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Articles: August 2004
August 31,
2004
- A
female suicide bomber kills ten and injures 51 others near a
subway station in
Moscow.
(CNN)
(Reuters)
(BBC)
(PolitInfo)
- Republican delegates to their national convention in New York formally
nominate George Bush as the party's candidate for another four-year term as
President of the United States.
(PolitInfo)
- Palestinian
suicide bombers kill at least 16 Israelis and wound more than 91 others
aboard two city buses in
Beer Sheva,
Israel in the
first successful Palestinian suicide bombings since
March 14, 2004,
with Hamas
claiming responsibility.
(BBC)
(Haaretz)
(PolitInfo)
- In Iraq, the radical
Islamist
group,
Army of Ansar al-Sunna, kill 12
Nepali
civilians employed as cooks and cleaners.
(Reuters)
(PolitInfo)
- Former
Yugoslav President
Slobodan Milosevic, a Belgrade Law School graduate, opens his defence at
the trial which accuses him of
genocide,
crimes against humanity and
war
crimes for his alleged role in the conflicts in which tens of thousands
were killed. He maintains the charges are 'unscrupulous lies'.
(BBC News)
(Reuters)
(PolitInfo)
- Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon proposes a detailed, accelerated
timetable to withdraw all Jewish settlements from the Gaza Strip at the
beginning of next year - months earlier than originally planned.
(PolitInfo)
-
Despite demands from
Iraqi resistance
Islamist
militant
elements threatening to kill two
French
hostages, France upholds its
law on secularity and conspicuous religious symbols in schools,
specifically its ban on
Muslim
hijabs.
(ABC News)
(Reuters)
(PolitInfo)
-
Afghan police
say a
United States bombing raid killed at least six
civilians
in the eastern province of
Kunar.
(Reuters)
(BBC)
(PolitInfo)
August 30,
2004
- A senior U.N. official says the Sudanese government is not doing enough to
provide security for people displaced by fighting in the war-torn Darfur
region of western Sudan.
(PolitInfo) Peace talks being held in Nigeria are expected to enter their
second week after several delays, including a rebel boycott to mourn the loss
of civilians they claim were killed recently by government forces.
- Election dispute in
Chechnya:
After leading rival
Malik Saidullayev was disqualified on a technicality.
Putin-supported
Alu
Alkhanov wins in a landslide. US and EU dispute results.
(Reuters) (Reuters)
(NYT)
(PolitInfo) The United States says Sunday's elections in Chechnya were
seriously flawed and fell short of international standards.
(PolitInfo)
-
U.S. presidential campaign: The
Republican National Convention begins in
New
York City as massive protests continue.
(CNN)
(PolitInfo)
- Repeated attacks on
pipelines linked to southern
oil fields
have significantly hampered
oil
exports from Iraq.
(Washington Post)
(Moscow Times)
(PolitInfo)
- President
Chen Shui-bian cancels the annual Han Kuang live-fire exercises previously
schedule for September 9 as a goodwill gesture to the mainland after the
People's Republic of China reportedly halted its military drills at
Dongshan island on the
Taiwan Strait.
(CNN)
(PolitInfo)
August 29,
2004
- More than 400,000 demonstrators march in
New
York City,
protesting U.S.
President
George W. Bush and the policies of the
Republican Party on the eve of the
2004 Republican National Convention. Republican delegates and politicians,
including
Vice President
Dick
Cheney, also begin to arrive in the city.
(The Scotsman)
(Houston Chronicle)
(Reuters)
(BBC)
(PolitInfo)
- Australian Prime Minister
John
Howard announces an
Australian federal election, to take place on
October 9,
2004. (ABC
Au)
(PolitInfo)
- Russian authorities say they have now found traces of explosives in the
wreckage of both passenger aircraft that crashed on
August 24,
2004.
(PolitInfo)
- A powerful bomb explosion in the center of the Afghan capital, Kabul,
kills at least seven people, including foreigners. The attack comes a day
after a bomb blast in a southeastern province killed 10 people, mostly
children.
(PolitInfo)
August 28,
2004
- Secretary of State Colin Powell cancels a visit to Greece to attend the
closing ceremonies of the Athens Olympics. Greek and U.S. officials say
anti-American demonstrations in the Greek capital hours before Mr. Powell's
expected arrival played no part in his decision. Earlier Police in
Athens fired tear gas at hundreds of demonstrators who were trying to march on
the American Embassy to protest the upcoming visit of Secretary Powell.
(PolitInfo)
- Lebanon's Cabinet votes Saturday to amend the country's constitution to
permit President Emile Lahoud to stay in office for three more years after his
present term ends.
(PolitInfo)
- The government of Equatorial Guinea announces that it has requested an
international arrest warrant for the son of former British Prime Minister
Margaret Thatcher for his alleged involvement in a failed coup attempt in the
oil-rich west African nation.
(PolitInfo)
- In Bangladesh, at least 50 people have been injured in clashes with
authorities during a general strike called by the main opposition party.
(PolitInfo)
August 27,
2004
- Following the intervention of Grand
Ayatollah
Ali
Sistani, an agreement is found to end the
standoff in
Najaf. Although the terms are not clear, the deal requires both the
Sadr
militia and U.S. troops to leave the city, to be replaced by
interim government police.
(BBC)
(PolitInfo)
- Pakistan's parliament elects former Finance Minister Shaukat Aziz as new
prime minister of the country in a vote boycotted by the opposition.
(PolitInfo)
- An Arab television station says received a video showing the killing of
Italian journalist Enzo Baldoni. Militants had threatened to execute him if
Italy did not withdraw its troops from Iraq.
(PolitInfo)
- U.S. President Bush reportedly admits he miscalculated post-war conditions
in Iraq.
(PolitInfo)
- The FBI has
launched a full espionage investigation into
Larry Franklin after obtaining evidence pointing to a high-ranking
spy in
the
Pentagon. According to
CBS News , the spy has been giving classified secrets to
Israel which
could compromise U.S.
national security. Israel denies the charges.
(PolitInfo)
- The Russian
Federal Security Service announces that traces of the
explosive
hexogen
have been found in the wreckage of the two Russia
airliners
which crashed on
August 24,
2004. The
Islamic
group "the Islambouli Brigades" claims responsibility.
(AP)
(PolitInfo)
August 26,
2004
- Officials from the United Nations and the Sudanese government visit
the war-torn Darfur region of western Sudan to see whether the government is
following through on its commitments to restore peace to the area.
(PolitInfo)
- In India's northeastern state of Assam, two separate explosions kille five
people and wounded more than 40.
(PolitInfo)
- The U.S. Census Bureau announces that the number of citizens living in
poverty and without health insurance rose in 2003.
(PolitInfo)
-
Hungary's ruling Socialists appoint Ferenc Gyurcsany, a flamboyant
millionaire, as the country's new prime minister.
(PolitInfo)
- Some new public opinion polls suggest the U.S. presidential election
remains very tight and that an unusually high number of voters have already
decided which candidate they will support.
(PolitInfo)
- A Yemeni man facing trial on war crimes charges appears in a U.S.
military court confessing to be a member of al-Qaida and demanding to
represent himself before what will be the first military commissions since
WWII.
(PolitInfo)
- Chile's
Supreme Court strips former military ruler
Augusto Pinochet of his immunity from prosecution, allowing him to be
prosecuted for alleged crimes including involvement in
murder and
torture.
(BBC)
(PolitInfo)
-
Najaf standoff
- Twenty-five people are killed and 100 wounded during a
mortar
attack on the main
mosque in
the Iraqi city
of Kufa. 20
Shiite
marchers in Kufa are killed and 70 wounded by gunfire. The identity of the
attackers is unknown, reportedly though a source of gunfire was near an
Iraqi National Guard base.
(BBC)
(Reuters)
(CNN)
(PolitInfo)
- Grand
Ayatollah
Ali al-Sistani begins negotiations with
Shiite
cleric
Moqtada al-Sadr in a bid to end the fighting in
Najaf for
three weeks. Sistani tells thousands of Iraqis heading to the
holy city to wait on the outskirts of Najaf.
(khaleejtimes) Ayatollah Sistani calls a pause in fighting, telling
protesters to stay home, and urging all forces to withdraw. US and Iraqi
troops suspend attacks for 24 hours.
(CSMonitor)
August 25,
2004
- A US Army investigation finds that 27 members of a U.S. military
intelligence unit at the Abu Ghraib prison near Baghdad were directly involved
in the abuse of Iraqi prisoners.
(PolitInfo)
- Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry calls for Defense Secretary
Donald Rumsfeld to resign Wednesday in the wake of a critical report on the
Iraqi prisoner abuse scandal released August 24.
(PolitInfo)
- Sudan's government says it will accept a larger African Union peacekeeping
force in Darfur as long as the troops are used to contain and demobilize rebel
forces.
(PolitInfo)
-
An Australian man accused of attempted murder and conspiracy to commit war
crimes pleads not guilty Wednesday before a U.S. military commission set to
begin prosecuting accused enemy combatants.
(PolitInfo)
- Bangladesh comes to a halt for the second day in a row as the main
opposition party enforced a two-day general strike.
(PolitInfo)
- The Nepalese capital Kathmandu returns to normal after Maoist rebels
lifted a week-long economic blockade of the city.
(PolitInfo)
- Sir
Mark Thatcher, son of former
British Prime Minister
Margaret Thatcher, is arrested at his home in
Cape Town,
South
Africa, on charges related to his alleged involvement in an attempted
coup
in
Equatorial Guinea. He is later released on bail, and is to return to court
on
November 25.
(BBC)
(PolitInfo)
- Pakistan's caretaker prime minister steps down, clearing the way for
Finance Minister Shaukat Aziz to take control of the country's Parliament.
(PolitInfo)
-
Welsh nationalist
MP
Adam Price announces his intention to
impeach
Prime Minister
Tony
Blair, with the support of other Welsh and
Scottish
nationalist MPs.
(BBC)
(PolitInfo)
August 24,
2004
- High-level American military leaders are said to be at least partly
responsible for abuses of
Iraqi prisoners
at
Abu Ghraib prison in a report written by an investigative panel headed by
James Schlesinger.
(Toronto Star)
(PolitInfo) The lawyer for an American soldier on trial for abusing Iraqi
prisoners has called on the court to order top military intelligence
commanders to testify.
(PolitInfo)
- The U.S. military begins preliminary hearings at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba to
prosecute four accused enemy combatants on war crimes charges for allegedly
conspiring with terrorists who threaten the United States. Legal and
human rights groups have already denounced the process as fundamentally flawed.
(PolitInfo)
- Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry accuses Republicans of using
fear and smear tactics.
(PolitInfo)
-
United Nations officials say Sudan has not done enough to control Arab
militias accused of crimes against African villagers in the Darfur region.
(PolitInfo)
- Two Iraqi
interim government ministers escape
suicide attacks in
Baghdad. At
least four bodygards are killed.
(BBC)
(PolitInfo)
August 23,
2004
-
Sudanese officials and leaders of two rebel groups open talks in the Nigerian
capital, Abuja, in an effort to end the fighting in the Darfur region of
western Sudan.
(PolitInfo)
- A U.S. federal judge rules that two protest groups cannot force New York
City to give them permits to stage large rallies on Central Park's Great Lawn,
days before the Republican National Convention.
(PolitInfo)
- Israel announces plans to build hundreds of new settler homes in the West
Bank, in defiance of the U.S.-backed 'road map' peace plan.
(PolitInfo)
- Politics of Taiwan: The
Legislative Yuan proposes a package of amendments by 217-1 that includes
halving the number of legislators and abolishing the
National Assembly.
(Taiwan News)
(BBC)
(PolitInfo)
- U.S. marines
and Shi'ite
militiamen fight several fierce battles around the
Imam Ali Mosque, a shrine in
Najaf,
Iraq in some of
the heaviest fighting since the 20-day-old rebellion erupted.
(Reuters)
(PolitInfo)
August 22,
2004
- More than 200 members of Somalia's new parliament were being sworn in
Sunday at a ceremony in Kenya's capital, Nairobi.
(PolitInfo)
- Violent protests erupt across Bangladesh, a day after nearly 20 people
were killed and more than a hundred wounded in grenade attacks on an
opposition rally.
(CBC News)
(PolitInfo)
- Explosions and gunfire shook the streets of the Iraqi holy city of Najaf ,
as a new round of fighting erupted between U.S. forces and Iraqi Shi'ites
holed up in a religious shrine.
(PolitInfo)
- China marks the 100th anniversary of the birth of its late leader Deng
Xiaoping with a celebration attended by top party officials in Beijing.
(PolitInfo)
-
Singapore's new
Prime Minister
Lee Hsien Loong, hoping to quell Beijing's fury over his July 10-12 visit
to Taiwan,
says that he will not support the island if the
People's Republic of China attacks it in retaliation for any push for
Taiwan independence.
(Yahoo! India)
August 21,
2004
- In Bangladesh, a series of explosions at an opposition party rally, where
a former prime minister was speaking, kill at least 13 people and wound dozens
of others.
(PolitInfo)
- The Sudanese government pledges it will not force more than one million
people displaced by civil war in its Darfur region to return home against
their will.
(PolitInfo)
-
Supporters of Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry say they
are taking legal action against a group that has tried to discredit the U.S.
senator's record of heroism during the Vietnam war.
(PolitInfo)
-
In Nepal, fresh violence erupts in the capital, Kathmandu, on the
fourth day of a blockade imposed by Maoist rebels.
(PolitInfo)
-
Venezuelan election officials say an audit of last Sunday's recall
referendum has confirmed that President Hugo Chavez won fairly.
(PolitInfo)
August 20,
2004
- A U.S. newspaper reports that the still-unfinished Army report on abuse at
Baghdad's Abu Ghraib prison will blame the misconduct on failures of
leadership at the U.S. command in Iraq.
(PolitInfo)
- The Nepalese capital, Kathmandu, is hit by bomb blasts on the third day of
a blockade called by Maoist rebels. Nepal's government agrees to investigate
the whereabouts of missing activists, a key rebel demand.
(Toronto Star)
(PolitInfo)
- A meeting of Asian and African nations in South Africa is proposing a new
partnership, to be called the New Asian/African Strategic Partnership, which
delegates say should be used to empower the two continents in world affairs.
(PolitInfo)
- Mongolia's parliament appoints a new prime minister, breaking a political
impasse following highly contested elections in the north Asian nation two
months ago.
(PolitInfo)
- An article in a British journal charges U.S. military medical personnel
with ignoring medical ethics and human rights by complying in the mistreatment
of American held prisoners in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
(PolitInfo)
August 19,
2004
- An on-going battle, apparently between a combination of
U.S. and Iraqi forces, and the
al-Mahdi
Army of
Muqtada al-Sadr, damages two of
minarets of
the
Imam Ali Mosque in
Najaf,
Iraq, which
al-Sadr's forces occupied.
(CNN)
(PolitInfo)
- Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry lashes out at a veterans
group that accused him of lying about his combat record during the Vietnam
War.
(PolitInfo)
-
Georgia has pulled its troops out of the republic of South Ossetia
(PolitInfo)
- At the
Non-Aligned Movement summit in
Durban,
South
African President
Thabo
Mbeki calls for reform of the
UN and other
international institutions, saying that developing countries should not allow
powerful nations to dictate the world on their own terms.
(BBC)
(PolitInfo)
- Israel's
prime minister,
Ariel
Sharon, vows to press on with his disengagement plan, despite it receiving
another rejection from his
Likud party.
(BBC)
(PolitInfo)
- Hungarian
prime minister
Péter Medgyessy resigns following a row with his
Socialist party's liberal coalition partner, the
Free Democrats.
(BBC)
(PolitInfo)
- Pakistani police are investigating allegations that officers tortured and
killed a detainee suspected of militant ties.
(PolitInfo)
- The United Nations mark the first anniversary of the bombing of its
headquarters in Baghdad with a memorial service honoring those who were killed
and injured.
(PolitInfo)
August 18,
2004
- In a statement issued from his
Baghdad
office,
Shiite Muslim cleric
Muqtada al-Sadr agrees to order his militia to leave the
Imam Ali Mosque in
Najaf,
Iraq, after
threats by Prime Minister
Iyad
Allawi's government to "liberate" it. Al-Sadr further agrees to disband
his
Jaish-i-Mahdi militia, and enter the "mainstream political process". It
remains unclear when the withdrawal will actually take place.
(CNN)
(Reuters) An Iraqi conference chooses a national council to oversee
the workings of the Iraqi interim government.
(PolitInfo)
- The government of
Colombia
announces that it offered, in July, to trade 50 imprisoned guerrillas in
return for hostages being held by the
Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia.
(BBC)
(PolitInfo)
- In a speech to Palestinian lawmakers in the West Bank city of Ramallah
Palestinian President Yasser Arafat acknowledges that the Palestinian
Authority has made "mistakes" and he promises to correct them.
(PolitInfo)
- Afghanistan's 17 opposition candidates for president are demanding that
transitional leader Hamid Karzai resign from office before the coming election.
(PolitInfo)
- Nepal's capital is largely cut off from the rest of the country after
Maoist rebels imposed a blockade of the city.
(PolitInfo)
August 17,
2004
- Aid workers in eastern Chad are reporting a sharp increase in the number
of refugees fleeing the Darfur region of western Sudan.
(PolitInfo)
- Israel approves the construction of about 1,000 new settlement homes in
the West Bank. The move is in defiance of the U.S.-backed roadmap peace plan
that calls for an Israeli construction freeze in the occupied territories.
(PolitInfo)
- Georgian and South Ossetian officials agree to a new cease-fire and
plans to demilitarize the separatist region.
(PolitInfo)
- India's Supreme Court orders two-thousand cases stemming from Hindu-Muslim
riots in Gujarat state two-years ago be reinvestigated because of possible
anti-Muslim bias on the part of the state authorities.
(PolitInfo)
- As campaigning gets under way for parliamentary elections scheduled for
next March, Zimbabwe's main opposition party, the Movement for Democratic
Change, complains that its political activities are severely restricted
because most of its rallies have been banned.
(PolitInfo)
- Kenya's government rejects an appeal by the Maasai tribesmen to return
control of one million acres of tribal land leased to British settlers.
(PolitInfo)
August 16,
2004
- U.S. President Bush announces a major restructuring of U.S. forces
abroad. 60-70,000 troops will be pulled out of bases in Europe and Asia.
(PolitInfo)
- Officials in the former Soviet republic of Georgia say two of their
peacekeepers have been killed in the breakaway region of South Ossetia,
threatening a cease-fire agreed last weekend.
(PolitInfo)
- North Korea says it will not attend working-level talks on its
nuclear-weapons programs because of what it calls U.S. hostility.
(PolitInfo)
- In the standoff between the
Jaish-i-Mahdi militia and
Iraqi and
US forces, fears of a major assault on
Najaf mount.
The city is closed to
journalists and some
Iraqi government soldiers are reported to desert. Some delegates at the
national conference call on Iraqi interim Prime Minister
Allawi
to end military operations against
Muqtada al-Sadr.
(BBC)
(NYT)
(PolitInfo)
- At the 100th anniversary ceremony of the
Herero
uprising,
Germany apologises for the
genocide in
Namibia, but rules out
reparations.
(Guardian)
August 15,
2004
-
Chávez recall:
Venezuelan
President
Hugo
Chávez defeats a
recall vote with 58% support. Some opposition members claim election
fraud, but monitors from the
Organization of American States and the
Carter Center endorse the official result.
(BBC)
(AP)
(PolitInfo)
- 1,300 Iraqi
delegates begin a three-day conference in
Baghdad to
select an interim
national assembly. The area of the conference is attacked by
mortars, which kill one person and wound 17.
(Reuters)
(PolitInfo)
- 1,600
Palestinians in
Israeli
jails begin a
hunger strike to protest against their prison conditions. Israeli Internal
Security Minister
Tzahi Hanegbi comments: "As far as I'm concerned, they can strike for a
day, a month, until death."
(BBC)
(PMC)
(Arutz Sheva)
- India's
Independence Day celebrations are marred by a bomb blast that kills some 18
people at a parade in
Dhemaji, Assam.
Immediate suspicion falls on
ULFA separatists.
(BBC)
(PolitInfo)
- The U.N. Security Council strongly condemns the massacre of ethnic
Tutsis at a U.N. refugee camp in Burundi.
(PolitInfo)
August 14,
2004
- Gunmen kill at least 156 people – mainly women and children – in an
overnight
raid on the
Gatumba camp
for
Congolese Tutsi
refugees in
Burundi,
the
UN says.
(BBC)
(PolitInfo)
- US planes bomb the city of
Samarra,
north-west of
Baghdad. In
Najaf, a fragile
ceasefire
holds, with
Muqtada al-Sadr making defiant statements but continuing negotiations. The
Allawi
government decides to withdraw from the negotiations in the afternoon.
(BBC)
(BBC)
(PolitInfo)
- The World Food Program says it has reached an agreement with two rebel
groups in Sudan's troubled Darfur region to give the agency access to areas
under their control, so the WFP can assess food needs at camps for internally
displaced people.
(PolitInfo)
August 13,
2004
- Darfur Crisis:
- Sudan's government says it is ready to take part in new talks aimed at
restoring peace in the war-torn Darfur region.
(PolitInfo)
- Nigeria says Sudan peace talks on Darfur, to be chaired by the African
Union and Chad in Abuja, Nigeria, later this month, will go ahead as scheduled,
despite reports from Sudanese rebel groups that they may not attend.
(PolitInfo)
- Mongolia's leading political parties agree to form a new government after
nearly two months of political uncertainty. The head of the Mongolian People's
Revolutionary Party, Nambaryn Enkhbayar, was elected speaker of parliament
Friday, after the country's rival political parties reached a power-sharing
agreement.
(PolitInfo)
- Aides to rebel
Iraqi Shia
cleric
Moqtada al Sadr report that he has been wounded in fighting in the holy
city of Najaf;
the government denies the reports. The Najaf offensive triggers pro-Sadr
protests in cities all over Iraq.
(BBC) In Basra,
Iraq, masked
militants kidnap
and threaten to kill
James Brandon, 23, a
freelance
British
journalist, working for the
Sunday Telegraph, unless US troops withdraw from
Najaf within 24
hours. He is released after intervention by
al-Sadr.
(BBC)
(PolitInfo)
- Thousands of Guatemalans march on the capital's central park to
demand the government address the crime and violence that plagues the country.
(PolitInfo)
August 12,
2004
-
Lee Hsien Loong is sworn in as the 3rd
Prime Minister of Singapore.
(Taipei Times)
(PolitInfo)
-
Sudanese Foreign Minister Mustafa Osman Ismail says his government would not
accept a proposal put forth this week by a high-ranking U.S. senator and a
southern Sudanese rebel leader, to deploy peacekeeping troops in the Darfur
region of western Sudan.
(PolitInfo)
- In Najaf,
US
forces besiege the
Imam Ali Mosque, where followers of the radical
Shia cleric
Moqtada al Sadr are barricaded.
(BBC)
(PolitInfo)
- Unanimously determining that
San Francisco's
same-sex marriages are illegal, the
California Supreme Court votes 5-2 to annul all 4,000 such marriages
performed in San Francisco this year.
(San Francisco Chronicle)
(CNN)
(BBC)
(PolitInfo)
- The U.N. Security Council has extended the United Nations mission in Iraq
for a second year.
(PolitInfo)
-
EU Commission President-designate
José M. Durão Barroso announces the portfolios assigned to the members of
his new
European Commission.
(EU Press Release)
- New
Jersey
Governor
Jim
McGreevey resigns his post effective
November 15, saying that his extramarital
homosexual affair would leave the governor's office "vulnerable to rumors,
false allegations and threats of disclosure.".
(CNN)
August 11,
2004
-
A leading human rights group says the Sudanese government is incorporating
members of the Janjaweed militia into its official security forces.
(PolitInfo)
- One person dies and at least 13 people are injured when a car bomb
exploded at a busy West Bank checkpoint .
(PolitInfo)
- The International Labor Organization says youth unemployment has
skyrocketed worldwide to record levels.
(PolitInfo)
- British
scientists (at
University of Newcastle upon Tyne) become the first in
Europe to be
granted permission to
clone human
embryos.
(The Guardian)
August 10,
2004
- Darfur Crisis:
- The United Nations says the Sudanese government has launched fresh
helicopter attacks in Sudan's western Darfur region.
(PolitInfo)
-
The highest ranking Republican in the U.S. Senate, Bill Frist, says
he has no doubt that the campaign of violence by pro-government Arab
militiamen against black civilians in western Sudan is genocide.
(PolitInfo)
-
U.S.
President
George W. Bush announces his intention to have
Porter J. Goss confirmed as the new director of the
CIA.
(WashPost)
(PolitInfo)
- The
U.S. deals a major blow to
German
prosecutors at the re-trial of
Moroccan
Mounir al-Motassadek, one of the only
9/11 suspects to face justice to date, by refusing to allow an alleged
al-Qaeda
member to testify via
videolink, citing security concerns and the need to protect secret
information.
(BBC)
(PolitInfo)
- Bombs explode
at two small hotels and a gas plant in the
Turkish
city of
Istanbul, killing two people and injuring at least nine.
(BBC)
(PolitInfo)
- Libya
agrees to pay
USD 35 million to some victims of the
1986 Berlin discotheque bombing.
(BBC)
August 9,
2004
- Darfur Crisis:
- The European Union says its fact-finding mission to Sudan found widespread
violence in the western Darfur region, but not genocide.
(PolitInfo)
- A new agreement between Sudan and the United Nations to create safe havens
for civilians in Darfur within 30 days is expected to be signed Monday in the
Sudanese capital, Khartoum.
(PolitInfo)
- In South Africa, the political party that created apartheid and imprisoned
Nelson Mandela announces it will merge with its former enemy, the ANC.
(PolitInfo)
- A non-radioactive
steam leak at the
nuclear power plant in
Mihama,
Fukui Prefecture,
Japan, kills 4
and scalds 8 others.
(AP)
- Fierce fighting continues between
U.S. forces and backers of Shiite cleric
Moqtada al-Sadr. Sadr threatens that he "will defend
Najaf until my
last drop of blood." According to the U.S. military, U.S forces have killed
300 supporters of Sadr in some of the most violent clashes since the fall of
Baghdad.
(democracy now!)
(PolitInfo)
August 8,
2004
- Darfur Crisis:
- Sudan seeks
support from states attending the
Arab
League summit in
Cairo,
Egypt to
forstall possible
United Nations sanctions against their country regarding its support for
the Arab
Janjaweed
accused of
ethnic cleansing in
Darfur. Arab
League Secretary General
Amr
Moussa states that the Arab League states are inclined to help Sudan avoid
sanctions.
(Reuters)
(PolitInfo)
- The Africa Union says Nigeria will host talks this month between Sudan's
government and rebels from the Darfur region, as Khartoum tries to avoid
international sanctions.
(PolitInfo)
- Militants in Iraq
kidnap the Iranian
Consul assigned to
Karbala,
stating that the consul has been acting in ways incompatible with his
diplomatic
status.
(Reuters)
(PolitInfo)
- An Iraqi
judge issues an
arrest warrant for
Ahmad Chalabi on the charge of
counterfeiting. Chalabi denies the charge.
(Voice of America)
(PolitInfo)
- The Israeli government says it plans to evacuate illegal Jewish outposts
in the West Bank before the U.S. presidential election in November, following
American pressure to halt settlement activity.
(PolitInfo)
- The upper house of Russia's parliament approves a controversial new
law that would effectively end a range of Soviet-era benefits for the elderly,
disabled and World War-Two veterans.
(PolitInfo)
August 7,
2004
- The
Iraq interim government bans
Al
Jazeera from operating in
Iraq for 30 days;
police order staff from their Baghdad newsroom.
(PolitInfo)
- A United Nations human rights investigator says it is "beyond doubt" that
the government of Sudan is responsible for atrocities against civilians in
Darfur.
(PolitInfo)
- Two Palestinian cabinet ministers resign their posts, including the
justice minister who cited what he called ongoing chaos in the Gaza Strip.
(PolitInfo)
- Two election workers in Afghanistan have been killed in an ambush, and the
U.S. military says two U.S. soldiers and an Afghan interpreter were killed in
a landmine explosion.
(PolitInfo)
- The interim Iraqi prime minister signs a limited amnesty law that will
pardon insurgents who have committed minor crimes, but have not killed anyone.
(PolitInfo)
- A group claiming links to the al-Qaida terrorism network renews its
threats to attack Italy if that country does not withdraw its troops from Iraq
by August 15.
(PolitInfo)
August 6,
2004
-
Israel
reopens the Gaza-Egypt
border crossing after a three-weeks shutdown, allowing 1,500
Palestinians on the Egyptian side to return home.
(AP)
(PolitInfo)
-
Darfur Crisis:
- The United Nations says a first team of human rights observers will be
leaving for Sudan's conflict-ridden province of Darfur within the coming few
days.
(PolitInfo)
- Secretary of State Colin Powell says the Bush administration will make a
decision "in the next couple of weeks" as to whether the situation in Sudan's
western Darfur region meets the legal definition of genocide.
(PolitInfo)
-
U.S. Senate election, 2004:
Alan
Keyes, a resident of Maryland, indicates he will seek the
Republican nomination for the Illinois seat, to run against
Barack Obama.
(CNN)
(PolitInfo)
- Two
Afghan men deny being enemy fighters, in appearances before
U.S.
military tribunals reviewing the status of
Guantanamo Bay detainees. For the first time, the US allows
journalists to attend the hearings.
(BBC)
- Radical Iraqi
Shia cleric
Moqtada Sadr calls for a truce to be restored after a day of heavy
fighting between his militia and
U.S. troops in
Najaf.
(BBC) The
U.S. claims that over 300 of Sadr's fighters have been killed in two
days of clashes.
(Reuters)
(PolitInfo)
- Twenty political parties in Burundi have signed a power-sharing deal,
clearing the way for elections.
(PolitInfo)
August 5,
2004
- Darfur Crisis:
- The Sudanese government and the United Nations have agreed on a plan to
address the humanitarian crisis in Sudan's western Darfur region.
(PolitInfo)
- The Sudanese government says there is no popular support in Sudan for
foreign military intervention in Darfur that falls outside of cease-fire
monitoring activities.
(PolitInfo)
- Suspected Islamic militants attacked a paramilitary camp in Indian Kashmir,
killing nine soldiers.
(PolitInfo)
- Georgia's president says he is committed to a peaceful resolution of the
conflict in his country's breakaway South Ossetia and Abkhazia regions.
(PolitInfo)
- Journalists are to be allowed for the first time to attend military
tribunal hearings for prisoners at the U.S. military base in Guantanamo Bay,
Cuba.
(PolitInfo)
- At least seven
Iraqis and a
U.S. soldier die in clashes; and a U.S.
helicopter is shot down, injuring two.
(BBC)
(PolitInfo)
August 4,
2004
- Three of the five British citizens released from the U.S. military prison
for terror suspects at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba say they were repeatedly subjected
to abuse by U.S. soldiers.
(PolitInfo)
- U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan says the Sudanese government must show
progress in disarming outlawed militias by the end of this month.
(PolitInfo) African Union officials say they expect to dramatically
increase the number of troops the AU plans to send to Sudan's western Darfur
region.
(PolitInfo)
- Israel announces it will speed up its planned withdrawal from the Gaza
Strip and parts of the West Bank.
(PolitInfo)
- Marking a major turnaround in policy, the Sudanese government says its
army is now fully engaged with Ugandan forces to capture the elusive leader of
the rebel Lord's Resistance Army.
(PolitInfo)
- Czech President Vaclav Klaus officially appoints the center-left coalition
government of Prime Minister-designate Stanislav Gross after five weeks of
negotiations.
(PolitInfo)
August 3,
2004
- Reports state that information that led the
US to raise the
terror alert for five
financial
centers in
New York
city, northern
New
Jersey and
Washington D.C. was mainly three or four years old but had been updated as
recently as January. Administration officials note, too, that
al Qaeda
is known for its advance planning, and that this information became available
following the
apprehension of a Pakistani member of that terrorist organization.
(CNN)
(Xinhuanet)
(PolitInfo)
- A
U.S.
court martial hears allegations by the lead criminal investigator that
Iraqi prisoners
were abused 'for fun' at
Abu
Ghraib.
(Reuters)
(PolitInfo)
- Darfur Crisis:
- A U.N. rights expert, Francis Deng, says Sudan's western Darfur region is
plagued by persistent human rights violations.
(PolitInfo)
- Sudanese authorities say they plan to send 1,000 extra police to the
country's western Darfur region where Arab militia are accused of carrying out
atrocities.
(PolitInfo)
- U.S. President Bush signs a new trade deal with Australia that eliminates
almost all duties on commerce between the countries.
(PolitInfo)
- Missouri
votes to ban
same-sex marriage through a state
constitutional amendment. The amendment passes with 72% of the vote.
Louisiana
will vote on the same issue
September 18, followed by
Arkansas,
Georgia,
Kentucky,
Mississippi,
Montana,
Oklahoma,
Oregon, and
Utah on
November
2.
(CBS) Meanwhile, in
Washington, a state judge rules that its recently-enacted ban on same-sex
marriage violates the state constitution.
(Seattle Post-Intelligencer)
August 2,
2004
- A poll shows
that
U.S. presidential candidate
John
Kerry gained limited support after the
Democratic Convention.
(ABC News)
(PolitInfo)
- Sudan's
army says the
UN
resolution on the
conflict
in Darfur is
"a
declaration of war" and threatens to fight any foreign intervention.
(BBC)
(PolitInfo)
-
U.S.
President
George W. Bush urges
Congress to create a national intelligence director and a national
counterterrorism center.
(Centre Daily)
(PolitInfo)
- Turkey's
truckers' association says it will stop delivering goods to
U.S. forces in
Iraq, in what appears to be a direct response to
insurgents' videotaped killing of a Turkish hostage.
(Herald Sun)
(PolitInfo)
- The Iraqi
government blames
Al Qaeda
ally
Abu Musab al-Zarqawi for a series of
church
bombings
that killed at least 11 people, saying the aim was to spark
religious
strife and drive
Christians out of the country.
(Khaleej Times)
(PolitInfo)
- Police
make arrests following the
assassination attempt on
Pakistan's
prime minister-designate.
(Herald Sun)
(PolitInfo)
August 1, 2004
- The
United States raises the
security alert level to high for the
World
Bank and the
International Monetary Fund in
Washington, DC, the
New York Stock Exchange and companies in the
New
York City area on Sunday after intelligence signals a possible
al Qaeda
attack.
(Reuters)
(PolitInfo)
- Two car
bombs explode just minutes apart outside two nearby
churches in
central Baghdad
during Sunday evening services, injuring at least 20 people, witnesses say.
The attacks appeared to be the first targeting churches during the 15-months
of violent
insurgency.
(AP)
(PolitInfo)
- World Trade Organization members agree on a revised draft deal that aims
to revive stalled talks on freeing up
trade between
rich and poor nations. Key WTO members accept proposals to cut the subsidies
wealthy countries give their farmers for exports.
(BBC)
(PolitInfo)
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