PolitInfo.com: Current Events May 2005

May 31, 2005

In France, the Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin resigns following the country's rejection of the Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe. In an expected move, President Jacques Chirac appoints Interior Minister Dominique de Villepin to succeed him. (Reuters) (PolitInfo)
The Security Council extends the United Nations peacekeeping mission in Haiti until June 24 (Reuters AlertNet) (PolitInfo)
The Sudanese government arrests a second Doctors Without Borders official over a report on rape in Darfur. This follows Monday's arrest, brief detention, and charges laid against the head of the medical aid agency's Dutch office. A news report also reveales that a Sudanese translator who was with the U.N. secretary general has been arrested. (PolitInfo)
The Indonesian government and separatist rebels from the Indonesian province of Aceh wrapped up a fourth round of peace talks in the Finnish capital of Helsinki Tuesday on an upbeat note, agreeing to hold further negotiations in July. (PolitInfo)
In Senegal, opposition leader Abdourahim Agne is charged with incitement to rebellion after he urged demonstrations against the president Abdoulaye Wade. (Reuters SA) (BBC) (PolitInfo)
China claims that arrested Singaporean journalist Ching Cheong was spying. (BBC) (Reporters Without Borders) (Reuters) (PolitInfo)
Chinese and Japanese officials reach no agreement following two days of talks on a boundary dispute in the East China Sea. (PolitInfo)

May 30, 2005

Election officials in Ethopia say provisional results show the ruling party has won a majority of parliamentary seats in the May 15 poll. (PolitInfo)
Germany's largest opposition party (CDU/CSU) nominates Angela Merkel to challenge incumbent Gerhard Schroeder for chancellor in the upcoming general election. (Spiegel online, german) (PolitInfo)
Iraqi officials say a double suicide bombing south of Baghdad has killed at least 27 people and wounded more than 100 others. (PolitInfo)
Lebanese general election, 2005: Election officials announce that the political alliance of Saad Hariri, son of killed former Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri, won the Beirut district, in the first stage of the election on Sunday. Three more rounds of voting in other regions of the country lie ahead. (Daily Star, Lebanon) (Al-Jazeera) (Reuters) (PolitInfo)
At least 15 people are killed when rival factions clash in the southern Somali town of Baidoa. (BBC) (PolitInfo)

May 29, 2005

The French electorate rejects the Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe by approximately 55% to 45%, igniting a political crisis in the union and dealing a sharp blow to French President Jacques Chirac. All 25 EU member states must ratify the treaty for it to come into effect - 9 have done so to date, but only Spain has previously held a referendum. (BBC) (Los Angeles Times) (Bloomberg) (Reuters) (PolitInfo)
The opposition bloc led by the son of the slain former prime minister Rafik Hariri is claiming landslide victory in Beirut in the first round of Lebanese parliamentary elections. (PolitInfo)
Israel's Cabinet approves the release of 400 Palestinian prisoners, as part of a cease-fire agreement reached nearly four months ago. (PolitInfo)
At least 150 Nepalese journalists march through Kathmandu to protest the closure of a radio program production center and to demand the restoration of freedom of press. (PolitInfo)

May 28, 2005

Two bombs explode at a busy market in Indonesia, killing at least 22 people and injuring dozens more. (PolitInfo)
U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan visits Sudan's South Darfur state to take a first-hand look at the security situation in the troubled region. Annan calls on Sudanese leaders to do more to improve the situation in the camps. (PolitInfo)
The brother of a Japanese kidnap victim who disappeared in Iraq this month has confirmed the man's death, from pictures of a bloodied corpse displayed on an Internet site used by Islamic militants. (PolitInfo)
Human rights groups accuse Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak's ruling party of using security forces to assault pro-reform demonstrators and journalists during the referendum earlier this week. (PolitInfo)
Campaigning for Guinea-Bissau's post-coup presidential election opens with the controversial former leader, Kumba Yalla, announcing that he will take part in the election, scheduled for June 19th. (PolitInfo)

May 27, 2005

The upper house of Germany's parliament, the Bundesrat, ratifies the Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe, just two days before France holds a referendum on the pact. (BBC) (PolitInfo)
At least 19 people die as a bomb explodes near a shrine in Islamabad, Pakistan. (Al-Jazeera) (BBC) (PolitInfo)
Qur'an desecration controversy of 2005: Protests have occurred in Egypt, Pakistan, Jordan, Lebanon and Malaysia after the US military admitted that the Qur'an had been "mishandled" by soldiers. (BBC) (PolitInfo) (PolitInfo)
Peace talks between Pakistan and India end without resolving a two-decade-old military standoff over the Siachen Glacier in the Himalayan Mountains. (PolitInfo)
The Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty Review Conference ends without agreement. But delegates reject suggestions that the meeting had been a failure. (PolitInfo)

May 26, 2005

Donor nations pledge an additional 200-million dollars to support an expanded African Union mission in Sudan's western Darfur region. An appeal for more support was answered during a meeting of donor nations in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia's capital. (PolitInfo)
A constitutional amendment to allow Egypt's first direct presidential elections wins 83 percent approval in a national referendum - according to Egypt's Interior Ministry. Wednesday's vote, however, was marred by violence between police and opposition protesters, who have denounced the amendment. (Al-Jazeera) (BBC) (PolitInfo)
Brigadier General Jay Hood, the military commander at Guantanamo Bay, says U.S. officials have substantiated five cases of mishandling of the Koran by the military, but found no credible evidence that a Koran was placed in a toilet and flushed. (PolitInfo)
A new round of peace talks between the Indonesian government and separatist rebels from Aceh Province opens in Helsinki. (PolitInfo)
Three days before France holds a referendum on the European constitution, French President Jacques Chirac makes a last appeal for a yes vote. (PolitInfo)
Preliminary results show Suriname's ruling coalition survived an election challenge from former dictator Dési Bouterse in this former Dutch colony. (Guardian Unlimited)
Conflict in Iraq: Two US Soldiers are killed as a helicopter is shot down near Baquba, North of Baghdad. (BBC) (PolitInfo)
After talks at the White House U.S. President George W. Bush promises the President of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas, $50 million in aid and reiterates that Israel was to stop all settlement activity on the West Bank. (BBC) (PolitInfo)

May 25, 2005

Amnesty International realeases it's annual Human Rights report for the year 2004. Amnesty Report (PolitInfo) The 308-page report highlights the state of human rights in nearly 150 countries. Among the countries the group singled out are the United States, Sudan, Nepal, and Indonesia. The group criticizes the United States for what it called it's "selective disregard" for international law and the reported abuse of detainees. (PolitInfo)
Egyptians vote in a referendum on a constitutional amendment allowing multi-candidate presidential elections while opposition groups call for a boycott, saying that requirements for candidates are too hard and still favour the ruling National Democratic Party. (Al-Jazeera) (Reuters) (PolitInfo)
Militias in the government-controlled part of divided Ivory Coast have symbolically started handing in their weapons, but northern based rebels remain skeptical about the disarmament program. (PolitInfo)
Human Rights Watch releases a report accusing the FBI of misconduct in the illegal detention and torture of two American citizens. (NYTimes) (PolitInfo)
Leaders of Indian Kashmir's main separatist political alliance accept an invitation to visit Pakistan for talks on the disputed region's future. (PolitInfo)
Iran renews its promise to refrain from developing nuclear weapons, and talks on its atomic program will continue following a three-hour meeting between Iranian nuclear officials and European Union ministers in Geneva. (BBC) (PolitInfo)
Elections in Suriname: General elections are underway in Suriname. Likely winner could be former dictator and drug smuggler, Dési Bouterse. (PolitInfo)
An ETA car bomb explodes near Madrid, Spain after a warning call. (EITB24) (Scotsman) (PolitInfo)
In Guinea-Bissau, an armed group of men led by former President Kumba Ialá briefly occupies the presidential palace. The ousted president claims that he is still in charge. (BBC) (PolitInfo)

May 24, 2005

A Senior U.N. Official says the neediest countries in the world are getting the least amount of money. U.N. Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, Jan Egeland says 20 of the world's forgotten emergencies, most in Africa, have received about 10-percent of what they need for life-saving operations, but tsunami-affected countries have had 90-percent of their needs met. (PolitInfo)
NATO ambassadors have approved non-combat aid for the African Union peacekeeping effort in Sudan's Darfur region. (PolitInfo)
Renewed fighting, killings and abductions by rebels in northern Uganda has forced 10,000 more children to spend their nights on the streets of major towns in the region, the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) says in a report. (PolitInfo)
Francois Bozize, the incumbent leader of the Central African Republic, who came into power through a coup, is declared the winner of the country's presidential elections. Results give him more than 60 percent of the vote in the run-off election, held on May 8, against former Prime Minister Martin Ziguele. (PolitInfo)
Iran's hard-line Guardian Council has agreed to allow two reformist candidates to run in the June 17 presidential election, after initially disqualifying them. (PolitInfo)
New York-based Human Rights Watch and the Washington-based Coalition for International Justice are renewing accusations that former Liberian leader Charles Taylor is creating instability in West Africa from exile in Nigeria, where they say he has built an illicit financial network. They are asking that he be turned over to a war crimes court before October elections in Liberia. (PolitInfo)
Conflict in Iraq: At least five Iraqis and seven US Soldiers have been killed following a spate of bombings in Iraq. Meanwhile, a militant group's website says Jordanian-born Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, who has claimed responsibility for some of the deadliest and bloodiest attacks in Iraq, has been injured. (BBC) (PolitInfo)

May 23, 2005

European Union foreign and defense ministers pledge to provide aircraft to transport thousands of African troops to Sudan's Darfur region to help end the conflict there. (PolitInfo)
A series of car bombings and ambushes in Iraq leaves at least 42 people dead. (PolitInfo)
The U.N. Food and Agricultural Organization says armed conflicts are now the leading cause of hunger. (PolitInfo)
Mongolia's General Election Committee officially proclaims former Prime Minister Nambariin Enkhbayar as the winner of Sunday's presidential election. (Reuters) (CNN) (Xinhua) (PolitInfo)
Iranian Supreme leader Grand Ayatollah Ali Khamenei orders Iran's hardline Guardian Council to review its decision barring reformist candidates from running for president in next month's polls. (PolitInfo)
A U.N. inspection team has verified the full withdrawal of all Syrian troops from Lebanon. (PolitInfo)

May 22, 2005

German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder declares that he will seek the next German federal election to be held this autumn, a year earlier than set out by the constitution, after the CDU and FDP defeated the Social Democrats (SPD), who were in coaltion with the Greens, at the regional election in North Rhine-Westphalia. (BBC) (PolitInfo)
Egyptian police have arrested 25 more members of the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood, including one of the opposition group's top leaders. (PolitInfo)
Iran's constitutional overseers have disqualified nearly all pro-reform candidates in next month's presidential election. Members of the hardline Guardian Council rejected more than 1,000 candidates who had registered to run in the June 17 election. (PolitInfo)

May 21, 2005

Afghan President Hamid Karzai, expressing outrage over the alleged abuse of Afghan detainees by U.S. military personnel, demands that his government be consulted on all U.S. military operations in the country. (PolitInfo)
Palestinian militants suspend attacks against Israel that were threatening the fragile Mideast cease-fire. The announcement comes ahead of high level diplomacy aimed at getting the peace process back on track. (PolitInfo)
West African heads of state are in Guinea-Bissau to discuss fears of violence following the announcement by deposed former leader Kumba Yalla that he remained the legitimate head of state and that June presidential elections should be canceled. (PolitInfo)
Western diplomats have appealed for calm in Ethiopia, as election results slowly come in from Sunday's parliamentary poll. (PolitInfo)

May 20, 2005

Israeli-Palestinian conflict: Palestinian militants fire mortar shells and anti-tank missiles on Israelis living in the Kfar Darom settlement in the Gaza Strip. Israeli troops kill one Palestinian militant following the attack. (Haaretz) (BBC) (PolitInfo)
U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan says Uzbekistan's president Islam Karimov has rejected calls for an international investigation into last week's deadly clashes in his country. (PolitInfo)
Prisoner Abuse:
- A U.S. newspaper report says a confidential U.S. Army document details widespread abuse of Afghan detainees by American soldiers. The New York Times says the abuse, along with details of the deaths of two detainees at the Bagram detention center in Afghanistan in late 2002, emerged from a file of the Army's criminal investigation into the deaths. (PolitInfo)
- The Red Cross and the Pentagon have acknowledged that they discussed complaints of Koran desecration from detainees held at the U.S. military prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba in 2002 and 2003. (PolitInfo)
Ethiopia's National Electoral Board announces that it plans to hold a new election this weekend at six polling stations where irregularities were reported during Sunday's vote. (PolitInfo)
East Timor is celebrating the third anniversary of its independence. It is the last day United Nations forces formally guaranteed the security of the world's newest country. The U.N. mission, which once numbered over 11,000 people, will now be reduced to 130 administrators and police and military advisers. (Bloomberg) (BBC) (PolitInfo)

May 19, 2005

In Togo, talks to resolve a crisis after last month's disputed presidential election end without agreement. Refugees continue to arrive in Benin. (BBC) (Reuters AlertNet) (PolitInfo)
Unrest in Uzbekistan: Various governments, including that of the United States, demand further investigation into the events. Uzbek government troops report that they have retaken the town of Korasuv. President Islam Karimov rejects calls for international inquiry. Oppositions group fear that state will begin active oppression against them (Reuters Alertnet) (Mosnews) (Reuters) (BBC) (PolitInfo)
Senior Israeli officials say the military will respond more aggressively to Palestinian attacks and warn the current flare-up in violence could delay Israel's plans to pull out of the Gaza Strip and parts of the West Bank this August. (PolitInfo)
A series of attacks on aid workers in southern Afghanistan leaves at least ten people dead. (PolitInfo)
Rwandan defense minister general Marcel Gatsinzi apologizes for being part of the Hutu government during the 1994 Rwandan genocide, the first time anyone from that government has done so. (ReliefWeb) (Reuters AlertNet) (BBC)
In Niger, 2,000 people march in the capital Niamey and demand the release of anti-slavery campaigners Ilguilas Weila and Alassane Biga. (BBC) (PolitInfo)

May 18, 2005

Israel launches its first airstrike against Palestinian militants in the occupied territories since both sides agreed at a summit earlier this year to work toward re-starting the Middle East peace process. (PolitInfo)
Ethiopia’s main opposition parties say they’re on course to win the parliamentary elections – contradicting the ruling party’s claims of victory. (PolitInfo)
After two years of emergency rule designed to counter a long separatist insurgency, the Indonesian government has decided to allow the tsunami-hit province of Aceh to return to normal rule. (PolitInfo)
Unrest in Uzbekistan: 36 foreign diplomats visit Andijan in a government-sponsored trip and under heavy guard. Uzbek government continues to deny that civilian were killed. Official death toll has rised to 169 but some human rights groups state that it can be as high as 750. Group of islamic rebels lead by a man called Bakhtiyor Rakhimov claim that they now control the border town of Korasuv (Mosnews) (Reuters AlertNet) (BBC) (IHT) (PolitInfo)
Rwandan Hutu rebels based in eastern Congo are responsible for hundreds of summary executions, rapes, beatings and hostage-taking of Congolese civilians in the territory of Walungu, South Kivu Province, the UN Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo, MONUC, says in a report documenting the human rights violations. (PolitInfo)
Polish President Aleksander Kwaśniewski set the date for parliamentary elections for September 25, 2005 and a presidential election for October 9, 2005. (Bloomberg) (PolitInfo)
According to a spokesman for the Georgian Interior Ministry, a hand grenade found among spectators during a speech by U.S. President George W. Bush last week in Tbilisi failed to function, although it was live and could have exploded. It was originally thought to have been a dummy grenade. (CNN) (PolitInfo)

May 17, 2005

Unrest in Uzbekistan: The Uzbek government says they will allow foreign diplomats to visit Andijan. Survivors from Andijan who have crossed the border to Kyrgyzstan say that government troops opened fire without warning and that they were shelled in the Kyrgyzstan border crossing. Opposition believes that as many as 745 may be dead. Official government death toll is 169. Government officials still deny that soldiers killed civilians. (Reuters AlertNet) (Guardian Unlimited) (IHT) (PolitInfo)
African leaders at a summit on the conflict in Sudan's Darfur region have agreed to resume stalled peace talks May 30. (PolitInfo)
Ethiopia's ruling party EPRDF states it has won general elections. Ethiopia's largest opposition group has accused the ruling party of using what it calls 'illegal means' to cling to power, after claiming election victory while votes were still being counted. (Reuters SA) (BBC) (PolitInfo) (PolitInfo)
12,000 protesters march in the Brazilian capital of Brasília to protest the government's slowness in land reform. A 17-day march of the Landless Workers Movement ends with violence in the capital when the demonstrators clash with the riot police. Over 50 people are injured. (Bloomberg) (Reuters) (BBC) (PolitInfo)
The Council of Europe, the continent's oldest political organization, has ended a two-day summit in Warsaw by reaffirming its mission to preserve and promote human rights, democracy and the rule of law. (PolitInfo)
The Spanish parliament approves plan to begin negotiations with the Basque ETA. (IHT) (Guardian Unlimited) (Reuters AlertNet) (PolitInfo)
Unidentified gunmen have shot dead an opposition politician in Bangladesh's capital, Dhaka. (PolitInfo)
Thousands of people have taken to the streets in cities across Guinea-Bissau after the controversial presidential candidate, deposed former leader, Kumba Yalla said he should still be president. (PolitInfo)
U.S. authorities detain Cuban-exile Luis Posada Carriles, sought by Cuba and Venezuela for his alleged involvement in the 1976 bombing of a Cuban Airways passenger jet. (Financial Times) (PolitInfo)

May 16, 2005

Kuwait's parliament approves an amendment to the emirate's elections law granting women the right to vote and run for public office. (Yahoo!) (PolitInfo)
Ethiopian prime minister Meles Zenawi bans demonstrations in the capital Addis Ababa for one month after Sunday's parliamentary elections. Opposition parties, especially Coalition for Unity and Democracy accuse government of electoral fraud and harassment of their election observers. No results have been published yet. (News24) (BBC) (PolitInfo)
Unrest in Uzbekistan: News reports from Uzbekistan say sporadic gunfire has continued in areas along the Kyrgyz border, following Friday's military crackdown against protesters in the city of Andijan. (IHT) (CBC) (Reuters AlertNet) (Moscow Times) (PolitInfo)
North and South Korea have resumed high-level talks Monday for the first time in 10 months. (PolitInfo)
Six African countries begin a two-day summit in Tripoli, Libya, to assess situation in Darfur. (LJBC, Libya) (Reuters AlertNet)(BBC)
An Indonesian court upholds the two-and-half year sentence of Abu Bakar Bashir. (Reuters AlertNet) (PolitInfo)
The National Prosecuting Authority of South Africa of South Africa intends to charge 64 men, including the 61 men released from Zimbabwe, under its anti-mercenary laws. (Reuters SA) (IOL) (PolitInfo)

May 15, 2005

Millions of Ethiopians cast ballots in parliamentary elections widely seen as a test of democracy in the African nation. (PolitInfo)
Witnesses say around 500 bodies have been laid out in a school in the town where Uzbek soldiers fired on civilian protesters Friday. (PolitInfo) British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw says there has been "a clear abuse of human rights" in Uzbekistan. (BBC) (PolitInfo)
Burundi president Domitien Ndayizeye and Agathon Rwasa, leader of the last of the rebel groups, Hutu Forces of National Liberation, sign a peace deal in a meeting in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. (IPPMedia, Tanzania) (ReliefWeb) (BBC) (PolitInfo)
Afghan Muslim clerics and tribal elders have urged U.S. authorities to quickly investigate allegations that U.S. interrogators desecrated the Muslim holy book. (PolitInfo)
Warlords in Somalia's capital, Mogadishu, have begun surrendering their weapons, in an effort to restore stability in the city and ease the return of the country's transitional government, currently in exile in Kenya. (PolitInfo)
Iran's parliament orders the resumption of nuclear processing activities. (PolitInfo)
Guinea-Bissau's interim government has convened a crisis meeting with security chiefs, after former president Kumba Yalla declared himself head of state Sunday. (PolitInfo)

May 14, 2005

Ivory Coast's warring rebel and loyalist forces reach agreement on the rules and a timetable for disarming. (ReliefWeb) (Reuters AlertNet) (PolitInfo)
Unrest In Uzbekistan: Thousands of protesters reappear on the streets of Andijan in Uzbekistan amid reports of hundreds of deaths after soldiers fired on crowds Friday in the city of Andijan. (BBC) (PolitInfo) Uzbek President Islam Karimov blames militants for the violence. (National Post)
Taiwan President Chen Shu-bian's Democratic Progressive Party wins elections for a special assembly charged with amending the island's constitution.. (Reuters) (CNN) (PolitInfo)

May 13, 2005

The Togolese League of Human Rights says that 790 people have been killed and 4,345 hurt in political violence triggered by the election of Faure Gnassingbe to succeed his father as president of the West African nation. (PolitInfo)
Fresh anti-American protests on Friday have claimed at least nine lives in Afghanistan as anger spread over a report that U.S interrogators at Guantanamo Bay had desecrated the Koran.(BBC) (PolitInfo)
Unrest In Uzbekistan:
- Thousands of Uzbeks take over a high security jail in Andijan, freeing thousands of prisoners in protest against the jail sentence of 23 businessmen who were accused of being Islamic extremists. (CBC)
- Violence breaks out in Andijan and in the capital Tashkent. There are reports of firefights in the streets and snipers firing into the crowd. A political rally in Andijan demands the resignation of the government, which claims that the situation is under control. (BBC) (Interfax) (CNN) (PolitInfo)
Negotiations to end the conflict in Sudan's war-torn Darfur region are to resume before the end of the month. The announcement came following talks in Italy hosted by a Catholic group (Sant'Egidio) that mediates conflicts around the world. (PolitInfo)
Fifty Democratic members of the U.S. House of Representatives are calling for an independent U.S. government investigation into the abuse of prisoners at the Abu Ghraib. (PolitInfo)

May 12, 2005

The European Court of Human Rights rules that Turkey's 1999 trial of Kurdish leader Abdullah Öcalan was not fair. (Zaman Online, Turkey) (IHT) (Reuters) (PolitInfo)
An international aid group is urging the global community to address the humanitarian crisis in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where people continue to suffer. The International Rescue Committee says people are dying at an alarming rate in Congo, even though the country's bloody five year war ended in 2003. (PolitInfo)
A senior U.N. official has warned that attacks by Sudanese Arab militias against civilians in Darfur are on the rise. Assistant Secretary General for Peacekeeping Hedi Annabi told the Security Council pro-government Arab fighters have stepped up the pace of attacks in Sudan's Darfur region. (PolitInfo)
Germany's lower house of parliament, or Bundestag overwhelmingly ratifies the European Union constitution.The treaty still must be approved by the Bundesrat, Germany's upper house of parliament. The document is expected to easily win final approval there with a vote on May 27. (PolitInfo)
Violent anti-American protests continue to roil Afghanistan, days after a magazine report alleged U.S. soldiers in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba desecrated copies of the Koran. Three more people are killed. (PolitInfo)
Insurgents in Iraq continue their campaign of violence, killing at least 22 people, including two officers from the defense and interior ministries. (PolitInfo)

May 11, 2005

In Iraq, violence continues as the new government starts discussing a permanent constitution. At least 79 people are killed and more than 100 others wounded in a series of bloody attacks. (BBC) (PolitInfo)
The International Labor Organization reports the use of forced labor is rising due to globalization, increased competitiveness and the world economic boom. More than 12 million people around the world are being forced to work against their will and most of them live in Asia. (PolitInfo)
Human Rights Watch says in a report Islamic militants are being sent to Egypt by the United States and some European countries, despite knowing they will probably be tortured. (PolitInfo)
Pakistan and India agreed they will soon launch two new cross-border bus services as part of their efforts to ease decades of hostility between their nuclear-capable rival nations. (PolitInfo)
Guantánamo Bay Qur'an desecration allegations: Riots over a Newsweek story lead to dozens of injuries and at least three deaths in Jalalabad, Eastern Afghanistan. (BBC) (Reuters) (PolitInfo)
In its annual report, the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom names 11 nations it believes have tolerated or engaged in serious violations of religious freedom over the past year. (PolitInfo)
The Austrian parliament ratifies the European Union constitution with only one dissenting vote. (ORF) In Slovakia, legislators also ratified the constitution by an overwhelming majority. (PolitInfo). The Bulgarian parliament also ratifies the EU membership treaty. (Bulgarian News Network) (CNN)
Preliminary results from the Central African Republic's presidential election place incumbent President and former coup leader Francois Bozize in the lead. (PolitInfo)
The presidents of Nigeria and Cameroon have not made progress in talks on the disputed Bakassi peninsula. They agree to negotiate a new date for the pullout of Nigerian troops. (BBC) (Reuters AlertNet) (PolitInfo)

May 10, 2005

U.N. emergency relief coordinator Jan Egeland, briefing the Security Council, says all the world's greatest humanitarian crises are in Africa. The official charges rich countries with discriminating against Africa in aid donations, leaving many to die. Mr. Egeland says that of 14 humanitarian appeals for Africa this year, eight have received less than 20 percent of the amount requested. (PolitInfo)
The British aid agency Oxfam calls on the UN Security Council to intervene in the worsening humanitarian situation in war-ravaged northern Uganda. (PolitInfo)
U.S. officials say the Defense Department is investigating a report that interrogators at the U.S. detention center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba desecrated the Koran in an effort to pressure Muslim inmates A recent edition of U.S. Newsweek magazine reports that American interrogators placed Korans on toilets and in one case flushed one of the holy books down the toilet.. The account spurred anti-U.S. demonstrations in Pakistan and Afghanistan. (PolitInfo)
Nepali troops have killed 26 Maoist rebels in a major gun battle after hundreds of rebels attacked security posts in eastern Nepal Monday night. Dozens of civilians were injured in the clashes. Meanwhile, U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Christine Rocca is in Nepal in an effort to press King Gyanendra to restore democratic rule and civil liberties that were suspended when he seized power February 1. (PolitInfo) (PolitInfo)
In Egypt, parliament approves a constitutional amendment that would allow presidential elections to be contested. (Arab News) (IHT) (BBC) (PolitInfo)
Russia and the European Union have agreed on a new framework treaty aimed at encouraging closer cooperation in areas like the economy, external security, research and education. (PolitInfo)
Twelve South American and 22 Arab countries begin a summit in Brazil. (Agencia Estado Brazil) (Arabic News) (Reuters) (PolitInfo)
Human Rights Watch says authorities in Ethiopia's most populous state continue to suppress political dissent and harass leading opposition figures in the run-up to Sunday's general election. (Human Rights Watch) (News24) (PolitInfo)
A report by Amnesty International says Zimbabwe is escalating its repression against human-rights activists. (PolitInfo)
A group of Somali parliamentarians say they plan to complain to the U.N. Security Council about what they say is a violation of the U.N. arms embargo by the Ethiopian government. They allege Ethiopia is supplying arms and ammunition to the militias of certain factions in Somalia. (PolitInfo)
Germany unveils a Holocaust memorial (Deutsche Welle) (Ha'aretz) (Reuters AlertNet) (PolitInfo)

May 9, 2005

United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan says in a report that the African Union's (AU) mission in Sudan is effective where deployed and needs strengthening to enable it to expand its presence to cover more of the vast and difficult terrain in Darfur. (PolitInfo)
A new World Bank study indicates countries with low tolerance for corruption have more successful economies and increased rates of development. (PolitInfo)
A suicide car bombing in Baghdad kills at least three policemen and wounds six others, along with one civilian. (PolitInfo)
U.S. military authorities in Afghanistan say two Marines and some 23 insurgents have been killed in a clash in eastern Afghanistan. (PolitInfo)
At a meeting in Moscow the United States, the United Nations, the European Union and Russia -- collectively known as the Quartet when dealing with the Israeli-Palestinian conflict -- reiterate their commitment to a two-state solution and to Israeli withdrawal from Gaza and parts of the West Bank as a way to re-energize the peace plan, known as the road map.

May 8, 2005

In the Central African Republic, people cast ballots in the second round of presidential and legislative elections. Poll monitors say the voting was smooth and fair. Results are not expected for several days. (PolitInfo)
Israel is ruling out the further release of Palestinian prisoners, saying the Palestinians must do more to crack down on militants. (PolitInfo)
Supporters of Ethiopia's political opposition stage a campaign rally to galvanize support for next week's general elections. Witnesses and reporters in Addis Ababa say some 250,000 people attended the event in the city's central square. (PolitInfo)
The al-Qaeda suspect captured in Pakistan on May 2 and thought to be al-Qaeda third-in-command Anas Al-Liby turns out to be Abu Faraj al-Libbi, a mid-level member in the organization. Officials describe the mistake as a case of "mistaken identity". (TimesOnline)

May 7, 2005

Three bombs explode in the capital of Burma, killing at least 11 people and wounding scores of others. State television blames several ethnic rebel groups for the attacks, including the Karen National Union and the Shan State Army. (PolitInfo)
Representatives of the opposing sides in Ivory Coast's civil war fail to come to an agreement on a timetable for disarmament following five days of talks. (PolitInfo)
Iraq's new government agreed on nominees for the five remaining seats in the cabinet, ending weeks of negotiations. The announcement comes as twin car bombs exploded in Baghdad, killing 22 people, including two Americans. (PolitInfo)
At a two-day meeting in Kyoto, Asian and European foreign ministers are calling on Burma to democratize and North Korea to return to disarmament talks immediately. (PolitInfo)
Northern Ireland's Ulster Unionist Party leader David Trimble, the 1998 Nobel Peace Prize winner who helped reach the Good Friday Agreement, resigns from the leadership post he has held for ten years, after losing his seat in the British general election the previous day. (BBC)

May 6, 2005

United Kingdom general election, 2005: The Labour Party wins a parliamentary majority. Despite a substantially reduced majority, Tony Blair becomes the first Labour Prime Minister to serve three terms. Mr. Blair's main rival, Michael Howard of the Conservative Party, announces that he will be stepping down as leader. (Reuters) (Scotsman) (PolitInfo)
Fatah wins 55 percent of the seats in municipal elections held in 84 cities across the West Bank and Gaza. Hamas wins about a third of the seats. (BBC) (PolitInfo)
In the latest violence to rock Iraq, a suicide car bomber has detonated his explosives in a crowded market south of Baghdad, killing at least 17 people and wounding 40. (PolitInfo)
Polish President Aleksander Kwasniewski refuses the resignation of Prime Minister Marek Belka. Mr. Kwasniewski said he wants to keep the current government in office until parliamentary elections expected later this year. Mr. Belka had been widely expected to offer his resignation after parliament on Thursday rejected his request that it dissolve itself and pave the way for new elections. (PolitInfo)
Vietnam's prime minister will visit the United States next month, the highest-ranking Vietnamese official to go to there since the end of the Vietnam War. The announcement in Hanoi by a visiting U.S. official came as Washington said it would not impose sanctions on Vietnam over religious freedom. (PolitInfo)

May 5, 2005

British polls open in the 2005 general election. Voters elect 645 members of the House of Commons. An exit poll of British voters says Prime Minister Tony Blair's Labor Party will win the general election, but with a sharply reduced majority. (BBC) (CNN) (PolitInfo) (PolitInfo)
At least 10 internally displaced persons (IDPs) are killed in northern Uganda when rebels of the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) attack civilians. (PolitInfo)
Insurgents in Iraq carry out a series of attacks against security forces in Baghdad, killing more than 20 people. (PolitInfo)
Poland's lower house of parliament rejects a motion to dissolve itself and pave the way for early parliamentary elections amid deep popular discontent with the ruling center-left party. This means elections are still set for October when the lower house completes its term. (PolitInfo)
The Ugandan parliament votes in favour of holding a referendum on the return of multi-party democracy. Political opposition intends to boycott the referendum because they think that president Yoweri Museveni would use it stay in power. (Reuters AlertNet) (BBC) (PolitInfo)
Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: An Israeli commander is suspended, pending a full inquiry, from his position following the deaths of two teenage cousins in Beit Lakia, near Ramallah, on May 4. (BBC)
The government of Kazakhstan closes the pro-opposition paper Respublica. (Reuters) (PolitInfo)
The newly appointed prosecutor for Sierra Leone's special tribunal pledges to bring former Liberian leader Charles Taylor, who has been living in exile in Nigeria since 2003, to trial on war crimes charges. (PolitInfo) .
In Niger, anti-slavery activist Ilguilas Weila is charged with attempted fraud. (Reuters AlertNet) (BBC)

May 4, 2005

Conflict in Iraq: A suicide bomb in Irbil, a Kurdish city of Northern Iraq, kills at least 60 people. (BBC) (PolitInfo)
The United Nations Security Council again extends the mission of peacekeepers in Cote d'Ivoire by just one month, giving it more time to discuss a request for troop reinforcements by Secretary-General Kofi Annan. (PolitInfo)
Faure Gnassingbe is sworn in as president of Togo, succeeding his father who had ruled the country for 38 years. He was elected in a controversial ballot mired by fraud and street violence. (PolitInfo)
Uganda says it has delayed the deployment of about 800 peacekeepers to Somalia. The announcement comes one day after an explosion killed 15 people at a rally in Mogadishu for the visiting interim prime minister. (PolitInfo)
Israel says it will not hand over control of any more West Bank towns to Palestinian security forces, because it says the Palestinian Authority is not disarming militants. (PolitInfo)
A U.S. military judge at Fort Hood, in Texas, has thrown out a guilty plea agreement for U.S. Army Private Lynndie England, who appeared in many of the most graphic photographs of prisoner abuse at Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison last year. The case is now under review. (PolitInfo)
Thousands of supporters of Egypt's banned Muslim Brotherhood demanded real political reform at protests across the country. (PolitInfo)
Thailand's National Human Rights Commission condemns the Thai security forces' handling of a protest in southern Thailand last year that led to the deaths of more than 80 Muslim protesters. (PolitInfo)
The Pakistani government announces that it has captured Abu Faraj al-Libbi. If verified, this is the most important Al-Qaeda suspect to have been arrested thus far. (BBC) (PolitInfo)
A Peruvian congressional committee accuses President Alejandro Toledo of electoral fraud. (BBC) (PolitInfo)

May 3, 2005

Togo's constitutional court certifies the results of last month's presidential election, which gave victory to Faure Gnassingbe, the son of the country's late ruler. The Togolese opposition is calling for more popular resistance. (PolitInfo)
Iraq Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari has been sworn in with 26 members of his cabinet, but the country's political impasse continues with key portfolios unfilled. (PolitInfo)
Human Rights Watch calls for an immediate reinforcement of the UN mission in Cote d'Ivoire (ONUCI), warning that if the fragile peace process breaks down, "attacks against civilians could set off a sudden spiral of human rights abuses that would be difficult to control". (PolitInfo)
An explosion in a football stadium in Mogadishu, Somalia kills 15 people when new prime minister Ali Mohammed Ghedi begins his speech. (IOL) (IHT) (PolitInfo)
World Press Freedom Day: Next to Iraq, the world's most dangerous place to be a journalist is Asia, where 16 of the 53 reporters killed in 2004 were slain. In reports released to mark International Press Freedom Day, media advocacy groups say scores of reporters have been murdered or imprisoned by oppressive governments, rebel groups and criminals in the past year, all in an effort to prevent them from reporting the news. (PolitInfo)
A university law professor says his position as an independent U.N. human rights investigator in Afghanistan was abolished under diplomatic pressure from Washington. Charif Bassiouni says his job as a U.N. independent expert on human rights in Afghanistan was not renewed late last month because of his attempts to look into alleged rights abuses by U.S. forces. (PolitInfo)
United Nations chief prosecutor of Sierra Leone's war crimes court David Crane claims that Charles Taylor, former president of Liberia, is still plotting to kill Guinean leader Lansana Conté. Conté has been in a hospital since he survived an assassination attempt in January. (Reuters AlertNet) (BBC) (PolitInfo)

May 2, 2005

In Togo, opposition party Union of Forces for Change refuses to join a new government, accusing Faure Gnassingbé of electoral fraud. More than 16,000 people have fled to Ghana and Benin to escape post-election violence. ECOWAS tries to mediate. (BBC) (Reuters AlertNet) (ABC) (PolitInfo)
After weeks of diplomatic maneuvering and multiple votes, the Organization of American States elects a new secretary general, a top official of the Chilean government, Jose Miguel Insulza. (PolitInfo)
The government of Nepal ends the house arrest of two parliamentarian communist leaders, Madhav Kumar Nepal and Amrit Bohara. (BBC) (PolitInfo)
The British charity Oxfam says the humanitarian crisis in Sudan's Darfur region could leave more than two million people completely dependent on international aid until late 2006. (PolitInfo)
Israeli-Palestinian conflict:
- Following an Israeli raid on the Palestinian city of Tulkarm, one Israeli soldier and one Islamic Jihad leader are killed. (Haaretz) (PolitInfo)
- Israeli Minister of Jerusalem and Diaspora Affairs Natan Sharansky resigned from the government as a protest against Ariel Sharon's unilateral disengagement plan. (Haaretz) (BBC) (PolitInfo)
Foreign ministers gather in New York to review the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (Wired) (BBC) (Reuters AlertNet) (PolitInfo)

May 1, 2005

In Nepal, 10.000 protesters march in Kathmandu against the policies of king Gyanendra and demand return of democracy. (Reuters AlertNet) (ABC) (PolitInfo)
Conflict in Iraq
- The latest attacks by insurgents in Iraq have left at least 29 people dead and dozens more wounded. At lease 123 people have died in Iraq since the announcement of a new government on Thursday.(CBC) (PolitInfo)
- Iraqi and American military hold several suspects for questioning in the Margaret Hassan kidnapping case. Hassan, director of CARE's Iraq division, was kidnapped by insurgents in late October 2004 and subsequently believed to be killed. (CBC) (Reuters) (PolitInfo)
- Italy intends to publish its own view of the killing of Nicola Calipari. Italian media has released classified details about a report the United States made. (BBC) (Reuters AlertNet) (PolitInfo)
The United States informs Japan that North Korea may have launched another test missile towards the Sea of Japan. The report is now said to be confirmed. (ABC News) (PolitInfo)
Taiwanese president Chen Shui-bian requests that the Chinese government meet directly with his government after China meets with Taiwan's opposition leader, Lien Chan. Taiwan and China are in conflict over Taiwan's increased calls for independence from the mainlaind. (CBC) (ABC) (PolitInfo)

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	The text of this article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from a Wikipedia article © Copyright 2001-2005, PolitInfo.com. Terms of Use - Legal Information / Contact Areas of Interest: Politics - Government - Political Science - International Relations - Current Events PolitInfo Worldwide: International - United States