March 2008

Out of trouble: How diplomacy brought peace to Northern Ireland

Commentators who have watched the conflict in Northern Ireland play out for decades call the peace process a miracle.
Culminating in a power sharing deal between Ulster's unionists, led by Ian Paisley, and Sinn Fein, the political arm of the IRA (nationalists), led by Gerry Adams, the road to peace has been a torturous one characterized by violence, set-backs and numerous false starts.
Only recently the Ulster Defence Association, Northern Ireland's largest loyalist group, said it will cease to be an armed paramilitary group, starting at midnight on November 11, saying the "war is over."
"All weaponry will be put beyond use," Colin Halliday of the Ulster Political Research Group, which is linked to the group, said in a speech in Belfast aired by RTE, Ireland's state-owned broadcaster. "The struggle to maintain the union is on a new and more complex battlefield."
The Irish Republican Army (IRA) disarmed two years ago, helping to restore the province's government in Belfast.
Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern said the most recent moves of groups to disarm was "significant and hopefully signals a further step toward the ending of all paramilitarism in Northern Ireland."
For those that have lived through the turmoil in Northern Ireland, peace achieved though diplomacy must have seemed like an unrealistic goal. After all, each attack by loyalists usually resulted in retaliation by nationalists -- making the dispute bitter and intractable.
But diplomacy has worked in bringing peace to Northern Ireland.
Credit for developing a framework for the peace process stretches back to former British Prime Minster John Major's rule in the 1990s and efforts by Ireland's Ahern. But it was Major's successor, Tony Blair, who was unrelenting in his quest for peace by making it a major priority of his government.
Who: The Ulster Defence Association
Where: Northern Ireland
What: The Ulster Defence Association will cease to be an armed paramilitary group. "The struggle to maintain the union is on a new and more complex battlefield" said Colin Halliday of the Ulster Political Research Group.
Why: Because of each attack by loyalists usually resulted in retaliation by nationalists -- making the dispute bitter and intractable.
When: 19 March, 2008

Tibetans continue to defy China crackdown

BEIJING, China (CNN) -- New video from China suggests that security forces have yet to gain complete control of Tibet and neighboring provinces which have suffered eruptions of anti-Chinese violence since last week.
Film of a crowd -- some on horseback -- attempting to storm a government building has been shot by a Canadian television crew that managed to gain access to a Chinese town in Gansu province despite attempts by Chinese authorities to keep foreign media away from the region.
On Thursday, China acknowledged for the first time that anti-government riots that rocked Tibet last week have spread to other provinces, The Associated Press reported.
Also on Thursday, an international human rights group urged Nepal to stop doing Beijing's bidding and end its crackdown on Tibetan exiles protesting against China, AP reported.
New York-based Human Rights Watch said Nepal "should cease arbitrary arrests and detentions, harassment, and the use of excessive force to silence Tibetan protesters, activists and journalists," AP reported
Meanwhile, UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown has said Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao says he is ready to talk to the Dalai Lama if the Tibetan spiritual leader renounces violence and demands for Tibetan independence.
Brown said he spoke with Wen on Wednesday, pressing his government for constraint in dealing with the protesters.
Who: Tibetans
Where: China
What: China suggests that security forces have yet to gain complete control of Tibet and neighboring provinces, the first time that anti-government riots that rocked Tibet last week have spread to other provinces. An international human rights group urged Nepal to stop doing Beijing's bidding and end its crackdown on Tibetan exiles.
Why: Because of anti-Chinese violence since last week and Tibetan exiles protesting against China.
When: 20 March, 2008

Cheney: Israel, Palestinians must make sacrifices for peace

RAMALLAH, West Bank (CNN) -- Vice President Dick Cheney said Sunday it will take "painful concessions" from both Israelis and Palestinians to achieve the Bush administration's vision of a Palestinian nation alongside Israel.
After meeting with Palestinian leaders in the West Bank, Cheney reiterated that the administration wants to see an "independent, viable, democratic and peaceful Palestinian state."
"Achieving that vision will require tremendous effort at the negotiating table and painful concessions on both sides," Cheney said at the news conference with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. "It will also require a determination to defeat those who are committed to violence and who refuse to accept the basic right of the other side to exist."
Abbas thanked Cheney for the administration's financial support and commitment to a two-state solution, but the two men had notably different views on the obstacles impeding the peace deal.
While Abbas cited Israeli military operations and settlement expansions as the major deterrents to peace, Cheney homed in on the rockets that have been hurtling into Israel from Hamas-controlled Gaza.
Speaking before Cheney delivered his remarks, Abbas said Israel was at least partly to blame for the lack of progress in peace talks.
Who: Palestinians
Where: Ramallah, Israel
What: "independent, viable, democratic and peaceful Palestinian state,” and Palestinian President said: "It will also require a determination to defeat those who are committed to violence and who refuse to accept the basic right of the other side to exist."
Why: For an "independent, viable, democratic and peaceful Palestinian state."
When: 23 March, 2008

Observers interpret Iraq cease-fire, Iran's role

(CNN) -- The deal to end the weeklong fighting in Iraq's Shiite regions appeared to be holding Monday, but left lingering questions about Iran's growing influence, the Iraqi government's military resolve and the chances for more intra-Shiite hostility.
Observers of the Iraqi conflict Monday offered fresh perspectives on the situation in the nation, where fighting raged in the Shiite-dominated south after the government last week launched an offensive in the city of Basra against what it called "outlaws."
The fighting -- much of which raged in strongholds of Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr's Mehdi Army militia -- swiftly worked its way up to Baghdad. The violence subsided only after Shiite lawmakers traveled to Iran Friday to negotiate with Iranian officials and with al-Sadr, who later called on his followers to end violent battles in the country and to cooperate with the Iraqi security forces.
Senior U.S. military officials said the move doesn't solve the turf wars in the Shiite heartland and believe they could easily flare again. And it leaves Sadrists and others in control of large swaths of territory.
The government's Basra offensive, spearheaded by Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, highlights the fledgling Shiite-dominated Iraqi government's efforts to engage militias on their own, the U.S. officials say. At the same time, it leaves al-Maliki in a precarious political position because he has staked his future on the offensive, and he has left himself little room to maneuver.
Who: Iraq and Iran
Where: Shiite regions
What: Military officials said the move doesn't solve the turf wars in the Shiite heartland . The violence subsided only after Shiite lawmakers traveled to Iran to negotiate with Iranian people.
Why: Because of the Iraqi conflict perspectives on the situation in the nation.
When: 29 March, 2008