APSNet for 20070423
Austral Peace and Security Network (APSNet)
Twice weekly report from the Nautilus Institute at RMIT, Australia.
Monday 23 April 2007
- Diggers Securing Mideast Peace: Nelson
- UK Troops in Iraq Hand Over Province
- Iran, US take their fight to Afghanistan
- Sergeant Who ‘Threatened to Kill’ Faces Timor Inquiry
- Fiji: EU’s Roadmap
- Indonesia and Italy Sign Defense Agreement
- ALP May Send Force to Darfur
-
Diggers Securing Mideast Peace: Nelson, AAP, Age, 2007-04-22
Defence Minister Brendan Nelson has paid a secret visit to Australian troops in Iraq, Afghanistan and the Persian Gulf, telling them they play a crucial role in securing peace in the Middle East. The unannounced visit to the Middle East comes as Australia is boosting its military commitment to Afghanistan to tackle a resurgent Taliban and after a deadly week in the Iraqi capital Baghdad.
-
Top US Officers See Mixed Results from Iraq ‘Surge’: Sectarian Killings Decrease in Capital; Suicide Bombings across Country Rise, Ann Scott Tyson, Washington Post, 2007-04-22
-
-
UK Troops in Iraq Hand Over Province, Reuters, Age, 2007-04-18
British forces handed over security of the southern Iraq province of Maysan, the fourth province to be transferred to Iraqis under a plan to eventually allow the withdrawal of foreign troops.
-
Iraq: The British Endgame, Richard Norton-Taylor, Guardian, 2007-04-21
-
Iraq Governorates, UK Ministry of Defence, 2003 [JPG]
-
-
Iran, US take their fight to Afghanistan, M K Bhadrakumar, Asia Times, 2007-04-20
In the latest US offensive against Iran, Tehran is implied to be arming the Taliban insurgency in Afghanistan. Washington could not be further off the mark, as Tehran has a fundamental problem with the Taliban’s virulent anti-Shi’ite ideology. Certainly, though, the Iranians are not above meddling in Afghanistan’s affairs, if only to make the US realize that its support of anti-Iranian terrorism from Afghan soil comes at a heavy price.
Sergeant Who ‘Threatened to Kill’ Faces Timor Inquiry, Andrea Petrie, Age, 2007-04-18
A Victorian policeman working in East Timor on an international peace-keeping mission has been accused of threatening to kill a motorist. A spokesman for the Australian Federal Police confirmed that an investigation had been launched by the United Nations. “All police officers in Timor-Leste are bound by UN police procedures and codes of conduct and the AFP is aware that the UNPOL professional standards and discipline office is currently investigating this matter,” he said.
EU’s Roadmap, Fiji Times, 2007-04-20
The European Union insists that the general election in Fiji be held before March 2009, it has been revealed. By June 30 2007, the EU expects the interim administration to adopt a schedule setting out dates for the completion of the steps to be taken in preparation for the new parliamentary election.
Indonesia and Italy Sign Defense Agreement, Dian Yuliastuti, TempoInteractive, 2007-04-19
A Memorandum of Understanding has been signed by Minister of Defense Juwono Sudarsono with the Italian government said Rear Marshall Slamet Prihatino, Director General of Defense Facility.
ALP May Send Force to Darfur, David Nason, Australian, 2007-04-23
Federal Opposition Leader, Mr Kevin Rudd said the situation in Darfur was a “rolling humanitarian disaster” that desperately needed action. “I’d like to look at whatever proposal came forward at the UN to see whether we’ve got the capacity to assist in some way or another,” he said. “It is a tragedy that the international community has not been able to organise its way through to an effective UN presence on the ground.”
-
U.S. Creating New Africa Command to Coordinate Military Efforts, USInfo, US Department of State, 2007-02-06
-
Getting AFRICOM Right, J. Peter Pham, World Defense Review, 2007-02-15
-
Getting the UN into Darfur, Africa Briefing N43, International Crisis Group, 2006-10-12