For those who know their history, the notion of Serbian neo-Nazis is almost as wacky as Israeli neo-Nazis. Serbia was occupied by the Nazis in World War II, and the Kingdom of Yugoslavia (ruled by the Serb royal family) dismantled by the Axis powers. It's a particular irony that this rally is to be held (or not held, if the ban prevails) in Novi Sad, capital of Serbia's northern province of Vojvodina—which was detached from Serbia and handed over to Hungary by the Axis occupation. However much these guys may hate Jews and Roma—what could they be thinking? "March for Serb Unity"? Huh? From Reuters, Sept. 26:

Spanish high court judge Baltasar Garzón ordered preventive detainment Sept. 11 for Juan Mari Olano, leader of the Askatasuna prisoner support organization who was arrested during an illegal demonstration at San Sebastián in the Basque country two days earlier. Olano is charged with "membership of the ETA-EKIN terrorist organisation through the Askatasuna structure" as well as inciting "kale borroka" street violence during the banned march. The march, organized to demand amnesty for imprisoned ETA activists and self-determination for the Basque region, was held in defiance of an order banning it by the Basque regional government. It ended in violent clashes with riot police, who opened fire on the marchers with rubber bullets. Nine people, including Olano, were arrested and 11 injured, including one police officer. (EuskalInfo, Sept. 11; ThinkSpain, Sept. 10; Typically Spanish, Sept. 9)

300 police backed up by helicopters beseiging a small rural town? Starting to look like counterinsurgency in Calabria. From the New York Times, Aug. 31:

Fears of Mob Feud Lead to Arrest of 32 in Italy
ROME — The Italian police carried out a major raid on Thursday, arresting 32 people, in part to stop a deadly feud between warring crime families. The arrests were linked to the fatal shooting of six men outside a pizzeria in Germany this month.

A car bomb exploded outside a Guardia Civil barracks in the town of Durango in the Basque region of northern Spain Aug. 24, wounding two officers and causing considerable damage to the building and vehicles. Authorities said the attack was likely carried out by the separatist group ETA, which ended a ceasefire in June. The blast came days after Interior Minister Alfredo Perez Rubalcaba warned that an ETA attack was imminent. Recent weeks have seen the arrests of a number of ETA suspects, mainly in France, with 400 kilos of explosives seized.

Italian anti-terrorism police arrested three Moroccans—an imam and two of his aides—at a mosque in Perugia, capital of Umbria region, July 22, saying it served as a base for an extremist cell that ran courses in hand-to-hand combat, making bombs and flying aircraft. A police statement said the cell had contacts with members of the Moroccan Islamic Combat group arrested in Belgium two years ago. The group, known by its French acronym GICM, is said to have ties to al-Qaeda and to the 2004 Madrid bombings and 2003 Casablanca attacks. (SMH, July 23) Meanwhile, the Algerian army killed 20 alleged al-Qaeda militants in gun-battles in the Kabylie region July 24. The killings followed more days of fighting that began July 14 when the army claimed to have foiled an al-Qaeda attack on two police stations in Yakourene village, Tizi Ouzou province. (Reuters, July 24)

July 11 marks the twelfth anniversary of the massacre of some 8,000 Muslims at the eastern Bosnian town of Srebrenica, and little has changed for the survivors who continue to wait for a modicum of justice. Up to 30,000 survivors are expected to attend a religious ceremony and funeral at the memorial cemetery outside the town, where the remains of more than 2,400 of those killed are already buried. Another 465—retrieved from mass graves and identified by DNA analysis—will be laid to rest at the ceremony, including the remains of a 75-year-old woman. The other victims were males, aged between 13 and 77. The UN's chief war crimes prosecutor for ex-Yugoslavia Carla Del Ponte is among those expected to attend, while another 2,000 survivors have set off on a four-day symbolic march to the town. Srebrenica is the only episode of the Bosnian war that has been ruled an "act of genocide" by the UN war crimes tribunal and the International Court of Justice, both based at The Hague. However, Bosnian Serb wartime leader Radovan Karadzic and his military commander Ratko Mladic, the two men considered most responsible for the massacre, remain at large. (AFP, July 11)

Our June issue featured the story "Resisting the New Euro-Missiles: Czech Dissidents Stand Up Again—This Time to the Pentagon!" by WW4 REPORT contributor Gwendolyn Albert, noting the emergence of popular opposition to US plans to build a radar base for the new "missile shield" in the Czech Republic. The "missile shield" has opened a new rift with Russia, and is surely topping the agenda in the Bush-Putin meeting underway at the Bush family estate in Kennebunkport, ME. Our June Exit Poll was: "Is the 'missile shield' actually intended to protect the US and the world from 'rogue' nations like Iran and North Korea, or is the 'real' enemy still Russia?" We received the following responses:

Prosecutor Javier Zaragoza, in closing arguments against 27 of the 29 accused in Madrid 3-11 attacks, took time to criticize what he called the "parallel process based on unfounded suspicions" of involvement by the Basque separatist group ETA. In his remarks, he even called for criminal charges for contempt of court against Agustín Díaz de Mera, Director General of Police at the time of the attack and a top promoter of the ETA theory. (Typically Spanish, June 12)