Colombia's Supreme Court approved a request by the Fiscalía (attorney general's office) to reopen the investigation of former army general Rito Alejo del Rio, who is suspected of having collaborated with illegal paramilitaries. The Fiscalía asked for the reopening after testimony by several demobilized paramilitaries linked the retired general to the United Self Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC). Hebert Velosa, Salvatore Mancuso, Jorge Ivan Laverde and Elkin Casarrubia are among those who testified on del Rio's ties to the AUC.

In a landmark ruling, Brazil's Supreme Court March 19 found that the Raposa-Serra do Sol indigenous reserve in northern Roraima state should be maintained as a contiguous territory. The 10-1 decision upholds the demarcation of the territory, home to some 18,000 members of the Makuxi and other tribes, as designated in a 2005 presidential decree. The decision requires the removal of rice growers within the reserve, who brought the legal challenge to the demarcation.

From Amnesty International, March 16:

A group of 16 of the world's leading war crimes investigators and judges—backed by Amnesty International—has urged the United Nations to launch a full inquiry into alleged gross violations of the laws of war committed by both sides during the recent conflict in Gaza and southern Israel.

In a new audio statement posted on the Internet, Osama bin Laden called on Somali militants to overthrow the country's new President Sharif Sheikh Ahmed—himself a former leader of the Islamic Courts Union. In the 12-minute tape, which could not be immediately verified, bin Laden said: "This Sheik Sharif...must be fought and toppled... He is like the [Arab] presidents who are in the pay of our enemies." (News Hour, March 19)

Israel's ambassador to Ethiopia, Oded Ben-Haim, in an interview with Ethiopia's Walta Information Center, charged that Eritrea is trying to destabilize the peace process in the Horn of Africa, and serving as a save haven for terrorist groups. Ben-Haim especially accused Eritrea of supporting and arming al-Shabab, the insurgent group in Somalia, and also asserted Eritrean ties to the Palestinian Hamas. He called upon Ethiopia to "continue bringing stability in the Horn of Africa and to the whole continent." (WIC, March 19)

President Barack Obama broadcast a speech to the people and leaders of Iran early March 20, offering greetings for a Persian new year holiday of Nowruz, stressing the potential for peaceful cooperation. A video of the speech was distributed to news outlets in the region, subtitled in Farsi:

Seven sharia courts opened this week in Pakistan's northwest Swat Valley as part of a peace agreement signed between tribal leaders and the government last month. Authorities said two qazis, or judges trained in Islamic law, reviewed some 30 minor cases in Mingora, the largest city in Swat.

Opposition parties this week called for protests across Kyrgyzstan on March 27, amid worsening economic conditions and mounting accusations of government repression. President Kurmanbek Bakiyev's government has authorized the rally—but Interior Minister Moldomusa Kongantiyev issued a grim warning. "At the slightest breach of the law, the police will take every measure to restore law and order and the security of our citizens," Kongantiyev said.