From the New York Times, Dec. 12 (and apparently little-reported elsewhere):

BISHKEK, Kyrgyzstan, Dec. 11 - In the remote hamlet of Tamga, residents frustrated by corruption and the sorry legacy of a chemical spill did something that would have been unthinkable in Kyrygzstan not long ago: they rose up.

From Reuters Dec. 9:

The founder of Argentina's leading human rights group was laid to rest yesterday, 28 years after she was abducted during the country's military dictatorship. Family and friends buried the ashes of Azucena Villaflor on a prominent Buenos Aires plaza that for many Argentines has come to symbolize the fight for justice by the Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo. The group of mothers, often seen wearing white handkerchiefs, have pressed for a full accounting of their sons and daughters, who went missing during Argentina's 1976-1983 military dictatorship known as the ''Dirty War." ''Azucena rest in peace, this is your place," said Marta Vazquez, one of the mothers. Villaflor was kidnapped by state security agents in December 1977. Forensic experts identified her remains in July after they were unearthed in a cemetery on the outskirts of the Argentine capital.

From Al-Jazeera TV in Doha, Qatar, Dec. 9:

[...] Meanwhile, appeals were made to release the four [members of the] Christian Peacemakers Team [CPT] held hostage by the Jama'at Saraya Suyuf al-Haq [Brigades of the Swords of Right Group].

[Shaykh Abd-al-Salam al-Kubaysi from the Association of Muslim Scholars] I would say that the fate of those [hostages] identifies you [kidnappers] because they should be shown hospitality instead of being taken hostage. If you do not know these facts [about the hostages' mission], then you should listen.

[Correspondent] The statements of Al-Kubaysi coincided with the visit of the representative of Canada's Muslims Union, who called on the kidnappers to release the hostages in order to spend Christmas day with their families and to convey the facts about what is taking place in Iraq to the world. [End of recoding] [Video shows Iraqi preachers delivering sermons; US scorched truck; US helicopter; AMS official speaking]

A Dec. 6 commentary by Jalal Ghazi on Pacific News Service notes that last month's Jordan suicide attack killed a film director beloved throughout the Arab world—making Arab commentators more vocal and daring than ever in condemning terrorism.

From Amnesty International, Dec. 7:

Rendition and 'disappearances' in the 'war on terror'
800 secret CIA flights into and out of Europe

Amnesty International has revealed that six planes used by the CIA for renditions have made some 800 flights in or out of European airspace including 50 landings at Shannon airport in the Republic of Ireland.

Similar dynamics on both sides of the Caspian Sea. We recently noted unrest over contested elections in Azerbaijan, where the Baku-Ceyhan pipeline has just opened. Now Kazakhstan—slated to be connected to the new pipeline by a link across the Caspian—seems headed down the same path.

Palestinian mufti appeals for release of Iraq hostages

6 December 2005
05:05 AM
BBC Monitoring Newsfile

Text of report by Iraqi Al-Sharqiyah TV on 6 December

Mufti of the Palestinian Territories Ikrimah Sabri appealed on Monday [5 December] for the release of the four kidnapped foreign members of the Christian Peacemaking Team. In statements to the press in the West Bank, Sabri said that the abduction of those four came as a surprise to the Palestinian people, noting their support for the Palestinian causes, especially their protests against the racial segregation wall.

The four members of the Christian Peacemaking Team were kidnapped in Baghdad last week. They are a Briton, an American, and two Canadians, said to be working within the same team in the Palestinian territories.

Another turn of the screw. Shame on Judge Richard Berman. From the New York Daily News, Dec. 2:

Judge: Searches of bags in subway is constitutional
Random police searches of riders' bags to deter terrorism in the nation's largest subway system do not violate the Constitution and are a minimal intrusion of privacy, a federal judge ruled Friday.