1 MAY 2001

Germany

May Day saw violent protests by thousands of people in Berlin and Frankfurt. The violence in Frankfurt was by 'left-wing' activists and was triggered by a neo-Nazi march there (Reuters).

Pakistan

Police arrested hundreds of political leaders and activists from the 16-party Alliance for the Restoration of Democracy in Karachi and other cities (Reuters).

Russia

Police said over 300,000 people attended 480 marches without major incident (Reuters). Many were discontented with the process of economic liberalization.

South Korea

In Seoul, about 20,000 workers protested against government economic policy (Reuters).

7 MAY 2001

Diplomatic Affairs

The UN imposed a ban on Liberia's diamond exports and travel by top officials. The UN Security Council had alleged that Liberia was giving material support to rebels in Sierra Leone (Reuters).

Spain

Manuel Gimenez Abad, president of the Popular Party in the Aragon region, was assassinated in Zaragoza by the ETA (Reuters).

9 MAY 2001

Panama

Thousands violently protested in Panama City against a bus-fare price increase (Reuters).

10 MAY 2001

Israel

A roadside bomb killed two migrant Romanian workers near the Israel-Gaza border. In retaliation, Israeli forces conducted an airstrike on a Palestinian security compound and an office of Palestinian Authority (PA) President Arafat's Fatah faction in Gaza City (Reuters).

11-12 MAY 2001

Somalia

There was fighting between government forces and forces of warlord Hussein Aideed in Mogadishu. Aideed's forces reportedly took control of the port and its immediate vicinity from a militia group allied to the government (Reuters).

13 MAY 2001

Italy, Politics

Parliamentary elections were held. Generally, the 'House of Freedoms' bloc led by Silvio Berlusconi, which included his Forza Italia party, defeated Francesco Rutelli's 'Olive Tree' bloc. Berlusconi's bloc won 177 of the 315 Senate seats; Rutelli's bloc won 125. In the 630-seat Chamber of Deputies, Berlusconi's bloc won 368 seats; Rutelli's bloc took 242 (IFES, Reuters).

Macedonia, Politics

The country's four main political parties, two of them ethnic-Slav and two of them ethnic-Albanian, formed a new coalition government. Ljubco Georgievski remained Prime Minister. He said the government's top priority was to defeat the National Liberation Army (NLA) ethnic-Albanian rebels.

Spain, Politics

Basque regional elections were held. In the 75-seat parliament, the coalition led by the Basque Nationalist Party (PNV), which advocates independence from Spain through peaceful means, won 33 seats, a gain of six. The coalition led by Spain's ruling Popular Party (PP), which opposes Basque independence, won 19, a gain of one. The Socialists, who also oppose Basque independence, won 13. Euskal Herritarrok (EH), widely considered the political wing of the ETA pro-independence terrorist group, won seven seats, a loss of seven (Reuters).

Israel

Israeli naval craft and attack helicopters struck Palestinian military targets in Gaza (Reuters).

18 MAY 2001

Israel

Hamas conducted a suicide bombing attack in Netanya, killing six Israelis. Hours later, there were Israeli airstrikes on Palestinian Authority (PA) targets in the West Bank and Gaza (Reuters).

Colombia

A car bomb attack in Medellin killed eight people. Police blamed the AUC (Reuters).

Pakistan

Sunni Tehrik leader Saleem Qadri was murdered in Karachi by unknown assailants. Subsequently, hundreds of Sunni Muslims rioted in the city (Reuters).

19 MAY 2001

Algeria

About 10,000 ethnic Berbers demonstrated in Bejaia, calling for the withdrawal of the Ministry of Defence's paramilitary Gendarmerie troops from the Kabylie region, which includes the Bejaia area and neighboring Tizi Ouzau province. The government had admitted that 42 people were killed by security forces during riots in the region in late April and early May (Reuters).

Guinea, Civil Affairs

Alpha Conde, leader of the Guinean People's Rally (RPG), the main opposition party, was released from prison (Reuters).

20 MAY 2001

Chad

President Idriss Deby was reelected with 67.4% of the vote; his closest rival was Ngarledjy Yorongar with 13.9% (Reuters).

Mongolia, Politics

President Natsagiin Bagabandi of the Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party (MPRP) was reelected (Reuters).

23 MAY 2001

India

The government called off its six-month-old ceasefire toward Kashmir rebels. Foreign Minister Jaswant Singh said, "Non-initiation of combat operations is over. Security forces will act as they judge the situation best." India cited a failure of the rebels to respond in kind to the ceasefire in announcing its termination (Reuters).

24 MAY 2001

Spain

The ETA murdered a newspaper executive in San Sebastian (Reuters).

25 MAY 2001

Colombia

Two bombs exploded in Bogota, killing four people; the attackers were unknown (Reuters).

26-27 MAY 2001

Britain

Hundreds of Asian youths rioted in Oldham (Reuters).

29 MAY 2001

Ukraine, Politics

Parliament approved Anatoly Kinakh as Prime Minister. 239 members of the 450-seat parliament voted in favor. Kinakh promised to continue economic liberalization (Reuters).