WASHINGTON — Developments in Baghdad are not waiting for President Bush to end his elaborate round of consultations on what to do next in Iraq. The White House now says it will reveal its revised Iraq strategy in the new year. But on Saturday, the Iraqis are scheduled to hold an all-party reconciliation conference in an attempt to unravel the skein of crisis and violence that has brought the country to a state of virtual civil war. Sources in Iraq said the much-postponed conference, now brought forward from its tentative date in early January, is not likely to be put [...]
EASTERN SHAN STATE, Myanmar — The divide and conquer tactics employed by Myanmar’s ruling military junta to reign in ethnic insurgent militias on the Sino-Myanmar border have further agitated delicate ceasefire agreements with the formerly China-backed rebel groups. Escalating tensions with the junta, known as the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC), have prompted the largest of these players, the 20,000 strong United Wa State Army (UWSA), to re-supply its forces and bolster defenses in an apparent bid to deter a Myanmar Armed Forces attack on their largely autonomous enclave in Myanmar’s Eastern Shan State, dubbed Special Region 2. Since [...]
ON THE BOUAKE-YAMOUSSOUKRO ROAD, Ivory Coast — For the passengers on this bus, the trip started encroaching upon its fifth hour. Most had abandoned rebel-held Bouake, headquarters of the New Forces, for the bright lights of Abidjan, where they had families and business. But their bus had been stopped before Yamoussoukro, the Ivorian capital. Armed government customs agents ordered the driver and his crew to unload all the baggage from the bus, where it could be opened and inspected for possible infractions. Few, if any, were found. The bus driver, his shirt stained with sweat, somewhat shrugged off the delay. [...]
