An Cosantóir

10 | world strategic picture EUROPE Russian membership of the World Trade Organisation is one step closer after the re- maining difficulties between its neighbours, Georgia, have been settled. ETA, the Basque terrorist group, declared a 'definitive cessation' to violence. In recent years the group has been severely weakened after several successful police opera- tions in France and Spain. German Parliament member Jerzy Montag said that authori- ties told him he could have been a target of a neo-Nazi terror cell that was planning assassina- tions. Police notified him of 'a list', which included information on him and other politicians, was found in the remains of the ex- ploded terrorist's flat in the East German town of Zwickau. AMERICAS Alfonso Cano, the leader of FARC, was killed by the Colum- bian army. Cano led the guerrillas since the group's founder died of a heart attack in 2008. AFRICA The Transitional Council in Libya voted Abdurrahim el-Keib, as the country's new prime minister. He is said to rule an interim govern- ment at least until elec- tions next summer. Kenyan troops have invaded Somalia in search of kidnappers they believe to belong to the Somali Al- Shabaab terrorist group. The invasion is being supported by Somali government troops. The Islamist sect, Boko Haram, killed scores of people in a series of at- tacks mainly in the town of Damaturu in Nigeria's north east. A former mayor Police in western Pennsylvania arrested Oscar Ramiro Ortega- Hernandez, on a charge of trying to assassinate US President Barack Obama. For firing eight shots from his car parked near the White House. One bullet hit a window on the White House but was stopped by bulletproof glass, while another was found on the White House exterior. An Cosantóir December 2011 in Rwanda has been convicted of genocide and extermination as a crime against humanity over the deaths of 2,000 Tutsis during the coun- try's 1994 genocide, the UN-backed International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda. Former mayor Gregoire Ndahimana served as a leading facili- tator and commander in the slaughter of Tutsis in Kivumu, where an estimated 4,000 Tutsis were murdered, accord- ing to the ICTR's Sum- mary of Judgment. MIDDLE EAST The Syrian Foreign minister met a delegation from the Arab League in Qatar to discuss ways of ending what is now eight months of civil unrest. The Arab League said it will arrange for negotiations to take place between the opposition lead- ers and the Syrian Government. The UN said that more than 3,500 people have died since March in Syria's unrest. Even with the Arab League's draft peace deal, 60 people have died in the last week. The Syrian government announced that it was releasing political prisoners as a first step towards peace. The UN General Assembly voted 107 to 14 (there were 52 absten- tions) in favour of Palestinian admittance as a full member of the UNESCO (United Nations Edu- cational, Scientific and Cultural Or- ganisation). Both the United States and Israel said they would stop their contributions to the organisa- tion; 22% and 3% respectively. Israel is easing restrictions on the Palestinian territory of Gaza, allowing building materials for the private sector to enter the densely populated sliver of land for the first time since Hamas took control there in 2007. US president Barrack Obama announced that all remaining, 39,000 American military person- nel would be withdrawn by the end of the year. Negotiations with Iraqi authorities to retain 5,000 personnel failed over disagree- ments to provide them with im- munity from Iraqi law. ASIA In its first ever presidential election as a parliamentary democracy, Kyrgyz- stan elected Almazbek Atambayev, Leader of the Social Democratic Party, as president. The president an- nounced plans to close a large American military base. A suicide bomber in Kabul attacked a convoy killing 17 people including 13 military and civilian employees of ISAF. In a separate attack three Austra- lians and an Afghan interpreter lost their lives in the Uruzgan province. One of four former Khmer Rouge leaders charged with crimes against humanity was ruled unfit to stand trial and could be set free, a spokesman for the special UN court in Cambodia, courts de- cided that Ieng Thirith, the 78-year-old former minister of social affairs in the Khmer Rouge regime, was 'not fit to stand trial as she has dementia.'

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