The United States has charged Russia with continuing to supply weapons to the Syrian government which have been used in the country’s ongoing conflict, with more weapons set to be delivered. Speaking on information that a shipment of attack helicopters are being sent from Russia to Syria, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said , "We have confronted the Russians about stopping their continued arms shipments to Syria.” “ They have from time to time said that we shouldn't worry, everything they're shipping is unrelated to [Syrian] actions internally. That's patently untrue and we are...
The Falklands Islands’ government has announced it will hold a referendum in 2013, to settle once and for all questions regarding its sovereignty. The announcement comes a day before the 30th anniversary since the end of Argentine occupation of the British territory. The Chairman of the islands' legislative assembly, Gavin Short, said they were going to hold the referendum "to show the world just how certain we are about it [our future]". "I have no doubt that the people of the Falklands wish for the islands to remain a self-governing overseas territory of the United Kingdom. "We certainly...
The International Criminal Court is seeking a 30-year jail term, for former Congolese war lord Thomas Lubanga, who was found guilty of recruiting and using child soldiers by the ICC in March this year. Chief Prosecutor of the ICC, Luis Moreno-Ocampo, said he demanded a "severe sentence". "The prosecution will request a sentence in the name of each child recruited, in the name of the Ituri region," "These children were told to kill and rape. That was the education he [Lubanga] gave these children," Mr Moreno-Ocampo told the court on Wednesday. Lubanga was the head of the Union of Congolese...
The leaders of Croatia, Bosnia, Slovenia and Macedonia, boycotted the inauguration of Serbia's new president on Monday, Tomislav Nikolic, over his recent statement's denying the Srebrenica genocide. Bosnia's presidency chairman Bakir Izetbegovic said , "I wanted to send a message (to Nikolic) that his statements about Srebrenica and Vukovar — the statements that remind us of Nikolic from 10-15 years ago — are unacceptable," "I think that it is important to send such a message straight away because Nikolic is a man who is trying to change. He had changed his rhetoric, but he has to definitely...
Radovan Karadzic, the former Bosnian Serb political leader has denied all charges against him at The Hague and called for a complete dismissal of his trial. Karadzic, who faces 11 counts of genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes for massacres at Srebenica and Bosnia stated , "The prosecution hasn't proven my responsibility for the events in Srebrenica, nor that it was genocide. " "The prosecution has made a huge effort to try to make some kind of an indictment out of nothing . The entire indictment against me is founded on my alleged intent, or that 'we Serbs' intended to get rid...
The prime minister of Kenya, Raila Odinga, has called for EU and US help for a ‘final onslaught’ on the main stronghold of al-Shabab in Somalia. Odinga said Kenyan forces would reach the port town of Kismayo by August and said funds and troops were needed to dislodge al-Shabab. The EU’s anti-piracy mission has up to 10 war-ships patrolling off the coast of Somalia and has a mandate to attack Somali pirates on land. "Without controlling Kismayo, it's very difficult to completely neutralise al-Shabab," Mr Odinga told journalists in Nairobi. "It has taken time because our forces felt that to...
Speaking to The Times on Sunday, the British Foreign Secretary, William Hague, reiterated that military invention in Syria could not be ruled out. Comparing the situation to that of Bosnia in the 1990s, Hague commented that the international community's inaction during that conflict led to tens of thousands of deaths. “ Syria is... on the edge of a collapse or of a sectarian civil war so I don’t think we can rule anything out ,” “ It is looking more like Bosnia in the 1990s , being on the edge of a sectarian conflict in which neighbouring villages are killing each other.” Welcoming "in...
The head of the Zintan brigade militia has told the BBC, that four officials from the International Criminal Court have been jailed in the town of Zintan. Ajami al-Ateri told the BBC that the team will be held for 45 days pending investigations. The team was detained after visiting Col Gaddafi’s son Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, who is being held by the Zintan brigade. They are accused of trying to hand Gaddafi documents while visiting him in a prison in the town. Nasser al-Manaa, the prime minister's spokesman, said: "The relationship between Libya and the ICC cannot be at the expense of Libya's...
The United States has expressed fears that Syria’s Assad regime is planning fresh massacres in the country and warned the Syrian President against doing so, reminding them of the case of Bosnia. Speaking in the daily press briefing, State Department Spokesperson Victoria Nuland said, “The United States joins Joint Special Envoy Kofi Annan in expressing deep alarm by reports from inside Syria that the regime may be organizing another massacre” “Taken together, Syrian forces have already escalated their repression in direct defiance of their commitments to the Annan plan by using now new...
The International Criminal Court, demanded the released of four members of staff, that it alleges were detained whilst on an official trip in Libya. The four were said to have been meeting the imprisoned Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, and include at least one of the two lawyers appointed to represent Saif al-Islam at The Hague. The ICC president, Sang-Hyun Song, said, “We are very concerned about the safety of our staff in the absence of any contact with them,” “These four international civil servants have immunity when on an official ICC mission.” The lawyer representing Libyan interests at The...