World News: February 2009

An Israeli air strike carrying out a series of attacks at night killed Abu Zakaria al-Jamal, a senior Hamas commander of the armed wing of Hamas.  In yet another strike it bombed the house of top Hamas operative Imad Akel and reports state that the Israeli military heard secondary blasts in the house, indicating weapons and explosives were in the home.  An Israeli warplane dropped a 2,000-pound bomb on the home of one of Hamas’ top five decision-makers, killing him and 18 others.  The airstrike on Nizar Rayan was the first that succeeded in killing a member of Hamas’ highest echelon since Israel first began its offensive operations.

Several powerful earthquakes struck in eastern Indonesia killing at least four people and injuring dozens more.  Reports of down power lines and buildings hitting the ground came as the 7.3-magnitude tremor sent a series of small tsunamis into Japan’s southeastern coast, where there were no reports of damage.  As the first 7.6-magnitude quake struck about 85 miles from Manokwari, Papua, 10 aftershocks soon followed.

This past November’s Mumbai attack had support from official agencies in Pakistan, stated Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, accusing Pakistan of   “whipping up the war hysteria.”  India reportedly gave evidence to Islamabad linking attacks to “elements” in Pakistan.

Approximately 170 people died as 10 gunmen made the vicious attacks.  The Pakistan-based militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba is blamed for the killings, but both LeT and the Pakistani government have denied any involvement.

Sources reported that opposition lawmakers ended a violent, 12-day siege of South Korea’s Parliament after delaying a crucial vote on a U.S. free-trade deal and other legislation.  Democratic Party legislators occupied Parliament since Dec. 26, 2008 keeping security guards at bay who tried to overtake them.  The sit-in ended when the Assembly speaker assured them that the governing party would not run the bills through before the next American president took office. Parties agreed to hold the vote until after President-elect Barack Obama’s inauguration on January 20, 2009.

Islamist fighters took control of several bases vacated by Ethiopian troops in the Somali capital.  The city remains under extreme pressure as fear grows that militant al-Shabab fighters will launch further attacks against peacekeepers in a bid to take control of the city.  Reports state that ICU took over six bases when Ethiopia withdrew the last of its troops, bringing to an end its bid to protect  the capital.  The ICU was thrown out of power by Ethiopia in late 2006.  The al-Qaida-linked militant group al-Shabab continues attacks on the African Union mission known as AMISOM.  Muktar Robow,Al-Shabab’s spokesman stated that his group sees no difference between Ethiopian troops and AMISOM peacekeepers.

An untimely dispute over natural gas between Russia and Ukraine left major parts of Europe without heat or fuel for several days.  This incident prompted the signing of an agreement with the European Union to establish independent monitors of pipelines—a condition set by Russian energy officials so they would turn on the gas flow.  The dispute between Russian and the Ukraine started over pricing and accusations of stealing gas from the export pipelines.  Europeans were left literally to freeze in the cold during the dead of winter.  Especially hard hit were Poland and Bulgaria where temperatures went below zero.  More bad news after the agreement was signed when it was noted it would take three days to restore full service.  The underlying price dispute was still not fully resolved.

The Gulf nation of Qatar announced at an Arab summit a freeze against Israel protesting ongoing bloodshed in Gaza that widened the gap between pro-U.S. Arab nations and Middle East rivals.  U.S. allies Egypt and Saudi Arabia boycotted a gathering in the Qatari capital, which had been called by Qatar to forge a united stance over the Gaza violence.  The meeting was dominated however,  by backers of the Palestinian militant group Hamas.  Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, a top Hamas supporter, made a hard stand appearance, along with Hamas’ Syria-based political chief Khaled Mashaal.  They fired back at Israel calling for Arab and Muslim nations to cut any bilateral ties they have with the Jewish state.

Four Iranians went to trial on charges of attempting to overthrow the Iran government.  Also included in the charges were that the men had conspired and worked with the United States to support the effort.  Two of the men were convicted of “adultery, murder and other crimes” and executed by stoning in the northeastern city of Mashad.  Punishment for the other two men who were additionally accused of plotting against the government was set for a future date.  The four Iranian men were  were arrested in Tehran and were said to have recruited forces to train.  Reports state that the men worked throughout the country and received funds from the State Department or the C.I.A. from a budget that was approved by the U.S. Senate for overthrowing the Iran regime. 

A supertanker owned by Saudi oil-companies was held hostage by pirates off the coast of Somalia for two months.  It was said to be released for a ransom totaling $3 million, stated one of the pirates and resident of Xarardheere, a pirate town on the Somali coast near where the tanker was taken.  This latest  tanker is the largest ship so far to be seized by pirates, and at the time it was taken held about two million barrels of oil.  It was reported that the pirates had wanted $25 million for the oil tanker, but agreed on $3 million.  Although pirates were to leave the ship on receipt of ransom the International Maritime Bureau in London, a clearinghouse for piracy information and maritime safety issues, could not confirm if the pirates had actually freed the tanker or not.

Approximately 200 people went missing and were feared dead when a passenger ferry went down off the coast of the Indonesian island of Sulawesi.  Reports had the ferry carrying 250 passengers and 17 crew members.  A fishing boat in the area rescued 18, among them the ship’s captain; all had been drifting on life rafts for hours.  According to reports by the captain at least 100 or more people jumped off the boat in panic before it sank, but he didn’t know what happened to them.  Additional rescuers were dispatched, but were experiencing trouble reaching the scene because of bad weather.

Prime ministers of Russia and the Ukraine agreed to end their gas dispute.  The agreement stated that prices would be pegged to the price of oil, but discounted for 2009, meaning the Ukraine would pay the same or sightly higher than the prior year.  The deal  was on the heel of sharp criticism from European officials of 20-plus countries cut off from natural gas whose citizens faced zero temperatures at the hands of Soviet economic gain.