Kosovo’s affairs & the “Narco-statehood”

ANALYSIS

By Ioannis Michaletos

March 28, 2008

The strongest passion in the world is jealousy, but the sweetest is revenge. An old Cossack saying Do not envy a sinner; you don’t know what disaster awaits him. Bible Kosovo’s independence proclamation by the Albanian secessionist administration in Pristina in February 2008, follows a course that was drafted back in March 1999 when NATO started a war against the then Yugoslavia and more specifically against Serbia, who at that time composed more than 90% of Yugoslavia. Although a decade has passed and numerous efforts have been made by the international authorities, along with a tremendous cash-flow of aid; Kosovo is viewed as a region that is under the tight grip of organized crime and corruption which spans through he entire social and political sphere.

This article examines the situation in Kosovo in relation to the dependence of the region with drug trafficking. In Kosovo, the main managers of illicit drugs are the so-called «15 families» which represent the core power of the state, because of their financial clout and political connections.

EXCLUSIVE: Zardari Govt. Turns Down Uranium Deal For Pakistan

Ahmed Quraishi

12 May 2009

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan—After cutting down funding for Pakistan’s strategic and nuclear programs by more than a third, the government of President Asif Ali Zardari has refused to sanction the purchase of fuel for nuclear plants, turning down a rare opportunity to buy uranium from the international market.

Pakistani officials won’t confirm the report, which is being made public here for the first time. But sometime around late 2008, interlocutors from Pakistan and Kazakhstan apparently reached an agreement under which uranium-rich Kazakhstan agreed to sell nuclear fuel to Pakistan.

The Pope in Israel. Day One, Two Surprises

The world was ready to pounce on him, over the most explosive questions: anti-Semitism, the war. But Benedict XVI did it his own way. He took two words from the Bible. With the first, he explained the conditions for peace. With the second, he illuminated the mystery of the Holocaust

by Sandro Magister

ROME, May 12, 2009 – As soon as he landed in Israel on Monday, Benedict XVI immediately took up the most controversial questions: first peace and security, then the Holocaust and anti-Semitism.

On both fronts, the ambush was set. He was subjected to constant pressure, not all of it above-board. For many of his critics, the script was already written, and they were simply waiting to judge whether and how the pope would stick to it.

Saudi judge says it’s OK for men to beat wives

By ABDULLAH SHIHRI

The Associated Press

Monday, May 11, 2009; 2:18 PM

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia — A Saudi judge told a conference on domestic violence that a man has the right to slap a wife who spends money wastefully and said women were as much to blame as men for increased spousal abuse, a Saudi newspaper reported.

The remarks do not carry the weight of law, as they were made out of court. But such public pronouncements by Saudi judges _ who are also Islamic clerics _ are often widely respected.

A rights activist decried the remarks and said she and other campaigners viewed them as the latest setback in women’s efforts to gain the right to vote, drive, freely participate in politics and be protected from violence.

Four Islamists killed in Algeria firefights: reports

Fri May 8, 3:52 pm ET

ALGIERS (AFP) – Four armed Islamists have been killed by Algerian security forces during firefights in Tizi Ouzou and Boumerdes, east of the capital Algiers, local news media reported Friday.

Organized crime unleashes a wave of violence in Mexico

5,200 people were murdered in 2008

By Zidane Zeraoui, 5th March 2009

Why the war between the drug cartels themselves has broken out in Mexico. The opium coming from Afghanistan. The corruption of the police and the legal system. The lack of action by the United States. The express kidnappings. Felipe Calderón and his war against organized crime.

(From Monterrey) THE WAVE OF VIOLENCE pummeling Mexico has been growing at an alarming rate for the past few years. In 2004, 1,200 people lost their lives due to organized crime; the figure stood at 1,600 a year later and jumped to 2,700 the following year before reaching 5,200 in 2008. A third of these murders took place in Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, on the border with El Paso, Texas. Last year, there were 1,656 deaths in the city alone.

“The slaughtering has its roots in a complex problem, national as well as international”

The border town has taken a beating during the first two months of this year: 158 deaths in January and 160 killings in February. If this trend continues, the end-of-the-year total will be well above 2008’s already horrific figure. The bloodshed in Ciudad Juárez has to do with its strategic position: it controls the entry into the American market via Interstate Highways 10, 20 and 25.

Terrorism: Al-Qaeda suspects accused of planning attacks

Rome, 12 May (AKI)

Italian police have accused two French men of planning Al-Qaeda attacks in France and Europe. The French nationals were detained in Italy over alleged illegal immigration offences in November and are now believed to be important figures in the terror network.

The suspects are Bassam Ayachi, 63, an imam of Syrian descent with French nationality, and Raphael Gendron, a 34-year-old French citizen.

Their suspected terror targets included France’s main international airport, Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris, and unnamed locations in Britain.

The men have been held in an Italian jail in the southern city of Bari since November as part of an investigation into illegal immigration involving local police and Ucigo, the anti-terrorism police division.

Italy: Foreign terror suspects detained by police in 2008

Rome, 7 May (AKI) – Italian police arrested 14 people suspected of having links to international Islamist terror groups in 2008. According to official data released by police on Thursday, some of the suspects had already been investigated for other crimes. Another 29 foreigners were arrested for suspected links to non-religious extremist organisations.

Nine people who allegedly belonged to extremist groups in Italy and two others responsible for attacks on Islamic targets in Italy were also arrested, according to the data.

A total of 24,234 foreigners were arrested by police in 2008. Of this number, 8,340 were returned to their country of origin. A total of 408 were arrested by Italian police for aiding illegal immigration.

The data was released by police to coincide with the 157th anniversary of the foundation of the police service in Italy.

The occasion will be marked by a special ceremony in the centre of Rome with the president Giorgio Napoletano on Friday.

http://www.adnkronos.com/AKI/English/Security/?id=3.0.3288219564

OSCE head calls for full cease-fire

Published: May 11, 2009 at 7:07 PM

ATHENS, Greece, May 11 (UPI) — The head of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe called on leaders in Azerbaijan and Armenia to fully implement a cease-fire agreement.

Greek Foreign Minister Dora Bakoyannis, OSCE chairperson-in-office, released a statement Monday ahead of the 15th anniversary of the cease-fire agreement for the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, which is Tuesday.Despite the cease-fire, people are still killed near the borders of the disputed region every year from snipers and other threats. Bakoyannis called on Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan to reach a deal fully implementing the provisions of the cease-fire and move toward peace in the former Soviet region.

Why Iran Freed Roxana Saberi

May 11, 2009, 2:47 pm

By The Editors

(Photo: Stan Honda/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images)

Demonstrators show support for Roxana Saberi near the United Nations headquarters in New York on May 3, World Press Freedom Day.

An Iranian-American journalist, Roxana Saberi, who was tried and sentenced to eight years in prison in April on charges of spying for Washington, was released Monday after an appeals court reduced the sentence.

Iran has detained several Western journalists in recent years, though in most cases they have been expelled rather than tried. Ms. Saberi, however, is a dual citizen of Iran and the United States. What does her release signal about Tehran’s approach to the Obama administration and its interest in engaging in a dialogue with the U.S.?