APSNet Semi-Weekly Bulletin, April 7, 2008

Recommended Citation

"APSNet Semi-Weekly Bulletin, April 7, 2008", APSNet Semi-Weekly Bulletin, April 07, 2008, https://nautilus.org/apsnet/apsnet-7-april-2008/

APSNet 7 April 2008

  1. Apology after Raid on Enemy of Taliban
  2. PM Frustrated Over Lack of NATO Self-Scrutiny
  3. East Timor to Use Force Against Rebels – Army
  4. Jakarta Judges Clear Ex-Militia Leader over Timor Carnage
  5. Indonesia: Foreign NGOs Evacuated Over Protest
  6. Iraq Pullout Could Spark Genocide
  7. Trade Holds Trees to Ransom

1. Apology after Raid on Enemy of Taliban, Ash Sweeting and Jonathan Pearlman, SMH, 2008-04-07

Australian forces have apologised to an anti-Taliban Afghan tribal leader after mistakenly raiding his house and seizing his weapons in an incident that threatened to undo efforts to unite tribal leaders against the Taliban. The incident comes as the Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, and the Defence Minister, Joel Fitzgibbon, called for renewed efforts to win the “hearts and minds” of Afghans and prevent Taliban support.

2. PM Frustrated Over Lack of NATO Self-Scrutiny, Michelle Grattan, Age, 2008-04-05

Kevin Rudd has failed to win NATO’s agreement to put a firm timetable on measuring the effectiveness of its Afghanistan strategy – especially efforts to combat the production of opium. Mr Rudd announced $62 million more to help Afghanistan and reaffirmed Australia was there for “the long haul”.

3. East Timor to Use Force Against Rebels – Army, Tito Belo, Reuters, 2008-04-04

East Timor will launch a military operation next week to capture fugitive rebel soldiers believed to have been involved in an assassination attempt on President Jose Ramos-Horta. The operation, involving 2,000 troops and police, would be launched on Wednesday unless the rebels gave themselves up, said Brigadier-General Taur Matan Ruak.

4. Jakarta Judges Clear Ex-Militia Leader over Timor Carnage, Tom Hyland, Age, 2008-04-06

Former militia leader Eurico Guterres – the only Indonesian jailed for the destruction of East Timor that claimed about 1500 lives in 1999 – has been acquitted by a Jakarta court. This means all the men charged by Indonesian prosecutors over the violence during the 1999 independence referendum have now been acquitted. US Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill said Washington would accept the commission’s findings.

5. Foreign NGOs Evacuated Over Protest, Jakarta Post, 2008-04-05

Large international NGOs have evacuated staff from the Belu regency capital of Atambua, East Nusa Tenggara, following threats by former East Timorese refugees seeking extra relief funds. A staff member of Care International, who asked not to be identified, said it evacuated its staff to both Jakartaand Kupang, the capital of East Nusa Tenggara.

6. Iraq Pullout Could Spark Genocide, Chris Baltimore, Australian, 2008-04-07

There is no end in sight for the US military occupation of Iraq and a quick exit would risk “massive chaos and even genocide”, an Institute of Peace report says. “The US is no closer to being able to leave Iraq than it was a year ago,” said the report, written by experts who advised a high-profile Iraq policy panel convened by Congress in 2006.

7. Trade Holds Trees to Ransom, Jim Douglas, Canberra Times, 2008-04-07

The Papua New Guinea-Australia Forest Carbon Partnership will need iron-clad agreements between the two governments on how the rewards of avoided deforestation are to be distributed, as well as rigorous monitoring of how this is implemented in the field, to avoid the very considerable risks this initiative presents of both failure in implementation, and political opprobrium for both sides of the agreement.

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Richard Tanter,
Project Co-ordinator