Yemeni forces shot down a foreign drone flying over the south of the Arab country, government officials said March 28, and local media reported that the aircraft was Iranian. "Yes, a drone was brought down," a government official told Reuters. He said the drone was downed the previous day but declined to give more details. The Akhbar al-Yawm daily, with close links to the government, reported on its front page: "Security sources confirmed that the drone that was brought down in Hadramout belongs to the Islamic Republic of Iran."

Terrifying reports are mounting of imminent US aggression against Iran, and we have been hearing for months ominous rumblings that Israel will actually strike first. Our March issue featured an interview with Bina Darabzand, a leader of Iran's embattled left opposition which rejects both the Ahmadinejad regime and US aggression. Our March Exit Poll was: "Will the US or Israel bomb Iran first? (Or is it all going to blow over?)" To our disappointment, we received only one response:

Gunmen rampaged through the Sunni and Turkmen district of al-Wihda in the northwestern Iraqi town of Tal Afar overnight, killing about 50 residents, apparently in reprisal for bombings in a Shi'ite area. Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki has ordered an inquiry into reports the gunmen included police from his security forces. A curfew has been imposed as Iraqi army troops take control of the city.

Speaking to reporters after winning Mauritania's first "free elections," Sidi Ould Cheikh Abdalahi pledged to "transform" the nation and "build a country that conforms to the norms of justice and economic development." In implicit reference to the early-'90s violence, in which Black Africans were expelled to neighboring Senegal and Mali, he said he would work for democracy "founded on tolerance and acceptance" to "reinforce national unity." But IRIN notes March 28 that "because of his association with former Taya supporters, Mr Abdalahi's detractors have alleged that his victory means the military's influence will creep back into politics, a perception not helped by the army chief of staff Ahmed Ould Daddah issuing a statement congratulating Mr Abdalahi on his victory."

The April-May issue of the online alternative fashion magazine IMT Styles (for "I made that") has a feature on WW4 REPORT—including an interview with WW4R editor Bill Weinberg by IMT Styles editor Tiffany Brown. We're happy to make this unlikely connection. The sexy/homespun IMT Styles proves that just because folks reject consumerist culture doesn't mean they have to be dour, frumpy intellectual hippies (although we at WW4 REPORT are). Here's the interview:

From the Center for Constitutional Rights, March 27:

First Military Commission at Guantanamo Deeply Flawed
The Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) today released a statement on the military commission proceedings at Guantánamo Bay against Australian David Hicks that began yesterday. Hicks pled guilty to material support of a terrorist group last night apparently in exchange for being allowed to serve his sentence in Australia.

South African and foreign intelligence agencies have been monitoring an alleged Islamist militant training camp at Greenbushes, Port Elizabeth, according to local press reports. One magazine has even published a report on the alleged training camp. The report—including photographs of the supposed training grounds—is the cover story in Molotov Cocktail, a magazine edited by James Sanders, author of a recently published history of South Africa‘s intelligence services. However, Port Elizabeth Muslim leader Samuel Panday on Monday dismissed the report, saying the National Intelligence Agency (NIA) was trying to increase its budget allocation through making claims of a military camp. "There is no such camp—it is all nonsense; rubbish," said Panday. (Mail & Guardian, March 27)

Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee said March 26 that India intends to go ahead with a multi-billion-dollar gas pipeline from Iran via Pakistan despite objections from the US. "Talks on this pipeline are going on," Mukherjee said in an interview with the NDTV news network. "When I was in Iran, I had categorically mentioned that we are interested in having this pipeline." He added: "Now negotiations are going on about the prices." (AFP, March 26)