Daily Report
Chiapas: Lacandones flee jungle conflict zone
From Milenio, Nov. 20, via Chiapas95 (our translation):
For the first time in more than three centuries, some 300 Lacandones have fled their communities for fear of new confrontations with residents of Viejo Velasco, who sympathize with the Zapatista National Liberation Army, according to the director of Na Bolom Cultural Association, Jorge Vecellio.
Mexico: "dirty war" report finds "crimes against humanity"
From El Universal, Nov. 20:
The government on Saturday released a long-awaited report that for the first time officially blames "the highest command levels" of three former presidencies for the massacres, tortures and slayings of hundreds of leftists from the 1960s to the early 1980s.
More street fighting in Oaxaca
From AP, Nov. 20:
OAXACA — Masked protesters armed with sticks, rocks and homemade gasoline bombs clashed with police and raided a downtown hotel Monday during a march by leftists seeking the governor's resignation.
Iraq: jihadis can't take a joke
From AP, Nov. 21:
BAGHDAD -- Relatives and colleagues mourned the fatal shooting of popular actor Walid Hassan, remembering him Tuesday as giving hard-pressed Iraqis comic relief by poking fun at everything from politicians to long lines at gas stations.
Lebanon: Pierre Gemayal assassinated
From the pan-Arab Al-Bawaba, Nov. 22:
Lebanon started three days of mourning on Wednesday following the assassination of an anti-Syrian Christian cabinet minister that his allies blamed on Damascus. Industry Minister Pierre Gemayel was assassinated as he drove in a Christian suburb of Beirut on Tuesday.
Next for Somalia: khat wars?
Since seizing power in Mogadishu, Somalia's capital, in June, the Islamic Courts Union has banned khat leaf, the mild stimulant which has been traditionally chewed by Somalis for centuries. Imports of khat from Kenya, a main supplier, are being intercepted and burned, and flights from Kenya have actually been halted. This has resulted in a shortage which has sparked angry protests by local khat merchants in Mogadishu, who have lost their income. In one protest on Nov. 16, Islamist fighters shot into the crowd, killing one person. (BBC, Nov. 16)
Somalia: Puntland pledges to resist Islamists
General Addeh Museh, president of Puntland, the autonomous region in northeastern Somalia, has vowed to resist any attack by fighters from the Islamic Courts Union, saying his administration would not accept "radicalism and extremism." Gen. Museh said, "We will continue to resist the spread of Islamic militants."
Ethiopia-Eritrea proxy war for Somalia: opening shots?
From AP, Nov. 20:
MOGADISHU — Islamic fighters ambushed an Ethiopian military convoy on Sunday, killing six Ethiopian soldiers and wounding 20 others, witnesses said, in the first known fight between the rival forces maneuvering for control in Somalia.
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