The Irish Times notes March 14 that when former ambassador Chas Freeman was picked last month to chair the National Intelligence Council (NIC), few US newspapers reported the appointment. Freeman's withdrawal last week was front page news, however—because of his blistering parting shot at the "Israel Lobby" he claimed had brought him down. The case opens a window into the intra-elite paleo-neocon wars still playing themselves out in the Barack Obama administration.

On March 8, Iranian intelligence agents raided the home of Ali Nejati, president of the Haft Tapeh Sugar Cane Company Workers' Syndicate (Khuzestan province), and arrested him. This follows a Feb. 28 raid, in which agents searched his home and confiscated documents related to the Syndicate. Within recent weeks, seven other leaders of the Syndicate have been arrested on charges of violating "national security," and mostly released on bail.

Pakistan opposition leader and ex-prime minister Nawaz Sharif March 15 defied a house arrest order to lead a march by opposition activists and members of the Pakistan lawyers' movement against President Asif Ali Zardari and his Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP). The government had ordered Sharif and many of his supporters to remain in their homes, but Sharif said the order was illegal, and lead an estimated crowd of 10,000 in the Lahore protest calling for full reinstatement of judges ousted by Gen. Pervez Musharraf in November 2007 after his declaration of emergency rule. During the march, protesters reportedly damaged police vehicles used to block roadways in the city, and police used tear gas to disperse the crowd. Several high-ranking police officials resigned from their posts in protest of the repression.

Two Hellfire missiles fired by suspected US Predator drones reportedly killed four militants in Pakistan's Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) March 15. Unnamed intelligence officials said two Pakistanis and two Arabs were killed in the strikes on a house in Sain Tanga village, near Jani Khel in Bannu Frontier Region, North Waziristan Agency. Sources said the house belonged to a local tribesman identified variously as Haji Awais or Taj Ali Khan. Al-Qaeda number-two man Ayman al-Zawahiri is also believed to be in the area. (NYT, DPA, AlJazeera, March 16)

Afghanistan's Supreme Court has upheld a 20-year prison term for Parwiz Kambakhsh, 24, a university student journalist accused of "blasphemy" for writing an article advocating greater rights for women under Islam. The student's family and lawyers said this week that they had learned only recently about the court decision, which was made in secret on Feb. 12.

On March 10, a march was held in San Salvador against the Central America free trade agreement (AdA, for Acuerdo de Asociación) currently being negotiated with the European Union. Many of the signs carried also called for a repeal of the US-Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA). Protesters charge the AdA would increase the gap between rich and poor, privatize public services, and legalize the depletion of biodiversity and natural resources. The march, organized by the group Red Sinte Techan, concluded at the Legislative Assembly, where a statement was delivered to lawmakers.

On March 11—just four days before El Salvador's historic election for president and vice-president—five Republican Congressmen gave speeches on the floor of the House of Representatives threatening that Salvadorans living in the US would lose their immigration status and be outlawed from sending money home to their families if voters in El Salvador elect the opposition FMLN party's candidate. "Those monies that are coming from here to there I am confident will be cut, and I hope the people of El Salvador are aware of that because it will have a tremendous impact on individuals and their economy," stated Rep. Dan Burton (R-IN). Similar threats by US officials were made during the 2004 Salvadoran presidential campaign.

Political parties in Mauritania have to sign a framework agreement for peace, after Libya's leader and African Union chairman Moammar Qaddafi was accused of bias in his attempts at mediation. Opposition politicians walked out on a speech to parliament by Qaddafi, March 11, saying that he was siding with the military rulers who seized power in a coup last year.