The UN Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) released a report (PDF) June 27 pressing Iraqi leaders to develop measures addressing the growing trend of human rights abuses in the country. According to the UN, terrorist groups killed more than 3,100 Iraqi civilians and injured more than 12,100 during 2012. UNAMI stresses that these figures indicate a reversal in the reduction of violence in recent years and a growth in the use of "asymmetric tactics" deliberately targeting civilians. UNAMI notes that while political instability continues to impede security, leaders must do more to ensure "the proper coordination" of "financial, medical and other forms of support" for victims of violence. In addition UNAMI reports that the government continues to impose "lengthy periods of pre-trial detention" without formal charge because of the lack of resources provided to the judiciary. As a result, detainees have complained of inadequate access to legal counsel. UNAMI also calls on leaders to implement a moratorium on the death penalty in accordance with several UN resolutions. According to the report, the government executed 123 prisoners during 2012, some after extracting confessions through abuse and torture. UNAMI urges the government to take all necessary measures to implement the recommendations set forth in the report.

The Islamic Jihad movement in Gaza announced June 23 that it was temporarily suspending ties with Hamas, accusing Gaza authorities of being responsible for the death of one of the group's members. Raed Qassim Jundeyeih, a member of Islamic Jihad's militant wing, the al-Quds Brigades, died after being shot a day earlier by Hamas police officers. Police had gone to an address in Gaza City June 22 to deliver summons orders to a member of the Jundeyeih family. Upon approaching the home, members of the family opened fire at the officers and Jundeyeih was wounded in the ensuing gunfight.

The Los Angeles Times reported June 19, citing anonymous sources, that "CIA operatives and US special operations troops have been secretly training Syrian rebels with anti-tank and antiaircraft weapons since late last year, months before President Obama approved plans to begin directly arming them, according to US officials and rebel commanders." The training is supposedly taking place at bases in Jordan and Turkey. The "directly military aid" that the US has now openly pledged to the Syrian rebels may also be reaching them, as BBC News quotes Free Syrian Army spokesman Louay Meqdad boasting of having received new weapons shipments that "we believe will change the course of the battle on the ground." However, he denied the new weapons came from the US, implying other powers are also arming the FSA. The Friends of Syria group is scheduled to meet in Qatar next week, to discuss coordinating aid to the rebels. But in Russia, Vladimir Putin said he feared a "political void" in Syria would be filled by "terrorist organizations."

Israel's embassy in Mexico City denied reports in the Mexican media that Israeli military advisors are training police in the southern state of Chiapas. Early last month, Chiapas' Secretary of Security and Civil Protection, Jorge Luís Abarca, announced that he had met with Yaron Yugman of the Israeli Defense Ministry to discuss the program. This supposed meeting was widely reported in respected newspapers such as El Universal and Excelsior, but Israeli officials in Mexico City contacted by Fox News Latino denied knowledge of the meeting, calling the news reports "nonsense" and "completely wrong." Said Yael Hashaviet, deputy chief of mission at the Israeli embassy: "I don’t know whether to laugh or to cry. This never happened and this will never happen." 

So, it's come to this. After more than 12 years of the United States being at war in Afghanistan, the Taliban have opened a "political office" in Qatar preparatory to negotiations with the Kabul government's High Peace Council and the US—the culimination of a series of preliminary meetings in various countries leading toward direct peace talks. The principal prerequisite that the US set for the talks is that the Taliban commit to not using Afghanistan as a staging ground for terror attacks abroad. (Khaama Press, BBC News, June 18) Through their website Voice of Jiihad, the Taliban oblige: "The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan has both military as well as political objectives which are confined to Afghanistan. The Islamic Emirate does not wish to harm other countries from its soil and neither will it allow others use Afghan soil to pose a threat to the security of other nations!"

Some 5,000 US troops are in Jordan this week to participate in the multi-national exercise dubbed Eager Lion. The US forces include an Army unit with a Patriot missile battery, and the Navy's Expeditionary Strike Group 5. Other participating nations include the UK, France, Canada, Turkey, Bahrain, Iraq, Qatar, the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Yemen.

Iraq unveiled an ambitious energy strategy June 12, aiming to raise $6 trillion from oil and gas sales by 2030. The Integrated National Energy Strategy would see Iraq invest some $620 billion in the sector over nearly 20 years, ramping up oil production to 4.5 million barrels per day by the end of next year, from around 3.5 million now. Iraq sits atop the world's fourth largest proven reserves of conventional crude, with about 143.1 billion barrels. Oil revenues make up 95% of the country's budget. (AFP, AP, June 12)

A Bahrain court on June 3 issued sentences to three protesters for allegedly taking part in anti-government protests as well as attempting to kill a police officer. The crimes were committed during an attack on police in a Shi'ite village near Manama which has been a hotbed of anti-government protests since 2011. The first accused protester has been sentenced to 15 years for attempted murder and taking part in the protests, while the other two protesters were given lesser sentences of 10 years and five years.