Friday afternoon glance at conflicts

Sudan

Los Angeles Times:

NAIROBI, Kenya — With the Darfur peace accord stalled and the U.S. preoccupied in the Middle East, western Sudan is slipping back into a level of violence not seen for two years, diplomats and analysts say.

A much-touted peace deal announced in May has only heightened hostilities by splintering rebel groups. And although Darfur has been the Bush administration's top priority in Africa, the point man on U.S. efforts to end the violence, Deputy Secretary of State Robert B. Zoellick, resigned in June, leaving those duties unfilled.

"The administration's game plan for Darfur remains a mystery," said J. Stephen Morrison, head of the Africa program at the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies. "This issue is getting lost."

Lebanon

Times of London:

But the force's mandate has been heavily criticised by a former commander of UN blue berets in Bosnia, who warned that the peacekeepers would be powerless to stop a massacre if shooting broke out again, as their rules of engagement were so weak as to be a "recipe for disaster".

BBC News:

Israel says it would be "difficult if not inconceivable" to accept nations which do not recognise its right to exist as part of a UN force in Lebanon.

Israeli UN envoy Dan Gillerman was speaking after Indonesia and Malaysia, which do not recognise Israel, pledged troops for the UN deployment.

Hindsight is 20-20 note: Would have been nice to have this issue on recognition advanced in 2001 - 2006

Iraq/Kurds

The Guardian:

Turkey and Iran have dispatched tanks, artillery and thousands of troops to their frontiers with Iraq during the past few weeks in what appears to be a coordinated effort to disrupt the activities of Kurdish rebel bases.

Scores of Kurds have fled their homes in the northern frontier region after four days of shelling by the Iranian army. Local officials said Turkey had also fired a number of shells into Iraqi territory.