Thousands of protesters formed a human chain May 13 in Okinawa, Japan, to protest the US military presence. The human chain symbolically encircled the 17-kilometer perimeter of the Kadena Air Base. Banners demanded a withdrawal of the 22,000 US troops stationed there, reported NHK public television. The protest was organized by local labor unions and pacifist organizations. It took place two days before the 35th anniversary of the return of the Okinawa archipelago to Japan after it was occupied at the end of World War II, remaining in US hands until 1972. (Periodico26, Cuba, May 14)

The First Summit of Latin Americans Migrant Communities concluded May 14 with a "Declaration of Morelia," named for the city where the meeting was held in Michoacan, Mexico. The declaration called for modifying national and international laws on immigration, calling them obsolete and unjust. (Agencia Causar via MiMorelia, May 14) Representatives of NGOs from throughout Latin America, as well as the US, Europe and Africa attended. Michoacan Gov. Lázaro Cárdenas Batel and US Rep. José Luis Gutiérrez of Illinois were also in attendance. (Quadratín via MiMorelia, May 14)

Gunmen fatally shot a high-ranking Mexican intelligence official as he drove to work at the federal Prosecutor General's office in Mexico City May 14. Jose Nemesio Lugo, who investigated drug trafficking and illegal migration, was shot several times. The assailants fled and no arrests were made. US Ambassador Tony Garza expressed his condolences and praised Lugo as "a principled and tireless crime fighter." Lugo last month was named general coordinator of the Prosecutor General's National Center of Planning, Analysis and Information for the Combat of Delinquency. Under former President Vicente Fox, Lugo was director of border operations for the federal Public Security Department. He also served as director of a Federal Preventative Police unit investigating trafficking of drugs, contraband, migrants and minors. (Notimex, AP, May 14)

Colombian National Police chief Gen. Jorge Daniel Castro and his intelligence boss Gen. Guillermo Chaves were forced to retire May 14 following cliams that police illegally tapped calls of opposition political figures, journalists and members of the government. "The procedure is totally unacceptable, illegal and contrary to the policy of the government," President Alvaro Uribe‘s office said in a statement. The scandal broke over the weekend when newsweekly Semana reported the interception of phone conversations revealing that imprisoned paramilitary leaders continue to operate their networks from behind bars. The scandal is being dubbed the "Colombian Watergate." Castro's replacement was named as Oscar Naranjo, director of the police investigative agency DIJIN. Also May 14, the Supreme Court ordered the arrest of 20 politicians and business leaders, including four senators and one lower house representative, on criminal conspiracy charges for signing the 2001 "Rialto Pact" with paramilitary leaders. (El Espectador, Radio Caracol, AP, May 14)

On May 14 at 7 AM, Francisco Puerta, a leader of the Colombian "peace community" of San José de Apartadó, was assassinated by paramilitaries outside the bus terminal in the town of Apartadó, the municipal seat. Two para gunmen approached him in the store where he sitting and fired several times—then calmly walked away and escaped, despite the presence of numerous police in the vicinity.

Nigeria's outgoing president Olusegun Obasanjo visited the restive southern Niger Delta region [May 14] to perform a ground-breaking ceremony for a new $8 billion gas plant. Militants in the region have waged an intensifying campaign against the many foreign oil companies present in the Delta. [The Brass LNG plant is a partnership of Italy's Eni, France's Total, and ConocoPhillips] [Reuters, May 14] [Also May 14,] militants kidnapped a manager working for Italian company Agip. [Reuters, May 14]

Algerian security forces claim to have intercepted three Libyan men, on their way to join "Al-Qaeda in the Maghreb," the terrorist network's wing in North Africa. [AlJazeera, May 12] Three Algerian soldiers were killed by a bomb blast in the country-side east of Algiers [May 14]. The Algerian army has stepped up its assault on the country's Islamist militants, and now faces sharper reprisals. [Reuters, May 14]

At least a million people marched in Turkey's second city Izmir [May 13] against the ruling AK party. Pro-secular, Kemalist Turks fear that the ruling party's Islamist roots will undermine Turkey's secular constitution. On [May 12], a bombing in the city killed one man and injured 14 people. [AlJazeera, May 13]