Speaking at the end of a visit to Ethiopia, US Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Jendayi Frazer issued the strongest threat yet that Eritrea could be officially labeled a sponsor of terrorism. Frazer said the presence of exiled Somali Islamist leader Hassan Dahir Uways at a meeting in Asmara was further evidence that Eritrea provided sanctuary for terrorists. (BBC, Sept. 8) Hassan Dahir Uways is officially labelled a "terrorist" by Executive Order 13224 of Sept. 23, 2001.

Trade unions in Algeria are calling on members to rally Sept. 9 to denounce suicide attacks that have claims dozens of lives in recent days. (BBC, Sept. 8) Workers at Algeria's ports have also threatened with a series of rolling strikes in protest of the government's privatization plans. Algiers is negotiating with Dubai Ports World over the company taking a 50% stake in the container terminal at the port of Djen Djen. The Coordination Nationale des Syndicats des Ports d'Algerie (CNSPA), which represents many of the Algerian unions working on the docks and in the maritime sector, has vocally opposed the change. (Echorouk Online, Aug. 18)

Voters in Morocco deprived the Islamist Justice and Development Party (PJD) of an expected parliamentary victory, handing it instead to the secular conservative Istiqlal party that is a member of the ruling coalition. In a surprisingly strong showing, Istiqlal won 52 of the 325 seats in the lower house of parliament. PJD, whose growing strength in recent years had worried its secular rivals, won 47 seats—far short of the 80 seats the party had hoped for. The PJD accused the ruling secular parties of buying votes and appealing to voters with hasty public works projects. "It is sickening," the PJD's Lahcen Daoudi told reporters. "The PJD has won, but Morocco has lost." Final authority rests with King Mohamed VI, who will name a prime minister based on the election results. The prime minister will then name a government, likely to be an awkward coalition that would include the PJD for the first time. (AP, Sept. 8)

The last time this happened, there was evidence of sabotage. From Reuters, Sept. 7:

NEAR ZHEZKAZGAN, Kazakhstan — Kazakhstan, home to Russia's Baikonur Cosmodrome, accused Moscow on Friday of not doing enough to ensure the safety of its space launches a day after a Russian rocket crashed in the Central Asian state.

A Sept. 6 suidice bombing in Batna, southeastern Algeria, left 22 dead and over 100 injured. The attack came just 40 minutes before a visit to the town by President Bouteflika. (North Africa Journal, Sept. 7) The attack came a day after security forces bombed a suspected militant hideout in a cave near Lagla el-Malha, a village in the conflicted eastern Tebessa region. The seven killed were suspected of carrying out an ambush Sept. 3 that killed five security officials and one civilian in the town of Henchir El-Hoshas. In July and August at least 80—mostly said to be armed militants—were killed in clashes in the region. (AP, Sept. 6)

This Sept. 7 report from AP notes what seems to be a growing trend—and vindicates our observation of a strategic tilt to the Sunnis on the part of the US.

US and Iraqi troops backed by attack aircraft clashed with suspected Shi'ite militiamen in Baghdad, bombing houses and battling more than a dozen snipers on rooftops. Residents and police said at least 14 people were killed.

This Sept. 6 report from Computer World hails a victory for the privacy rights of cyberscenti, but as we have noted, this also concerns us old-school types who go to libraries and read books. (We know, how quaint.)

Judge: Court order needed before ISPs turn over user info without notification
A federal court today ruled that the FBI can't compel ISPs to turn over user records without notifying those users unless it has a court order or a grand jury subpoena. The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York struck down part of the amended Patriot Act's National Security Letter (NSL) provision, according to the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), which had filed a lawsuit challenging the provision.

The Indo-Asian News Service is justly proud of Bhairavi Desai of the New York Taxi Workers' Alliance in this Sept. 5 account. New York City is fast becoming a laboratory for the new surveillance state, and the heroic taxi drivers are in the vanguard of the resistance:

Bhairavi Desai leads taxi strike in New York
Fewer taxis were seen on the roads in New York and it was taking longer to hail one as the two-day strike by a section of the city's 13,000 cab drivers started on Wednesday morning. Drivers of yellow cabs—about 60 per cent of them are South Asian—have been protesting the installation of GPS software and credit card readers by the government.