Israel

Over 150 people, mostly Palestinians, were killed as a result of violent Palestinian protests, guerilla attacks on Israeli Defense Force (IDF) positions, and other Arab-Israeli violence across Israel and the occupied territories.

The 21st was a typical day of violence. Militant Palestinian gunmen and stone throwing Palestinian youths attacked IDF personel in the Gaza Strip and in Ramallah, Jenin and other cities in the West Bank. Four Palestinians, three of them teenagers, were killed; one Israeli soldier was wounded (see also 7 and 12 October) (Reuters).

Bosnia

A mass grave of Muslim civilians was found near Kurtalici and Musici in eastern Bosnia by a local Muslim who had just returned from exile. By early December, 30-40 bodies were estimated to lie in the bed of the Drina river at the site (Reuters).

3 OCTOBER 2000

Colombia

Nine people were murdered near Mozambique. Police attributed the murders to the Calima front of the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC), an illegal anti-Marxist paramilitary group (Reuters).

5 OCTOBER 2000

Turkey

There were two unexplained explosions in Istanbul; 1 person was killed (Reuters).

5-6 OCTOBER 2000

Yugoslavia

On the 5th, hundreds of thousands violently protested against the Milosevic regime. The political opposition siezed control of state media. The next day, Milocevic conceeded defeat to Vojislav Kostunica (Reuters).

6 OCTOBER 2000

Russia

There were bomb blasts in Pyatigorsk and Nevennomyssk, near Chechnya (Reuters).

Zimbabwe, Civil Affairs

President Robert Mugabe granted an amnesty "to every person liable to criminal prosecution for any politically-motivated crime committed during the period 1st January 2000 to 31st July 2000", according to state media. The amnesty does not apply to murder, rape and theft (Reuters).

6-7 OCTOBER 2000

Indonesia

Thirty people were killed near Wamena in Irian Jaya province as separatists violently protested the removal, by police, of a separatist flag that had been raised there (Reuters).

7 OCTOBER 2000

Israel

Hizbollah guerrillas captured 3 Israeli soldiers in a cross-border raid from Lebanon (Reuters).

Europe, Diplomatic Affairs

Six Greek F-16s landed at an air base at Balikesir, Turkey as part of NATO's Destined Glory-2000 exercises. This was the first visit ever of Greek warplanes to Turkish soil (Reuters).

9 OCTOBER 2000

Chile, Environment

Health authorities called an orange alert for ultraviolet (UV) radiation, meaning that unprotected skin could be burned in 7 minutes. For decades, late each year, the ozone layer over Antarctica and the southern tip of South America has weakened, allowing exceptionally high levels of UV radiation to penetrate the atmosphere in those areas (Reuters).

10 OCTOBER 2000

Diplomatic Affairs

Jo Myong-rok, vice chairman of North Korea's National Defense Commission and second-ranking official to Kim Jong-il, met US President Clinton in Washington (Reuters).

12 OCTOBER 2000

Yemen

The US destroyer Cole was attacked during a port call in Aden. The Cole, an Arleigh Burke Class DDG, was en route from the Mediterranean Sea to the Persian Gulf and was to refuel in Aden. During docking, a small craft heavily loaded with explosives moved alongside the Cole and exploded, blowing a 9x12 meter hole in the hull along the waterline, killing 17 crew and causing a slight list (Reuters). The Cole was ultimately hauled back to the US for repair.

On 29 September 2004 a Yemeni court sentenced Saudi-born Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri -- believed to be the mastermind behind the attack -- and a Yemeni man, Jamal al-Badawi, to death, and imprisoned four others for their role in the attack (CNN.com).

Israel

A Palestinian crowd murdered two Israeli soldiers in Ramallah, in the West Bank. Israel responded with attack helicopter raids on targets in Ramallah and Gaza City (Reuters).

13 OCTOBER 2000

Colombia

The AUC murdered 11 people near Medellin (Reuters).

France

About 2000 Basque separatists violently protested around Bayonne against the EU (Reuters).

14 OCTOBER 2000

Somalia, Politics

Abdiqassim Salad Hassan entered Mogadishu escorted by over 1,000 heavily armed men. He said he intended to restore order to the country and rebuild its infrastructure. Hassan was selected president of Somalia in Djibouti in August (see 27 August) (Reuters).

Soloman Islands

Rival militias signed an accord saying they "renounce, deplore and do solemnly give up violence...and confirm their respect for human rights and rule of the law" (Reuters).

Middle East

A Saudi-Arabian Airlines 777-200 enroute from Jeddah, Saudi Arabia to London was hijacked by two men and diverted to Baghdad, where they were arrested by Iraqi authorities (Reuters).

15-18 OCTOBER 2000

Nigeria

There were violent clashes between members of the Odua People's Congress (OPC), an ethnic Yoruba separatist group, and Muslim ethnic Hausa-Fulanis. On the 18th the federal government banned the OPC and other private militias and arrested two OPC leaders, including Frederick Faseun (Reuters).

16 OCTOBER 2000

Spain

The ETA killed an air force officer in Seville (Reuters).

16-17 OCTOBER 2000

Diplomatic Affairs

US President Clinton, Israeli Prime Minister Barak, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and Palestinian Authority leader Yasser Arafat held a summit in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt to discuss measures to reduce violence in the West Bank and Gaza Strip (Reuters).

16-18 OCTOBER 2000

Zimbabwe

Police arrested 20 people involved in riots in Harare over rising food prices.

Official inflation is at an annual rate of 62% and unemployment is over 50%. The agricultural sector in particular has been hurt by the widespread farm invasions earlier in the year (Reuters).

18 OCTOBER 2000

Haiti

The government arrested eight members of the Haitian National Police (HNP) for alleged involvement in an anti-government plot. Six of them were arrested by the Dominican Republic after fleeing there (Reuters).

18-19 OCTOBER 2000

Colombia

There were battles between FARC and government forces around Dabeiba in Antioquia province (Reuters).

20 OCTOBER 2000

Britain

The government said all 12 of the Royal Navy's Trafalgar and Swiftsure Class SSNs would be recalled to base for safety checks of their nuclear reactors. A leak in the coolant system caused mechanical trouble for one SSN in May. The government said the checks would take "some months" to complete (Reuters).

21 OCTOBER 2000

Spain

Tens of thousands demonstrated against the ETA in Bilbao (Reuters).

21-22 OCTOBER 2000

Iran

The Iraq-based Mujahideen Khalq rebels claimed responsibility for mortar attacks on government and military targets in Tehran (Reuters).

22 OCTOBER 2000

Diplomatic Affairs

US Secretary of State Albright began a brief visit to North Korea (Reuters).

Sri Lanka

The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Elam (LTTE) attacked Trincomalee naval base. All three suicide boats were blown up before they could reach their apparent targets, but one exploded close enough to a transport to damage it. Two Sri Lankan sailors were killed in a firefight with other LTTE boats backing up the suicide craft (Reuters).

22-26 OCTOBER 2000

Ivory Coast

A presidential election was held on the 22nd; Army ruler General Robert Guei and Socialist Laurent Gbagbo were the main candidates allowed to compete. After the election, Guei scrapped the National Electoral Commission (CNE). On the 24th the Interior Ministry declared Guei the winner with 52.7% of the vote and Gbagbo with 41.0%. That day and the next, tens of thousands of Gbagbo supporters violently protested in Abidjan. Guei fled the city and Gbagbo took power. The CNE resumed its count, and on the 26th declared Gbagbo the winner with 59.4% (Reuters).

24 OCTOBER 2000

Yugoslavia, Politics

The Serbian parliament agreed on a power-sharing government to run Serbia until new elections are held. Socialists and the former opposition will share control of the interior, finance, information and justice ministries (Reuters).

25 OCTOBER 2000

Diplomatic Affairs

Richard Holbrooke, Yugoslav President Vojislav Kostunica and officials from Albania, Bulgaria, Greece, Macedonia, Romania, Turkey, Bosnia and Croatia met in Skopje, Macedonia to discuss the Balkans (Reuters).

26 OCTOBER 2000

Western Hemisphere, Diplomatic Affairs

Cuban President Fidel Castro began a five-day visit to Venezuela to discuss oil shipments to Cuba and other topics (Reuters).

28 OCTOBER 2000

Kosovo, Politics

Municipal elections were held. Ibrahim Rugova's moderate Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK) won 58% of the vote and 21 of 30 municipalities, according to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) (Reuters).

29 OCTOBER 2000

Asia and The Pacific, Diplomatic Affairs

Japanese and North Korean officials held talks in Beijing (Reuters).

29-30 OCTOBER 2000

Peru

About 50 army personnel mutinied near Toquepala, but most of them quickly deserted the rebellion or had been coerced into participating and were freed (Reuters).

30-31 OCTOBER 2000

Spain

An apparent ETA car bomb killed Supreme Court judge Jose Francisco Querol Lombardero, his driver and his bodyguard in Madrid. The next day nearly 250,000 people marched in a government-sponsored anti-ETA demonstration in Madrid (Reuters).

30 OCTOBER-1 NOVEMBER 2000

Europe, Diplomatic Affairs

Russian President Putin visited France to meet with European political and business leaders (Reuters).