Israel

In the ongoing Palestinian uprising, 32 people were killed (Reuters).

Burundi

Late this month, the FNL rebel group launched an assault on Bujumbura (Reuters).

Indonesia

Late in the month, there was ethnic violence between indigenous Dayaks and Madurese immigrants in Central Kalimantan province, on Borneo island, particularly in Sampit (Reuters).

FEBRUARY-MARCH 2001

Macedonia

What appeared to be an ethnic-Albanian guerilla group began operating against the army near the border with Kosovo and Serbia. In early March the group identified itself as the 'National Liberation Army' (NLA) and said it respected the territorial integrity of Macedonia but wanted equal rights for the ethnic Albanian minority (Reuters).

1 FEBRUARY 2001

Diplomatic Affairs

Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) President Joseph Kabila met separately with US Secretary of State Colin Powell and Rwanda's President Paul Kagame in Washington, among others. They discussed the war in the DRC (Reuters).

6 FEBRUARY 2001

Israel, Politics

A prime ministerial election was held. Likud Party leader Ariel Sharon defeated Prime Minister Ehud Barak of the Labor Party in a landslide. Sharon had indicated an unwillingness to make concessions in negotiations with the Palestinians that are as extensive as the concessions Barak was willing to consider (Reuters).

7 FEBRUARY 2001

Ecuador

The government reached an agreement with Indian leaders in which it is to limit prices of cooking fuels, and in which the Indians are to end their protests (Reuters).

9 FEBRUARY 2001

Pacific Ocean

The American Los Angeles-class SSN Greenville collided with a Japanese trawler near Hawaii, sinking the trawler and killing nine civilians aboard it (Reuters).

11 FEBRUARY 2001

Europe, Diplomatic Affairs

Russian President Vladimir Putin met Ukranian President Leonid Kuchma in Dnipropetrovsk, Ukraine (Reuters).

13 FEBRUARY 2001

Kosovo

Several hundred Serbs violently protested against the NATO-led KFOR and the United Nations Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) (Reuters).

Israel

Israeli army attack helicopters ambushed and killed Fatah officer Massoud Ayad in northern Gaza. According to the Israelis, Ayad had been setting up a Palestinian branch of Hizbollah in Gaza (Reuters).

14 FEBRUARY 2001

Israel

A Palestinian bus driver drove his vehicle into a bus stop south of Tel Aviv, killing seven Israeli soldiers and a civilian. The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) claimed responsibility for the attack (Reuters).

15 FEBRUARY 2001

Sub-Saharan Africa, Diplomatic Affairs

Leaders of the DRC, rebel groups there, and other countries in the region met in Lusaka, Zambia, to discuss the war in the DRC. Rwanda did not attend. There was tentative agreement among the participants to resolve the conflict (Reuters).

15-18 FEBRUARY 2001

Colombia

About 5000 people blocked the main highway connecting Bogota with the Atlantic coast. They were opposing the proposed establishment of a 1560 square-mile demilitarized safe haven for the rebel National Liberation Army (ELN) in the department of Bolivar (Reuters).

16 FEBRUARY 2001

Iraq

Twenty-four US and British aircraft struck Iraqi air defenses south of Bagdad. The British cited "a recent increase in the threat to aircraft" patrolling the southern no-fly zone (Reuters).

Kosovo

A roadside bomb attack on a bus in the north killed 10 Serbs (Reuters).

18 FEBRUARY 2001

United States

Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agent Robert Hanssen was arrested for espionage. On 6 July he pleaded guilty to 13 counts of "substantive acts of espionage", one count of attempted espionage and another of conspiracy to commit espionage. Hanssen admitted that he began spying for the Soviet Union in 1979, three years after becoming a special agent, and that he spied intermittently for Russia over the next 20 years. Hanssen, who worked in counter-intelligence, allegedly gave Russia names of double agents and secrets related to satellites, early warning systems, defense systems and communications intelligence (Reuters).

22 FEBRUARY 2001

France

Police arrested Francisco Xabier Garcia Gaztelu, a suspected ETA leader, in Anghet (Reuters).

Spain

A car bomb attack, probably by the ETA, killed two people in San Sebastian (Reuters).

23 FEBRUARY 2001

Spain

Several thousand people demonstrated against the ETA in San Sebastian (Reuters).

25 FEBRUARY-1 APRIL 2001

Mexico

The political leadership of the Zapatista rebels conducted a highly publicized journey through Mexico. The Zapatistas are not currently waging war against the government, and President Vicente Fox wishes to negotiate with them. They therefore received protection from police as they made their way from their base to Mexico City. The Zapatista leaders attracted large crowds of sympathizers along thier route. On 11 March they arrived in Mexico City to lobby for passage of indigenous rights legislation, and were greeted by large crowds. On 28 March they spoke to most of the lower house of Congress. By 1 April they had returned to their home base (Reuters).

25-27 FEBRUARY 2001

Western Hemisphere, Diplomatic Affairs

Colombian President Andres Pastrana visited the US. On the 27th, he and President George W. Bush discussed Colombia's rebellion and the prospects of extending the Andean Trade Preferences Act (ATPA) (Reuters).

26-27 FEBRUARY 2001

Asia & the Pacific, Diplomatic Affairs

Russian President Putin met South Korean President Kim Dae-jung in Seoul. They agreed that the 1972 ABM Treaty between the US and Russia "is the cornerstone of strategic stability and an important foundation of international efforts on nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation" (Reuters).

28 FEBRUARY 2001

Fiji, Politics

The Court of Appeal ruled that "The 1997 constitution remains the supreme law" of the country, and therefore, the military-backed interim government is illegal (Reuters).

Indonesia

Over 1000 students demonstrated in Jakarta against President Abdurrahman Wahid (Reuters).