The "Real IRA" has claimed responsibility for the March 7 attack in which two soldiers were shot dead and four others, including civilians, seriously injured at the British army's Massereene Barracks in Antrim, Northern Ireland. The assailants, who attacked as pizzas from a local business were being delivered, all escaped. Massereene Barracks is the Northern Ireland headquarters of the British army's engineering division. Since the Good Friday Agreement, the number of troops there has been reduced and the base is due to be closed next year.

Facing a trial at The Hague that could send him to prison for life, former Serbian intelligence chief Jovica Stanisic has called in a favor from his CIA allies. In an exceedingly rare move, the CIA has submitted a classified document to the court that lists Stanisic's collaboration with the US spy agency's intelligence activities in the ex-Yugoslavia. Stanisic's former CIA handler William Lofgren, now retired, said the agency drafted the document to show "that this allegedly evil person did a whole lot of good." Lofgren doesn't claim to disprove the charges against Stanisic. "But setting the indictment aside, there are things this man did that helped bring hostilities to an end and establish peace in Bosnia."

A court under the European Rule of Law Mission in Kosovo (EULEX) reached its first verdict March 3, sentencing Kosovar Albanian Gani Gashi to 17 years in jail for murder, attempted murder, and grievous bodily harm. A three-judge panel, composed of two EULEX judges and a judge from Kosova, found Gashi guilty of crimes committed during the Kosova-Serbian conflict in 1998-1999. The EULEX court is charged with aiding the restoration of the rule of law in Kosova. EULEX prosecutor Theo Jacobssaid: "This trial shows that EULEX is serious about investigating and prosecuting war crimes cases whenever they took place, as long as we have enough evidence for a successful prosecution to proceed."

Former Bosnian Serb leader and war crimes suspect Radovan Karadzic refused to enter pleas March 3 to 11 amended charges including genocide and crimes against humanity in a hearing before the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY). Last month, the ICTY granted in part the prosecution's motion to amend the indictment against Karadzic. When asked by Judge Iain Bonhomy whether he pleaded guilty or not guilty on the first charge of genocide, Karadzic responded that he would not enter pleas because he believes the court has no right to try him. Bonhomy then entered on Karadzic's behalf not guilty pleas for all 11 charges.

Arguments began March 3 in the new trial of former Russian oil executive Mikhail Khodorkovsky in a Moscow courtroom. Khodorkovsky and his former business partner Platon Lebedev are facing new charges of embezzling and laundering nearly $20 billion during their tenures at the Russian energy firm OAO Yukos Oil Co. During the proceedings, the Moscow court rejected a request by Khodorkovsky's lawyers to remove two Russian state prosecutors who were involved in his 2005 trial for fraud and tax evasion. The court also rejected a defense request to move Khodorkovsky from the glass and steel enclosure where defendants are normally kept, which many Russian lawyers believe violates international law. Khodorkovsky's lawyers have said that they believe his trial will last for more than six months.

Voters in Spain's northern Basque country March 1 ended 29 years of rule by the Basque Nationalist Party (PNV), leaving the way open for prime minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero's socialists to lead a new government in the region. But supporters of outlawed Basque parties say that without the banning of their slate, the nationalist forces would be the majority in the regional parliament. They assert that more than 100,000 people voted for the banned candidates as a symbolic protest.

Former Serbian President Milan Milutinovic was acquitted Feb. 26 of all charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY). Five other former high-ranking Yugoslav officials were convicted of crimes against humanity that same day. Of the five, former Yugoslav Deputy Prime Minister Nikola Sainovic, Yugoslav Army General Nebojsa Pavkovic and Serbian Police General Sreten Lukic were each sentenced to 22 years in prison, and former Yugoslav Army General Vladimir Lazarevic and Chief of General Staff Dragoljub Ojdanic were each sentenced to 15 years in prison.

Having already barred two pro-independence parties (3DM and Askatasuna) from taking part in the Basque Country's regional parliamentary elections March 1, Spanish judge Baltazar Garzón last week banned all their activities and ordered the closing of their offices and websites. Eight people remain in prison for trying to organize pro-independence election platforms.