Good Reads: A roundup of Lockerbie, Boko Haram, and Monterrey

Today's stories feature deeper looks at the fate of Lockerbie bombing mastermind al-Megrahi, the evolution of Nigerian terrorist group Boko Haram, and what the Monterrey casino attack might mean for Mexico.

The weekend is done, Manchester United destroyed Arsenal, and a storm named Irene thankfully disappeared faster than expected.

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Let?s turn to the papers, shall we, and find some good reads that help us make sense of some of the other stories from the past few days.

? First up, if you haven?t already seen the video, is a well reported piece by Nic Robertson of CNN. For the past decade, Mr. Robertson has been one of the hardest working correspondents on TV, and having covered the investigation of the bombing of the Pan Am flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, on Dec. 21, 1988, he returns to the story years later in Tripoli, Libya, to Abdel Basset al-Megrahi, the man convicted of organizing the bombing of the airliner by a Scottish court, and later released on compassionate medical grounds due to failing health.

Robertson admits expecting to find the convicted bomber sitting in a big comfy chair, a reasonable expectation in a posh home that has plenty of them. Instead, he finds Mr. Megrahi unconscious, inert, in a bed, attached to tubes and an oxygen tank. Megrahi?s release caused an outrage and an investigation in Britain on whether the Scottish court decision was appropriate, but it appears that Muammar Qaddafi?s designated bomber, a man responsible for the deaths of 270 people, is not long for this world, and certainly not ready for an interview.

? Blasts of a more recent sort have rocked the Nigerian north, more recently the Friday suicide bombings of a United Nations compound in the nation?s capital of Abuja. Eighteen people were killed when a car packed with explosives penetrated the security gates of the UN compound, where Western and Nigerian employees coordinate everything from peacekeeping missions to education and health programs.

Alex Thurston, whom regular Monitor readers will recognize as the author of the Sahel Blog, does a fine job of unpacking this story in Foreign Policy magazine. He describes the origins and mission of the militant group Boko Haram, which has been carrying out a Taliban-like war of religious purification in Nigeria?s Muslim-dominated north. He describes the changing tactics of Boko Haram, and how Friday?s attack show that the group is clearly adapting its techniques rapidly under the leadership of Abubakar Shekau, the man who took over after the killing of Boko Haram founder Muhammed Yusuf in police custody in 2010. Finally, Mr. Thurston explains how the current terror campaign by militant group Boko Haram, could get much worse, and why instability in Africa?s most populous country is important to the rest of Africa.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/csmonitor/globalnews/~3/F86lwtulzFc/Good-Reads-A-roundup-of-Lockerbie-Boko-Haram-and-Monterrey

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