Iraq

By early this month, some 150 American troops had died in Iraq from all causes since 1 May.1

5 SEPTEMBER 2003

Israel, West Bank

Israeli forces killed Mohammad al-Hanbali in a raid on his apartment in Nablus. After Hanbali resisted efforts to detain him, the Israelis demolished the entire seven-story building (Reuters).

6 SEPTEMBER 2003

Israel

Palestinian Authority (PA) prime minister Mahmoud Abbas resigned (Reuters).

9 SEPTEMBER 2003

Israel

There were two suicide bombings, apparently by Hamas. One in Jerusalem killed at least six people. Another near Tel Aviv killed seven (Reuters).

9-10 SEPTEMBER 2003

Argentina, economic affairs

On the 9th, Argentina defaulted on $3 billion to the International Monetary Fund (IMF). However, the next day, the government said it had reached an agreement with the IMF to include the refinancing of $12.3 billion of debt. The defaulted $3 billion will be repaid in the near future, the government said (Reuters).

10 SEPTEMBER 2003

Al Qaeda

A videotape aired by Al Jazeera Arabic television contained apparent video and audio of Osama bin Laden. Al Jazeera said the video was probably filmed in April or May (Reuters).

Indonesia

Iman Samudra was sentenced to death for organizing the terror bombing on Bali in October 2002 (Reuters).

Liberia

Troops from Guinea-Bissau, part of the 3,200-strong ECOMIL peacekeeping force, entered Totota (Reuters).

Sweden

Foreign Minister Anna Lindh was stabbed in Stockholm by an unknown assailant. She died from her wounds the next day (Reuters).

12 SEPTEMBER 2003

Ivory Coast

Rene Amani was named defense minister and Martin Bleou interior minister in the power-sharing government (Reuters).

Diplomatic affairs

The IAEA Board of Governors passed a resolution calling for Iran to "provide accelerated cooperation and full transparency" regarding efforts by the agency to verify non-diversion of nuclear material to a weapons program. There has been no concrete proof of research and development by Iran for a nuclear weapon. However, the IAEA has not been completely satisfied with Iran's diligence in accounting for nuclear material or with it's explanation for the agency's discovery of weapon-grade enriched uranium at an enrichment facility at Natanz.

The resolution calls on Iran to suspend uranium enrichment related activities and to take certain actions by the end of October. These include: "providing a full declaration of all imported material and components related to the enrichment programme, especially imported equipment and components stated to have been contaminated with highly enriched uranium particles...", "granting unrestricted access, including environmental sampling, for the Agency to whatever locations the Agency deems necessary...", "resolving questions regarding the conclusion of Agency experts that process testing on gas centrifuges must have been conducted in order for Iran to develop its enrichment technology to its current extent" and doing anything else "deemed necessary by the Agency to resolve all outstanding issues involving nuclear materials and nuclear activities..." It also requests Iran to acceed to the additional protocol to IAEA safeguards, which entails a more intrusive inspection regime (www.iaea.org/worldatom, Reuters).

Also on the 12th, the UN Security Council voted 13-0 to end UN sanctions against Libya. The US and France abstained. Libya had recently accepted blame for the 1988 Lockerbie bombing and agreed to compensate families of the victims (Reuters).

14 SEPTEMBER 2003

Estonia

In a referendum on whether to join the EU, 66.9% voted in favor, with 33.1% against. Turnout was 63%.

Guinea-Bissau

President Kumba Yalla was overthrown in a bloodless coup led by General Verissimo Correia Seabra (Reuters).

Sweden

In a referendum, voters decided against joining the EU's single currency 56.2% to 41.8%. Turnout was 81% (Reuters).

Iraq

US administrator Paul Bremer said oil output had reached 1.5 million BPD, half of pre-war production (Reuters).

18 SEPTEMBER 2003

Indonesia

Ali Imron was sentenced to life imprisonment for his role in the October 2002 Bali bombings (Reuters).

20 SEPTEMBER 2003

Latvia

In a referendum on EU membership, 69.6% voted "yes" and 29.7% voted "no". Turnout was 72.5% (Reuters).

22 SEPTEMBER 2003

Military affairs

NATO named Dutch Foreign Minister Jaap De Hoop Scheffer its new Secretary General, succeeding George Robertson (Reuters).

23 SEPTEMBER 2003

Ivory Coast

The rebels, now called the New Forces, said they were suspending their participation in the power-sharing government. They accused President Laurent Gbagbo of stalling the peace process (Reuters).

25 SEPTEMBER 2003

Sudan

Representatives of the government and the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA) rebels signed a security agreement in Naivasha, Kenya. It provides for two separate armies with the creation of integrated units during an interim period. An integrated force of 24,000 troops is to be sent to the south, another unit of 3,000 troops will be sent to Khartoum, and two units of 6,000 troops each will be sent to the Nuba Mountains and Southern Blue Nile regions. The agreement also provides for the withdrawal over time of the government's forces from southern Sudan and the SPLA from eastern Sudan.2

Iraq

Akila al-Hashemi, a member of the Iraqi Governing Council, died from wounds suffered in a gun attack on the 20th (Reuters).

Diplomatic affairs

Greece and Turkey signed the 1997 Mine Ban Treaty at the UN. There are now 139 countries that have joined the pact; 47 others have not, including the US, Russia and China (Reuters).

26-27 SEPTEMBER 2003

Diplomatic affairs

Russian President Vladimir Putin met with US President Bush at Camp David (Reuters).

27 SEPTEMBER 2003

Britain

In London, about 20,000 demonstrators called for the US to get out of Iraq (Reuters).

28 SEPTEMBER 2003

Guinea-Bissau

Military rulers and political parties agreed to set up an interim government, with parliamentary elections to be held within six months and a presidential election a year after that. Henrique Rosa was sworn in as interim President, and Antonio Artur Sanha became prime minister. General Correia Seabra is to head a National Transition Council to supervise Rosa until a parliament is elected (Reuters).

Egypt

The official Middle East News Agency (MENA) said the government had released Karam Zuhdi, a top member of the al-Gama'a al-Islamiya militant group (Reuters).

Colombia

A bomb blast in Florencia killed 11 people (Reuters).

Notes

1. Todd S. Purdum, A Time of Our Choosing: America's War in Iraq, New York, Times Books, 2003, p. 250.

2. "Sudan Government and Rebels Sign Key Security Deal", Reuters (www.reuters.com), 25 September 2003.