US officials have informed reporters that they expected changes in the military after the election of President Mursi. "We had expected President Mursi at some point to co-ordinate changes in the military leadership, to name a new team," Pentagon spokesman George Little told reporters.
The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) has agreed to suspend Syria from the body, according to an OIC source. The source told Reuters that foreign ministers agreed to the suspension at a meeting in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, on Monday. "The session just ended. The ministers adopted the resolutions, including the suspension of Syria," the source told Reuters. Iran opposed the suspension from the 57-member body.
The UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has urged for a continued ‘flexible UN presence in Syria’ after the end of the current observer mission. "A continued UN presence in Syria that goes beyond our important humanitarian work would allow systematic and meaningful engagement with the Syrian stakeholders, inside the country," the UN chief said in a letter on Friday to the 15 members of the UN Security Council. "Furthermore, a flexible UN presence in Syria would provide the UN impartial means to assess the situation on the ground. "The UN cannot discontinue its support" while the crisis continues...
Russia’s President Vladmir Putin has stated that the country’s military will be boosted with the acquisition of 1,600 new warplanes and helicopters by 2020, as part of efforts to modernize the military.
The newly elected president of Egypt, Mohamed Mursi, dismissed two generals on Sunday, and quashed a military order that had curtailed the new government's powers. Mursi's spokesperson described it as "sovereign" decision designed to pump "new blood" into the army. Commenting on the announcement, Mursi said , "The decisions I took today were not meant ever to target certain persons, nor did I intend to embarrass institutions, nor was my aim to narrow freedoms. "I did not mean to send a negative message about anyone, but my aim was the benefit of this nation and its people,"
The United States and Turkey have been considering the imposition of a no-fly zone over Syria as US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton met with the Turkish foreign minister, Ahmet Davutoglu this week. Announcing that a working group to help provide “very intensive operational planning" was being set up, Clinton said , "It is one thing to talk about all kinds of potential actions, but you cannot make reasoned decisions without doing intense analysis and operational planning," "Our intelligence services, our military have very important responsibilities and roles to play so we are going to be...
India’s Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) will investigate recent violence in the north-eastern state of Assam. 77 people died after violence erupted between indigenous Bodo tribes and Bengali Muslim settlers. Tension between the native Bodo and Bengali migrants has been simmering for years and erupted into full-scale riots after four Bodo youths were killed last month. Bodos then attacked Muslims in retaliation, accusing them of being behind the killings. The CBI will now probe whether there was a ‘conspiracy’ behind the violence, which saw over 300,000 people fleeing their homes. The...
Mexico’s Supreme Court has moved to hand over cases of human rights abuses by the military to civilian courts. The decision is a blow to the military’s culture of impunity in abuse, torture and executions. The ruling undermines President Felipe Calderon’s resolute defence of the military during the goverment's six-year offensive against drug rings. His government had proposed that some military cases be moved to civilian courts, but this proposal did not include murder. “A soldier should never be judged by a military court when the victim is a civilian and their human rights have been...
A Canadian court has rejected an appeal from a Guatemalan accused of war crimes who is fighting an extradition order to the United States for immigration offenses. Jorge Vinico Orantes Sosa is accused of lying to immigration authorities in the US over his time spent in the counter-insurgency force of the Guatemalan military in 1982. He also stands accused of massacring the village of Dos Erres in 1982, whilst leading a military patrol. See our earlier post: Guatemalan war criminal to be extradited to US (05 Sept 2011) Justice Brian O'Ferrall wrote in his decision, "Mr. Sosa is not facing...
Britain has announced that it will send £5 million to Syrian rebels in order to further non-lethal assistance, stating that it was the “right thing to do”. British Foreign Secretary William Hague announced earlier on Friday that the aid was for unarmed members of the opposition and human rights activists, in addition to £27.5 million in humanitarian aid for food and medical care. The money is to be spent on satellite phones and radar equipment for the opposition, as well as, “medical supplies such as trauma kits, surgical equipment, medicines and water purification and to assist local doctors...