The Hamas prime minister of Gaza Ismail Haniya has made his first official foreign trip since Hamas won control of the Gaza strip in 2007.

After visiting Sudan and Egypt, Mr Haniya has now arrived in Turkey, in the hope of strengthening ties with Muslim countries in the face of uprisings in the region.

Turkey’s diplomatic relations with Israel have declined to an all time low since the attack by Israeli forces on a Turkish aid flotilla in 2010, which left 9 turkish activists dead.

Mr. Haniya visited the Mavi Marmara, the largest ship of the flotilla, on Monday and said, “The blood of Mavi Marmara martyrs and that of Palestinian martyrs is joined for a hopeful future.”

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan met Haniya in Ankara, where he was thanked by Mr Haniya for Turkey’s continuing support for the lifting of Israel’s embargo on Gaza.

Omar Celik, a senior official of the ruling party, called the Palestinian conflict Turkey’s national issue and asked Israel to recognise Hamas as a legitimate organisation.

“If Israel is sincere about the peace process,” Mr. Celik said on NTV, standing next to Mr. Haniya, “it should quit declaring organiations like Hamas that support the peace process illegal, and stop building settlements.”

A Taliban spokesman announced on Tuesday that the organisation is willing to open an office in Qatar for negotiations with the ‘international community’.

Zabiullah Mujahid said an agreement had been reached with Doha and other ‘relevant parties’ but did not elaborate on when the political office would be opened.

Secret discussions between US and Taliban officials had been ongoing for months and it is thought that a release programme for Taliban prisoners of war has also been negotiated.

Plans for the office in Qatar where initially opposed by Afghan President Hamid Karzai, but he gave in to US pressure and approved the plans last week.

See previous article:

Qatar to host Taliban ‘embassy’ (28 Dec 2011)

The first Palestinian-Israeli meeting in fifteen months, ended in a small token of progress, with peace negotiators, agreeing to continue the dialogue.

Gathering in Jordon's capital, Amman, on Tuesday, the meeting was overseen by the Middle-East 'Quartet' of the Unites States, Europian Union, Russia and the United Nations.

Tuesday's talks come after Israel and the US condemned the Palestinian's UN bid as a move against peace talks.

However, the meeting was welcomed by the White House who described it as a “positive development" and by the Jordanian foreign minister, who said,

“The important thing is the two sides have met face to face today."

“We agreed that the discussions will be continuous, that the meetings will continue and will take place here in Jordan. And we also agreed that we should not publicize about these meetings ahead of time, except through the Jordanian host, and I tell you that you may hear about it or you may not hear about it.”

However, Hamas called the talks “a very big disappointment.”

“If these negotiations continue, this will totally blow up the Palestinian reconciliation,” said a Hamas leader, Ismail al-Ashqar.

Hundreds of thousands of protesters took to the streets of Sanaa in Yemen, demanding that the country's out-going president, Ali Abdullah Saleh, faces justice for ordering the deaths of protesters.

Holding posters of the president with a noose around his neck, protesters chanted, "We will not let you escape" and "Mr Saleh must stand in front of a judge".

The protests followed Saleh's decision to stay in Yemen despite being offered immunity when signing an accord that relinquishes power to the vice president.

His decision has led to speculation that he is intent of maintaining his power. The son and nephew of Saleh, who lead the Republic Guard and Central Security respectively, have reportedly clamped down on dissent within their officers.

See related articles:

Navi Pillay calls for independent investigation into Yemeni violence (06 Dec 2011)

Yemeni youth urge UN to take Saleh to the ICC (02 Oct 2011)

Kim Jong-un was formally named as the supreme commander of North Korea's armed forces on Saturday, consolidating his leadership and power within the state.

Referring to him for the first time as the "great leader", the official state news agency said,

 "[the title] provides sure guarantee for glorifying the great exploits performed by Kim Jong-il for army building and carrying forward the cause of the songun [military-first] revolution generation after generation".

In a defiant statement broadacast by the state media, the new leader warned South Korea and the rest of the world,

"The sea of the blood and tears by our people and our military, will chase the rebellious faction till the end to become the sea of revenge, burning the rebellious faction until nothing is left."

"The sound of mourning will become the roaring of the sound of gunfire that will collapse the puppet stronghold."

Human rights activists and families of 'Dirty War' victims protested against what they described as "lax" sentences handed to officers convicted of war crimes.

Gathering outside a Buenos Aires courthouse on Thursday, the protesters held photographs of the victims and demanded the sentences be lengthened.

Nora Cortinas, from a human rights group called the Grandmothers of the Plaza de Mayo, said,

"We can't tolerate these sentences. They are laughable for the crimes they committed. What more proof do they need?

"Do they want the victims who were tortured and killed to come up from the bottom of the ocean, to rise from the earth and testify against the crimes that were committed? What more proof has to be given?"

See here for footage of protest.

Argentina's ‘Dirty War’ was a period of state-sponsored terror friom 1976 to 1983 in which up to 30,000 people were killed or ‘disappeared’.

Russia has criticised the US of grave human rights violations and double standards in dealing with allegations of rights abuses.

The Kremlin's first report on human rights abuses detailed allegations of torture, phone tapping and indefinite detention by the US.

It criticised the Obama government for failing to shut down Guantanamo Bay and protecting officials from prosecution.

"The situation in the United States is far from the ideals proclaimed by Washington," Russia's foreign ministry said in a 63-page report posted on its Foreign Affairs website.

"The main unresolved problem is the odious prison in Guantanamo Bay."

"The White House and the Justice Department shelter from prosecution CIA operatives and highly placed officials who are responsible for mass and flagrant breaches of human rights," it said.

It also accused the US and NATO serious human rights violations during their involvement in the Libyan uprising, going as far as claiming the overthrow and murder of Colonel Gaddafi was NATO's 'main goal'.

The US did not dismiss the report and has said they are open towards discussing the issues laid out.

"These kinds of human rights reports can be a useful mechanism," State Department spokesman Mark Toner said.

"We certainly don't regard it as interference in our internal affairs when foreign governments, individuals or organizations comment on or criticize U.S. human rights practices."

The Arab league's observer mission to Syria has come under scrutiny after it emerged that the team was being led by a Sudan army general, Gen. Mohamed Ahmad al-Dabi, who has been accused of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity in the 1994 Darfur genocide.

Ahmad al-Dabi served as the military intelligence chief in Sudan's army and was responsible for the western province of Darfur in the late 1990s, where he allegedly recruited and armed Arab militias.

The ICC (International Criminal Court) has issued an arrest warrant.

Omer Ismail, a Sudanese analyst with the anti-genocide group, the Enough Project, said,

“He was one of the architects of the genocide in Darfur. Instead of going to Syria, he should be investigated by the ICC and held accountable for his deeds.”

Afghanistan has agreed to a US plan to allow the Taliban to open an office in Doha.

President Karzai previously rejected the idea, accusing the US and Germany of discussing the plan with Qataris, without informing the Afghan government of the full plan.

But in a statement on Tuesday, President Karzai said he would agree to Qatar hosting the office.

Karzai would prefer Turkey or Saudi Arabia, but if the United States insists that the insurgents establish a liaison office in Qatar, “we are agreed,” he said.

“Having an exact address for the opposition (is a condition) for practical steps toward starting negotiations,” Tuesday’s statement said.

An official stressed that the acceptance by the Afghan government is not a concession to the Taliban, but a move to facilitate a peace process.

The Taliban themselves have not yet commented on the plans.

Related link:

With Taliban ‘embassy,’ Qatar again punches above its weight (The Globe and Mail)

China is due to sign a deal with Afghanistan on Wednesday, paving the way for the first foreign company to produce oil in the country.

China's state owned National Petroleum Corporation will sign a contract allowing it to conduct explorations in an area thought to hold over 87 billion barrels of oil.

"The Afghan cabinet has ordered mines minister Wahidullah Shahrani to sign an oil exploration contract for Amu Darya with China National Petroleum Corporation," Afghanistan president's office said in a statement.

The statement further said 70% of the profits will be paid to the Afghan government.

The deal would be China's second major contract in Afghanistan, after a contract was signed in 2008 to develop a large copper mine in the Logar province.

Beijing's $3.5 billion investment is the largest foreign investment in Afghanistan so far.

Read more:

China begins scramble for Afghanistan's oil reserves (The Daily Telegraph)

A Bosnian Muslim woman has been extradited from the United States to face allegations of war crimes.

Rasema Handanovic, 38, is accused of killing Bosnian Croat civilians during the 1990’s, along with Edin Dzeko, her alleged comrade, who was extradited from the US last week.

Both are suspected of being part of a Bosnian Army unit that attacked the Bosnian Croat village of Trusina in 1993, killing 18 civilians. Witnesses allege Handanovic personally shot civilians in the head.

According to testimony by combatants, Handanovic and her unit rounded up a group of residents along with three Croat soldiers, bound them and shot them.

As they lay dying, she "shot into the heads of two or three (Croat) soldiers who were lying on the ground and showing signs of life," a combatant testified. "She might have shot more of them, but I cannot remember now."

Welcoming the recent conviction and sentencing of two former Rwandan politicians for the 1994 genocide, the US State Department described the ruling as an "important step in providing justice and accountability", not just to the victims, but to the international community.

The comments, made in a state by the Deputy Spokesperson, Mark Toner, in a press statement released Tuesday highlighted the responsibility the former president and vice president held, not only for crimes they themselves had directly committed, but for the crimes committed by those under their command.

See here for statement in full, extracts reproduced below:

"Due to their role in a joint criminal enterprise “to destroy the Tutsi population,” the Trial Chamber found Ngirumpatse and Karemera responsible not only for their own criminal acts, but also for the criminal acts committed by others as part of that enterprise, including widespread rape and sexual assault against Tutsi women and girls." 

"The United States welcomes this ruling as an important step in providing justice and accountability for the Rwandan people and the international community. The defendants were among the leadership of the dominant party in the interim government, the same party that established the Interahamwe militia, which played a leading role in the 1994 genocide."

"There are still nine ICTR fugitives at-large, and the United States urges all countries to redouble their cooperation with the ICTR so that these fugitives can be expeditiously arrested and brought to justice."