Hundreds of terror plots foiled by Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia claims it foiled a 2003 terror plot against the United States. Militants planned to hijack a plane, exploding it over a densely populated US city. The 2003 plot was just one of 160 planned terror attacks the Kingdom claims to have disrupted.

The country, birthplace of the al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, has pursued an aggressive campaign against militants since May 2003, when the terrorist group launched a series of bombings in the capital Riyadh.

The toD verdict: Saudi Arabia has been applauded recently for its aggressive and multi-dimensional crackdown on jihadist militants. In a big step forward in the country's fight against militancy, Saudi courts have begun procedures to try 991 prisoners held on terrorism charges. Meanwhile, British prime minister Gordon Brown met former jihadists Wednesday as he toured a rehabilitation centre for extremists in Riyadh. Saudi Arabia's claim to have foiled nearly two hundred terror plots is meant to reinforce the Kingdom's success in waging a wide-ranging offensive against radical militancy.  Keep up to date with the latest developments and sharpest perspectives in a world of strife and struggle.

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But more tenuous connections to Islamist terrorism still persists. Saudi Arabia remains the financial hub of worldwide terror networks. In treasure, so too in blood. Extremist clerics gather recruits to be dispatched to many of the world's hotspots. Saudis are thought to form the largest contingent of foreign terrorists fighting in Iraq. And the kingdom still promotes an extreme form of Islam known as Wahhabism, both at home and abroad. A review of Saudi Arabia's 2007-2008 education curriculum by The Hudson Institute found that, despite promised reforms, the Kingdom still teaches a violent ideology in which it is deemed permissible for a Muslim to kill an "apostate," an "adulterer," a "homosexual," as well as non-Muslims practicing "polytheism," or Christianity.

While Saudi Arabia should be praised for many of its efforts, further action is needed. Can the Kingdom be relied upon to take the necessary measures?

Naval stand off between Burma and Bangladesh

Tensions in the Bay of Bengal escalated on Monday. Naval vessels from Bangladesh and Burma faced off after a row erupted over oil and gas exploration in the area. Bangladesh officials claim a Burmese flotilla began exploration for oil and gas in disputed waters near Saint Martin's island. Dhaka dispatched a naval patrol to the area after lodging a diplomatic protest.

Bangladesh is sending a senior diplomat to Burma to resolve the dispute. Dhaka says it wants to resolve the dispute peacefully but that it will do everything necessary to protect its sovereignty. Military-ruled Burma has made no official comment.   

Bangladesh Foreign Secretary Toheid Hossain will hold talks with Burmese officials on Wednesday. The two countries are also scheduled to hold talks in mid November to demarcate a maritime boundary. Analysts predict that success is highly unlikely due to the vast energy resources found in the bay. Both nations, two of the world's poorest, will want to stake a claim to those resources.

Guinea police tear-gas protesters

Police clashed with protesters in Guinea's capital Monday, killing one person and injuring twenty others. Hundreds of demonstrators took to the streets protesting high fuel prices. The government cut fuel prices by 21 percent over the weekend. Protesters claim the fall in prices should have been deeper. Since last July however global oil prices have fallen by 50 percent. Although confined to neighbourhoods outside the capital, the violence could spread. Widespread discontent with the government of dictator-president Lansana Conte means Guinea is particularly vulnerable to unrest. Early last year more than 130 protesters were shot dead by security forces during strike action designed to force out the government.

Bomb blasts injure 60 in Thailand

Three bomb blasts struck the southern Thai state of Narathiwat on Tuesday, injuring sixty people. No group has claimed responsibility, but police said separatist militants were behind the attacks. Officials have long blamed Muslim insurgents for the violence. Buddhist Thailand's Malay dominated provinces have endured an insurgency that has killed more than 2,700 people since 2004. Analysts claim that the insurgency is more complex than Thai officials admit, involving numerous factions and criminal gangs. Both Buddhists and Muslims associated with the State are often targeted.

Although small blasts are common, incidents on this scale remain rare. The explosions came a week after new Thai prime minister Somchai Wongsawat visited the Muslim-majority southern districts and told reporters that the five-year-long insurgency appeared to have eased. Military and diplomatic initiatives to put an end to the unrest have foundered repeatedly.

Pakistan warns US policy is "counter-productive"

Pakistan's president warned the new head of US Central Command that cross-border attacks by US forces into Pakistan were "counter-productive". In the most high-profile protest yet from Islamabad, President Asif Ali Zardari told General David Petraeus that such strikes were detrimental to the "war on terror". These comments mirror Prime Minster Yousef Raza Gilani's claim that unless the next US president halted missile strikes on insurgent targets in northwest Pakistan, it risked failure in its efforts to end militancy in the Muslim country. "No matter who the president of America will be, if he doesn't respect the sovereignty and integrity of Pakistan ... anti-America sentiments and anti-West sentiment will be there," said Gilani. In the last two months, the US has launched at least seventeen strikes on militant targets in Pakistan.

Zardari and Gilani's remarks underscore how repairing US-Pakistan relations will be high on the list of priorities for the next US president. They also reveal the difficulties faced by the United States and Pakistan as they try to combat rising militancy in the country. Relations between the two allies have cooled recently because of continued US cross-border air strikes.

Iraqi capital rocked by three explosions

Three bombs exploded in Baghdad Tuesday, killing at least thirteen people and wounding 35 others. Two attacks, at a bus depot and marketplace, targeted predominantly Shia neighbourhoods. The third, in central Baghdad, was aimed at the convoy of a Shia government official and former member of the Iraqi Governing Council, Ahmed Shiyaa al-Barak. Nine were injured in the attack, but there were no fatalities.

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