On Thursday, Lebanon filed a complaint to the United Nations concerning alleged Israeli spy networks inside the Arab nation. The office of Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Siniora released a statement confirming that the Lebanese delegation to the UN has accused Israel of violating Lebanon’s sovereignty and Security Council Resolution 1701, which ended the 2006 war between the Lebanese Shiite group Hezbollah and Israel. The statement also requests the repatriation of two suspected Lebanese who had fled to Israel amidst a recent crackdown on Israeli espionage networks. Beirut has charged 18 individuals with espionage since January: 12 suspects are in custody and “six remain at large.” If convicted and “found guilty of contributing to Lebanese loss of life,” spies face a possible life prison term or the death penalty. Although Resolution 1701 ended the 2006 conflict, Lebanon still considers itself to be in a state of war with Israel.
Just over two weeks after representatives from Chad and Sudan met in Doha to normalize relations between the two countries, both sides have grown increasingly hostile in recent days. On Tuesday, Chad’s defense minister accused Sudan of harboring Chadian rebels, an accusation Khartoum denies. In a statement released subsequent to the defense minister’s threat of force, Sudanese officials committed to an aggressive response if Chadian troops cross the border. Peacekeepers in the Darfur region near the Chad border have already reported that Sudanese army planes were used in attacks on Monday and Tuesday. A representative of the UN/African Union joint peacekeeping force said that there were no casualties, “but we are very concerned civilians and our forces could get caught in the middle of the fighting.” Since 2003, Khartoum has regularly accused Chad of supporting Darfur rebel groups.
Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao arrived in Prague on Wednesday to participate in the eleventh China-European Union summit. The visit comes after a controversial postponement of the meeting last December, when Jiabao refused to meet with French president Nikolas Sarkozy, then holder of the EU’s rotating presidency, because of Sarkozy’s support of the Dalai Lama and Tibetan independence. With Czech president Vaclas Klaus now filling the office of EU president, the summit (which also included European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso and the EU foreign policy chief, Javier Solana) went forward as previously planned. Discussion centered on economic ties between China and the EU, with both sides further negotiating the China-EU Partnership and Cooperation Agreement which would charter an extensive legal framework for trade and investment. A twelfth summit will be held later this year in Beijing.
Coming six weeks before midterm elections in Mexico, Senator Ricardo Monreal of the Zacatecas state has temporarily stepped down due to drug allegations. Some 14.5 tons of marijuana were found on Monreal’s brother’s property and the ensuing investigation has only “inflamed suspicions widely held by Mexicans that many politicians are in cahoots with powerful drug traffickers.” Monreal’s decision, however, is temporary: he’s allowed for three weeks to let the probe run its course. Claiming that the drugs were planted by his political rivals, Montreal promised, “I cannot remain quiet, nor permit that the men and women of Mexico think all of us politicians are alike…. That we all hide behind constitutional protection to avail ourselves of impunity and corruption.” Mexicans will vote on July 5 for a new Chamber of Deputies, the lower house of Congress, and for the governor of six states. Many, if not all, of the major candidates are being vetted for connections to drug cartels. But that might not be enough to convince Mexico’s citizens that their politicians are on the straight and narrow.
Some Colombian politicians and citizens celebrated yesterday after the country’s senate voted for a referendum that would allow a third presidential term for Alvaro Uribe. Although he hasn’t said as much, the majority of Colombians expect the current president to seize the opportunity. But some are wary that a third term could undermine Colombia’s democratic system. Senator Marta Lucia Ramirez, President Uribe’s first defense minister and now a presidential hopeful, said, “President Uribe has made a great contribution to his country but another re-election could be very dangerous… Three consecutive terms threatens the checks and balances put in place.” A slew of scandals have plagued Uribe and 70-some congressmen in his camp: ongoing investigations are examining links to right-wing paramilitary death squads, and the wiretapping of judges, opposition politicians, journalists, and human rights workers by the Department of Administrative Security, Colombia’s secret police. It is not yet clear who ordered the wiretaps, but the trail seems to lead to highest levels of elected office. Yet, after six years in office, Uribe still has a 60 percent approval rating.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Andrey Nesterenko has called Japanese allegations of Russian occupation of the contested Southern Kuril Islands “unacceptable.” In a statement released today, Moscow responded to Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso’s assertions that “illegal occupation of Southern Kuril Islands is still going on.” According to Nesterenko, “This statement means that the Japanese side is aimed at satisfying its unjustified claims on these territories…. Japan is aimed not at the search for a mutually agreeable decision, but at satisfying their unlawful claims.” The dispute dates back to World War II, when the islands were captured from Japan by the Soviet Union, then a member of the Allied forces. Tokyo has continuously disputed Russia’s control of the islands and both parties have insisted on an “everything or nothing” resolution to resolve the territorial conflict. During the 2008 G8 Summit held in Hokkaido, the Japanese hosts printed maps for their guests marking the Kuril Islands as part of Japan. After a series of protests from Russia, the maps were hastily replaced.