FEBRUARY-MARCH 2000

Mozambique

Major floods killed hundreds of people and displaced hundreds of thousands. They also economically devastated much of the country. Mozambique had been making significant political and economic progress before the flooding.

1 FEBRUARY 2000

Austria, politics

The People's Party and the Freedom Party agreed to form a governing coalition (Reuters).

2 FEBRUARY 2000

Colombia

Talks began in Sweden between representatives of the government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) rebels (Reuters).

3 FEBRUARY 2000

Diplomatic affairs

The new coalition took office in Austria. The EU implimented various diplomatic sanctions against Austria (Reuters).

Israel, West Bank

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak and Palastinian Authority (PA) President Yasser Arafat met at the Israel/Gaza border. They failed to agree on implementation of the mandated transfer of an additional 6.1 percent of the West Bank to the PA (Reuters). This did not bode well for the mid-September interim agreement.

Chechnya

The Russian Defense Ministry claimed its forces had sealed off the Russia/Georgia border to Chechen forces (Reuters).

5 FEBRUARY 2000

Iran

The pro-Iraq rebel group Mujahideen Khalq conducted a mortar attack in Tehran in the area of the presidential palace (Reuters).

6 FEBRUARY 2000

Chechnya

Russia overcame the last of the organized resistance in Gronzy (Reuters). Over the preceeding weeks, a considerable proportion of the Chechen forces in Gronzy apparently escaped the Russian encirclement.

Finland, politics

Presidential elections were held. Social Democrat Tarja Halonin defeated her Centrist opponent, Esko Aho (Reuters).

6-9 FEBRUARY 2000

Terrorism

An airliner flying from Kabul, Afghanistan was hijacked by unknown persons, who then took the aircraft to London. On 9 February the hijackers surrendered (Reuters).

6-10 FEBRUARY 2000

China

Two thousand members of the Falun Gong group were reportedly arrested (CNN.com).

7 FEBRUARY 2000

Croatia, politics

In the presidential election, Populist Party candidate Stipe Mesic defeated Social Liberal candidate Drazen Budisa. Mesic advocated joining NATO and the EU, and cutting off subsidies to the Croatian community in Bosnia (Reuters).

7-9 FEBRUARY 2000

Lebanon

Israel carried out numerous air raids against Hizbollah positions; it also destroyed three power stations (Reuters).

9 FEBRUARY 2000

Chechnya

Russia announced that it would reduce its forces there to 50,000 men. Those remaining forces were to continue operations against the Chechens (Reuters).

Diplomatic affairs

Russia and North Korea signed a treaty respecting each others' "sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity". This superceded the Soviet-era treaty that had provisions for military cooperation (Gazeta.Ru).

10 FEBRUARY 2000

Chechnya

Russia claimed its forces took Itum-Kale and Serzhen-Yuit (Reuters).

Kashmir

A bomb exploded on a train 50 kilometers from Jammu, killing 5. The perpetrators were unknown (CNN.com).

Iraq

Vice-President Taha Yassin Ramadan said Iraq would not permit a resumption of UN WMD inspections. He referred to "the so-called inspection committees" as "spies" working for the US (Reuters).

10-11 FEBRUARY 2000

Colombia

National Liberation Army (ELN) rebels struck at the power grid at numerous points in the central region (CNN.com).

11 FEBRUARY 2000

Northern Ireland

Britain suspended the home rule government (Reuters). The British felt insufficient progress had been made by the IRA toward disarmament.

Kashmir

Another bomb went off, this time in a market in Jammu, killing 3 (CNN.com).

13 FEBRUARY 2000

Kosovo

Violence broke out again between Serbs and Albanians in Mitrovica; 1 Albanian was killied. When KFOR troops intervened, a battle resulted between them and the Albanians (Reuters).

15 FEBRUARY 2000

Zimbabwe, politics

A draft constitution was defeated in a referendum. 1.3 million of the 5 million elligible voters turned out; 55% voted 'no' (Reuters).

16 FEBRUARY 2000

Colombia

Five policemen were killed in a FARC ambush in the northwest. Two government and five ELN soldiers were killed in a clash in the northeast. FARC strength was about 15,000 men; that of ELN was about 8,000 (Reuters).

Northern Ireland

There was an inconclusive meeting in London between representatives of the Ulster Unionist Party and Sinn Fein (Reuters). The British government was reluctant to reinstate the home rule government in Northern Ireland without disarmament by the IRA. Sinn Fein, the IRA's political wing, complained that the British were taking the side of the Unionists, and that they, the IRA, could not begin disarmament unless the home rule institutions were reenstated.

Diplomatic affairs

NATO Secretary General George Robertson and Russian Acting President Vladimir Putin met in Moscow. They issued a joint statement afterward that was conciliatory in tone (Reuters).

17 FEBRUARY 2000

Iran, politics

Parliamentary elections were held. Reformist candidates advocating greater political freedoms and some relaxation of strict Islamic law scored a decisive success, winning a large majority of seats (Reuters).

19 FEBRUARY 2000

Chechnya

Chechen rebels reportedly withdrew from Duba-Yurt. Russia said about 8,000 rebels were holding out in the mountains (Reuters).

Austria, politics

About 200,000 people demostrated in Vienna to call for the resignation of the People's/Freedom Party governing coalition (Reuters).

Middle East, diplomatic affairs

Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak visited Beirut and declared support for Lebanon against Israeli air raids on civilian targets (Reuters).

21 FEBRUARY 2000

Nigeria

Severe strife broke out between Christians and Muslims in Kaduna, in the northern state of Kaduna (Reuters).

Sudan

Talks resumed in Kenya between the government and the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA) rebels. The SPLA is at the forefront of a Christian and animist rebellion in the south against the Muslim-dominated government in the north. Both sides have agreed to a referendum on "self-determination" for the south. They disagree on the location of the north/south boundary and separation of religion and state (Reuters).

Kosovo

Sixty thousand Albanians marched on Mitrovica to protest alleged Serbian activities in the northern part of town. At one point, they stormed the Mitrovica bridge leading to the Serbian sector. They were contained by KFOR troops who used tear gas and human chains. The US accused Serbia of instigating the troubles in Mitrovica (Reuters).

22 FEBRUARY 2000

Spain

A car bomb exploded in the Basque regional capital, Vitoria. A local socialist politician and his bodyguard were killed in what officials said was an ETA attack. The next day, thousands demonstrated around Spain against the ETA (Reuters). The Spanish people appear to have little inclination to negotiate with the terrorist organization.

24 FEBRUARY 2000

Democratic Republic of the Congo

The UN Security Council approved a force of some 5,500 troops to monitor a cease-fire in the civil war (Reuters).

25 FEBRUARY 2000

Northern Ireland

The Continuity IRA set off a bomb at a British military instalation in Londonderry (Reuters).

29 FEBRUARY 2000

Chechnya

The Russians took Shatoi, claiming they had ended organized resistance by the Chechens (Reuters).