Armenia has strongly criticised Baku’s decision to pardon Azeri soldier Ramil Safarov for killing an Armenian soldier in Hungary in 2004. President Serzh Sarkisian said that Armenia was ready for war if the situation escalated, reported the AFP. "We don't want a war, but if we have to, we will fight and win. We are not afraid of killers, even if they enjoy the protection of the head of state," Armenian President Serzh Sarkisian said in a statement on Sunday. "They (Azerbaijanis) have been warned," he said, calling Azerbaijan a country where "illicit orders set free and publicly glorify every...
Rioting on Sunday and further violence on Monday has left at least 47 policemen injured in Belfast, as disorder erupted in the city between loyalists and republicans. Almost 10 hours of rioting on Sunday saw the police fire water cannons as petrol bombs, fireworks, golf balls and bottles were thrown at police lines, with Chief Superintendent George Clark describing the violence as "savage, appalling and reprehensible". The violence erupted after a loyalist protest against republican bands marching in the area. The previous weekend a loyalist band defied a ban against playing sectarian songs...
Former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic attempt for a retrial at a UN court has been rejected by judges, who stated the late disclosure of evidence from prosecutors would not prejudice his case. Rejecting Karadzic’s request, Judge O-Gon Kwon at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) said , "there is no basis for the accused's renewed claim that the prosecution's disclosure violations ... have caused him prejudice." 67-year-old Karadzic faces 11 charges of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity including over his role in the 1995 Srebrenica massacre...
A court in the US has ordered the ex-Somali Prime Minister Mohamed Ali Samantar to pay $21 million in damages to victims of torture and human rights abuses that took place whilst he was in power. An 8 year long court battle ended earlier this week, with a Washington court ruling Samantar must compensate his victims from his time in office during the 1980s. Kathy Roberts from the Center for Justice and Accountability and was the attorney for the lead plaintiff welcomed the ruling commenting , "The court's ruling [sends] a message to victims and perpetrators alike that the U.S. will not provide...
Archbishop Desmond Tutu has called for Tony Blair and George W Bush to be tried at the International Criminal Court in The Hague over the Iraq war. The Nobel peace prize winner said in The Observer the former leaders lied about weapons of mass destruction and that the controversial war “fabricated the grounds” for civil war in Syria and a potential conflict with Iran. Tutu also said that different standards are applied to western and African leaders and that the human cost of the US-UK invasion was sufficient reason for Bush and Blair to be hauled before the ICC. There were also critics of...
Congo has asked the UN peacekeeping force to neutralise a new rebel movement, known as M23 rebels, and a force that helped carry out Rwandas 1994 genocide, the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda. The Congolese Foreign Minister, Raymond Tshibanda N’tunga Mulongo, hopes that stronger mandate to cease these movements from existing as an ideology could reduce conflict on the eastern borders, where the groups currently operate. If done properly he predicted that the situation could be resolved within a year. Mulongo also urged the UN to impose sanctions on those that a UN report...
Islamist rebels in Northern Mali have claimed to have executed an Algerian diplomat that was kidnapped five months ago, claiming that their demands were not being met. The Algerian Foreign Ministry has confirmed that they will be investigating the rebels claim to have killed one of the seven diplomats who were captured by the rebels, after the Algerian consulate in northern Mali, was stormed by the militants in April. See report from the AP here . The reports come as the rebels also claimed to have taken the town of Douentza, a strategic town close to government held areas. See report from...
The former police chief of Guatemala has been arrested in Geneva on Friday for murders committed between 2004 and 2007. Erwin Sperisen will be questioned over eight murders in prisons in Guatemala. "He was head of the national police force during two campaigns to execute detainees and we will be looking into those murders," prosecutor Olivier Jornot told Reuters. Sperisen resigned in 2007 after concerns were raised over involvement of officials in prison murders. Philip Grant of TRIAL, an NGO campaigning for prosecution of war criminals abroad, welcomed the move. "NGOs wish that a trial can...
The US administration is undecided on whether the Haqqani network, based in Pakistan, should be designated as a terrorist organisation, the Washington Times reports. It adds that some officials are concerned such a move could complicate relations with Pakistan, and efforts for peace talks with the Taliban. Despite the military pushing for such a designation, the move has been resisted by some the White House, and some in the State Department, the Washington Post reported. See here for full article.
The Syrian rebels have seized one of the military's air defence bases in the east of the country, a UK based monitoring group reported. The attack took place on Saturday in Deir al-Zor province, with the rebels also seizing a number of anti-aircraft rockets, and 16 captives. See here and here .