We have noted the rather hilarious irony that Qaddafi actually tried to play to the West by portraying the rebels as jihadi terrorists—and even claimed the West was supporting him against a jihadist insurgency!—but has recently threatened suicide attacks against European capitals. Today the New York Times reports:

After six months battling a rebellion that his family portrayed as an Islamist conspiracy, Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi's son and one-time heir apparent said Wednesday that he was reversing course to forge a behind-the-scenes alliance with radical Islamist elements among the Libyan rebels to drive out their more liberal-minded confederates. "The liberals will escape or be killed," the son, Seif al-Islam el-Qaddafi, vowed in an hourlong interview that stretched past midnight. "We will do it together," he added, wearing a newly grown beard and fingering Islamic prayer beads as he reclined on a love seat in a spare office tucked in a nearly deserted downtown hotel. "Libya will look like Saudi Arabia, like Iran. So what?"

Iraqi leaders announced Aug. 3 they had agreed to start negotiations on keeping an American military presence in the country after the current Dec. 31 deadline for a withdrawal of all US troops under the Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA). The decision was announced after more than four hours of closed-door talks led by President Jalal Talabani. Deputy Prime Minister Rosh Nuri Shawis said in a statement: "All those present agreed to authorize the government of Iraq to start negotiations with the American side." There are currently 46,000 US troops in Iraq. US officials have broached a number of 10,000 remaining after the deadline. (CSM, Aug. 3)

US drones struck for the first time in 19 days in Pakistan's tribal agencies on Aug. 1, killing four "militants" in an attack on a compound in the Azam Warzak area of South Waziristan. The area, along the Afghan border, is said to be under the control of local Taliban warlord Mullah Nazir. (Long War Journal, Aug. 1) The same day, a US drone strike killed 15 presumed fighters of al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) fighters yesterday in al-Khamila, a village outside the militant-controlled town of Zinjibar in southern Yemen. (Long War Journal, Aug. 2)

Bolivia and South Korea have agreed to a joint venture to exploit the lithium battery business sector, the state-run Korea Resources Corp (KORES) announced July 31. KORES has signed a memorandum of understanding with Bolivia's state-owned mining corporation COMIBOL to form a consortium that will also include the private Korean firms POSCO, SK Innovation Co. and LG Chem, Ltd. The signing took place in La Paz.

Gen. Francisco Contreras, chief of staff of Peru's armed forces until his retirement earlier this year, told the Jerusalem Post July 25 that he believes Iran's growing presence in Latin America poses a threat to regional stability. "It appears that Iranian organizations provide support to other terrorist organizations," he said. "We definitely need to be concerned with the growing presence of Iran in South America. It appears that Iranian organizations provide support to other terrorist organizations, and that there is cooperation between them."

The newly negotiated free trade agreement (FTA) between Colombia and Mexico formally went into effect Aug. 1, President Juan Manuel Santos announced in Mexico. The Colombian head of state was welcomed with top military honors by Mexican President Felipe Calderon in Mexico City, where Santos made a pubic statement about the FTA. "This new treaty enters into effect today, a very significant day in trade," Santos said. "It has great significance for further progress in strengthening our trade relations." The former agreement, a G-3 between Colombia, Mexico and Venezuela, had to be modified to account for the withdrawal of Venezuela and for the changing economic climate.

The US Coast Guard announced the interception of a so-called "narco submarine," while in a joint patrol of Caribbean waters with the Honduran armed forces. On July 13, the crew of the Coast Guard cutter Seneca interdicted the craft, called a self-propelled semi-submersible or SPSS, off the coast of Honduras near the Nicaraguan border. The Coast Guard says the vessel sank during the interdiction, but that nearly 7.5 tons of cocaine was later recovered. Four crew members—three Colombians and a Honduran—were detained and brought by the Coast Guard to Miami to face federal charges. (La Tribuna, El Heraldo, Tegucigalpa, Aug. 2; CBS Miami, Aug. 1; Notimex, July 30)

Mexican governance secretary Francisco Blake Mora held a meeting in Mexico City on July 29 with more than 160 relatives of people who have been "disappeared"—kidnapped by criminals, by the police or by the military. The family members, many carrying photographs of the victims, were demanding action from the federal Governance Secretariat (SG), which is in charge of the country's internal security. The relatives came from a number of states, including Guanajuato, Morelos, Nuevo León, Oaxaca and Zacatecas, but the greatest number were from the northern state of Coahuila, where the "drug wars" between the authorities and drug traffickers and between different drug gangs have been especially intense.