Must-Reads from Around the World: March 22, 2012

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War Crimes – The Global Mail details more damning evidence of Sri Lankan army atrocities at the 2009 end of the civil war, highlighting the murder of a Tamil Tigers colonel. “Of the mass of available evidence, the most compelling trail is that of Colonel Ramesh. His death provides a crack of light that illuminates the deaths of thousands of others, and the motives of the probable perpetrators,” it says.

In Charge – Ahead of this year’s leadership transition, the South China Morning Post reports the Communist Party has stepped up an ideological campaign to control the People’s Liberation Army – using articles in the People’s Liberation Army Daily and party mouthpiece, the People’s Daily. The PLA is not the only target; the AP says lawyers will also now be asked to swear allegiance to the party.

Geo-politicsForeign Affairs examines the rising regional rivalry between Turkey and Iran. “The Arab Spring created an ideological contest between Ankara and Tehran, and the former seems to be winning. Among other thing, this falling-out undercuts fears that the Justice and Development Party would pull Turkey irrevocably to the East,” says a summary of Turkish journalist Mustafa Akyol’s article.

Shifting Power – Just weeks before presidential elections, the Los Angeles Times reports a group of soldiers, going by the name of National Committee for the Establishment of Democracy (CNRDR), seized control of the presidential palace in Mali Thursday. In a televised statement a spokesman for the group, identified as Lt. Amadou Konare, promised to return control of the government to a democratically elected resident “as soon as national unity and territorial integrity are established.”  The New York Times explains Mali was considered one of the least likely countries in West Africa to experience a coup attempt. It is unclear how far the reach of the CNRDR extends beyond the presidential palace and state television station.

Coming Home – A British women held hostage in Somalia for more than six months was freed Wednesday. The Telegraph reveals Judith Tebbutt was unaware of her husband’s death until two weeks after her capture. Tebbutt and her husband were the only guests at a Kenyan resort when it was stormed by Somali pirates in September 2011. She  is expected to arrive back in the U.K. Thursday from Nairobi where she was taken shortly after being released; reportedly a ransom of $1.3 million was paid.

Senussi Sweepstakes  – The battle for the last remaining fugitive of the Gaddafi regime continues. Since the arrest of former Libyan intelligence chief Abdullah Senussi in Mauritania last week, France, Libya and the International Criminal Court are vying for his extradition, the Guardian reports. With stronger incentives from France and Libya Foreign Policy’s David Basso sees little reward for Mauritania handing over Senussi to the Hauge besides “a slap on the back from Human Rights Watch.”