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PolitInfo.com > Current Events > April 2004
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Articles: April 2004
- The United Nations refugee agency says more than 25,000 Sudanese refugees have
fled their settlements in northern Uganda in the aftermath of a series of
attacks by the rebel Lord's Resistance Army in recent weeks. (PolitInfo)
- U.S. newscast Nightline is taken off the air by several stations owned by the Sinclair Broadcast Group because of its planned airing of a list of soldiers killed in Iraq. Sinclair claims it is a political ploy, while network ABC says it is meant as "an expression of respect which simply seeks to honor those who have laid down their lives for this country". (Washington Post)
(PolitInfo)
- President George W. Bush expresses his "disgust" at images of Iraqi prisoners being mistreated by U.S. soldiers: "Their treatment does not reflect the nature of the American people." (DefenseLink.Mil).(PolitInfo).
Amnesty International says, the torture of Iraqi prisoners by coaltion forces
is "not an isolated incident".
(PolitInfo)
-
The State Department says the United States will not be party to any reward
for Pyongyang freezing its nuclear activities. (PolitInfo)
-
The U.N. Security Council authorizes a new peacekeeping force to take over the
job of restoring stability to Haiti.
(PolitInfo)
- Photographs showing Iraqi prisoners in the Abu Ghraib prison outside Baghdad being abused and humiliated by U.S. soldiers spark outrage around the world. Six soldiers face courts martial and their commanding officer is suspended. (BBC)
- Ten U.S. soldiers are killed in three attacks in Iraq, raising the number of U.S. combat deaths in April to 126. More U.S. troops have been killed this month than during the six weeks of "major combat" in 2003. (Washington Post)
(PolitInfo)
-
President Bush and Vice-President Dick Cheney meet in private with all 10
members of the commission investigating the September 11, 2001 terrorist
attacks on the United States.
(PolitInfo)
-
"Patterns of Global Terrorism 2003", a report by the Department of State is
released.
-
The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) closes its
conference on anti-Semitism with delegates agreeing on concrete measures to
fight a rising wave of anti-Semitism in Europe.
(PolitInfo)
- ROC presidential election, 2004: The High Court schedules a vote recount for May 10. (Bloomberg)
- Iraq Occupation and Insurgency:
- Intense fighting breaks out in Fallujah, as US forces respond to attacks on their positions by insurgents. Artillery and AC-130 gunships are used to bombard guerrilla positions, but the number of casualties is as yet unknown. (BBC)
- According to a CNN/USA Today/Gallup
poll, 71% of Iraqis see the U.S. troops in their country as "occupiers", only
19% as "liberators". (CNN)
(PolitInfo)
-
U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan warns the U.S.-led coalition in Iraq
that using military force could play into the hands of resistance forces.
(PolitInfo)
- More than 100 suspected Jemaah Islamiah militants die during their attacks on security outposts in Thailand's Muslim-dominated southern provinces of Pattani, Yala and Songkhla. (BBC)
(PolitInfo)
- In heavy fighting outside Najaf, Iraq, United States Armed Forces kill 64 insurgents and destroy an anti-aircraft weapon. (AP)
- A bomb explosion and gun battle occur in Damascus, Syria between security forces and a "terrorist group", in which four people are killed and a vacant United Nations building badly damaged. The identity and motives of the attackers is unclear but Islamist militants are the prime suspects. (BBC).
(PolitInfo)
- South African president Thabo Mbeki is sworn in for a second term after being overwhelmingly reelected on April 14. The event is marred by controversy over the attendance of Zimbabwean president Robert Mugabe. (BBC)
- In an open letter to Tony Blair, fifty-two former high ranking British diplomats, including former ambassadors to Iraq and Israel, condemn the Prime Minister's foreign policy stance in the Middle East as "doomed to failure". They also condemn George W. Bush's recent endorsement of Ariel Sharon's offer to withdraw settlers from the Gaza strip while leaving some in the West Bank as "one-sided and illegal and which will cost yet more Israeli and Palestinian blood". (BBC)
(PolitInfo)
-
Indian elections: the second phase of elections in the world's largest
democracy takes place. Many key states such as Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra and
Bihar vote; exit polls favour BJP, allies. (BBC)
(PolitInfo)
- Authorities in Jordan announce that they have broken up an attempt to set off massive explosions in Amman, possibly including the release of toxic chemicals. Alleged targets include the office of the Prime Minister, Jordanian intelligence headquarters, and the US embassy. The plot is attributed to Al Qaida operative Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. (CNN)
- Hong Kong's democracy movement suffers a setback as the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress declares the territory won't have direct elections for its Chief Executive in 2007 nor for all its lawmakers in 2008.
(PolitInfo)
- Austrian presidential election: Heinz Fischer (SPÖ) wins with 52% against Foreign Minister Benita Ferrero-Waldner (ÖVP). (The Guardian)
(PolitInfo)
- Hundreds of thousands of pro-abortion rights
demonstrators hold a rally in Washington.(PolitInfo)
- In the Cyprus reunification referendum, 65% of Turkish Cypriot voters accept and 76% of Greek Cypriot voters reject the Annan Plan.
Rejection of the plan means that Cyprus remains divided, and only the Greek
portion of the island enters into the European Union on May 1. (BBC) (BBC) (PolitInfo)
- Iraq Occupation and Insurgency:
- Suicide bombers detonate boats alongside two oil tankers and a coalition boat in the Persian Gulf, targeting Iraq's main oil terminal, Basra. (Reuters)
- A bomb in Baghdad's Sadr City market kills 12 Iraqis. In a separate incident, five US soldiers are killed in a rocket attack on a military base north of Baghdad. (CNN) (AP)
(PolitInfo)
- Muqtada al-Sadr threatens U.S. troops with suicide attacks if they move against him in Najaf. (Arab News) (Reuters)
(PolitInfo)
- South Africa's third democratically-elected parliament
is sworn in and re-elects President Thabo Mbeki to his second term.
(PolitInfo)
- Palestinian gunmen attack a police station in the Gaza Strip, freeing three men arrested for the October 2003 killing of Americans in the Gaza Strip. A fourth man arrested for the bombing refuses to leave the police station. (AP)
- Ryongchon disaster: Breaking from previous precedent, the North Korean government asks for and receives United Nations recovery assistance. (CNN)
- The world's largest grouping of Islamic states wants the United Nations
to take a central role in Iraq. In an emergency meeting the Organization of
Islamic Conference also criticizes U.S. policy on the Middle East.
(PolitInfo)
- The United Nations Security Council passes a unanimous resolution endorsing the inquiry into corruption in the United Nations Oil for food program for Iraq calling upon all 191 member states to cooperate. (NYT)
- Ryongchon disaster: at least 154 people are killed and over 1200 are injured, according to the Red Cross, in a massive explosion after a train carrying explosives came in contact with live electrical wires in Ryongchon, North Korea. 1850 homes were destroyed and thousands more damaged. (BBC) (BBC) (NYT)
- Mordechai Vanunu, who leaked Israeli nuclear-weapons secrets in 1986, is released from prison after 18 years. (Guardian) (BBC)
(PolitInfo)
- Two car bombs explode outside the General Security headquarters of Saudi Arabia in Riyadh, killing nine and wounding 125. (AP) (CNN)
(PolitInfo)
- Iraq Occupation and Insurgency:
- Three car bombs explode outside police stations in Basra, killing 68 people and wounding over 100 more. Iraqi officials blame suicide bombers for the terrorism. 23 of the casualties are school children. A fourth car bomb explodes in Zubeir, south of Basra, killing three and wounding four. British soldiers assisting the wounded are pelted with stones, injuring four, two seriously. (BBC) (NYT)
(PolitInfo)
- The Iraqi Governing Council chooses a tribunal of judges and prosecutors to try Saddam Hussein. Salem Chalabi, nephew of Ahmed Chalabi, will chair the tribual. (Toronto Star)
- Another member of the U.S.-led military coalition in Iraq announces it is
pulling its troops out of the country. Honduras follows Spain in saying it
will leave the coalition. Other Latin American countries may be preparing to
quit Iraq as well.
(PolitInfo)
- British Prime Minister Tony Blair has confirmed that a referendum will be held on the UK's ratification of the future EU constitution. (BBC)
(PolitInfo)
- Iraq Occupation and Insurgency: Iraqi insurgents fire twelve mortar shells at the Abu Ghraib prison in Baghdad, killing 22 and injuring 92. All victims are Iraqi security detainees suspected of involvement in anti-U.S. violence or membership in Saddam Hussein's Ba'athist regime. (AP)
- Lawyers for some of the hundreds of so-called enemy combatants being
detained by the Bush administration ask the United States Supreme Court to
allow their clients to seek their release through the U.S. court system.
(PolitInfo)
- Ten Iraqi Kurds and North Africans are arrested by UK police on suspicion of violating the Terrorism Act 2000. The arrests are made in dawn raids in Greater Manchester and other parts of the North and Midlands. (BBC)
(PolitInfo)
-
North Korean leader Kim Jong Il arrives in Beijing for a secretive visit,
just days after U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney left.
(PolitInfo)
-
The United Nations says violent clashes between Sudanese government troops,
pro-government militias, and rebels in southern Sudan have caused at least
50,000 people to flee their homes in the past month. (PolitInfo)
-
A new book (Plan
of Attack by Bob Woodward) says Vice President Dick Cheney informed the Saudi ambassador to
the United States of the president's decision to go to war in Iraq before
Secretary of State Colin Powell was told of the decision.
(PolitInfo)
- The new Prime Minister of Spain, José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, orders that all Spanish troops should be brought home from Iraq "in as short a time as possible", in accordance with "the will of the Spanish people". (BBC)
(PolitInfo)
-
A former ally of Slovakia's authoritarian ex-prime minister wins the
country's presidential runoff election. The latest official results show
Ivan Gasparovic defeats his former mentor, Vladimir Meciar, with about 60
percent of the vote.(PolitInfo)
- Three United Nations police officers are killed in Kosovo and another eleven injured after a gunfight breaks out between American and Jordanian UN police, reportedly stemming from an argument over the current situation in Iraq. (BBC)
(PolitInfo)
- Israeli-Palestinian conflict:
- Hamas selects a new leader in the Gaza Strip but keeps his identity secret, fearing that otherwise he will be killed. (NYT)
- Arab leaders harshly condemn the Israeli assassination of Hamas
leader Abdel Aziz Rantisi, saying Israel's policy of targeted killings
threatens peace and security in the entire region.
(PolitInfo)
- Burma's National League for Democracy reopens its Rangoon headquarters nearly a year after the government closed it down.
(PolitInfo)
- Israeli-Palestinian conflict: Abdel Aziz al-Rantissi, leader of Hamas, is killed by an Israeli missile attack. (CNN) (BBC)
(PolitInfo)
- Socialist Party leader José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero is sworn in as Spain's prime minister. (CNN)
- 2004 South Korean parliamentary elections: The Uri Party, backed by suspended President Roh Moo-hyun, more than triples its representation in the legislature, winning 152 of 299 seats.
(PolitInfo)
- The African National Congress (ANC) wins a decisive victory in the South
African General Election. With more than 96 percent of the results in from
South Africa's third democratic general election, the party has won more than
two-thirds of the seats in parliament, giving it the power to amend the
constitution.
(PolitInfo)
- Iraq Occupation and Insurgency:
- A new book by Bob Woodward states that U.S. President George W. Bush requested in the autumn of 2001 that plans be prepared for attacking Iraq. (NYT)
(PolitInfo)
- Arab satellite television network Al Jazeera broadcasts a videotape of a captured US soldier, perhaps one of those listed as missing in action since April 9. (NYT)
(PolitInfo)
- An audio tape, purportedly made by Osama bin Laden, is broadcast by Al-Arabiya. In it, he offers to cease terrorist operations in European countries which withdraw their troops from Muslim nations. The tape includes a vow of revenge on Israel and the United States for the death of Hamas leader, Ahmed Yassin. (Khaleej Times) (transcript)
(PolitInfo). The CIA has determined that the voice on the tape is likely to be bin Laden.
(PolitInfo)
- The International Atomic Energy Agency
(IAEA) and other U.N. diplomats state that nuclear-related equipment, some contaminated, and a number of missile engines have been smuggled out of Iraq for recycling in Jewometaal Stainless Processing B.V. scrap yards. Satellite photos detect "the extensive removal of equipment and, in some instances, removal of entire buildings" from sites that had been subject to U.N. monitoring before the Iraq war. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has also reiterated a call for arms inspectors to return to Iraq. (Washington Post) (ABC AU)
- Iraq Occupation and Insurgency:
- Khalil Naimi, a senior Iranian diplomat in Iraq, is killed while driving to the Iranian diplomatic mission in Baghdad by three unknown assailants, who drove up and shot him. He died shortly afterwards and the motives for the killing are unknown. The killing could complicate the mission of an Iranian government delegation which is in Iraq trying to mediate in the standoff between Iraq Alliance troops and Moktada al-Sadr's militia, led by the radical Shiite cleric who is fortified in the town of Najaf. (NYT) (BBC) (VOA)
- Iraqi militants execute Fabrizio Quattrocchi, one of four Italian hostages, in the first known murder from among the nearly two dozen foreigners being held in Iraq. Three Japanese civilians are released unharmed after one week in captivity. (NYT)
(PolitInfo)
- Three Japanese civilians taken hostage in Iraq were released. (Japan Times)
- Israeli-Palestinian conflict: Palestinian President Yasser Arafat, reacting to the United States President Bush and Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon summit, states Palestinian will never give up their struggle for an independent homeland, never abandon the claims of their refugees, nor make more territorial concessions. He states that Jerusalem will be its capital. Sharon, who wants to withdraw Israel from the Gaza Strip, faces opposition to his withdrawal plan. (VOA)
- Israeli-Palestinian conflict :
- Palestinian Cabinet Minister Saeb Erekat rejects statements by President of the United States George W. Bush stating that Israel would be allowed to keep some West Bank Israeli population centers. (NYT)
- United States President George W. Bush endorses Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's proposed withdrawal from the Gaza Strip and states that Palestinian refugees should return to a new Palestinian state, not to Israel. Bush says it is unrealistic to expect "full and complete return to the armistice lines of 1949." (NYT)
(PolitInfo)
- The United Nations warns of an imminent humanitarian crisis in the Darfur region of Sudan, where it is alleged that Arabs are waging a campaign of ethnic cleansing against the African population. (Morning Star)
- A provisional report from the Sept. 11 Commission states that the FBI was hampered in its fight against terrorism by poor intelligence, insufficient staffing and resources and a bureaucratic culture. (Sydney Morning Herald) (Washington Post)
(PolitInfo)
- Shanghai modifies its interpretation of China's One Child Policy, allowing all divorced residents who remarry to have a second child without penalty. (VOA) (Guardian)
- Burma's military government releases two senior opposition leaders
after nearly one year of house arrest.
(PolitInfo)
- Iraq Occupation:
- In a nationally broadcast news conference President Bush says the United States will live up to its commitments in Iraq,
despite the difficulties of recent days.
(PolitInfo)
- U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan says he sees little chance the world body
can resume a major role in Iraq under current security conditions.
(PolitInfo)
- Prince Hassan, a senior member of the Jordanian royal family, criticizes
the U.S.-led occupation of Iraq. He says more American troops will not be
able to pacify Iraq.
(PolitInfo)
- Coalition spokesman Dan Senor says 40 foreign civilians from 12 nations
are being held hostage in Iraq. Four Italian security guards are the latest
foreigners to be reported abducted. Russia Advises Its Citizens to Leave
Iraq after eight workers at a Russian energy company were taken hostage.
- Iraq Occupation:
- More civilians in Iraq are reported missing or captured by gunmen in
what has become a rash of abductions of foreigners from nations taking part in
the U.S.-led occupation.(PolitInfo)
- Lieutenant General Ricardo S. Sanchez states that the mission of the U.S. forces is to kill or capture Muqtada al-Sadr. (Defenselink)
- Pakistani opposition leader Javed Hashmi, president of the Alliance for Restoration of Democracy has been given 23 years in prison for inciting mutiny and sedition in the armed forces. He distributed a letter critical of Pakistani president Pervez Musharraf. (BBC) (Hi Pakistan) (Xinhuanet)
(PolitInfo)
- Iraq Occupation and Insurgency:
- An informal ceasefire holds; Muhammad Bashar al-Fiyadi, spokesperson of the Association of Muslim Scholars, notes that there were minor skirmishes but there were no major clashes. A deputy to a member in the Iraq Interim Governing Council states the truce would be extended for another 12 hours. (BBC) (Reuters) (Aljazeera)
- Gunmen shoot down helicopter during fighting in western Baghdad. Rebels threaten to kill and burn a civilian, Thomas Hamill, unless the Alliance troops end their assault on Fallujah by 6 am. The deadline passed with no word on Hamill’s fate. (Tribune India)
- New Iraqi battalion
refuses to support Coalition forces in the town of Falluja. (BBC)
- Responding to requests by the September 11th Commission, the White House released a newly-declassified briefing from a month before the September 11, 2001 attacks warning of possible Al-Qaida activity, including planned hijackings, within the United States. (CNN) (Smoking Gun)
(PolitInfo:
Full Text)
- Iraq Occupation and Insurgency:
- Iraq marks the anniversary of Saddam Hussein's fall with fighting and bloodshed. Kurds, in the relatively stable north, celebrate with parties and the melting of an ice statue of the ousted dictator. (Aljazeera)
(PolitInfo)
- More than a thousand Nepalis are arrested in Kathmandu for taking part in a demonstration calling on their king to restore democracy. (Morning Star)
(PolitInfo)
-
Thousands of civilians in eastern Sri Lanka flee rebel-held areas where rival
Tamil Tiger factions are fighting a major battle.(PolitInfo)
- Algeria's President Abdelaziz Bouteflika wins re-election to a second
five-year term in a landslide vote.
(PolitInfo)
- Iraq Occupation and Insurgency:
- South Korea announces deployment of 3,700 soldiers in Iraq by August, despite recent attacks. The augmentation will make it the coalition's third largest contingent. (World Tribune)
- Japan refuses to withdraw troops from Iraq in the face of the death threats from insurgents holding three of its citizens. (BBC)
(PolitInfo)
- United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan urges stepped-up efforts to protect civilians and end the violence in the deteriorating security situation in Iraq. (UN)
- Sudan's government says it has reached agreement with rebels to halt
fighting in order to deliver humanitarian aid in the volatile western region
of Darfur.
(PolitInfo)
- Bangladesh is paralysed by a general strike called in protest at alleged government corruption. (Morning Star)
- US National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice testifies before the Sept. 11 Commission.(Transcript) Rice states President George W. Bush understood threat from al-Qaeda before September 11. (BBC) The commission asks the White House to declassify a key August 2001 document entitled Bin Laden Determined to Attack Inside the United States. (CNN)
(PolitInfo)
(PolitInfo)
- Iraq Occupation and Insurgency:
- Iraq Alliance troops are locked in heavy fighting, one year after the fall of Saddam Hussein. Ukrainian troops cede Kut to Moqtada al-Sadr supporters. Sunni Muslim insurgents engage in two fronts west of Baghdad; a Shiite uprising spreads in southern and central Iraq. (IHT)
- Shiite Muslim militias hold two southern Iraqi cities. Sunni insurgents kill U.S. Marine in Fallujah. Militants kidnap three Japanese, eight South Korean, and two Israeli Arab civilians. The South Koreans are later released. Al-Jazeera television airs videotape of militants threatening to burn alive blindfolded Japanese hostages unless Tokyo withdraws its troops from Iraq. (IHT) (INN) (NYT)
- 30 Americans and more than 150 Iraqis are dead in the fighting for the city in Fallujah. U.S. helicopter hit militants in mosque with three missiles. 40 individuals are killed in the mosque. Marines and rebels continue to exchange fire. (TWEAN)
(PolitInfo)
- Militia forces loyal to Abdurrashid Dostum take Meymaneh, the capital of Faryab province, Afghanistan, from the interim government and force the governor to flee. (WP)
- U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan warns outside military action may be
needed to stop what he calls ethnic cleansing in the strife-torn Darfur region
in western Sudan.
(PolitInfo)
- Rwanda Marks 10th Anniversary of Genocide.
(PolitInfo)
- Occupation of Iraq:
- U.S. Marines battling Iraqi insurgents in the Sunni stronghold of
Fallujah bomb the grounds of a mosque in the city, causing what witnesses
say were a number of civilian casualties.
(PolitInfo)
- The Arab League appeals to the United Nations to help restore calm in
Iraq, in the wake of fierce fighting involving both Suni and Shi'ite
insurgents and coalition forces.
(PolitInfo)
- Same-sex marriage in the United States: Represented by the ACLU, New York State Assemblyman Daniel O'Donnell and his partner and 12 other same sex couples file suit against the New York Department of Health to strike down a state law defining marriage as between "a man and a woman." (365Gay.com) (Newsday)
- The Standing Committee of the National People's Congress rules that the right to amend the Basic Law of Hong Kong belongs to the National People's Congress. The Standing Committee also issued an "interpretation" (effectively an amendment) of the Basic Law which set out an additional step required for any changes in Hong Kong's political structures. (CNN)
(PolitInfo)
- The parliament of Lithuania narrowly votes to impeach President Rolandas Paksas for violating the constitution. Parliamentary speaker Arturas Paulauskas will act as president for two months pending new elections. (BBC)
(PolitInfo)
- ABC reports that British government sources believe that suspects arrested last week in the UK may have been plotting to make an improvised chemical weapon using the toxic agent osmium tetroxide. (ABC/US) (BBC)
- Palestinian officials state that the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) asks Hamas fighters to join a decision making body to run the Gaza Strip if Israel pulls out. (Al Jazeera)
- Occupation of Iraq:
- Iraqi insurgents and rebellious Shiites challenge Coalition occupation forces. At least 30 Iraqis are killed. Sixteen Iraqis died in battles with Marines in Fallujah. At least 18 American soldiers and more than 116 Iraqis have died in three days of clashes. A Salvadoran soldier and one from Ukraine also are killed. (Associated Press)
(PolitInfo)
- Militant cleric Moqtada Sadr rallies his Mahdi Army militia in a third day of urban warfare with coalition forces after fleeing to a refuge close to Shia Islam's holiest shrine. (Financial Times)
- Preliminary results from Guinea-Bissau's parliamentary election indicate
the country's former ruling party has recaptured a dominant share of seats in
the legislature.
(PolitInfo)
- Pakistan offers to hold nuclear disarmament talks with India next month in
Islamabad.
(PolitInfo)
- Occupation of Iraq:
For the second day, Iraqi demonstrators, many of them disciples of a Shiite
cleric, clash with U.S. troops in Baghdad and other Iraqi cities.
(PolitInfo)
- The U.S. Army closes off the turbulent Iraqi city of Falluja ahead of a major operation against insurgents following the slayings of four civilian American security contractors. (Middle East Newsline) (NYT) (NPR)
- The U.S. is examining the possibility of sending more troops to Iraq if situation gets out of control. (BBC)
- An Iraqi judge issues arrest warrant for Muqtada al-Sadr, whom the Coalition Provisional Authority accuses of igniting anti-American violence that led to the deaths of eight U.S. troops. (Online NewsHour)
- Secretary-General's Special Adviser, Lakhdar Brahimi holds talks with the Iraqi Governing Council in Baghdad. (UN)
- A United States government study finds that an African-American woman was 23 times more likely to be infected with AIDS than is a white woman. Recent studies suggest that 30 percent of all black bisexual men may be infected with HIV. (NYT)
- In South Korea, Uri Party chairman Chung Dong-young calls on the opposition parties to withdraw the motion for impeachment against President Roh Moo-hyun. (Hankooki)
- Investigators trace ties of international Islamist groups to Madrid train bombers from six international arrest warrants. (Reuters)
- Sri Lankan President Chandrika Kumaratunga's party is ahead in the vote count for
Friday's parliamentary elections. But analysts believe the vote will fall
short of an absolute majority and the party will be forced to form a coalition
government.
(PolitInfo)
- Thomas H. Kean, chairman of the commission investigating the September 11, 2001 attacks and former Republican governor of New Jersey says that the attacks could have been prevented had the United States government acted sooner to dismantle Al Qaeda and responded more quickly to other terrorist threats. (NYT)
- Serhane ben Abdelmajid Farkhet (alias "The Tunisian") is suspected of dying in April 3 Madrid explosion (along with three other suspects). Spanish Interior Minister Angel Acebes announces that the ringleader of the March 11, 2004 Madrid bombings is dead. 200 detonators and 22 pounds of dynamite were found "in the apartment where the four terrorists blew themselves up as police closed in", Acebes said. (BBC News) (NYT)
(PolitInfo)
- Occupation of Iraq:
- Iraqi march erupts in deadly violence. Supporters of Moqtada Sadr outside a coalition military base in Najaf, Iraq threw rocks and fired shots. Spanish troops and Iraqi police returned fire. Nineteen people (including some soldiers) were killed from the fire. (BBC) (VOA)
- Police chief of Kufa, Saeed Tryak, is killed and one of his escorts is injured when their car is attacked at al-Adala in Najaf, southeast of Baghdad. Police chief of al-Mahmudiya in Baghdad, Usama Husayn, is also killed leaving his house in al-Khadra neighbourhood. He is shot by men in police uniforms. (Al Jazeera)
- Seven U.S. soldiers are killed and at least 24 wounded in fighting in the Baghdad neighbourhood of Sadr City. (BBC)
- Israeli-Palestinian conflict:
- Palestinian Yasser Arafat dismisses Israeli threat to kill him. American representatives, and other world leaders, criticize Israel's prime minister for the suggestion. (ArabNews)
- Prime Minister Ariel Sharon conflicts with right-wing ministers over plan to unilaterally disengage from the Gaza Strip. Housing and Construction Minister, Effie Eitam, and Tourism Minister, Benny Elon, demand the plan recieves cabinet approval. (Jerusalem Post)
- The United Nations official for humanitarian affairs says Arab militias
in Western Sudan's Darfur region are conducting an ethnic cleansing campaign.(PolitInfo)
- U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell admits key evidence about Iraqi
weapons capabilities that he presented to the U.N. Security Council last year
may have been wrong.
(PolitInfo)
- The United States says it will begin in September to require visitors
from all countries except Mexico and Canada to be digitally fingerprinted and
photographed when they enter the country.
(PolitInfo)
- Vladimir Meciar has won 1st round of Presidential election in Slovakia.
(PolitInfo)
- At least three persons suspected in involvement in the March 11, 2004 Madrid bombings blow themselves up in an apartment building in the Madrid suburb Leganés as police officers try to arrest them. Besides the suspects, one police officer is killed and 11 injured. (CBC)
(PolitInfo)
- Germany: 500,000 people protest against lowering social standards in Berlin, Cologne and Stuttgart as part of a European protest weekend (SPIEGEL)
- Israeli police storms a Muslim holy site in Jerusalem's walled Old City
after Palestinian youths and worshippers threw stones at police. (AP)
(PolitInfo)
-
NATO officially welcomes seven new Central and Eastern European members
to the alliance at a ceremony at its Brussels headquarters.
(PolitInfo)
- The Spanish government discloses that a powerful bomb has been discovered on the high-speed AVE railway line between Madrid and Seville. (BBC) The bomb, found near Toledo, is revealed the next day to be the same type as those used in the 11 March 2004 Madrid attacks, which killed 191 people. (CBC)
(PolitInfo)
- Kerry Campaign says it raised record-breaking $50 Million in 1st Quarter
of 2004.
(PolitInfo)
-
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon promotes his plan for unilateral
disengagement from the Palestinians and warns Yasser Arafat that he, too,
could be a target for assassination.
(PolitInfo)
- Hong Kong police forcibly disperse a peaceful demonstration outside the Government Headquarters building, carrying away people, including journalists, one by one. The demonstrators hoped the Government would send a representative to accept an open letter from the demonstrators. The Hong Kong Journalists' Association condemns the police action for infringing freedom of press by removing journalists from the scene first. (BBC) (CNN) (Hong Kong Standard)
- Report on anti-Semitism by the European Union's European Monitoring Centre on Racism and Xenophobia (EUMC) concluded attacks against Jews in Europe are rising primarily ascribed to youth from neighborhoods sensitive to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, principally of North African descent. (Israel Insider)
- International Afghanistan Donors Conference: Afghanistan gets much of what
it asked for in funds for reconstruction of that battered country.Afghan
President Hamid Karzai declares the international meeting on development
aid a success, but warns Afghanistan's battle against the illegal drug trade
was a long-term struggle.
(PolitInfo)
(PolitInfo)
- Leaders of the Greek and Turkish Cypriot communities fail to sign on to a
United Nations plan for reunifying their divided island. The fate of the final
U.N. plan to reunify Cyprus is now in the hands of the Greek and Turkish
Cypriot people, who will vote in a referendum on the plan April 24.
(PolitInfo)
(PolitInfo)
- George W. Bush signs the Unborn Victims of Violence Act, commonly known as Laci and Conner's Law, that states that an act of violence that leads to the death of a pregnant mother and her child can be counted as two offenses. (White House) (UPI)
- The Turkish Interior Ministry states forty-one members of terrorist organization, Revolutionary People's Liberation Party (DHKP-C), are detained in synchronous operations in Turkey, Germany, Italy, Belgium, and the Netherlands. (Xinhua)
- British Immigration Minister Beverley Hughes resigns over visa irregularities. (BBC)
January 2004 - February 2004 - March 2004
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