Asia Times

Despicable killings won't go unpunished - Bremer
The top United States administrator in Iraq, L Paul Bremer, on Thursday said that the killing of four civilian American contractors and the subsequent mutilation of their bodies "will not go unpunished".

US puts Yemen in a bind over 'terror' sheikh
The US Department of Treasury's recent indictment of Yemeni Sheikh Abdul Majid al-Zindani on charges that include recruiting for and promoting al-Qaeda highlight the enormous challenges facing Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh as he attempts to help the United States fight Islamic militants.

Uzbekistan: Sifting for clues
More than 40 people have been killed in four days of violence in Uzbekistan between special forces and suspected militants. The violence has included alleged suicide bombings, a car bomb and a shootout. Authorities are pinning the blame on Islamic radicals. But with no claim of responsibility, it's unclear who is behind the violence - and why.

The young Turks of
Indian politics
They are Western-educated, tech savvy and boast a political heritage second to none. The new breed of Indian politician presents an alternative, and young, choice for voters long accustomed to politicians who seldom practice what they preach. - Siddharth Srivastava

Taiwan polls: Off the streets, into the courts
Democracy is not in peril. The opposition crowds - some say mobs - have gone home, a recount of the disputed presidential election votes will go ahead, though it is unlikely to change the outcome. Now it's up to the courts. The issue is deflating into an elaborate masquerade by an aging pan-blue loser. - Laurence Eyton

Tigers' shadow over Sri Lankan polls
Whoever wins Friday's national elections in Sri Lanka - and there is no clear favorite - will quickly need to revive the stalled peace process with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam lest the initiative collapse completely, especially as the Tigers have unresolved problems of their own. - Sudha Ramachandran

Tamil areas on edge ahead of voting

Indonesian election: Clues to the future
The vote for legislators on Monday will provide a preview of the Indonesian presidential election in June, and help set the lineup for it. Voting will also test the strength of the outbreak of SARS - sindrom aku rindu Suharto (I miss Suharto syndrome). - Gary LaMoshi

Malaysian Muslims wait and see
The win by Malaysia's ruling coalition in last week's election is being hailed as a victory of moderation, telling where Muslim Malays' real concerns lie, and capable of impacting future elections such as those next week in Indonesia. Ioannis Gatsiounis finds there is more - and less - to this analysis than meets the eye.

Is Suu Kyi pondering a deal with Yangon?
Nearly a decade after it last met, the National Convention - a key step in the Myanmar "roadmap" to democratic reform - will reconvene in May to draft a constitution. The news may presage the release of pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi from house arrest. Is she considering a deal with the generals?

Afghanistan: Return of the jihadis
Over the past decades, many Central Asian Islamic militants - with Pakistani and US assistance - have been trained in Afghanistan, before being sent back to their homelands to lie low pending a call to arms. That call has now come. And the destination is Afghanistan. - Syed Saleem Shahzad

Pakistan to play a pivotal part
For jihadis to operate on Pakistan's border with Afghanistan, from where the Afghan resistance will be launched, they need anarchy and chaos. - Syed Saleem Shahzad (Mar 31, '04)

Rice: No end to controversy
By acquiescing to National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice giving testimony to the 9-11 Commission, President George W Bush has silenced those who have vociferously demanded that she appear in public. But critics of the administration over broader issues relating to its handling of the al-Qaeda threat and Iraq will not be as easily mollified. - Ehsan Ahrari (Mar 31, '04)

Indian art paints a global picture
The canvas of modern Indian art has expanded to global proportions, and famous auction houses like Sotheby's and Christie's are selling the works at record prices - prices that are sending art dealers into a tizzy. - Indrajit Basu (Mar 31, '04)

N Korea want guns over butter
North Korea's budget was unveiled surrealistically - without hard numbers, only percentages. And "People's Paradise" observer Aidan Foster-Carter concludes that the leaders face a classic choice: literally between guns or butter, a military-first economy, or a viable economy. They go for the guns. (Mar 31, '04)

China's victims of economic success
China's unemployment problem is staggering in size and a daunting economic and human challenge. As inefficient state enterprises are forced to close, millions of workers are being laid off, most of them lacking benefits, skills, real training or prospects. They are the human price of economic success and possible portents of future problems. - Michelle Chen (Mar 31, '04)

MAO AND LINCOLN
Opinion by Henry C K Liu
Part 2: Great Leap Forward not all bad
Mao Zedong has been vilified over the Great Leap Forward, but 30 million people did not die. The numbers are wildly exaggerated, and Henry C K Liu argues that many deaths were caused by cyclical famine and a US embargo on grain imports. Today, globalization causes greater suffering. (Mar 31, '04)

The growth of radical Islam in Central Asia
A certain consensus unites specialists on the dubious efficacy of official efforts to fight radical Islam in Central Asia. Less agreement is evident in specific recommendations to curb its spread. (Mar 30, '04)

Newspaper ban plays into radical's hands
By slapping a 60-day ban on al-Hawza newspaper, the mouthpiece of radical Iraqi Shi'ite leader Muqtada Sadr, United States officials, far from silencing the outspoken cleric, are likely only to increase the number of his supporters and the potency of his message. - Nir Rosen (Mar 30, '04)

Iraq invaded 'to protect Israel' - US official
As Washington steadfastly defends its decision to attack Iraq as a means to protect the US from (non-existent) weapons of mass destruction, remarks made by a member of a high-level White House intelligence group suggest otherwise: he alleges that the war had more to do with protecting the Bush administration's greatest Middle Eastern ally - Israel. (Mar 30, '04)

Africa: Oil, al-Qaeda and the US military
The US has a keen interest in Africa's oil resources - perhaps its only interest in the Dark Continent. And as US military involvement and/or cooperation with countries across the Maghreb and Sahel regions is being ratcheted up, so too is alleged al-Qaeda activity. Now the Madrid bombings have put the region firmly in the spotlight. - Ritt Goldstein (Mar 29, '04)