An Cosantóir

10 | world strategic review EUROPE Last Yugoslav war crimes suspect at large is cap- tured - Goran Hadzic, the last Yugoslav war crimes suspect still at large, was captured in Serbia Wednesday, a war crimes tribunal announced. An ex-Croatian Serb rebel leader who has been a fugitive for seven years, Hadzic was wanted for crimes against human- ity and war crimes in connection with the wars that followed the break- up of Yugoslavia in the early 1990s. The former president of a self-pro- claimed Serbian republic in Croatia, Hadzic is ac- cused of trying to remove Croats and other non- Serbs from the territory and the “extermination or murder of hundreds of Croat or other non-Serb civilians,” among many other crimes, according to the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia. He was the last fugitive of the 161 people indicted by the tribunal. The announce- ment, also made by Ser- bian President Boris Ta- dic, comes less than two months after the capture of the highest-profile war crimes sus- pect still at large, former Bosnian Serb gen- eral Ratko Mladic. An Cosantóir August 2011 AFRICA Aid agen- cies deal with terrorists to reach Somalia’s starving - For aid donors and humanitar- ian agencies, it is a Faustian bargain: reach and save tens of thousands of people on the verge of starv- ing to death. The price: come to an “under- standing” with one of the most active affiliates of al Qaeda, and perhaps help it retain control of large swathes of Somalia. Such is the equation in the Horn of Africa, where the worst fam- ine in a genera- tion threatens more than ten million people. Many of them live - or rather cling to life - in areas of Somalia controlled by the militant Is- lamist group al Shabaab, which has sworn al- legiance to al Qaeda and is designated a terrorist group by the United States. AMERICAS States brace for debt ceiling default - Just the threat of a federal default is prompting California to get a $5 billion loan to make sure it can pay its obligations. States around the nation are drawing up contingency plans in the event that federal policy- makers don’t resolve the debt ceiling impasse by Aug 2nd. They are preparing for chaos in the municipal debt markets and delays in fed- eral payments for Medicaid, education and other servic- es, which could happen if the federal government defaults on its obligations. Califor- nia, for instance, planned to sell $5 billion in revenue- anticipation notes in the bond market in late August. Now, Treasurer Bill Lockyer plans to get a bridge loan so the state can have cash on hand in case the markets are in turmoil and the state is unable to borrow. It would repay the bridge loan once it sells the notes. Also, Golden State officials are concerned about delayed federal pay- ments for Medicaid, educa- tion, transportation and other services. The federal government sent $478 bil- lion to their state and local counterparts last year, ac- cording to a report issued Wednesday by the Pew Center on the States. Next month, states are expecting to get $10.4 billion in college tuition assistance alone. But that money might not come if the debt ceiling is not raised. MIDDLE EAST Wanted al Qaeda leader killed in Yemen - Sanaa, Yemen. An Al Qaeda leader who was on the Yemeni government’s wanted list was killed in clashes with the army, the country’s defence ministry said Wednesday. Aieth al Shabwani was the leader of al Qaeda in Marib province, which is believed to be a haven for the militant group’s loyalists. He was among several militants killed Tuesday in Zanzibar, the capital of Abyan province, the ministry said without offering additional details. A second leader, Awad al Shabwani, was also killed. The Yemeni military is in the midst of an offensive in the province to clear the area of the terror group. The operations have claimed lives on both sides in recent weeks. Lebanon tribunal submits indictment in former PM’s assassination - Beirut, Lebanon. Nearly six years after the assassination of former Leba- nese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, a prosecutor has submitted the long-awaited results of an international investigation to a judge at the Special Tribunal for Lebanon, the tribunal said Monday. The judge, Daniel Fransen, will review the submissions for a period that is expected to last between six to 10 weeks, the tribunal said in a statement. “The contents of the indictment remain confidential at this stage,” the state- ment said. A tribunal spokesman, speaking on condition of anonymity, said earlier Monday that the highly contentious indictment was expected to be handed over to the judge at The Hague in the Netherlands by Wednesday. Fransen will have options including confirming or dismissing the entire document, request- ing additional evidence or confirming some counts and dismissing others, according to the tribunal. Both the prosecutor and the head of the defence office can request the indictment remain confidential. The indictment, submit- ted by prosecutor Daniel Bellemare, “marks the beginning of the judicial phase of the Tribunal’s work,” the tribunal’s statement said. Bellemare will address the significance of the indictment’s filing in a video-recorded statement on Tuesday, it said. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called for all parties to back the tribunal’s work.

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