January 2000 Military News

THE CHECHEN CHRONICLES ’98 BASED ON 1998-1999 MEDIA REPORTS Russian Information Centre [31.01.2000] This review is based on 1998-1999 contributions to periodicals which describe developments in Chechnya in the latter half of 1998. The digest is interspersed with historical digressions on some of the issues.
ON THE SITUATION IN THE NORTH CAUCASUS SERGEY V. YASTRZHEMBSKY - RF Acting President assistant for the co-ordination of information and analytical work of the federal bodies of executive authority involved in the counter-terrorist operation in the North Caucasus 31.01.2000 -- As in the previous twenty four hours and the last days, the main events are developing, above all, in Grozny and also in the Argun gorge. In the past twenty four hours, fierce fighting went on for the high-risers surrounding the Chechen capital's Minutka Square. Chechen militants have turned each apartment house into a fortress. The next phase is the complete restoration of the administrative bodies of authority in Chechnya. Neutralising the remains of small bands and search and arrest of terrorists will be a purely militia operation to be undertaken by the Interior Ministry.
HIGH COMMISSIONER FOR HUMAN RIGHTS SAYS REPORT OF EAST TIMOR INQUIRY IMPORTANT STEP AGAINST IMPUNITY 31 January 2000 -- Mrs. Robinson said it was significant that as the report was being released in New York Indonesia's own inquiry panel was making its findings public.
State Official Says Indonesia Should Conduct Rights Investigation By Wendy Lubetkin USIA 31 January 2000 -- Assistant Secretary of State Stanley O. Roth says the United States wants to see justice done in the examination of possible human rights abuses in Timor, but believes Indonesia should be allowed to pursue its own investigation.
MOZAMBIQUE / POLITICS Voice of America 31 January 2000 -- Recent news reports have hinted at a possible move by Renamo to set up a breakaway government in the six Northern and Central Provinces where it took a confirmed majority of the votes in December's elections.
U-S / MONTENEGRO Voice of America 31 January 2000 -- The United States is providing more aid for democratic reforms in Montenegro, and is vowing to stand by the tiny republic in the event of military action by Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic.
ISRAEL / LEBANON Voice of America 31 January 2000 -- Hezbollah guerrillas have killed three Israeli soldiers and wounded at least four others in an attack in southern Lebanon. Israeli warplanes are launching raids in retaliation for the attack.
U-N TIMOR INQUIRY REPORT Voice of America 31 January 2000 -- Indonesia's former top military officer, General Wiranto, has been dismissed from the cabinet following release of a United Nations report on widespread violations of human rights in East Timor.
WIRANTO FIRED Voice of America 31 January 2000 -- Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid Monday dismissed his country's former top general from his cabinet, following release of an official inquiry that found General Wiranto was involved in human-rights abuses last year in East Timor.
INDONESIA - WIRANTO Voice of America 31 January 2000 -- Indonesian human-rights investigators say former Minister of Defense and Armed Forces chief General Wiranto is among six commanders responsible for the bloodshed that erupted in East Timor.
U-N / CYPRUS Voice of America 31 January 2000 -- United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan says he hopes a comprehensive settlement on Cyprus can be achieved this year.
U-N CONGO PEACEKEEPERS Voice of America 31 January 2000 -- The United Nations Security Council has ended (Monday) a month-long focus on Africa with renewed calls for a U-N peacekeeping mission in Congo-Kinshasa.
BRITAIN / PINOCHET Voice of America 31 January 2000 -- A British court has rejected a legal challenge by Belgium and six human-rights organizations in the extradition case of former Chilean leader Augusto Pinochet.
Free Chechen Republic: Comments 31 January 2000 -- During the past day Russian troops in Grozny took control of several high-rise buildings alone the Gudermessakaya Street. This allows Russian forces to completely control movements of Chechen rebel units from central Grozny to the northern parts of the city. Russian military aircraft flew 110 combat missions in Chechnya during the past day and destroyed 20 rebel strongholds, four reinforced positions in Argun and Vedeno canyons, one mobile communications system, four anti-aircraft artillery systems, two long-term firing positions, seven trucks. According to Lt. Gen. Stanislav Kavun, somewhere between 700 and 1000 rebel fighters still remain in Grozny, while about 5000 fighters operate in the south of the province. Almost every day Russian troops destroy 30-40 Chechen rebels attempting to escape from Grozny. Majority of rebel fighters remaining in the city are believed to be foreign mercenaries.
RUSSIA / ALBRIGHT Voice of America 31 January 2000 -- Secretary of State Madeleine Albright has opened three-days of talks in Moscow with a warning that Russia risks international isolation for its brutal war in Chechnya.
RUSSIA / CHECHNYA Voice of America 31 January 2000 -- Russian troops say they are making progress in the two-week battle to capture strategic rebel-held Minutka Square near the center of the Chechen capital, Grozny.
BALKANS / STABILITY Voice of America 31 January 2000 -- Government leaders and outside experts have expressed concern about the slow progress in implementing social, economic, and political reforms in the Balkans, as called for last year in a so-called Stability Pact for the region.
ALGERIA VIOLENCE Voice of America 31 January 2000 -- A newspaper in Algeria says Islamic militants have killed 11-members of a local militia in the eastern part of the country.
U-N AFRICA MONTH WIND-UP Voice of America 31 January 2000 -- Ambassador Holbrooke ended his month as Security Council President by saying his decision to make January the "month of Africa" could be a turning point for the United Nations.
‘MONTH OF AFRICA’ DISPELS IDEA THAT AFRICAN PROBLEMS ARE SECONDARY, UNITED STATES SAYS TO FINAL JANUARY SECURITY COUNCIL MEETING Press Release SC/6796 - 31 January 2000 -- One of the goals of “the month of Africa” in the Security Council in January was to highlight pertinent issues and refute the position that Africa did not matter -- that its problems were secondary to those in other parts of the world, Richard Holbrooke, the representative of the United States, told the Council this morning.
SECURITY COUNCIL EXTENDS FORCE IN LEBANON UNTIL 31 JULY, UNANIMOUSLY ADOPTING RESOLUTION 1288 (2000) Press Release SC/6795 - 31 January 2000 -- Adopting Security Council resolution 1288 (2000) unanimously, the Council condemned all acts of violence against the Force and urged the parties to put an end to them.
SECURITY COUNCIL EXTENDS GEORGIA OBSERVER MISSION UNTIL 31 JULY, UNANIMOUSLY ADOPTING RESOLUTION 1287 (2000) Press Release SC/6794 - 31 January 2000 -- The Security Council, stressing that the lack of progress towards a comprehensive settlement of the conflict in Abkhazia, Georgia, was unacceptable and concerned by the continued volatility in the conflict zone, extended the mandate of the United Nations Observer Mission in Georgia (UNOMIG) until 31 July 2000.
DEPUTY SECRETARY-GENERAL SAYS SECURITY COUNCIL HAS ‘SPECTACULARLY REAFFIRMED ITS LONG-STANDING ENGAGEMENT WITH AFRICA’ Press Release DSG/SM/82 SC/6797 - 31 January 2000 -- The Council has since been working hard to finalize a resolution which would enable us at last to deploy the promised 500 military observers and support troops.
U-N - INDONESIA - EAST TIMOR Voice of America 30 January 2000 -- The United Nations human rights commission, that investigated September's wave of killings and destruction in East Timor, says the Indonesian government is to blame for the violence.
RUSSIA - CHECHNYA - FIGHTING Voice of America 30 January 2000 -- There are conflicting reports about whether some Chechen fighters have surrendered to Russian troops in Grozny, where heavy fighting continues without let-up.
ALGERIA-TERROR CONFERENCE Voice of America 30 January 2000 -- In Algeria, delegates from 20 Arab countries are holding a three-day conference aimed at developing regional strategies to combat terrorism.
RUSSIA - GROZNY - BATTLE Voice of America 29 January 2000 -- Fighting in Grozny has reached a kind of deadly stalemate as Chechen fighters have all but blocked the movement of Russian forces. Russian officials now acknowledge that this is causing the casualty rate to rise; there're some estimates that 20 men are being killed each day.
Albright Meets Presidents of Armenia, Azerbaijan in Quest for Peace USIA 29 January 2000 -- Secretary of State Madeleine K. Albright held separate meetings here January 29 with the presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan to help advance the search for peace in Nagorno-Karabakh.
RECENT EVENTS IN ALGERIA January 29, 2000 -- The Islamist insurgency in Algeria continued, but media reporting showed a downward trend in the number of deaths. This period (October - December 1999) included two major factors: Ramadan, which normally is marked by an increase in violence and the closing weeks of Algiers's civil concord (amnesty) program.
STUDENTS DEMONSTRATE AGAINST CALTEX January 28, 2000 -- Following the riot, deployments of regular police, police mobile brigade, backed up by Indonesian military units insured the restoration of a fragile peace in the vicinity of the unrest.
ZANZIBAR TREASON Voice of America 28 January 2000 -- In Zanzibar, the government appears to have avoided a showdown with opposition activists, as the island's controversial treason trial has been adjourned.
FORMER YUGOSLAVIA'S FUTURE Voice of America 28 January 2000 -- The area comprising the former Yugoslavia has been plagued over the past decade by wars, ethnic strife, economic decline and repressive government. However, several events have taken place recently that give hope that the cycle of repression and violence may be broken.
UNICEF-TIMOR Voice of America 28 January 2000 -- The head of the United Nations Children's Fund, Carol Bellamy said today (Friday) that many of the refugees in West Timor are awaiting that start of the planting season before returning home to East Timor.
PRESS BRIEFING BY UNICEF EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR ON VISIT TO EAST TIMOR AND INDONESIA 28 January 2000 -- Since September 1999, UNICEF activities in East Timor had focused on a major immunization campaign.
MEXICO-STUDENT STRIKE Voice of America 28 January 2000 -- The nine-month strike at Mexico's largest university appears to have reached a turning point. Striking students have agreed to meet with their non-striking counterparts in an effort to end the conflict.
INDONESIA / WAHID Voice of America 28 January 2000 -- Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid has left the country for a 16 day-trip to help attract foreign investment to Indonesia's ailing economy.
INDONESIA / AMBON Voice of America 28 January 2000 -- Some of the latest violence to rock Indonesia has taken place in the eastern province of Maluku -- the chain of islands formerly known as the Spice Islands.
U-N / CYPRUS Voice of America 28 January 2000 -- A senior United Nations official says he believes the improved climate between Greece and Turkey will boost U-N efforts to try to resolve the decades-long dispute over the divided island of Cyprus.
ON THE SITUATION IN THE NORTH CAUCASUS VALERY L. MANILOV – Colonel General, First Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces 28.01.2000 -- The visible positive changes have become irreversible in a number of districts of Chechnya liberated from the bandits, namely in the Nadterechny, Naursky, Shelkovskaya, the rural Grozny and Gudermes districts. There are two zones of hostilities. The first is Grozny, where fierce fighting is still under way. A substantial group of fighters is deployed there, and those who underrate its ability to fight simply don't know what they are talking about. About a half of this 3,000-strong group are mercenaries, who are fighting for very good money. No wonder they fight to the last bullet, because they have no alternative. The second zone of serious fighting is the entrance to the Argun gorge outside Duba-Yurt. There are 6,000-8,000 fighters in the mountain regions in the south. We lost 873 in dead since August, when fighting broke out in Daghestan, including 140 officers, 21 NCOs and 712 sergeants and privates. A total of 2,376 have been wounded, including 330 officers and 2,046 privates and sergeants.
RUSSIA / CHECHNYA / ANNAN Voice of America 28 January 2000 -- Russia's acting president, Vladimir Putin, says Russia supports the United Nation's humanitarian efforts in the North Caucasus, but gave no indication to visiting U-N Secretary General Kofi Annan that Russia would bow to Western pressure to halt the offensive.
U-N-H-C-R / CHECHEN REFUGEES Voice of America 28 January 2000 -- The United Nations Refugee Agency, U-N-H-C-R, says thousands of people are continuing to flee fierce fighting in Chechnya.
UNICEF / BURUNDI REFUGEES Voice of America 28 January 2000 -- The United Nations Children's Fund, UNICEF, says about 400 Burundian refugees are fleeing into Tanzania every day.
Masire Rates U.S.-U.N. Cooperation Vital To African Peace By Jim Fisher-Thompson USIA 28 January 2000 -- The man chosen by the United Nations to help facilitate a lasting peace in the crisis in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), former president of Botswana Sir Ketumile Masire, says U.S.-U.N. cooperation is "vital" to the successful resolution of fighting there and elsewhere in Africa.
U-S / BURMA REFUGEES Voice of America 28 January 2000 -- Thailand is asking the United Nations to speed up sending Burmese asylum seekers to Western countries. The United States says it agrees to take more Burmese exiles.
RWANDA WAR CRIMES Voice of America 27 January 2000 -- A U-N court has sentenced a former Rwandan factory director to life in prison for his part in the country's 1994 genocide.
LANKAN BLAST Voice of America 27 January 2000 -- At least 10-people have been killed and more than 70-others injured by an explosion in Northern Sri Lanka.
INDONESIA / GENERALS Voice of America 27 January 2000 -- Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid has confirmed that four top generals serving in the presidential cabinet will be forced to retire from the armed forces.
PIPELINE POLITICS Voice of America 27 January 2000 -- The success of these projects would end an almost century-old Russian stranglehold on the oil and gas resources of the Caspian. Building those pipelines would in effect amount to cutting the Soviet-era umbilical cord which tied those nations to Russia against their will.
U-N / ERITREA, ETHIOPIA DROUGHT Voice of America 27 January 2000 -- The United Nations says millions of people in Ethiopia and Eritrea are going hungry and are in desperate need of food.
SHORT-LIVED COUP IN ECUADOR Voice of America 27 January 2000 -- A large group of Ecuador's Indians took over the Parliament in Quito last Friday, and with the support of some military leaders, demanded that President Mahuad resign.
ECUADOR ARRESTS Voice of America 27 January 2000 -- Authorities in Ecuador have arrested hundreds of army officers on charges of overthrowing president Jamil Mahuad last Friday.
ECUADOR-INDIANS Voice of America 27 January 2000 -- The leader of Ecuador's main Indian group has warned of protests if he is arrested for his role in last weekend's overthrow of President Jamil Mahuad.
ON THE PROGRESS OF THE ANTI-TERRORIST OPERATION IN THE NORTH CAUCASUS SERGEI V. YASTERZHEMBSKY – Acting RF President assistant on informational-analytical work of federal executive organs engaged in the conducting of an anti-terrorist operation in the North Caucasus - 27.01.2000 -- The Joint Grouping of federal forces is carrying out its combat tasks, above all, in Grozny. The troops and teams of the Chechen militia are moving into downtown Grozny and patrolling the liberated regions. There are only 57,000 troops of the Defence Ministry and 36,000 troops of the Interior Ministry in Chechnya. We think there are some 2,500-3,000 fighters in Grozny.
RUSSIA / CHECHNYA / ANNAN Voice of America 27 January 2000 -- The Chechnya offensive is a top issue in talks between Russian officials and visiting U-N Secretary General Kofi Annan.
THAI / KAREN Voice of America 27 January 2000 -- Bomb threats have been reported in the western Thai town where a splinter faction of Karen ethnic Burmese insurgents occupied a hospital earlier this week.
ANGOLA / U-N PLANES Voice of America 27 January 2000 -- Doubts are being raised about the credibility of testimony to the U-N Security Council accusing Angola's UNITA rebel movement of downing two U-N aircraft a year ago.
IVORY COAST / AIDS Voice of America 26 January 2000 -- Ivory Coast's army has lost the equivalent of one battallion to the AIDS virus in the past five years -- more than 400 men, or ten soldiers a month.
Security Council Presidential Statement 26 January 2000 -- The Security Council reiterates its call for the immediate cessation of hostilities and the orderly withdrawal of all foreign forces from the territory of the Democratic Republic of the Congo in accordance with the Lusaka Ceasefire Agreement.
U-N CONGO STATEMENT Voice of America 26 January 2000 -- The United Nations Security Council today (Wednesday) issued a statement calling for full implementation of the cease-fire agreement in Congo-Kinshasa and promising quick action on a plan to increase the U-N presence in that troubled central African nation.
SECURITY COUNCIL, IN PRESIDENTIAL STATEMENT, EXPRESSES DETERMINATION TO SUPPORT LUSAKA PEACE AGREEMENT IN DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO Press Release SC/6791 - 26 January 2000 -- The Security Council this afternoon expressed its determination to support implementation of the July 1999 Lusaka Ceasefire Agreement in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and its intention to act promptly along the lines recommended by the Secretary-General in his report to the Council.
Text: UNSC Expresses Support for Lusaka Peace Agreement in DRC USIA 26 January 2000 -- The United Nations Security Council on January 26 expressed its determination to support the implementation of the July 1999 Lusaka Cease-fire Agreement in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and its intent to act promptly on recommendations proposed by U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan in his report to the council.
MOSCOW IS ATTENTIVELY STUDYING THE RESOLUTION ADOPTED ON JANUARY 24 BY THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION CONCERNING RUSSIA 26.01.2000 -- Regrettably, it contains a number of unjustified reproaches leveled at our country in relation to the anti-terrorist operation being conducted in Chechnya. Based on one-sided evaluations, moreover, decisions and recommendations have been adopted whose realization may have an adverse effect on the state of relations between Russia and the EU.
ON THE COURSE OF THE ANTI-TERRORIST OPERATION IN THE NORTH CAUCASUS 26.01.2000 Participants: SERGEI V. YASTERZHEMBSKY – Acting RF President assistant on informational-analytical work of federal executive organs engaged in the conducting of an anti-terrorist operation in the North Caucasus VALERY L. MANILOV - First Deputy Head of the Russian Armed Forces General Staff, Colonel General; MIKHAIL V. MARGELOV - Chief of the Russian Information Centre (Rosinformcentr) - We are presenting a new model of operation today. The Russian authorities have been seeking a more efficient model of informing the population and the media about developments in the North Caucasus with allowance for the international experience. The model, can be said, to have been formed.
MORE THAN HALF OF RUSSIANS DISAGREE WITH ALLEGATIONS THAT RUSSIA VIOLATES HUMAN RIGHTS DURING ITS COUNTER-TERRORIST OPERATION IN CHECHNYA VTsIOM 26.01.2000 -- On January 21-24, 2000, the All-Russia Centre for Public Opinion Studies, or VTsIOM, conducted a regular representative public opinion poll among Russia's adult population (18-year and older people).
RUSSIA / CHECHNYA Voice of America 26 January 2000 -- Russian forces are being hampered by heavy snow and fierce rebel resistance as they push ahead with their all-out assault on the Chechen capital, Grozny.
RUSSIA / CHECHNYA / JOURNALIST Voice of America 26 January 2000 -- A reporter for the U-S financed Radio Liberty is missing in Chechnya. Correspondent Andrei Babitsky, well known for his independent dispatches from Chechnya, disappeared nearly two weeks ago after filing a series of dispatches from inside the Chechen capital, Grozny.
THAILAND-HOSPITAL SIEGE Voice of America 26 January 2000 -- Thai authorities are denying published reports that at least some of the Burmese dissidents killed in a hostage rescue attempt were executed after surrendering.
BOSNIA WAR CRIMES Voice of America 26 January 2000 -- Appeals judges at the Yugoslav War Crimes Tribunal today/Wednesday have struck five years off the sentence of a Bosnian Serb convicted of murdering and persecuting non-Serbs 8 years ago.
CHINA - EAST TIMOR Voice of America 25 January 2000 -- East Timor independence leader Xanana Gusmao is in China on a four-day visit during which the issue of establishing diplomatic relations has been foremost on the agenda.
SUDAN CABINET Voice of America 25 January 2000 -- The president of Sudan, Omar al-Bashir, has re-shuffled his cabinet in an attempt to address the nation's economic problems.
MEXICO STRIKE Voice of America 25 January 2000 -- New efforts to end a nine-month strike at Mexico's largest university failed today (Tuesday) when student strikers would not allow the university dean on the barricaded campus.
INDONESIA / UNREST Voice of America 25 January 2000 -- Indonesia's two top leaders are traveling in different parts of the country, to help restore calm in the strife-torn provinces of Aceh and Maluku.
MARINES MURDERED January 25, 2000 -- The weekly Serambi (Banda Aceh) has reported that four Indonesian marines were killed yesterday in Bireuen District, Aceh. According to a military spokesman, the attack was carried out by a band of the Aceh Merdeka insurgents headed by a Tengku Muslem.
U-N-H-C-R / ERITREA Voice of America 25 January 2000 -- The United Nations says it will resume operations in Eritrea after a suspension of more than two-years.
BIZIMUNGU ON CONGO Voice of America 25 January 2000 -- Rwanda's President Pasteur Bizimungu said Tuesday that he would immediately order a withdrawal of his nation's troops from Congo-Kinshasa if an international peacekeeping force could guarantee Rwanda's security.
CLINTON - COLOMBIA Voice of America 25 January 2000 -- President Clinton is predicting bipartisan Congressional support for a one-point-six billion-dollar U-S aid package to help Colombia combat drug trafficking. Although left-wing rebels control the drug-producing southern provinces in Colombia, U-S officials say the aid would not target insurgents.
U-N-H-C-R / CHECHEN REFUGEES Voice of America 25 January 2000 -- The United Nations says thousands of people are fleeing intensified fighting and aerial bombardments by the Russian military in Chechnya.
RUSSIA/CHECHNYA Voice of America 25 January 2000 -- Chechen rebels are reported holding in the face of a ferocious Russian assault around Minutka Square, a main junction leading to the center of the city.
RUSSIA / CHECHNYA Voice of America 25 January 2000 -- A senior Russian general says nearly 12- hundred soldiers have been killed in action in the current military offensive in and around Chechnya.
Text: ICTY on Detention of Indicted War Criminal Mitar Vasiljevic USIA 25 January 2000 -- The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) issued a press release welcoming the detention by members of SFOR of Mitar Vasiljevic, who was indicted in 1998 for his part in incidents of "mass murder, torture and other cruel treatment" of Bosnian Muslims --including women, children and the elderly -- in and around Visegrad in eastern Bosnia.
THAILAND-KAREN Voice of America 25 January 2000 -- The takeover of the Ratchaburi hospital by Burmese insurgents is widely seen by Thais as an abuse of their hospitality by ethnic Burmese who have been granted refuge.
THAILAND-HOSTAGES Voice of America 25 January 2000 -- Security forces in Thailand stormed a hospital early Tuesday morning to free hundreds of patients and medical staff, held hostage by an ethnic rebel group from Burma. All of the hostages were freed unharmed, while all of the gunmen were killed.
BOSNIA WAR CRIMES Voice of America 25 January 2000 -- A Bosnian Serb charged with murdering and exterminating Muslims has been arrested by NATO-led troops in eastern Bosnia. He's now in the custody of the Yugoslav war crimes tribunal in The Hague.
ALGERIA UNREST Voice of America 25 January 2000 -- News media in Algeria report 12 civilians have been killed and three wounded in an ambush by Islamic militants outside the town of Miliana, 100 kilometers west of the capital.
PRESS CONFERENCE BY PRESIDENT OF RWANDA 25 January 2000 - If the international community or the Security Council could guarantee that President Kabila and his allies would not endanger Rwandan soldiers, and that the Interahamwe would not rush immediately into Rwanda following a withdrawal, they would leave the country.
TURKEY / HIZBULLAH Voice of America 24 January 2000 -- Turkey's influential military is denying allegations that it had links with an armed pro-Islamic militant group. The group is said to have carried out the murders of at least 33 people whose bodies were found during the past week.
SIERRE LEONE / DIAMONDS Voice of America 24 January 2000 -- In Sierra Leone, former rebel leader Foday Sankoh has announced a halt to all mining operations in the country, part of an effort to stop the illegal trade of diamonds that helped finance the country's civil war.
KAREN-HOSTAGES Voice of America 24 January 2000 -- A group of armed insurgents from Burma's ethnic Karen minority have taken control of a hospital in western Thailand and is holding at least 500 staff members and patients hostage. The group is believed to have some connection to Karen dissidents who briefly took over the Burmese Embassy in Bangkok last year.
INDONESIA / AMBON UPDATE Voice of America 24 January 2000 -- The vice president of Indonesia arrived Monday in the province of Maluku -- where clashes between Christians and Muslims have claimed at least two thousand lives in the past year.
U-N-CONGO DEBATE Voice of America 24 January 2000 -- The U-N Security Council has opened a week- long debate on the situation in Congo-Kinshasa. The first session featured several African leaders who are directly involved in the conflict.
Security Council Begins Effort to Revitalize DRC Peace Process By Judy Aita USIA 24 January 2000 -- The Security Council January 24 was the scene of an extraordinary meeting of sub-Saharan African leaders who gathered at U.N. headquarters to discuss the peace process in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and to urge the international community to become more engaged in bringing peace to the Great Lakes region.
SECRETARY-GENERAL SAYS SIERRA LEONE PEACE PROCESS AT CRUCIAL STAGE IN MESSAGE TO SECOND MEETING OF JOINT IMPLEMENTATION COMMITTEE Press Release SG/SM/7286 AFR/202 -- 24 January 2000 -- Following the decision of the Economic Community of West African States' Monitoring Observer Group (ECOMOG) contributors to repatriate their troops from Sierra Leone, I have taken immediate steps to avoid a security vacuum. To that end, I have recommended that the Security Council authorize an urgent expansion of the military and civilian police components of UNAMSIL.
SECRETARY-GENERAL, ADDRESSING SECURITY COUNCIL, URGES AFRICAN LEADERS TO STRENGTHEN ‘FRAGILE’ PEACE PROCESS IN DEMOCRATIC REPULIC OF CONGO Press Release SG/SM/7284 SC/6790 -- 24 January 2000 -- If the United Nations is to make the right kind of difference in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and avoid the wrong turns that have led to tragic consequences elsewhere, we must be ready not only to act, but to act in a way that is commensurate with the gravity of this situation.
SEVEN AFRICAN HEADS OF STATE ADDRESS SECURITY COUNCIL IN DAY-LONG MEETING ON DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO Press Release SC/6789 - 24 January 2000 -- Seven African Heads of State addressed the Security Council’s day-long meeting on the Democratic Republic of the Congo today, stressing the need for resolute international support for the peace process and for speedy establishment of a United Nations peacekeeping mission in that country
RUSSIA / CHECHNYA Voice of America 24 January 2000 -- Interior Ministry and paramilitary troops are believed doing the bulk of the fighting on the ground. The Soldiers' Mothers Committee, an anti-war group, believes at least three-thousand troops have died since the fighting began. Official sources say at least 10-thousand rebel fighters have also been killed. The number of civilians killed is also difficult to estimate; though there is evidence to indicate the figure is more than six-thousand.
On January 20, the OSCE Permanent Council met in Vienna Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation January 24, 2000 -- Addressing the meeting, Russia's permanent representative to OSCE, O.N. Belous, said that the characterization of what was happening in Chechnya as a conflict was unacceptable. Acting on her own territory, the Russian authorities are taking resolute measures to put an end to acts of terrorism.
ALGERIA / ISLAMISTS Voice of America 24 January 2000 -- The news media in Algeria report at least 100- people have been killed in several days of fighting between Islamic militants and government forces in northwestern Algeria.
INDONESIA UNREST Voice of America 23 January 2000 -- At least 22-people are dead and another 50 injured in the latest outbreak of religious violence in Indonesia's Maluku Province.
U-N REFUGEE AIRLIFT Voice of America 23 January 2000 -- More than seven-thousand Angolans have fled to Kalabo in Western Zambia to escape intensified fighting between Angolan government and UNITA rebel forces.
SAF/CONGO Voice of America 23 January 2000 -- South Africa is calling for the U-N Security Council to move quickly to deploy peacekeeping forces in Congo-Kinshasa, as the leaders of key countries involved in the Congo crisis prepare to discuss the faltering peace process.
RUSSIA/CHECHNYA Voice of America 23 January 2000 -- A Kremlin official says the body of Major General Mikhail Malofeyev was found in Grozny, where he disappeared last week. At the time, the Chechens said they had captured General Malofeyev and were interrogating him.
BURUNDI / REBELS Voice of America 23 January 2000 -- Burundi says rebels have killed at least 30 civilians and destroyed more than one-thousand homes in an attack near the Tanzanian border.
U-N/CHILD SOLDIERS Voice of America 22 January 2000 -- The treaty bans the forced recruitment of children under 18 as soldiers. The ban applies to both government and rebel armed groups. The discrepancy in the age limit between voluntary recruitment and participation in armed conflict will make the treaty more difficult to enforce.
RUSSIA/VEDENO Voice of America 22 January 2000 -- Russian troops have reportedly seized the strategic Caucasus Mountain village of Vedeno in the breakaway Chechen republic.
SERBIA/ARRESTS Voice of America 22 January 2000 -- Yugoslav police announced Saturday the arrest of three suspects in connection with the murder,one week ago of Serb Paramilitary leader Zeljko Raznatovic, better known as "Arkan",who was indicted for war crimes in Bosnia and Croatia.
SWITZERLAND / NIGERIA Voice of America 21 January 2000 -- Switzerland has agreed to help the Nigerian government recover hundreds of millions of dollars stashed in secret bank accounts by Nigeria's late dictator, General Sani Abacha.
UNIVERSITY STRIKE Voice of America 21 January 2000 -- Many political analysts say the referendum results give Rector De La Fuente the moral authority he needs to press the radicals to abandon the strike.
CAMBODIA / KHMER ROUGE Voice of America 21 January 2000 -- A human-rights group has called for changes in a Cambodian law on genocide trials for leaders of the Khmer Rouge.
INDONESIA-LOMBOK Voice of America 21 January 2000 -- The Indonesian island of Lombok is reported to be settling down after this week's sudden eruption of sectarian violence, in which five people were reported to have been killed.
INDONESIA / TRUTH COMMISSION Voice of America 21 January 2000 -- Indonesia is considering a South African-style truth and reconciliation commission to address scores of human-rights abuses that occurred during the rule of former President Suharto.
PRESS BRIEFING BY SPECIAL REPRESENTATIVE FOR CHILDREN AND ARMED CONFLICT 21 January 2000 -- Today in Geneva consensus was reached on raising the minimum age for military recruitment and participation in armed conflict, after years of negotiation, the Secretary-General's Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict, Olara A. Otunnu, told journalists at a Headquarters press briefing today.
SPAIN / CAR BOMB Voice of America 21 January 2000 -- Two car bombs exploded early Friday in Madrid, killing a Spanish army officer. Spain had been bracing for a terrorist attack since the Basque separatist group ETA called off a 14-month cease-fire in early December.
THE CHECHEN CHRONICLES ’99 BASED ON 1998-1999 MEDIA REPORTS Russian Information Centre [21.01.2000] This review is a follow up to The Chechen Chronicles ’98. It focuses on the Chechen internal political developments in 1999. Implications of developments in Daghestan in August 1999, the so-called Daghestan dimension of the Chechen Chronicles, is presented separately. The chronicles include the background of some inveterate issues. This review does not include any details on the current anti-terrorist operation pursued in Chechnya by the federal authorities.
SEPARATISTS SET CHLORINE CONTAINERS READY TO BE BLOWN UP IN GROZNY RIA Novosti 21.01.2000 -- Separatists in Grozny have prepared containers full of chlorine to explode at the railway terminal and Minutka square, reports the Russian military headquarters in the North Caucasus.
GEORGY SHPAK: RUSSIAN AIR-BORNE TROOPS LOSE FOUR MEN IN WOUNDED IN VEDENO DISTRICT OF CHECHNYA RIA Novosti 21.01.2000 -- The grouping of the Russian air-borne troops operating in the Vedeno area of Chechnya lost four men in wounded during the past week. All of them received only slight wounds and have already returned to the line.
EVERY EFFORT MADE TO FIND MISSING GENERAL, SAYS DEFENCE MINISTRY REPRESENTATIVE RIA Novosti 21.01.2000 -- The search has been complicated by the circumstances. It must be conducted in the so-called "neutral zone", which is neither controlled by federal forces, nor by gunmen, but where the latter can organise ambushes and "cut the troops to pieces".
RUSSIA / CHECHNYA Voice of America 21 January 2000 -- Acting President Putin told a meeting of security officials there could be more bomb attacks on Russian territory in retaliation for the advance of federal troops deeper into Chechnya.
CHECHEN REFUGEES Voice of America 21 January 2000 -- The United Nations refugee agency, U-N-H-C-R, reports there has been a sharp increase in the number of refugees fleeing intensified fighting in Chechnya to the neighboring Russian Republic of Ingushetia.
U.N. Security Council to Hold Major Session on DRC By Judy Aita USIA 21 January 2000 -- As the United Nations gears up for a major meeting on the crisis in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Secretary-General Kofi Annan reiterated that a U.N. peacekeeping mission in the country would have to be a massive international undertaking.
ANGOLA / ZAMBIA Voice of America 21 January 2000 -- U-N officials are describing the security situation along the Angolan-Zambian border as volatile.
UNIVERSITY REFERENDUM RESULTS Voice of America 20 January 2000 -- Exit polls conducted outside voting centers in Mexico City show that more than 90 percent of those in the university community support the proposal of UNAM rector Juan Ramon de la Fuente to end the strike.
STRIKE REFERENDUM Voice of America 20 January 2000 -- In Mexico, thousands of people are voting in a referendum on the strike that has closed the National Autonomous University of Mexico, known as UNAM, since April.
Soldier, Set Your Weapon on Stun’ American Forces Press Service 03 January 2000 -- The Oak Ridge project centers on high-energy cartridges that contain water and aluminum as propellants.
LANKA / DEVOLUTION Voice of America 20 January 2000 -- In an effort to end years of civil war that have devastated the country, the Sri Lankan government says that it will begin talks on delegating powers from the central government to local regions.
RUSSIA / CHECHNYA Voice of America 20 January 2000 -- Russia's military says troops have taken control of a key central square in Grozny as fierce street fighting rages between federal forces and rebels in the Chechen capital.
ON MEASURES TAKEN BY SOCIAL MINISTRIES ON STABILISATION OF PEACEFUL LIFE IN CHECHEN REPUBLIC 20.01.2000 -- We worked hard to organise the delivery of humanitarian cargoes to the Chechen Republic. Acting through the Ministry of Emergencies, the Ministry of Labour and Social Development delivered 732 tonnes of foods to the republic, including 163 tonnes of UN-provided assistance.
MANDELA / BURUNDI Voice of America 20 January 2000 -- When regional leaders asked him to take over the Burundi talks, Nelson Mandela says they told him the only way to end ethnic violence would be by bringing fighters to the same table with politicians.
ANGOLA / UNITA Voice of America 20 January 2000 -- Angola's UNITA rebel movement says United Nations officials are deluding themselves if they think sanctions against rebel forces will bring about an early end to the nation's civil war.
W-F-P / ANGOLA Voice of America 20 January 2000 -- The United Nations World Food Program, W-F-P, says it hopes to begin airlifting urgently needed food supplies on Sunday to thousands of Angolan refugees.
TURKEY / HIZBOLLAH Voice of America 19 January 2000 --Istanbul police shot dead Huseyin Velioglu the leader of the most deadly faction of the armed Islamic group known as Hizbollah.
SUDAN / UGANDA Voice of America 19 January 2000 -- Sudan and Uganda broke relations with each accusing the other of helping arm and train rebels across the border. Former U-S President Jimmy Carter is sponsoring efforts to reconcile the East African neighbors.
STRIKE REFERENDUM Voice of America 19 January 2000 -- In Mexico, preparations are underway for a referendum on the strike that has closed the the National Autonomous University of Mexico, known as UNAM, since April.
INDONESIA / MILITARY Voice of America 19 January 2000 -- With the end of the Suharto era, the military's dominance is now being questioned, especially the doctrine of "dwi-fungsi" - or dual-functions.
INDONESIA / UNREST Voice of America 19 January 2000 -- At least three people are dead and six others injured in three days or rioting on the Indonesian resort island of Lombok.
LOMBOK-VIOLENCE Voice of America 19 January 2000 -- Violence in Indonesia has spread to the island of Lombok. The outbreak has sent a scare through Lombok's popular tourist industry.
S-A-F / CONGO Voice of America 19 January 2000 -- Congo-Kinshasa President Laurent Kabila has accused South Africa of supporting his country's enemies - a charge that could compromise efforts by President Thabo Mbeki's government to promote peace.
SECRETARY-GENERAL, WARNING OF ‘HUMANITARIAN CATASTROPHE’ IN BURUNDI, STRONGLY URGES COOPERATION WITH NEW ‘FACILITATOR’ NELSON MANDELA Press Release SG/SM/7281 SC/6788 -- 19 January 2000 -- Of all the many crises and conflicts confronting us in Africa today, perhaps none is more urgent. Certainly in no other country is it so easy to imagine a repetition of what we have all sworn must never be repeated: ethnic killing on a genocidal scale.
SECURITY COUNCIL EXPRESSES STRONG SUPPORT FOR PEACE EFFORTS IN BURUNDI, FOLLOWING BRIEFING BY ‘FACILITATOR’ OF PEACE PROCESS, NELSON MANDELA Press Release SC/6787 - 19 January 2000 -- Following a briefing by former South African President Nelson Mandela on the situation in Burundi, the Security Council this morning warmly endorsed his designation as the new Facilitator of the peace process.
THE SECRETARY-GENERAL STATEMENT TO THE SECURITY COUNCIL ON THE SITUATION IN BURUNDI 19 January 2000 -- Since September alone, over 300,000 innocent men, women and children in the region surrounding Bujumbura have been herded into camps, where they are deprived not only of their freedom but of the most elementary means of subsistence.
Address by Nelson Mandela to the Security Council 19 January 2000 -- The parties have agreed on principles for the organisation of the defence and security forces, and on the missions of the army, the police force and the intelligence services. So far, however, they have failed to agree on a programme of reform of the present security forces; or on the issue of the integration of armed groups into the security forces.
The Situation in Burundi Ambassador Richard C. Holbrooke United States Permanent Representative to the United Nations United Nations Security Council -- January 19, 2000 --- The solution we seek in Burundi is what we seek for all of the conflicts in Africa and we will discuss the Congo next week. A peace not based on military stalemate, not on ethnic division or hatred, but a peace based on national reconciliation.
IASC STATEMENT ON FORCED RELOCATION (‘REGROUPEMENT’) IN BURUNDI Press Release IHA/694 - 19 January 2000 -- Since 20 September 1999, some 330,000 people living mainly in the province of Bujumbura rural, have been forcibly relocated by the Government into 53 sites. The impact of this action on the affected populations has been disastrous as the Government failed to prepare the sites or to make provision for food, water and shelter for those relocated.
EXTREMIST VIOLENCE IN EGYPT January 19, 2000 -- In calendar year 1999, the local press reported four deaths in terrorist related violence. Following is a summary of 1992-1999 fatalities, collected from local press reports.
SPIES GET ILL AT EASE IN STAVROPOL REGION Rossiyskaya gazeta 18.01.2000 -- Bandits blocked by federal troops are trying to send their spies pretending to be civilians to Russian rear. Vigilance of people after series of explosions in Russia is growing weak. And intelligence and operative services are warning about readiness of militants to implement terrorist actions.
RUSSIA'S RIGHT AND DUTY TO RESTORE ORDER Anatoly Kolodkin, President of the Russian Association of international law Voice of Russia 19.01.2000 -- Chechnya is an integral part of Russia and that no country in the world has recognised it as an independent republic. We firmly state that Russia has all constitutional rights to take steps to restore law and order in any of its republics
RF MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS ABOUT THE VISIT OF THE ISLAMIC CONFERENCE ORGANISATION'S DELEGATION RF Ministry of Foreign Affairs Press and Information Department 19.01.2000 13:00 -- The Russian Minister stressed that terrorism, in whatever garb, is a common enemy both for us and for the Muslim countries, an enemy that should be resisted by joint efforts.
CENTRAL BUREAU OF INTERPOL ACTIVITIES IN RUSSIA ON FIGHTING AGAINST INTERNATIONAL TERRORISM VLADIMIR V. GORDIYENKO - Head of Central bureau of Interpol in Russia, Major General of Militia -- 19.01.2000 12:00 -- Eighty citizens of Russia have been put on the Interpol wanted list in connection with developments in Chechnya. The first proceedings were instituted after the Budennovsk tragedy under several articles, including terrorism, banditry, mass unrest, murders and kidnapping.
NORTH CAUCASUS AND GEOPOLITICAL INTERESTS OF RUSSIA IN EURASIAN CONTEXT Participants: LEONID G.IONIN – Doctor of Philosophy, professor KONSTANTIN M. TRUEVTZEV – deputy dean of applied politics department Higher Economics School state university ALEKSANDR P. MINEEV, RIA Novosti political analyst 19.01.2000 14:00 -- Chechnya constitutes a local factor, which will, sooner or later, recede into the background. Chechnya was perceived as an apparently insoluble problem some time ago, with some people thinking that it heralded the Russian state's incipient disintegration. However, there has now appeared some weighty evidence to the effect that Russia, which is ready to settle this problem, boasts the required potential for doing this.
CAUCASUS POWER PLAYS Voice of America 19 January 2000 -- The war in Chechnya there is not expected to end any time soon. And while it continues, experts say it creates instability throughout the Caucasus and jeopardizes Russia's regional interests, especially its oil business.
RUSSIA / CHECHNYA Voice of America 19 January 2000 -- Fighting is still raging between Russian troops and Chechen militants in Grozny. Russian field commanders claim their forces now control a large public square and a strategic bridge over the Sunzha River near the center.
MANDELA - BURUNDI Voice of America 19 January 2000 -- At the United Nations today (Wednesday), former South African President Nelson Mandela addressed an open session of the Security Council on the rapidly deteriorating situation in Burundi.
NATO / WAR CRIMES Voice of America 19 January 2000 -- The prosecutor of the International War Crimes Tribunal has appealed to NATO ambassadors to let alliance troops be more aggressive in capturing indicted suspects in Bosnia-Herzegovina.
W-F-P / ANGOLAN REFUGEES Voice of America 19 January 2000 -- The United Nations World Food Program (W- F-P) is urgently appealing for money to fly in emergency food for more than seven-thousand Angolan refugees who have fled to western Zambia.
Communique of the Armed Forces for the liberation of Angola "FALA" No. 01/2000 THE NATIONAL UNION FOR THE TOTAL INDEPENDENCE OF ANGOLA [UNITA] 19 January 1999 -- In the pursuance of their patriotic duty, the FALA was engaged in the following military actions.
SECURITY COUNCIL HOLDS OPEN BRIEFING ON SITUATION IN ANGOLA Press Release SC/6785 - 18 January 2000 -- The protracted conflict in Angola and the risks of its spillover into the neighbouring countries remain a source of major concern for the international community, with the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA) bearing the primary responsibility for the current state of affairs. Its refusal to comply with obligations under the Lusaka Protocol, in particular its failure to demilitarize its forces and to allow State administration to be extended throughout the country, precipitated the resumption of widespread hostilities.
PRESS BRIEFING BY CHAIRMAN OF SECURITY COUNCIL ANGOLA COMMITTEE Press Briefing - 18 January 2000 -- The international community was insistent on deterring UNITA's ability to make war. Nothing had been said about its ability to be a political party. It had lost interest in the political process when they did not win the last election.
ANGOLA - Film shown to Security Council by Amb. Robert Fowler (Canada) 18 January 2000 -- Savimbi had issued specific orders to shoot down any aircraft of the United Nations. He was not interested whether they were just crossing Angolan airspace or whether they were based here, or what they were doing. He gave express instructions to bring down these aircraft
ALGERIA / AMNESTY Voice of America 19 January 2000 -- The Algerian government says 80 percent of the Islamic militants in the country's eight-year civil war have laid down their arms under a recent amnesty program.
EAST TIMOR VIOLENCE Voice of America 18 January 2000 -- Peacekeepers in East Timor exchanged fire with pro-Indonesia militiamen in three different clashes on Monday.
GUATEMALA MILITARY REFORM Voice of America 18 January 2000 -- The new president of Guatemala, Alfonso Portillo, has taken an unprecedented step to reform his nation's military, in effect, removing all the army's generals.
CONGO FIGHTING Voice of America 18 January 2000 -- In Congo, government troops have broken through rebel lines, ending a two-month siege of the central town of Ikela.
LAGOS / PINOCHET Voice of America 18 January 2000 -- The possible return to Chile from Britain of former dictator Augusto Pinochet may create a dilemma for Chilean President-elect Ricardo Lagos.
ON ENVIRONMENTAL SITUATION IN THE CHECHEN REPUBLIC BORIS N. ALEKSEYEV - Major General, Chief of the Environmental security department of the RF Armed Forces 18.01.2000 16:00 -- Chechnya has. Its territory is criss-crossed by gas and oil pipelines. The locals cut into the pipelines and build small refineries. There are 15,000 mini-refineries operating in Chechnya.
UNHCR / CHECHNYA Voice of America 18 January 2000 -- The United Nations refugee agency, U-N-H-C-R, has expressed alarm at Russia's intensified bombing of the Chechen capital, Grozny.
RUSSIA / CHECHNYA Voice of America 18 January 2000 -- Russian military officials say federal troops have broken through rebel lines into the center of the Chechen capital, Grozny.
BOSNIAN SERB WARLORD "ARKAN" KILLED Voice of America 18 January 2000 -- Arkan, One of the most feared militia leaders in the Balkans has been killed. Over the weekend, two men walked into the lobby of a Belgrade, Yugoslavia hotel and fired automatic weapons at Arkan, wounding him fatally.
GENERAL FEEDBACK: ANGOLA DATE: 18 JANUARY 2000 As a result of FAA's successful offensive in late -1999 against the UNITA positions on the 'Planalto' and the subsequent withdrawal of UNITA forces and the loss of a central logistical facility UNITA had to enter in a reorganising and consolidation phase. This led to a general decrease in UNITA's military profile.
Text: Peace Process Observers' Statement on Angola USIA 18 January 2000 -- In a statement to the Security Council January 18, the three observer states to the Angolan peace process -- Portugal, Russia, and the United States -- blamed the continuing conflict in Angola on the failure of UNITA under Jonas Savimbi's leadership to live up to its obligations under the Lusaka peace agreement.
The Statement by the three Observer States to the Angolan Peace Process - Portugal, the Russian Federation and the United States of America (the Troika) New York, NY - January 18, 2000 -- Members of the Troika reaffirm that the primary cause of the continuing conflict in Angola is the failure of the Uniao Nacional para a Independencia Total de Angola (UNITA) under the leadership of Mr. Jonas Savimbi to comply with its obligations under the Lusaka Protocol.
U-N - ANGOLA Voice of America 18 January 2000 -- At the United Nations, the chairman of the U-N Sanctions Committee for Angola, Canadian representative Robert Fowler, says that sanctions against the UNITA rebel forces in Angola are working.
Angola's Situation Alarming, Security Council Told By Judy Aita USIA 18 January 2000 -- During a public briefing on the situation in Angola January 18, the Security Council heard a description of Angola's dire humanitarian situation caused by UNITA's continued resistance to the government - along with new information that UNITA forces deliberately shot down two UN planes.
Text: U.N. Assessment of Angola USIA 18 January 2000 -- Undersecretary-General Kieran Prendergast told the United Nations Security Council January 18 that the humanitarian situation in Angola is particularly critical, affecting about one-third of the country's population.
UNHCR / TIMOR Voice of America 17 January 2000 -- The United Nations Refugee Agency, U-N-H-C-R, reports more people, many alleged to be former members of militia gangs, are returning to East Timor from camps in West Timor.
SUDAN PIPELINE Voice of America 17 January 2000 -- In Sudan, workers are rushing to repair an oil pipeline damaged in an attack by members of an opposition group.
CHILDREN / ARMED CONFLICTS Voice of America 17 January 2000 -- A senior United Nations official has appealed to governments to adopt an international treaty to raise the minimum age at which children can be recruited into the armed forces.
IRAN / TURKEY Voice of America 17 January 2000 -- Turkey's relations with Iran have been dogged by Turkey's allegations that separatist Kurdish rebels of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party, the P-K-K, have set up bases in Iranian territory.
RUSSIA / CHECHNYA Voice of America 17 January 2000 -- David Russell-Johnston backed down from earlier comments that the Council of Europe might suspend Russia's membership.
Around the situation in the Chechen Republic of the Russian Federation (human rights, humanitarian and legal aspects) Reply by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation 17.01.2000 -- The conclusion on August 31, 1996, of the Khasavyurt agreements and the election in February 1997 of A. Maskhadov President of the Chechen Republic opened up an opportunity to form a legal basis for relations between the Russian Federation and its constituent entity - Chechnya and to restore law and order in the Republic. However, instead of directing the emerging process of crisis settlement into a constitutional channel the authorities of the Chechen Republic preferred to take a different course. The Republic turned into an enclave managed by terrorists and drug and arms traffickers.
RUSSIA / CHECHNYA Voice of America 17 January 2000 -- Russian forces are intensifying air attacks over Chechnya's southern mountains and military officials say they will soon seize the rebel capital, Grozny.
GERMANY TERRORIST TRIAL Voice of America 17 January 2000 -- Johannes Weinrich, a key terrorist collaborator of the man called Carlos "The Jackal," has been sentenced to life imprisonment in a German court.
WAR CRIMES / ARKAN Voice of America 17 January 2000 -- The prosecutor of the international war crimes tribunal says she is satisfied the man known as "Arkan" was killed Saturday in Belgrade and is the same man the tribunal indicted for war crimes.
BURMA / DRUGS Voice of America 16 January 2000 -- A former insurgent group in Burma says it plans to relocate 50-thousand people from one of the country's main opium-growing regions (in Shan state), in an effort to shut down production of illegal drugs, including heroin.
AFGHANISTAN / CHECHNYA Voice of America 16 January 2000 -- Afghanistan's dominant Taleban faction says it has recognized the rebel government in Chechnya and its independence from the Russian Federation.
RUSSIA / CAUCASUS Voice of America 16 January 2000 -- Russian forces are pressing their offensive against rebel fighters in the breakaway Chechen republic, with both sides reporting gains.
MANDELA/BURUNDI Voice of America 16 January 2000 -- Nelson Mandela began work Sunday as the new international mediator trying to stop years of ethnic violence in Burundi.
BURUNDI / PEACE & MONEY Voice of America 16 January 2000 -- The peace process in Burundi is getting under way again, and there is widespread optimism that the parties are close to an agreement.
ARKAN/REACTION Voice of America 16 January 2000 -- The notorious Serb paramilitary leader known as Arkan was shot to death in a Belgrade hotel Saturday.
BURUNDI PEACE PROCESS Voice of America 15 January 2000 -- Former South African President Nelson Mandela is making his first trip as the new chief mediator of the Burundi peace process.
FREEDOM AROUND THE WORLD Voice of America 15 January 2000 -- Freedom House, a New York-based international human rights monitor, recently issued its Annual Survey of Freedom. Overall, eighty-five of the world's one hundred ninety-two countries are rated as free. According to the survey, there were modest gains for democracy in 1999, in the face of several setbacks.
RUSSIA / CAUCASUS Voice of America 15 January 2000 -- Russian troops stepped up their attacks against fighters in the breakaway Chechen republic after saying they had regained ground lost when Chechen rebels counterattacked a week ago.
BURUNDI - REGROUPMENT POLICY Voice of America 15 January 2000 -- Officials in Burundi say at least 17 people died in a rebel ambush Thursday, on a road about 50 kilometers from the capital, Bujumbura. The Burundian army has been fighting a rebel insurgency for more than six years.
Holbrooke Concerned About Events in Jakarta, West Timor By Judy Aita USIA 14 January 2000 -- U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Richard Holbrooke issued a "statement of strong American Government concern" January 14 over Indonesian military members who are opposed to democratic changes and the number of East Timorese who still remain in refugee camps in West Timor.
HOLBROOKE-WEST TIMOR Voice of America 14 January 2000 -- The U-S ambassador to the United Nations, Richard Holbrooke, has repeated his call for the removal of militia members from refugee camps in West Timor.
U-N CHILD SOLDIERS Voice of America 14 January 2000 -- A United Nations effort to ban the use of child soldiers is running into difficulty over the minimum age at which young people can be recruited into the armed forces.
UNICEF / SIERRA LEONE Voice of America 14 January 2000 -- UNICEF says Sierra Leone is considered to be the worst place on earth for children.
IVORY COAST / POLITICS Voice of America 14 January 2000 -- The Ivory Coast's military ruler, General Robert Guei, has re-arranged his transition team to include two more members of the main opposition party, the Popular Front.
GURKHAS OF NEPAL Voice of America 14 January 2000 -- A bilateral agreement between India and Britain drawn up over fifty years ago restricts the basic rates of pay and pension rights for Gurkhas. However the British Government has agreed to double pension payments to retired Gurkhas.
HEAD OF THE RUSSIAN INFORMATION CENTRE MIKHAIL MARGELOV ON THE SITUATION AROUND CHECHNYA Voice of Russia 14.01.2000 -- We always have something that will necessarily burst out somewhere. And when it burst out in Chechnya, Putin reacted swiftly, resolutely and fairly. A really unprecedented anti-Russian campaign, just based on the events in Chechnya, has been unleashed in the past few years. The Prosecutor General's Office has dreadful, monstrous video materials that last for about 200 hours. These are materials of several types: cassettes, recorded by terrorists in order to send them to the families of hostages or to the heads of the companies they used to work for. These are terrible shots, containing scenes of tortures, insults and humiliation. There are also cassettes meant for deterrence showing a still alive Russian soldier being beheaded with a knife - all this in colour and accompanied by sound. And finally there are cassettes of the third type - the ones recorded by terrorists for their own amusement, 'home video' as Americans put it, sort of bravado and insolence, you know. These contain beheadings, shooting off fingers, cutting off genitals. All this is really monstrous!
Prosecutor General Office Chechen Video Materials
UNHCR / CHECHNYA UPDATE Voice of America 14 January 2000 -- The United Nations Refugee Agency, U-N-H-C-R, reports a sharp drop in the number of refugees returning to Russian-controlled areas in Chechnya from the neighboring Republic of Ingushetia.
RUSSIA / CHECHNYA Voice of America 14 January 2000 -- Russia's Defense Ministry is denying high federal casualty figures as its troops battle for control of Chechnya.
CHECHNYA WAR Voice of America 14 January 2000 -- The war in Chechnya is beginning to resemble the previous one of 1994-96 - a rapid Russian advance stalled by increasing Chechen resistance and guerrilla tactics.
Resumed fighting deters returns to Chechnya, says UNHCR UN News Service 14 January 2000 -- The number of Chechens returning from Ingushetia has dropped sharply over the past few days, as fighting and shelling resumed around two locations previously regarded as quiet, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said today. The daily number had dropped to 300 on Thursday, down from some 1,500 a few days ago.
PRESS CONFERENCE BY PERMANENT REPRESENTATIVE OF BURUNDI 14 January 2000 -- The regional context must be favourable for the peace process in Burundi to be successful -- and the current situation was not conducive. The Burundi rebels were supported by Rwandan militia, as well as by that country’s former armed forces. Furthermore, some groups from the Democratic Republic of the Congo that the Lusaka agreement had identified as needing to be disarmed had started to fall back toward Burundi through the United Republic of Tanzania.
BURUNDI-REGROUPMENT CAMPS Voice of America 14 January 2000 -- Burundi's ambassador to the United Nations, Marc Nteturuye defended his nation's policy of relocating hundreds of thousands of people into so-called "regroupment camps."
BOSNIA WAR CRIMES Voice of America 14 January 2000 -- The international war crimes tribunal for the former Yugoslavia has judged five Bosnian Croats guilty of crimes against humanity for the massacre of Muslims in Central Bosnia in 1993.
REPORT OF THE SECRETARY GENERAL ON THE UNITED NATIONS OBSERVER OFFICE IN ANGOLA (UNOA) S/2000/23 -- 14 January 2000 -- In the last few months, the overall situation in Angola has seen a major change following the successful military campaign undertaken by the Government, which has resulted in re-establishing State authority in the vast territory previously occupied by the Uniao National para a Independencia Total de Angola (UNITA).
S-A-F / ANGOLA Voice of America 14 January 2000 -- Angola's state-run news media say Mr. Lourenco used Monday's meeting to tell Mr. Mbeki that, in his words, "political and business circles in South Africa" are "still bent on destabilizing Angola."
ALGERIA AMNESTY Voice of America 14 January 2000 -- Reports from Algeria say security forces are delaying a military offensive against Islamist rebels.
OGATA AFRICA TRIP PREVIEW Voice of America 14 January 2000 -- The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Sadako Ogata, flies to Dar es Salaam, Tanzania Sunday at the start of a 10-day visit to three countries in Africa.
U-N / SIERRA LEONE Voice of America 13 January 2000 -- A Sierra Leone delegation has told a United Nations committee that the government is taking action to try to improve the lives of children traumatized by the country's long-running civil war.
Text: UNSC Presidential Statement on African Refugees USIA 13 January 2000 -- The United Nations Security Council January 13 called on the international community to provide more funding for refugee and internally displaced programs in Africa.
Text: UNHCR Ogata Security Council Remarks on Africa USIA 13 January 2000 -- United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Sadako Ogata told the Security Council January 13 that the refugee situation in Africa is far worse than other parts of the world and deserves more attention from the international community.
To Solve Africa's Refugee Problems, End Conflicts, Ogata Says By Judy Aita USIA 13 January 2000 -- If the international community is going to seriously deal with the refugee situation in Africa, the Security Council must intervene much more strongly and quickly to end the conflicts that cause the huge displacements of people on the continent, UN High Commissioner for Refugees Sadako Ogata said January 13.
Somali Human Rights Activist Urges Restoration of Democracy By Stuart Gorin USIA 13 January 2000 -- Attention needs to be paid to the role of the Somali civil society in producing a new generation of decision-makers to lead Somalia into the new millenium, says a noted Somali human rights activist.
Text: Helsinki Commission Criticizes Russian Policy in Chechnya USIA 13 January 2000 -- The Chairman of the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE) -- also known as the Helsinki Commission -- condemned the announcement by the Russian military that it would keep in custody all Chechen males, ages 10 to 60 years old, to check their alleged associations with guerrilla groups.
RUSSIA / CHECHNYA Voice of America 13 January 2000 -- Russian forces are blocking the passage of all Chechen civilian males more than 10-years old and under age-60 from entering or leaving the breakaway republic.
ALGERIA AMNESTY Voice of America 13 January 2000 -- In Algeria, a showdown is looming between government security forces and Islamist rebels, as a deadline expires for a government amnesty offer.
SIERRA LEONE-U-N PEACEKEEPERS Voice of America 12 January 2000 -- The United Nations Security Council is considering a plan to almost double the size of the UN peacekeeping force in Sierra Leone.
Security Council Considering Increase in Sierra Leone Peacekeepers By Judy Aita USIA 12 January 2000 -- The Security Council January 12 began reviewing Secretary General Kofi Annan's request for a sizeable increase in the number of UN peacekeepers in Sierra Leone and an expansion of their responsibilities to replace the Economic Community of West African States (ECOMOG) contingent withdrawing from Nigerian.
OCALAN / SENTENCE Voice of America 12 January 2000 -- Turkey's government announced late Wednesday that it had decided to suspend the execution of Kurdish rebel leader Abdullah Ocalan until the Strasbourg based European Court of Human Rights delivered its verdict on the case.
NEW UNITED NATIONS TREATY TARGETS FINANCING OF TERRORISM Press Release L/T/4342 PI/1216 - 12 January 2000 -- An anti-terrorism convention with a new focus -— targeting those who finance terrorism –— was opened for signature on 10 January at the United Nations in New York. The latest in a series of interlocking conventions intended to combat terrorism, the International Convention for the Suppression of the Financing of Terrorism was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on 9 December 1999 without a vote. It will enter into force when it has been ratified by 22 States.
IVORY COAST / POLITICS Voice of America 12 January 2000 -- The new military leader in Ivory Coast is trying to forge a transition government more than two-weeks after seizing power.
INDONESIA / VIOLENCE Voice of America 12 January 2000 -- Indonesia's Malukan Province is reporting new sectarian violence between Muslim and Christians.
RUSSIA / CHECHNYA Voice of America 12 January 2000 -- Russia's military says it is advancing in several parts of Chechnya, despite a daring series of rebel counterattacks in federally-occupied towns.
BURUNDI ECONOMIC CRISIS Voice of America 12 January 2000 -- Fighting between rebels and government forces has forced hundreds of thousands of farmers from their fields, crippling the vital agricultural sector.
UNHCR / ANGOLA Voice of America 12 January 2000 -- The United Nations Refugee Agency, U-N-H-C-R, reports intensified fighting between Angolan government and UNITA rebel forces has prompted thousands of refugees to flee to neighboring Zambia.
ALGERIA / AMNESTY Voice of America 12 January 2000 -- Algeria's largest Islamic rebel group has reportedly dissolved itself after all its members received a full pardon from President Abdelaziz Bouteflika.
UNHCR / TIMOR Voice of America 11 January 2000 -- The United Nations Refugee Agency, the U-N-H-C-R, says hundreds of refugees in camps in West Timor are registering to return home.
VIOLENCE IN ACEH January 11, 2000 -- A police sergeant on his way to the mosque for Friday forenoon services, was attacked by an unknown assailant, repeatedly stabbed and ultimately disemboweled. A military non-commissioned officer in a market to buy fish, was accosted by a gang of young thugs who stabbed him to death on the spot.
AMBUSH IN ACEH January 11, 2000 -- A police and Indonesian marine corps convoy was ambushed recently in Aceh. The incident occurred when a convoy of six trucks carrying Indonesian military and police units was attacked by fire in Bireuen District of Aceh. There is little likelihood the abducted military members will be seen alive again. The AMM usually has tortured and/or killed Indonesian armed forces members who have fallen into its hands.
U.N. Important to U.S.-Africa Peacekeeping Goals, U.S. Official Says By Jim Fisher-Thompson USIA 11 January 2000 -- The United Nations remains an important part of the African Crisis Response Initiative (ACRI), the three-year-old Clinton initiative aimed at enhancing African peacekeeping skills, says ACRI Special Coordinator Aubrey Hooks.
UNHCR / CHECHNYA Voice of America 11 January 2000 -- The United Nations Refugee Agency reports the number of refugees returning to Russian-controlled areas of Chechnya from the neighboring republic of Ingushetia now outnumbers those leaving Chechnya.
RUSSIA / CHECHNYA Voice of America 11 January 2000 -- Russian forces say they have regained control of two towns, Shali and Argun, which were partially overrun by Chechen rebels.
RUSSIA / CHECHNYA Voice of America 10 January 2000 -- Russia's Defense Minister, Igor Sergeyev, has vowed to resume the Chechnya offensive after a temporary lull in air attacks over the past few days.
CONGRESS PRESIDENT ASKS FARC TO EXTEND CEASEFIRE; POSSIBLE DMZ FOR THE ELN January 10, 2000 -- The president of the Colombian Congress asked the nation's largest leftist rebel group to extend a holiday ceasefire for six months, one day before the unilateral ceasefire is due to end.
SECURITY COUNCIL HOLDS DEBATE ON IMPACT OF AIDS ON PEACE AND SECURITY IN AFRICA Press Release SC/6781 - 10 January 2000 -- The Security Council met this morning in an open debate on the impact of AIDS on peace and security in Africa. The debate marked the first time that the Council has discussed a health issue as a threat to peace and security. The meeting, which lasted for more than seven hours, was addressed by over 40 speakers.
LANKA/ACCUSATION Voice of America 09 January 2000 -- Sri Lankan state radio says investigators are accusing several businessmen of being behind a recent assassination attempt against President Chandrika Kumaratunga.
INDONESIA VIOLENCE Voice of America 09 January 2000 -- Analysts are fearful the violence in Aceh, together with mounting religious bloodshed in Maluku, the former Spice Islands, may spread.
RUSSIA-CHECHNYA Voice of America 09 January 2000 -- Heavy fighting is reported once again in Grozny after a two-day pause declared by the Russians for the Orthodox Christmas holiday.
RUSSIA - CHECHNYA Voice of America 09 January 2000 -- Russian commanders say they halted the fierce air and artillery bombardment because of Moslem and Orthodox Christian holidays this weekend.
SRI LANKA DETAINEES Voice of America 08 January 2000 -- The Sri Lankan government has released all but 50 ethnic Tamils detained in Friday's anti-rebel crackdown when curfew was imposed in the Capital Colombo.
RUSSIA PAUSE Voice of America 08 January 2000 -- Russia's Acting President Vladimir Putin says the replacement of two top generals in Chechnya was a technical rotation. But the replacement has raised questions due to problems with the progress of the military campaign in the breakaway republic.
GROZNY OFFENSIVE SUSPENDED Voice of America 08 January 2000 -- Word that Russia is suspending part of its military offensive against the Chechen capital, Grozny, must come as welcome news to people living in the embattled city.
STATEMENT THE NATIONAL UNION FOR THE TOTAL INDEPENDENCE OF ANGOLA [UNITA] 08 January 1999 -- The MPLA regime does not intend to work with and cooperate with other political parties which maintain their own identities. It is for that reason that it has created, supported and financed at the highest level, dissentions within the historical parties of UNITA.
SRI LANKA SECURITY Voice of America 07 January 2000 -- The Sri Lankan government has lifted the overnight curfew in the capital Colombo and its suburbs after detaining hundreds of ethnic Tamils for questioning.
INDIA/KASHMIR Voice of America 07 January 2000 -- In Indian Kashmir, suspected Muslim guerrillas have killed four paramilitary soldiers, and injured three others.
INDONESIA-AMBON Voice of America 07 January 2000 -- The Navy has now blockaded the islands, where intense sectarian warfare between Muslims and Christians has exploded in the past year.
STREET CHILDREN IN ETHIOPIA - PART-I Voice of America 07 January 2000 -- The issue of street children is one of the fast growing social problems in Ethiopia.
STREET CHILDREN IN ETHIOPIA PART -II Voice of America 07 January 2000 -- Several non-governmental organizations in the country are trying to enable these kids lead a normal life and realize their potential.
STREET CHILDREN IN ETHIOPIA PART III Voice of America 07 January 2000 -- Non-governmental organizations are making a significant contribution to the alleviation of some of the problems of street children in Ethiopia.
RUSSIA / CHECHNYA Voice of America 07 January 2000 -- Despite poor weather, Russian warplanes are pounding targets throughout Chechnya, carrying out dozens of sorties over the breakaway republic on Friday.
MEXICO CORRUPTION Voice of America 06 January 2000 -- The presidential candidate of Mexico's ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI, Francisco Labastida, this week made the fight against corruption the main issue in his campaign.
LANKA/SECURITY UPDATE Voice of America 06 January 2000 -- The Sri Lankan government has imposed a temporary curfew on the capital, Colombo, after a series of deadly bombings blamed on separatists.
PAK / FREED MILITANT Voice of America 06 January 2000 -- A Pakistani religious leader freed by India in exchange for more than 150 hostages aboard a hijacked Indian airliner says the hijackers were Indian.
IVORIAN COUP / RISKS Voice of America 06 January 2000 -- The new military leader of Ivory Coast, Robert Guei, has announced that he is suspending payments on the country's foreign debt in order to pay soldiers and civil servants who have not been paid in months.
INDIA/HIJACK ARRESTS Voice of America 06 January 2000 -- India has arrested four people in connection with last month's hijacking of an Indian Airlines aircraft. New Delhi also says the five hijackers of the plane have been identified as Pakistani nationals.
INDIAN PLANE HIJACKING: A VICTORY FOR TERRORISM? Voice of America 06 January 2000 -- The U-S press is continuing to assess the fallout from the hijacking of that Indian Airlines jetliner. Many newspapers worry that the incident represented a victory for terrorists, and may have made international air travel more risky.
DoD News Briefing Thursday, January 06, 2000 -- Q A Cuban defector, former intelligence operative who defected to Spain, was here in Washington talking about Cuba, what he knew about the government of Cuba, said that the Cubans were involved in shipping guns and other kinds of arms, transshipping them to Colombia, trading for drugs with the FARC.
VIOLENCE IN ACEH January 06, 2000 -- According to the Police Chief of the Republic of Indonesia, Gen. Roesmanhadi, the conflict in Aceh from January to December 1999 resulted in 452 casualties and the destruction of 419 buildings. Of the 452 casualties, 293 were killed and 159 wounded. The statistics disclosed by Police General Roesmanhadi hint at a now solidly implanted insurgency, which the Indonesian security forces have achieved no more than mediocre results in suppressing.
SHINING PATH CAPTURE PERUVIAN RIVER BOAT January 06, 2000 -- A column of 30 suspected Shining Path rebels attacked and captured a Peruvian government riverboat on the Ene river. No casualties were reported.
BERGER-RUSSIA Voice of America 06 January 2000 -- President Clinton's National Security Adviser, Sandy Berger, has again condemned Russia's conduct of the war in Chechnya, but he is resisting calls - from U-S Presidential contenders, among others - for punitive action against Moscow.
RUSSIA / CHECHNYA Voice of America 06 January 2000 -- Russia's military says it is gaining ground in the Chechen capital, Grozny, and has surrounded the key rebel-held city of Vedeno in Chechnya's south.
LANKAN BLAST Voice of America 05 January 2000 -- At least 13 people have been killed and 27 others injured in an explosion near the prime minister's office in Colombo, Sri Lanka.
TURKEY / KURDS Voice of America 05 January 2000 -- As a bloody 15-year Kurdish separatist campaign begins to wind down, local officials are seeking to exploit the huge potential for tourism in Turkey's largely Kurdish southeast.
IVORY COAST Voice of America 05 January 2000 -- The military ruler of Ivory Coast says he is suspending the country's foreign-debt payments. He spoke in Abidjan Wednesday, following the first meeting of his transitional government.
IVORIAN COUP - REACTION, PT. 2 Voice of America 05 January 2000 -- Although there were reports of widespread dissatisfaction in the country with the government of deposed President Henri Konan Bedie, few expected the military to intervene, especially on Christmas Eve.
INDONESIA-MALUKUS Voice of America 05 January 2000 -- Fighting continues in Indonesia's Maluku Islands, sending thousands more people fleeing for safety and prompting the military to contemplate dispatching additional troops.
RUSSIA CHECHNYA Voice of America 05 January 2000 -- Chechen rebels are launching a strong counter-attack against Russian forces in the Chechen capital, Grozny.
RUSSIA / CHECHNYA Voice of America 05 January 2000 -- Russian forces and Chechen rebels are claiming battle successes as fighting rages in the Chechen capital, Grozny, and in Chechnya's southern mountains.
CHECHNYA / RUSSIAN RETREAT Voice of America 05 January 2000 -- As the conflict in Chechnya intensifies, Russian troops have been forced to retreat from several villages they captured last month on the outskirts of the capital, Grozny.
GOVERNMENT STRUGGLES TO STOP VIOLENCE IN LEBANON Overseas Security Advisory Council January 05, 2000 An unknown number of militants also have been killed in what is the worst confrontation between the Lebanese military and Muslim fundamentalists since the end of the 1975-90 civil war.
IN 24 HOURS, FEDERAL AVIATION MADE CLOSE TO FIFTY FLIGHTS TO DESTROY REBEL INSTALLATIONS 04.01.2000 RIA Novosti Attack planes SU-24 and bombers SU-25 have delivered strikes at groups of rebels in Grozny and around the villages of Avtury, Khacharoi, Tumkala, Shalazhi and Orekhovo.
TURKEY / KURDS Voice of America 04 January 2000 -- Turkish prosecutors ruled today/Tuesday that the country's Foreign Minister, Ismail Cem, did not violate the law when he called last month for easing current bans on Kurdish language broadcasts.
IVORIAN COUP / CAUSES - PART ONE Voice of America 04 January 2000 -- The military coup in Ivory Coast surprised most people, but it has been welcomed by many Ivorians worried that the country was about to enter a period of collapse and civil war like that seen recently in neighboring Liberia and Sierra Leone.
INDONESIA-MALUKUS Voice of America 04 January 2000 -- Fresh fighting has erupted in Indonesia's troubled Maluku Islands. An unknown number of people were killed Tuesday in the latest clashes between Christians and Muslims.
INDIA / HOSTAGE EXPERIENCE Voice of America 04 January 2000 -- The week of terror on board the India Airlines jet hijacked at the end of last month is becoming clearer.
ERITREA / SUDAN Voice of America 04 January 2000 -- Eritrea and Sudan have agreed to restore diplomatic ties, according to a joint communique issued Tuesday.
LEBANON / RUSSIA Voice of America 04 January 2000 -- Security officials in Lebanon are searching for at least two accomplices they believe were involved in a grenade attack (Monday) on the Russian embassy in Beirut.
RUSSIA / CHECHNYA Voice of America 04 January 2000 -- Russia's military says it is making its way slowly towards the center of the Chechen capital, Grozny, despite continued resistance from rebel fighters in the city.
KASHMIR BLAST Voice of America 03 January 2000 -- Separatists are being blamed for an explosion that has killed 14-people and injured more than 30 others at a market in Indian Kashmir.
INDONESIA / AMBON Voice of America 03 January 2000 -- Indonesian security forces are seizing weapons in a security sweep in the troubled Molucca Islands. Sectarian violence killed an estimated 15-hundred people in 1999 and shows no sign of abating in the new year.
EGYPT / RELIGIOUS VIOLENCE Voice of America 03 January 2000 -- At least ten people are dead after three days of clashes between Muslims and Christians in Southern Egypt.
LEBANON / RUSSIA Voice of America 03 January 2000 -- Lebanese police have killed a Palestinian man who fired grenades at the Russian embassy in Beirut Monday. They say a note found in the dead man's pocket indicates his attack was a protest against Russia's military assault on Muslim rebels in Chechnya.
RUSSIA / CHECNYA Voice of America 03 January 2000 -- Russia is keeping up its air and artillery bombardment of the Chechen capital, Grozny, and has also intensified bombing of rebel strongholds in Chechnya's southern mountains.
TALEBAN RELATIONS Voice of America 03 January 2000 -- Kamal Matin-uddin, author of the book, "The Taleban Phenomenon," thinks the Taleban handled the hijacking very well. He says they deserve the praise of not only the Indians, but the entire world.
ETA BOMB INCIDENTS THWARTED : Monday, January 03, 2000 Incident Type: SECURITY Country: MADRID, SPAIN : U.S. Embassy Madrid has reported the following account by the Spanish press on the thwarting of two bomb incidents by the Basque separatist group ETA (Euzkadi ta Askatasuna - Basque Fatherland & Liberty).
LANKA/REPORT Voice of America 02 January 2000 -- Ten senior police officers of Sri Lankan President Chandrika Kumaratunga's elite security unit are to be questioned about an assassination attempt last month.
RUSSIA - CHECHNYA UPDATE Voice of America 02 January 2000 -- Russian forces are pounding Chechen positions from the air and with heavy artillery, attempting to regain the momentum they've had in the conflict until recently.
LANKA/WAR Voice of America 01 January 2000 -- Dozens of soldiers and Tamil Tiger rebels have been killed in northern Sri Lanka as fighting continues into the new millennium.
RUSSIA/CHECHNYA Voice of America 01 January 2000 -- Russian forces launched a fierce New Year's Day attack on the Chechen capital, Grozny, as acting President Vladimir Putin visited the region to boost troop morale.