Shi'ite cleric Sheikh Jaber Fares Dhaher was killed and 17 people, mostly Iraqi police, were injured in a wave of bombings in Baghdad Aug. 18. The Sheikh was killed when insurgents attacked his car in the southern Baghdad neighborhood of Zafaraniyah. His wife and daughter were also wounded. The previous night, a suicide bomber who blew himself up near Abu Hanifa mosque, one of Iraq's most prominent Sunni shrines, in the Sunni neighborhood of Adhamiyah, killing at least 15 and wounding 30. The dead included Faruq al-Obeidi, a local leader of the Sons of Iraq, a US-backed force of former Sunni insurgents who have turned their weapons against al-Qaeda. (AFP, WP, Aug. 18)

A Sudanese court Aug. 18 sentenced eight Darfur rebels to death, including the half-brother of Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) leader Khalil Ibrahim. Abdul Aziz Ashur and others were found guilty on charges related to a May rebel attack on Khartoum, in which at least 200 died. In June, Sudanese security forces arrested more than 100 JEM members in connection with the attack. Later that month, 39 accused Darfur rebels appeared before special courts to be tried under a 2001 anti-terrorism law.

Tuareg rebels of the Niger Justice Movement (MNJ) announced Aug. 18 they are laying down arms following peace talks brokered by Libya. The announcement was made by the MNJ leader Aghaly ag Alambo, following a meeting across the Libyan border with the country's leader, Moammar Qadaffi. Alambo said he was also speaking for Tuareg rebels in neighboring Mali, who would disarm too. Ibrahim Ag Bahanga's Malian Tuareg rebels meanwhile handed over 21 captives to authorities Aug. 17 in what he called a gesture of "good faith." The released soldiers join five others turned over to the government since the end of the peace talks in Algeria on July 21. (FOCUS, BBC, Aug. 19; VOA, Aug. 18)

On Aug. 8 in Alexandria, Va., US District Judge Leonie Brinkema postponed the trial of Florida professor Sami Al-Arian indefinitely. Al-Arian was charged on June 26 with two counts of criminal contempt for refusing to testify before a grand jury which is investigating whether Islamic charities in northern Virginia were financing terrorists. The trial, originally scheduled for Aug. 13, will now be delayed until the Supreme Court addresses an appeal submitted by Al-Arian's attorneys, challenging the legality of the federal subpoena which led to the contempt charges. (Tampa Bay Coalition for Justice and Peace, Aug. 9; AP, Aug. 8)

On Aug. 13, ICE agents set up a checkpoint at a service gate at Washington Dulles International Airport in Chantilly, Va., and questioned more than 200 people who attempted to enter the airport grounds. Most of those questioned were working on construction projects at the airport. ICE arrested 42 Latin American construction workers who were found to be ineligible to work in the US. The workers were detained administratively on immigration violations, said Mark X. McGraw, Special Agent in Charge of ICE's Office of Investigations at the Washington field office. Federal officials were trying to determine whether criminal charges were warranted against the workers and their employers. (ICE news release, Aug. 13; Washington Post, Aug. 14)

The ICE office in Philadelphia announced on Aug. 11 that its local fugitive operations teams had arrested a total of 119 people in 10-day operation in Pennsylvania and Delaware. Of the total 119 people arrested, 75 had failed to comply with deportation orders; 26 of these 75 had criminal records. Another 44 people were arrested for being present in the US without permission; 12 of these 44 people had criminal histories, according to ICE. The operation was carried out by ICE's Detention and Removal Operations and Office of Investigations in conjunction with the US Border Patrol in Erie, Penn.; the Philadelphia Warrant Squad; and the police departments of Philadelphia, Hatfield, Horsham, Norristown and Altoona. (ICE news release, Aug. 13)

Between June 18 and July 25, ICE arrested 321 people in South Florida, in what it called "an operation targeting trans-national and violent criminal street gangs," part of a national ICE initiative known as "Operation Community Shield." By ICE's own count, only 59 of the 321 people arrested in the sweeps were "transnational gang members and associates." According to ICE, 19 people were arrested on immigration charges—at least some of them legal permanent residents whose criminal convictions allegedly make them deportable—and 308 people "face multiple criminal charges including state racketeering influenced and corrupt organizations (RICO) conspiracy; drug possession, purchase and trafficking; firearms possession; outstanding bench warrants; and probation and parole violations." Those arrested are from Cuba, Haiti, Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, Jamaica, Nicaragua, Jamaica, El Salvador, Colombia, Chile, and the US. One individual was identified as having reentered the US after having been deported.

On Aug. 8, ICE announced the arrests of "52 gang members and associates and 28 other criminals" in a four-day operation targeting "violent street gangs" across Massachusetts. Of the total 80 people arrested, 55 are legal permanent residents "who may be removable from the US based upon their criminal history," according to ICE; the others included 14 people who were residing in the US without permission from the federal government, two who had failed to comply with deportation orders, and three who had reentered the US after having been deported. "ICE agents also assisted in the arrest of six other individuals on state criminal violations who were encountered during the gang operation," according to the agency's news release. The arrested immigrants were nationals of Barbados, Cambodia, Cape Verde, Colombia, Cuba, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico, Panama, Portugal, Trinidad and Vietnam. All had criminal records.