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Articles: July 2004
July 31,
2004
- The Vatican
denounces
feminism, claiming that it blurs differences between men and women and
threatens the institution of the traditional
family of one
man and one woman, stating that the drive for equality makes "homosexuality
and
heterosexuality virtually equivalent, in a new model of polymorphous
sexuality".
(AP)
(PolitInfo)
- Iran states
that it has resumed building
nuclear
centrifuges to enrich
uranium,
reversing an
October 2003 pledge to
Britain,
France and
Germany to
suspend all uranium enrichment-related activities. The
United States contends that the purpose is to produce
weapons grade uranium.
(Reuters)
(PolitInfo)
- All of the political factions from Ivory Coast sign a new peace accord in
Accra at the close of a two-day summit headed by 13 African heads of state and
U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan.
(PolitInfo)
- Consumer advocate Ralph Nader, an independent candidate for U.S. president,
blames Democratic party for its efforts to keep him off the ballot in a number
of states.
(PolitInfo)
July 30,
2004
- The
United Nations Security Council passes a
US-drafted
resolution
1556 demanding the
Sudanese
government end atrocities in the
Darfur conflict, but aid groups criticize the resolution for being
weakened at the insistence of
China,
Pakistan,
and Russia.
(BBC)
(PolitInfo)
- Three people are killed and eight wounded in three
suicide bomber attacks outside the
U.S.,
Israeli
embassies
and the Uzbek chief prosecutor's office in
Tashkent,
Uzbekistan. The
Islamist
group
Hizb ut-Tahrir is blamed by Uzbek President Islam Karimov. Other unnamed
sources point to
al-Qaeda.
(FOXNews)
(AP)
(PolitInfo)
- Pakistan's prime minister-designate, Shaukat Aziz, survives an
assassination attempt. The suicide bomb attack in central Punjab province left
at least five people dead.
(PolitInfo)
- NATO member states agree to begin training Iraqi security forces next
month, but postpone until September a decision on whether the alliance's
mission should come under the U.S.-led coalition.
(PolitInfo)
July 29,
2004
- United States Senator
John
Kerry formally accepts the 2004 Democratic Presidential candidate
nomination. In his acceptance speech he undertakes to "restore trust and
credibility to the White House."
(MSNBC)
(PolitInfo)
- The
International Criminal Court says it will launch an investigation into
ongoing atrocities at the
Barlonyo
refugee camp in northern
Uganda.
Reports say that more than 200 people have killed by rebels from the
Lord's Resistance Army since the beginning of the year.
(Mail & Guardian)
- Iraqi officials say they have postponed a key national conference that was
scheduled to start on Saturday. The aim was to choose a special council to
oversee the new interim government.
(PolitInfo)
- Pakistan
announces the capture of
Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani, only the second person on the
FBI Most Wanted Terrorists list to be detained. He is wanted in connection
with the
1998 U.S. embassy bombings. The US Government had offered a reward of up
to $25m for information leading to the arrest of Ghailani.
(BBC)
(PolitInfo)
- Indonesian presidential candidate General Wiranto, who failed to make it
into the second round of voting, has challenged the results in the country's
constitutional court. The challenge could upset the relatively smooth running
of Indonesia's complicated electoral process.
(PolitInfo)
July 28,
2004
-
Delegates at the Democratic National Convention formally nominate John Kerry
as the party's candidate to challenge President Bush in the November election.
(PolitInfo)
-
Darfur Crisis:
- The U.N. Security Council is deliberating a resolution that could impose
sanction on Sudan if the government does not act quickly to disarm the
government-backed Arab militias who are accused of killing tens of thousands
of Sudanese people.
(PolitInfo)
- U.N. workers in the troubled Darfur region of Sudan say the Janjaweed
militia is continuing to rape and terrorize Sudanese women and is increasing
its presence in some areas.
(PolitInfo)
- Cease-fire monitors from the African Union say Arab militiamen burned
civilians alive in an attack last month in Sudan's western Darfur region.
(PolitInfo)
-
Violence in Iraq:
- A massive suicide car-bomb kills 70 Iraqi civilians in an attack near a
police station in the city of
Baquba,
north of
Baghdad.
(PolitInfo)
- Insurgents launch simultaneous attacks on U.S bases around Ramadi,
killing 2 U.S soldiers and wounding 8. 1 guerilla and 1 Iraqi civilian were
killed in the Ramadi fighting.
- A militant group in Iraq says it has killed two Pakistani hostages, the
latest in a series of executions of foreigners kidnapped in the country.
(PolitInfo)
- 1 U.S soldier is killed and 3 wounded in a roadside bomb attack on a
convoy in the town of Balad Ruz, north of Baghdad. Another U.S soldier is killed and 3 wounded in a roadside bomb attack in
Baghdad. 1 Iraqi civilian was also injured in the blast.
- 35 guerillas are killed along with 7 Iraqi policemen in a battle in the
town of Suwariyah, southeast of Baghdad, that was started by a raid by Iraqi
security forces backed by U.S and Ukrainian troops.
- The High Court in London is hearing a case lodged by six Iraqi families,
who say British troops in Iraq unlawfully killed their loved ones.
(PolitInfo)
- Suspected Islamic militants in Indian Kashmir, attack a military camp,
killing five soldiers and wounding several others.
(PolitInfo)
- The aid group Doctors Without Borders is pulling its staff out of
Afghanistan after two decades of work there, citing security problems.
(PolitInfo)
-
Roman Catholic
Bishop
Misael Vacca Ramírez abducted by the left-wing rebel group,
National Liberation Army (ELN), in
Colombia
tells local television he has been set free.
(BBC)
(PolitInfo)
July 27,
2004
- Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia withdraws his resignation after
crisis talks with President Yasser Arafat.
(PolitInfo)
- Four of the seven French citizens held at the U.S. military detention
center in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, are handed over to French authorities and
flown to France.
(PolitInfo)
- Iran is
alleged to have broken seals placed upon
uranium
centrifuges by the
International Atomic Energy Agency and resumed their construction.
(AP)
-
Violence in Iraq:
- Guerilla mortar fire, directed at the
Green
Zone in
Baghdad, strikes the nearby neighborhood of Salhiya, killing an Iraqi
garbage collector, wounding another, and injuring 15
U.S. soldiers.
(PolitInfo)
- An Egyptian diplomat kidnapped last week in Iraq is back at work, saying
his abductors did not have any material demands and had treated him well.
(PolitInfo)
- The
Jordanian company Daoud and Partners decides to withdraw from Iraq, so
as to secure the release of 2 Jordanian hostages.
(AP)
- About 220
North
Koreans fly to
South
Korea from an unnamed third country, following 247 who arrived the day
before. They arrive at
Incheon International Airport on a plane chartered by the South Korean
government.
(BBC)
(PolitInfo)
- A French
court annuls the same-sex union of Stephane Chapin and Bertrand Charpentier,
stating that the issue is one for the
legislature. The couple will appeal against the court's ruling, even to
the
European Court of Human Rights, if necessary. The
mayor who
officated at the ceremony, Noel Mamere of the left-wing Greens Party, is
stripped of his duties for one month.
(AP)
July 26,
2004
- The
European Union's twenty-five foreign ministers jointly call on the
United Nations to pass a resolution threatening sanctions if the
Sudanese
government does not rein in the
Arab militias
blamed for atrocities in
Darfur.
(BBC)
(PolitInfo)
- The
2004 Democratic National Convention opens in
Boston, Massachusetts.
(BBC)
(Guardian)
(PolitInfo)
- Official results are announced in the first round of Indonesia's
presidential elections. As expected, former Indonesian security minister
Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (33,6%) will face President Megawati Sukarnoputri
(26,6%) in a September runoff.
(PolitInfo)
-
Violence in Iraq:
(PolitInfo)
- A suicide bomber attacks near a U.S base in the northern city of
Mosul,
killing 2 civilians and 1 Iraqi security guard. 3 U.S soldiers and 1 Iraqi
security guard were wounded.
- The Iraqi interim Interior Ministry's Deputy Chief of Tribal Affairs,
Col. Musab al-Awadi, is assassinated in
Baghdad
along with 2 of his bodyguards.
- Militants threaten to kill 2 Jordanian truck drivers they captured
within 72 hours if their Jordanian employer did not stop doing business with
the American military.
(AP)
- The
International Maritime Bureau says that deaths due to
piracy
doubled in the first month of 2004 compared with the same period in 2003, to
30 people. Half of the killings were in
Nigerian
waters. Despite the increased violence, the total number of piracy attacks
fell. In the economically critical
Straits of Malacca however, attacks rose by a third.
(BBC)
(PolitInfo)
July 25,
2004
-
A group claiming to be part of the al-Qaida terror network threatens to launch
attacks against Australia and Italy, unless the countries withdraw all troops
from Iraq.
(PolitInfo)
- Israeli-Palestinian conflict:
- Palestinian President Yasser Arafat insists his administration remains
strong and stable.
(PolitInfo)
- The "Human Chain" rally of 130,000
Israelis
protesting against Israel's
plan to unilaterally disengage from the
Gaza
Strip ends peacefully. About 130,000 people formed a 90 km
human
chain from the
Gaza
Strip to
Jerusalem.
(Maariv)
(PolitInfo)
-
Violence in Iraq:
- 15 insurgents are killed in a five-hour battle near the guerilla
stronghold of
Buhriz near
Baquba in which small-arms, artillery, and mortars are used.
(PolitInfo)
- A U.S soldier is killed in a roadside bomb attack near
Baiji, 90
miles south of
Mosul.
- A former government official is killed in Baghdad.
- Guerillas kill two police officers in Mahumudiya, 25 miles south of
Baghdad.
July 24,
2004
- North Korea dismisses a U.S. proposal that it follow the example of Libya
and scrap its nuclear weapons in exchange for aid and diplomatic recognition.
(PolitInfo)
- In Mexico
Judge Cesar Flores refused to authorize arrest orders for former president
Luis Echeverría Álvarez and other officials under the accusations of
genocide
for the killing of students during the "dirty war". Prosecutors are expected
to appeal the decision.
(BBC)
(PolitInfo)
- An Iranian
court clears Mohammad Reza Aghdam-Ahmadi, the
intelligence agent accused of killing the Iranian-Canadian
journalist
Zahra
Kazemi, of charges of "semi-intentional murder", stating that the
blood
money should be paid from the state's
treasury.
(BBC)
July 23,
2004
- Darfur Crisis:
- The
United States Senate and
House of Representatives pass a joint resolution declaring the
armed conflict in the Sudanese region of
Darfur to be
genocide.
(CNN)
(PolitInfo)
- Rebels in western Sudan say the pro-government Janjaweed militiamen have
attacked civilians in the Darfur region several times this week, despite
Khartoum's pledge to disarm the militia.
(PolitInfo)
- President Bush Friday again demands that Sudan stop pro-government
militias from attacking civilians in the troubled Darfur region of the country.
(PolitInfo)
- A militant group kidnaps an
Egyptian
diplomat,
Mohamed Mamdouh Qutb, in
Baghdad, Iraq.
(BBC)
(PolitInfo)
- Two opinion surveys, conducted in six Arab countries in June, show a
steady drop in Arab apprvoal of American policies and values.
(PolitInfo)
- Israeli settlements in Gaza and parts of the West Bank are still expanding,
despite plans to evacuate them by the end of next year. The expansion is
documented in a new report by the Peace Now group.
(PolitInfo)
- The bridge in
Mostar dividing
Croat and
Bosniak
communities is opened eleven years after it was destroyed in the Bosnian war.
(BBC)
July 22,
2004
- In the
United States, the
September 11th Commission releases
its unanimous final report. The report harshly criticizes American
intelligence agencies.
(PolitInfo)
- Darfur Crisis:
- U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell and U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan call
again on the Sudanese government to live up to its commitment to disarm
Janjaweed militia fighters immediately. Powell says the United States is still
not satisfied with the Sudanese government's response to the humanitarian
crisis facing the Darfur region.
(PolitInfo)
- British Prime Minister Tony Blair plays down a report that he is making
contingency plans to send British troops to Sudan to deal with that country's
ethnic conflict.
(PolitInfo)
- Representatives from Darfur's two rebel groups and the African Union are
meeting in an effort to restart peace talks, which collapsed over the weekend.
(PolitInfo)
- The European parliament approves former Portuguese Prime Minister Jose
Manuel Durao Barroso as the next president of the European Commission, the
European Union's executive body.
(PolitInfo)
- The U.S. Army's inspector general has found a total of 94 cases of
confirmed or alleged abuse of prisoners by U.S. troops in Iraq and
Afghanistan, a higher number than previous estimates by the Defense
Department. The inspector general testified before a Senate panel.
(PolitInfo)
- Kenya calls
on its citizens to leave
Iraq, after the
recent abductions of three Kenyan citizens
(AP)
(PolitInfo)
-
The International Whaling Commission decides it is not yet ready to
lift a ban on commercial whaling.
(PolitInfo)
-
A new opinion poll indicates presumptive Democratic presidential
nominee John Kerry holds a two-to-one lead over President Bush among Hispanic
voters.
(PolitInfo)
July 21,
2004
- The
United Nations General Assembly passes a non-binding
resolution condemning the
Israeli West Bank barrier.
Israel
affirms that "Israel will not stop building (the barrier) or abdicate its
inalienable right to self-defense." The resolution does not address either the
terrorism
or violence
that Israel claims prompted it to build the barrier.
(Reuters)
(PolitInfo)
(PolitInfo)
- Darfur Crisis:
-
British Prime Minister Tony Blair calls the violence in Sudan's
Darfur "ethnic cleansing," and he is vowing to keep up pressure on the
government in Khartoum to stop it.
(PolitInfo)
- French Foreign Minister Michel Barnier Wednesday calls for the Sudanese
government and rebel forces from the Darfur region to resume peace talks,
which collapsed during the weekend.
(PolitInfo)
- U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan says the government of Sudan is not
doing enough to stop widespread attacks by Arab militias against Sudanese
villagers.
(PolitInfo)
- Sudan's government slams a report by a leading human rights group
alleging government documents prove Khartoum is supporting an Arab militia
accused of atrocities in the western Darfur region
(PolitInfo)
- Iran rejects as fabrication and fantasy President George Bush's
suggestions Tehran may have been involved in the September 11th terror attacks
on the United States.
(PolitInfo)
-
Saudi security officials find the head of American hostage
Paul Johnson in a refrigerator in a villa in
Riyadh,
Saudi
Arabia.
(Reuters)
(PolitInfo)
- Following the decision of the
Philippines to accede to hostage-taker's demands that it withdraw all 51
soldiers from Iraq,
militants in Iraq abduct three
Indians, two
Kenyans and an
Egyptian,
announcing that the hostages would be beheaded unless their countries
immediately announce the withdrawal of troops from Iraq.
(PolitInfo)
July 20,
2004
-
Darfur Crisis:
- Human Rights Watch releases a
report stating that
Sudanese
government documents confirm support for the
Arab
Janjaweed
militia in their campaign of
ethnic cleansing against
African
Muslims in
Darfur.
(PolitInfo)
(PolitInfo)
- The United Nations says Sudan's government is pressuring displaced people
in the country's troubled Darfur region to return to their homes, despite
continuing security concerns.
(PolitInfo)
- The African Union says it will meet with rebels from Sudan's western
Darfur region Thursday to convince them to resume peace talks with the
government.
(PolitInfo)
-
Ahmed Qurei, Prime Minister of the
Palestinian Authority, agrees to withdraw his resignation, three days
after tendering it. Qurei is maintaining a threat to quit "because he has no
powers".
(Reuters)
(PolitInfo)
-
Gloria Arroyo,
President of
The Philippines, confirms that hostage
Angelo de la Cruz has been freed by his captors after their demands for a
one-month-early withdrawal of all 51 Filipino troops from
Iraq were met.
(Reuters)
(PolitInfo)
-
The European Parliament has chosen Spanish socialist Josep Borrell as its new
president.
(PolitInfo)
- Sandy Berger resigns as a foreign affairs advisor to
John
Kerry's
presidential campaign after it is reported that Berger was under
investigation for allegedly illegally taking classified documents belonging to
the
U.S. National Archives, intended for review by the
9/11 Commission, related to the
Clinton administration's handling of millennium terror threats.
(Reuters)
July 19,
2004
- Darfur Crisis:
- Amnesty International releases its report citing systematic killing,
torturing and gang raping of females from ages 8 to 80 by
Muslim
Arab
Janjaweed
militia in the
Darfur region of
Sudan.
(Amnesty)
(Reuters)
(PolitInfo)
- A Sudanese
court sentences 10
Janjaweed
militiamen to amputation and imprisonment for
looting and
killing in Darfur.
(Reuters)
- Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon calls on French Jews to move to Israel
immediately in light of the dramatic rise in French anti-semitism. The French
government describes his comments as unacceptable. An Israeli spokesperson
later claims that Sharon had been misunderstood.
(BBC)
(Haaretz)
(PolitInfo)
-
A tanker truck bomb in
Baghdad
kills 9 Iraqis
and wounds 60.
(PolitInfo)
-
Yasser Arafat, President of the
Palestinian Authority, seeking to quiet unrest in the
Gaza
Strip reinstates Abdel-Razek al-Majaideh, demoting his cousin Moussa
Arafat who was appointed just 3 days ago.
(Reuters)
(PolitInfo)
July 18,
2004
- Thousands of
Palestinians take to the streets to protest appointments by
Yasser Arafat. Palestinian
gunmen attack and burn down a security force post in the
Gaza
Strip town of
Khan Younis manned by forces loyal to
Moussa Arafat, the cousin of Yasser Arafat. The security forces flee.
(Haaretz)
(Reuters)
(PolitInfo)
-
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has stepped up efforts to
expand his coalition, in order to secure support for his disengagement plan
from the Gaza Strip and parts of the West Bank. He meets with opposition Labor
Party leader Shimon Peres before formal coalition talks on forging a national
unity government.
(PolitInfo)
-
U.S. President
George W. Bush states that the establishment of a
Palestinian state by the end of
2005 is unlikely
due to instability and violence in the
Palestinian Authority.
(Maariv)
(Jerusalem Post)
- Bolivia
holds a
referendum on gas exports.
(BBC)
- The trial for the murder of
Canadian
journalist
Zahra
Kazemi in Iran
ended abruptly on the second day of the proceedings. The lawyers of the Kazemi
family insisted that the time has not been enough for proofs to be given,
witnesses
to be brought to court, and the
murderer
to be identified.
July 17,
2004
- Darfur Crisis: The two main Darfur rebel groups have pulled out of African
Union-mediated peace efforts in Addis Ababa, saying they would not return,
until the Sudanese government has met six conditions the rebels have set for
the talks. The six conditions include disarming the pro-government Janjaweed
militias and providing access for an inquiry into genocide charges.
(PolitInfo)
- The
Prime Minister of the
Palestinian Authority,
Ahmed
Qurei, submits his resignation during chaos in the
Gaza
Strip as gunmen kidnapped several people, including the
chief of police of the Gaza Strip, demanding reform of the Palestinian
security force.
Yasser Arafat refuses to accept the resignation.
(Reuters)
(PolitInfo)
- Allegations surface that
Iyad
Allawi himself summarily executed six prisoners at a Baghdad police
station one week before becoming Iraqi prime minister, to "send a clear
message to the police on how to deal with insurgents". His office completely
denied the event.
(SMH)
(Age)
- A new opinion poll indicates most Americans now say the United States
should have stayed out of Iraq. In the New York Times - CBS News poll, 51% of
those polled said the United States should not have gone to war in Iraq. And
the poll reported 62% of respondents said the war was not worth the cost.
(PolitInfo)
July 16,
2004
-
Philippines begins to withdraw from
Iraq in an effort
to secure the release of
Angelo de la Cruz, who is being held by militants who have threatened to
behead him unless Philippine troops leave Iraq by the end of the month.
(BBC)
(PolitInfo)
- AIDS conference in Bangkok: Former South African President Nelson Mandela, addressing the close of the
15th International AIDS Conference in Bangkok, calls for nations to stop AIDS
through funding, an end to discrimination and strong leadership.
(PolitInfo)
-
Palestinian
militants
kidnap
Ghazi al-Jabali, the
Palestinian Authority Chief of Police of the
Gaza
Strip, at gunpoint following an
ambush of his
convoy and the
wounding of two bodyguards. The
Jenin Martyrs' Brigade claims responsibility. Hours later the police chief
is released and another official of the Palestinian Authority kidnapped.
(Reuters)
(BBC)
-
The Pentagon says all of the nearly 600 detainees being held at a U-S Naval
base in Cuba have now been notified of their opportunity to contest their
status as enemy combatants, and to challenge their detention in U-S courts.
(PolitInfo)
-
Russia, Georgia and its separatist region of South Ossetia agree to resolve
the dispute over the mountainous enclave peacefully, but left open the status
of the territory.
(PolitInfo)
-
Former French Prime Minister Alain Juppe resigns as leader of President
Jacques Chirac's ruling Union for a Popular Movement, paving the way for a
party succession battle.
(PolitInfo)
July 15,
2004
- The chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, Republican Senator
John Warner, says new allegations of prisoner abuse by U.S. military personnel
are being investigated by the Defense Department.
(PolitInfo)
- The Sudanese government and two rebel groups operating in the Darfur
region open talks to end their long-standing conflict in Ethiopia's capital,
Addis Ababa.
(PolitInfo)
- The International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda has found the country's
former finance minister Emmanuel Ndindabahizi guilty of war crimes for his
role in the 1994 genocide, and sent him to prison for life.
(PolitInfo)
- Voting takes place in the
Birmingham Hodge Hill and
Leicester South
parliamentary by-elections in the
United Kingdom. The
Labour Party retains Hodge Hill, narrowly, but looses Leicester South to
the
Liberal Democrats. The
Conservative Party is pushed into third place in both seats.
(BBC)
- The
Cambodian parliament votes to reappoint
Hun Sen as
Prime Minister, following an 11-month deadlock.
(BBC)
(Xinhua)
- New
Zealand imposes diplomatic sanctions on
Israel after
an incident involving two alleged
Mossad agents
committing
passport fraud.
(BBC)
(New Zealand Herald)
(Independent)
- A
United Nations report says that life expectancy in some parts of
Africa has
dropped to below 33 years, due to the
AIDS epidemic.
(Medical News Today)
July 14,
2004
- The
Federal Marriage Amendment, a bid by members of the
United States Republican Party to amend the
United States Constitution to ban
same-sex marriage in the United States, fails in the
Senate by a larger-than-expected margin.
(CNN)
(PolitInfo)
- The
Butler Review into
United Kingdom intelligence on
Weapons of Mass Destruction in
Iraq is published.
It criticises the
government for using unreliable intelligence, which it says was 'open to
doubt' and 'seriously flawed', but blames no single individual.
(BBC)
(Guardian)
(Independent)
(PolitInfo)
- Iraq has suffered its worst day of violence since last month's handover of
power.
(PolitInfo)
- The governor of the
Iraqi city of
Mosul is killed
in an attack on his vehicle.
(BBC)
- A massive explosion rocked central Baghdad near the headquarters of the
Iraqi-interim government, killing at least 10 Iraqis. As many as 40 others
were wounded.
-
President
Jacques Chirac announces that France will hold a referendum over the
proposed constitution for the
European Union in 2005.
(Reuters) (BBC)
-
A Turkish
court orders a retrial of 4 Kurdish former members of parliament who were
jailed in 1994. They have been accused of supporting separatism and for making
speeches in
Kurdish.
(BBC)
(PolitInfo)
-
Same-sex marriage in Canada: A court in
Yukon rules
that the territory's government must licence
marriages between same-sex partners. Yukon becomes the fourth jurisdiction
in Canada to perform same-sex marriages, after
Ontario,
British Columbia, and
Quebec.
(CBC)
July 13,
2004
- Darfur Conflict:
- U.S. President Bush again calls for the Sudan government to stop raids by
Arab militiamen that have displaced more than one-million people in the Darfur
Region. Secretary of State Colin Powell says in an
article the US Government and the international community want to see "dramatic
improvements on the ground."
(PolitInfo)
- U.S. senators have introduced a resolution saying genocide is taking place
in Sudan.
(PolitInfo)
- Representative Charles Rangel (Democrat of New York) is arrested as he
blocked the entrance to the Sudanese Embassy to protest the Khartoum
government's support for militia groups in Sudan's Darfur region
(PolitInfo)
- Al
Jazeera television reports that a
Bulgarian
hostage held in
Iraq by suspected
al-Qaeda
ally
Abu Musab al-Zarqawi has been executed. A video tape of the murder was
provided to Al Jazeera. The group vows to execute another hostage within 24
hours.
(Reuters)
(PolitInfo)
- U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan says the United States' focus on the war
against terrorism has overshadowed the world's growing AIDS epidemic.
(PolitInfo)
- The European Union's highest court annulles a controversial decision by EU
finance ministers to suspend disciplinary action against France and Germany
when they violated a budget pact that underpins the Euro currency.
(PolitInfo)
- Khaled al-Harbi, a disabled militant
Saudi
sheikh linked
to al-Qaeda
and
Osama Bin Laden, turns himself in to the Saudi authorities in
Tehran under
an amnesty
program of the Saudi King.
(BBC)
- AIDS conference in Bangkok:
- United Nations officials have told an AIDS conference in Bangkok that the
Asia-Pacific region needs at least five-billion dollars to curb the increase
of the disease in the region.
(PolitInfo)
- A new United Nations report says the crisis of children orphaned by
HIV/AIDS is growing.
(PolitInfo)
July 12,
2004
- Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon meets with the opposition Labor Party
leader, Shimon Peres, on forming a national unity government.
(PolitInfo)
- In Sri Lanka, Tamil Tiger rebels are threatening to resume a civil war
halted by a peace process that began two-and-one-half-years ago.
(PolitInfo)
-
AIDS conference in Bangkok:
- AIDS prevention programs that teach abstinence only are not likely to work,
according to proponents of an alternate strategy.
(PolitInfo)
- Non-governmental agencies attending the AIDS conference in Bangkok say
discrimination by health workers is undermining efforts to combat HIV-AIDS in
the Asia-Pacific region.
(PolitInfo)
-
Pedro Santana Lopes becomes the prime minister of
Portugal.
(BBC)
- The
Philippines announces the withdrawal of its forces from
Iraq.
(Reuters)
July 11,
2004
-
Israel's prime minister, Ariel Sharon, has ordered construction to
continue on the West Bank security barrier, despite a World Court ruling
declaring the project illegal.
(PolitInfo)
-
The opposition gained ground against Japan's governing coalition in
Sunday's parliamentary election, according to preliminary results.
(PolitInfo)
-
The presidents of Sudan and Chad have agreed to set up joint
patrols along their troubled border in an effort to end the crisis in Sudan's
Darfur region, according to radio report.
(PolitInfo)
-
Ashraf Jehangir Qazi is nominated by
Kofi
Annan to be the UN new envoy to
Iraq.
(Rediff News)
(PolitInfo)
-
Boris Tadic is
inaugurated as the
President of Serbia after winning the
Serbian presidential election, 2004.
(Bulgarian News Network)
(PolitInfo)
July 10,
2004
- One day after the World Court issued a ruling against Israel's
construction of a security barrier on parts of the West Bank, Palestinian
officials say they will go to the United Nations to seek a resolution
supporting the ruling.
(PolitInfo)
- President Bush uses his weekly radio address to call for a Constitutional
amendment banning gay marriage.
(PolitInfo)
July 9,
2004
- In its advisory opinion asked for by the
United Nations General Assembly the
International Court of Justice states that the
Israeli
defense barrier in the
West Bank
is illegal and calls for the General Assembly and the
Security Council to remedy the situation.
(NZZ)
(BBC)
(PolitInfo)
- The final report of the
US Senate
Intelligence Committee states that the
Central Intelligence Agency described the danger presented by
weapons of mass destruction in
Iraq in an
unreasonable way, largely unsupported by the available intelligence.
(BBC)
(NYT)
(PolitInfo)
- The United Nations says armed men are attacking civilians and humanitarian
workers in Sudan's western region of Darfur, despite a government promise to
stop the violence.
(PolitInfo)
-
Ahmed Nazif is appointed the new
Prime Minister of
Egypt after the
resignation of previous Prime Minister
Atef
Obeid and the entire cabinet.
(BBC)
(PolitInfo)
-
After a series of delays, Afghanistan has announced October 9 as the date for
its first presidential election following two decades of war and authoritarian
rule.
(PolitInfo)
July 8,
2004
-
Darfur Crisis:
- The U.N. Security Council warns Sudan to immediately begin
implementing an agreement with Secretary General Kofi Annan issued during his
visit Saturday or face serious consequences, including sanctions.
(PolitInfo)
- The African Union announces an expanded role for troops headed to Sudan's
troubled Darfur region to include protecting civilians.
(PolitInfo)
- U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell Thursday renewed warnings of
international sanctions against Sudan if there is not immediate action to ease
the humanitarian situation in the western Darfur region.
(PolitInfo)
- U.S. and U.N. humanitarian officials are repeating calls for international
intervention in the troubled Sudanese region of Darfur.
(PolitInfo)
-
Iraq:
- US Marine Corporal
Wassef Ali Hassoun appears unharmed at the US Embassy in
Beirut.
Hassoun disappeared from his unit in
Iraq on
June 21,
and was incorrectly reported as having been beheaded by the group that
captured him. The
United States Navy has launched an investigation into the incident.
(Reuters)
(BBC)
(PolitInfo)
- The al-Jazeerah television network has broadcast a videotape in which
militants loyal to terrorist leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi threaten to execute
two Bulgarian hostages.
(PolitInfo)
- The Arabic satellite channel al-Jazeera has broadcast a video Wednesday
that appears to show three armed men holding a Filipino hostage in Iraq.
(PolitInfo)
- The U.S. military in Iraq says five U.S. soldiers and one Iraqi guard have
been killed in a mortar attack on the National Guard headquarters in Samara,
north of Baghdad.
(PolitInfo)
-
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has invited the opposition Labor party to
join a broad coalition government with his Likud party.
(PolitInfo)
- Mexico
and
Venezuela become associate members of
Mercosur
(Southern Common Market).
(BBC)
- India
presents its national
budget hiking
its defence
outlay.
(Rediff India)
July 7,
2004
- After the first round of Indonesia's presidential elections on Monday, it
is becoming increasingly clear that the runoff, scheduled for September, will
pit the incumbent, President Megawati Sukarnoputri, against her former
security minister.
Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.
(PolitInfo)
- Japan tells
the
United Nations it should get a permanent seat on the
Security Council because of its participation in the multinational force
in Iraq.
(VOA)
(JapanToday)
- At a meeting with 20 pro-democracy lawmakers,
Chief Executive
Tung Chee Hwa says he is powerless to ask
Beijing to
reconsider its decision to deny
universal suffrage to
Hong Kong's
people.
(Radio Australia)
(PolitInfo)
July 6,
2004
- Darfur Crisis:
- U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan calls upon
African Union leaders to take action to resolve the crisis in
Darfur and warns the situation in Darfur could lead to an even greater
humanitarian catastrophe beyond Sudan's border if attacks against civilians
there do not stop.
(BBC)
(PolitInfo)
- The government of Sudan has lifted restrictions on aid and relief workers
headed to the troubled western region of Darfur.
(PolitInfo)
-
U.S. Democratic Party
presumptive presidential candidate
John
Kerry picks former rival
John
Edwards to be his
running mate.
(MSNBC)
(BBC)
(PolitInfo)
- In a huge front-page headline, the
New York Post mistakenly reports that Kerry had picked
Richard Gephardt.
- The
U.S.
Senate Select Committee on Intelligence uncovers that, before the
War on
Iraq, the
C.I.A. was told by relatives of Iraqi scientists that Iraq's programs to
develop unconventional weapons had been abandoned.
(Guardian)
(PolitInfo)
- A new report by the U.N. AIDS organizations finds the global AIDS epidemic
is worsening. The agency says more people in all regions around the world are
becoming infected with HIV, the virus which causes AIDS.
(PolitInfo)
-
President of
Austria
Thomas Klestil dies of a
heart
attack, just two days before he was due to leave office.
(BBC)
-
Islamic Response claims that
United States Marine Corps Corporal
Wassef Ali Hassoun has been taken to a place of safety after he promised
to desert
from the Marine Corps.
(BBC)
(PolitInfo) A
car bomb in the Khalis section of
Baghdad
kills 13 people attending the wake of individuals killed two days ago in a
previous attack.
(Boston Globe)
July 5,
2004
-
The
first direct Indonesian presidential election is held, with
Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono expected to win with one-third of the vote. If no
candidate wins at least 50 percent of the vote, the two top finishers will
compete in a September
runoff. The race for second place, between President
Megawati Sukarnoputri and former army chief General
Wiranto, is
still too close to call.
(VOA)
(PolitInfo)
- The
International Committee of the Red Cross and
UNICEF state
that there are more than 100
Iraqi children in
custody of the US-led coalition, and a US soldier reports of
child harrassment in Abu Ghraib.
(Der Spiegel via Pakistan News Service)
- The war crimes trial of former Yugoslav leader Slobodan Milosevic at a U.N.
tribunal in The Hague is adjourned because of concerns over his health.
(PolitInfo)
- Australia and
Thailand
sign a
free trade agreement.
(Xinhua)
-
Alfonso Durazo, spokesman and private secretary to
Mexican
President
Vicente
Fox, resigns over "political differences" with his boss, including the
presidential ambitions of First Lady
Marta Sahagún. The announcement came shortly after, but was not related
to, a bad day for Fox's
PAN party in state elections in its northern heartland.
(BBC)
(Reuters)
July 4,
2004
- Iran announces that it wants to bring charges of its own against deposed
Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein at his forthcoming trial.
(PolitInfo)
- The United Nations children's fund, UNICEF, says at least half-a-million
children have been traumatized by the violence and brutality of the war in
Sudan's western region of Darfur.
(PolitInfo)
July 3,
2004
- U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan says he has received assurances from the
Sudanese government that it will disarm Arab militias, blamed for the violence
in the western region of Darfur.
(PolitInfo)
-
Lawyers seeking the release of nine suspected terrorists held at
the U.S. detention centre at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, have filed suit demanding
the U.S. government justify their clients' detention.
(PolitInfo)
-
Occupation of Iraq: The Islamic extremist group
Jaish Ansar al-Sunna has reportedly beheaded
U.S. Marine
Corporal
Wassef Ali Hassoun. The group claims that it will release a videotape
recording of the execution in the coming days.
(Reuters)
(Reuters)
(PolitInfo)
-
In Indian Kashmir, a string of attacks by suspected Islamic militants claims
eight lives and wounds dozens of people. Violence swept the region just days
after India and Pakistan held peace talks aimed at ending their dispute over
the divided region.
(PolitInfo)
-
Trade unionists and members of German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder's Social
Democratic party have announced plans to form a new political party that will
challenge the ruling party in upcoming elections.
(PolitInfo)
July 2,
2004
-
Darfur conflict:
Sudanese
President
Omar Hasan Ahmad al-Bashir, in a meeting with
United Nations Secretary-General
Kofi
Annan, makes a commitment to "ensure security for the civilian population
by deploying civilian police and by disarming militias."
(Reuters)
-
Occupation of Iraq:
- Four
U.S. Army
soldiers, including a
first lieutenant, are charged with offenses ranging up to involuntary
manslaughter in the
January 3
drowning death of an
Iraqi detainee whom they reportedly forced to leap into the
Tigris from
atop a bridge in
Samarra.
(Reuters)
- Turkey says Iraqi guerrillas have released two Turkish hostages after
their employer agreed to stop working for U.S. forces in Iraq.
(PolitInfo)
-
An al-Qaida-linked group threatens attacks in Europe if European leaders do
not accept a truce offer by Osama bin Laden that expires on July 15.
(PolitInfo)
-
U.S. presidential election, 2004: Several
Democratic Party members of the
U.S. House of Representatives request that the
United Nations send observers to monitor the November 2 presidential
election, citing the disputed
2000 presidential outcome.
(AFP)
July 1,
2004
- The
Iraqi Special Tribunal holds the first hearing in the trial of
Saddam Hussein.
(BBC)
(Guardian)
(PolitInfo)
- More than 200,000
Hong Kong
residents march to demand greater democracy on the 7th anniversary of the
handover.
(PolitInfo)
- A Qatari
court sentences two
Russian
intelligence officers to 25 years in prison for
assassination
of
Zelimkhan Yandarbiyev, a suspected terrorist and leader of
Chechen separatists, on
February 13, 2004.
(Pravda)
(Washington Times)
(PolitInfo)
January 2004 - February 2004 - March 2004 - April 2004 - May 2004 - June 2004
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