Full Coverage: Conflict

31.12.2004 There are serious bottlenecks to delivery of aid in the conflict region of Aceh which took the worst force of the earthquake. The Asian Human Rights Commission calls on Indonesia to allow free and unconditional access to international aid workers.

28.12.2004 CAFOD's response report on the tsunami disaster reveals unease over conflict regions where access for aid agencies and media is restricted. Fears focus on the impact in Aceh Province in Indonesia and the Irrawaddy basin in Burma.

27.12.2004 Parents of three U.S. soldiers killed in the war in Iraq are on their way to that country as part of a humanitarian mission aimed at showing a different face of the United States to Iraqis displaced by fierce fighting in Fallujah.

27.12.2004 Citing examples from the past Jehan Perera of National Peace Council of Sri Lanka suggests government of Sri Lanka not to ignore eastern regions of the country, which is controlled by the LTTE, in executing relief, rescue and rehabilitation efforts in wake of recent flood caused by tsunami waves.

24.12.2004

23.12.2004 "We are convinced that the presence of U.S. troops is a destabilizing force in the region and contributes to the increasing loss of life," a prominent faith-based humanitarian group said Wednesday. Noting that a solid majority in the U.S. now believe the war was a mistake, the group called for the U.S. to give way so the UN and other agencies, working with the Iraqi interim government, can bring peace and stability.

23.12.2004 One of Sudan's two deadly conflicts may be close to ending this week as officials said they expect to finalize a comprehensive peace agreement within a few days. The deal would cover national power-sharing arrangements and administration of territories while imposing a permanent ceasefire after 21 years of fighting.

23.12.2004 The Sri Lanka rebel group, Tamil Tigers, is abducting and recruiting school children to push them into brutal military training even though active fighting with the government ended in 2002, says the Human Rights Watch.

23.12.2004 Sri Lankan rebels are studying the government's latest proposal to resume peace talks, which waters down its demand that the talks focus on a final settlement to the two-decade conflict.

22.12.2004 After a week of fighting that displaced tens of thousands and may or may not have involved Rwandan troops,Congolese dissident leaders agreed to a ceasefire Tuesday. The UN mission to the country immediately announced that peacekeepers and humanitarian aid would be sent to the region.

22.12.2004 Following the deaths of four staff, the Director-General of Save the Children announces with great regret that the charity's presence in Darfur will have to be suspended.

22.12.2004 "We support elections as one component of democratization. But not every election is a legitimate instrument of democracy," notes international affairs expert Phyllis Bennis. An election cannot be legitimate when it is conducted under foreign military occupation, administered by a government put in place by those occupiers, and when war is raging throughout the country, she explains.

21.12.2004 The United Nations and several independent groups are warning that renewed fighting in the eastern Kivu region of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) threatens a major humanitarian catastrophe in the six-year-old conflict that has claimed nearly four million lives.

21.12.2004 Amnesty calls on the international community to pay more attention to the deteriorating situation in Nepal where the National Human Rights Commission has insufficient resources to fulfil its role.

21.12.2004 The war in Iraq has clearly not unfolded the way those who instigated it intended. U.S. and Iraqi civilian casualties are much higher than expected and reconstruction has been nearly impossible under U.S. leadership. But the most important reason the U.S. should commit to withdrawing all troops by the end of next year? The Iraqi people want them to, says Global Exchange co-founder Medea Benjamin.

21.12.2004 Ariel Sharon's recent offer represents the dovish Israeli consensus. Mahmoud Abbas represents the dovish Palestinian consensus, but they are still light-years apart, writes Ami Isseroff on the MidEastWeb for Coexistance.

21.12.2004 The organization Kids with Cameras uses photography and documentary filmmaking as a way to empower children in conflict zones and situations of extreme poverty around the world. A new film tells the story of the group's birth.

20.12.2004 The demobilization of nearly 4000 child soldiers in Afghanistan has created bright learning prospects for these children who have missed out on years of education due to past conflicts.

20.12.2004 Two wars involving Rwanda in the Democratic Republic of the Congo have left nearly 4 million dead over the past decade. The countries' newest crisis could ignite the entire Great Lakes region, warns the International Crisis Group, recommending the international community sit all parties down for urgent discussions and apply a mix of muscle and diplomacy to forge a comprehensive solution.

17.12.2004 The murder of CARE-Iraq direcor Margaret Hassan demonstrates just hwo vulnerable aid workers have become around the world. And as long as governments continue to provide aid to promote strategic--rather than humanitarian--interests, the situation won't change, says the policy director for the refugee aid organization Ockenden International.