2-19 APRIL 2005

Spiritual affairs

Pope John Paul II (Karol Jozef Wojtyla), leader of the Catholic Church, died. On the 19th, Benedict XVI (Joseph Ratzinger), from Germany, replaced him (CNN.com).

3 APRIL 2005

Syria, foreign policy

President Bashar al-Assad told UN envoy Terje Roed-Larsen that Syria would withdraw its forces from Lebanon by 30 April (CNN.com).

3-5 APRIL 2005

Saudi Arabia

Security forces killed over a dozen militants in al-Ras, in the northwest, including Abdulkarim al-Mejjati and Saud Homoud al-Oteibi. Mejjati is thought to have been the mastermind of bombings in Casablanca in May 2003 (Reuters).

Also during this time, around two dozen militants were killed or captured in the Riyadh area (Reuters).

4 APRIL 2005

Asia and the Pacific, diplomatic affairs

Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono met Australian President John Howard in Canberra. They agreed to increase economic, trade and security cooperation (CNN.com).

5 APRIL 2005

Jordan, politics

Prime Minister Faisal al-Fayez’s government resigned. King Abdullah II asked Adnan Badran to head a new government (www.rulers.org).

6-7 APRIL 2005

Iraq, politics

On the 6th the transitional assembly selected Jalal Talabani, a Kurd, to be president of the transitional government. Talabani said he envisioned “national independence” for Iraq and “the circumstances in which we will no longer need the support and help of the multinational forces....This will be achieved by fully building our Iraq security forces. All of this will lead Iraq to its normal position in the Arabic and Islamic world.” On the 10th he said he believed Iraq could be ready for the withdrawal of foreign forces within two years, and that a number of factors would influence how long foreign forces remain, including “the common desire of Iraqi people and American people” (CNN.com).

The next day, Ibrahim al-Jaafari, a Shi’ite Arab, was named prime minster (www.rulers.org).

9 APRIL 2005

Zambia, economic affairs

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) approved a $3.9 billion debt relief plan for the country. Zambia’s overall debt at the end of 2004, including what it owed to the Paris Club group of industrialized lenders, was estimated at $7.1 billion. Zambia said it would use the relief to improve roads and promote tourism and agriculture (Reuters).

Haiti

Remissainthe Ravix, one of the leaders of the February 2004 revolt, was killed in a shootout with Haitian police in Port-au-Prince (AP).

Iraq

Several thousand demonstrated in Baghdad against the US, Britain and Saddam Hussein (CNN.com).

9-11 APRIL 2005

Asia and the Pacific, diplomatic affairs

On the 9th, there were anti-Japanese protests by several thousand people in Beijing, China, including a violent protest near the Japanese embassy. The protests were prompted by the Japanese government’s approval of a little-used but nationalistic history textbook. The next day, Japan’s ambassador called the protest “gravely regrettable” and called on China’s government to protect Japanese citizens. Also on the 10th, there were anti-Japanese protests in Guangzhou and Shenzhen, in Guangdong province.

On the 11th Japanese Prime Minster Junichiro Koizumi echoed his ambassador’s comments. The same day, China’s Foreign Ministry said Japan must seriously address the history of its aggression against China “and other major issues of principle bearing on the feelings of the Chinese people.” Japan has repeatedly apologized for its aggression, but some say Japan has not taken adequate action to address certain issues related to war crimes.

On the 16th there was an anti-Japanese riot by about 20,000 people in Shanghai (AP, CNN.com).

10 APRIL 2005

Israel

A few dozen Israeli opponents of the country’s withdrawal from the Gaza Strip attempted to enter the Temple Mount, a site in Jerusalem of great religious significance for both Jews and Moslems. Thousands of police deployed around the site managed to maintain order. There were some small demonstrations in the West Bank against the attempt (AP).

11 APRIL 2005

Asia and the Pacific, diplomatic affairs

India and China, in the course of talks between Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and other government leaders in New Delhi, announced an agreement on their border dispute and other issues. China agreed to recognize the territory of Sikkim as part of India. The two countries also reached consensus on principles leading to an overall settlement of the other boundary disputes. They also agreed on measures to increase cooperation in trade, science and technology, and other areas (CNN.com).

Diplomatic affairs

Israeli Prime Minister Sharon met US President Bush in Crawford, Texas. Bush again called for Israel to halt expansion of settlements in the West Bank (CNN.com).

Kyrgyzstan, civil affairs

The Supreme Court acquitted opposition leader Felix Kulov of corruption charges (CNN.com).

13 APRIL 2005

Afghanistan, foreign policy

President Hamid Karzai, at a news conference after meeting with visiting US Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, said the Afghan people want a long-term “strategic security relationship” with the US (CNN.com).

Europe, diplomatic affairs

The EU’s European Parliament approved the entry of Bulgaria and Romania into the bloc in 2007, conditional on those countries completing various economic and judicial reforms (AP).

Lebanon, politics

Prime minister-designate Omar Karami announced his resignation after failing to form a new government. President Emil Lahoud named Najib Mikati to replace him (CNN.com).

14 APRIL 2005

Bosnia, war crimes

Vujadin Popovic turned himself in to the war crimes tribunal at The Hague, Netherlands. Popovic was indicted by the tribunal in October 2002 for genocide, crimes against humanity and violation of the laws of war in connection with the Srebrenica massacre in 1995 (CNN.com).

15-24 APRIL 2005

Ecuador

In December 2004, President Lucio Gutierrez had used a temporary legislative majority to replace the entire Supreme Court with justices sympathetic to his government. The opposition began conducting street protests in Quito against Gutierrez (Reuters).

On 15 April Gutierrez dissolved the Supreme Court. The next day Congress ratified the dissolution 89-0 as protests in Quito intensified. On the 19th, tens of thousands protested in Guayaquil (AP).

On the 20th, the Congress voted 62-0 to remove Gutierrez from office and replace him with Vice President Alfredo Palacio. Gutierrez fled to the Brazilian embassy in Quito. He received political asylum and flew to Brazil on the 24th.

Palacio’s new ministers hinted that the government may adopt a less austere fiscal policy (CNN.com, AP).

17 APRIL 2005

Cyprus

The Turkish Cypriot state held a presidential election to choose a successor to Rauf Denktash. Mehmet Ali Talat won 53% of the vote; Dervis Eroglu won 23%. Talat said that “Turkish Cypriots are calling for reunification and EU membership”. He and a majority of Turkish Cypriots supported the previous year’s UN-sponsored reunification plan which was rejected by Greek Cypriots and opposed by Denktash (AP).

17-18 APRIL 2005

Asia and the Pacific, diplomatic affairs

Pakistani President Pervez Musharaff held talks with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in New Delhi. They agreed to work toward a final settlement of the Kashmir dispute, and both seemed very upbeat about the future of India-Pakistan relations (CNN.com).

18 APRIL 2005

Asia and the Pacific, diplomatic affairs

Australia and China agreed to begin negotiating a free-trade agreement (CNN.com).

20-21 APRIL 2005

United States, foreign policy

On the 20th, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, in Vilnius, Lithuania for a meeting of NATO foreign ministers, called for greater democracy in Belarus, saying, “It’s time for a change in Belarus.” The next day, she met with members of Belarus’s political opposition (CNN.com).

20-23 APRIL 2005

Italy, politics

Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi resigned on the 20th. His Forza Italia party had recently lost badly in regional elections, prompting the Christian Democrats to quit the ruling coalition. On the 23rd he returned to office with a cabinet closely resembling the previous one (CNN.com).

22 APRIL 2005

Iraq

A suicide bombing of a Shiite mosque in Baghdad killed at least nine people (CNN.com).

24 APRIL 2005

Mexico

Hundreds of thousands demonstrated in Mexico City in support of Mexico City Mayor Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, who has been charged with contempt of court in an obscure city land dispute. He has announced his intention to run for Mexico’s presidency (Reuters).

Iraq

Two terror bombings in western Baghdad killed at least 16 people (CNN.com).

24 APRIL-3 MAY 2005

Togo, politics

A presidential election was held. Faure Gnassingbe received 60.2% of the vote and Emmanuel Bob Akitani got 38.3%. The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), which had observers in the election, said the poll had satisfied “the criteria of credibility and international standards”. Nevertheless, the leader of Akitani’s party said the elections had been unfair. On the 27th there were some violent opposition protests in Lome. On 3 May the Constitutional Court proclaimed Gnassingbe the winner after rejecting the opposition’s appeal that the election was rigged (IFES, AP).

25 APRIL 2005

Russia, economic and civil affairs

President Vladimir Putin, in a ‘state of the nation’ speech, spoke of the need to strengthen the state, the rule of law and judicial institutions, and deepen respect for individual freedoms and the activities of non-governmental organizations. He promoted economic reforms such as reducing the statute of limitations from ten years to three for challenging the results of privatization of state assets, and said tax authorities should focus on current offenders rather than pursuing companies for years of back taxes (CNN.com).

Czech Republic, politics

Prime Minister Stanislav Gross resigned (AP).

27 APRIL 2005

Nepal, politics

Former prime minister Sher Bahadur Deuba was arrested after refusing to appear before the Royal Corruption Control Commission (CNN.com).

28 APRIL 2005

Russia, foreign policy

During a visit to Israel, President Vladimir Putin commented on Iran’s nuclear program, saying, “It's necessary for our Iranian partners to reject the creation of nuclear cycle technology and not to hinder placing all its nuclear programs under complete international control” (AP).

29-30 APRIL 2005

China/Taiwan

Lien Chan, leader of Taiwan’s opposition Nationalist Party, met Chinese President Hu Jintao in Beijing. They called for greater cooperation between the two sides (AP).