China/Security: court sentences five to death over riots

A Chinese government spokesman announced on Thursday that a court in Xinjiang region has sentenced a further five people to death for their role in July's deadly ethnic riots. "On Wednesday, 22 people were tried in five cases with five people being sentenced to death and five others sentenced to death with a two-year reprieve," Ma Xinchun, spokesman for the Urumqi city government told reporters.

The spokesman refused to give other details, such as the names and ethnicity of the convicted or their crimes. The latest sentences bring to 22 the number of people condemned to die or executed over the unrest in the Xinjiang capital Urumqi.

Last month, China executed nine people convicted of violent crimes in the ethnic unrest between Uighurs and majority Han Chinese. On July 5, in Xinjiang's worst ethnic violence in decades, Uighurs, Turkic-speaking Muslim people native to the region, attacked majority Han Chinese in Urumqi, after taking to the streets to protest against attacks on Uighur workers at a factory in south China in June in which two Uighurs were killed. Han Chinese in Urumqi sought revenge two days later.

Mexico/Organised crime: 4 arrested in cartel revenge killing

Rafael Gonzalez Lastra, attorney general for the southern Mexican state of Tabasco announced on Wednesday that four suspected drug cartel members have been arrested in connection with the slaying of a family in what authorities call an act of revenge for the death of a drug baron. “The shootings early Tuesday that led to the deaths of four family members of 3rd Petty Officer Melquisedet Angulo Cordova was an act of revenge carried out by Los Zetas, a drug cartel allied with the Beltran Leyva cartel,” said Lastra. The suspects were arrested Tuesday night, he said.  Lastra said authorities know the identities of the shooters as well as the vehicles used in the attack. Some local police officers were also involved, he said.

Mexican police announced on Tuesday that drug gang hitmen shot dead the grieving mother, brother, sister and aunt of an elite Mexican marine who died after taking part in a raid that killed a notorious drug lord. Reportedly, assailants burst into the family's home in Quintin Arauz in the southern state of Tabasco just before midnight on Monday, firing assault rifles. A fifth family member was injured in the attack. The pre-dawn attack came just hours after the navy honored Melquisedet Angulo as a national hero at a memorial service.

Russia/Insurgency: borderguards HQ in Ingushetia comes under grenade fire

RIA Novosti news agency reported that a borderguards headquarters in Russia's North Caucasus republic of Ingushetia has come under fire from grenade launchers. “A group of unidentified assailants fired at least two grenades at the borderguards HQ building in the city of Nazran at about 21.45 Moscow time on Wednesday,” an official, who preferred not to be named told the news agency. However, no casualties have been reported so far. Meanwhile, police has launched an investigation to nab the attackers.

In the recent months Russia's mainly Muslim North Caucasus republics, especially Chechnya, Dagestan and Ingushetia, have seen an upsurge of terrorist violence. Most of the attacks were carried out on police and officials. Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin earlier this month announced that Moscow would "break the spine" of terrorism and demanded tough action against "criminals" who attacked their own people.

India/Insurgency: 2 Maoists killed and 3 security personnel injured in Orissa encounter

According to the police two people, a Maoist woman and a soldier of the Special Operation Group (SOG) were killed early on Thursday in the Koraput district of Orissa. Three SOG personnel were also injured . “The exchange of fire took place when jawns of Special Operation Group, the state's elite anti-naxal force, were going on a combing operation in Pallur area under Narayan Patna police station,” Y J Rao, a senior pollice official said.

The three injured officers have been admitted to the government hospital at Narayanpatna. In a separate incident, the Maoists damaged a mobile phone tower at Kiang village under Mathili police station area of Malkangiri district on Wednesday night. “Communication was disrupted in the highly forested Malkangiri district due to damage to the mobile tower,” Superintendent of Police Satyabrat Bhoi said.

Thousands have been killed by Maoists in the recent past. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has described the Maoist threat one of the gravest homegrown threats to India's internal security. The rebels claim they are fighting for the rights of poor farmers and landless labourers.

Pakistan/Terrorism: suicide bomb blast kills 4 in Peshawar

At least four people have been killed and 20 others wounded on Thursday in a suicide bomb blast in downtown Peshawar. Reportedly, the blast occurred outside main office of Pakistan International Airline (PIA). “At least four people were killed and 20 others were injured in the suicide blast in Peshawar area near State Life Building situated at Mall Road in Saddar,” Capital City Police Officer (CCPO) Liaquat Ali said. Senior North West Frontier Province (NWFP) Minister Bashir Bilour arrived on the blast site and informed the media that at least two suicide bombers caused the blast, killing at least two people on the blast. “The suicide bombers were riding a motorbike. The bombers blew themselves up on being intercepted by the security personnel Hayatullah at the post situated on Arbab Road, killing the security man Constable Hayatullah on the spot,” Bilour said.

Meanwhile, police and the security personnel cordoned off the area and started garnering clues from the blast site. The ambulances arrived on the spot and have rushed the injured and bodies to nearby Lady Reading Hospital. Earlier, On Tuesday, the Peshawar Press Club had been hit by a suicide bomber. Three people had been killed and several others injured in this attack in the capital of the NWFP.

Yemen/Security: security forces kills 30 Al-Qaeda terrorists in airstrike

An official from Yemen's High Security Committee announced that an airstrike on Thursday killed 30 men suspected of plotting attacks against Yemeni and foreign targets on behalf of the Al-Qaeda terrorist network. “The airstrikes were in the eastern province of Shabwa. The attacks took place as the militants were gathered for a meeting,” the official said on condition of anonymity.

The official explained initial reports said that two top Al-Qaeda members in the Arabian peninsula had been killed but the information could not be verified. "We are still unsure if two of the top leaders have been killed or not. One of them is the Saudi Al-Qaeda member Nasser al Weheshi," he added, declining to say whether more strikes would take place on Thursday. He also said that "Anwar al Awlaki is suspected to be dead (in the air raid)." The terrorist is suspected to be a radical Muslim preacher who could be linked to the Fort Hood army base shooting that occured on November 5 in the United States.

Reportedly, the men were planning to retaliate for raids in Yemen's Abyan and Sanaa provinces that together killed some 34 people and led to the arrest of 29 others last Thursday. On Monday, Sanna said its security forces and warplanes last week foiled a planned series of suicide bombings. About 30 Al-Qaeda terrorists were killed in those airstrikes with 17 arrested in Abyan and in Arhab.

United Kingdom/Security: navies too stretched on piracy in Indian Ocean

British Foreign Secretary David Miliband said ships using the Indian Ocean will not receive the same level of naval protection from pirates as those in the Gulf of Aden because military resources are tight. "Ultimately, however, it will not be possible on practical and resource grounds to provide the level of military security and protection in the Indian Ocean as can be provided in the Gulf of Aden," Miliband said in a letter this month to maritime union Nautilus International.

Miliband said pirates were focusing more on the Indian Ocean and operating further out at sea due to the success of naval operations in the Gulf of Aden. Nautilus International General Secretary Mark Dickinson had written to Miliband over "the continuing deterioration in the situation and the escalation of intimidation and violence". "Piracy is a deadly serious subject and the stakes are very high," Dickinson said.

The Foreign Secretary said the risk of attack could be minimised through measures including "careful consideration of route" and registration with the naval security centre in the region.

Philippines/Security: Manila declares holiday truce with Maoist rebels

Press Secretary Cerge M. Remonde said in a statement on Wednesday that President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has approved a ceasefire with rebel groups, which was reciprocated by the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP). "President Arroyo has approved the suspension of offensive military operations (SOMO) for the Christmas season as recommended by the AFP (Armed Forces of the Philippines). This is in keeping with the Christmas spirit of peace and goodwill," Remonde said in a statement.

A senior Philippine government official said that government forces will unilaterally suspend army offensives against Maoist-led rebels for 60-hours over Christmas, but will maintain defenses. "We're calling on them (rebels) not to take advantage of the situation and spoil the Filipinos' Christmas holidays," Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita told reporters. “Manila will also observe a 24 hour ceasefire New Year,” Ermita told reporters.

Reportedly, the ceasefire will cover only the 4,000-member communist New People's Army (NPA), which has been waging a protracted guerrilla war since the late 1960s. he ceasefire "will also allow the revolutionary forces and the masses... to gather peacefully... or the celebration of the 41st anniversary of the CPP (on Dec. 26),” said Ermita.

Algeria/Security: army deploys 3,000 additional troops

A local daily newspaper reported on Tuesday that Algerian army deployed an additional force of 3,000 soldiers along its borders with Mali, Niger and Mauritania to prevent the infiltration of extremists into the country. “The army turned the border line with Mali, Niger and Mauritania into a no-entry military zone and set up 20 new state-of-the-art surveillance spots to guarantee zero infiltrations by extremists,” an official, who preferred not to be named told El-Khabar daily newspaper.

Reportedly, in addition to the existing military forces at borders, the army deployed 3,000 more soldiers to monitor the border areas which have been witnessing infiltration by pro-Al-Qaeda members. Meanwhile, Algerian authorities warned nomads who used to roam along the southern borders not to move from one area to the other before getting security permission from the army field leader. "Any one who violates the order ... might be shot," the paper said. In the recent time Algeria and neighboring countries, Mali, Mauritania and Niger, face an increasing threat by Algerias Salafist-turned group Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM).

Iran/Civil unrest: security  forces clash with cleric's mourners

According to reformist websites Iranian security forces armed with batons and teargas clashed with supporters of the late dissident cleric Grand Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri in two central cities on Wednesday. Reportedly, plainclothes agents used teargas and pepper gas against people who were gathering for a Montazeri memorial service to be held in a mosque in the city of Isfahan.

Opposition websites said some opposition supporters were injured and dozens were arrested. However, there was no immediate comment from the authorities. Police chief Esmail Ahmadi-Moqadam warned the pro-reform opposition of "fierce" confrontation if it continued its "illegal" activities, the semi-official Fars news agency said. Reformist former president Mohammad Khatami condemned the violence in Isfahan. "Imam Khomeini (Iran's revolutionary leader) believed that the Islamic Republic was based on two pillars -- freedom and independence. If these pillars become shaky ... we will have tyranny again," Khatami said. "Calling anyone who raises his voice a traitor, despite him believing in the (Islamic) system, is a major deviation and should be corrected," Khatami said.

The reported incidents happened two days after big crowds turned out in Qom for the funeral of Montazeri, when many people chanted anti-government slogans. Montazeri, a pillar of the Islamic Revolution three decades ago who became a staunch defender of the nation's current opposition movement, died late Saturday of complications from advanced age, diabetes and asthma, his doctor told state television. He was 87.

Mauritania/Italy/Kidnapping: Malian linked to Italian kidnap arrested

Mauritanian security sources announced on Tuesday that security forces have arrested a Malian suspected of involvement in the kidnapping of an Italian couple near the Mali-Mauritania border. A local news agency reported that Abderrahmane Ben Meddou, who was arrested in Mauritania's eastern town of Kobenni on Monday, is suspected of having helped identify and follow the Italian couple in return for promises of thousands of dollars.

"He was arrested in Kobenni by the gendarmes," a security source told reporters, referring to the eastern Mauritanian town near to where the Italian couple's bullet-riddled car was found abandoned on Saturday. According to security sources the Malian is currently being questioned by the authorities in the capital, Nouakchott.

Although, It was not immediately clear who Ben Meddou was working for. However, local media reports suggested the Italians, and three Spaniards taken last month in Mauritania, were kidnapped on the orders of various factions of Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM). The kidnapping is the latest in a string of kidnappings of foreigners by armed groups in West Africa. No group has claimed responsibility for the kidnapping but Italy said it is using all its political and diplomatic channels to try to secure the release of the couple.

Thailand/Terrorism: soldier and terrorist killed in Narathiwat

Thai police announced that a soldier and a suspected rebel were killed in a gunfight in Thailand's restive Muslim south bordering Malaysia on Wednesday. “The gunfight erupted after police and soldiers preparing to raid a rebel hideout came under fire as they travelled along a road in the Bacho district of Narathiwat province,” said Major General Chaitat Intanuchit.

Separately, a Muslim man suspected of being a terrorist was shot dead in a clash with security forces on Tuesday in Pattani. In another incident, a 4-year-old Muslim girl was killed when unidentified assailants opened fire on her home in Pattani on Monday. Police blamed her death on insurgents, whom they said were likely targeting an older member of their family.

The Thai government has deployedmore than 60,000 troops to the area, said the violence had dropped compared with previous years, but bombings and shootings still occurred as insurgents used guerilla tactics.

Afghanistan/Security: Afghan senator killed at police checkpoint

Mohammad Younus, an Afghan senator was shot dead by police when his car failed to stop at a checkpoint, officials said on Wednesday. Reportedly, Younus was going home in the early hours when the incident occurred in Puli Khumri, capital of troubled northern Baghlan province. “Younus, a member of Afghanistan's upper house of parliament representing Baghlan, failed to stop at a police checkpoint set up as part of a planned ambush of Taleban militants,” Mohammad Akbar Barikzai, an official said.

"They continued to drive after being ordered by police to stop so the police opened fire," an interior ministry statement said. "Unfortunately the senator and his driver were killed and a third person accompanying them was wounded," it said, adding that the ministry has opened an investigation.

Meanwhile, an investigation has been ordered. Earlier this month, gunmen attacked a police post on the main highway from the capital, Kabul, to Baghlan, killing eight policemen.

Russia/Insurgency: another Orthodox priest killed in Moscow

RIA Novosti news agency reported that Alexander Filippov, a Russian Orthodox priest has been killed in the south of Moscow, the Russian capital. "Police officers detained two suspected killers promptly. The suspects are a resident of the town of Podolsk born in 1974 and a resident of Vladimir born in 1981," Moscow Region police spokesman Yevgeny Gildeyev said. "The men followed Filippov up, went into the entrance [to the apartment block] and shot him from a handgun," he said. An investigation is underway. Reportedly, Father Alexander Filippov, 39, senior priest of the Ascension church in the Satino-Russkoye village, was killed late Tuesday in the entrance to the apartment block he lived in.

This was the second murder of a priest in Russia in the past few weeks. On November 19, Father Daniil Sysoyev, 34, was shot dead in his St. Thomas church in southern Moscow by a masked gunman. "I believe the events of past months must make us think of the spiritual and moral situation we all live in," Russian Orthodox Church spokesman Vladimir Legoida said commenting on the latest murder. The murder of Father Alexander, he said, is an example of how "senseless, inhuman spite terminates a person's life for no reason at all."

India/Security: rebels kill 2 policemen in Kashmir

Suspected rebels have shot dead two policemen in India-administered Kashmir, police said on Wednesday. Reportedly, three policemen were shot when the suspected separatist rebels fired indiscriminately Tuesday night at a police patrol in Pampore township, 15 kilometres south of the state capital Srinagar. “Two of them succumbed to the injuries at a hospital,” a local police officer said on condition of anonymity. “The third policeman is critical and under treatment.”

No terrorist group has claimed responsibility for the attack. However, police apprehends that the attack might have been carried out by rebels of the pro-Pakistan outfit Hizbul Mujahideen. Soon after the attack, police and paramilitary personnel laid siege around the area to flush out the terrorists responsible for the ambush. "The whole area has been cordoned off and house to house searches were going on," a police officer said.

On Tuesday, India's Border Security Force (BSF) foiled an infiltration attempt by separatist who tried to infiltrate the international border in Indian-administered Kashmir. The incident happened in the Kangral area, about 45km south-west of Jammu city, on Monday night. Last week, Indian Defence Minister AK Antony said that about 30,000 troops had been withdrawn from Indian-administered Kashmir as attacks by separatists had decreased.

Mexico/Organised crime: drug gang revenge attack kills marine's family

Mexican police announced on Tuesday that drug gang hitmen shot dead the grieving mother, brother, sister and aunt of an elite Mexican marine who died after taking part in a raid that killed a notorious drug lord. "They broke the door down with a sledgehammer and sprayed them with bullets in the living room and bedrooms," said Saturnino Dominguez, the local deputy police commander.

Reportedly, assailants burst into the family's home in Quintin Arauz in the southern state of Tabasco just before midnight on Monday, firing assault rifles. It appeared to be a revenge attack for a Mexican navy operation last week that killed Arturo Beltran Leyva, the boss of a major drug cartel. A fifth family member was injured in the attack. The pre-dawn attack came just hours after the navy honored Melquisedet Angulo as a national hero at a memorial service. "The message is very clear: It's to intimidate not only the government but its flesh and blood," said Jorge Chabat, a Mexican expert on drug cartels. "It's to intimidate those in the armed forces so they fear not only for their own lives, but the lives of their families."

In a separate incident, suspected cartel hitmen fired at four houses in different locations around the Pacific port of Mazatlan on Tuesday, although no casualties were reported, a spokesman for the Sinaloa state prosecutor's office said. Last month Mexican President Felipe Calderon said he would keep 50,000 soldiers deployed in Chihuahua and other northern states bordering the United States to quell drug-related violence that since he took office in 2006 has killed more than 14,000 people.

Colombia/Insurgency: Bogota says FARC rebels murder kidnapped governor

Colombian President Alvaro Uribe announced on Tuesday that the body of Luis Cuellar, the Caqueta state governor, was found with his throat slashed not far from Florencia. "We still don't have the time of the murder, but we did confirm that his throat was slashed. The cowards slit his throat," President Alvaro Uribe said in a nationally broadcast speech. "Military high command told me that as law enforcement was in hot pursuit, the terrorists, most likely to avoid firing shots, went ahead and slit the governor's throat," the president added.

Reportedly, Cuellar's body was discovered by farmers near the charred remains of a car from which he was kidnapped on Monday, 15 kilometers south of southwestern Caqueta department capital Florencia. Uribe slammed the Revolutionnary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) for offering to release two captive soldiers at the same time they were kidnapping Cuellar. "We can't understand why this terrorist group performs these theatrics... and while the government offers every guarantee, this FARC group responds by not releasing (the soldiers) and instead goes ahead and murders the governor." "The armed forces must defeat these kidnappers," Alvaro Uribe said, promising to "forge ahead until terrorism is fully defeated."

A unit of the FARC on Monday lobbed a grenade at Cuellar's residence in Florencia and exchanged gunfire with security guards before kidnapping the governor and fleeing. Reportedly, about 15 men were involved in the attack. According to Colombian army and police officials the Teofilo Forero unit of the FARC rebel group was behind the attack.

Saudi Arabia/Security: 73 Saudi soldiers killed in fighting

Saudi Deputy Defense Minister Prince Khaled bin Sultan announced on Tuesday that 73 Saudi soldiers have been killed and 470 others wounded since fighting have broken out in November between Saudi forces and Yemeni rebels. He also explained that 26 soldiers are currently missing . “The confrontation on the southern border has resulted in 73 martyrs and 26 missing soldiers," said Prince Khaled bin Sultan in comments broadcast on television from a media conference in Al-Khobar in the southern Jizan Province.

“We believe that 12 of [the missing soldiers] were killed, while we do not know about the fate of the other 14,” he said. “The number of wounded has reached 470, the majority of whom have been treated and released, while 60 remain in hospitals,” he added. Prince Khaled bin Sultan also said during a border tour that Yemeni rebels who seized the border village of al-Jabiri have 48 hours to vacate it or surrender. Saudi forces have tried to retake al-Jabiri, a tiny outpost surrounded by Yemeni territory on three sides.

For last five years the Houthi rebels have been battling the Yemeni government . The rebels want greater control of their territory. They practice Shiite Islam in Yemen, where Sunni Muslims make up a majority.

Egypt/Politics: Brotherhood votes for a new governing body

The Muslim Brotherhood has voted for a new governing body, amidst skirmish between the group’s conservatives and reformists. Earlier the proscribed opposition group declared that their dispute over leadership issue had been resolved, putting an end to months of disagreement between the conservatives and reformists. Reports indicate majority of the new Guidance Bureau belongs to the conservative group.

Mohamedd Mahdi Akef, the  chairman whose term ends on January 13, said: "The Muslim Brotherhood group members have suffered during the past few weeks from several incidents, contradictory statements and the general atmosphere that had prevailed." Meanwhile, election observers say the present wing is concentrating on religious issues and has abandoned important political matters. Authorities are also suspicious that the Brotherhood would build up theology through extremism. 

The election of new committee denotes the closing of group's rank ahead of the 2010 parliamentary elections. In 2005, the Brotherhood obtained 20 per cent of seats in the parliament by fielding their members as independents. However, a government crackdown left many prominent members behind bars.

Iraq/Insurgency: 2 Shiite worshippers killed, while two soldiers died in separate incidents

Armed miscreants open fired at people coming out from a mosque, killing two Shiites in the town of Baquba this morning. The report says the victims were leaving after attending a religious ceremony when the gunmen started firing from their car. "Men in a car opened fire on worshippers who were leaving the mosque, where they were participating in flagellation as part of preparations for Ashura, killing two of them," said a police officer.

The 10-day Ashura observance marked the killing of Shiite Imam Hussein by armies of the Sunni caliph Yazid in 680. Several Shiites visit mosque in this ritual to self-flagellate, striking themselves on their backs with chains.

Police said, in separate incidents, a soldier was killed in front of his house while another was shot dead at a city clinic in Mosul. Last night, there was another attack in Fallalujah, in which the head of a city council and a police captain were injured in a car bombing.