Spain

A dozen Moroccan troops landed on Perejil, a small uninhabited island just off the Moroccan coast, supposedly to inderdict illegal migration and drug smuggling across the Strait of Gibraltar. About a week later, on the 17th, 28 Spanish troops ejected the Moroccans. After intense diplomatic activity led by the US, Spain and Morocco agreed to return the island to the demilitarized status it previously had. Spanish troops began to withdraw on the 20th (Reuters).

Diplomatic Affairs

The Organization of African Unity (OAU) held its last summit in Durban, South Africa as it inaugurated the African Union (AU) (Reuters).

Turkey, Politics

Three ministers in Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit's government, including deputy premier Husamettin Ozkan, resigned. Dozens of other deputies also quit Ecevit's Democratic Left Party (DSP) over concerns that the government and party are paralyzed under Ecevit's control (Reuters).

Netherlands, Politics

By early July, coalition talks had resulted in a CDA/LPF/VVD government that promised to be tough on crime and illegal immigration. It appeared that CDA leader Peter Balkenende would become Prime Minister (Reuters).

2 JULY 2002

Argentina, Politics

President Eduardo Duhalde said he would move up elections by six months to March 2003, citing the need for "a government strengthened by a popular vote." Duhalde was appointed by Congress in January (Reuters).

4 JULY 2002

Madagascar

Forces loyal to Marc Ravalomanana entered Antsiranana and received a hero's welcome from local residents. His rival for the presidency, Didier Ratsiraka, now controls only the Toamasina area (Reuters).

Greece

Police raided an apartment in central Athens and found what appeared to be the main hideout of the November 17 terrorist group. Heavy weapons, ammunition and other items were found. In the following weeks police were able to make several arrests of suspected N17 members (Reuters).

5 JULY 2002

Algeria

A bomb blast in Larba killed 35 people. No one immediately claimed responsibility (Reuters).

6 JULY 2002

Afghanistan

Two gunmen assassinated Vice-President and Public Works Minister Haji Abdul Qadir in Kabul. The identity of those responsible was unknown. Qadir was an ethnic Pashtun. His younger brother, Mujahideen commander Abdul Haq, was killed by the Taliban the previous October (Reuters).

7 JULY 2002

Britain, Northern Ireland

The Orange Order's annual Drumcree march ended in violent clashes between Protestants and police (Reuters).

11 JULY 2002

Argentina, Civil Affairs

Former dictator Leopoldo Galtieri was arrested for human rights abuses allegedly committed in 1980 (Reuters).

South Korea, Politics

President Kim Dae-jung conducted a cabinet reshuffle in which Prime Minister Lee Han-dong was dismissed and six other ministers were replaced. The prime ministerial post remained vacant until 9 Aug (Reuters).

Venezuela

Tens of thousands demonstrated in Caracas against President Hugo Chavez (Reuters).

12 JULY 2002

Diplomatic Affairs

The UN Security Council approved a resolution regarding the International Criminal Court (see 11 April and 6 May). The resolution asks the tribunal to allow a 12-month grace period before investigating or prosecuting UN peacekeepers from countries, such as the US, that do not support the court "if a case arises" and "unless the Security Council decides otherwise". The US had sought some degree of protection from the ICC for its peacekeepers, and had threatened to start vetoing UN peacekeeping missions if it could not obtain such protection (Reuters).

13 JULY 2002

India, Kashmir

Unidentified gunmen killed 27 civilians in a hit-and-run attack in Jammu (Reuters).

Iraq

US aircraft struck air-defense targets in the south (Reuters).

15-16 JULY 2002

Paraguay

There were numerous violent protests around the country against President Luis Gonzalez Macchi's free-market economic policies. The protests were each generally in the hundreds of people. On the 15th Macchi declared a state of emergency. The government blamed Lino Oviedo, a former general living in Brazil, for instigating the protests (Reuters).

16 JULY 2002

Diplomatic Affairs

Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov said, "Russia will oppose any unilateral military actions undertaken against Iraq without the approval of the United Nations Security Council" (Reuters).

Britain, Northern Ireland

The Irish Republican Army (IRA) released a statement offering its "sincere apologies and condolences" to the families of civilians it killed during its past operations. "We remain totally committed to the peace process and to dealing with the challenges and difficulties which this presents. This includes the acceptance of past mistakes and of the hurt and pain we have caused to others", the statement said. The IRA accounted for about half of the 3,600 deaths in the Republican-Unionist strife over three decades, including 640 civilians (Reuters).

Israel, West Bank

A bus was attacked near the Israeli settlement of Emmanuel, killing seven Israelis. Hamas claimed responsibility (Reuters).

17 JULY 2002

Israel

Suicide bombers killed three people in Tel Aviv (Reuters).

18 JULY 2002

Europe

Police arrested 14 members of the First of October Anti-Fascist Resistance Group (GRAPO) terrorist group in France and Spain, including Marco Martin Ponce (Reuters).

20 JULY 2002

Sudan

Negotiators for the government and the rebel Sudanese People's Liberation Movement (SPLM) said they had achieved major progress toward a peace agreement as they held talks in Machakos, Kenya. "We have agreed on a structure which resolves the basic question of state versus religion and self-determination (for the south)," head of the government delegation Ghazi Salah al-Din said. The parties reportedly agreed on a transitional period of six years followed by a referendum on the political future of the south, with secession being one of the options. The south is to be given some degree of autonomy during the transitional period. On the religion issue, they agreed that Islamic sharia law would apply in the north but not in the south (Reuters).

22 JULY 2002

Western Hemisphere, Diplomatic Affairs

Colombian President-elect Alvaro Uribe met Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez in Caracas. Uribe said Chavez had agreed to "work with Colombia toward the necessary defeat of drug trafficking, which is the principal source of financing for the violence in Colombia" (Reuters).

23 JULY 2002

Israel, Gaza Strip

An Israeli airstrike killed Salah Shehada, leader of the military wing of Hamas, in his home in Gaza City's Bouraj residential area. Fifteen civilians were killed and 145 were wounded. Israel was roundly criticized by the international community for the numerous civilian casualties inflicted. Prime Minister Sharon described the strike as a "great success" but said he regretted the deaths of civilians. But Foreign Minister Shimon Peres later said the strike was "one hundred percent a mistake....The outcome shows clearly we used the wrong weapon" (Reuters). There seems little doubt that the killing of Shehada was a major blow to Hamas, and civilian deaths are almost unavoidable in war. Nevertheless, the strike was too indiscriminate in its effects to be considered a successful counter-terrorist operation.

27 JULY 2002

Sudan

President Omar Hassan al-Bashir and Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA) leader John Garang met in Kampala, Uganda. They discussed the recent breakthrough in talks (see 20 July) and agreed on the need for "rallying popular support behind it and building a national consensus on a comprehensive political settlement", according to a statement (Reuters).

30 JULY 2002

Democratic Republic of Congo

Rwandan President Paul Kagame and DRC President Joseph Kabila signed a peace agreement in Pretoria, South Africa. Rwanda was required to withdraw its 23,400 troops from the DRC. The DRC in turn had to track down and disarm ex-Rwandan soldiers and Hutu 'Interahamwe' militia, estimated by the UN as numbering at least 13,000, operating on its territory. The agreement ambitiously called for the Rwandan withdrawal and repatriation of ex-Rwandan soldiers within 90 days. Kagame, Kabila and South African President Thabo Mbeki were to meet every 30 days to review progress toward these requirements (Reuters).

31 JULY 2002

Israel

Hamas exploded a bomb in a cafeteria in Jerusalem's Hebrew University, killing seven, including two Israelis and three US citizens (Reuters).