Iran aiding Iraqi insurgents?

American intelligence linking Iran to the training and supplied Iraqi militants - a connection American officials have long propounded but that the Iranian government has consistently denied - has been released to the public domain. More than 80 pages of newly-declassified intelligence documents support the argument the Bush administration's position on Iranian interference in Iraq. Critics of the Bush administration say the links have been exaggerated.Keep up to date with the latest developments and sharpest perspectives in a world of strife and struggle.

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The toD verdict: Whilst the accounts given in this document are those of interrogated prisoners and cannot be independently verified, the detainees gave strikingly similar details about training compounds in Iran, a clandestine network of safe houses in Iran and Iraq they used to reach the camps, and intra-Shia tensions at the camps between the Arab Iraqis and their Persian Iranian trainers.

The documents, compiled by the Combating Terrorism Center at West Point, are a collection of interrogation reports based on accounts of more than two dozen Shia fighters captured in Iraq in 2007 and 2008. Brian Fishman, director of research at the Combating Terrorism Center, said that even though Iran was not in direct command of militia groups in Iraq, the training was one way in which Iran could increase or decrease its involvement in Iraq as it desired.

The announcement of this document came as thousands of followers of the anti-American cleric Moqtada al-Sadr took to the streets on Saturday in a demonstration against a proposed security agreement that would allow US forces to stay in Iraq for three more years. The atmosphere was largely peaceful, even though several US flags were set alight and minor scuffles took place. The pact with the US, still not approved by the Iraqi parliament, aims to replace a UN Security Council resolution authorising the US presence and give Iraq's elected government authority over the US forces. It includes a commitment by the US to end patrols of Iraqi streets by the middle of 2009 and to withdraw from the country by 2011 unless asked to stay by the country's government. Mr. Sadr, a Shia cleric whose Mahdi Army militia conducted two major uprisings against the American occupation, has been consistent in his call for an immediate American withdrawal. A late-night session to discuss the security pact on Sunday ended without agreement.

Violence in Russian province

Rebel fighters opened fire on Russian troops in the southern Russian province of Ingushetia on Saturday, killing three soldiers and injuring at least ten others. Attacks against Russian government forces in the region, which borders Chechnya and is part of the Russian federation, have become more organised and more frequent since the conflict with Georgia in August. Moscow is struggling to keep control of Ingushetia, a poor, heavily Muslim province. No one has yet claimed responsibility for yesterday's raid, the worst since 17 September, when four government troops died in a similar ambush. The growing conflict in Ingushetia comes as Russia's military has begun a restructuring, in the wake of the Georgia conflict, to transform itself into a lighter and more agile force.

In a separate incident on Saturday, a car exploded in the village of Kantyshevo killing its driver in what officials said could be the accidental detonation of a bomb intended for "a terrorist attack".

Police clash with police in Brazil

Riot police clashed with striking police officers in the Morumbi district of Sao Paulo on Friday, in a confrontation which left 15 to 20 people injured. Violence erupted when the striking officers tried to force past barriers to reach a building used by state governor Jose Serra, in order to talk to him to negotiate a fifteen percent pay rise. Television footage showed riot police dressed in black who began firing tear gas, stun grenades and rubber bullets when the strikers pushed forward. The striking police workers belong to a branch of the state police responsible for detective work and criminal investigation, whilst it was the military police trying to hold them back. However, it was claimed by Governor Serra that many of those taking part in the protest were politically motivated and were not in fact police officers.

Sri Lankan forces seize Tamil Tiger village

Sri Lankan government troops seized the strategic village of Vannerikulam on Sunday, in a move that has taken them closer to the rebel Tamil Tiger capital of Kilinochchi. Casualties from the battle are unknown. The Sri Lankan government has vowed to defeat the rebels and end a 25-year separatist campaign which has so far killed over 70,000 people.

Bus hijacked in Afghanistan

Taliban militants hijacked a bus travelling on Afghanistan's main highway last Thursday, capturing fifty of the people on board and slaughtering about thirty of them. The Taliban claims that those killed were Afghan soldiers, but the government denies this, saying instead that civilians had been among the dead. Taliban attacks have become increasingly deadly this year as the insurgent group has grown in strength throughout southern and eastern Afghanistan. More than 5,100 people have been killed in fighting this year, most of them Taliban militants.

New links forged between China and Pakistan

Pakistani president Asif Zardari's visit to China cemented new ties between the two countries including agreements for the setting up of two nuclear energy plants, the launch of a satellite and heavy investments by Chinese corporations in several other projects. These newly established links would be largely economic in nature, according to officials, involving visits to China by Zardari every three months. The Pakistani government views the two impending nuclear plants, Chashma III and Chashma IV, as essential in light of the current energy crisis. China previously helped Pakistan with their Chashma II plant. Even though Pakistan is not party to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, its nuclear program is still frowned upon in Washington because of its past record of proliferation; China has said that their help would be offered on the condition that Pakistan remain peaceful, in line with international commitments.

In the latest clashes in Pakistan, fighter jets bombed a village in Swat's Matta tehsil on Sunday morning, killing at least 47 people, including 22 non-combatants. Security forces killed eleven militants and wounded eight others in air strikes carried out in different areas of Bajaur on Saturday night and Sunday. On Friday, troops backed by helicopter gunships and artillery attacked militant positions in northwest Pakistan on Friday evening, with sixty fighters reportedly killed. No mention was made of government losses. The Matta district of Swat, formerly a popular tourist destination, has become a battleground since the influential pro-Taliban leader Maulana Fazlullah launched an armed campaign there to enforce Sharia law.

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