A May 20 Reuters report picked up by Israel's dialy Ha'artez portrays Lebanon's government as having basically thown in the towel on cannabis eradiction in the Bekaa Valley, apparently afraid of the war spilling across the border from neighboring Syria. Towns in the Bekaa were hit by rocket fire last year, and the valley continues to be shaken by periodic sectarian attacks related to the fighting across the border in Syria. During Lebanon's own 1975-1990 civil war, the fertile Bekaa Valley produced up to 1,000 tons of hashish annually, before production was nearly stamped out under an aggressive eradication program. "From the 1990s until 2012, cannabis eradication took place on an annual basis," Col. Ghassan Shamseddine, head of Lebanon's drug enforcement unit, told Reuters. "But in 2012...it was halted because of the situation on the Lebanese borders and the instability in Syria."

Three independent UN human rights experts on June 2 urged Pakistan to adopt urgent legislation to put an end to faith-based killings and protect the country's Ahmadiyya Muslim (BBC profile) community, whose faith is currently outlawed. The call follows a resurgence of violent attacks in Pakistan targeting Ahmadiyya Muslims, which have resulted in the deaths of two members of the community and are believed to be related to the practice of their religious faith. The country has also recently seen many arrests for blasphemy. Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief Heiner Bielefeldt said that the violence was "fueled by existing blasphemy legislation in Pakistan particularly targeting minorities." He went on to urge the country to guarantee the right to freedom of religion or belief for members of minority religious communities. Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions  Christof Heyns also spoke, stressing the importance of ensuring accountability to the government's efforts to reduce attacks. Pakistan, according to Heyns, must take urgent and firm steps to bring justice to those guilty of such killings.

Police in the Pakistani province of Punjab on May 13 filed charges of blasphemy against 68 lawyers for protesting police actions. Last week several dozen lawyers, mostly from Pakistan's Shi'ite minority, staged a protest against a high-ranking police official for detaining and beating a lawyer following a disagreement. The blasphemy charges underscore more widespread tensions between Sunnis and Shi'ites in Pakistan that have resulted in religious and politically-motivated violence. It is not yet known when the lawyers' case will be tried.

A terrifying report on Communities Digital News April 25 notes an "Anti-Shia Alliance" convention held the previous week in Jakarta, capital of Indonesia, attended by thousands of militant Sunnis who called for "jihad" against Shi'ite Muslims. Several Indonesian government officials were in attendance. During the conference, a Shi'ite journalist, covering the program for Ahlulbait Indonesia, reported being detained, interrogated, and beaten by group organizers and attendees. The international conference issued an "Anti Shia Declaration" which resolved that "The alliance will take any necessary measures to maximize the prevention of the proliferation of heretical teachings by Shia followers." In a speech, bin Zein al-Kaff, leader of Indonesia's Anti-Heresy Front, said "It's time that we declared jihad against them…We should not tolerate them anymore."

Syrian government troops backed by Hezbollah fighters on March 16 took the town of Yabroud near the Lebanese border, which was held by rebels inlcuding the Qaeda-affiliated Nusra Front. Hours later, in apparent retaliation, the Shi'ite town of Nabi Othman in Lebanon's Bekaa Valley was struck by a suicide bombing that left four dead. (LAT, Reuters, March 17) Meanwhile, in comments sure to warm the heart of Bashar Assad, opposition leader Kamal al-Labwani of the Syrian National Council told Iran's Arabic-language al Alam new service that the Syrian opposition is willing to give up claims to the Golan Heights in return for Israeli military aid. "Why shouldn’t we be able to sell the Golan Heights because it is better than losing Syria and Golan at once," he said. (Haaretz, March 16)

Iraq's oil production surged to its highest level in over 30 years last month. In its monthly oil report published March 14, the International Energy Agency said Iraq's oil output jumped by half a million barrels a day in February to average 3.6 million barrels a day. The country hasn't pumped that much oil since 1979, when Saddam Hussein rose to power. (WSJ, March 14) Paradoxically, the jump comes amid a new outbreak of Iraq's terrorist insurgency. A series of car bomb attacks targeting commercial areas and a restaurant killed at least 19 people March 15 in Baghdad. On March 9, a suicide car bomber detonated his explosive-laden vehicle at a checkpoint where dozens of cars were lined up in the southern city of Hillah, killing 21 civilians—the deadliest of a series of attacks that killed 42 people that day. Last year, Iraq saw the highest death toll since 2007. The UN said violence killed 8,868 last year in Iraq. (AP, March 15; AP, March 9)

Sectarian attacks in Algeria's desert city of Ghardaia (see map) have left five dead over the past week—including one young Berber man who a local official said was knifed to death and disfigured under the eyes of police. Local Mozabite Berbers, adherents of the Ibadi sect, are apparently being targeted by Chaamba Arabs, followers of the Malekite branch of Sunni Islam. Troops of the National Police and Gendarmerie were rushed to the city this weekend, and 10 arrested in connection with the violence. There have been repeated clashes in the city since December, but the violence reached a climax on Feb. 4 when a Mozabite teaching center was torched. (AFP, Feb. 9; AP, Algeria Press Service, Feb. 8)

Iraqi police arrested Ahmed al-Awlani, an MP and prominent Sunni supporter of anti-government protests, on Dec. 28 in the city of Ramadi. Awlani, a member of the Sunni-supported Iraqiya bloc was reportedly wanted on terrorism charges  along with his brother, Ali. Ali and five bodyguards were killed in the police raid, and 18 others were wounded. Awlani has been a strong supporter of a group of protestors who have camped on a highway outside Ramadi in order to rally against perceived persecution of Iraqi Sunnis by the Shia-controlled government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. Sectarian fighting between Sunni and Shia Muslims has been considerable this year; over 8,000 people have been killed, mostly in sectarian clashes, since January, making 2013 the deadliest year for Iraqi civilians since 2008.