"We condemn this unwarranted attack in the strongest possible term.

Ambassador Ford and his aides were conducting normal embassy business and this attempt to intimidate our diplomats through violence is wholly unjustified."

"This is clearly part of a campaign to intimidate diplomats who are bearing witness to brutality of the Assad regime,"

An Egyptian court has jailed former Information Minister Anas al-Fekky to seven years in jail.

Al-Fekky, who was a close and powerful ally of Mubarak, had been accused of corruption charges, along with the former head of State TV, Osama el-Sheikh.

El-Sheikh was ordered to serve 5 years in jail, in a case involving the purchase of TV programmes at inflated prices using state funds.

The trial was one of many currently ongoing against members of the former regime, including the trial of former president Hosni Mubarak, who is being held accountable for the killings of anti-regime protestors.

"But in our world it will be a significant first step. It will be the first time there has been a resolution against Syria and it will be talking about sanctions."

The move comes as the existing European oil embargo leaves Syria desperately seeking new customers, causing them to shift their gaze to the East, just as Iran did with China when they too faced sanctions.

While acknowledging the current situation was having a “negative effect”, Imad Moustapha, Damascus’s envoy in Washington, said,

“We will re-orient our economy towards Asia, Africa and South America. We have a whole spectrum of options open to us.”

“It’s not that we are approaching people, it’s the other way around. We are being approached.”

As Libya is poised to commence exporting oil once again, experts have commented that there is no real urgency for other states to start purchasing Syrain oil, but noted that a buyer may come eventually. Reports have already emerged of Syria contacting an Indian oil company, who were interested in making purchases.

However, after the Libyan rebels stated they would favour countries who supported their victorious rebellion, it has also been noted that other states may wait a little longer before they begin transactions with President Assad's regime.

The future continues to look bleak for President Assad as long time ally and key regional trading partner Turkey also prepares to impose harsh sanctions on Syria.

Bilateral trade between the two nations was worth $2.5 billion in 2010, and investments by Turkish firms in Syria reached $260 million, according to Turkish data.

See our earlier post: 'Turkey seizes Syrian arms as EU sanctions tighten' (Sep 2011)

Stringent US and European sanctions have brought the economy to a virtual standstill with the Central Bank having spent £1.3bn defending it’s currency and an IMF forecast of a 2% contraction of the economy this year.

The European oil embargo has hit Syria particularly hard, with not a single cargo of crude oil having left the country in September. Syria in August was producing around 370,000 barrels of oil per day.

Australia is to lift all gender-based restrictions on military combat positions, paving the way for female soldiers serving along-side their male colleagues on the frontlines, in roles previous denied to them, including Special Forces units, infantry and certain artillery roles. 

The propsed changes will put Australia into a small group of conventional state militaries that have ensured equality for female soldiers - namely, Canada, Israel and New Zealand.

Announcing the proposed changes, Stephen Smith, Australia's Defence Minister, said,

“We have an Australian Army that’s been going for 110 years, an Australian Navy that’s been going formally for 100 years, and an Australian Air Force that’s been going for 90 years, and last night, we resolved to remove the final restrictions on the capacity of women to serve in front-line combat roles,”

“In the future, your role in the defense force will be determined on your ability, not on the basis of your sex.”

The uplifting of restrictions was firmly endorsed by the country's first female Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, and have been welcomed widely the world over.

The Financial Times, in its editorial on Thursday, congratulated Australia on removing one of "the last bastions of formal gender discrimination in most developed countries" and dealing a "righteous blow to what has long been a largely emotional argument."

Critics have attacked the move as one that would undermine the military capability of Australia's army, arguing that it would endorse or even perpetuate a lack of respect for women, by men, within Australian society.

Worldwide reports of high levels of sexual abuse and rape of female soldiers by their male colleagues within conventional state militaries however, undermine this notion that combat restrictions in some way protect women or indeed earns them respect in the eyes of their male counterparts.

See here for a report in Time magazine on rape of female soldiers within the US army.

Arguably a gender-neutral meritocratic military is precisely what fosters genuine respect. 

The National Transitional Council (NTC) of Libya has assured the British Government of its cooperation in probing the Lockerbie bombing, after reports emerged that Libya’s justice minister refused any further cooperation as the case was ‘closed’.

"What I and all the world knows is that Mr Abdel Basset al-Megrahi was tried in the Lockerbie case and convicted, he appealed and his conviction was upheld, then the Scottish, and later the British authorities decided to release him on compassionate grounds.

"For me, as minister for justice the case is finished and it is not right put someone on trial for the same thing twice, that is the basis of justice", said Mr al-Alagi.

But soon after, a spokesperson for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office said:

"NTC Chairman Abdul Jalil has already assured the Prime Minister that the new Libyan authorities will co-operate with the UK in this and other ongoing investigations. Having spoken with the NTC ... we understand that this remains the case. The police investigation into the Lockerbie bombing remains open, and the Police should follow the evidence wherever it leads them."

Al-Megrahi was released on compassionate grounds in 2009 as he was not expected to live for more than a few months after he was diagnosed with prostate cancer.

The UK is hoping for Libya's assistance in prosecuting others who are complicit in the 1988 PanAm bombing, which killed 270 people. 

A petition by thousands of Americans is urging the United States to press for a UN-led probe into alleged crimes against humanity in Myanmar, saying the country needs accountability to move ahead.

Earlier this month, Amnesty International urged the European Union and its member states to also lend their support to the establishment of a UN commission of inquiry.

See AFP’s reports here and here.

The US Campaign for Burma said that 13,000 US citizens signed the petition.

"Justice is a crucial part of national reconciliation in any country. Burma cannot move forward until these attacks stop and the rule of law is realized," executive director Aung Din said in a statement, using Myanmar's earlier name.

The past year has seen an escalation in fighting as the military has pushed further into areas populated by Shan, Karen and Kachin peoples, bordering China, Laos and Thailand.

The US State Department and rights groups say that Myanmar's military has razed villages, forced villagers into labor and used rape as a weapon of war in its campaign against rebels from the country’s non-Burmese communities.

The United States has publicly supported a UN-led Commission of Inquiry into possible crimes against humanity but has done little to make the idea a reality.

Myanmar's opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, in a recent interview with AFP, said that a UN probe would help bring "future harmony and forgiveness" and "has nothing to do with revenge."

Amnesty has slammed the EU's 'wait-and-sea' approach to Burmese abuses as "irresponsible."

"We have waited for years, even decades, and seen quite enough: these violations call for accountability," the group's Myanmar researcher said (see here).

'Systematic rape'

Also this week, human rights activists are reporting 'systematic rape' against ethnic Kachin women during operations in by government forces that have displaced tens of thousands.

At least 37 rapes have been reported during September areas where government troops are active. Victims include females aged 12 to 50. (See report here). A 12-year old was raped by troops in front of her mother.

David Scott Mathieson, a researcher for Human Rights Watch, added:

“The use of sexual violence is one of the most serious within a whole litany of abuses that include forced labour, torture and ill-treatment and extra-judicial execution.”

Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Sept. 26, 2011. (Xinhua)

China has protested renewed arms sales by the US to Taiwan, but the threats of retaliatory action have been described as ‘restrained’ by commentators.

Taiwan requested the sale of F-16 fighter jets but the US decided to ‘only’ upgrade Taiwan’s existing fleet in a deal worth $5.85 billion.

There was an effort by Republican and Democrat Senators to force President Obama to sell the fighter jets, a move that would have upset China considerably more, but the proposal was defeated in a senate vote.

China’s Defence Ministry issued a strong statement, condemning the deal.

"The Chinese military expresses great indignation and strong condemnation... US actions... have caused serious damage to Sino-US military relations, and have seriously undermined the good momentum of the peaceful development of cross-strait relations."

But US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton defended the deal at a meeting with Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi at the United Nations according to a US official.

"Secretary Clinton responded very clearly that the United States had a strategic interest in the maintenance of peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait," said the official who spoke on conditions of anonymity.

Clinton also pointed out "that the Taiwan Relations Act is quite clear that it provides for a strong rationale for the provision of defensive capabilities and weapons to Taiwan as part of a larger context to preserve that peace and stability," the official said.

Chinese officials "have indicated that they're going to suspend or to cancel or postpone a series of ... military-to-military engagements," added the official.

Analysts say China is unlikely to take any drastic action as they have done in the past and the latest sabre-rattling may be aimed at the domestic audience as much as the international.

Jean-Pierre Cabestan, political science professor at Hong Kong Baptist University, told AFP Beijing had learned lessons from the 2010 break-off in military ties.

"They are going to react, to get angry, and the military may take measures to better counter these retrofitted F-16s, but they will not break military ties with the United States like they did before," he said.

"They're (China) in a new phase -- more flexible and accommodating, and with the Taiwanese electoral factor, it reduces their room for manoeuvre a lot and it will force them not to over-react on this."

Meanwhile the rejection of the request for new jets has been met by a mixed reaction in Taiwan.

The Defence Ministry called the deal a ‘major break-through’ and as good as ‘80% of the sale of the F16s’

But observers criticised the move, worrying about the growing disparity between the two militaries.

“Given the fact that the PRC [Peoples Republic of China] has been building up its strength in recent years and the military balance across the Taiwan Strait has continued to tilt in China’s favor, I think the inability to acquire the more advanced F-16 C/Ds is a disappointment for Taiwan," said Raymond Wu, managing director of a political risk consultancy in Taipei.

The tension between China and Taiwan is currently at its lowest since the split in 1949.

Two weeks ago, an announcement appeared on a French website, calling for "militants with military experience" to participate in a trip to Israel between September 19 and 25.

55 French citizens responded and travelled to the West Bank.

No, it’s not what you think. See Al-Jazeera’s report here.

The Central Committee of China’s ruling Communist party may next year have a new member – the country's richest tycoon.

See the BBC’s report here.

National Transitional Council authorities discovered the remains of over 1270 Libyans killed by the Gaddafi regime more than fifteen years ago.

The victims were all prisoners at the Abu Salim prison, massacred during a protest against conditions on 26th June 1996.

It is understood that international assistance will be sought to identify the remains.

The overthrow of Gaddafi's regime has led to numerous unsettling discoveries, including a stockpile of mustard gas in the Southern desert.

"If you're going to act against the fundamental rights, liberties and the law, you will lose your position in my heart as my brother and my friend.

I was very patient. Patience, patience, patience. And then I cracked."

"International pressure will increase until the regime heeds the calls for an immediate end to violence, the release of political prisoners and genuine change. Assad is isolated internationally and things will never return to the way they were. He should step aside now."

"Countries across the region have called for Assad to end the violence immediately. This week in New York, I made clear to Security Council members that they too must increase the pressure on Syria. The UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-Moon, has also made this clear."

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas formally asked the UN to recognise the state of Palestine on Friday, despite sustained US-Israeli efforts to stall the move.

In a speech that was welcomed with a standing ovation and applause, Abbas stated,

"I do not believe that anyone with a shred of conscience can reject our application for a full membership of the United Nations and our admission as a full member state,"

"At a time when the Arab people affirm their quest for democracy – the Arab spring – the time is now for the Palestinian spring, the time for independence.

"It is a moment of truth and my people are waiting to hear the answer of the world. Will it allow Israel to continue its occupation, the only occupation in the world?"

Abbas has consistently maintained that the bid for UN membership and peace negotiations were 'not mutually exclusive'.

Shortly after the formal request, terms for resuming peace talks between the Israelis and Palestinians were agreed upon.

Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu however dismissed Abbas' commitment to negotiations, asserting, "the Palestinians want a state without peace."

It has been widely speculated that US-Israeli resistance to the move was underlined by the increased ease of Palestinians undertaking legal proceedings against Israeli, particularly its expanding settlements.

Abbas stated,

"The occupation is racing against time to redraw the borders on our land according to what it wants and to impose a fait accompli on the ground that changes the realities and that is undermining the realistic potential for the existence of the state of Palestine,"

"This policy will destroy the chances of achieving a two-state solution upon which there is international consensus, and here I caution aloud: this settlement policy threatens to also undermine the structures of the Palestinian Authority and even end its existence."

A senior Kosovo politician and former rebel leader of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) has been placed under house arrest by an EU judge. Fatmir Limaj has been accused of committing war crimes in the Kosovo War between the KLA and the former Yugoslavia.

He is thought to have ordered the killings of Serb police men in 1999, in his capacity as a commander of the KLA. Limaj is the former Transport Minister and a close confidante of Prime Minister Hashim Thaci.

All three parties to the conflict, Yugoslavia, the KLA and NATO, have been accused of committing war crimes.

Several Serb politicians have been charged by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) with war crimes and prosecuted, including former Yugoslav President Milosevic, who died before a sentence was passed.

However, there have been no successful prosecutions of members of the KLA yet.
Several KLA members, including Fatmir Limaj, were charged by the ICTY in 2003, but charges were either dropped or the defendants acquitted.

Despite strong evidence that NATO forces committed war crimes during their intervention in the conflict, not a single indictment has yet been raised by the ICTY.