START OF ISRAEL-PALESTINE PEACE TALKS
Earlier this month in Jerusalem, Israeli and Palestinian negotiators met for the first substantive talks in five years. Hours before the talks, Israel agreed to release 26 long-term Palestinian prisoners and arranged to hand over the bodies of Palestinian militants in Israeli cemeteries to encourage the peace talks. However, many Western and regional experts are cautioning against attaching too much optimism to the new peace talks. According to one western diplomat quoted by The Guardian, “The atmosphere is not positive...This is politically very tough.” (The Guardian August 14, 2013)
SURGE IN BAGHDAD BOMBINGS
A surge of new bombings has hit Baghdad in six bomb attacks that killed at least 33 people and wounded dozens more last week. The bombings follow a series of intensified attacks throughout the month of Ramadan. One of the attacks took place 300 meters from Baghdad’s Green Zone, and attacks have targeted both Shi’ite and Sunni areas. U.N. casualty figures show that 1,057 Iraqis were killed in attacks in July. (British Broadcasting Corporation August 15, 2013)
KURDISTAN FLEXES ITS MUSCLES
The president of Iraq’s semi-autonomous Kurdistan region, Massoud Barzani has said that if the safety of Kurds in Syria were threatened, Iraqi Kurdistan would be “prepared to defend them.” Kurdish militia in Syria have been engaged in fighting against forces aligned to the Syrian opposition, including jihadists and the al-Nusra Front. Some of the areas in Syria have been controlled and governed by Kurdish councils and militias since the withdrawal of government forces. Barzani has called for a delegation to assess the terrorist threat in Kurdish areas of Syria. Kurds comprise roughly 10% of the Syrian population, mostly concentrated in the north-east near the Turkish border. (British Broadcasting Corporation August 10, 2013)
CHEMICAL WEAPONS INVESTIGATION DELAYED
Following months of negotiations, a UN team has finally been allowed to investigate the use of chemical weapons in Syria. The Syrian government and rebels have accused each other of using chemical weapons. The delegation’s mandate is to report on which, if any, of these weapons were used, but not to determine which group was responsible for the attack. Following the agreement, UN deputy spokesman Eduardo del Buey said, “The departure of the team is now imminent.” (Al Jazeera August 13, 2013 and The Associated Press August 14, 2013)