May 8:
The Pakistani government has learned the hard way that amnesty for Islamists does not always pay dividends. The Wall Street Journal reports that authorities in Islamabad recently released Sufi Mohammed, a supposedly-reformed militant cleric, from prison in order to have him communicate with other Islamists and broker a deal between the Pakistani government and insurgents in the Swat Valley. The supposedly moderate Mr. Mohammed, however, had other ideas, reverting to his extremist views, while the peace deal he initially brokered has fractured, sparking a new round of violence in the region. So far, some 500,000 Pakistanis have fled the troubled regional as a result.
May 12:
BBC News reports Japan and Russia have inked a nuclear energy cooperation agreement, a first for the two countries, during Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin’s recent visit to Tokyo. The deal includes a framework for Japanese technology transfers to Russia, as well as nuclear fuel sales from Russia to Japan. The two nations’ premiers also discussed the longstanding territorial dispute over the Kuril islands, which have kept Moscow and Tokyo from signing a comprehensive peace treaty. Both leaders committed to saying they will “study all options” for finding a final resolution to this issue.
May 17:
After fighting for over a quarter-century, the lengthy civil war between the Sri Lankan government and the separatist rebel Tamil Tigers movement has finally reached a bloody denouement. While stopping short of formally surrendering, the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) has announced that it has “decided to silence our guns,” the New York Times reports. Sri Lankan president Mahinda Rajapaksa, for his part, has confirmed that the war has come to a close, but that his government now needs to include the country’s Tamil minority more thoroughly in state decisions.
[Editor’s Note: The conflict did not end without significant casualties. The United Nations estimates that at least 7,000 civilians have been trapped and killed in the war zone since January. Both sides have been criticized for blatant human rights violations, particularly in the last months of fighting.]
May 18:
The Yonhap News Agency reports that Pyongyang’s point man for South Korean affairs, rumored to have been fired by the regime of Kim Jong-il early last year, was actually executed. Sources close to the DPRK government have informed the news outlet that Choe Sung-chol, vice chairman of the North Korea Asia-Pacific Peace Committee and an advocate for reconciliation with Seoul, was punished for his inability to predict the policies of the new conservative South Korean government. Since President Lee Myung-bak’s inauguration, Seoul has taken a decidedly different approach to relations with the Pyongyang, ending over a decade of engagement policy.
May 19:
As China’s not-so-secret military buildup continues, Australia plans to follow suit. That’s the thrust of the Australian government’s most recent defense White Paper, which recommends purchasing 100 advanced F-35 jet fighters and 12 submarines with cruise missiles – capabilities unparalleled in that region of the world, reports London’s Telegraph. Defense planners in Australia are growing increasingly wary of China’s mounting naval strength, especially due to Chinese submarine incursions in Australian waters, in addition to the rise of China and India as major world powers.