This week French forces have entered Kidal, the last major town in Mali which was occupied by Islamist militants, whilst Malian troops have been accused of systematically killing Arab and ethnic Tuaregs. Egyptian protesters have clashed with police outside the presidential palace in Cairo, after a week of violence in which more than 60 people were killed. Peace envoy Lakhdar Brahimi has told the UN Security Council that the conflict in Syria has reached “unprecedented levels of horror”, after evidence emerged of a fresh massacre. In Turkey, a suicide bomber has attacked the US embassy in the capital Ankara and back in the UK the first person to be prosecuted as part of the investigation into payments by journalists to officials has been jailed for 15 months.
1. Mali conflict
On Wednesday, French forces entered Kidal, in the north of Mali, the last major town they had yet to secure in their drive against Islamist militants. Kidal, 1,500km (930 miles) north-east of the capital Bamako, was until recently under the control of the Ansar Dine Islamist group, which has strong ties to al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM). The BBC’s Thomas Fessy, in Timbuktu, says that taking Kidal will mark the end of the first phase of the French military intervention.
France – the former colonial power in Mali – launched a military operation this month after Islamist militants appeared to be threatening the south. French and Malian forces have been sweeping north, earlier taking Gao and Timbuktu with almost no resistance. The jihadists who had occupied them for the past ten months scattered without a fight, but they may revert to guerrilla warfare from their Saharan redoubts.
However, this week, the UN anti-genocide envoy, Adama Dieng, says he is “deeply disturbed” by reports of reprisal attacks by Malian troops as they retake control of the north. In a statement Mr Dieng, the UN’s special adviser on the prevention of genocide, said the allegations included summary killings and disappearances in Sevare, Mopti, Niono, and other towns close to the areas where the war was occurring and such widespread and systematic abuses could “constitute atrocity crimes“. Mr Dieng said the Malian army had a responsibility to “protect all populations, irrespective of their race or ethnicity“. The United Nations refugee agency said 7,100 civilians had fled to neighbouring countries since 10 January to escape fighting.
2. Egyptian protesters clash with police
Anti-government demonstrators clashed with security forces facing Egypt’s presidential palace on Friday, as police responded with tear gas and water cannons to try to drive back the crowds throwing rocks and petrol bombs. The presidency said in a statement that it would not hesitate to use force to protect state property.
One person was reportedly killed and more than 50 injured. Large crowds also rallied in Port Said – one year after football riots in the city, which killed 74 people. The city, at the northern end of the Suez Canal, has seen the worst of the violence over the past week, where more than 40 people have died in clashes sparked by death sentences imposed on 21 local people in connection with the football riots. The protesters accuse Islamist President Mohammed Morsi of betraying the 2011 uprising – a claim he denies.
Michele Dunne, director of the Rafik Hariri Center for the Middle East at the Atlantic Council, a Washington think tank said “There’s definitely a fundamental difference on whether the goal of protest and making demands is . . . to get concessions from Morsi or whether they want to force Morsi from power“. But the opposition has struggled to capitalise on the dissent with a unified message and goal.
3. Horror in Syria is ‘unprecedented’
The UN-Arab League envoy, Lakhdar Brahimi has told the UN Security Council that Syria was being destroyed “bit by bit” with grave consequences for the wider region. Speaking hours after evidence emerged of a fresh massacre in the northern city of Aleppo, Mr Brahimi said “Unprecedented levels of horror have been reached. The tragedy does not have an end“. At least 71 bodies were found by a river in the western Bustan al-Qasr district, opposition activists said. Most had their hands tied behind their backs and gunshot wounds to the head. Mr Brahimi has been trying to seek a way out of the crisis on the basis of a peace plan approved at an international conference in June 2012.
The UN Security Council has been divided over Syria for months. The US, UK, France and other Western powers have pushed for resolutions that threaten sanctions against President Bashar al-Assad’s government. However, Russia and China have vetoed such resolutions three times. Moscow – a close ally of Syria – also refuses to back calls for Mr Assad to step down. The UN says the conflict has left more than 60,000 people dead.
4. US embassy bombing in Turkey described as a terrorist attack
A suicide bomber struck the American Embassy in Ankara on Friday, killing a Turkish security guard in what the White House described as a terrorist attack. Washington immediately warned Americans to stay away from all U.S. diplomatic facilities in Turkey and to be wary in large crowds.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility, but Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said preliminary information obtained by police indicated that the bomber was likely connected to a domestic left-wing militant group.
The attack drew condemnation from Turkey, the U.S., Britain and other nations and officials from both Turkey and the U.S. pledged to work together to fight terrorism. Carney, the White House spokesman, said the attack would strengthen the resolve of Turkey and the U.S. “Turkey remains one of our strongest partners in the region, a NATO ally,” he said. “We have worked shoulder-to-shoulder with the Turks to counter terror threats. Turkey has been a very important ally, broadly speaking and in the effort to counter terrorism.”
5. April Casburn jailed for News of the World leak offer
This week, April Casburn, 53 became the first person to be jailed as part of Scotland Yard’s ongoing investigations into voicemail interception and bribery by journalists. She was sentenced to 15 months imprisonment are offering to sell information to the News of the World newspaper after the inquiry into hacking by the tabloid reopened in 2010. The former police officer from Hatfield Peverel, Essex, is in the process of adopting with her partner. Her lawyer, Patrick Gibbs QC, had earlier asked the judge to pass a suspended sentence on the grounds that the time she will spend in prison will cause “life-long” damage to the child.
Handing down the jail term on Friday morning, Mr Justice Fulford said “the sentence would have been three years” but he had taken into account the fact that a “vulnerable child” would be left without her mother while she served her sentence.
However, Fulford said Casburn had made a “corrupt attempt to make money out of sensitive and potentially very damaging information” and that warranted a custodial sentence. The Metropolitan Police said it was “a great disappointment that a detective chief inspector in the counter terrorism command should have abused her position in this way” adding that that there was “no place for corrupt officers or staff” in its police force.
Sources: guardian.co.uk, independent.co.uk, bbc.co.uk, reuters.co.uk
Picture credits: washingtonpost.com, bbc.co.uk