What authorities call a "tribal dispute" between Arabs and Turkmen over land near Iraq's oil-rich northern city of Kirkuk left three people dead and several more wounded several others Feb. 11. The incident began with a protest by Turkmen against Arabs who were building houses in the village of Basheer. (Reuters, Feb. 11) Six were killed and 22 wounded in three car bomb attacks in Kirkuk on Feb. 9, in what authorities said was an attack by Ansar al-Islam on the Kurdish militia Asayish. (NYT, Xinhua, Feb. 9)

Iraq operates secret prisons and routinely tortures prisoners to extract confessions that are used to convict them, Amnesty International said in a report released on Feb. 8. An estimated 30,000 men and women remain in custody in Iraq, some in secret facilities operated by the ministries of defense and interior, asserts the report, titled "Broken Bodies, Broken Minds." "Iraqi security forces use torture and other ill-treatment to extract 'confessions' when detainees are held incommunicado, especially in detention facilities—some secret—controlled by the Ministries of Interior and Defence," the report said.

The Pentagon announced Feb. 9 that a senior Department of Defense official has reduced the sentence of Ibrahim al-Qosi, the accused former al-Qaeda cook and accountant who pleaded guilty before a military tribunal last July to crimes of conspiracy and supporting terrorism. His sentence reduced to just two years, al-Qosi could return to his native Sudan as soon as summer of 2012, and he will serve the balance of his sentence in a minimum-security Guantanamo Bay facility until then. Unbeknownst to the 10-officer jury that sentenced him to 14 years last August, al-Qosi had struck a secret plea deal with Pentagon officials that will remain sealed until his eventual release. Under the terms of the deal, the Convening Authority for Military Commissions (CAMC), which has final review authority over military tribunal sentences, agreed to cut al-Qosi's jury sentence to the extent that it exceeded the bargained-for term. Senior CAMC overseer Bruce MacDonald had the authority to reduce al-Qosi's sentence further, but adhered to the two-year maximum term in the plea agreement.

Hundreds of Islamist protesters stormed a courthouse and put two churches to the torch in central Java town of Temmangung on Feb. 8 to protest that a Christian convicted of blasphemy was not given the death penalty. The defendant, Antonius Richmond Bawengan, was found guilty of distributing books and leaflets that “spread hatred about Islam” and was sentenced to five years in prison, the maximum term. The the Bethel and Pantekosta churches were burned, while the Santo Petrus and Paulus churches were pelted with stones. Two days earlier, a lynch mob in the nearby town of Banten killed three members of the Ahmadiyya minority Islamic sect. The attacks prompted international calls for the overturn of Indonesia's blasphemy laws. (ENI News, Feb. 10; Ahmadiyya Muslim Jamaat, Catholic News Agency, Jakarta Post, Feb. 9; Bali Times, NYT, Feb. 8)

Militants in Pakistan's Baluchistan province attacked a NATO supply truck transporting fuel to US-led forces in Afghanistan, setting it on fire Feb. 11. One day earlier, presumed Baluch militants blew up the gas pipeline that runs through the province for a second time this week, again leaving tens of thousands of consumers without gas. (Press TV, Feb. 11; AFP, Feb. 10)

Iran said Feb. 11 that Egyptians have achieved a "great victory," after it was announced that President Hosni Mubarak had stepped down. "A new Middle East is taking shape, not the Mideast the West had planned for but one which has been created based on Islamic awakening," said Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast, speaking on the 32nd anniversary of the victory of the 1979 Islamic Revolution in Iran. "The movement and uprising that has been created in the region will definitely disturb the equations in the world today." (AFP, Press TV, Feb. 11)

In a brief and somber surprise televised address Feb. 11, Vice President Omar Suleiman said: "My fellow citizens. In this difficult time that the country is going through, President Mohamed Hosni Mubarak has decided to relieve himself of his position as president and the supreme military council has taken control of the state's affairs. May God protect us." Crowds in Cairo's Tahrir Square erupted into loud cheers, chanting "Egypt is free, Egypt is free!" (ABC, AFP, Feb. 11)

Thousands of Egyptian protesters in Cairo's Tahrir Square erupted into chants of "Down with Mubarak!" and waved their shoes above their heads in disgust after President Hosni Mubarak's speech Feb. 10, which defied nearly universal expectations that he would accede to demands the he step down. Instead, he said he would stay on until September elections, while delegating most powers to Vice President Omar Suleiman. Protesters immediately spread out from Tahrir Square, surrounding the parliament building, council of ministers headquarters and other top government offices—all guarded by thick ranks of army troops and tanks. Facing off with the troops, they chant: "Egyptian army, the choice is now, the regime or the people!"