Sanjay Suri

LONDON – An Iraqi connection was conspicuously missing from the first statements British Prime Minister Tony Blair made on the bomb blasts in London Thursday last week. But new developments suggest a powerful link between the British invasion and occupation of Iraq and the bomb attacks. A friend of the three suicide bombers of Pakistani … Continue reading “Iraqi Shadow Seen Over Train Attacks”

LONDON – The invasion of Iraq rebounded a little on the government of British Prime Minister Tony Blair to dent his majority as he returned to a third term as prime minister. But it was not serious damage. Iraq did not prevent Blair from returning with a comfortable enough majority, and this is the first … Continue reading “Iraq Clouds Blair Victory”

LONDON – Seventy-eight journalists were killed last year in the course of their work, a survey by the Vienna-based International Press Institute shows. The IPI 2004 review "Impunity Lives, While Journalists Die" published Tuesday also condemns the "overwhelming failure of the authorities in many parts of the world to properly investigate and prosecute the killers … Continue reading “78 Journalists Killed Last Year”

The Syrian government must put an immediate end to human rights abuses against Syrian Kurds, Amnesty International said in a report published Thursday on the eve of the anniversary of the Qamishli clashes. More than 30 Kurds were killed in clashes that spread from a football match between Kurdish and Arab teams in Qamishli in … Continue reading “Torture and Oppression of Kurds in Syria”

LONDON – The U.S. hand of support offered to a new push for peace in the Middle East could well turn out to be the kiss of death for the peace process. The London Meeting on Supporting the Palestinian Authority agreed Tuesday that Lt. Gen. William Ward from the U.S. Army will head a security-coordinating … Continue reading “Palestine Peace Move Could Be the Kiss of Death”

LONDON – The conviction of three soldiers by a military court for abusing Iraqi prisoners is seen to have put the British military on trial. But reports on the way the trial has been conducted put Britain’s judicial system itself on trial. The three soldiers were convicted by a British military court at a base … Continue reading “UK: Torture All You Want, but Leave the Cameras at Home”

LONDON – New anti-terror legislation proposed in Britain makes Guantanamo Bay appear liberal in some respects. Britain has had its own Guantanamo Bay in the high security Belmarsh prison, where 10 foreign nationals have been held without charge and without trial for most of three years since December 2001. A panel of law lords, the … Continue reading “Proposed UK Law Makes Guantanamo Look Liberal”

The situation for Iraqi women has gotten worse in many respects since the U.S.-led invasion two years back, says a report from Amnesty International. “The current lack of security has forced many women out of public life and constitutes a major obstacle to the advancement of their rights,” says the report, “Iraq: Decades of Suffering … Continue reading “In Iraq, It Could Be Getting Worse for Women”

LONDON – The court martial of three British soldiers for abuse of Iraqi prisoners has established that a soldier is only as bad as the photographs of the abuse that get taken. Three British soldiers face court martial over abuse of Iraqi prisoners. Which means only three among more than 65,000 British soldiers who have … Continue reading “For UK Troops, Abuse Only Happens if Photographed”

LONDON – Hundreds of thousands of child soldiers are being used in conflicts around the world and governments are doing little to stop this, says a report published Wednesday. "Governments are undermining progress in ending the use of children as soldiers," says the "Child Soldiers Global Report 2004" produced by the Coalition to Stop the … Continue reading “Child Soldiers Still on the March”