Mali official says Islamists driven from Konna

BAMAKO, Mali (AP) — Islamist militants have been driven out of Konna, a city the extremists captured earlier this week, as French forces have launched military operations in north Mali, a Mali military official said Saturday.
Lt. Col. Diarran Kone said the military does not yet control the city of Konna and are still searching for any hidden Islamist extremist elements there.
"The Islamists have been chased out of the city of Konna. We are doing sweeps of the city to find any hidden Islamist extremist elements," said Lt. Col. Kone. "The full recover of the city is too early to determine as we do not yet control the city, and we remain vigilant."
Sanda Abu Mohammed, spokesman for Islamist group Ansar Dine, told The Associated Press he could not confirm if his fighters were still in Konna because communication networks have been down since late Friday.
"I cannot tell you if our fighters are still in the city of Konna or if they are not, because since yesterday afternoon I have not had contact with them as the telephone network has been down in this zone," Mohammed said.
For the past nine months, the militants have controlled a large swath of northern Mali, a lawless desert region where kidnapping has flourished.
France launched airstrikes Friday to help the government of Mali defeat the al-Qaida-linked militants who captured Konna on Thursday, pushing closer to the army's major base in central Mali and dramatically raising the stakes in the battle for this vast desert nation.
French President Francois Hollande said the "terrorist groups, drug traffickers and extremists" in northern Mali "show a brutality that threatens us all." He vowed that the operation would last "as long as necessary."
France said it was taking the action in Mali at the request of President Dioncounda Traore, who declared a state of emergency because of the militants' advance.
"French armed forces supported Malian units this afternoon to fight against terrorist elements," Hollande said in Paris on Friday.
He did not give any details of the operation, other than to say that it was aimed in part at protecting the 6,000 French citizens in Mali, where seven of them already are being held captive.
French commandoes also reportedly attacked an Islamist base in Somalia to try to rescue a French hostage.
The raid early Saturday in Somalia could have been aimed at preventing al-Shabab fighters from harming the kidnapped French security official in reprisal for the French military intervention in Mali. A Somali intelligence official, who insisted on anonymity because he was not allowed to discuss the case with the news media, said the raid in Bulomarer killed "several" al-Shabab fighters but he had no information on the hostage.
An al-Shabab official confirmed the fighting and said the group held one dead French soldier. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the press.
However, the office of Col. Thierry Burkhard, the French military's main spokesman for overseas operations, said it had no information about any Somalia action.
France has led a diplomatic push for international action in northern Mali but efforts to get an African-led force together, or to train the weak Malian army, have dragged.
The United Nations Security Council has condemned the capture of Konna and urged U.N. member states to assist Mali "in order to reduce the threat posed by terrorist organizations and associated groups."
Late last year, the 15 nations in West Africa, including Mali, agreed on a proposal for the military to take back the north, and sought backing from the U.N.
The Security Council authorized the intervention but imposed certain conditions. Those include the training of Mali's military, which has been accused of serious human rights abuses since a military coup last year sent the nation into disarray.
French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius confirmed that in Mali, France had carried out airstrikes. He refused to give details for security reasons.
France is operating helicopter gunships in Mali, two diplomats told The Associated Press. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the operation publicly. French special forces, who have been operating in the region recently, are also believed to be taking part in the military operation, one diplomat said.
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told the AP that Senegal and Nigeria also responded to an appeal from Mali's president for help to counter the militants.
The fighting Wednesday and Thursday for Konna represents the first clashes between Malian government forces and the Islamists in nearly a year, since the militants seized the northern cities of Gao, Kidal and Timbuktu.
The Islamists seized the town of Douentza four months ago after brief standoff with a local militia, but pushed no farther until clashes broke out late Wednesday in Konna, a city of 50,000 people, where fearful residents cowered inside their homes. Konna is just 45 miles (70 kilometers) north of the government-held town of Mopti, a strategic port city along the Niger River.
Al-Qaida's affiliate in Africa has been a shadowy presence for years in the forests and deserts of Mali, a country hobbled by poverty and a relentless cycle of hunger. Most Malians adhere to a moderate form of Islam.
In recent months, however, the terrorist group and its allies have taken advantage of political instability, taking territory they are using to stock weapons and train forces.
Turbaned fighters control major towns in the north, carrying out amputations in public squares just as the Taliban did. And like in Afghanistan, they are flogging women for not covering up. Since taking control of Timbuktu, they have destroyed seven of the 16 mausoleums listed as world heritage sites.

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Mali official says Islamists driven from Konna

BAMAKO, Mali (AP) — Islamist militants have been driven out of Konna, a city the extremists captured earlier this week, as French forces have launched military operations in north Mali, a Mali military official said Saturday.
Lt. Col. Diarran Kone said the military does not yet control the city of Konna and are still searching for any hidden Islamist extremist elements there.
"The Islamists have been chased out of the city of Konna. We are doing sweeps of the city to find any hidden Islamist extremist elements," said Lt. Col. Kone. "The full recover of the city is too early to determine as we do not yet control the city, and we remain vigilant."
Sanda Abu Mohammed, spokesman for Islamist group Ansar Dine, told The Associated Press he could not confirm if his fighters were still in Konna because communication networks have been down since late Friday.
"I cannot tell you if our fighters are still in the city of Konna or if they are not, because since yesterday afternoon I have not had contact with them as the telephone network has been down in this zone," Mohammed said.
For the past nine months, the militants have controlled a large swath of northern Mali, a lawless desert region where kidnapping has flourished.
France launched airstrikes Friday to help the government of Mali defeat the al-Qaida-linked militants who captured Konna on Thursday, pushing closer to the army's major base in central Mali and dramatically raising the stakes in the battle for this vast desert nation.
French President Francois Hollande said the "terrorist groups, drug traffickers and extremists" in northern Mali "show a brutality that threatens us all." He vowed that the operation would last "as long as necessary."
France said it was taking the action in Mali at the request of President Dioncounda Traore, who declared a state of emergency because of the militants' advance.
"French armed forces supported Malian units this afternoon to fight against terrorist elements," Hollande said in Paris on Friday.
He did not give any details of the operation, other than to say that it was aimed in part at protecting the 6,000 French citizens in Mali, where seven of them already are being held captive.
French commandoes also reportedly attacked an Islamist base in Somalia to try to rescue a French hostage.
The raid early Saturday in Somalia could have been aimed at preventing al-Shabab fighters from harming the kidnapped French security official in reprisal for the French military intervention in Mali. A Somali intelligence official, who insisted on anonymity because he was not allowed to discuss the case with the news media, said the raid in Bulomarer killed "several" al-Shabab fighters but he had no information on the hostage.
An al-Shabab official confirmed the fighting and said the group held one dead French soldier. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the press.
However, the office of Col. Thierry Burkhard, the French military's main spokesman for overseas operations, said it had no information about any Somalia action.
France has led a diplomatic push for international action in northern Mali but efforts to get an African-led force together, or to train the weak Malian army, have dragged.
The United Nations Security Council has condemned the capture of Konna and urged U.N. member states to assist Mali "in order to reduce the threat posed by terrorist organizations and associated groups."
Late last year, the 15 nations in West Africa, including Mali, agreed on a proposal for the military to take back the north, and sought backing from the U.N.
The Security Council authorized the intervention but imposed certain conditions. Those include the training of Mali's military, which has been accused of serious human rights abuses since a military coup last year sent the nation into disarray.
French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius confirmed that in Mali, France had carried out airstrikes. He refused to give details for security reasons.
France is operating helicopter gunships in Mali, two diplomats told The Associated Press. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the operation publicly. French special forces, who have been operating in the region recently, are also believed to be taking part in the military operation, one diplomat said.
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told the AP that Senegal and Nigeria also responded to an appeal from Mali's president for help to counter the militants.
The fighting Wednesday and Thursday for Konna represents the first clashes between Malian government forces and the Islamists in nearly a year, since the militants seized the northern cities of Gao, Kidal and Timbuktu.
The Islamists seized the town of Douentza four months ago after brief standoff with a local militia, but pushed no farther until clashes broke out late Wednesday in Konna, a city of 50,000 people, where fearful residents cowered inside their homes. Konna is just 45 miles (70 kilometers) north of the government-held town of Mopti, a strategic port city along the Niger River.
Al-Qaida's affiliate in Africa has been a shadowy presence for years in the forests and deserts of Mali, a country hobbled by poverty and a relentless cycle of hunger. Most Malians adhere to a moderate form of Islam.
In recent months, however, the terrorist group and its allies have taken advantage of political instability, taking territory they are using to stock weapons and train forces.
Turbaned fighters control major towns in the north, carrying out amputations in public squares just as the Taliban did. And like in Afghanistan, they are flogging women for not covering up. Since taking control of Timbuktu, they have destroyed seven of the 16 mausoleums listed as world heritage sites.

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Radical Islamists hold on to gains in Mali

BAMAKO, Mali (AP) — Radical Islamists held on to a city in central Mali Friday after sending the Malian military reeling in retreat. With the militants showing the capability to press even further into government-held territory, international aid organizations began evacuating staff from the narrow central belt of the country.
French President Francois Hollande said France, which used to rule Mali as a colony, is ready to help to the stop the Islamist extremists. He did not specify what assistance it is prepared to offer. French Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian wrote on his Twitter account Friday: "On the phone with (U.S. Defense Secretary) Leon Panetta about the Malian crisis. This afternoon with my European counterparts."
Residents who live near an airport about 30 miles (50 kilometers) from the captured town on Konna reported hearing planes arrive throughout the night. Who, or what, the planes were bringing could not be immediately determined.
The United Nations Security Council condemned the capture of Konna and called on U.N. member states to provide assistance to Mali "in order to reduce the threat posed by terrorist organizations and associated groups."
A regional military intervention to take back northern Mali from the Islamists was not likely before September, though the advance by the al-Qaida linked forces in the desert nation in northwest Africa creates pressure for earlier military intervention.
"France, like its African partners and the entire international community, cannot accept that," Hollande said in a speech to France's diplomatic corps, referring to the Islamists' advances.
A top French diplomat, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly on the matter, said that France is now able to deploy military assets — notably air power — over Mali "very quickly."
He insisted that Hollande's speech is "not just words. ... When you say that you are ready to intervene, you have to be."
However, he declined to provide details about how such military action might take shape. France's position has been complicated because kidnappers in northern Mali hold seven French hostages.
For months, Hollande has said France would not send ground forces into Mali, and France is sticking to those plans, the official said. But Hollande's speech suggested that French air power could be used, the official said.
The fighting Wednesday and Thursday over the town of Konna represents the first clashes between Malian government forces and the Islamists in nearly a year, since the time the militants seized the northern cities of Gao, Kidal and Timbuktu.
The Islamists seized the town of Douentza four months ago after brief standoff with a local militia, but pushed no further until clashes broke out late Wednesday in Konna, a city of 50,000 people, where fearful residents cowered inside their homes. Konna is just 45 miles (70 kilometers) north of the government-held town of Mopti, a strategic port city along the Niger River.
"We have chased the army out of the town of Konna, which we have occupied since 11 a.m.," declared Sanda Abou Mohamed, a spokesman for the Ansar Dine militant group, speaking by telephone from Timbuktu.
A soldier, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to journalists, acknowledged that the army had retreated from Konna. He said several soldiers were killed and wounded, though he did not have precise casualty figures. "We didn't have time to count them," he said.
While Konna is not a large town, it has strategic value as "the last big thing ... on the road to Mopti," said J. Peter Pham, director of the Africa program at the Washington-based Atlantic Council.
"I think the real target here is to seize the airstrip in Mopti, either to hold it or blow enough holes in it to render it useless," Pham said. "If you can seize the airstrip at Mopti, the Malian military's and African militaries' ability to fly reconnaissance in the north is essentially clipped."
Al-Qaida's affiliate in Africa has been a shadowy presence for years in the forests and deserts of Mali, a country hobbled by poverty and a relentless cycle of hunger. Most Malians adhere to a moderate form of Islam, where women do not wear burqas and few practice the strict form of the religion.
In recent months, however, the terror syndicate and its allies have taken advantage of political instability to push into Mali's northern towns, taking over an enormous territory they are using to stock weapons, train forces and prepare for jihad.
The Islamists insist they want to impose Shariah only in northern Mali, though there long have been fears they could push further south. Bamako, the capital, is 435 miles (700 kilometers) from Islamist-held territory.
The retreat by the Malian military raises questions about its ability to participate in a regional intervention.
Late last year, the 15 nations in West Africa, including Mali, agreed on a proposal for the military to take back the north, and sought backing from the United Nations.
The U.N. Security Council has authorized the intervention but imposed certain conditions. Those include training of Mali's military, which has been accused of serious human rights abuses since a military coup last year sent the nation into disarray.
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Larson reported from Dakar, Senegal. Associated Press writers Jamey Keaten in Paris and Edith M. Lederer at the United Nations contributed to this report.

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Chavez's VP says ailing leader still 'delicate'

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Venezuela's vice president is returning home Wednesday from a visit with Hugo Chavez in Cuba and says the ailing president's condition remains "delicate" three weeks after his cancer surgery.
With rumors swirling that Chavez had taken a turn for the worse, Vice President Nicolas Maduro said Tuesday that he had met with the president twice and had spoken with him.
"He's totally conscious of the complexity of his post-operative state and he expressly asked us ... to keep the nation informed always, always with the truth, as hard as it may be in certain circumstances," Maduro said in the prerecorded interview in Havana, which was broadcast Tuesday night by the Caracas-based television network Telesur.
Both supporters and opponents of Chavez have been on edge in the past week amid shifting signals from the government about the president's health. Chavez has not been seen or heard from since the Dec. 11 operation, and officials have reported a series of ups and downs in his recovery — the most recent, on Sunday, announcing that he faced new complications from a respiratory infection.
Maduro did not provide any new details about Chavez's complications during Tuesday's interview. But he joined other Chavez allies in urging Venezuelans to ignore gossip, saying rumors were being spread due to "the hatred of the enemies of Venezuela."
He didn't refer to any rumors in particular, though one of them circulating online had described Chavez as being in a coma.
Maduro said Chavez faces "a complex and delicate situation." But Maduro also said that when he talked with the president and looked at his face, he seemed to have "the same strength as always."
"All the time we've been hoping for his positive evolution. Sometimes he has had light improvements, sometimes stationary situations," he said.
Maduro's remarks about the president came at the end of an interview in which he praised Venezuelan government programs at length, recalled the history of the Cuban revolution and touched on what he called the long-term strength of Chavez's socialist Bolivarian Revolution movement.
He mentioned that former Cuban President Fidel Castro had been in the hospital, and praised Cuba's government effusively. "Today we're together on a single path," Maduro said.
Critics in Venezuela sounded off on Twitter while the interview was aired, some saying Maduro sounded like a mouthpiece for the Cuban government. In their messages, many Chavez opponents criticized Maduro for the dearth of information he provided, accusing him of withholding key details about Chavez's condition.
Chavez's political opponents have complained that the government hasn't told the country nearly enough about his health, and have demanded it provide the country with a full medical report.
Even some of his supporters say they wished they knew more.
"We're distressed by El Comandante's health," said Francisca Fuentes, who was walking through a downtown square with her grandchildren Tuesday. "I think they aren't telling us the whole truth. It's time for them to speak clearly. It's like when you have a sick relative and the doctor lies to you every once in a while."
Chavez has been fighting an undisclosed type of pelvic cancer since June 2011. He has declined to reveal the precise location of the tumors that have been surgically removed. The president announced on Dec. 8, two month after winning re-election, that his cancer had come back despite previous surgeries, chemotherapy and radiation treatment.
"There's nothing we can do except wait for the government to deign to say how he is really," said Daniel Jimenez, an opposition supporter who was in a square in an affluent Caracas neighborhood.
Jimenez and many other Venezuelans say it seems increasingly unlikely that Chavez can be sworn in as scheduled Jan. 10 for his new term. If he dies or is unable to continue in office, the Venezuelan Constitution says a new election should be held within 30 days.
Before his operation, Chavez acknowledged he faced risks and designated Maduro as his successor, telling supporters they should vote for the vice president if a new presidential election was necessary.
Maduro didn't discuss the upcoming inauguration plans, saying only that he is hopeful Chavez will improve.
The vice president said that Chavez "has faced an illness with courage and dignity, and he's there fighting, fighting."
"Someone asked me yesterday by text message: How is the president? And I said, 'With giant strength,'" Maduro said. He recalled taking Chavez by the hand: "He squeezed me with gigantic strength as we talked.

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Venezuela opposition: Chavez secrecy feeds rumors

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Venezuela's opposition demanded that the government reveal specifics of President Hugo Chavez's condition Wednesday, criticizing secrecy surrounding the ailing leader's health more than three weeks after his cancer surgery in Cuba.
Opposition coalition leader Ramon Guillermo Aveledo said at a news conference that the information provided by government officials "continues to be insufficient."
Chavez has not been seen or heard from since the Dec. 11 operation, and Vice President Nicolas Maduro on Tuesday said the president's condition remained "delicate" due to complications from a respiratory infection.
Chavez's elder brother, Adan, arrived in Havana on Wednesday, said Jorge Arreaza, the president's son-in-law and science minister. "We're meeting with him, Vice President Maduro and Attorney General Cilia Flores," Arreaza said in a message on Twitter.
"The medical team explains to us that President Chavez's condition continues to be stable within his delicate state," Arreaza said in another message, adding that Chavez "continues battling hard and he sends all his love to our people."
Maduro and other government officials have urged Venezuelans not to heed rumors about Chavez's condition.
Aveledo said the opposition has been respectful during Chavez's illness, and said that "the secrecy is the source of the rumors, which increase the uncertainty and cause distress."
"They should tell the truth," Aveledo said, noting that Maduro had pledged to provide full reports about Chavez's condition. He reiterated the opposition's call for the government to release a medical report and said all indications are that Chavez won't be able to be sworn in to begin a new term Jan. 10.
If Chavez can't take office on that date, Aveledo said the constitution is clear that the National Assembly president should then take over temporarily until a new election is held. He said what happens next in Venezuela should be guided by "the truth and the constitution."
If Chavez dies or is unable to continue in office, the Venezuelan Constitution says a new election should be held within 30 days.
With rumors swirling that Chavez had taken a turn for the worse, Maduro said on Tuesday that he had met with the president twice and had spoken with him.
"He's totally conscious of the complexity of his post-operative state and he expressly asked us ... to keep the nation informed always, always with the truth, as hard as it may be in certain circumstances," Maduro said in the prerecorded interview in Havana, which was broadcast Tuesday night by the Caracas-based television network Telesur.
Both supporters and opponents of Chavez have been on edge in the past week amid shifting signals from the government about the president's health. Officials have reported a series of ups and downs in his recovery — the most recent, on Sunday, announcing that he faced the new complications from a respiratory infection.
Maduro said on Tuesday that Chavez faces "a complex and delicate situation." But he also said that when he talked with the president and looked at his face, he seemed to have "the same strength as always."
The vice president said he planned to return to Caracas on Wednesday, though there was no confirmation of a return trip as of Wednesday night.
His remarks about the president came at the end of an interview in which he praised Cuba's government effusively and touched on what he called the long-term strength of Chavez's socialist Bolivarian Revolution movement. He mentioned that former Cuban President Fidel Castro had visited the hospital where Chavez was treated.
In Washington, the U.S. State Department said procedures under the Venezuelan Constitution should be followed if Chavez is no longer able to carry out his duties as president.
"We want to see any transition take place in a manner that is consistent with the Venezuelan Constitution, that any election be fully transparent, democratic, free and fair," State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland told reporters on Wednesday.
Asked if Chavez being out of the picture would make it easier to improve long-strained ties between Venezuela and the U.S., Nuland said, "Obviously we will judge our ability to improve our relationship with Venezuela based on steps they are able to take."
The U.S. Embassy in Caracas has been without an ambassador since July 2010. Chavez rejected the U.S. nominee for ambassador, accusing him of making disrespectful remarks about Venezuela's government. That led Washington to revoke the visa of the Venezuelan ambassador.
But recently U.S. and Venezuelan diplomats began high-level conversations aimed at improving relations, a U.S. government official said. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to speak publicly about the matter.
The official confirmed recent reports that Roberta Jacobson, assistant secretary of state for Western Hemisphere affairs, spoke by telephone with Maduro in November and discussed ways of improving relations. He also confirmed that U.S. diplomat Kevin Whitaker had a subsequent conversation with Roy Chaderton, Venezuela's ambassador to the Organization of American States.
Venezuelan diplomats could not be reached to comment about those recent contacts with U.S. officials.
In Bolivia, meanwhile, President Evo Morales said he is concerned about his friend and ally.
"I hope we can see him soon," Morales said at a news conference Wednesday. "But it's a very worrying situation."
"I've tried to make contact with the vice president, and it's been difficult. I hope all of their aims are achieved to save President Chavez's life."
Before his operation, Chavez acknowledged he faced risks and designated Maduro as his successor, telling supporters they should vote for the vice president if a new presidential election were necessary.
Maduro didn't discuss the upcoming inauguration plans, saying only that he is hopeful Chavez will improve.
"Someone asked me yesterday by text message: How is the president? And I said, 'With giant strength,'" Maduro said. He recalled taking Chavez by the hand: "He squeezed me with gigantic strength as we talked.

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Venezuelan gov't: Chavez fighting lung infection

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Venezuela's government says President Hugo Chavez is being treated for a respiratory deficiency after complications from a severe lung infection.
Information Minister Ernesto Villegas provided the update on the ailing president's condition Thursday night. He read from a statement saying that Chavez's lung infection had led to "respiratory deficiency" and required strict compliance with his medical treatment.
The government expressed confidence in the medical team treating Chavez in Cuba.

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Presidents of Sudan, South Sudan to meet Friday

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia (AP) — Ethiopia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs says the presidents of Sudan and South Sudan, two countries which were at the brink of all-out war last year, are to meet Friday in Ethiopia's capital.
Spokesman Dina Mufti said Thursday that Ethiopia is optimistic the meeting will advance stalled peace deals.
Sudan President Omar al-Bashir and South Sudan President Salva Kiir signed deals in September to restart the south's oil industry. South Sudan's oil flows through Sudan's pipelines, bringing in revenue for both countries. The south shut down its oil industry last year after accusing Sudan of stealing its oil. Disagreements on the implementation of the September deal persist.
Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn and African Union mediators are expected to push the two leaders for a rapid implementation of the September deals.

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Ethiopian police says Qaida terror cell arrested

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia (AP) — Ethiopia's spy agency says that security forces have arrested 15 people alleged to be members of a terror cell linked with al-Qaida.
The spy agency says military training manuals, videos and weapons were seized from the suspects. The agency announced the arrests late Wednesday.
Authorities said the suspects were trained by al-Shabab militants in neighboring Somalia and Kenya. They alleged the group was planning to launch attacks based in Ethiopia's Somali and Harara regions.
On Tuesday the country's federal high court convicted 10 people on similar terror charges.

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AP names Torchia as bureau chief in South Africa

JOHANNESBURG (AP) — Christopher Torchia, The Associated Press bureau chief in Turkey who has reported from five continents, has been appointed chief of bureau for AP for southern Africa.
The appointment was announced Thursday by Africa Editor Andrew Selsky.
"Torchia is one of the best foreign correspondents in the business and has the experience and talent to deliver fascinating stories from this important and diverse region," Selsky said.
As southern Africa bureau chief, Torchia, 45, will oversee coverage of South Africa, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Botswana, Namibia, Zambia, Angola, Madagascar, Lesotho, Swaziland and Malawi. He will be based in Johannesburg and report directly to Selsky.
He joined the AP in Albany, the New York state capital, in 1989 after a stint at The Albuquerque Journal in New Mexico. He moved to the AP's Boston bureau and the international editing desk in New York, and then transferred to Colombia in 1994, covering drug cartels and rebel and paramilitary groups.
He was posted to Indonesia during the Asian economic crisis that helped oust President Suharto in 1998 and served as bureau chief in South Korea and Singapore, reporting on events including the North Korean nuclear standoff and the Indian Ocean tsunami in 2004. In late 2006, he moved to Istanbul, where he drove coverage of Turkey's rising diplomatic and economic profile and contributed to reporting on the Mideast and on the Arab spring uprisings and Syria's civil war.
He also has reported frequently from Iraq and Afghanistan, covering the 2006 execution of Saddam Hussein in Baghdad, among other stories.
Torchia holds a bachelor of arts degree from Yale University. He is the co-author of "How Koreans Talk" and "Indonesian Slang: Colloquial Indonesian at Work."
An American, Torchia lived in South Africa as a youth. His father, Andrew Torchia, a foreign correspondent for AP before retiring in 1994, also served as AP's bureau chief in Johannesburg in the 1980s.

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Nigeria airline in June crash resumes flights

LAGOS, Nigeria (AP) — The Nigerian airline involved in a June crash that killed at least 163 people resumed domestic flights Thursday, even though officials acknowledge they still don't know what brought the aircraft down and that the families of the dead still haven't received insurance settlements.
Government authorities cleared Dana Air to again fly the same type of planes involved in the crash, despite public outrage over the disaster in a nation with a long history of airplane tragedies. Meanwhile, passengers still nervously board flights, even though the country's aviation industry remains mired in financial problems and is governed by lax oversight.
Smiling staffers stood Thursday at empty check-in and ticket counters at a domestic wing of Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos, as only a few passengers paid for seats on its 4:20 p.m. flight Thursday to Nigeria's capital, Abuja. The private airline planned to have a flight Friday morning carrying local celebrities, government officials and journalists to the capital and back as a sign that the carrier was again open for business, said Tony Usidamen, a Dana spokesman.
The carrier was offering tickets as cheap as 14,400 naira ($90) one-way to the capital, about half the price of its competitors, as a means of luring back passengers. However, Usidamen said the carrier planned a limited flight schedule for the coming weeks and acknowledged it would be a while before its flights were full again.
"It's going to take time to publicize the resumption of flights and to regain the public's confidence," the spokesman told The Associated Press.
On June 3, a Dana Air MD-83 twin-engine jet crashed in a crowded neighborhood on the outskirts of Lagos, killing all 153 people onboard and at least 10 on the ground, authorities have said. The pilots told air traffic controllers that the plane lost power to both engines just before the crash. The reason for the power loss remains unclear. Crash investigators in Nigeria have said the flight data recorder on the plane melted in the ensuing fire.
Dana will fly its remaining stock of five MD-83s, airplanes built by McDonnell Douglas, which was later bought by Boeing Co. The aircraft series is a mainstay of airlines around the world, with a large number still flown by American Airlines, owned by AMR Corp. Joe Obi, a spokesman for Nigeria's Aviation Minister Stella Oduah, pointed to that when asked if authorities had any concerns about Dana continuing to fly that model.
"Until we are sure what caused the crash, we can't make a decision on the MD-83," Obi told the AP.
Federal officials have given Dana Air a two-month window to complete insurance payments to the bereaved, Obi said. That could prove difficult, as Usidamen said the airline's insurers have made full payments to only five families of victims so far. Usidamen blamed the delays on families not getting needed documents from probate courts.
Nigeria has suffered a series of plane crashes over the last decades, with authorities never offering clear explanations for why the disasters happened. Obi said Nigeria's government planned to immediately publicize the cause of the Dana crash as soon as it knew, but the government has previously declined to publish the causes of other crashes.
Other airlines in Nigeria, Africa's most populous nation, have collapsed or faced dire financial straits over the last year.
Air Nigeria, the nation's second-largest carrier, collapsed in September amid allegations of financial mismanagement. Arik Air Ltd., the country's largest and perceived safest carrier, recently halted domestic flights after its management alleged Oduah had a financial interest in seeing the airline fail. The carrier later resumed its flights, but raised its prices as authorities halted other smaller carriers from flying due to financial and safety issues.
Air travel, despite its perils, represents the quickest way for those who can afford it to travel across Nigeria, a nation twice the size of California and with decrepit and dangerous roads. However, experts say Nigerian aviation authorities remain overworked and safety regulations are laxly enforced in a nation where bribery is an epidemic.
The Dana Air crash represented the worst airline disaster in the country since Sept. 27, 1992, when a military transport plane crashed into a swamp shortly after takeoff from Lagos and killed all 163 people onboard. The worst air disaster in Nigeria happened in 1973, when a Jordanian Boeing 707 crashed at Nigeria's Kano international airport and killed 176 people.

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C. African Republic leader fires son from post

BANGUI, Central African Republic (AP) — Facing an insurgency by a new rebel coalition, the president of Central African Republic consolidated military power under his control Thursday after dismissing his own son as acting defense minister along with his army chief of staff.
President Francois Bozize said in a decree read on state radio late Wednesday that he was taking over the position held by his son, Jean Francis Bozize as neighboring countries sent troops to help.
Hundreds of soldiers from Chad, Republic of Congo, Gabon and Cameroon have been in arriving this week in this desperately poor, landlocked country where rebels have seized 10 towns in a month's time.
Rebel spokesman Col. Djouma Narkoyo reiterated Thursday that they were holding their position at the transportation hub of Sibut pending negotiations in Gabon. They have apparently made no further advance toward the capital since taking the town on Dec. 29.
"Our position today is that we respect the decision of the Economic Community of Central African States," he said by satellite phone. "That's why we are staying in Sibut and are not advancing."
In New York, France's U.N. Ambassador Gerard Araud said there will be a meeting in Libreville, Gabon on Jan. 8 to promote a political solution to the crisis, mediated by President Denis Sassou Nguesso of the Republic of Congo.
"The goal is to have a political agreement in Libreville, a national unity government ... and eventually a peaceful settlement," he told reporters after a closed-door briefing to the U.N. Security Council Thursday on the latest developments in the Central African Republic by U.N. political chief Jeffrey Feltman.
Araud said the African Union and regional groups are in the lead and have been very active, and the Security Council is supporting them and will likely issue a press statement Friday. He said France planned to circulate the text to the 14 other council members on Thursday evening.
"They have stopped the rebels, and they have ideas about a national unity government," Araud said of the AU and regional groups. "So everything will be discussed in the meeting in Libreville on the 8th, and after the meeting in Libreville we'll see whether the U.N. has to do something."
Residents in the capital of Bangui said Bozize's decision to fire his own son was not surprising given the recent military losses. But some noted Bozize may be making his moves too late.
"It's coming too late because the security of our country is already in the hands of rebels," said Jean Nestor Kongbu as he watched fishermen cast their nets in the Obangui River that separates Central African Republic from Congo. ... They say they won't advance, but the government could provoke the rebels or the rebels could provoke the government. They need to negotiate for the Central African people."
The sudden military reorganization also suggests that Bozize's regime may be weakening, said Thierry Vircoulon, the project director for Central Africa at the International Crisis Group.
"If he is dismissing his own son, it means he is getting more and more isolated," Vircoulon said.
Jennifer Cooke, director of the Africa program at the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies, said people see Bozize "as a losing ticket right now."
"People are losing confidence in him and he has every reason to be a bit paranoid right now watching the disintegration of the country," she said.
The United Nations called for talks between the government and rebels and the Security Council scheduled closed consultations on the Central African Republic on Thursday afternoon.
The rebels have indicated they will participate in upcoming talks in Gabon but are also insisting that Bozize go. The president says he will not leave before finishing his term in 2016.
Bozize himself took power in 2003 following a rebellion with the help of Chadian forces. He later went on to win elections in 2005 and 2011, though the opposition and international observers have called the votes deeply flawed.
The rebels behind the latest challenge to Bozize's rule are made up of four separate groups all known by their French acronyms — UFDR, CPJP, FDPC and CPSK. They are collectively known as Seleka, which means alliance in the local Sango language, but have previously fought one another. In September 2011, fighting between the CPJP and the UFDR left at least 50 people dead in the town of Bria and more than 700 homes destroyed.
Just 70 miles (112 kilometers) to the south of Sibut, government and regional forces are fortifying the town of Damara, where truckloads of Chadian troops patrol with rocket-propelled grenades and other weapons.
Gen. Jean Felix Akaga, who heads the regional force known as FOMAC, says a push on Damara, 45 miles (75 kilometers) north of the capital, would be "a declaration of war" on the 10 Central African states.
"For us, Damara is the red line that the rebels cannot cross," Akaga said Wednesday. "If they attack Damara, we will attack.

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Italians, backed by the Catholic Church, aim to stop Sunday shopping

Italians are fighting a government lift of regulations on business operation hours, insisting that the move will eventually hurt the small shops and values that have long been the foundation of the Italian business community.
The deregulation, put into effect January 2012, removes restrictions on business operating hours, including Sundays and holidays. It is intended to stimulate competition in what has traditionally been a highly regulated market. However, it has been vehemently criticized by many shop owners, and the campaign against it has received a boost from the powerful Catholic Church.
Campaign organizers argue that working on Sunday has forced employees to sacrifice "important values" and benefited big companies at the expense of small businesses.
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Headed by Confesercenti, a leading retailers’ business association, and backed by the powerful Italian Bishops Conference, the campaign began at the end of November. Its organizers are hoping to collect the 50,000 signatures required to submit a bill to Parliament by April. The bill would give regions – rather than the national Parliament – the power to regulate Sunday openings. The goal of the bill isn’t to outlaw opening on Sundays but to eliminate “the excesses” brought by deregulation, say organizers.
If it gets the signatures, the bill would most likely be examined after the February election.
“People say: ‘It’s nice to have shops open on Sunday.’ But I don’t make extra sales on Sunday,” says Aldina Orlandini, who has run a clothing shop in a busy downtown street in Reggio Emilia, an affluent town near Bologna, since 1978.
Ms. Orlandini says deregulation hasn't hurt her business, since her store can count on a steady pool of customers. Still, she says, the measure is just wrong.
“People have the right to rest one day per week. Am I not a human being? Don’t I have a family?” Orlandini says. “The law should mandate a day off.”
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But for Mauro Bussoni, the vice director of Confesercenti and the coordinator of the “Free Sunday” campaign, the problem is more systemic. “This measure favors certain retailers,” he says.
Deregulation hasn’t increased sales, and it has only increased costs for small businesses, since putting together shifts during the holidays is easier for big stores, which are more able to pay the extra costs, including overtime, Mr. Bussoni argues.
Bussoni says he fears that without regulation of the days and hours stores can operate, a competition will emerge in which only the fittest survive at the expense of mom-and-pop operations, which are already being hit hard by the recession. Istat, Italy’s statistics bureau, recently reported that retail sales for October 2012 were 3.8 percent lower than in October 2011. The process, he says, would change the face of Italian cities, threatening the quality of life of people, such as senior citizens, who rely on neighborhood stores.
The campaign’s organizers argue it’s more than a matter of competing business models, but defending the right of workers and shop owners to spend time with their families.
“On Sunday, leave us alone,” says Mina Giannandrea, a shop owner and the president of FEDERstrade, a Rome retailers’ association that’s also participating in the campaign. “People who shop on Sunday are selfish; they don’t think about those who have to work on Sunday,” Ms. Giannandrea says.
The importance of family time is the message that has perhaps resonated the most with the Catholic Church, which has thrown its support behind the campaign.
“Freedom without truth, without a higher end is mere caprice,” said Archbishop Giancarlo Bregantini, stressing the importance of a day of rest as mandated by the Bible in an interview with Vatican Radio.
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Supporters of deregulation emphasize the freedom it gives consumers – a different notion of freedom than that embraced by the Confesercenti campaign. Deregulation has given customers the ability to make purchases whenever it suits them, and stores should take advantage of this during the economic downturn, says Giovanni Cobolli Gigli, the president of Federdistribuzione, an association of Italian retail chains.
“It’s not a matter of staying open 24/7, as some have self-interestedly suggested,” Mr. Cobolli Gigli says, adding that in many cases Sunday shifts are covered by workers who volunteer to get overtime, and that the increased store hours could eventually create a demand for new, part-time weekend jobs.
To think that small shops must stay open as much as chains at all costs is a mistake, says Serena Sileoni, a fellow at the pro-market think tank Istituto Bruno Leoni. Deregulation could be an opportunity for shop owners to design a schedule based on their customers’ needs and to find a profitable niche. This could ultimately lead to changes in the way Italian cities look, she argues.
“Cities are already different from how they used to be,” Ms. Sileoni says.
Andrea Moro, a professor of economics at Vanderbilt University, says markets are always working to respond to innovation, which often comes hand-in-hand with the destruction of old ideas or traditions.
While Mr. Moro is sympathetic to the challenges faced by retail workers, he says he can think of only one path for them: “In the modern economic structure, workers must reinvent themselves, no one excluded. Thankfully, these people still have jobs and they must adapt to the new working conditions,” he says.

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UN envoy tries to revive Syria peace plan

• A daily summary of global reports on security issues.
Lakhdar Brahimi, the United Nations special envoy to Syria, said today that he is in Damascus and Moscow this week to try to revive a peace plan for Syria that was shelved this summer. However, rebel gains on the ground make it unlikely that the plan will go anywhere without more concessions to the Syrian opposition.
Russia is standing by its red line – that the plan not push President Bashar al-Assad from power. Meanwhile, the opposition still wants to bar current members of the Syrian regime from participating in a transitional government; the current proposal doesn’t appear to contain any such provision, the Associated Press reports.
What has changed is the opposition's strength: In recent months, it has captured swaths of territory, acquired better weaponry, and organized itself into a true fighting force, all allowing it to pose a legitimate challenge to the Syrian Army. The progress makes it unlikely the opposition will accept a proposal that allows former regime officials to participate in a new government if it rejected such a plan previously, when it was considerably weaker.
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Mr. Brahimi was vague about how the plan might be amended this time around. CNN reports that during an appearance on Syrian state-run television today, he said only that, "The Geneva communique had all that is needed for a road map to end the crisis in Syria within few months."
The shift in the opposition's fortunes has led to a corresponding shift in Russia's own position. While Russia, where Brahimi will be later this week, was previously a steadfast supporter of the Assad regime and refused to entertain any proposals for a post-Assad Syria, Moscow now seems "resigned" to the possibility, the AP says.
Reuters reports that Foreign Ministry Spokesman Alexander Lukashevich stated plainly that Mr. Assad's departure could not be treated as a precondition for talks this time around, but did not insist that the possibility of his removal be off the table.
"The biggest disagreement ... is that one side thinks Assad should leave at the start of the process – that is the US position, and the other thinks his departure should be a result of the process – that would be the Russian position," Dmitry Trenin, an analyst at the Moscow Carnegie Center, told Reuters.
But Trenin said battlefield gains made by the Syrian rebels were narrowing the gap between Moscow and Washington.
Mr. Lukashevich said, contrary to speculation, there is not yet a concrete plan for resolving the Syrian conflict. "In our talks with Mr. Brahimi and with our American colleagues, we are trying to feel a way out of this situation on the basis of our common plan of action that was agreed in Geneva in June," he said, according to Reuters.
Officials have been vague about what is on the table as a series of high-level officials meet. Brahimi arrived in Damascus on Dec. 24 and Syrian Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal Makdad was in Moscow today, possibly meeting with Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Russia's envoy for Middle East affairs, Reuters reports.
CNN says that the Geneva plan was able to find some common ground between Russia and China on one side and France, Britain, the US, and Turkey on the other. That was, however, partially due to the fact that it didn’t address question of Assad's role in a transitional government.
According to the communique, the transitional government "could include members of the present Government and the opposition and other groups and shall be formed on the basis of mutual consent."
Ghanem Nuseibeh, founder of political risk analysis firm Cornerstone Global Associates, told Bloomberg that it is unlikely we will see a public "abandonment" of Assad because of Russia's naval base in the Syrian port of Tartus and billions of dollars worth of arms contracts with Damascus.

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UN envoy, Moscow call for revival of Syria plan

 Russia and the U.N called Thursday for the resuscitation of a peace initiative for Syria that never got off the ground when it was proposed months ago because both parties to the conflict rejected it.
The plan, unveiled by world powers at an international conference in Geneva in June, called for an open-ended cease-fire, a transitional government to run the country until elections, and the drafting of a new constitution. The plan was a non-starter for the opposition because it did not explicitly ban authoritarian President Bashar Assad and other members of his regime from taking part in the transitional leadership.
The regime ignored it because it would entail voluntarily giving up power.
There was no sign that the plan had any more chance of succeeding now than it did back in June. Assad's government did not comment on the attempt to revive the proposal, and a coordinator for the rebels seeking to end Assad's rule called the plan "illogical."
"No one in the opposition can accept this, and if they accept it, it will be refused by the Syrian people," said Bassam Al-Dada, a Turkey-based coordinator with the rebel Free Syrian Army. He said Assad's forces have killed too many people for him to play a role in any solution.
Anti-regime activists say more than 40,000 people have been killed since the revolt against Assad began in March 2011.
Because of Russian objections, the original plan did not call specifically for Assad's ouster nor ban him or top members of his regime from participating in the new government.
Much has changed in Syria since the plan was first presented. Rebels have gained momentum, seizing more territory and a number of military installations in the country's north. They are also expanding their control in suburbs of the capital, Damascus.
These gains make it increasingly unlikely that they will accept any plan that allows any part of Assad's regime to remain.
The government, too, has given no indication it will give any ground and dismisses almost all opposition activities as terrorism that seeks to destroy the country.
In Damascus on Thursday, the U.N. envoy for Syria Lakhdar Brahimi called the Geneva plan "suitable enough" to end Syria's war.
"The Syrian people seek genuine change," Brahimi said, adding that the transitional period "must not lead to the collapse of the state or the state's institutions."
Brahimi said that original plan could be amended, but he didn't say how.
He did not mention Assad by name and only said the transitional government would have "full executive powers," meaning "all the authority of the state should be possessed by that government."
Brahimi said it remained to be determined what kind of government would follow and whether the elections called for under the plan would be for president or parliament.
In Moscow, Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevic said Russia, too, is trying to revive the Geneva plan.
"We continue to believe that there is no alternative to that document in trying to find a settlement in Syria," Lukashevich said.
He also reaffirmed Moscow's objection to calls for Assad's ouster.
Russia has been Assad's strongest backer throughout the conflict, selling arms to his forces and, along with China, protecting him from censure by the U.N. Security Council for his violent crackdown on the opposition.
Top Russian officials have recently signaled a new resignation to the idea that Assad could fall. Still, they have said they will not call for his ouster or offer him refuge should he decide to flee.
Brahimi is expected to visit Russia this weekend. Syrian Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad met Thursday with Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov to pave the way for Brahimi's visit.
Mekdad is expected to hold talks with other top Russian diplomats later.
Violence flared in Syria again on Thursday, with rebels attacking a police academy and military airport in the northern province of Aleppo while clashing with government forces near the Wadi Deif military base in northern Idlib province.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said 11 rebels and 16 government soldiers were killed in clashes around Idlib province.
A car bomb blew up in the Damascus suburb of Sbeineh, killing four people and wounding ten, the state news agency reported.

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Pakistan: Bhutto's son launches political career

The 24-year-old son of former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto launched his political career Thursday with a fiery speech before thousands of cheering supporters observing the fifth anniversary of his mother's assassination.
Bilawal Bhutto Zardari's speech comes several months before national elections are expected to be held. He is too young to participate in the elections himself — the minimum age is 25 — but is likely to be a key asset for the ruling Pakistan People's Party. The party's popularity has plummeted since it took power nearly five years ago as the country has struggled with a weak economy and bloody Taliban insurgency.
Before dawn on the same day, dozens of militants armed with rocket-propelled grenades and automatic weapons attacked two tribal police posts in Pakistan's northwest, killing two policemen, officials said. Twenty-one other policemen are missing and presumed kidnapped.
Zardari was made chairman of the Pakistan People's Party after his mother's death but has mainly played a background role until now while he completed his studies at Oxford University in Britain.
"I want to tell you that thanks to God he has completed his studies, but now is the time of his training," his father, President Asif Ali Zardari, told the crowd of supporters Thursday in Garhi Khuda Bakhsh village in southern Sindh province, site of the Bhutto family mausoleum. "He has to study Pakistan, he has to learn from you and he has to work according to your thinking,"
The Bhutto family has played a prominent role in Pakistani politics for much of the country's 65-year history. Bilawal Bhutto Zardari's grandfather, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, founded the Pakistan People's Party and served as both the country's president and prime minister in the 1970s. He was eventually hanged in 1979 after Gen. Zia ul-Haq seized power in a military coup.
Benazir Bhutto twice served as prime minister in the 1980s and 1990s but never completed a full term. Her governments were dismissed both times under the cloud of corruption allegations by presidents who were close to the country's powerful army. She was killed in a gun and suicide bomb attack on Dec. 27, 2007, shortly after returning from self-imposed exile to participate in national elections.
After her death, the Pakistan People's Party rode a wave of public sympathy to garner the most seats in the 2008 elections, and Asif Ali Zardari was elected president. But the popularity of both the party and the president has fallen significantly since then as the government has failed to address pressing problems, such as Pakistan's shortage of electricity and stuttering economy. The government has also struggled in its fight against the Pakistani Taliban, who have killed thousands of people in attacks throughout the country.
Rasul Bakhsh Rais, a political science professor at Lahore University of Management Sciences, said it was not a surprise that the Pakistan People's Party unveiled Bilawal Bhutto Zardari in an attempt to boost its fortunes in the upcoming elections, which are expected by June at the latest.
"This is Pakistan and dynastic politics is the norm," said Rais. "Bilawal is perhaps the only card left in the chest of the Pakistan People's Party."
Both Bilawal Bhutto Zardari and his father sought to whip up the emotions of the crowd Thursday by shouting "Long live Bhutto" and "Bhutto is alive." Many of the supporters waved the red, black and green flag of the Pakistan People's Party and held pictures of Benazir Bhutto and her father.
"If you kill one Bhutto, one thousand more Bhuttos will emerge," said Bilawal Bhutto Zardari.
He took a swipe at the judiciary, which has clashed with the current government, by asking why people arrested for suspected involvement in his mother's murder have yet to be convicted.
But some critics have questioned why Zardari has not done more to push forward the investigation during more than four years as president.
The president at the time of her death, Gen. Pervez Musharraf, blamed the Pakistani Taliban for the attack, and five suspected militants are facing trial for alleged involvement in the killing. The Pakistani Taliban have denied targeting Bhutto.
A Pakistani court issued an arrest warrant for Musharraf last year over allegations he played a role in the attack, which he has denied. Arrest warrants were also issued for two senior police officials accused of negligence in the assassination. Prosecutors accused one of the officials of failing to provide proper security for Bhutto and the other of cleaning the crime scene before evidence could be collected.
A U.N. investigation into the assassination said it could have been prevented and blamed all levels of government for failing to provide adequate security. It also accused intelligence agencies and other officials of severely hampering the investigation into those behind her murder.
The attack on the tribal police posts before dawn Thursday took place in the town of Darra Adam Khel in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, government officials said. The town is located near Pakistan's tribal region, the main sanctuary for Taliban militants in the country.
Security forces have launched an operation to try to recover the 21 missing policemen, said the officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the media.
No group has claimed responsibility for the attack, but suspicion will likely fall on the Pakistani Taliban.

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Syrian conflict threatens to fracture Iraq

In September, as the Iraqi government reached one of its lowest points in relations with Turkey in years, Ankara welcomed Iraqi Kurdistan's President Massoud Barzani as a guest of honor at a convention hosted by the ruling Justice and Development Party.
The semi-autonomous Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) in northern Iraq and the federal government in Baghdad have not seen eye to eye for years, and the gap between the two is now widening, particularly when it comes to foreign policy. That's been put in stark relief by the ongoing civil war in Syria, which has shifted the fortunes of Iraq's Kurds.
A decade ago, Iraq was a Sunni Arab-dominated dictatorship that shared many problems with the Sunni Turks to the north. Both countries had restive ethnic-Kurdish separatist movements and uneasy relations with their Shiite and Persian neighbor, Iran.
Today, Iraq has a Shiite-dominated government that is close to Tehran, which is supporting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's regime in Syria's civil war. Turkey, still eager to prevent Kurdish separatist sentiments within its borders, now sees the Iraqi Kurds as a potential ally in opposition to the interests of Iran, Baghdad and Damascus.
The emerging sectarian alliances have prompted Baghdad and the KRG to throw themselves into opposing camps in the Syrian war, creating conflicting interests in the supposedly unified country.
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As regional and Western diplomats point fingers at Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki for aiding embattled Syrian President Bashar al-Assad – a charge which Baghdad vehemently denies – Iraqi Kurds are increasingly involved with the opposition, lured by the possibility that in a post-Assad Syria, Kurds there might achieve some degree of autonomy. That would allow the KRG to expand its foothold.
The KRG has hosted leaders of the Syrian opposition in its regional capital, Erbil, much to Baghdad's dismay. It has also lent support to Kurds in northeastern Syria – Barzani publicly admitted in July that his government is providing them with military training. And now some of the Kurdish factions there are holding talks with the mostly Arab Syrian opposition to decide whether and how to join them in the fight against President Bashar al-Assad, even though the relationship between the two camps has been strained by several bouts of fighting.
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"The Syria crisis is forcing everyone around Syria to choose sides," says Joost Hiltermann, who follows Iraq for the International Crisis Group (ICG). "Maliki is worried about the emergence of a post-Assad Sunni Islamist order in Syria... he finds that he has to support Assad by default. This puts him de facto in the Iranian camp and in conflict with Turkey."
The Iraqi Kurds are at the opposite end of the equation from Maliki. Though Turkey treats its own Kurdish population poorly, the KRG's deep mistrust of Baghdad has seen a tactical relationship developing between Ankara and Erbil and, by extension, the regional Sunni powers backing the Syrian uprising.
Although the majority of Kurds are Sunni Muslims, Hiltermann says the KRG's interest is not about religion, but an attempt to further nationalist goals. "They [Kurds] have long-term aspirations to independence, and today this means allying themselves with Turkey, which is encouraging them to take distance from Baghdad," Hiltermann says.
Although Iraq's constitution gives the federal government theoretical control of the country's foreign policy, the KRG seldom defers to Baghdad on matters of international relations.
Iraq's Kurds have enjoyed a high level of autonomy in northern Iraq since the 1990s, when the West backed a no-fly zone to protect the Kurds during an uprising against Saddam Hussein's regime. The KRG has its own diplomatic representatives in some key international capitals – Washington, London, Paris, and Moscow among them – and more than 20 countries, including the US, have diplomatic missions in Erbil.
To say that Baghdad has a problem with the KRG's overtures to the Syrian opposition and its backers is to put it mildly.
"They have completely gone their way and are sometimes on a collision line with the federal government [in Baghdad]," says Saad al-Muttalebi, a prominent figure in Maliki's coalition. "Unfortunately the KRG behaves as if it's an independent state and sets up its own international policies... without any consideration to the central government."
Politicians in Baghdad are particularly unhappy with KRG's closer ties to Turkey, which harbored exiled Sunni Iraqi Vice President Tariq al-Hashemi after he fled Iraq earlier this year. Mr. Muttalebi, who used to serve as an adviser to Maliki, lashed out at Turkey for choosing "an unwise course of action" and "misusing its relations with Iraq."
But Erbil sees Ankara as a critical counterbalancing factor against Baghdad, which the Kurdish government accuses of being increasingly heavy-handed.
"It is true that there is a federal broad-based coalition government in Baghdad, but day after day we see it becoming more autocratic," Safin Dizayee, the official spokesperson for the KRG, told The Monitor at his office in Erbil.
"[Iraq's] foreign policy is determined not by the institutions of the state, but by certain individuals within the state or a certain party," Dizayee explains, referring indirectly to Maliki and his Shiite Dawa Party. "And when it comes to the policy of that party toward Syria, that might be actually questionable."
Turkey's annual trade with Iraq stood at around $11 billion in 2011, according to Turkish government's figures, but Kurdish officials say about 70 percent of the trade occurs with the Kurdish region. The discovery of large oil reserves in Iraqi Kurdistan has only made the energy-thirsty Turkey more interested in developing closer ties with the KRG without much regard for Baghdad's opposition. Erbil has been happy to go along.
But for a country with a long history of internal conflict and instability, the current regional shift may not pay off in the end.
"Baghdad and Erbil are taking decisions that they believe will enhance their regional and domestic positions," says Ahmed Ali, a Middle East analyst at Georgetown University. But in a region of ever-shifting alliances, there is danger in charting "domestic policy while thinking that regional alliances are permanent and will help them fulfill their plans."

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