction from the other two countries and the international community was responsible for the delays. "There has been no response from Kigali or other partners to support efforts to make the peace initiative successful," he said.

"The FDLR is asking the international community to ensure there are minimum guarantees in place to allow them to return in peace, security and dignity, as well as to fully engage in political activity," Murwanashyaka said.

Foreign militants in Congo ignore Friday deadline to leave or face military offensive
Associated Press, 9/30/05

Thousands of foreign militiamen in Congo appeared to ignore Friday's deadline to leave this central African country or be evicted by force, the government said.

Earlier this month, President Joseph Kabila gave the estimated 12,000 to 15,000 fighters - mostly extremist Rwandan militiamen blamed for Rwanda's 1994 genocide and a smaller number of Ugandan and Burundian fighters - an ultimatum to leave or face Congo army troops backed by U.N. peacekeepers.

"There is no indication that any of them have left Congo," Delion Kimbu, a Defense Ministry spokesman in the capital, Kinshasa, told The Associated Press by telephone. After Friday, "if we find foreign soldiers in our country, we will use force" to evict them, Kimbu said.

He and U.N. officials declined to say whether an army offensive was imminent and gave no other details on the government's plans.

Living in remote forest bases in the lawless east for more than a decade and preying on local residents, the Rwandan militias have been notoriously difficult to dislodge. Congolese troops, who are poorly paid and ill-trained, are not equipped to hunt them down. Better trained Rwandan army troops who have invaded Congo twice since 1996, ostensibly in search of Rwandan rebels, have also failed.

Despite peace deals that ended Congo's 1998-2002 war, the country's eastern borderlands have remained restive, with killings, rape and looting continuing almost unabated. Extremist ethnic Hutus called Interahamwe blamed for Rwanda's 1994 genocide have contributed to continued bloodletting in the lawless east since the war ended. Facing prosecution at home, few have any incentive to return.

Kemal Saiki, chief spokesman for the U.N. in Congo, said most of the militias were Rwandan, but about 1,500 of them were Burundian rebels, fighters from Uganda's infamous Lord's Resistance Army or other groups. Saiki said the U.N. was not aware of the departure of any of the groups. He said the 16,700-member U.N. peacekeeping mission "would provide transport, logistical support, and perhaps even troops" to an army operation to oust them.

Mass graves discovered in eastern DR Congo
Agence France Presse, 10/2/05

Human remains have been found in three mass graves in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), thought to date from shortly after the 1994 Rwandan genocide, AFP correspondents witnessed Saturday.

Dozens of human skulls, bones and body tissue, have been exhumed from the sites since mid-September by a Congolese army brigade, which recently deployed to Rutshuru, around 50 kilometres (30 miles) north of Goma, the main town in the eastern Nord-Kivu province. "They are Congolese Hutus who were massacred by the Rwandan army in 1996 and in the following years," the commander of the 5th brigade, Colonel Jean-Marie Shekasikila, told AFP.

Following the Rwandan genocide, in which some 800,000 people were killed, most of them Tutsis, thousands of Hutus fled over the border into the DRC for fear of reprisals from the new Tutsi-led authorities in Kigali. At the same time, Hutu extremists who took part in the genocide crossed the border to set up rear bases in the DRC. Rwandan troops made several incursions into Congolese territory, ostensibly to root out the Hutu militias.

"We believe that thousands of people were massacred and that we will discover more graves," said Colonel Shekasikila. "We found the first one as we were doing digging work to build a latrine, then town residents showed us two other spots where there were bones," he said.

A 5th brigade spokesman, Captain Jose Mabiala, charged that the killings were carried out in 1996 by Rwandan officers -- amid the widespread instability leading up to the overthrow of late dictator Mobutu Sese Seko a year later. "Rebels backed by Rwanda dominated the Rutshuru region at the time and young army officers came to kill residents," he said.

Another officer, who did not give his name, said that Rwandan troops "gathered people together under the pretext of a meeting and then murdered them, most of the time with a machete blow to the back of the neck."

The United Nations mission to the country, MONUC, on Saturday sent a team of human rights investigators to Rutshuru

Breakaway Georgian region marks 12th anniversary of 'liberation' of its capital
Associated Press, 9/27/05

Georgia's breakaway region of Abkhazia on Tuesday marked the 12th anniversary since its troops forced out Georgian government forces from the provincial capital of Sukhumi.

The city fell to local forces on Sept. 27, 1993, after 11 days of fighting. Abkhaz leaders joined in a wreath-laying ceremony where veterans of the conflict are buried in the city.

In the Georgian capital, Tbilisi, around 1,000 people held a rival rally to commemorate the loss of Sukhumi and mass exodus of ethnic Georgians from Abkahzia. On Sept. 30, Abkhazia will celebrate its independence day. Abkhazia has run its own affairs since 1993, when separatists drove out Georgian government troops. The Black Sea region is not recognized internationally, but has cultivated closer ties with Russia.

Since coming to power in 2004, pro-Western Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili has vowed to reunite his fractured Caucasus Mountain country and bring Abkhazia and another renegade province, South Ossetia, back under central control. "Our common victory will be when, together with the Abkhaz in Sukhumi, we celebrate the reconciliation of Georgians and the Abkhaz," Saakashvili said Tuesday.

The Georgian government estimates that 300,000 people fled Abkhazia as a result of the separatist war, including 240,000 ethnic Georgians. Between 40,000 and 50,000 ethnic Georgians have returned, the government says.

Georgia calls on Russia to resolve separatist conflicts
Agence France Presse, 9/28/05

Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili called Wednesday on Russia, the European Union and the United States to step up efforts to resolve separatist disputes in his country.

"The European Union, as well as the United States and Russia should actively work on resolving the conflicts in Georgia," Saakashvili said at a joint news conference with visiting Finnish President Tarja Halonen.

He said there was evidence suggesting that Russia sought to "annex" separatist regions in Georgia -- he did not specify which -- but added: "I don't mean to say that this is Russia's official policy. "I hope the conflicts will be resolved through civilized dialogue," he said.

Two regions of Georgia -- Abkhazia in the west and South Ossetia in the north -- fought short but costly wars with Georgian forces in the early 1990s, resulting in de facto independence from Tbilisi to this day. While Russia, like most other countries, officially recognizes these regions as part of Georgia, both have benefited from unofficial support coming from Russia.

Saakashvili came to power in January 2004 promising to reassert Tbilisi's authority over these wayward regions. He has so far failed, and Georgian authorities routinely accuse Russia of sabotaging their efforts.

Sites chosen for second phase of Aceh disarmament
Agence France Presse, 9/27/05

The Indonesian government, separatist rebels and foreign monitors have agreed on the sites for a second phase of rebel disarmament in Aceh province, one of the monitors said Tuesday.

But the start date for the weapons handover is still to be decided. Weapons would be surrendered in Sabang town and in the districts of North Aceh, East Aceh and Aceh Tamiang, said Lieutenant General Nipat Thonglek, deputy chief of the Aceh Monitoring Mission (AMM).

North and East Aceh were known as rebel strongholds. The disarmament is taking place under the August 15 peace pact signed in Helsinki between the government and the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) to end almost 30 years of conflict in the westernmost province on Sumatra island.

Rebels have pledged to hand over their declared arsenal of 840 firearms in four stages until the end of the year. In return, the government will proportionally pull out all its non-local military and police units, leaving 14,700 locally-raised troops and 9,100 locally recruited police.

The second phase of the weapons handover is scheduled to begin on October 15 but discussions are taking place about whether the process can begin before then.

"We hope that the second phase of the weapons handover can take place earlier than the initial schedule of October 15, 2005," Nipat said.

AMM chief Pieter Feith also voiced confidence of an early start. "With a view to maintaining this positive momentum, we expect to be able to launch phase two before its scheduled starting date of 15 October," Feith said in a statement.

Aceh is a devoutly Islamic province which will celebrate the holy fasting month of Ramadan beginning next week. "Ramadan will be taken into consideration," said Juri Laas, an AMM spokesman.

Nipat said a four-day "security corridor" will be made available in the concerned areas, as it was in the first phase, to allow rebels to collect the weapons. No troop movements or patrols will take place in those corridors.

The AMM consists of about 240 monitors from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and the European Union, which is on its first peace monitoring mission in Asia. A total of 279 weapons were collected from the districts of Aceh Besar, Bireuen and Pidie in the first phase but the AMM disqualified 36 of them. GAM had been scheduled to surrender 210 weapons, or a quarter of its arsenal in the first phase. The government has also withdrawn almost 6,000 troops and 2,000 police, or a quarter of its reinforcement troops there.

Observers see the Helsinki agreement as the best chance yet of ending the conflict which has claimed about 15,000 lives, most of them civilians. GAM began its struggle for an independent state in 1976. Under the accord, GAM dropped its long-held demand for independence in exchange for a form of local government in Aceh, a province of about four million people.

Indonesian peace deal - a serendipitous outcome of tsunami disaster
Associated Press, 10/2/05

Irwandi Yusuf was in jail for treason when the tsunami crashed into Aceh, sweeping away everything in its path - people, houses, cars and the walls of his cell. He scrambled to the roof and watched as hundreds of inmates disappeared in the torrent of water.

The tsunami that took more than 131,000 lives in Aceh sprang him from prison. It also helped usher peace into an Indonesian province whose wars date back 130 years. And by an extra twist of fate, it made the 45-year-old former fighter and intelligence officer part of the solution.

Yusuf fled to the Indonesian capital, Jakarta, then Malaysia and finally Finland where he ended up joining exiled leaders of the Free Aceh Movement in negotiating an end to the fighting.

Many obstacles lie ahead, but five weeks after the signing of the Helsinki accord, most agree peace prospects have never been better. Thousands of Indonesian troops in camouflaged battle gear have left in warships - the first of 30,000 soldiers and police slated to pull out by year's end. Young rebels in blue jeans and dark sunglasses have handed in about a quarter of the movement's declared arsenal of 840 weapons.

"The tsunami changed our minds," said Yusuf, noting that tens of thousands of his fighters lost family in the Dec. 26 disaster that struck 11 Indian Ocean countries. "With so many people suffering, we want to focus now on how to rebuild," he said.

The province on the northernmost tip of Sumatra Island is not the only place where the killer waves appeared - for a moment anyway - to be a catalyst for peace.

In Sri Lanka too, foes reached across ethnic divides to help shelter and feed survivors. But today things are bloodier than ever in the island republic, in part because of disputes over tsunami aid but also because the secretive Tamil Tiger rebel movement has too much to lose, and the coalition government isn't strong enough to follow through.

Aceh's story is different.

Its latest fighting broke out in 1976 when rebels picked up arms to carve out an independent homeland in the oil- and gas-rich province. Nearly 15,000 people have died, many of them civilians caught up in army sweeps through remote villages.

A lot can still go wrong. Three earlier accords collapsed and some rebels are still afraid to leave their jungle bases. But others have slowly started climbing down from the mountains to visit family and friends in Banda Aceh, the provincial capital, and other areas previously off-limits to them. Some have recently motorcycled along coastal roads to see the devastation for the first time.

Hundreds of thousands of Acehnese remain homeless, many in tents on trash-strewn lots that were once thriving middle-class neighborhoods. Many of the houses still standing are patched up with tarps and scrap wood. But life is springing back: Young men play soccer on a field that was littered with hundreds of bloated bodies for days after the tsunami. Lovers walk hand-in-hand along the beach, and thousands turned out recently for a pop concert.

"To have peace after a disaster like the tsunami is really heaven after hell," said Suadi Sulaiman, 27. He was strolling through rice paddies and alleyways in the village of Simbe where, until a few months ago, he was fighting soldiers or fleeing them - once with a bullet in his side. Conditions for peace were improving even before the tsunami.

The rebels were reeling from a 2003 military offensive that followed the collapse of the previous accord. Thousands had been killed, leaving them with only 3,000 fighters pushed deeper and deeper into the jungle, the Brussels, Belgium-based International Crisis Group said in a report.

Many were young, uneducated and lacked their predecessors' ideological zeal. "We just like fighting," said Fachruvrazi, 24, who took up arms in the rebel stronghold of Pidie when he was 19. "We told our parents, 'if you don't let us go to battle, we won't eat our rice." Weapons were so scarce that fighters had to share their guns.

In contrast, Sri Lanka's Tamil Tigers are well armed and organized. After nearly two decades of fighting that has claimed 65,000 lives, they control large swaths of rural Sri Lanka, complete with their own border guards and tax collectors.

At the same time, Sri Lanka's government was riven by inter-party disputes and opposition to the peace process.

Those divisions were reflected in the Tigers' demand for a say in distributing the billions of dollars in aid that poured in after the tsunami killed more than 30,000 Sri Lankans. When President Chandrika Kumaratunga finally agreed, some coalition supporters abandoned her.

By contrast, the peace process in Aceh had the full support of the government of newly elected President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, who had promised to end festering insurgencies in Aceh and Papua provinces.

Vice President Jusuf Kalla was in secret talks with the rebels even before the tsunami struck.

Things kicked into high gear after Dec. 26. As foreign aid workers poured into the province that was closed off to them during the previous two years of martial law, international pressure mounted on Jakarta to halt the violence. Billions in foreign aid were at stake.

The rebels said they didn't want to add to people's suffering "and we realized too that rehabilitation and reconstruction in Aceh would be impossible if there was no peace," said Kalla.

So when they met in Helsinki, both sides made big concessions. The rebels gave up their long-standing demand for independence and the government agreed to give Aceh limited self-government and control over 70 percent of the revenue from its mineral wealth.

The rebels won amnesty and more than 1,400 prisoners were freed.

Are the rebels really committed to peace or is this just a tactical pause? "It's too early to know," said Ken Conboy, a private security consultant in Jakarta. He said neither the Indonesian army nor the rebels were hard hit militarily by the tsunami: The rebels operated well away from the shoreline and the government could easily absorb the deaths of several hundred troops.

But tens of thousands of rebel family members killed in the waves had some effect on morale.

Samsul Fuadi lost his mother, father and 18-year-old sister, and still the war went on. His final battle came two weeks after the tsunami. Of the seven dead, six of them were civilians. It made him think about the innocent lives his struggle had cost. "Scavengers," he reflected. "Sifting through the tsunami's rubble."

Four suspected Islamic rebels killed and a top rebel captured in Indian portion of Kashmir
Associated Press, 9/29/05

A top rebel commander was captured and four suspected Islamic militants were killed in separate incidents in India's portion of Kashmir Thursday, officials said.

Security forces raided a home in Srinagar, the summer capital of Jammu-Kashmir state, and captured the operations commander of Kashmir's most feared militant group, Lashkar-e-Tayyaba, a police officer said on condition of anonymity. The captured rebel commander was Ibrahim Dar, an active guerrilla since the early 1990s, the officer said. Three Kalashnikov assault rifles and ammunition were also recovered, the officer added. There was no way to independently confirm the police claim.

Hours later, suspected rebels lobbed a grenade outside the Jammu-Kashmir state secretariat in Srinagar, injuring 15 people, said Senior Superintendent of Police Munir Khan. The injured included four police officers and three children, he said.

Also Thursday, troops acting on a tip surrounded a house in Harangali, a village in Kashmir's frontier Kupwara district, sparking a gunbattle with suspected insurgents inside, said Lt. Col. V. K. Batra, an army spokesman.Four of the militants were killed, but there were no army casualties, he said. Harangali is about 100 kilometers (62 miles) north of Srinagar.

In Kanipora, a village just south of Srinagar, soldiers fought suspected rebels for a second day, army spokesman Batra said. The two sides fought for 14 hours on Wednesday, when two rebels were killed. There were no new casualties Thursday, but one house was damaged by an explosion, he said. Most residents have fled the village.

Nearly a dozen Islamic rebel groups have been fighting since 1989 for Muslim-majority Kashmir's independence from India or its merger with Pakistan. More than 66,000 people have been killed in the conflict. India and Pakistan control separate portions of Kashmir, but both claim it in its entirety. The neighbors have fought two wars over the Himalayan territory since their independence from British rule in 1947.


World Bank expert arrives in India's Kashmir to arbitrate in water dispute with Pakistan
Associated Press, 10/1/05

A World Bank arbitrator arrived in India's portion of Kashmir on Saturday to examine a dam being built on the River Chenab which is at the center of a dispute between India and its longtime rival, Pakistan.

Pakistan claims the planned 900-megawatt Baglihar Dam in India's Jammu-Kashmir state would block the flow of water from the river to its main agricultural province, Punjab, and has demanded that India halt its construction.

Raymond Lafitte, who was appointed by the World Bank in May as negotiator in the dispute, said he would visit the construction site on Sunday to study its design. The dam is in Baglihar village, 140 kilometers (90 miles) north of Jammu, the state's winter capital.

"We are going to the site and will then discuss the matter with Indian and Pakistani authorities," he told reporters after arriving in Jammu.

Pakistan says the dam violates the 1960 Indus Water Treaty, which regulates the sharing of river water between the two countries. The treaty was brokered by the World Bank. Under the treaty, India was given control over the Ravi, Beas and Sutlej rivers, while Pakistan was awarded the Jhelum, Indus and Chenab.

India had opposed seeking the bank's help in resolving the dispute. Lafitte, a civil engineer, oversaw a meeting with Indian and Pakistani officials in Paris in June.

India and Pakistan have both played down the impact of the dam dispute on their nascent peace process aimed at resolving five decades of enmity, including their competing territorial claims to Kashmir. The two countries each control portions of Kashmir and have fought two wars over the Himalayan territory since becoming independent from British rule in 1947.

India and Pakistan sign two deals at peace talks
Agence France Presse, 10/3/05

Pakistan and India signed pacts Monday to give advance notice of ballistic missile tests and to set up a hotline between their coastguards, as their foreign ministers reviewed a cautious peace process.

The two countries also agreed to hold Joint Economic Commission meetings for the first time in 16 years, Indian foreign secretary Shyam Saran told a news conference after the ministerial-level talks. "This is very significant development," he said, adding that economic and trade talks will be held Tuesday.

Visiting Indian Foreign Minister Natwar Singh held talks in a "cordial atmosphere" with Pakistani counterpart Khurshid Kasuri, later witnessing the signing of the deals, a Pakistani foreign ministry official told AFP.

Singh and Kasuri were discussing the peace moves launched in early 2004 by nuclear-armed rivals India and Pakistan, who are aiming to patch up relations after more than half a century of bitterness. The talks cover eight subjects including the Muslim-majority Himalayan region of Kashmir, claimed by both India and Pakistan and the trigger of two of their three wars since independence from Britain in 1947.

The peace process has so far produced a number of largely symbolic steps, including a bus service across divided Kashmir and resumption of sporting ties, but progress has been sluggish on central issues such as Kashmir itself.

The missile test warning deal was first struck during talks between Indian and Pakistani officials in New Delhi in August but was now being officially brought into force. Pakistan and India routinely test nuclear-capable missiles but for the past few years they have always given prior notice to what they called "neighbouring countries".

"The agreement entails that both countries provide each other advance notification of flight tests that it intends to undertake of any surface-to-surface ballistic missile," the two sides said in a statement. "India has now handed over a draft memorandum of understanding on measures to reduce the risks of accidental or unauthorised use of nuclear weapons under the control of both countries," the statement said.

At around the time the deal was being signed Monday, India successfully tested a homemade surface-to-air missile three times at a coastal range. The coastguard hotline deal comes in the context of frequent arrests by both India and Pakistan of each others' fishermen for straying into their respective territorial waters in the Arabian Sea.

"The communication link will lead to early exchange of information between the two sides regarding apprehended fishermen who inadvertently stray into each other's territories," the statement said.

On the Kashmir dispute, Saran reiterated Indian position ruling out any change in the borders. "We have said in the past that we are not able to really countenance any territorial changes, but we have said, short of that, whatever can be done to address the adverse human consequences ... we should address those negative consequences.

"And I think that is precisely what we have been trying to do," he said.

The Islamabad meeting follows a meeting in September between Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in New York that ended without any major initiatives, contrary to some expectations. On Friday India unveiled a series of measures to spur people-to-people contacts with Pakistan. The measures are expected to ease travel for pilgrims, sick people wishing to get medical treatment in India and others wanting to visit family members.

Liberia's postelection government must bring war criminals to justice
Associated Press, 9/29/05

Authorities in Liberia must bring war criminals to justice and keep those accused of right abuses out of government and army posts to avoid new armed conflict, an international human rights group said Friday.

Liberians go to the polls Oct. 11 to choose a new president and legislature for the first time since former warlord-turned-president Charles Taylor was forced into exile after a 2003 peace deal ended years of war. Human Rights Watch said "candidates in the upcoming elections include at least three former leaders of armed factions, five individuals subject to United Nations sanctions for activities aimed at undermining peace in Liberia and the sub-region, and several former high-level military commanders accused of war crimes."

"These individuals, who have in the past shown complete disregard for the rule of law and due process, could resort to force and other extralegal measures to circumvent and subvert Liberia's political process and the legal system if elected to office," Human Rights Watch warned in a 39-page report titled "Liberia at a Crossroads: Human Rights Challenges for the New Government."

Combatants under the command of the two former faction leaders, Sekou Damate Conneh and Alahji Kromah, both running for president, committed scores of war crimes and other violations of international law, the report said.

Several other former high-level military commanders alleged to have been involved in past abuses are running for the Senate and House of Representatives, the report said. Those rights abuses include sexual violence, forced labor, torture, forced recruitment and the use of children as soldiers, the report claimed.

Liberia's civil war began in 1989 and killed as many as 200,000 people and left the country in tatters. Human Rights Watch said hundreds of thousands of Liberian refugees had not been able to return home in time to register for the poll. The West African nation has been run for the past two years by a caretaker administration headed by Gyude Bryant.

Individuals responsible for war crimes and crimes against humanity committed during Liberia's armed conflicts must be kept out of the civil service, police and army and be held accountable for their crimes, the report said. The newly elected government must also ensure that Taylor, who is wanted by a U.N.-backed war crimes tribunal in Sierra Leone for his role in supporting that country's rebels, is held accountable for war crimes he is accused of committing in Liberia.

"Surrendering Charles Taylor to the Special Court is crucial for ensuring justice for the victims of crimes in Sierra Leone," said Peter Takirambudde, executive director of the Africa division of the U.S.-based rights group. "But justice must also be done for the countless victims of war crimes Taylor allegedly committed in Liberia as both rebel leader and president."

Twenty-two candidates are standing for the presidency in an October ballot citizens hope will lead the war-battered west African nation of 3 million people to long-term peace and development. About 1.3 million Liberians have registered to vote. Among the candidates were African soccer legend George Weah and Conneh, leader of the rebel group whose deadly mid-2003 siege of Monrovia helped drive former President Taylor into exile.

"After enduring more than two decades of political instability including 14 years of brutal armed conflict, Liberia stands at an unprecedented crossroads," said Takirambudde.

"Failure to establish the rule of law and ensure justice for horrific crimes of war could undermine the hard-won stability in Liberia and the region as a whole," Takirambudde said.

Liberia voters on Weah watch in final days of electoral campaign
Agence France Presse, 10/3/05

Like most of the pushcart operators in the clatter of downtown Monrovia, sock vendor Benedict Wesseh plans to vote for football great George Weah in next week's Liberian presidential election. But for 100 US dollars, he'd gladly sell his voter registration card.

"Yeah, my vote is very important, but so is eating," he said.

Released from a generation's grip of lawlessness, corruption and violence, Liberia has swung into full-blown campaign mode ahead of the presidential and legislative vote still set for October 11 despite a Supreme Court ruling that could bring two disqualified candidates back and postpone the polls.

Rare is the wall bare of campaign posters or the car without a sticker slapped on bumper or hood. Radio stations, including Weah's own King FM, run political ads continuously, touting 22 presidential candidates and contenders for 94 legislative seats.

Candidates are in their final race through the rural areas this week, hoping to drum up support across the forested nation settled in 1847 by freed American slaves and praying that Liberia's notorious rains will taper before Tuesday to ensure good turnout.

"We are in the home stretch now," said a volunteer in the campaign of Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, preparing for a 100-kilometer (60-mile) journey likely to take up to four hours. "We are exhausted, but confident."

The presidential field is deep, featuring legacied members of the Liberian political elite who boast impressive resumes that include stints with the United Nations, the World Bank and multinationals such as Firestone, which operates what it says is its biggest rubber plantation just outside the capital.

But in a country of young people where the literacy rate hovers around 30 percent, Weah's triumphs on the soccer pitch and his decision to return to Liberia -- even if it is in a chauffered Hummer or Porsche convertible -- make him the preferred choice to lead the fragile transition towards democracy.

"Weah, he is a good man and I trust him. He always came back to Liberia, even when things were bad, and was always so giving to us," said Victor Kollie, proudly showing off the photos of his hero he had laminated at his own expense, hung from a lanyard around his neck. "His hands are clean; you cannot say that about any of the other candidates."

While the electoral campaign has been a triumph over violence and instability, it has not produced the kind of engagement in the political process that observers had hoped among the west African country's citizens, wearied by war and skeptical of politicians' promises.

"Everyone is saying Weah, Weah, Weah, but I think that is the easy answer," said Nyonblee Karnga, a businesswoman who will cast her vote for Charles Brumskine, running behind Weah and close to Johnson Sirleaf in the race to force a second round. "He is a wonderful man, but uneducated, and unprepared for the challenges that Liberia is facing. Next time, maybe. But we need a real leader."

A good chunk of the electorate was in short pants or pinafores in 1997 when warlord Charles Taylor romped to victory and claimed the presidency he had been chasing since launching his rebellion in 1989 against then-president Samuel Doe.

Despite the conflict that followed on from his election two years later, the exiled leader remains a popular choice for many, who admit they would have a tough time choosing between the self-anointed "King George" and Taylor himself.

"Me, I am for Brumskine or Weah, because Brumskine comes from my hometown and I just love George Weah," said Paul, a hotel waiter. "But I would much prefer Charles Taylor, if I could vote for him. We know who he is; everyone else, we just know who they were."

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Moldova seeks Latvia's help to become EU associate member
Agence France Presse,9/27/05

President Vladimir Voronin of Moldova said Monday the former Soviet republic was eager to forge closer ties with the European Union and sought Latvia's help in becoming an EU associate member.

"Moldova has developed an action plan of cooperation with the EU, and submitted a report to the EU," he told a news conference in Riga on a two-day visit. "Our report to the EU was appreciated. Together with EU member states that support us, we will fully implement it," he said.

"Moldovans are optimistic and eager to move closer to Euro-Atlantic structures."

Moldova's leaders have said they were inspired by last year's peaceful revolution in Ukraine, in which Voronin sided with eventual winner Viktor Yushchenko, and other pro-Western revolutions in former Soviet republics to lean towards western Europe and the United States rather than Russia.In March, Voronin and the US-educated leader of Georgia, Mikhail Saakashvili, both said they want their countries to join the EU.

President Vaira Vike-Freiberga of Latvia, which was incorporated into the Soviet Union in the 1940s and only regained its independence in 1991, said it was Latvia's duty to support Moldova's aspirations to strengthen ties with the West. When Latvia set out on the road to join the EU and NATO, it received support from neighbours and distant countries, and it was now the Baltic state's duty to pass on its experience to others, Vike-Freiberga said.

"Latvia fully supports Moldova's wish to integrate into Euro-Atlantic institutions," said Vike-Freiberga.

Latvia has given Moldova concrete help to foster cooperation with the West, addressing problems in public administration, customs and border controls and helping to carry out reforms, Vike-Freiberga said.

The pro-Western leanings of former Soviet republics across the Black Sea, including Moldova, have raised concern in Russia that an important zone of influence could be slipping from its grasp. Moldova, a landlocked country wedged between Ukraine and Romania, became independent following the collapse of the USSR in 1991. The country, which is one of the poorest in Europe, is still dependent on Russia for the energy supplies.

Chief UN war crimes prosecutor disappointed over Belgrade's failure to arrest top fugitive
Associated Press, 9/29/05

The chief U.N. war crimes prosecutor expressed disappointment Thursday over Belgrade's failure to capture a top wanted fugitive - Gen. Ratko Mladic - while Serbian prime minister pledged to do "all possible" to fulfill this responsibility.

The comments came after Carla Del Ponte held talks in the Serbian capital with Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica and Rasim Ljajic, Serbia's official in charge of relations with the U.N. court in The Hague, Netherlands.Del Ponte said after the meetings that since last October, her office had "good cooperation" from Belgrade, which handed over 16 fugitives wanted by the U.N. tribunal.

"But my disappointment is because six fugitives are still at large, most probably in Serbia," Del Ponte told reporters. "And of course, of course, Mladic." Del Ponte wants Serbia to apprehend Mladic, a former Bosnian Serb army commander at large a decade after The Hague court indicted him for genocide.

Also at large is Bosnian Serb wartime leader Radovan Karadzic, wanted together with Mladic for allegedly orchestrating the 1995 massacre of 8,000 Muslim boys and men from Srebrenica - Europe's worst carnage since World War II - and for laying siege to the Bosnian capital of Sarajevo.

Del Ponte has insisted Mladic is hiding in Serbia under the protection of Serb military hard-liners. She also recently said Kostunica had promised to arrest Mladic by early October - a claim Belgrade denies. Del Ponte also told reporters she had hoped Belgrade would have delivered Mladic by July, the 10th anniversary of the Srebrenica slaughter."Now we have another deadline, the Dayton peace agreement," which ended Bosnia's 1992-95 war, she said. The accord was reached at the U.S. airbase in Ohio where the warring sides were brought for negotiations.

Del Ponte did not specify who set the 10th anniversary of the Dayton accord - which falls on Nov. 21 - as a new deadline. "We spoke about whether it is possible to have Mladic transferred by this anniversary," Del Ponte said without elaborating.

Serbian officials have argued they are doing all they can to capture Mladic but have been unable to locate him. "Cooperation with The Hague tribunal is of vital interest, it is a test for our future," Kostunica said Thursday. "We shall do all possible to fulfill our responsibility as soon as possible. Every day that passes is a day lost."

Serbia has been told that the Balkan republic's bid for closer ties with the EU and NATO, as well as international financial support for its ravaged economy, hinge on Mladic's arrest. Most immediately at stake are the so-called stabilization and association talks, a stepping stone to EU membership negotiations. Belgrade is expected to begin those talks with Brussels in October.

"We are fully aware that Serbia's ability to meet The Hague demands will determine the completion of the talks," Kostunica said. Del Ponte, who after Belgrade was to travel to Montenegro and Croatia on Friday, declined to take questions.

EU ban on Tamil Tigers may make them rethink strategy of violence, analysts say
Associated Press, 9/29/05

The EU's ban on Tamil Tigers - and its veiled threat to brand the group "terrorists" - may force the rebels to re-think their violent tactics as they claim to support peace talks to end Sri Lanka's civil war, analysts said.

"I think LTTE's options are limited," said Jehan Perera, a top analyst of National Peace Council, a Colombo-based independent think tank. He was referring to the rebels' official name, the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam. "The LTTE is desperately looking for international recognition, and any more acts of violence will jeopardize that dream," Perera said on Thursday.

The rebels have their own de facto government in much of Sri Lanka's north and east, as well as their own military, judicial system and even traffic police. But they lack international recognition.

On Monday, the European Union issued a statement saying Tamil Tiger representatives will be refused entry to EU member states until further notice, while the bloc decides whether to add the group to its list of terrorist organizations. The EU said the Tigers' "continuing use of violence and terrorism" threatened Sri Lanka's fragile peace process.

The Tamil Tiger rebels began fighting in 1983 for a separate homeland for Sri Lanka's 3.2 million mostly Hindu ethnic minority Tamils, claiming discrimination by its 14 million mostly Buddhist Sinhalese.

The war killed nearly 65,000 people before Norway brokered a government-rebel cease-fire in February 2002. But since the truce was signed, the rebels have been blamed for 409 killings - including those of 61 Sri Lankan security forces and 34 civilian informers, according to the Media Unit of the Sri Lankan Defense Ministry.

Also among those killed were 54 members of Tamil political parties opposed to the Tigers. The Aug. 12 slaying of Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar, blamed on the rebels, triggered international indignation. The Tigers deny involvement in Kadirgamar's killing, and have generally declined comment on the other deaths.

The EU ban is seen as a severe blow to the rebels, who have scrambled to improve their international image by traveling to European capitals to try building support among governments and the 800,000 Tamils who fled Sri Lanka after the 1983 anti-Tamil riots that started the war.

"I don't know how deep the rethinking will be in the LTTE, but I imagine there will be reassessment and review of their current policies," said Paikiasothy Saravanamuttu, another top political analyst of the Colombo-based Center for Policy Alternatives, an independent research institute. "If the LTTE had thought that, irrespective of their behavior, they expect to be treated as an equal partner at peace talks or other forums, this ban by the EU certainly indicates otherwise," Saravanamuttu said.

The Tigers have accused the government of engineering the EU ban. The rebels' political chief, S.P. Thamilselvan, told reporters Wednesday that the ban indicated that the EU had sided with Sri Lanka's government.

"The international community has made this move solely going by the government claim that we killed Kadirgamar," Thamilselvan said.

Presidential candidate pledges 'honorable peace' for all Sri Lankans
Associated Press, 9/30/05

Presidential candidate and current Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapakse visited Sri Lanka's Muslim heartland Friday promising if elected to create an "honorable peace" on the island plagued by decades of sectarian violence.

"We cannot allow the country to be divided," Rajapakse told The Associated Press at an election rally in eastern Sri Lanka. "The reality is, we all have to live together."

The Muslim vote will be crucial at the Nov. 17 poll for Sri Lanka's new president, and could determine whether Rajapakse or his main opponent, Ranil Wickremesinghe, wins. Sri Lanka's 1.3 million Muslims are the second-largest ethnic minority after the 3.2 million Tamils.

A Tamil rebellion was launched in 1983 that claimed the lives of nearly 65,000 people before a cease-fire was signed in 2002 between the guerrillas and the Sinhalese-majority government. However, peace talks stalled in 2003 and the truce has been threatened by sporadic outbursts of violence ever since. Muslims generally do not trust the Tamil Tiger rebels, who are mostly Hindus.

"What I will work for is ... honorable peace where all Sri Lankans can live without fear," said Rajapakse in Akkaraipattu, a town 200 kilometers (140 miles) east of the capital, Colombo. He didn't elaborate on how peace would be achieved if he is elected.

Rajapakse flew to Akkaraipattu by helicopter, which was escorted by two others when close to landing. A massive security presence prevailed while soldiers in armed personal carriers patrolled the area. He didn't directly ask the crowd to vote for him, but expressed hope they will. "I hope that you would like to see me leading the country on my birthday on Nov. 18," Rajapakse said.

African Union accuses government, Janjaweed of combined attacks on civilians
Associated Press, 10/1/05

The African Union has accused Sudanese government forces of attacking civilians in Darfur, committing acts of "calculated and wanton destruction" that have killed at least 44 people and displaced thousands more during the past two weeks.

Government forces have also painted their military vehicles in the white colors of the African Union cease-fire monitors "in violation of all established norms and conventions," the chief African Union envoy to Sudan, Ambassador Baba Gana Kingibe, told a press conference in the Sudanese capital on Saturday.

Kingibe gave four instances of Sudanese army troops conducting what he called "coordinated offensive operations" with the Janjaweed Arab militia since Sept. 18 in Darfur.

His charge is politically embarrassing to the new government as Sudan has repeatedly denied any collusion with the Janjaweed, which has been blamed for the bulk of human rights violations in the two-year conflict. The government did not respond to Kingibe's remarks Saturday.

More than 180,000 people have died in Darfur and another 2 million people have been displaced since residents of African ethnic origin rebelled against the government, accusing it of neglect and discrimination. It is rare that the African Union directly apportions blame for the fighting in Darfur. Normally it takes pains to call for restraint from both sides.

Kingibe said the latest escalation in fighting began with attacks by the rebel Sudan Liberation Army in late August that continued through September. Initially the government forces showed restraint and managed to stop the Arab militia from attacking the SLA.

But the regular army "suddenly decided to abandon such responsible behavior and posture and resorted to the violent destructive and overwhelming use of force not only against the rebel forces, but also on innocent civilian villages and the Internally Displaced People's camps," Kingibe said in a prepared statement.

On Sept. 18, the army and Janjaweed attacked the settlements of Khartoum Djadeed, Sandego, Khasantongur, Tary, Martal and Djabain. The raids killed 12 people, seriously wounded another five, and displaced about 4,000 civilians, Kingibe said.

On Wednesday Sept. 28, government and Janjaweed forces attacked the Aro Sharow camp for displaced people and the villages of Acho and Gozmena, resulting in the death of 32 people, with another seven missing, and the looting and burning of about 80 homes. During this attack, Kingibe said, "reportedly 400 Janjaweed Arab militia on camels and horse back went on the rampage" while government helicopter gunships flew overhead.

On Thursday, government troops and police raided the town of Tawilla and the adjacent camp for displaced people in North Darfur. "The government of Sudan forces used approximately 41 trucks and 7 land cruisers in the operation, which resulted in a number of deaths, massive displacement of civilians, and the destruction of several houses in the surrounding areas as well as some tents in the Internally Displaced People's camps," Kingibe said.

Some of the government vehicles were painted in the white color of the African Union mission. "During the attack, thousands from the township and the IDP camp, and many humanitarian workers, were forced to seek refuge near the African Union camp," he added.

On Friday, the African Union received reports of ground forces attacking Sheiria, a town of 33,000 people in South Darfur, and helicopter gunships dropping bombs on the nearby village of Ato. The African Union is investigating the extent of casualties and damage, Kingibe said. "If the government of Sudan forces claim that their latest acts of cease-fire violations are in retaliation for earlier acts of provocation by the SLA, this cannot be justified given the deliberately calculated and wanton destruction wrecked by the disproportionate use of force on innocent civilians and IDPs in their camps," he said.

"Whatever the circumstances, we expect a greater sense of responsibility and a greater standard of behavior on the part of the government of Sudan troops, and their allies, than they have exhibited in the last 4 days," he added. Kingibe said he was calling on the government, as he had earlier called on the rebels, to immediately abide by the cease-fire that was proclaimed in Darfur last year. He also called on the government to stop the "unethical practice" of painting its vehicles in the African Union color.

The African Union will convene in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on Monday a meeting of its Peace and Security Council to discuss the recent developments and consider appropriate action, Kingibe said. The African Union, which has some 5,600 soldiers acting as cease-fire monitors in Darfur, is chairing peace talks among the warring parties in Abuja, Nigeria.