Falling back

A SUICIDE blast in northern Chechnya shattered four months of calm in the troubled Russian province on Monday, casting a shadow over Russian President Vladimir Putin's scheduled address to the nation on Friday. At least 37 people died in the attack in Znamenskoye, north of the provincial capital of Grozny, and some 200 were injured.

The assault on the headquarters of the Federal Security Service (FSB) churns the waters of discontent in a region long dominated by civil war. Following a March referendum that secured Moscow's control of the traditionally restive province, separatist rebels in the predominantly Muslim region vowed to step up their campaign of anti-government attacks.

Moscow has been fighting a tenacious guerrilla war in Chechnya since Russian troops controversially re-entered the breakaway province in 1999. But the Chechan conflict burst dramatically back on the international scene last October when rebels seized a Moscow theatre. A military operation that ended the siege resulted in 129 civilian deaths and all hostage-takers being killed. In December, 80 people died when suicide bomber struck a government building in Grozny.

The truck bombing in Znamenskoye cut a crater some 15 metres wide, but the real scar has been left on the fledgling peace process. Putin stoically brushed aside fears that the attack would derail efforts to find a political solution to the conflict, remarking on Monday, "All such actions are aimed at one thing: stopping the process of the settlement of the situation in Chechnya. ... We cannot and will not allow anything of the kind."

Seeking closure

THE OPENING of the first trial of a suspect in the devastating terrorist bombings on the Indonesian resort island of Bali brought crowds to the Balinese capital Denpasar on Monday, where onlookers could watch the proceedings on live television outside the courthouse. More than 200 people, predominantly foreign tourists, were killed in attacks on 12 October 2002.

The bombings wreaked havoc on Bali's thriving tourism industry and turned the international spotlight on the threat of terrorism from radical Islamic groups in Southeast Asia. Authorities believe that the bombings were perpetrated by the militant group Jama'ah Islamiyah, which the government says has links to Osama Bin Laden's Al- Qa'eda.

Amrozi -- known in the press as the "laughing bomber" for his cavalier response to the attacks -- is not the most notorious of the 30 people arrested in connection with the bombings, but his indictment still came in at 33 pages. The 40-year-old former mechanic is believed to have purchased the explosives and rented the van for the attacks.

With the memory of the attacks still fresh, anger surged through Denpasar and the level of security in the city reflected fears that tensions would rise around the trial. An estimated 3,000 police were on the streets when the trial opened. If convicted, Amrozi faces the death penalty.

He said, he said

IN AN effort to show the US's continued commitment to the stabilisation and development of Afghanistan, US Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage was in Kabul on Friday for talks with top officials. Armitage met Afghan President Hamid Karzai, Foreign Minister Abdullah Abdullah and Defence Minister Mohamed Fahmi, but the brief visit -- squeezed between high-level talks in Pakistan on Thursday and more talks in Delhi on Saturday -- amounted to little more than a reaffirmation of support for the US-backed leadership.

Armitage's visit follows a one-day trip by US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, who declared major combat operations in the country to be complete. Fears are growing in Kabul that US involvement in Iraq will deflect much-needed attention in Afghanistan, but Armitage pledged long-term assistance for the country shattered by decades of war. In his talks with Afghan leaders Armitage stressed that Washington could shoulder two large-scale foreign involvements at once.

Many Afghans disagree, however. Last week locals staged a rare demonstration in Kabul protesting against the painfully slow process of reconstruction. A year and a half after the fall of the Taliban regime, protesters denounced the administration of US President George W Bush for putting its obsession with hunting down Al-Qa'eda operatives and Taliban remnants before efforts to improve the conditions of the Afghan people. Afghans are also furious that the large part of international aid pledged after the US-led war in 2001 has yet to materialise. Many fear that Afghanistan will feel the brunt of the expected expense incurred in the US occupation of Iraq.

On Tuesday, two soldiers with the International Security Force (ISAF) were shot and wounded by unknown gunmen.

Foot in the door

PARLIAMENTARY elections in the Australian state of New South Wales made history last week when Linda Burney became the first aboriginal to sit in the state parliament. Burney, who represents the ethnically diverse electorate of Canterbury, is of mixed origin.

The New South Wales parliament is the oldest in Australia and Burney's election is being seen as a significant shift in the 156- year-old political establishment there. Burney said that she hoped to see greater inclusion of aboriginals in Australian political life. "If parliament isn't diverse enough to be able to make the best decisions possible, then we are doing a disservice to our constituents," she said.

The country's indigenous people have long maintained that they are excluded from political activity, especially in parliamentary circles. Issues regarding the poorer standard of living that plagues a great deal of the native population are insufficiently addressed in Australian politicking. Official figures show there are some 460,000 aborigines in Australia -- 2.4 per cent of the country's population.

Life expectancy among aboriginals is on average 20 years lower than for white Australians and the indigenous community suffers a disproportionately high rate of ill- health, unemployment and imprisonment.