A roadside bomb has killed seven Special Forces soldiers in an ambush in Narathiwat's Rangae district, in southern Thailand [May 10]. [The Nation, Thailand, May 10] Two policemen have also been killed in a raid on a security checkpoint in the Narathiwat province, while a local government official has been gunned down. [AFP, May 11] The separatists are purported to be changing their tactics, increasingly concentrating attacks on security forces rather than on civilians. [Reuters, May 11]

Yemen has recalled its ambassador to Libya over its suspected support to Shi'ite guerilla followers of Abdul-Malik al-Houthi, who have been fighting government forces in the northern province of Saada since the beginning of the year. "The decision to recall the ambassador...came a day after popular demands for cutting Yemeni ties with Libya and to close its embassy in Sanaa over accusations of Libyan involvement in supporting the terrorist elements," the web site of the ruling People's Congress Party said, quoting "well-informed" sources. The statement said that residents of Saada had urged the government to sever ties with Tripoli.

Tuareg guerillas in Mali, accompanied by Tuareg fighters from neighboring Niger, attacked a northeast police post May 11, the first attack since a peace deal with the government last year. The assault against the gendarmerie post at Tin-Za, north of the town of Kidal and just two miles from the Algerian border, was led by Ibrahim Bahanga, a well-known Tuareg guerilla leader, anonymous sources told Reuters. There were no immediate details of casualties, but Mali's army sent reinforcements from the Saharan trading town of Kidal, located in the heartland of the Tuareg insrgency of the 1990s.

Sudan has asked a UN team to travel to Darfur to evaluate the status and needs of 45,000 men, women and children who have crossed over from Chad in the last three months. Gathered in camps near the Sudanese border post of Foro Baranga, West Darfur, they appear to be Arab nomads, but it is not clear if they are refugees fleeing conflict in Chad. "The Sudanese government has asked us to provide assistance," UNHCR spokeswoman Helene Caux told Reuters in Geneva. "At this point we don't know who they are and we need more information—are they refugees or nomads, have some been fighters in Chad? We have to determine their status."

The Chinese foreign ministry has announced the appointment of a new special representative to Africa and confirmed plans to send 275 military engineers for UN peacekeeping operations. The move comes just as China is coming under international criticism for its economic and military support of the Sudanese regime. In an open letter to President Hu Jintao earlier this week, 108 US congressmen warned that the 2008 Beijing Olympics could be marred by protests if there was no change in the host nation's position on Sudan. Foreign ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu refuted the charges, saying China's non-confrontational approach to Sudan is yielding results: "We hope to solve the issue by political means, so we are ready to make joint efforts with the international community, including the US." She said the new special representative on African affairs, Liu Guijin, would focus on solving the Darfur crisis. (The Guardian, May 11)

British civil servant David Keogh has been sentenced to six months after being found guilty of breaching the Official Secrets Act for leaking a classified memo about a meeting between Prime Minister Tony Blair and President George W. Bush in which the US president reportedly called for the bombing of AlJazeera TV's headquarters in Doha, Qatar. The Daily Mirror newspaper reported that the memo showed Blair arguing against Bush's suggestion, adding that its sources disagreed on whether it was serious. Blair said he had no information about any proposed US action against AlJazeera, and the White House called the claims "outlandish and inconceivable." The document, marked "Secret-Personal," was intended to be restricted to senior officials. The memo's contents are considered so sensitive that much of the trial was heard behind closed doors. (AP, Daily Mail, May 11)

A terrorism warning issued by US military authorities in Germany last month could involve plans by an the Kurdish Islamist militant organization Ansar al-Islam, anonymous officials said in a report on the ABC News website. Howeve, other anonymous officials denied to Reuters that Ansar is suspected in the supposed plot. In the April 20 warning, the US embassy in Germany encouraged Americans in the country to increase their vigilance and take appropriate steps to bolster their personal security. ABC News quoted German Interior Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble as saying, "The danger level is high. We are part of the global threat by Islamist terrorism." But an official with US European Command told Reuters there was no new intelligence strong enough to warrant heightened security at military facilities in Germany. "We're unaware of anything new. We have not changed our force posture," the source said. (Reuters, May 11)

The coordinated May 9 raids of anti-globalization protest leaders across Germany brought more than 5,000 to the streets of Hamburg, Berlin, Kiel and other cities. Violent clashes with the police were reported in Hamburg, where police used water canons and protesters responded with firecrackers, bottles and stones. Four people were injured and eight arrested. Four were also arrested at the 3,000-strong march in Berlin. Police now say there were no arrests in the raids in six of Germany's federal states, but that 21 suspects in the the supposed plot to disrupt the upcoming G8 summit remain at large. Federal prosecutors claim they had indications that a "terrorist association" was forming to carry out arson and other attacks during the summit to be held at the Baltic Sea resort of Heiligendamm, June 6-8. The anti-globalization network Attac—which was not targeted in the raids—called the charges an effort "to criminalize the entire spectrum of G8 opponents." (DPA, May 10)