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November 13:
Mounting cross-border instability, as well as the weakness of the government of Prime Minister Khaleda Zia in Dhaka, has prompted India to speed up the construction of a planned border fence with Bangladesh. In recent months, militant groups such as the al-Qaeda linked Jamaat-ul Mujahideen Bangladesh and Harakat-ul-Jihad-ul-Islami have staged massive synchronized bombings in almost every district of Bangladesh, while Islamic fundamentalist parties have gained influence in Bangladeshi society and
government - fanning fears in India of a potential spill-over of instability. In response, the
Times of London reports that the Indian government is pressing ahead with the completion of an 8-foot tall, partially-electrified barrier spanning the shared 2500-mile border between the two South Asian states. The fence, which officials in New Delhi hope will help prevent infiltration by terrorists and arms smugglers, is slated for completion by the end of 2006.
November 16:
Fresh from its passage of a raft of controversial new counterterrorism laws, the Australian government is contemplating further anti-terror measures. United Press International reports that the government of Prime Minister John Howard has proposed a new plan to expand and strengthen Canberra’s existing covert air marshal program. Under the proposed initiative, Australia's current cadre of some 130 air marshals, known as “air security officers,” would grow in number, as would collaboration on aviation security between Australia and Indonesia, the Philippines and Malaysia.
Officials in Canberra are holding out high hopes for the effort. “We believe that increasingly, countries are seeing the benefit of having such a program and that's why so many countries are now adopting it.” Chris Ellison, Australia's Federal Minister for Justice and Customs, has told reporters. “Terrorism is the scourge of our time.”
Just over four years after its ouster at the hands of the United States, al-Qaeda is making a serious comeback in Afghanistan. In an interview with the Associated Press, Rahim Wardak, Afghanistan’s Defense Minister, has warned that the terror network is stepping up its activities in his country. According to the defense minister, al-Qaeda elements have expanded smuggling operations and suicide attacks in recent weeks in a bid to revive the fight against the fragile government of Afghan President Hamid Karzai. Officials in Kabul are also seeing the continuation of an alarming trend: growing funding from Middle Eastern financiers for terrorist activities in Afghanistan. “There has been... more money and more weapons flowing into their hands in recent months,” Wardak says. “We see similarities between the type of attacks here and in Iraq.”
November 18:
In a reflection of the burgeoning political and commercial ties between New Delhi and Riyadh, Saudi King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz will be the guest of honor at India’s upcoming Republic Day parade. Indian nationals already comprise the largest expatriate community in Saudi Arabia, and the Saudi Arabian cities of Mecca and Medina are holy to India's 150 million Muslims. But, the
Asia Times reports, Saudi Arabia has become important to India for another reason as well: with Iraq still unstable and Iran fast becomes an international pariah, Saudi Arabia has become oil-hungry India’s best hope for energy security.
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