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PolitInfo.com > Current Events > February 2004
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- Jean-Bertrand Aristide resigns as president of Haiti and flees the country for the Central African Republic. The chief justice of the Haitian supreme court, Boniface Alexandre, is sworn in as interim president. [Source] [Source] [Source]
- Occupation of Iraq: Iraq's leaders meet deadline for drafting interim constitution. [Source]
- Israeli-Palestinian conflict: Ronnie Kasrils, the South African minister of Water Affairs and Forestry, calls the Israeli West Bank barrier a "wall of shame" and states that the wall is meant to dispossess Palestinians of their land and water resources. [Source] [Source]
- Same-sex marriage in the United States: The California Supreme Court refuses a petition by California Attorney General Bill Lockyer asking for an immediate ruling on the constitutionality of same-sex marriage laws and a cease and desist order against San Francisco's granting of marriage licenses to same-sex couples. [Source]
- Iranian state radio reports Osama bin Laden captured. United States officials discount the reports. [Source][Source][Source]
- The United States lifts a ban on travel to Libya, ending travel restrictions to the nation that had lasted for 23 years. [Source]
- Israel raids four banks in the West Bank seizing currency amounting to over 6 million dollars from accounts which it alleged had been used to fund terrorism. Israel claims it will use the funds for humanitarian projects in Palestinian areas. The U.S. State Department criticized the Israeli raid, and Palestinian Arabs condemned it utterly. [Source], [Source]
- Clare Short, former British Cabinet Minister, alleges on the BBC Today radio programme that British spies regularly intercept UN communications, including those of Kofi Annan, its Secretary-General. [Source] [Source] The claim comes the day after Katharine Gun, formerly an employee of British spy agency GCHQ, had a charge of breaching the Official Secrets Act dropped after prosecutors offered no evidence, apparently on the advice of the Attorney-General. Gun had admitted leaking American plans to bug UN delegates to a newspaper. [Source]
- Same-sex marriage in the United States:
- The mayor of New Paltz, a village in New York State, announces that the town will start performing civil marriages for same-sex couples. It will not attempt to issue marriage certificates, but married couples in New York State have six months from the date of their wedding to seek a certificate. [Source]
- Rosie O'Donnell marries her partner Kelli Carpenter at San Francisco City Hall. [Source]
- Maysun Al-Atawana, director of family and children affairs in the Palestinian Authority’s social affairs ministry, claims that Israeli shelling of heavily populated suburbs was targeting children. She noted that 35.5% of casualties among the Palestinians wounded since start of the Aqsa intifada in late September 2000 were children including 1.4% less than five years old. [Source]
- Libya's Foreign Minister, Abdulrahman Shalgam, issues a statement reaffirming its acceptance of culpability for the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, after the Prime Minister Shukri Ghanem, in an interview for the BBC, claimed Libya had "bought peace" with the $2.7bn compensation payments, but had not accepted guilt. [Source] [Source]
- Pakistani leaders pressure Muslim militants in Kashmir to declare a ceasefire with India. Meanwhile, Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee tries to gain Muslim votes for his Bharatiya Janata Party with the prospect of peace with Pakistan. [Source][Source]
- In the northern Uganda city of Lira, protests and riots cause at least nine deaths after the Ugandan army announces it killed 21 members of the Lord's Resistance Army, a rebel group, in retaliation for an attack on a refugee camp at Barlonyo. [Source]
- Guantanamo Bay: The Pentagon announces that the first charges are to be filed against two of the six hundred detainees of the detention camp, but human rights groups have had their request to observe the military tribunals turned down. The defendants are named as Ali Hamza Ahmed Sulayman al-Bahlul and Ibrahim Ahmed Mahmoud al-Qosi, both alleged to be Al-Qaeda members and charged with "conspiracy to commit war crimes". [Source] The Pentagon also confirms that even if cleared by the tribunals, the defendants may still not be released. [Source]
- Same-sex marriage in the United States: U.S. President George W. Bush announces his support for a constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage. Bush did not explicitly endorse the Federal Marriage Amendment, proposed by Representative Marilyn Musgrave (R-Colorado), which has been criticised for potentially also denying states the ability to recognise same-sex civil unions and domestic partnerships. However, he said that the FMA "meets his principles" in protecting the "sanctity of marriage" between men and women.[Source] [Source] [Source]
- Russian president Vladimir Putin dismisses Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov and implicitly the entire Russian cabinet less than a month prior to presidential elections. [Source] [Source]
- 2004 Haiti Rebellion: Rebels in Haiti have wrested large parts of the island from government control. The capital, Port-au-Prince is still held by supporters of the President, Jean-Bertrand Aristide. Supporters of the president vowed to defend the city and fight to the death.
- The Iranian parliament starts processing the resignation of more than 120 members, starting with Fatemeh Haghighatjou who is among the few female members. [Source]
- Palestinian representatives put their case to the International Court of Justice against a wall built by Israel in the West Bank. [Source]
- Zvi Mazel, the ambassador of Israel in Sweden, calls former foreign minister Sten Andersson and Sweden's UN ambassador Pierre Schori "professional anti-Israelis". [Source] [Source] [Source] [Source] [Source]
- Rebels capture Haiti's second-largest city, Cap-Haitien, after just a few hours of fighting Sunday. [Source]
- Israeli-Palestinian conflict: 8 Israelis are killed and 60 wounded, among them children on their way to school, in a suicide bombing of a city bus in Jerusalem, Israel. The Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades branch of Fatah claimed responsibility. The terrorist attack occurs one day before the start of hearings at the International Court of Justice regarding the Israeli West Bank barrier. "This attack proves just how urgent it is to build the fence," Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom said. "It is a clear preventive measure ... We will continue building it because it saves lives." The suicide bomber came from Husan, a populated area near Bethlehem. [Source][Source]
- 2004 U.S. Presidential Election: Ralph Nader declares his candidacy for the position of President of the United States as an independent candidate. [Source] [Source]
- Same-sex marriage in the United States: Saying he will defend California's laws limiting marriage to opposite-sex couples, state attorney general Bill Lockyer dismisses California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's "order" in the San Francisco marriage licenses debate, saying his office is independent of gubernatorial power. [Source]
- A Pentagon report is leaked predicting global doom from climate change. The report was reportedly suppressed by the Bush administration. [Source]
- In Tirana, Albania, a crowd of up to 20,000 protesters, led by ex-president and opposition party leader Sali Berisha, demanded once again that Prime Minister Fatos Nano resign for failing to improve the economy. This protest, though a peaceful one, comes on the heels of a more violent protest two weeks ago in which protesters threw rocks at police and tried to storm the Prime Minister's office. [Source] [Source]
- Taiwan presidential election 2004: the official campaigning period starts at 07:00 local time.
- Prime Minister Tony Blair is under pressure from British human rights groups and MPs because of the government's sweeping powers under the Anti-Terrorism Crime and Security Act, which have allowed the detention of 14 foreign terrorist suspects in the UK at what has been described as 'Britain's Guantanamo Bay'. [Source]
- 2004 European Parliament Election: The first pan-European political party organization, the European Greens, is established in Rome. [Source] [Source]
- Early results from Iran's parliamentary elections show conservative candidates get victory over reformists. [Source]
- Two International Red Cross staff members visit Saddam Hussein in United States custody. [Source] [Source]
- Latvia's president Vaira Vike-Freiberga has appointed Indulis Emsis, a Green party legislator, as the new Prime Minister, after the resignation of Einars Repse's cabinet on 5 February. [Source] [Source]
- Lithuania's parliament starts impeachment proceedings against President Rolandas Paksas, who is charged with violating the constitution by leaking state secrets, rewarding a financial supporter with citizenship and illegally influencing companies. [Source]
- Linda Schade, spokeswoman for Ralph Nader's Presidential exploratory committee, states Nader will appear on NBC's "Meet the Press" to announce whether he will make another run for the White House. [Source]
- Louise Arbour is nominated by Kofi Annan to serve as the next United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. Arbour, currently a justice of the Supreme Court of Canada, will replace the late Sérgio Vieira de Mello, pending ratification by the General Assembly. [Source] [Source]
- 5,500 workers for CN Rail, members of the Canadian Auto Workers, go on strike. [Source]
- Former Alabama attorney general Bill Pryor is appointed by President Bush to the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals during the U.S. Congress's recess period, avoiding U.S. Senate confirmation. Pryor was first nominated in April 2003. [Source]
- Same-sex marriage:
- San Francisco judge denies request to immediately stop same-sex weddings. [Source] Homosexual couples win reprieve when the judge declines to stop San Francisco from granting them marriage licenses. [Source]
- Victoria Dunlap, the Republican County clerk of rural Sandoval County, New Mexico, starts issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples, citing lack of legal grounds for denial.[Source] Republican state Senator Steve Komadina, criticizes the decision and urges state Attorney General Patricia Madrid to issue a prompt opinion. [Source]
- California Democratic leaders try to withdraw from the divisive political issue of same-sex marriage. A Public Policy Institute of California poll indicates that half of Californians oppose homosexual marriage. Some California Democratic officeholders were discontented over the matter becoming a national political issue. [Source]
- California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger writes to Attorney General Bill Lockyer telling him to take legal action to stop the city from granting marriage licences to homosexual couples, saying the practice presents "an imminent risk to civil order". [Source]
- King Norodom Sihanouk, the constitutional monarch of Cambodia, states that he believes his country ought to allow same-sex marriage. He says he decided this upon seeing footage of same-sex couples marrying in San Francisco. He also says that transvestites ought to be well-treated in Cambodia. [Source]
- A proposed amendment to the state constitution of Oklahoma to outlaw same-sex marriage dies in Senate Human Resources Committee; the Republican leader of the Oklahoma Senate criticizes the Democratic Senate leadership for killing the proposed ban. [Source] [Source]
- One Dane and five of the nine Britons held without trial as terror supects at Guantanamo Bay are to be released, probably within the next two weeks, according to British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw. The soon-to-be-released captives have been amongst the 660 detainees at the US base in Cuba, held for the past two years as suspected Al-Qaida or Taliban 'combatants'. [Source] [Source]
- European Commission President Romano Prodi vows stronger action to combat anti-Semitism in Europe. Prodi states that some criticism of Israel was inspired by "what amounts to anti-Semitic sentiments and prejudice." Youths from the large Arab immigrant communities in France, Belgium and other European countries are blamed for the rise in attacks against Jews in Europe. The European Union's European Monitoring Centre on Racism and Xenophobia [Source] in Vienna, Austria, found the increase of anti-Semitic attacks was "committed above all either by right-wing extremists or radical Islamists or young Muslims mostly of Arab descent." [Source]
- Reformist newspapers Shargh and Yas-e-no are shut down by the Iranian judiciary, only one day before the parliament elections.[Source]
- The Kuwaiti newspaper A-Siasa reports that Palestinian and international terrorist organizations have decided at a recent Beirut conference to launch a wave of terror attacks against Israeli and Jewish interests worldwide. According to the report, there will also be similar attacks against coalition troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. The conference, which took place at the start of February, was also said to have been attended by senior members of the Syrian, Lebanese and Iranian intelligence services who presented a list of Israeli intelligence officials to be assassinated. Organizations in attendence included: Al-Qaeda, Ansar al-Islam, Hezbollah, Hamas, Islamic Jihad. [Source] [Source]
- The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the United Nations nuclear agency, finds undeclared components in Iran compatible with advanced uranium centrifuge designs, increasing Western concerns that it may be developing nuclear weapons. [Source]
- The United Kingdom decides to award an honorary knighthood to Nazi-hunter Simon Wiesenthal in recognition of a "lifetime of service to humanity". The knighthood also recognized the work of the Los Angeles-based Simon Wiesenthal Center, which was founded in 1977 to promote remembrance of the Holocaust and the defense of human rights. [Source]
- ROC presidential election, 2004: Lagging behind his rival Lien Chan in opinion polls, President Chen Shui-bian promises not to declare Taiwan independence if he is re-elected. [Source]
- Same-sex marriage in the United States:
- The White House reserves judgement on the Federal Marriage Amendment, a proposed constitutional amendment to define marriage as a "union of a man and a woman," until Massachusetts legislature and San Francisco courts take futher action. Media reports speculate that the White House will probably also keep their opinion quiet until Democratic presidential canidate John Kerry takes a stand on the issue. [Source]
- San Francisco sues California to force the state to accept marriage licenses it altered to remove reference to bride and groom and recognize same-sex marriage. [Source]
- Laura Bush states that homosexual marriage is "a very, very shocking issue" for some people. She hopes the subject can be debated by Americans together, rather than it be settled by a Massachusetts court or the mayor of San Francisco. [Source]
- The California state agency that records marriages states that forms that have been altered, which San Francisco has done slightly on its same-sex marriage licenses, will not be registered. [Source]
- Occupation of Iraq: Suicide bombers in two vehicles killed 11 Iraqis and wounded 58 foreign troops and 44 Iraqis near the entrance to a Polish-manned coalition logistics base near the town of Hilla in central Iraq south of Baghdad. [Source]
- Howard Dean officially ends his campaign for President of the United States, after placing a distant third in the Wisconsin primary elections of February 17, 2004. "I am no longer actively pursuing the presidency," he announced.
- Opinion poll results indicate either of the two main Democratic presidential candidates would beat President Bush by at least 10 points. [Source]
- Israel is condemned by the International Committee of the Red Cross for the location of the Israeli separation barrier. The aid agency declared that the barrier at its current position was contrary to international humanitarian law and had caused extensive damage to Palestinian land and property and deprived thousands of Palestinians access to water, health care and education. [Source]
- Democratic presidential nomination: Wisconsin held its primary election. John Kerry got 40% of the vote, followed by John Edwards with 34%, and Howard Dean with 18%.
- Same-sex marriage in the United States: San Francisco Superior court Judge James L. Warner postpones any decision to block the city and county of San Francisco, California from issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples and to void the 2,464 same-sex marriages that were performed in the city since February 12. This was on the grounds that the Proposition 22 Legal Defense and Education Fund's order for San Francisco to "cease and desist issuing marriage licenses to and/or solemnizing marriages of same-sex couples; to show cause before this court..." had an improper semicolon; to do both, rather than one or the other, would have exceeded the judge's jurisdiction. [Source]
- India and Pakistan begin formal peace negotiations, with Kashmir on the agenda. [Source]
- L. Paul Bremer, the United States administrator of Iraq states he will veto any interim constitution that would make Islam "the chief source of law", as opposed to "a source of inspiration for the law." Many Iraqi women express fears that the rights they hold under Iraq's longtime secular system may be denied them in the interim constitution based upon Islam as "the chief source of law." [Source]
- The United States states that Afghanistan's elections scheduled for this June may have to be postponed because of security problems and the failure to register enough voters. Only 8 percent of eligible Afghan voters have been enrolled to date. [Source]
- The Taiwan (ROC)'s pro-independence president, Chen Shui-bian, states that Taiwan may eventually reunify with Mainland China. Nonetheless, Chen rejects the People's Republic of China's one country, two systems formula which was applied to Hong Kong and Macau. This is a new step for Chen who, shortly after taking office in 2000, had said unification was just one option—comments widely seen as a push for independence for the island. [Source]
- Same-sex marriage in the United States:
- Officials at the city and county of San Francisco, California estimate by the end of the day that they will have issued 2,000 licenses for same-sex marriages in the four days since they started granting legal recognition to gay and lesbian unions. [Source]
- The San Francisco Chronicle reports that the decision of San Francisco's mayor, Gavin Newsom, to express his opinion on same-sex marriage was because of George W. Bush's stance on the issue. [Source]
- The territory of Nunavut, Canada, holds its second general election since its creation. Of the 19 members, one is chosen by acclamation. Eight members of the previous government are returned to office, and five are defeated. The members will elect a premier on March 5.
- Iraqi lawyers say Saddam Hussein is unlikely to stand trial for at least another two years. [Source]
- United Nations Afghanistan envoy voices disdain at the "brutal and cold-blooded" murder of four deminers working to eradicate landmines in Afghanistan. [Source]
- Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin goes on record that anyone found to be culpable in the sponsorship scandal, including himself, will be immediately discharged. The issue could delay the upcoming election until after the public enquiry is completed.
- Same-sex marriage in the United States: Officials at the city and county of San Francisco, California turn away hundreds of would-be same-sex newlyweds after thousands of gay and lesbian couples show up to marry over the weekend. The city claims it can only handle between 400 and 600 marriages a day, or about one a minute. [Source] [Source] [Source] [Source] [Source]
- Thousands of protestors in Madrid and other Spanish cities march in opposition to the U.S. occupation of Iraq. The protests mark the one-year anniversary of the large protests against the U.S. invasion of Iraq. [Source]
- The British government draws up plans to break up the BBC in the wake of the Hutton inquiry. [Source] [Source]
- Iraqi police arrest Mohammed Zimam Abdul-Razaq, a member of the Baath Party and number 41 on the U.S. military's list of most wanted Iraqis. [Source]
- Iran offers to sell nuclear reactor fuel on the international market under the supervision of the United Nations nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency.[Source]
- A new U.S.-sponsored satellite TV channel called Al Hurra (The Free One) begins broadcasting in the Middle East and pledges to provide accurate and balanced news, but faces a skeptical Arab audience. [Source]
- Same-sex marriage in the United States: Staff advisors for U.S. President George W. Bush say he will support the proposed Federal Marriage Amendment to the U.S. Constitution which would outlaw same-sex marriage and federalize marriage law, which has been set by individual states since the founding of the country. [Source] [Source]
- U.S. President hopeful John Kerry scores two more Democratic primary victories in the State of Nevada and the federally controlled District of Columbia. [Source]
- Approximately 550 qualified candidates suddenly drop out of Iran's parliamentary election. [Source]
- Occupation of Iraq: At least 20 people are killed in the town of Falluja as up to 50 gunmen attack government buildings, in one of the largest guerrilla attacks so far seen in Iraq. [Source]
- ROC presidential election, 2004: Candidates Lien Chan of the Pan-Blue Coalition and President Chen Shui-bian of the Pan-Green Coalition participate in a televised debate. [Source]
- Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld announces alleged al-Qaida and Taliban fighters, who are being held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, may apply annually for release. [Source]
- Ivan Rybkin, a Russian presidential candidate and fierce critic of president Putin, holds a press conference in London, stating that during his recent disappearance for several days he was drugged and made the subject of a compromising videotape. [Source]
- President Bush opens his National Guard file for resolving questions about Vietnam era military service. Reportedly, released papers do not document Bush's Alabama service. Roswell businessman John Calhoun, 69, remembers Lt. George W. Bush worked weekends at an Air Force base in Montgomery. [Source] [Source] [Source] [Source] [Source] [Source] [Source] [Source] [Source] [Source] [Source]
- Democratic presidential nomination: Former Democrat candidate for the U.S. presidency Gen. Wesley K. Clark endorses current Democrat favorite Senator John Kerry. [Source]
- Greek and Turkish Cypriot leaders accept U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan's plan for ending the partition of the island of Cyprus. The two sides will work under a tight timetable to agree by March 22 on reunification language that can be put to simultaneous islandwide referenda on April 21. Unless reunification is achieved, only the Greek Cypriot government will be entitled to enter the European Union on May 1. [Source]
- Iran admits it possesses a design for a far more advanced high-speed centrifuge to enrich uranium than it previously revealed to the International Atomic Energy Agency after being confronted with evidence obtained from the secret network of nuclear suppliers surrounding Pakistani scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan.[Source]
- The United States, in a major shift of policy on the Middle East, says it may support an Israeli proposal for a unilateral partial withdrawal from the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. Deputy Secretary of State Richard L. Armitage says that a pullout from Gaza would be "a step in the right direction." Administration official state "...negotiations were impossible because of Palestinian recalcitrance."[Source]
- Occupation of Iraq: South Korea's parliament on Friday approves sending 3,000 troops to Iraq, responding to a call from the United States for military help in restoring stability to Iraq.[Source]
- The European Union anti-fraud office (OLAF) is studying documents suggesting that Yasser Arafat and the Palestinian Authority diverted tens of millions of dollars in EU funds to organizations involved in terrorism...."some of the money reportedly went to the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, which has been involved in terror strikes." Their final report is expected in two months. [Source]
- A US National Guardsman stands accused of attempting to provide military data to Osama bin Laden's Al-Qaeda network. [Source]
- The former Chechen President Zelimkhan Yandarbiyev is killed in an apparent car bomb explosion in Doha, the capital of Qatar. [Source]
- South Korean scientists announce the world's first successfully cloned human embryo. [Source] [Source]
- South Korea's parliament on Friday approves sending 3,000 troops to Iraq, responding to a call from the United States for military help in restoring stability to Iraq.[Source]
- Occupation of Iraq: General John Abizaid, commander of U.S. forces in the Middle East, escapes injury when his convoy is attacked in Fallujah.
- Same-sex marriage in the United States:
- City officials in San Francisco, California start issuing marriage licenses to homosexual couples, staging what they view as acts of civil disobedience, by performing the first known civil marriage of a homosexual couple in the U.S. by marrying the homosexual activists and lesbian couple, Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon. Over 80 couples whisked through quick ceremonies.[Source]
- Various conservative and other family groups, including the Campaign for California Families, plan to sue the mayor of San Francisco for violating California's marriage laws. [Source] The Family Research Council (FRC) states that "It could not be clearer that the institution of marriage is under a direct assault by homosexual activists". [Source]
- Virginia House of Delegates give preliminary approval to legislation that would ban the recognition of same-sex civil unions and domestic partnerships. [Source]
- The United States Army in Iraq announces a $10 million dollar reward for the capture of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, a leader of the terrorist organization Ansar al-Islam, blamed for the deaths of unknown numbers of Iraqi citizens and U.S. military during the U.S.-led occupation of Iraq. [Source]
- Scientists in South Korea report that they have created human embryos by cloning and extracted embryonic stem cells. [Source]
- U.S. Presidential Election, 2004: Retired General Wesley Clark officially announces his departure from the race. [Source] [Source]
- The Sudanese government cancels plans to attend scheduled peace talks in Geneva with western rebels just days after the Sudanese president proclaimed military victory in the insurgency. The talks were scheduled to begin February 14, 2004. At this time, the Sudanese government is contending with a southern rebellion as well.[Source]
- French prosecutors reveal that a money-laundering probe into the transfers of millions of dollars to accounts held by the wife of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat was opened in October 2003. The probe was opened after discovering that nearly $1.27 million is transferred with some regularity from Switzerland to Mrs. Arafat's accounts in Paris. Tracfin, an organization that collates information about money laundering, detected the movements of funds.[Source]
- Occupation of Iraq: At least 47 people, mostly Iraqi army recruits, are killed by a car bomb in Baghdad in the second major bomb attack in two days. [Source]
- Richard Desmond, the owner of Britain's Daily Express and Daily Star newspapers, confirms that he has made a bid for the troubled Daily Telegraph. [Source]
- Same-sex marriage in the United States : A majority of Americans (2 to 1 margin) respond they do not want laws in their states that would legalize same-sex marriages. The poll is taken after the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruling. [Source]
- A group of 200 AIDS doctors in the United States calls for a boycott of pharmaceutical company Abbott Laboratories to protest the company's recent 401% price hike on its anti-HIV drug Norvir. [Source]
- An Italian intelligence report states that Italy is a departure point, as well as focus of logistic and financial support, for suicide bombers linked to al-Qaida and active against United States-led forces in Iraq. The suicide bombers were drawn from Muslim youths living on the fringes of society in Western Europe.[Source]
- The French National Assembly votes (494 to 36) to ban hijab and all other conspicuous religious symbols from state schools. [Source]
- The White House rebuts Democrats' accusations that Bush shirked his military responsibilities, releasing pay records for the President's National Guard service between May 1972 and May 1973. [Source]
- The oil cartel OPEC announces further limits on the output of crude by one million barrels a day beginning April 1, 2004. If all member states stick to the agreement, OPEC's daily output will be cut by about 10 percent.[Source]
- Recent violence in Haiti has spread as anti-government forces take control of eight towns in Western Haiti. 46 people are dead thus far. Government forces in Cap-Haitien (second largest city in Haiti) built flaming barricades to keep the rebel forces out of the city. The UN is urging Haitians on both sides to stop the violence. [Source][Source]
- Hundreds of militants and their supporters staged a protest against the Palestinian Authority in the Gaza Strip for putting on trial four men charged in the bombing of a United States diplomatic convoy which killed three Americans. The closed military trial began on February 7th.[Source]
- Occupation of Iraq: A large car bomb explodes in the central Iraqi town of Iskandariya, 25 miles (40 km) south of Baghdad, killing at least 50 people. [Source]
- 2004 Philippine elections: The 90-day campaigning period for the president, vice-president, and senators starts this day with no less than six qualified candidates, half of which have no previous political experience. The current president, Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo is seeking a full six-year term. The elections will be held on May 10. [Source]
- The missing Russian politician Ivan Rybkin unexpectedly reappears in Kiev, the capital of neighboring Ukraine, and is said to be on his way back to Moscow. According to his own words he "was entitled to two or three days of private life". [Source]
- Canada's auditor-general, Sheila Fraser, releases a scathing report on a CA$250-millon sponsorship fund that had a major portion of its funds directed to firms friendly to the ruling Liberal party; the resulting scandal and inquiry is quite likely to affect the coming election. Alfonso Gagliano, a former cabinet minister involved in the scandal, is removed from his post as ambassador to Denmark and recalled to Canada. [Source]
- King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden made a statement where he praised sultan Hassanal Bolkiah, the dictator of Brunei for the open society in his country. This has led to a public outrage in Sweden with demands that the king abdicate. [Source] [Source]
- Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf admits that he had suspected for at least three years that Abdul Qadeer Khan, Pakistan's top nuclear scientist, was sharing nuclear technology with other countries, blaming the United States for not giving him convincing proof of the activities of his own scientist.[Source]
- Russian federal prosecutors close a murder investigation, one hour after it had been opened by Moscow's prosecutor office, in the case of missing presidential candidate, Ivan Rybkin. Rybkin was last seen five days ago.[Source]
- In Haiti, an armed uprising spreads to nearly a dozen towns in the western and northern areas of the island nation. The uprising is the strongest challenge yet to President Jean-Bertrand Aristide. At least 41 people have been killed.[Source]
- Russia's Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov announces that Russia is considering withdrawing from the Conventional Forces in Europe treaty, considered to be one of the main cornerstones of European security. Mr. Ivanov cites NATO expansion and the end of the Cold War as justifications for retiring the treaty. [Source]
- U.S. Presidential Election, 2004: In the race for the Democratic presidential nomination, John Kerry wins the Maine caucus with 45% of the vote.[Source]
- The investigation into nuclear proliferation by the Pakistani scientist, Abdul Qadeer Khan expands to include seven nations. Among the countries known to be involved are Malaysia, South Africa, Japan, the United Arab Emirates, Germany and Pakistan. Nuclear technology and parts were supplied to Libya, Iran, North Korea.[Source]
- The London Iraqi exile admits that information supplied as a key piece of intelligence might have been false (but provided in good faith). The CX report information was one of the items of intelligence on Saddam Hussein's possible use of WMD. [Source]
- Dr Hans Blix, in an interview on BBC TV, accuses the US and British governments of dramatising the threat of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, in order to strengthen the case for the 2003 war against the regime of Saddam Hussein. [Source]
- Nearly 400 members of Yasser Arafat's Fatah faction of the Palestine Liberation Organization resign in protest over corruption, mismanagement and a lack of direction with Fatah.[Source]
- U.S. Presidential Election, 2004: In the race for the Democratic presidential nomination, Senator John Kerry wins the caucuses in Michigan and Washington. [Source]
- Sri Lankan President Chandrika Kumaratunga dissolves parliament. [Source][Source]
- In a Gaza Military court, four suspects, without legal representation, are charged with possession of explosives and planting bombs in the same area as a bombing attack on a United States diplomatic convoy. The suspects are not charged with the bombing. The United States last week announced a $5 million reward for information leading to the apprehension of the terrorists. [Source]
- Chechnya's Spiritual leader, Chief Mufti Akhmad Shamayev, condemns the Moscow subway car bombing. Investigators question hospitalized rush hour commuters and examine documents retrieved from the blast site. [Source]
- Israeli Airforce helicopter gunship fires a missile and destroys a car carrying Islamic Jihad members in Gaza City, killing a leading Islamic Jihad terrorist and an 11-year-old boy. [Source]
- Up to 4000 protesters in Albania threw rocks and tried to storm the offices of Prime Minister Fatos Nano whom they have accused of creating policies that impoverish Albanians. [Source]
- Ivan Rybkin, candidate in the Russian presidential election, is reported missing.
- U.S. and Iraqi forces capture more than 100 suspected guerrillas in raids across Iraq. [Source]
- Ministers of Finance from Europe, North America, and Asia meet in Florida. They are focusing on the strength and stability of the U.S. dollar. [Source]
- Gerhard Schröder announces his intention to resign from his post as chairman of the Social Democratic Party but to continue as Chancellor of Germany. [Source]
- At least 39 people are killed and around 120 injured in an explosion aboard a train on the Moscow Metro (subway) during the morning rush hour. The authorities are investigating the apparent bombing, which may be connected to a series of terrorist attacks in the Russian capital. President Vladimir Putin publicly blames the blast on Chechen militants and their leader, Aslan Maskhadov. The Chechen rebel leadership issues a statement denying responsibility. [Source] [Source] [Source]
- Parliamentarians in Iran end their sit-in of the country's parliament but vow to continue fighting the mass disqualification of reformist candidates by the conservative Council of Guardians. [Source]
- Democratic Presidential Primaries: Howard Dean tells his supporters that he must win the Wisconsin Democratic primary in order to stay in the Democratic presidential race. [Source]
- Electronic voting: The U.S. military abandons plans for a trial of internet voting in the upcoming presidential election. [Source]
- U.S. President George W. Bush appoints an Iraq Intelligence Commission to investigate United States intelligence capabilities, specifically regarding the 2003 invasion of Iraq and Iraq's weapons of mass destruction. The commission is headed by Governor, and former Senator, Chuck Robb and Judge Laurence Silberman. [Source]
- Saudi Arabia's religious authority endorses plan by King Fahd to modernize the holy sites of Mecca. [Source]
- SCO v. IBM: SCO Group widens Unix and Linux lawsuit against IBM. They add a copyright infringement claim to case. [Source]
- The United Nations releases a science and technology strategy report, "Inventing a Better Future: A Strategy for Building Worldwide Capacities in Science and Technology", produced by the InterAcademy Council (IAC). [Source]
- Pakistani nuclear scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan publicly admits illegally transferring nuclear secrets to Iran, Libya and North Korea. Following a written apology from Khan, President Pervez Musharraf issues a formal pardon. [Source] [Source]
- 2003 invasion of Iraq: Responding to criticism that pre-war intelligence gathering was faulty, CIA director George Tenet states that analysts had never presented Saddam Hussein's Iraq as an "imminent threat" in the years immediately preceding the coalition invasion. Tenent states that an overall "objective assessment" for policymakers of a "brutal dictator who was continuing his efforts to deceive and build programs" that might "surprise" and "threaten" US interests was outlined in the 2002 National Intelligence Estimate. [Source] [Source] [Source] [Source]
- The United States Department of Interior states that the survival of sea otters in southwest Alaska is threatened. The department proposes adding the sea otter, Enhydra lutris, to the government's endangered species list. [Source]
- The coalition government of Latvia, headed by PM Einars Repse, resigns, but will continue to work until the president appoints a new cabinet. [Source]
- A US federal appeals court rules scientists can study the 9,300-year-old remains of the Kennewick Man. The court denies a request by American Indian tribes, who sought an immediate burial. [Source] [Source]
- Same-sex marriage in the United States: The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court answers the state's Senate that the proposed civil unions will still violate the constitution by maintaining an inferior status of same-sex couples. [Source] [Source] White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan states that the Bush administration is reviewing the legal decision. The spokesman also states that the court's findings are "deeply troubling" and that the president is "firmly committed to protecting and defending" marriage (as being defined between a man and a woman).[Source] [Source] [Source]
- Israeli Army Chief of Personnel Major-General Gil Regev told a Knesset committee that the number of soldiers refusing to serve in the territories had dramatically decreased in 2003. He said that 26 persons had been imprisoned for refusal in 2003 compared to 129 in 2002, a decrease of 80%. The refusers' organization Yesh G'vul claimed that Regev's figures were "ridiculous" since 76 persons had been imprisoned for refusal in 2003. [Source] [Source] [Source]
- British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw announces an independent inquiry, to be chaired by Lord Butler, to examine the reliability of intelligence on weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. [Source]
- Political status of Taiwan: President Chen Shui-bian proposes to set up a demilitarized zone between Taiwan and Mainland China.[Source]
- U.S. presidential election, 2004: In the race for the Democratic presidential nomination, Senator John Kerry of Massachusetts wins primary elections in Arizona, Delaware, New Mexico, Missouri and North Dakota. His best result is 51% in Missouri. Senator John Edwards of North Carolina wins in South Carolina, and General Wesley Clark narrowly wins in Oklahoma. Former Vermont Governor Howard Dean, who has opted to campaign for the Michigan and Washington primaries on Saturday, polls poorly in all these primaries — his best result is third with 18% in New Mexico. These primaries give Kerry a majority of delegates so far elected for the first time, with 244 delegates to Dean's 121, Edwards' 102 and Clark's 79. Senator Joseph Lieberman of Connecticut, who has come second in Delaware but not achieved the breakthrough he needs to maintain his candidacy, announces his withdrawal from the race.
- U.S. President George W. Bush announces he will form an independent, bipartisan inquiry presidential commission to probe into prewar intelligence regarding weapons of mass destruction leading up to the decision to invade Iraq. Former weapons inspector David Kay, meeting with Bush with at the White House, maintains that Bush was right to go to war in Iraq and characterizes Saddam's regime as "far more dangerous than even we anticipated" when it was thought he had WMDs ready to deploy. [Source] [Source] [Source]
- Traces of ricin are found in the mailroom of a U.S. Senate office building. [Source]
- Prime Minister of Israel Ariel Sharon announces to the Ha'aretz newspaper that he plans to dismantle 17 Jewish settlements in the Gaza Strip, and that he foresees a time when there are no Jews in Gaza at all. [Source]
- Pakistani nuclear scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan confesses to smuggling nuclear hardware on chartered planes, sharing secret designs for the centrifuges that produce the enriched uranium necessary to develop a nuclear weapon, and giving personal briefings to nuclear scientists from Iran, North Korea and Libya, believing that nuclear proliferation would "ease Western attention on Pakistan" and "help the Muslim cause" [Source]
- The leader of Norway's Conservative Party (Høyre), Jan Petersen, announces his resignation as party leader after 10 years at the helm. He will continue as Foreign Minister in the current coalition government where Høyre is the largest part. [Source]
- Over one hundred MPs in Iran's parliament resign in protest at the Council of Guardians banning nearly two thousand candidates from standing at forthcoming general elections. [Source]
- Pakistan removes Abdul Qadeer Khan, the founder of Pakistan's nuclear weapons program, from his post as a special adviser to the country's prime minister. Dr. Khan, three scientists and three low-level army officers are the focus of an investigation into the possible sharing of Pakistani nuclear technology with Iran, Libya and other countries in the late 1980s and early 1990s. [Source]
- 244 Muslim worshippers are trampled to death during the ritual of the stoning of the devil at the Hajj (annual Muslim pilgrimage) in Mecca, Saudi Arabia.[Source]
- Iraq: At least 56 are killed and over 200 injured when two suicide bombers hit the offices of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan in Irbil, 200 miles north of Baghdad. Hundreds had gathered at the party offices for the start of Al-Adha. [Source] [Source] [Source]
- The European Union and the United States file documents with the International Court of Justice opposing the court's decision to deliberate on Israel's "security fence".[Source]
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