2009 in images: Global politics and conflicts

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2009 in images: Global politics and conflicts

Here’s a look at the combat, elections, unrest and politics that grabbed world headlines during the closing year of a tumultuous decade.



An explosion is seen as missiles fired by an Israeli aircraft fall towards a target in the northern Gaza strip, as seen from the Israeli side of the border, January 1, 2009. Following heavy aerial bombardment, Israel launched a full-fledged ground invasion of the Gaza Strip two days later, with the stated purpose of halting rocket attacks into Israel from the Hamas-controlled territory. Over a thousand Palestinians and 13 Israelis were killed in the three-week conflict, and tens of thousands of Gaza residents were left homeless. —Photo by AP

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President Barack Obama, accompanied by VP Joe Biden, and retired military members, gets ready to sign an executive order at the White House in Washington, Jan. 22, 2009, closing the prison at Guantanamo Bay within a year. The move, Obama’s first major executive action after assuming office two days earlier, was executed with much fanfare but soon ran into difficulties after state governments refused to host any terror suspects in their prisons. —Photo by AP

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Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, left, is greeted by Congress party President Sonia Gandhi, on May 16, 2009, after the former declared that the party had been given a ‘massive mandate’ in recently concluded month-long national elections. The ruling Congress party emerged with a greater share of seats in the Lok Sabha (Indian parliament), allowing it to form a government less susceptible to demands by coalition allies. Oxford-educated economist Manmohan Singh was retained as premier. —Photo by AP

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The body of Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) leader Vellupillai Prabhakaran is carried on a stretcher through a group of Sri Lankan soldiers at Nanthikadal lagoon, near the town of Mullaittivu in northern Sri Lanka May 19, 2009. Three days earlier, the Sri Lankan government declared victory over the Tamil separatists, marking the end of a bloody 30-year of civil war in the island nation. —Photo by Reuters

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On Monday, June 15, 2009, Iranian opposition demonstrators in Tehran protest in support of defeated presidential candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi, alleging rigging by President Mahmoud Ahmedinejad’s government. Protests escalated into sustained demonstrations – known as the Green Movement after Mousavi’s campaign colour – in the most serious unrest in Iran since the 1979 Revolution. The Iranian govt responded to the unrest with a harsh crackdown in which several demonstrators have been killed, large numbers of opposition figures jailed and media access and major websites blocked.

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Pakistan’s Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani (L) shakes hands with India’s Prime Minister Manmohan Singh during the 15th Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) summit in the Egyptian Red Sea tourist resort of Sharm el-Sheikh July 16, 2009. The meeting between the leaders followed a seventh-month freeze in dialogue between the rivals following the Mumbai attacks in November the previous year. Although the two parties issued an positive joint statement agreeing to resume bilateral talks on all issues, the composite dialogue process has remained stall since. —Photo by Reuters

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A local woman on a crutch shouts at Chinese soldiers wearing riot gear as a crowd of angry locals confront security forces on a street in the city of Urumqi in China’s Xinjiang Autonomous Region July 7, 2009. On July 5, riots broke out after Uighur protestors attacked Han civilians, killing scores of the settlers in the Muslim-majority region bordering Pakistan. The Chinese government deployed large numbers of security personnel to the area to restore order, but ethnic tensions have bubbled over several times since. —Photo by Reuters

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A video grab from Yemen’s state television shows army soldiers aiming a gun at rebel targets on a mountain in Saada province August 17, 2009. Yemen security forces launched a major offensive against Shia Zaidi rebels based in the north following repeated clashes and skirmisheds dating back to 2004. The conflict soon spread into southern Saudi Arabia after the rebels attacked Saudi forces in a cross-border attack. Saudi Arabia responded with major offensive, employing heavy airstrikes against the rebels. Yemen and Saudi Arabia have accused of Iran of backing the Zaidi uprising, while the rebels claim that the United States has conducted air strikes in their territory. —Photo by Reuters

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Afghan President Hamid Karzai glances at ballot boxes before casting his vote in Kabul as presidential and provincial elections were held across the country on August 20, 2009 despite serious threats from the Taliban. After a prolonged vote counting process marred by increasing allegations of electoral fraud, preliminary results from the govt-run election commission indicated the incumbent had gained an absolute majority, leading him to declare victory. However, amid growing evidence of widespread irregularities and intense Western pressure, Karzai acquiesced to a run-off election with his main challenger Abdullah Abdullah. Abdullah would drop out before the second round, handing Karzai a second term in office but leaving his legitimacy under question.—Photo by Reuters.

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Pakistan’s President Asif Ali Zardari is helped as he adjusts a photograph of his late wife Benazir Bhutto before his address to the 64th United Nations General Assembly at the UN headquarters in New York, September 25, 2009. The gathering of world leaders, the first to take place since the departure of unilateralist US President George Bush, was able to achieve significant progress in negotiations on climate change and nuclear disarmament. Meanwhile, a meeting of the 'Friends of Pakistan' organisation was held in which major powers confirmed multi-billion dollar pledges in support of Pakistan’s battle against militancy. The leaders of the US, Britain and France also used the UNGA meeting as an opportunity to warn Iran of severe repercussions if it continued its nuclear programme. —Photo by Reuters