Preet Bharara, the US Attorney for the Southern District of New York, and Michele M. Leonhart, the acting administrator of the DEA, announced that Oumar Issa, Harouna Toure and Idriss Abelrahman arrived in the Southern District of New York Dec. 18 to face charges of conspiracy to commit acts of "narco-terrorism" and conspiracy to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization. The charges stem from the defendants' alleged agreement to transport cocaine through West and North Africa with the intent to support three terrorist organizations—al-Qaeda, al-Qaeda in the Islamic Magreb (AQIM), and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). All three have been designated by the US Department of State as "Foreign Terrorist Organizations."

Former Khmer Rouge head of state and "Brother Number Five," Khieu Samphan, has been charged with genocide, the UN-backed Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia announced Dec. 18. Samphan is the third member of the Khmer Rouge to be charged with genocide by the war crimes tribunal this week. "Brother Number Two" Nuon Chea and former foreign minister Ieng Sary also face genocide charges—marking the first time the charge has been brought against Khmer Rouge leaders by an internationally sanctioned court. All three are accused in the deaths of thousands of members of Cambodia's Vietnamese and the Cham Muslim minorities.

Dutch Foreign Minister Maxime Verhagen has summoned the Venezuelan ambassador to provide an explanation of statements made by President Hugo Chávez at the Copenhagen summit, where he accused the Netherlands of colluding with the United States against his nation by allowing military access to the Dutch Antilles. Verhagen denied that there is any aggression plot against Venezuela. (Radio Netherlands, Dec. 18)

In a statement released on the Internet, Colombia's two rebel guerilla armies, the FARC and ELN, announced they intend to unite. "Our only enemy is North American Imperialism and its oligarchic lackeys," the statement said. The head of the Colombian armed forces, Gen Freddy Padilla, dismissed the news. "This alliance is impossible," he said. "They dispute territory to control drug-trafficking and have killed one another in the south [of the departments of] Bolívar and Arauca." (BBC News, Dec. 17)

Special forces from the Mexican army and navy killed one of the country's top drug kingpins, Arturo Beltrán Leyva, in a firefight in Cuernavaca late Dec. 16. Beltrán Leyva, who was also wanted in the US, was the highest-level drug lord killed since President Felipe Calderón launched his offensive against the cartels in December 2006. Some 400 troops surrounded his apartment in a luxury complex, sparking a two-hour gun battle, in which Beltrán Leyva's henchmen—known as the "Fuerzas Armadas de Arturo"—responded with automatic weapons and grenades. Six of the the henchmen were killed, one as he jumped from a window, as well as one member of the navy's Special Forces.

Chad's military launched air-strikes and ground assaults against rebels from the Union of Resistance Forces (UFR) in the east of the country Dec. 15, in the first major fighting since May. The UFR says four civilians were killed and many more wounded in the clashes, near the Sudan border. The government, which charges that Sudan backs the insurgency, denies any civilian casualties. (BBC News, Dec. 15)

A judge for the US District Court for the District of Columbia on Dec. 16 granted Yemeni Guantánamo Bay detainee Saeed Hatim's petition for habeas corpus, ordering his release. The US Department of Defense alleged that Hatim trained at the al-Farouq paramilitary camp in Afghanistan. Judge Ricardo Urbina's ruling remains sealed, and lawyers have declined to elaborate on his reasoning. A spokesperson for the US Department of Justice said the government is currently considering its options.

The Supreme Court of Pakistan Dec. 16 struck down the National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO), which granted President Asif Ali Zardari and 8,000 other government officials immunity from corruption charges. A special 17-member panel of court ruled unanimously that the NRO is unconstitutional, paving the way for corruption charges to be brought against Zardari. President Zardari is immune from prosecution while in office, but challenges to his eligibility as a presidential candidate are expected. Many other government officials, including the interior and defense ministers, could face immediate prosecution.