Businessmen suspect they make easy targets for organised criminals linked to government. By Mina Habib – Afghan police and relatives of powerful officials have been linked to a wave of kidnapping and killing that threatens to scare away investors vital to economic recovery. When Shour Niazi, a trader, was kidnapped in the capital Kabul on January 20, […]
France’s Condemned Man: Loïk Le Floch-Prigent
Elf oil’s former CEO puts a new spin on the infamous Nigerian Scam. Perhaps more than any other public figure in France, including politicians elect, Loïk Le Floch-Prigent represents the country’s twisted political and financial ties to African heads of state. In 2003, Loïk Le Floch-Prigent, former CEO of the Elf oil company (now Total […]
Somalia: New War In The Making
SOMALIA: NEW WAR IN THE MAKING Wagosha slam ongoing meeting of "Azania" in Kenya (WGM) The executive committee of the Wagosha Movement of Somalia, has strongly criticized the ongoing meeting on Kenyan soil trying to solidify the ill-advised establishment of the so called "Azania State" in Somalia. The movement said it was unfortunate to see […]
Upsurge in Militant Presence in Kyrgyzstan
Porous border makes country’s south vulnerable to incursions, experts say. By Ainagul Abdrakhmanova in Bishkek and Abdraim Ysmanov in Jalalabad (RCA No. 582, 03-Jul-09) Kyrgyzstan’s porous southern border, compounded by the inability of its under-funded security forces to patrol it adequately, is helping make the country a destination for Islamic militants who are believed to […]
Red Cross and Neutral Groups Must be allowed to Serve Freely
Israel and Hamas must be punished for not assisting or allowing various humanitarian aid organizations to perform their jobs inside the war-torn Gaza. Israel military authorities have repeatedly denied accusations that they are blocking the Red Cross and other humanitarian aid agencies. But recent eyewitness reports show that they have refused to cooperate by not […]
Give and take policy, Pakistan fights back
Islamabad: As India has already handed over the list of 20 most wanted people to the Pakistan high commissioner in New Delhi, that has been extended to 40 people now, and India is trying to increase pressure on Pakistan without acknowledging its own mistakes, the security failures and lapses made by the Indian agencies, the […]