CIA director Leon Panetta met Philippine President Gloria Arroyo July 12 for a closed-door security meeting—days after the UN World Food Program suspended aid work in Mindanao in response to a wave of deadly bombings. Panetta's visit came just hours after Islamist militants in conflicted region freed an Italian Red Cross worker they had held for six months.

At least six people were been killed and many others wounded when a powerful bomb exploded on the southern Philippine island of Jolo on July 7. The bomb, hidden on a motorbike, exploded outside a hardware store; the store owner was one of those killed. The blast was followed around two hours later by a car bomb attack next to a parked military patrol jeep in Iligan City. The second blast wounded at least 24 people, including three soldiers. Police said they had also defused another bomb near the Mount Carmel Cathedral in Jolo. On July 5, a bomb blast outside a cathedral in the Cotabato killed five people and wounded 55. Authorities blamed the Moro Islamic Liberation Front for the Cotabato attack, Mohaqher Iqbal, although MILF spokesman Mohaqher Iqbal denied any involvement. (BBC News, Philippine Star, July 7)

The largest mosque on the Indonesian island of Java was blockaded this week by local residents who fear that radical militants including cleric Abu Bakar Bashir have been using it to promote their teachings. Indonesian media report that Muslims in Surabaya blocked the entrance to the al-Ihsan Sabililla mosque for three days before agreeing to reopen it. Bashir, one of the key leaders of the Jemaah Islamiyah group, visited the mosque recently and gave several sermons.

An ambush on a convoy of Indonesia's elite Mobile Brigade (Brimob) left one officer dead in the restive province of West Papua June 24. The attack in the rugged Puncak Jaya district is the latest in the Tingginambut area, where pro-independence rebels are believed to be active. The attack comes just two weeks before Indonesian presidential elections. The district also saw violence in the lead-up to legislative elections on April 9. (Jakarta Globe, June 24)

At least 11 were killed and 18 others wounded when gunmen opened fire on a mosque in Joh-i-Rong district of southern Thailand's Narathiwat province during evening prayers June 8. A few minutes after the mosque attack, a car bomb exploded in the same area, killing a villager and wounding 19 others. No group has yet claimed responsibility.

Authorities in Burma on May 21 closed the trial of pro-democracy advocate and Nobel Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi after briefly opening it to 30 foreign diplomats the previous day. UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon said he plans to visit Burma "as soon as possible" to urge the release of Suu Kyi and other political prisoners. In an interview with CNN, Ban said that he was "deeply concerned" about the detention of "an indispensable patron for reconsidering the dialogue in Myanmar."

Nicaragua has issued a passport for Thailand's former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, Thai authorities have verified. The document allows Thaksin—wanted in Thailand on charges of inciting the recent political riots—to travel internationally. His previous passport had been revoked, and he is currently in hiding. During the protests, he hopped from Australia, China, Hong Kong, Dubai and Cambodia in his private jet, issuing video messages to his followers. The Thai ambassador to Mexico met with the Nicaraguan ambassador to that nation April 17, to convey the message that the Thai government does not wish to see Thaksin using any country as an off-shore base to destabilise the Kingdom. The Thai ambassador also requested Nicaragua extradite Thaksin, although Thailand and Nicaragua have no extradition treaty. (Electric News Paper, Singapore, April 19; Thai News Agency, April 17)

Security forces April 14 raided a marijuana plantation and arrested four people in the southern Philippine island province of Sulu, Mindanao region. Police said some 1,500 plants were uprooted in the hinterlands of Talipao municipality. A military statement linked the militant Abu Sayyaf group to the plantation. The identities of those arrested were unknown, but police said investigations are underway.