3 JUNE 2000

Sub-Saharan Africa, Diplomatic Affairs

Rwandan President Paul Kagame and Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) President Laurent Kabila met in Eldoret, Kenya to discuss Rwanda's deployment of troops in the DRC and its support of the rebellion against Kabila's regime. Rwanda has claimed that it is seeking to defeat ethnic Hutu militias that were involved in the 1994 genocide in Rwanda, militias that have taken refuge in the DRC (Reuters).

Suriname / Guyana

Suriname's navy forced the removal of a Canadian oil rig from an off-shore concession granted by neighboring Guyana. The rig was located in coastal waters disputed between the two countries (Reuters).

Philippines

A bomb exploded at Manila's international airport (Reuters).

4 JUNE 2000

Spain

Jesus Maria Pedrosa, a local government official and member of the Popular Party, was assassinated in Durango, apparently by the ETA separatists (Reuters).

Solomon Islands

The rebel group Malaitan Eagle Forces (MEF) took the capital, Honiara, and demanded the resignation of Prime Minister Bartholomew Ulufa'alu. They later modified that demand to the passage of a vote of no-confidence against Ulufa'alu (Reuters).

5 JUNE 2000

Diplomatic Affairs

US Secretary of State Albright met Israeli Prime Minister Barak in Jerusalem to discuss the Israeli-Palestinian negotiations (Reuters).

5-10 JUNE 2000

Democratic Republic of the Congo

Ugandan and Rwandan troops traded fire in Kisangani (Reuters).

7 JUNE 2000

Sierra Leone

Pro-government forces retook Lunsar (Reuters).

Sri Lanka

Industrial Development Minister C.V. Gunaratne and 21 others were killed by a suicide bomber in Ratmalana (Reuters).

Solomon Islands

There was fighting between the MEF and the rival Isatabu Freedom Movement near Honiara (Reuters).

8 JUNE 2000

Diplomatic Affairs

British Foreign Secretary Robin Cook met Sierra Leone President Ahmad Fejan Kabbah in Freetown. Cook said that "Britain wants to be a long-term partner in securing a stable, successful, enterprising Sierra Leone" (Reuters).

The UN Security Council unanimously approved a six-month extension of the oil-for-food program for Iraq. Iraq is allowed to sell unlimited quantities of oil to buy humanitarian supplies as an exception to UN sanctions. Iraq will also be allowed to spend $600 million over the next six months to repair its oil industry. Iraq has recently been exporting an average of 2.5 million barrels of oil per day (Reuters).

Greece

British officer Brigadier Stephen Saunders was assassinated in Athens, apparently by the November 17 group (Reuters). N17 is a terrorist group that appeared in the 1970s.

9 JUNE 2000

Argentina

There was a nation-wide strike by over a half of the labor force to protest against the government's economic policies. The strike was accompanied by some violence (Reuters).

10 JUNE 2000

Syria, Politics

President Hafez al-Assad died. His son, Bashar, effectively took Hafez' place and began consolidating his position (Reuters). It did not appear that there would be a significant shift in policy.

Eritrea / Ethiopia

Ethiopia launched a new offensive along the entire front (Reuters).

South Africa

A car bomb attack in Cape Town injured two people. The attackers were unknown (Reuters).

11 JUNE 2000

Brazil

Paraguayan fugitive Lino Oviedo was arrested in Foz do Iguazu, Brazil. Oviedo was involved in coup attempts in Paraguay in 1996 and in May, as well as the murder of Paraguayan Vice President Luis Maria Argana in March 1999 (Reuters).

12-14 JUNE 2000

Asia-Pacific, Diplomatic Affairs

South Korean President Kim Dae-jung and North Korean leader Kim Jong-il held talks in Pyongyang. They agreed to military confidence-building measures and reunions of separated families (Reuters).

13 JUNE 2000

Middle East & North Africa, Diplomatic Affairs

A new round of Israeli-Palestinian talks began near Washington, D.C. (Reuters)

Solomon Islands

Prime Minister Ulufa'alu resigned (Reuters).

14 JUNE 2000

Sub-Saharan Africa, Diplomatic Affairs

Ethiopia joined Eritrea in accepting an OAU proposal for ending the war. The plan called for a 25-kilometer buffer zone on the Eritrean side of the Eritrean / Ethiopian border. The border would then be demarcated by international arbitrators (Reuters).

15 JUNE 2000

Ecuador

There were sporadic protests against the government's fiscal policies (Reuters).

Candada

There was a violent protest in Toronto by hundreds of people against the government's social welfare policies (Reuters).

17 JUNE 2000

Northern Ireland

There were a few injuries in violence near a Protestant parade in Lurgan (Reuters).

18 JUNE 2000

Sub-Saharan Africa, Diplomatic Affairs

Eritrea and Ethiopia signed a peace treaty in Algiers, Algeria. The treaty essentially calls for a return to the status quo before the war (Reuters) (see 14 June).

20 JUNE 2000

Israel, Politics

The socially conservative Shas party withdrew from the ruling coalition (Reuters).

21 JUNE 2000

Yugoslavia

There were bomb blasts in Bujanovac and Presevo, near Kosovo (Reuters).

Energy Affairs

The Organization for Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) announced an increase in production limits for ten of its members from 24.7 million bpd to 25.4 million bpd. Current output is estimated at 25.3 million bpd (Reuters).

22 JUNE 2000

Indonesia

There was violence between Christians and Muslims on the central Moluccan island of Ambon (Reuters).

Diplomatic Affairs

US Secretary of State Albright met Chinese President Jiang Zemin in Beijing (Reuters).

24-25 JUNE 2000

Zimbabwe, Politics

Elections were held for 120 members of parliament. The ruling ZANU-PF won 62 seats and the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) won 57. ZANU-PF had previously held virtually all of the seats (Reuters).

25 JUNE 2000

Japan, Politics

In general elections, the ruling coalition led by Prime Minister Yoshiri Mori's Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) lost some seats in Parliament, though it retained a slim majority. The LDP won 233 out of 480 seats; its coalition partners won 38. The main opposition Democrats won 127, up from 95 (Reuters).

Bosnia, Civil Affairs

Bosnian Serb Dusko Sikirica was arrested in Prijedor by British troops. He has been charged by the UN with involvement in the deaths of 140 Bosnian Muslims and Croats at the Keraterm prison camp in Prijedor during the 1992-95 civil war (Reuters).

Spain

The ETA set off a car bomb in Getxo (Reuters).

28 JUNE 2000

Iraq

A heavily armed Iraqi entered the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) mission in Bagdad and killed two people (Reuters).