MARCH-APRIL 2000

Zimbabwe, civil affairs

Veterans of the 1970s independence struggle and supporters of President Robert Mugabe's ruling ZANU-PF party increased their occupation of white-owned farms. By the end of April, the veterans had occupied several hundred of the over-4000 such farms in Zimbabwe, causing much disruption of agricultural production in the process. The Mugabe regime condoned the seizures, while the judiciary called for an end to them (Reuters).

Whites had been greatly predominant in ownership of Zimbabwe's airable land despite the fact that they represented a small minority of the population, and this inequality and what to do about it had been controversial issues in the country for decades.

1 MARCH 2000

Chechnya

Tass reported that some 16,000 Russian army troops would remain in Chechnya following the conclusion of offensive operations, along with about 15,000 Interior Ministry troops. The Russians said about 800 Chechens were still holding out in caves in the Caucasus Mountains (Reuters).

Lebanon

Five soldiers of the SLA pro-Israel militia were killed in a Hizbollah attack (Reuters).

3 MARCH 2000

India

A bomb exploded on a bus enroute from Jammu to Delhi, killing 8. Police suspected Kashmiri separatists of involvement in the attack (Reuters).

5 MARCH 2000

Israel, foreign policy

Israel's government formally announced its intention of withdrawing Israeli military forces from Lebanon by July 2000. They said they would do so even if there was no agreement with Syria regarding the Golan Heights (Reuters).

Chechnya

Heavy fighting continued in the Argun Gorge as the Russians tried to contain and defeat Chechen forces in the area (Reuters).

Bosnia-Herzegovina, war crimes

Dragoljub Prcac, deputy director of the Bosnian Serb Omarsha detention camp in northwest Bosnia in the early 1990s, was arrested by the NATO Stabilization Force in Bosnia (SFOR). He has been indicted by the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia for 'crimes against humanity', including murder, torture and rape (Reuters).

6 MARCH 2000

Lebanon, foreign policy

The Lebanese government said that unless Israel negotiated "a comprehensive, just and lasting peace" with Syria, Israel could not expect "peace" on its border with Lebanon after withdrawing from Lebanon (Reuters).

6-10 MARCH 2000

Chechnya

Russian forces fought to reduce a rebel pocket around Kamsomolskoye, estimated by the Russians to contain 300-700 Chechens (Reuters).

10 MARCH 2000

Sri Lanka

There was a bomb attack in Colombo that killed 18 people. Authorities suspected the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) of responsibility (Reuters).

11 MARCH 2000

Chile, politics

Ricardo Lagos, a Socialist, was sworn in as President (Reuters).

12 MARCH 2000

Spain, politics

Prime Minister Jose Maria Aynar of the Popular Party was re-elected. The Popular Party won 183 of 350 parliament seats. The Socialists, led by Joaquin Abmunia, got 125 seats (Reuters).

13 MARCH 2000

Asia and the Pacific, diplomatic affairs

US Secretary of Defense William Cohen visited Vietnam to discuss modest military cooperation, particularly in accounting for some 2000 Americans missing-in-action (MIA) from the Vietnam War (Reuters).

Syria, politics

President Hafez al-Assad appointed a new cabinet, with Mohammed Mustafa as Prime Minister. Mustafa was to tackle corruption, encourage foreign investment in Syria and reform various laws and regulations to bring them into step with other countries (Reuters).

Chechnya

Russian forces captured Salmon Roduyev, reportedly a top commander on the Chechen side (Reuters).

16 MARCH 2000

Kosovo

There were clashes between KFOR troops and Serbs in Mitrovica as KFOR began the process of establishing a 'confidence zone' around two main bridges there (Reuters).

17 MARCH 2000

Taiwan, politics

In the Presidential election, the Democratic Progressive Party's (DPP) candidate, Chen Shui-bian, was elected. This ended over fifty years of Nationalist Party (KMT) rule over Taiwan. The DPP has traditionally favored Taiwan declaring independence from the People's Republic of China (PRC). However, during the election campaign, Chen said he would not, as President, push for such a declaration (Reuters).

United States, foreign policy

Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, in a speech to the American Iranian Council, announced that the US would terminate economic sanctions against Iran's non-oil exports. The "principal sanctions" banning imports of Iranian oil and investment in Iran's oil and gas industry would remain until Iran stopped it's support of terrorists and its alleged efforts to develop weapons of mass destruction (WMD) (Reuters).

The US has had an adversarial relationship with Iran since the latter's Islamic revolution in 1979. Albright cited the major success of reformist candidates in Iran's parliamentary elections on 17 February as the justification for the change in US policy. She also called for advancing the claims settlement process and facilitating unofficial contacts between the two countries (NHJL 17/03/2000).

Kosovo

KFOR announced success in security sweeps it conducted during the week against Albanian militants who have conducted raids into neighboring Serbia. KFOR reportedly seized weapons stocks and detained individuals suspected of involvement in raids into the majority-Albanian Presevo valley area of eastern Serbia (Reuters).

Cambodia, genocide

Talks began between Cambodia and the UN over how to bring to justice those responsible for the deaths of 1.7 million people at the hands of the Khmer Rouge regime in the late 1970s (Reuters). The government has accepted UN assistance in the effort, but, concerned about reconciliation within the country, wants Cambodian institutions to play the leading role. The UN, which has doubts about the maturity of the Cambodian judicial system, wants stronger international involvement in the effort.

18 MARCH 2000

Israel

Israel agreed to make a long-deferred transfer of 6.1% of the West Bank to the Palestinian Authority (PA) (Reuters).

20-25 MARCH 2000

Asia and the Pacific, diplomatic affairs

On 20 March, United States President William Clinton visited Bangladesh, kicking off a tour of southern Asia. The next day, he travelled to India, the first US President to do so since Jimmy Carter. On 25 March he stopped briefly in Pakistan and publicly expressed disapproval of the military regime there (Reuters).

21-28 MARCH 2000

Israel

Israeli and Palestinian negotiators had talks in Washington DC to discuss issues relating to the future status of the West Bank, including borders, Jerusalem, the status of Palestinian territories and refugees. Both sides had already formally committed themselves to reaching a final agreement by 13 September 2000, but had fallen behind schedule. They publicly sought a 'framework agreement' by May (Reuters).

25 MARCH 2000

Northern Ireland, politics

The Ulster Unionist Party narrowly retained David Trimble as leader in a vote. Challenger and opponent of the Good Friday agreement Reverend Martin Smyth got 43% of the vote (Reuters).

United States

There was a violent demonstration in New York City against the police. Protesters attacked police and were then dispersed by the police; there were injuries on both sides (Reuters). The New York Police Department had been recently criticized for using excessive force against racial/ethnic minority citizens.

26 MARCH 2000

Russia, politics

Vladimir Putin won the Presidential election with 52% of the vote against a crowded field, thus avoiding a runoff election. Communist candidate Gennady Zyuganov received about 29%. Putin promised to pursue military victory over the rebels in Chechnya (Reuters).

Middle East, diplomatic affairs

US President Clinton met Syrian President Assad in Geneva to discuss the Israeli-Syrian controversy. The talks were inconclusive (Reuters). Over the succeeding days, there were recriminations from both Israel and Syria about the stalled negotiating process.

30 MARCH 2000

Columbia

The FARC rebels set off a car bomb in Cachipay, killing 4 (Reuters).

31 MARCH 2000

United Nations, diplomatic affairs

The UN Security Council unanimously approved a US proposal to double to $1.2 billion the value of spare parts that Iraq may purchase for its oil industry each year. Secretary General Kofi Annan had warned that the decline of Iraq's oil industry would threaten Iraq's ability to utilize the oil-for-food program (Reuters).