DR Congo talks with all sides

UN mediators beginning to see some openess on both sides to talks in impending crisis in DR Congo. It's my uninformed opinion that the groups that started the Rwandan massacres, snuck into DR Congo years ago and like Al Queda in Afganistan they are the true problem. Remains to be seen if my guess is close to true

clipped from english.aljazeera.net DR Congo rebels ready for talks General Laurent Nkunda, the Congolese rebel leader, has said he is ready to negotiate with the government in Kinshasa without any pre-conditions to end fighting in the east of the country. Ahead of a planned meeting with Olusegun Obasanjo, the UN envoy visiting DR Congo, Nkunda told Al Jazeera on Saturday that he was "asking only for direct negotiations". Nkunda's remarks came as Obasanjo met Joseph Kabila, the country's president, in a bid to stop fighting between government troops and rebel forces. After meeting Kabila in the capital Kinshasa, Obasanjo, a former Nigerian president, travelled to Goma, the provincial capital of North Kivu, where he said he would hold talks with Nkunda,  who heads the National Congress for the Defence of People (CNDP).

Another recognition for Kosovo

I just haven't had the chance to get over here much lately, with real estate and mortgage markets beginning to recover and of course this darn election.

News today that Malaysia has recognized Kosovo moves the entire movement forward another step closer to the day that Kosovo is seated at the United Nations. Will they have South Ossetia, Taiwan, and Chechnya sitting next to them when they get there? I hope so

Malaysia Recognises Kosovo Independence - BalkanInsight.com

from Kosovo - Google News

Malaysia Recognises Kosovo Independence
BalkanInsight.com, Serbia - 2 hours ago
31 October 2008 Pristina _ Malaysia has recognised Kosovo’s independence, Kosovo’s Foreign Ministry said on Friday.

Kosovo bloggers praise recognition

I didn't even know how to find Kosovo bloggers, so first off this was a helpful article in finding local area bloggers to subscribe and read.

clipped from www.setimes.com Kosovo bloggers welcome Montenegro and Macedonia's recognition Xheki, an Albanian from Montenegro, says he will celebrate the recognition of Kosovo by Montenegro together with his Montenegrin friends. "Thank you, Montenegro," writes Kujtimi from Kosovo. "It's good news, but Montenegro had its own interests [in recognising Kosovo independence], because it intends to become part of the EU," says Bekimi from Pristina. Blogger Visari is thanking the Albanians in Macedonia and Montenegro for their contribution to the recent diplomatic victories. "Bravo, Skopje," exclaims Naser Prapashtica, while Velson writes: "Macedonia, after all, recognised the independence of Kosovo. I am so happy for this recognition." Kosovo Albanian bloggers, in turn, cheered Djukanovic. "Bravo, Milo Djukanovic for your courage and clear vision for the people and the state you lead," exclaimed Kosovo blogger Fisi.

Kosovo recognition by more nations

Support may be slowly building, but building it is, for Kosovo to retain its announced independence. Sure, Serbia will continue to complain and allies China and Russia will try to use the situation to gain an upper hand in their problematic regions. But for today, Kosovo looks like a nation, sounds like a nation ... Must be

clipped from www.newkosovareport.com Montenegro recognizes Kosovo Montenegro announced today that it has recognized Kosovo as a sovereign and independence state, intending to build strong diplomatic ties with the newly born nation. The recognition comes just one day after only a third of UN members backed Serbia's initiative to ask the International Court of Justice for a legally non-binding opinion on Kosovo's coordinated declaration of independence. Macedonia is also expected to recognize Kosovo within a few hours tonight once the emergency parliamentary session in Skopje is over. Many other countries are expected to recognize Kosovo in the coming days.

While UN sits on hands - Kosovo

Portugal becomes 22nd EU state to recognise Kosovo

8 October 2008 | 14:34 | FOCUS News Agency

Lisbon.Portugal on Tuesday (7 October) afternoon announced its official recognition of Kosovo as an independent state, becoming the 22nd EU country to make the move, EU Observer reports. "It is in the interests of the Portuguese state to proceed today to the formal recognition of Kosovo," the country's foreign minister Luis Amado told the national assembly's foreign affairs committee. "We are convinced that the independence of Kosovo has become irreversible," he added.

Is Kosovo like South Ossetia

I knew this would be asked from Andrew Sullivan

It is true that, by their actions in Iraq, Bush and Cheney have ceded any claim to the moral high ground as far as a response to Russia's involvement in Georgia is concerned, but I think that the difficulty of the US position goes back farther than that -- to the policies of NATO expansion in general, and our policies regarding Kosovo in particular, that began with Bush I and Clinton.

Kosovo, like South Ossetia, is a minority province in a state that resulted from the breakup of a communist "confederation" of states.

New Errors in Georgia

from Cato-at-liberty by Justin Logan

While the wire services bounce back and forth between declaring that Russian forces are attempting to hold Gori or leaving Gori, President Bush has made a statement that promises to embed the United States more deeply in the conflict, and French President Sarkozy has signed a cease-fire deal that gives the Russians much of what they want and will be hard to square with, for example, Senator McCain’s position.

How similar are Kosovo and South Ossetia?

As we in the United States awoke this morning an amazing contradiction was unfolding.

On the one hand, the world was watching the Opening Ceremonies of the Beijing Olympics where 205 countries (or 204 since I think one country forgot to register correctly with the authorities) were gathered ... with leaders including our President Bush in attendance.

On the other hand, reports began to circulate four or five hours ago of a Russian versus Georgian battle opening in South Ossetia. Now, our national security position for the last decade has been to contain Russia with expansion of the EU, NATO, and independence for Kosovo taking strong strategic importance.

But, I do have to pause momentarily and ask: What is actually going on in South Ossetia? Is this a similar problem that arose in Kosovo? Do we have a separatist movement of mainly Russian ethnic people attempting to break away from Georgia? Were the Georgians involved in ethnic cleansing? Why were there Russian "peace keepers" in the region?

Update from Washington Post Georgian Troops move to retake South Ossetia:

"South Ossetia and Abkhazia, another breakaway part of Georgia, have enjoyed de facto independence since the early 1990s when they broke with Georgia following short wars. Saakashvili has long pledged to restore Georgia's sovereignty in the two areas, which enjoy close relations with Russia, but not diplomatic recognition.

Most residents of South Ossetia, which has a population of about 70,000, hold Russian passports. And Georgia has long claimed that Russian peacekeepers back separatists in both South Ossetia and Abkhazia."

I could be wrong, but my money says there's more than meets the eye here. If you have better background, I'd sure love links or comments.

More Background on further research, from BBC News:

"What triggered the latest crisis?

Tension has risen since the election of President Saakashvili in 2004. He offered South Ossetia dialogue and autonomy within a single Georgian state - but in 2006 South Ossetians voted in an unofficial referendum to press their demands for complete independence.

In April 2008 Nato said Georgia would be allowed to join the alliance at some point - angering Russia, which opposes the eastward expansion of Nato. Weeks later, Russia stepped up ties with the separatists in Abkhazia and South Ossetia."

In addition as recently as Sunday it appears that Russian "peacekeepers" were killed, by someone, and Russians suggest it was Georgian incursion to retake the province.