Monday, June 16 2008

Briefing:

- International Criminal Court has postponed the tribunal of a Congolese warlord Thomas Lubanga, head of the Union of Congolese Patriots (UPC) in the northeastern Itrui district. His defense team claims the prosecution has unfairly withheld critical evidence of accusations of using child soldiers. Congo suffered a brutal cival war between 1998-2003 in which four million died. On June 24, the tribunal will decide whether or not to free Lubanga or continue with the trial. Although fighting ended in 2003, Lubanga's UCP, which is ethnic Hema, fought the Lendu rivals.

-Somalia continues to spiral out of control. Almost 3.5 million will need food aid withing a few months. The UN cites a weak currency, continued fighting, a lack of government, and rising food prices for the rising numbers. The UN estimates that up to 600,000 people from Mogadishu, or half the population, are now refugees. Many of them live in squalor along the road from Mogadishu to Afgooye, 30 km northwest of the city. Somalia is plagued by ethnic conflict. The prime minister, Abdullahi Yussef, is from the Darod clan, which is fighting the Hawiye clan, another one of the four major clans in the country. This is the clan that gave rise to the Union of Islamic Courts, which briefly, but peacefully, governed the country in the second half of 2006. In December of that year, Ethiopia expelled that government, fearing that Ethiopian rebels were using Somalia as a base. Compounding the violence between the clans is the foreign Ethiopian troops, Somali troops, US air strikes, renegade militias, and breakway regions in the north of the country, particularly Somaliland.

- Chadian rebels of the National Alliance claim they have taken a third town, Biltine, in the eastern part of the country. The 3700-strongEuropean force in Chad, EUFOR, has abandoned this part of the country due to instability. Today Indriss Deby Itto, the president of Chad, accused EUFOR of ignoring flagrant human rights abuses. There are a dozen refugee camps in Chad that are housing 250,000 displaced people from Darfur. The National Alliance has now passed through Goz Beida, Am Dam, and now Biltine. It claims it will march all the way to N'djamena, thecapital of Chad. Chad blames the Sudan for arming and supporting Janjaweed militias, who attack refugee camps in eastern Chad. Moreover, the Union of Forces for Democracy and Development (UFDD) have also been accused of attacking refugees, and then finding a safe haven in the Sudan. Conversely, the Sudan accuses Chad of supporting the National Redemption Front, which is composed mainly of Deby's ethnic group, the Zagawa.

- China and Taiwan have signed an agreement that allows Chinese tourists to visit the island. Relations have improved between the two countries since the May election of Ma Ying-jeou of the KMT. China and Taiwan both recognize one "Republic of China," but of course, have different definitions of what that is.