COUNTRY REVIEW

Iraq

• Gates: US not after permanent bases in Iraq; Maliki: New operation to root out Al Qaeda from Mosul;

China

• CPC installs new leaders in Tibet and Xinjiang ahead of Olympics; Baoa Forum to focus on environmental issues

Japan

• Japan Police dismiss officer of leaking information to a Russian diplomat; Japan resumes Indian Ocean mission

Myanmar

• Myanmar has the fourth highest child mortality rate in the world, says UNICEF; Myanmar Airways International to extend its flight services to India

South Asia

Afghanistan

• American forces alleged to have killed nearly 10 Afghan police officers in Ghazni in accidental fire

Pakistan

• Kidwai: Pakistan’s nuclear assets safe; Musharraf meets Rice at Davos, reaffirms intentions of democracy; Success for security forces in militant operations in South Waziristan

Bangladesh

• New Age: Interim government curbing democratic rights of indigenous communities; State of emergency may be gradually lifted, says Fakhruddin Ahmed at Davos

NUCLEAR REVIEW

Pakistan

• Pakistani nuclear arsenal safe: Musharraf; SPD holds briefing for media

North Korea

• Pyongyang not serious about disarming: Lefkowitz; Bush administration distances itself from Lefkowitz statement; Ending current impasse might be difficult: South Korean Foreign Minister

Iran

• Draft resolution to impose new round of sanctions on Iran agreed upon; Iran expresses surprise about proposed sanctions; Russia completes delivery of nuclear fuel for Bushehr; Iran allows IAEA inspectors to visit P-2 centrifuge R&D lab

INTERNAL SECURITY REVIEW

Jammu and Kashmir

• HuJI commander Bashir Ahmed Mir shot dead; Governor Sinha: Ratio of deployment of troops to population in J&K (1:40), Waziristan (1: 37), Ladakh (1:28)

NorthEast Insurgency

• Army claims successes in ‘Operation Somtal II’ in Manipur; As many 38 ULFA militants surrender in Assam

Moaist Insurgency

• Government to allocate additional funds to worst-affected Maoist districts

FIVE HUJI TERRORISTS SENTENCED TO LIFE IN LUCKNOW

• Terrorists arrested by STF in Lucknow in April 2006