Dubai police claim that at least 11 suspects were involved in killing Mahmoud al-Mabhouh, many of whom allegedly used identities stolen from dual U.K.-Israeli citizens.

Israel’s intelligence service, Mossad, is suspected of being behind the crime, but some analysts question whether Mossad’s handiwork would have been so sloppy.

Jacky Rowland of Al Jazeera English reports from Israel about those who found their names associated with the assassination plot.

Should Israel be more forthcoming about whether or not it was involved in the killing of the Hamas leader?

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A statue of Pope John Paul II in Krakow. Photo: Flickr user EGA

The man who shot Pope John Paul II nearly 29 years ago at St. Peter’s Square was set free today in Turkey.

Mehmet Ali Agca was released from a prison on the outskirts of Ankara and taken away in a motorcade.

In 1983, two years after his incarceration, the pontiff visited Agca and forgave him for the shooting.

Yet, authorities are unsure what motivated the assassination attempt. Agca, said to be mentally unstable, told reporters today that he is a messenger of God and that the world will end this century.

Should Agca have been imprisoned for the rest of his life?

Tell us what you think in the comments section below. Please be respectful and on-point. Malicious or offensive comments will be deleted, and repeat offenders will be banned.

For more Worldfocus coverage of Turkey, visit our extended coverage page: Turkey between East and West.

During the past several days, security officials have rounded up at least 60 people suspected of involvement in the assassination attempt.

Under the sub-headline “In search of Toumba Diakite, the army imposes a reign of terror,” French-language Afrik.com writes:

Roadblocks, vehicle searches, armed raids, arrests and summary executions…The loyalist forces are resolute in their efforts to put their hands on Lt. Diakite, who left the the Guinean junta leader Moussa Dadis Camara with serious head wounds. This is a manhunt that has thrust the population into fear.

Idrissa Cherif, the junta spokesman, said that one of the men responsible for the attack, Mohamed “Begre” Camara, was arrested this morning as he tried to flee the country. Kenya’s NTV has more on the arrest:

Worldfocus blogger Ayo Johnson offers his analysis on the recent turn of events in Guinea:

It is time that elections scheduled for January 2010 go ahead without fail. The shooting of Captain Moussa “Dadis” Camara only seems to confirm the lengths to which Guinean soldiers will go — in masking their acts of violence against civilians, solidifying their hold on power and plans to ignore the ballot box all together.

It was exactly a year ago that the death of ruthless dictator Lansana Conte sparked an opportunistic coup by a relatively unknown captain. Moussa declared himself leader of Guinea despite repeated calls from the international community for him to stand down…

A United Nations panel’s visit to Guinea in November to investigate the killing of scores of civilians by Moussa’s troops was the final straw on the camel’s back for this ragtag army.

Moussa’s insistence that he should be included in next year’s elections spelled the end of this so called revolution. Moussa’s credibility was compromised, as he refused to take responsibility for his army. He decided instead to blame Abubakar “Toumba” Diakite, the officer in charge of the operation during the massacre. It is not surprising that a fire fight ensued, leaving Moussa with a bullet wound to the head.

Split elements within the army are now protecting Diakite, who is now in hiding. A second coup is very likely, as Moussa seeks medical attention in Morocco for his injuries. Whenever Moussa recovers from his injuries, he may find it difficult coming back into his country. What is clear is that an internal struggle is imminent, as the military fights an internal war with various top dogs trying to take control of this West African country.

The stakes are high as foreign companies, especially China who have only recently signed a $4.4 billion mining deal. The Economic Community Of West African States (ECOWAS) will have to take a far tougher line against the military regime and ask for the regime to leave office immediately. The future and stability of fragile neighboring countries can be easily undermined if Guinea were to become unstable.

Gen. Sekouba Konate, the vice president of the military, is now in charge of the country. Diakite is now on the run and has been sighted heading for the Sierra Leone border area, covenanting in a heightened state of alert from the Sierra Leone border agency.

Watch Ayo Johnson’s interview about the situation on Al Jazeera English:

- Ben Piven

Soldiers outside military headquarters following an assassination in Guinea-Bissau. Photo: Marco Vernaschi, Pulitzer Center

Campaign season has begun in Guinea-Bissau, though it is muted due to continued concern following repeated assassinations.

Earlier this month, presidential candidate Baciro Dabo and former defense minister Helder Proenca were killed. Dabo was suspected of plotting a coup attempt.

The country’s president, Joao Bernardo Vieira, was brutally murdered on March 2, apparently in retaliation for a bomb attack that killed Army General Batista Tagme Na Waie. No suspects have been arrested in the president’s death.

Marco Vernaschi of the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting recently returned from Guinea-Bissau and describes the country’s climate of violence.

I was drinking a coffee at Baiana when the Afropop music played by the local radio suddenly stopped. A frantic speaker was trying to report about a blast that had just killed a few soldiers, destroying the military headquarters.

I jumped in my car and drove toward the military compound. When I arrived everyone was shouting and running through the smoky ruins of the building. Bissau’s only ambulance was coming and going from the hospital to pick up the bodies of the victims. Four heavily armed soldiers pointing their AK-47 at my face discouraged me from taking photographs or asking questions. All they told me was that General Batista Tagme Na Wai, head of the army, had just been assassinated. I went back to the car and headed to the hospital.

On this night last February Bissau’s sleepy routine was broken. I made some phone calls to find out what was going on, even as the Minister of Defense arrived at the hospital and ordered the police to keep journalists away. After two hours trying to get information I left the hospital, heading to my hotel. At the reception everyone was trading theories. Someone said it was a coup d’etat, others that it was an accident, a bomb, or the beginning of another civil war. I went to my room and tried to sleep.

At six in the morning my friend and informant Vladimir, a reliable security man who works at the hotel, knocked on my door. He was frightened, and told me that the president had just been killed. When I asked him how he knew, he simply shook his head. I instantly left my room and went to the President’s house. Soldiers there were shooting in the air, to keep a little crowd of people away from the house.

A bunch of soldiers with machine guns and bazookas surrounded the block. The president’s armored Hummer was still parked in front of the house, the tires flat and its bulletproof windows shattered. The police cars from his escort were destroyed. A rocket shot from a bazooka had penetrated four walls, ending up in the president’s living room. Joao Bernardo Vieira was dead, after ruling Guinea Bissau for nearly a quarter of a century.

After a few hours waiting in front of the house I understand I wouldn’t have been allowed any access this day. A soldier came toward me and seized my camera to check if I had taken any pictures. Fortunately I had not, and he gave me the camera back. It was time to leave.

In just nine hours Guinea Bissau had lost both it president and the head of its army. Why so much violence? Was this double assassination the result of an old rivalry between Vieira and Tagme, or was it something more? The army’s spokesman, Zamora Induta, declared that the president had been killed by a group of renegade soldiers and that assailants using a bomb had assassinated General Tagme. He said there is no connection between the two deaths. Of course, nobody believed that this was so.

[...]The next day, I managed to visit the president’s house with my camera. One of his several cousins gives me a tour. He led me to the kitchen first, to show me where Nino Vieira was executed. The blood was all over the room. The machete was still on the floor and the bulletproof vest he always wore was on the chair where his wife sat during the questioning. All around there were hundreds of bullets from AK-47 and machine guns. The soldiers looted and destroyed the house. They took everything they could, including clothes and food.

To read more, see the original post.

The views expressed by contributing bloggers do not reflect the views of Worldfocus or its partners.

Morales’ policies have won him praise in some circles, but he’s also made some powerful enemies. Recently, his government said he was the target of an assassination plot.

Morales joins Worldfocus’ Ivette Feliciano to discuss the assassination plot, why he chose to expel U.S. Ambassador Philip Goldberg and the future of U.S.-Bolivian relations. 

For more Worldfocus coverage of Bolivia, visit our extended coverage page: On the Ground in Bolivia.