February, 2009

• 3 February

  Bomber in police uniform kills 21 Afghan policemen

  KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (AP) – Afghan officials say a suicide bomber disguised in a police uniform detonated his explosives inside a police training center in southern Afghanistan today, killing 21 officers and wounding at least 20. The Taliban are claiming responsibility. In a phone call from an undisclosed location, a Taliban …

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• 2 February

  Western Bodies in Bosnia “Dead Horse” – Lajcak

  The outgoing international peace envoy to Bosnia and Herzegovina, Miroslav Lajcak, said he is leaving his post and the troubled country because the international bodies there are a “dead horse”, doing nothing while rival local leaders held the country back. Speaking in the Telering talk-show program at OBN Television on …

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• 2 February

  EULEX Restores North Kosovo Customs Points

  Police from the European Union law and justice mission in Kosovo have set up two customs control points in north Kosovo, almost one year after a crowd of angry Serbs burnt down the border posts in reaction to the Albanian majority’s declaration of independence from Serbia. The two border points, …

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• 2 February

  Macedonia Won’t Open EU Talks Before July

  Macedonia will not start European Union accession talks during the Czech presidency that runs until the end of June, Czech deputy Foreign Minister Tomas Pojar told local media. The Czechs would be happy to see this happening, Pojar told the “Evrozum” show on A2 TV late on Sunday, but “this …

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• 2 February

  Bosnia Serb Party Leaves Coalition, Govt Stable

  The junior partner in the Bosnian Serb ruling coalition, the Party of Democratic Progress, PDP, said it was walking out of the government led by the Alliance of Independent Social Democrats, SNSD, and going into the opposition. The walkout does not affect the stability of the government in the Serb-dominated …

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• 2 February

  Gunmen kidnap American U.N. official in Pakistan

  QUETTA, Pakistan – Gunmen abducted an American official of the U.N. refugee agency on Monday after shooting dead his driver in the southwestern Pakistani city of Quetta, police said. Police identified the official as John Solecki, head of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) office in Quetta. He …

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• 2 February

  Cairo court says gas exports to Israel can continue

  CAIRO  – A Cairo court ruled on Monday that Egyptian gas exports to Israel can continue, pending a review of a November court verdict that the exports should stop. The government had ignored the November verdict anyway and the Israeli company which buys the gas has not complained of any …

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• 2 February

  Israeli air strike wounds 4 Palestinians in Gaza

  GAZA  – An Israeli air strike on a car in the southern Gaza Strip on Monday wounded four militants, Palestinian medical workers said. They had earlier said that one militant had been killed in the attack. The Israeli army said it targeted gunmen who had fired two mortar bombs that …

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• 2 February

  India says Pakistan seems serious on Mumbai probe

  NEW DELHI  – Pakistan seems serious about investigating the Mumbai attacks and has sought clarifications on a dossier of evidence from India, but still is not doing enough to tackle militancy, India’s national security adviser said. “What I am aware of is that after the receipt of the dossier by …

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• 2 February

  Kazakhstan to nationalize top banks as crisis bites

  ASTANA  – Kazakhstan announced plans on Monday to effectively nationalize two of its leading banks as the global financial crisis tightened its grip on Central Asia’s biggest economy. The government said it will buy 78.14 percent of shares in the biggest bank, BTA, which has assets of $28 billion. BTA, …

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