February 2000 Military News

SUDAN'S WAR Voice of America 29 February 2000 -- Sudan's foreign minister says his government is ready for unconditional talks with the exiled opposition, a first step toward ending the seventeen-year civil war that has convulsed the North African country.
NIGERIA VIOLENCE Voice of America 29 February 2000 -- In Nigeria, three states have agreed to abandon their experiment with Sharia law, and to reinstate Nigeria's civil code as the only law within their borders. The move came Tuesday after another round of sectarian violence between Christians and Muslims claimed dozens of lives in the southeastern part of the country.
WAHID / EAST TIMOR Voice of America 29 February 2000 -- Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid has apologized to the people of East Timor for the often-harsh rule imposed by Indonesian troops who occupied the territory for nearly a quarter-century.
INDONESIA / IRIAN JAYA Voice of America 29 February 2000 -- Even as Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid was visiting East Timor Tuesday, unrest was reported in another trouble spot. Fresh clashes broke out between separatists and Indonesian police in the far province of Irian Jaya.
ERITREANS FOR PEACE Voice of America 29 February 2000 -- Eritreans throughout the world marched for peace in their homeland on Tuesday. At peace rallies in dozens of cities, they called for an end to a border conflict with Ethiopia.
OSCE Media Rep Urges Charges Against Babitsky Be Dropped 29 February 2000 -- Freimut Duve, the representative on freedom of the media for the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), has welcomed the news that Radio Liberty reporter Andrei Babitsky has returned to Russia but remains concerned that Babitsky is still under criminal investigation for "falsifying documents."
Text: U.S. Statement on Chechnya to OSCE Permanent Council 29 February 2000 -- "The U.S. welcomes the appointment of Vladimir Kalamanov as Special Presidential Representative for Human Rights in Chechnya," the Permanent Council of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) was told February 29 in Vienna. "It is vital that his work be seen by the international community as transparent and objective."
CHECHNYA: U.S. HELPS FUND RED CROSS EFFORTS IN NORTH CAUCASUS REGION February 29, 2000 -- Responding to an emergency appeal by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), the United States announced February 29 that it has provided $2.4 million to support ICRC activities related to the conflict in Chechnya.
U-N / CHECHNYA AID Voice of America 29 February 2000 -- The United Nations says a 10-truck convoy of relief supplies has reached the Chechen capital, Grozny. This is the first U-N aid to reach Grozny since Russia began its military offensive more than five-months ago.
RUSSIA / CHECHNYA Voice of America 29 February 2000 -- Russia's military says its troops have taken full control of the last mountain rebel stronghold, Shatoi, 60 kilometers south of the Chechen capital, Grozny.
BABITSKY FREED Voice of America 29 February 2000 -- A news reporter detained by Russian forces in Chechnya more than one month ago says he was held in a notorious prison comparable to the gulags of the Stalin era.
U-N BOSNIA BRIEFING Voice of America 29 February 2000 -- The top United Nations official in Bosnia, Jacques Klein, said today (Tuesday) that Serbia's President Slobodan Milosevic remains the major obstacle to stability in the region.
SUDAN REBELS / ANALYSIS Voice of America 28 February 2000 -- Aid agencies feeding more than two-million people in southern Sudan are split over rebel demands that they pay taxes. Sudanese rebels want to levy a security fee for movement within rebel-held territory.
TURKEY / KURDS Voice of America 28 February 2000 -- Turkey's interior ministry has reinstated three Kurdish mayors who had been removed from office for alleged links with Kurdish separatists.
NORTHERN IRELAND Voice of America 28 February 2000 -- Britain's top official for Northern Ireland has met with Unionist and Republican leaders in an attempt to revive the peace process. The effort follows suspension of Northern Ireland's home rule assembly.
INDONESIA / MILITARY Voice of America 28 February 2000 -- The Indonesian military has announced a reshuffle of 47 senior officers, just two weeks after President Abdurrahman Wahid won a power-struggle with one of the country's most influential generals.
Text: OSCE Welcomes Putin Appointment 28 February 2000 - Benita Ferrero-Waldner, chairperson in office of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), welcomed Russia's February 17 announcement that Acting President Vladimir Putin had appointed Vladimir Kalamanov to be his representative for human rights in Chechnya.
RFE/RL on Return Home of Russian Reporter Andrei Babitsky 28 February 2000 -- Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) war correspondent Andrei Babitsky has been brought to Moscow and released on his own recognizance on condition he remain in Moscow.
RUSSIA / BABITSKY Voice of America 28 February 2000 -- A Russian journalist arrested after filing reports critical of the war in Chechnya has reportedly been flown from Dagestan to Moscow after beginning a hunger strike.
YUGOSLAV WAR CRIMES Voice of America 28 February 2000 -- Four Bosnian Serbs accused of murder, torture and persecution went on trial today/Monday at the Yugoslav War Crimes Tribunal in The Hague.
Balkans Unstable Despite International Help, UN Envoy Reports By Judy Aita Washington File 28 February 2000 -- Calling the situation in the Balkans "the most complex and the most challenging operation" the United Nations has ever undertaken, the UN special envoy to the region said February 27 that the international community has not managed to bring stability to the region but the UN must continue to search for peace in the region, especially Kosovo.
U-N BALKANS SUMMARY Voice of America 28 February 2000 -- The United Nations Special Representative for the Balkans, Carl Bildt, said today (Monday) that the search for peace and stability in the region is complicated by the fact that the leaders of Serbia are indicted war criminals.
RUSSIA - CHECHNYA Voice of America 27 February 2000 -- Russian forces are facing stiff resistance from an estimated two thousand rebels in the Shatoi region near Chechnya's southern mountains.
HUMAN RIGHTS IN UZBEKISTAN Voice of America 26 February 2000 -- Uzbekistan, in its own defense, will say that we have to have a very tight authoritarian regime because there is an incipient radical Islamic movement, which, if it succeeds, will for sure preclude the possibility of democratic development.
TURKEY/KURDS Voice of America 26 February 2000 -- Lawyers for three Kurdish mayors arrested for their alleged links with the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party, or P-K-K, say their clients deny all the charges.
RUSSIA/BABITSKY Voice of America 26 February 2000 -- Russian officials say Radio Liberty reporter Andrei Babitsky has been detained in the Russian republic of Dagestan for carrying a false passport.
RUSSIA/CHECHNYA Voice of America 26 February 2000 -- Russian forces say they have taken full control of a mountainous district in southern Chechnya as they continue their drive to flush an estimated eight-thousand rebels from their mountain bases.
RWANDA GENOCIDE Voice of America 25 February 2000 -- The United Nations prosecutor investigating Rwanda's 1994 genocide says some criminal trials should be moved to Rwanda.
U-N-H-C-R / CHECHNYA Voice of America 25 February 2000 -- The U-N's refugee agency, U-N-H-C-R, says it hopes to send its first convoy of humanitarian relief supplies to Chechnya early next week.
RUSSIA / CHECHNYA Voice of America 25 February 2000 -- Kremlin officials say they will investigate television footage of alleged atrocities committed by Russian troops in Chechnya.
CLINTON / CHECHNYA Voice of America 25 February 2000 -- President Clinton is urging Moscow to allow international investigators into Chechnya to probe reports of Russian atrocities against Chechen citizens.
BABITSKY FATE Voice of America 25 February 2000 -- A Russian journalist who disappeared while covering the war in Chechnya last month has apparently surfaced in the neighboring republic of Dagestan.
ANGOLA WAR Voice of America 25 February 2000 -- Angola's president says the UNITA rebel movement no longer poses a serious threat to his government. But analysts in the region say the rebels are stepping up guerrilla attacks around the country.
SPECIAL MISSION TO AFGHANISTAN Press Briefing 25 February 2000 -- Afghan parties had mentioned that they would be willing to enter into a ceasefire. This possibility, however, very much depended on how such a ceasefire would work and how it would be verified.
AFGHANISTAN / UNITED NATIONS Voice of America 25 February 2000 -- The new United Nations special envoy to Afghanistan, Francesc (fran-sesk) Vendrell, says the parties fighting in Afghanistan -- the Taleban and the northern opposition groups -- told him they want to arrange a cease-fire.
Sudan: Concern Over SPLM Moves To Expel NGOs Press Statement by James P. Rubin, Spokesman February 25, 2000 -- The United States Government is deeply concerned about and deplores the decision of the Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM) to expel relief organizations from southern Sudan that do not sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) by March 1.
NIGERIA VIOLENCE Voice of America 24 February 2000 -- The death toll continues to rise in Kaduna, with some health officials saying at least 300 bodies have been recovered from the city's streets. Many were burned or hacked to death in three days of rioting between Christians and Muslims.
TURKEY / KURDS Voice of America 24 February 2000 -- A Turkish court has sentenced 18 leaders of the pro-Kurdish People's Democracy Party - known as Hadep - to jail for staging a hunger strike in support of Kurdish separatist leader Abdullah Ocalan.
ISRAEL / LEBANON Voice of America 24 February 2000 -- Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak is rejecting Arab criticism of Israel's recent air strikes on targets in Lebanon.
U-S - NORTHERN IRELAND Voice of America 24 February 2000 -- The top negotiator for the Irish Republican Army's political wing, Sinn Fein, is blaming the crisis in the Northern Ireland peace process on Britain's decision to suspend the province's power-sharing government - a move he denounces as "illegal."
U-N / AFRICA Voice of America 24 February 2000 -- The United Nations is preparing to repatriate thousands of Eritrean and Ethiopian refugees from camps in Sudan.
COLOMBIA HUMAN RIGHTS Voice of America 24 February 2000 -- Colombia's armed forces have sharply denied allegations by Human Rights Watch that they support right-wing paramilitary groups, which are responsible for dozens of massacres of suspected sympathizers of leftist guerrillas.
U-N-CONGO MISSION APPROVED Voice of America 24 February 2000 -- The United Nations Security Council has unanimously approved an international military observer force to monitor the cease-fire in Congo-Kinshasa.
SECURITY COUNCIL EXPANDS MISSION IN DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO, UNANIMOUSLY ADOPTING RESOLUTION 1291 (2000) Press Release SC/6809 - 24 February 2000 -- The Security Council this afternoon, stressing its commitment to the full implementation of the July 1999 Lusaka Ceasefire Agreement in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, extended the mandate of the United Nations Organization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUC) to 31 August and authorized its expansion.
RESOLUTION 1291 (2000) 24 February 2000 -- Authorizes the expansion of MONUC to consist of up to 5,537 military personnel, including up to 500 observers, or more, provided that the Secretary-General determines that there is a need and that it can be accommodated within the overall force size and structure, and appropriate civilian support staff in the areas, inter alia, of human rights, humanitarian affairs, public information, child protection, political affairs, medical support and administrative support.
CONGO FORCE Voice of America 24 February 2000 -- The U-N Security Council is preparing to vote on sending more than five-thousand troops to monitor a cease-fire in Congo-Kinshasa.
RUSSIA / CHECHNYA Voice of America 24 February 2000 -- Russia's Acting President Vladimir Putin says Moscow will not negotiate with Chechen representatives until rebel forces are defeated.
CHECHNYA KILLINGS Voice of America 24 February 2000 -- International human rights groups are stepping up their criticism of alleged atrocities committed by Russian troops in Chechnya.
INTERFET DEPARTS EAST TIMOR Voice of America 23 February 2000 -- The international peacekeeping force in East Timor has lowered its flag for the last time, handing over jurisdiction in the territory to the United Nations.
NIGERIA / VIOLENCE Voice of America 23 February 2000 -- After three-days of bloody rioting in the northern Nigerian city of Kaduna, police say the death toll from the violence appears to have soared to at least 100, with an equal number of wounded.
AFRICA /ISLAM / WEST Voice of America 23 February 2000 -- This week violence broke out in northern Nigeria over the question of whether the Kaduna state government should apply secular law or Islamic law to criminal matters.
TURKEY / KURDS / MAYORS Voice of America 23 February 2000 -- Turkish leaders are reacting angrily to calls from Western European governments for the release of three ethnic Kurdish mayors detained over the weekend.
INDONESIA / SECURITY Voice of America 23 February 2000 -- Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid warned Wednesday that the capital, Jakarta, was under high alert after authorities received word of plans for large-scale anti-government demonstrations.
ETHIOPIA / ERITREA Voice of America 23 February 2000 -- The Ethiopian/Eritrean war is heating up again, with Eritrea accusing Ethiopia of launching an attack along the border.
U-N-CONGO-BRAZZAVILLE Voice of America 23 February 2000 -- A United Nations relief official said today (Wednesday) that there has been a sharp improvement in living conditions in war-torn parts of Congo- Brazzaville, but that more resources are needed for humanitarian efforts there.
RUSSIA / CHECHNYA Voice of America 23 February 2000 -- Russian troops and airplanes are pounding a Chechen rebel stronghold at Shatoi, a gateway to Chechnya's southern mountains 60-kilometers south of Grozny.
HABRE / DICTATORS Voice of America 23 February 2000 -- Earlier this month, a court in Senegal charged the exiled former president of Chad -- Hissene Habre -- with torture and other human-rights abuses.
PRESS BRIEFING ON REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO 23 February 2000 -- More than 800,000 persons had become displaced in the affected interior in the South during the re-eruption of the country's civil war in December 1998, but most had not benefited from humanitarian assistance during the past year due to a lack of security in the area.
CLASHES REPORTED February 23, 2000 -- The weekly Serambi (Banda Aceh) reported two recent clashes between Indonesian security forces and AMM (Aceh Merdeka Movement) insurgents. The engagements took place in the districts of Aceh Utara and Bireuen.
Text: U.S. Welcomes OSCE Monitoring of Russian-Georgian Border USIA 23 February 2000 -- The United States welcomes steps by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) to establish a continuous monitoring presence on the Russian-Georgian border with Chechnya, according to State Department Spokesman James Rubin.
White House Official Links Arusha Talks to Congo Crisis By Jim Fisher-Thompson USIA 22 February 2000 -- While the U.S. government has had a long-standing interest in the Burundi peace process, the second round of talks being held in Tanzania from February 21-23 is especially significant because of the worsening Congo/Kinshasa crisis, says a senior White House official.
Transcript: White House Briefing on Burundi Peace Talks USIA 22 February 2000 -- The United States has long been engaged in trying to achieve peace in Burundi and throughout the Great Lakes region and is working with former South African President Nelson Mandela to focus the world's attention on the peace talks in Arusha, Tanzania, say Gayle Smith, Senior Director for African Affairs on the National Security Council staff, and Howard Wolpe, U.S. Special Envoy to the Great Lakes.
Transcript: U.S. Cares About Peace Process in Burundi, Clinton Says USIA 22 February 2000 -- "America cares about the peace process in Burundi," but all Burundians themselves must work hard to attain that peace, President Clinton on February 22 told those attending the second round of peace talks on Burundi.
Museveni Optimistic: Says Arusha Talks on Track By Jim Fisher-Thompson USIA 22 February 2000 -- The chairman of the second round of Burundi Peace Talks, President Yoweri Museveni of Uganda, said February 22 that while not all rebel groups have joined the negotiations, regional stability demands that the process continue anyway.
President Mandela Opens Burundi Peace Talks in Arusha By Jim Fisher-Thompson USIA 22 February 2000 -- Mandela is pursuing more of a policy of inclusion than his predecessor, having met already with a succession of Burundian officials, non-government leaders as well as representatives of rebel groups even before the February 21-23 talks began.
Fact Sheet: Background to the Burundi Peace Process USIA 22 February 2000 -- Burundi's recent history has been marked by a destructive struggle between the Tutsi minority and the disenfranchised Hutu majority that has been excluded from political and economic opportunities.
U-N-H-C-R - TIMOR Voice of America 22 February 2000 -- The United Nations refugee agency, U-N-H-C-R, says it may be forced to end its assistance program to East Timorese refugees in West Timor -- if militiamen in the camps continue to intimidate and harass refugees and aid workers.
RWANDA / TRIBUNAL Voice of America 22 February 2000 -- The U-N's Rwanda war crimes tribunal is being asked to reconsider the controversial release of a suspect in the Rwanda genocide.
NIGERIA VIOLENCE Voice of America 22 February 2000 -- In northern Nigeria, an indefinite curfew has been imposed on the city of Kaduna after violent rioting claimed dozens of lives.
TURKEY / KURDS Voice of America 22 February 2000 -- Tensions are rising in Turkey's largely Kurdish southeast region following the detention of three Kurdish mayors accused of links with the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party, or P-K-K.
INDONESIA / ECON Voice of America 22 February 2000 -- The Indonesian government is putting forward two controversial proposals aimed at bailing the country out of its economic crisis -- while maintaining political stability.
RUSSIA / CHECHNYA Voice of America 22 February 2000 -- Russian commanders are predicting rapid victory in Chechnya as they press ahead with their fight against rebels in the republic's southern mountains.
MANDELA - BURUNDI Voice of America 22 February 2000 -- This latest round of violence began when paratroopers killed Burundi's first democratically elected president in 1993. Since then, it's estimated that more than 200-thousand people have died in ethnic violence.
CLINTON - BURUNDI Voice of America 22 February 2000 -- President Clinton is urging the parties to Burundi's civil war to put down their arms and join talks aimed at ending the conflict.
U-N-H-C-R / AFGHAN REFUGEES Voice of America 22 February 2000 -- The government of Iran and the United Nations refugee agency, U-N-H-C-R, have agreed on ways to repatriate an estimated one-point-four-million Afghan refugees still living in Iran.
EAST TIMOR / WORLD BANK Voice of America 21 February 2000 -- The President of the World Bank is in East Timor to sign the first grant intended to help the devastated territory develop its own government.
NIGERIA PROTEST Voice of America 21 February 2000 -- Kaduna State is one of the states where Muslims have proposed establishing Islamic courts. But the proposal has met stiff opposition from the state's equally large Christian community.
INDONESIA-PRESIDENT Voice of America 21 February 2000 -- Indonesia's president says he favors pardoning all top officials of previous governments if found to have committed illegal acts in office.
INDONESIA / AUTONOMY Voice of America 21 February 2000 -- President Abdurrahman Wahid said demands for independence or autonomy by restive provinces mean Indonesia will have to move to some form of federal government.
U-N / CONGO-BRAZZAVILLE Voice of America 21 February 2000 -- A United Nations official says the humanitarian situation in Congo-Brazzaville is improving.
ON THE SITUATION IN THE NORTH CAUCASUS SERGEY V. YASTRZHEMBSKY - assistant to the Acting Russian President 21.02.2000 -- No serious changes have been in the operative situation. The issue at hand is, first and foremost, the group encircled in the Argun Gorge. It is presumed that about a thousand well-armed militants are fighting under Khattab’s command. There are from 3,000 to 4,500 of them in the Argun Gorge and other mountain regions. The Argun Gorge is the epicentre of current events. It has been completely encircled and blockaded and the encirclement is slowly narrowing. Front aviation was very active, making 88 combat flights. We keep intercepting radio information that separate bandit groups are trying to get into Daghestan and become dispersed in the mountain villages. An analysis of the radio electronic situation - and reports based on radio interceptions are prepared daily - shows that the bomb and missile-artillery attacks at the positions of illegitimate armed groups are effective.
RUSSIA / CHECHNYA Voice of America 21 February 2000 -- Russia's Acting President Vladimir Putin vows to destroy all rebels in breakaway Chechnya as federal forces carry on their military offensive in the republic's southern mountains.
GROZNY AID WORKERS Voice of America 21 February 2000 -- The Chechen capital, Grozny -- largely destroyed by months of Russian air and artillery strikes -- has been closed to outsiders until at least April First.
BURUNDI TALKS Voice of America 21 February 2000 -- Ethnic-majority Hutu rebels are fighting the government army in Burundi, which is run by the minority Tutsi. Mr. Mandela has convinced those rebels to join the talks, but he is facing opposition from other Burundi delegates who fear their positions will be weakened if the rebel faction is included.
SRI LANKA PEACE Voice of America 20 February 2000 -- Peace talks between the Sri Lankan government and Tamil Tiger rebels might take place in the city of Oslo after Norway said it was willing to try to broker a political solution between the two warring sides.
GROZNY PEOPLE Voice of America 20 February 2000 -- Russia's Emergency Situations Ministry has moved into the Chechen capital, Grozny, to help survivors of the five-month military onslaught that destroyed the city and killed countless civilians. Authorities estimate as many as ten-thousand people may still be living amid the rubble.
NEPAL - MAOIST REBELS Voice of America 19 February 2000 -- In the Himalayan mountain kingdom of Nepal, authorities say suspected Maoist rebels killed 15 policemen and injured 16 others Saturday.
MEXICO ATTACK Voice of America 19 February 2000 -- Mexico's military has reported an armed clash with guerrillas in the western state of Guerrero that left at least two guerrillas dead.
EGYPT/LEBANON Voice of America 19 February 2000 -- President Mubarak and Lebanese President Emile Lahoud issued a joint statement after their talks condemning the recent Israeli air strikes on Lebanon and declaring their support for Hezbollah guerrillas in southern Lebanon.
TURKEY/KURDS Voice of America 19 February 2000 -- Two Kurdish mayors were arrested Saturday over their alleged links to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party also known as the PKK.
RUSSIA/CHECHNYA Voice of America 19 February 2000 -- Chechen rebels have shot down a Russian helicopter, killing 15 soldiers. The incident occurred during a massive Russian air assault on rebel positions in Chechnya's southern mountains.
U-N-H-C-R / TIMOR Voice of America 18 February 2000 -- The United Nations refugee agency, U-N-H-C-R, has sent two U-S health experts to West Timor to investigate reports that hundreds of East Timorese refugees are dying from various diseases.
U-N - EAST TIMOR Voice of America 18 February 2000 -- United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan has left East Timor after seeing firsthand the devastation wrought by last year's violence by pro-Indonesian militias.
NORTHERN IRELAND - WEAPONS Voice of America 18 February 2000 -- "Decommissioning" is shorthand for the hand-over, or verified disposal of weapons held by paramilitary groups. Once again, politicians are grappling with that issue which has proven to be the main obstacle to a lasting peace in Northern Ireland.
UNHCR / CONGO-BRAZAVILLE Voice of America 18 February 2000 -- The United Nations refugee agency, U-N-H-C-R, says thousands of refugees have fled fighting between government and rebel troops in Congo-Kinshasa.
U-N-CONGO Voice of America 18 February 2000 -- The United Nations Security Council was moving closer today/Friday to establishing an international military observer force for Congo-Kinshasa.
U-N-H-C-R / CHECHNYA Voice of America 18 February 2000 -- The United Nations refugee agency, U-N-H-C-R, reports thousands of Chechens are crossing into the neighboring republic of Ingushetia amid persistent reports of human rights violations in Chechnya.
RUSSIA - HUMAN RIGHTS Voice of America 18 February 2000 -- Russia is denying reports that Chechen men are being rounded up and tortured in a detention camp in the embattled southern republic of Chechnya.
MANDELA / BURUNDI Voice of America 18 February 2000 -- One of the biggest challenges is deciding who gives and who gets amnesty for the deaths of more than 200-thousand people, mostly civilians, in Burundi.
AD HOC COMMITTEE ON TERRORISM CONCLUDES FOURTH SESSION; APPROVES REPORT Press Release L/2946 - 18 February 2000 -- Several delegations supported the convening of the conference on terrorism, while some expressed doubt about its practical benefits.
AD HOC COMMITTEE ON TERRORISM APPROVES INTRODUCTORY SEGMENT OF DRAFT REPORT Press Release L/2945 - 18 February 2000 -- Several representatives called for further mention in the report of a distinction between acts of liberation and terrorism. The representative of the United States said he regretted the reintroduction of the long disputed notion that an act of terrorism was not terrorism if parties one supported had committed it.
AD HOC COMMITTEE ON TERRORISM HEARS REPORT ON CONSULTATIONS ON DRAFT CONVENTION ON SUPPRESSION OF ACTS OF NUCLEAR TERRORISM Press Release L/2944 - 17 February 2000 -- Coordinator Cate Steains (Australia) said that the differences in position still being expressed by delegations had led her to conclude that the time was not yet ripe for open-ended informal consultations to reach agreement on a text.
U-N / EAST TIMOR Voice of America 17 February 2000 -- U-N Secretary General Kofi Annan is in East Timor to assess the devastation wrought by the spasm of militia violence last year.
UNHCR / LIBERIA Voice of America 17 February 2000 -- The United Nations Refugee Agency, U-N-H-C-R, says Liberia's recently announced decision to reopen its border with Guinea should speed the return of tens of thousands of refugees.
Transcript: Asst. Secretary Rice Discusses Sierra Leone on Worldnet USIA 17 February 2000 -- The United States welcomes the signing of the Lome Accord by the Sierra Leone rebel leadership and "the modest progress that has been made in disarmament," Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Susan Rice said.
LANKA - NORWAY Voice of America 17 February 2000 -- Norway's Foreign Minister says he will try to start direct peace talks between the Sri Lankan government and the Tamil Tiger rebels.
KURDS OFFER TO TURKEY Voice of America 17 February 2000 -- The fighting has ended in southeastern Turkey, and the rebel Kurds say they want peace with democracy. The Turkish Government has not formally responded other than demanding that the Kurds disarm.
ON THE SITUATION IN THE NORTH CAUCASUS SERGEI V. YASTRZHEMBSKY - assistant to the Russian Acting President 17.02.2000 -- As for the Argun Gorge, this is the place where the bulk of bandit groups is concentrated, according to available information. Federal troops are doing reconnoitring. Priority is given to aviation bombardment and shelling of targets but no active fighting has been reported so far. There is a struggle for commanding heights.
RUSSIA / CHECHNYA Voice of America 17 February 2000 -- Russian field commanders do acknowledge they are meeting "serious resistance" from Chechen rebels in both the Vedeno and Argun gorges.
GROZNY Q&A Voice of America 17 February 2000 -- There are still several thousand civilians living here. However, there's very little in the way of provisions, other than what the Russian Government is providing them.
CHECHNYA / RED CROSS Voice of America 17 February 2000 -- The International Committee of the Red Cross, the I-C-R-C, has renewed its appeal to Russian authorities for permission to visit detainees and to assist civilian victims of the fighting in Chechnya.
CLINTON-AFRICA Voice of America 17 February 2000 -- President Clinton, addressing the privately-organized "National Summit on Africa" in Washington has appealed for expanded U-S involvement in Africa - including support for the planned U-N peacekeeping operation in Congo-Kinshasa
U-N-H-C-R / TIMOR Voice of America 16 February 2000 -- The United Nations refugee agency, U-N-H-C-R, says there has been an increase in violence and threats by militias in West Timor against aid workers and East Timorese refugees wanting to go home.
ISRAEL / LEBANON Voice of America 16 February 2000 -- Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak is taking on new powers to respond to guerrilla attacks against Israeli soldiers in southern Lebanon
NORTHERN IRELAND Voice of America 16 February 2000 -- -R-A declared it will no longer participate in meetings with Northern Ireland's disarmament commission - dealing the peace process another blow.
U-N / INDONESIA Voice of America 16 February 2000 -- U-N Secretary General Kofi Annan has voiced strong support for the political and economic reforms in Indonesia.
RUSSIA / MEDIA Voice of America 16 February 2000 -- Human rights organizations have long criticized Russia for its war against the breakaway Chechen republic. Russia's newfound freedom of the press appears to be under attack as well.
U-N-H-C-R / CHECHNYA Voice of America 16 February 2000 -- The United Nations says hundreds of refugees have fled fighting in southern Chechnya for the neighboring republic of Ingushetia in the past few days.
AMBON VIOLENCE / U-S PERSPECTIVE Voice of America 16 February 2000 -- The fighting began in Ambon early last year, and since then at least 1000 people have been killed and countless buildings, including many churches and mosques, have been burned or destroyed.
GENERAL ASSEMBLY'S AD HOC COMMITTEE ON TERRORISM CONTINUES DEBATE ON PROPOSED HIGH-LEVEL CONFERENCE Press Release L/2943 - 16 February 2000 -- The Ad Hoc Committee, established by General Assembly resolution 51/210 of 17 December 1996, has been elaborating anti-terrorism instruments on a step-by- step basis, including the 1997 Convention for the Supression of Terrorist Bombings and the 1999 Convention for the Supression of the Financing of Terrorism.
Transcript: Asst. Secretary Rice Discusses Sierra Leone USIA 16 February 2000 -- The United States welcomes the signing of the Lome Accord by the Sierra Leone rebel leadership and "the modest progress that has been made in disarmament," Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Susan Rice said.
Text: Assistant Secretary Roth Testimony on Indonesia USIA 16 February 2000 -- The U.S. commitment to seeing a successful democratic transition in Indonesia goes beyond mere rhetoric, according to Assistant Secretary of State Stanley Roth.
Text: Geithner Testimony to House Subcommittee on Indonesia USIA 16 February 2000 -- While the Indonesian government under President Wahid has taken important steps towards economic recovery, it still faces major challenges, according to Treasury Under Secretary Timothy Geithner.
Holbrooke Asks Legislative Support for Congo Peacekeepers USIA 16 February 2000 -- Declaring "we need your support because Africa matters," U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Richard Holbrooke asked Congress February 15 to back a new three-phased plan under discussion for a U.N. peacekeeping force in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DROC).
NORTHERN IRELAND PEACE PROCESS: HEADING 'IN REVERSE'? Foreign Media Reaction 16 February 2000 -- In the wake of recent developments in Northern Ireland, observers in Europe, Asia, Latin America and Canada expressed deep concern that the peace process there has hit a "brick wall," and may be heading "in reverse." Britain's suspension last Friday of Northern Ireland's multiparty government and the resumption of direct rule after parties to the conflict deadlocked over arms decommissioning was greeted with concern that the move may have been "premature." But a majority of observers still held out hope that the peace process was only "frozen" for the time being and would have survived the suspension.
RUSSIA: SKEPTICISM ABOUT GROZNY 'VICTORY'; CRITICISM OF WESTERN 'LENIENCY' Foreign Media Reaction 16 February 2000 -- Vladimir Putin's February 6 declaration that Grozny has been "liberated" by Russian forces topped recent editorial coverage of Russia. Media from Europe, East Asia, Latin America and Canada treated the news with skepticism and derision, contending that the Kremlin's "hollow victory" offers "little to celebrate," given the "death tolls" already exacted. Moreover, many--including some reformist and centrist papers in Moscow--contended that the war in Chechnya "has by no means been won."
MIDDLE EAST: BETWEEN 'WAR AND PEACE' Foreign Media Reaction 15 February 2000 -- Editorials throughout the Arab world strongly criticized the U.S. stance blaming the Hezbollah guerrillas for the cycle of violence on the Israeli-Lebanese border. But in Lebanon, journalists tried to analyze a perceived shift in the American position on South Lebanon. Noting Assistant Secretary Walker's remarks, Beirut's moderate An-Nahar determined that the U.S. had modified its "tone," particularly with respect to the "Israeli assault against the Lebanese infrastructure" in an effort to encourage the UN Israel Lebanon Monitoring Group to meet.
Text: Amb. Holbrooke Testifies on Peacekeeping in Congo USIA 15 February 2000 -- U.S. Permanent Representative to the United Nations Ambassador Richard Holbrooke on February 15 urged lawmakers to support U.N. peacekeeping efforts in the Democratic Republic of Congo, asserting that "without strong U.N. leadership in addressing this situation" now there is a near certainty "of a catastrophic political and humanitarian disaster in Central Africa."
Peacekeeping in Congo Richard C. Holbrooke, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, House Committee on International Relations Subcommittee on Africa, February 15, 2000 -- The time has come for the UN to take the next steps for peace in Congo. The time has come for the parties to the conflict to realize the full potential of the Lusaka Agreement. And the time has come for the US to lend its support.
SUDAN CIVIL WAR Voice of America 15 February 2000 -- Human rights activists and Sudanese exiles are urging the U-S government to help stop what they call genocide and religious persecution in Sudan.
SERBIA ON THE BRINK Voice of America 15 February 2000 -- The recent assassination of two men close to Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic has dramatized what seems to be a climate of increasing anarchy and murder in Serbia today.
U-N/INDONESIA Voice of America 15 February 2000 -- Justice in East Timor would have been a crucial topic of Kofi Annan's visit to Indonesia, even without the suspension of security minister and former armed forces chief General Wiranto from the Cabinet.
U-N-CYPRUS Voice of America 15 February 2000 -- The United Nations Security Council today (Tuesday) issued an encouraging statement regarding talks on the future of Cyprus.
U-N - CONGO-KINSHASA RIGHTS Voice of America 15 February 2000 -- A special United Nations investigator condemns recent executions and the general deterioration of the human rights situation in Congo-Kinshasa.
CONGRESS-CONGO PEACEKEEPING Voice of America 15 February 2000 -- The Clinton Administration is trying to convince Congress to back U-N plans to send 55-hundred observers and troops to Congo-Kinshasa.
BURUNDI DISPLACED Voice of America 15 February 2000 -- Fighting between government troops and Hutu rebels in Burundi has displaced thousands of civilians in the east of the country since the beginning of the year.
ISLAMIC FACTOR AND RUSSIA Russian Information Centre 15 February 2000 -- At present the main orientation of the US anti-Russian policy is to separate Russia from its immediate neighbourhood. Caspian oil is an important though not the main factor of Western expansion carried out in this region with the involvement of Islamic nations. The developments of the past few years prove that there are forces in the international arena, which are striving to realise a scenario of Russia's weakening by turning it into a confederation, if not of its complete disintegration. The North Caucasus is a rather vulnerable link in this respect, especially after the Chechen war. The US is using the Islamic factor to weaken Russia and assert its own domination in Eurasia. That is why Russian politicians should not forget who is behind the events in Chechnya or Tajikistan and with which forces it is really necessary to wage a war or to hold negotiations
ALIYEV AND CASPIAN OIL Voice of America 15 February 2000 -- Azerbaijan President Heydar Aliyev gave a buoyant, optimistic appraisal of his country and its energy prospects. But he made allowance for continuing problems with Russia and Armenia.
CLINTON-AZERBAIJAN Voice of America 15 February 2000 -- Though fighting in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict ended with a cease-fire five-years ago, the two governments have failed to make much headway in efforts to resolve their dispute over the Armenian enclave located inside Azerbaijan.
ALGERIA VIOLENCE Voice of America 15 February 2000 -- At least 16 people have died and 20 have been injured in an attack in western Algeria -- in the latest flare-up of violence to hit the North African country.
NATIONAL SUMMIT ON AFRICA Voice of America 15 February 2000 -- An unprecedented nationwide effort to guide U-S relations with Africa is to be launched this week (Feb. 16 -20) at The National Summit on Africa.
COHEN - AFRICA PEACEKEEPING Voice of America 15 February 2000 -- South Africa's minister of defense says it's time for more vigor in efforts to end the web of wars ravaging the Democratic Republic of Congo and its neighbors.
GENERAL ASSEMBLY’S AD HOC COMMITTEE ON TERRORISM DISCUSSES POSSIBLE HIGH-LEVEL CONFERENCE Press Release L/2942 - 15 February 2000 -- The United States was skeptical about the practical benefits and the likelihood of concrete results from the envisaged international conference on terrorism, its representative told the General Assembly’s Ad Hoc Committee on terrorism this morning.
SPECIAL COMMITTEE CONCLUDES DEBATE ON ALL ASPECTS OF PEACEKEEPING Press Release GA/PK/167 15 February 2000 -- The United Nations must react promptly, regardless of the source of conflicts, to avoid the recurrence of massacres, the Special Committee on Peacekeeping Operations was told this morning as it concluded its general debate on all aspects of peacekeeping.
GENERAL ASSEMBLY'S AD HOC COMMITTEE ON TERRORISM BEGINS FOURTH SESSION Press Release L/2940 - 14 February 2000 -- Committee is expected to consider the outstanding issues relating to the draft anti-nuclear terrorism instrument, and the question of convening a high-level United Nations conference to formulate an organized response by the international community to terrorism.
UNIFORM CRITERIA FOR UN INVOLVEMENT IN CONFLICTS AND CRISIS SITUATIONS MUST BE ESTABLISHED, SPECIAL PEACEKEEPING COMMITTEE TOLD Press Release GA/PK/165 - 14 February 2000 -- Speakers in today’s debate stressed the need for international political will and sufficient funding, which were essential for timely and effective international involvement. Speakers also emphasized the importance of such fundamental principles as the sovereignty and territorial integrity of States, as well as non-use of force, except in self-defence.
TURKEY / ISLAMISTS Voice of America 14 February 2000 -- At least five Turkish policemen have been killed in a shootout with Islamic militants in the largely Kurdish southeastern province of Van.
MEXICO UNIVERSITY Voice of America 14 February 2000 -- More than 200-thousand students returned to classrooms on Monday at the National Autonomous University of Mexico, known as UNAM.
ISRAEL / LEBANON Voice of America 14 February 2000 -- Israel is considering pulling its forces out of southern Lebanon sooner than the July deadline originally set by Prime Minister Ehud Barak.
U-S - INDONESIA Voice of America 14 February 2000 -- The United States has praised Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid's decision to suspend the country's former military chief from the cabinet.
INDONESIA-WIRANTO Voice of America 14 February 2000 -- Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid has suspended former armed forces chief General Wiranto from his Cabinet, reversing a decision he had made less than 24 hours before.
AFGHAN HOSTAGES / RETURN Voice of America 14 February 2000 -- Seventy-three former hostages have returned to Afghanistan - eight days after the plane on which they were travelling was hijacked to London.
UNHCR / CONGO REFUGEES Voice of America 14 February 2000 -- The United Nations Refugee Agency, U-N-H-C-R, says refugees have been fleeing into Kigoma, Tanzania to escape renewed fighting between rebels and pro-government Maimai soldiers in the Congo.
ON THE SITUATION IN THE NORTH CAUCASUS SERGEI V. YASTRZHEMBSKY - assistant to the Russian President on the coordination of the information and analytical work of the federal executive authorities involved in the counter-terrorist operation in the North Caucasus 14.02.2000 -- The bandit warlords are still fighting hard to keep the Argun gorge. The bandit groups deployed in the mountain regions are trying to stop the advance of the joint group of federal forces. They are overhauling their positions, restoring communication systems, and trying to replenish their weapons, munitions and food stocks. They are reinforcing their groups with the fighters, who had escaped from the flat parts of Chechnya, and 14-16-year-old residents of mountain villages. Mobile bandit groups, consisting mostly of the Daghestani Wahhabis and mercenaries, are concentrating in the vicinity of Khatun, Kirov-Yurt, Makhketa and Agishta. What you call "vacuum" bombs the military call "air-fuel explosives." I may be mistaken but my impression is that such bombs have not been used up to now. I will specify this matter additionally. If I am mistaken, I will correct my mistake.
CHECHNYA - REFUGEES Voice of America 14 February 2000 -- As the focus of the war in Chechnya shifts from the heavily populated lowlands to the mountains, Russian officials are encouraging refugees who fled at the height of fighting to return home. But for many, there may be no home to return to.
AFRICA / U-S MEDIA Voice of America 14 February 2000 -- How well is Africa covered by the U-S media? Are there enough stories? Are there hidden biases? These are just a few of the questions discussed by a panel of American and African journalists.
ISRAEL-LEBANON Voice of America 13 February 2000 -- Following the killing of a seventh Israeli soldier in recent weeks, Israel may pull its troops out of Lebanon as early as April.
WIRANTO Voice of America 13 February 2000 -- At a marathon meeting Sunday morning, President Wahid backed down from his demand that General Wiranto immediately resign from the Cabinet. General Wiranto will stay on as security minister pending a further investigation into human rights abuses in East Timor.
INDONESIA-WIRANTO Voice of America 13 February 2000 -- Indonesian security minister and former armed forces chief General Wiranto has won a reprieve from being fired from the Cabinet. But the reprieve may be brief.
INDONESIA-SUHARTO Voice of America 13 February 2000 -- Indonesia's former President, Suharto, has been summoned to appear for questioning Monday in a corruption investigation.
CONGO FIGHTING Voice of America 13 February 2000 -- After breaking the rebel siege on the town of Ikela, Congo's government says it has pushed rebels more than 100-kilometers east toward the town of Opola. That is on the road to the rebel's biggest city, Kisangani.
MEXICO POLITICS Voice of America 12 February 2000 -- In Mexico City, a presidential candidate has accused city government officials of instigating the nearly ten-month-long strike at the National Autonomous University of Mexico.
INDONESIA WAHID Voice of America 12 February 2000 -- Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid is ending a 16-day overseas trip and returning to Jakarta late today (Saturday) to face an expected showdown with security minister, General Wiranto.
RUSSIA-CHECHNYA-POLITICIAN Voice of America 12 February 2000 -- Russian aircraft have continued bombing suspected Chechen positions in the southern mountains in Chechnya as troops prepare to launch a ground offensive there.
RUSSIA - HUMAN RIGHTS Voice of America 12 February 2000 -- Human rights organizations accuse Russian troops with killing dozens of civilians in the devastated capital of Chechnya.
BURUNDI REBEL FIGHTING Voice of America 12 February 2000 -- Fighting has broken out in Burundi between Burundian and Rwandan rebels, leaving hundreds of people dead. The two rebel groups used to be close allies.
ISRAEL / LEBANON Voice of America 11 February 2000 -- Hezbollah guerrillas launched the attack on the Beaufort Castle, a Crusader-era mountaintop military base with a commanding view of southern Lebanon and northern Israel.
NORTHERN IRELAND Voice of America 11 February 2000 -- Britain has suspended Northern Ireland's new government only 72 days after giving it power to deal with local.
INDONESIA-MILITARY Voice of America 11 February 2000 -- The struggle between Indonesia's president and his former military chief has highlighted the profound changes that have taken place in Indonesian institutions since President Suharto was forced out nearly two years ago.
INDONESIA-COUP Voice of America 11 February 2000 -- The tussle between Indonesian President Abdrurrahman Wahid and the country's former top general continues. However fears that the struggle between the two men will lead to a military coup appear to have abated.
CROATIA / TRIBUNAL RELATIONS Voice of America 11 February 2000 -- While Mr. Tudjman increasingly refused to cooperate with the War Crimes Tribunal, President-elect Mesic not only says he agrees with the Tribunal's work, but he has personally supported it in the past - as a witness.
CONGO VIOLENCE Voice of America 11 February 2000 -- Ethnic Hema own most of the large cattle ranches along Lake Albert. They want to expand the boundaries of those ranches and have run into ethnic Lendu farmers who are unwilling to give up their land. Church officials say seven months of attacks and counter-attacks have killed at least five thousand people.
CONGO / PEACEKEEPING Voice of America 11 February 2000 -- Questions and criticisms are being raised about the U-S peacekeeping proposal - including whether 5- thousand troops and 500-monitors would be enough to do the job. Some African diplomats at the United Nations say the number is too small. For example, Rwanda's U-N Ambassador, Joseph Mutaboba, calls the number meaningless for a country the size of Congo.
RUSSIA / CHECHNYA Voice of America 11 February 2000 -- Russian military officials say they will soon launch what they call a "final strike" against Chechen fighters. Defense Minister Igor Sergeyev says up to 50 thousand ground troops will move into the southern mountains to attack rebels there.
ON THE SITUATION IN THE NORTH CAUCASUS VALERY L. MANILOV – Colonel General, First Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces - 11.02.2000 -- In the past week, the federal Grouping of forces carried on the success attained by the liberation of Grozny from the bandit groups. The flat part of Chechnya is now completely free of the bandit groups. The scattered bandit groups took refuge in the mountain regions. They have some 7,000 men, roughly a half of them mercenaries and criminals, who have nothing to lose and hence would fight to the bitter end. As for the detonation bombs, their use against such targets as caves, tunnels and mountain fissures, meaning closed areas, is highly effective. If a bomb hits the target, it destroys everything there. Conventions or the rules of warfare do not prohibit the use of such munitions. Since August 2, 1999, the Defence Ministry and the armed forces lost 970 in dead, the Interior Ministry troops and agencies lost 488 in dead, which adds up to 1,458. The armed forces lost 2,706 in wounded, and the Interior Ministry, 1,789, which adds up to 4,495.
CHECHEN REFUGEES Voice of America 11 February 2000 -- As the war in Chechnya drags on, refugees who fled to neighboring Ingushetia say Russia has quietly started cutting back services to camps that are home to tens of thousands of displaced people.
CAMBODIA / HUN SEN Voice of America 11 February 2000 -- Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen will meet United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan to discuss salvaging a joint-war crimes tribunal for leaders of the Khmer Rouge regime.
BURUNDI CAMPS Voice of America 11 February 2000 -- The United Nations special representative on internally displaced persons, Francis Deng, says the so-called regroupment camps in Burundi are not acceptable.
AFRICA'S WIDE WAR Voice of America 11 February 2000 -- The U-S Defense Department is working with the United Nations to set up a peacekeeping group for the war-torn Congo, where several nations are now engaged in a bewildering conflict that has no clear reasons or solutions.
SEVERAL ASPECTS OF THE SITUATION IN THE NORTH CAUCASUS Russia@America 11.02.2000 -- Having no illusions about what is in store for them in the event of a total defeat, the irreconcilable terrorists have sought to enlist support coming from foreign organisations. What is meant are non-governmental "charity funds" that, which in fact, belong to radical Islamists from the international extremist organisations "Hamas", "Hezbollah", "Al-Jihad" and "Al-Islami".
"Conditions and Prospects in East Timor" Stanley O. Roth, Assistant Secretary for East Asian and Pacific Affairs, U.S. Department of State, Testimony before the Subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific and the Senate Subcommittee on East Asian and Pacific Affairs -- February 10, 2000 -- Since INTERFET deployed in East Timor, militia violence there has effectively ended. There have been several clashes between INTERFET forces and militias operating out of West Timor. However, within East Timor, most of the militias have either disbanded or fled to West Timor. We remain very concerned, however, about recent militia attacks on the borders of the East Timor enclave of Ambeno/Oecussi.
International Relations Committee Chairman on East Timor USIA 10 February 2000 -- While much has been done to bring peace and stability to East Timor, much remains to be done, according to Representative Benjamin Gilman (Republican of New York).
CONGRESS - EAST TIMOR Voice of America 10 February 2000 -- The U-S Congress is taking a close look at the situation in East Timor, as lawmakers prepare to receive the Clinton administration's aid request.
LEBANON RAID / ARAB REACT Voice of America 10 February 2000 -- The Israeli raids in Lebanon have drawn widespread condemnation from leaders in the Arab world, and concern among political analysts that the military action may further harm the stalled peace negotiations between Israel and its Arab neighbors.
ISRAEL / LEBANON Voice of America 10 February 2000 -- Israeli warplanes are continuing to bomb suspected Hezbollah guerrilla targets in southern Lebanon, but tensions along Israel's northern border are beginning to ease.
NORTHERN IRELAND Voice of America 10 February 2000 -- In Northern Ireland, last-ditch efforts continue to try to avert the suspension of the power- sharing assembly, which was set up eight-weeks ago.
SUHARTO PROBE Voice of America 10 February 2000 -- Indonesia's deposed president has been named a suspect in a government investigation into corruption.
BRITAIN / HIJACK ENDS Voice of America 10 February 2000 -- Twenty-one people on board the hijacked Afghan airliner were arrested early Thursday morning in London after all the hostages were released unharmed.
AFGHAN HIJACK / TALEBAN REACT Voice of America 10 February 2000 -- Taleban authorities in Afghanistan say they are grateful to Britain for bringing the hijacking of an Afghan airlines plane to a peaceful end.
RUSSIA - BABITKSY Voice of America 10 February 2000 -- A top official with the Chechen government says Andrei Babitsky is not being held by Chechen commanders in the war-torn region.
Text: U.S. Statement on Chechnya, Babitsky to OSCE Permanent Council USIA 10 February 2000 -- Ambassador David Johnson, the U.S. representative to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), said February 10 that Russia must investigate allegations of human rights violations in Chechnya.
RUSSIA TRAIN / CHECHENS Voice of America 10 February 2000 -- Chechen rebels have ambushed Russian military trains in the first major raid since they pulled out of the capital Grozny. This, as Russian forces continue to pound rebel positions in Southern Chechnya.
U-N / CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC Voice of America 10 February 2000 -- The United Nations Security Council took note today (Thursday) of the successful conclusion of an almost two-year-old peacekeeping mission in the Central African Republic.
COHEN - AFRICA PEACE KEEPING Voice of America 10 February 2000 -- Defense secretary William Cohen is ruling out any US military peace keeping role in Congo or other African trouble spots, saying the US military is already stretched too thin.
YUGOSLAV WAR CRIMES Voice of America 09 February 2000 -- Judges at the Yugoslav War Crimes Tribunal have sent a Bosnian Croat back to jail after nine-months of freedom.
INDONESIA / RIGHTS Voice of America 09 February 2000 -- A special Indonesian investigative commission on East Timor is citing members of the pro-independence movement, as well as the pro-Jakarta militias, for human rights violations.
SERBIA SANCTIONS Voice of America 09 February 2000 -- The United States and Britain say they support a temporary lifting of the international ban on airline flights into Serbia, but only as part of tighter sanctions against the Belgrade government.
LEBANON RAID / ARAB REACT Voice of America 09 February 2000 -- The Israeli raid in Lebanon has drawn widespread condemnation from leaders in the Arab world, and concern among political analysts that it may further harm the stalled peace negotiations between Israel and its Arab neighbors.
ISRAEL / LEBANON Voice of America 09 February 2000 -- Israel's Foreign Minister is warning that "the soil of Lebanon will burn" if guerrillas fire rockets into northern Israel in retaliation for recent air raids.
BRITAIN / HIJACK Voice of America 09 February 2000 -- Police officials at Stansted Airport, outside London, say the situation on a hijacked Afghan airliner is again calm. Tensions mounted after four crewmembers made a daring night-time escape from the aircraft.
AFGHAN ARRESTS Voice of America 09 February 2000 -- Afghanistan's Taleban authorities have detained several people suspected of involvement in Sunday's hijacking of an Afghan airlines plane to London.
WHO / INGUSHETIA Voice of America 09 February 2000 -- The World Health Organization, W-H-O, says there is a danger of tuberculosis spreading among Chechen refugees who have fled to the neighboring republic of Ingushetia.
U-S / BABITSKY Voice of America 09 February 2000 -- The United States is calling on Russia to conduct an unbiased investigation into the disappearance of U-S radio reporter Andrei Babitsky.
Text: RFE/RL's Babitsky Says on Tape He Wants to Go Home USIA 9 February 2000 -- Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty press release discusses the videotape delivered to the RFE/RL bureau in Moscow February 8 which shows correspondent Andrei Babitsky, who is purportedly in the hands of the Chechens, saying he wants to go home.
RUSSIA TAKES GROZNY Voice of America 09 February 2000 -- After five months of intense fighting, Russians hoisted their flag above the Chechen capital. but the celebration hardly signifies the end of the civil war in the breakaway republic. Most of the rebels have fled to the mountains, much as they did four years ago before recapturing Grozny.
CHECHNYA SCENE Voice of America 09 February 2000 -- Russian forces in Chechnya are shifting their focus to the South, where rebel fighters fled after abandoning the capital, Grozny.
CHECHNYA / BABITSKY Voice of America 09 February 2000 -- A reporter for Radio Liberty who has been missing in Chechnya has been heard from for the first time in three-weeks.
RUSSIA / CHECHNYA Voice of America 09 February 2000 -- Military commanders in Russia say they will be using more powerful bombs in their attacks against Chechen fighters in the Caucasus Mountains.
CAMBODIAN TRAIN Voice of America 09 February 2000 -- The war with the Khmer Rouge ended last year with the capture of the last remaining commander. Now, Cambodia is counting on the tourist trade to help rebuild its ravaged economy.
BURUNDI FIGHTING Voice of America 09 February 2000 -- Rebels in the central African nation of Burundi attacked a neighborhood on the outskirts of the capital.
UNICEF / ANGOLA REFUGEES Voice of America 09 February 2000 -- The United Nations is pushing this week to vaccinate nearly three-thousand Angolan children in a refugee camp in western Zambia.
ANGOLA / WARNING Voice of America 09 February 2000 -- South Africa is expressing growing concern about the threat posed to regional stability by the ongoing conflict in Angola, despite statements by Angolan authorities that their forces are making rapid headway against the UNITA rebel movement led by Jonas Savimbi.
MILITARY COMMUNIQUÉ - NO. 02/2000 THE NATIONAL UNION FOR THE TOTAL INDEPENDENCE OF ANGOLA [UNITA] 09 February 1999 -- During the period between the 10th of January and the 3rd of February, 2000, the UNITA Armed Forces for the Liberation of Angola "FALA" carried out the following military activities. During the period between the 10th of January 2000 and the 3rd of February 2000 the MPLA lost 882 men - dead.
DEVELOPMENTS IN THE CAUCASUS AMID THE "BIG GAME" Russian Information Centre - 09.02.2000 -- The developments in the North Caucasus are linked with the strategic interests of many states and political forces, above all the Caspian oil, the important geo-strategic situation of the Caucasus, as well as the desire of some states to dominate in this region. In particular, NATO and the USA, seeking to win over certain Caucasian states, are encouraging them to take anti-Russian actions.
4TH BRIGADE LIBERATES DETAINED MOTORISTS February 09, 2000 -- Reuters and Colombian National Radio reported that 4th Brigade Army troops have freed the hundreds of people detained by leftist rebels blockading the Medellin-Bogota highway. Military officials said at least 1,200 people, travelling aboard some 400 cars, buses and trucks, were caught in the blockade.
ACTIVISTS MURDERED February 09, 2000 -- The U.S. Embassy in Jakarta and the Indonesian media have reported the murders of at least two activists in Aceh, and the disappearance of a witness to alleged military atrocities in the beleaguered province.
W-F-P / UGANDA Voice of America 08 February 2000 -- The United Nations World Food Program, W-F-P, says tens of thousands of people in northern Uganda have been fleeing from violent attacks by rebels of the so-called Lord's Resistance Army.
U-N-H-C-R / TIMOR Voice of America 08 February 2000 -- The United Nations is urging Indonesia to halt a new upsurge in violence against refugees and aid workers in West Timor.
MEXICO - UNIVERSITY Voice of America 08 February 2000 -- In Mexico City, judicial officials have released 579 of the 745 students who were detained Sunday when federal police entered the campus of the National Autonomous University of Mexico.
ISRAEL / LEBANON Voice of America 08 February 2000 -- Hezbollah guerrillas in southern Lebanon have killed another Israeli soldier, just hours after Israeli warplanes launched massive air strikes in retaliation for earlier guerrilla attacks.
NORTHERN IRELAND Voice of America 08 February 2000 -- Britain's House of Commons is pushing through legislation that would suspend Northern Ireland's power-sharing assembly at the end of the week. The threat comes after a deadlock on paramilitary disarmament.
NORTHERN IRELAND - I-R-A WEAPONS Voice of America 08 February 2000 -- The British government has introduced legislation to suspend local government authority in Northern Ireland if the Irish Republican Army does not begin a process of handing over its weapons.
INDONESIA POL Voice of America 08 February 2000 -- The struggle between President Wahid and General Wiranto, which has been conducted long distance across continents, is a test of whether the Indonesia's civilian government can gain authority over the powerful military establishment.
HOSTAGE NEGOTIATIONS Voice of America 08 February 2000 -- Special British negotiating teams are in non-stop talks with hijackers holding about 150 hostages aboard an Afghan airliner outside London.
EGYPT / ISLAMIST CEASE-FIRE Voice of America 08 February 2000 -- Leaders of Egypt's most violent Islamic group are calling for a cease-fire, saying their organization should pursue its goals through peaceful means.
ECUADOR INDIANS Voice of America 08 February 2000 -- As Indian leaders work to capitalize on their achievement, some observers believe the Indian movement may have lost more than it gained.
ECUADOR INDIANS Voice of America 08 February 2000 -- Ecuador's Indian movement scored an important victory when its protests late last month triggered the overthrow of an unpopular president.
CYPRUS TALKS Voice of America 08 February 2000 -- Peace talks for Cyprus are failing to make progress on efforts to reunify the divided island.
RUSSIA / CHECHNYA Voice of America 08 February 2000 -- Russian forces are continuing their offensive against Chechen rebels in the southern part of the breakaway republic, after the Chechen withdrawal from the capital Grozny.
CHECHNYA UPDATE Voice of America 08 February 2000 -- Russian forces are attacking Chechen rebels in the Caucasus Mountains south of the devastated capital city of Grozny.
BRAZIL-DRUGS-ANGOLA Voice of America 08 February 2000 -- Police in Rio de Janeiro have launched a major operation to crack down on drug-related violence in a large slum area of the city, and to investigate reports that Angolan mercenaries are training drug dealers in military tactics.
ANGOLA / WARNING Voice of America 08 February 2000 -- South Africa is expressing growing concern about the threat posed to regional stability by the ongoing conflict in Angola.
BRITAIN / HIJACK Voice of America 08 February 2000 -- Hijackers holding some 150 people hostage on an Afghan airliner at a London airport have released a 45-year-old man while negotiations to end the hostage crisis continue non-stop.
AFGHAN PLANE Voice of America 08 February 2000 -- The Taleban's supreme leader in Afghanistan has criticized what he calls international silence over the hijacking of an Afghan airliner.
MEDELLIN-BOGOTA HIGHWAY UNDER GUERRILLA CONTROL Tuesday, February 08, 2000 -- The ELN blockaded the road Friday afternoon, claiming that the Army abandoned control of the area in order to allow illegal paramilitary units to operate freely.
WAHID STATEMENT ON ACEH Tuesday, February 08, 2000 -- The government of the Republic of Indonesia is committed to alleviate any further suffering of the people in Aceh. To this end, the government has decided from 1st February 2000 [to begin] a six-month period during which the government will concretely address humanitarian and human rights problems in Aceh.
VLADIMIR PUTIN'S "ALBATROSSES" u>Russia&America, No. 8 -- 08.02.2000 -- Moscow regularly subsidised the economy of the republic - without receiving a single figure from it in the way of financial accounts. Moscow felt compelled to act only when Shamil Basayev began putting into practice his publicly proclaimed plan of founding an "Islamic Republic extending from the Volga to the Don".
HUMANITARIAN COOPERATION Mikhail Margelov, head of the Russian Information Centre (Speech at the Wilton Park Conference "Humanitarian Principles: Engaging with Non-State Actors") 07.02.2000 -- Was financing insufficient? But it is insufficient throughout Russia. The main factor was different: our partners embezzled everything and immediately. For example, as distinct from the rest of Russia, the funds allocated for employees of budget-financed sphere in Chechnya were dispatched regularly and in full. However, not a single pensioner, teacher or doctor in the republic has seen them in the past three years.
ON THE SITUATION IN THE NORTH CAUCASUS SERGEI V. YASTRZHEMBSKY - assistant to the President of the Russian Federation - 07.02.2000 -- The units of the Joint Grouping of federal forces, acting jointly with the Chechen militia, held repeated special operations to expose bandits in the Zavodskoi district and the Aldy and Chernorechye suburbs of Grozny. Up to 300 bandits were killed during the operation held to liquidate the bandits, who escaped from Grozny to the settlements of Katyr-Yurt and Shani-Yurt.
Journalists' Group Concerned Over Russian Reporter in Chechnya USIA 7 February 2000 -- The world's largest organization of journalists has called on Russia to "come clean" over the fate of Radio Liberty reporter Andrei Babitsky, who disappeared January 15 while covering the war in Chechnya.
U.N. Expands Sierra Leone Peacekeeping Force By Judy Aita USIA 7 February 2000 -- Emphasizing that helping the government and people of Sierra Leone consolidate peace is a "high priority" for the United States, U.S. Ambassador Nancy Soderberg voted with the rest of the Security Council February 7 to dramatically increase the U.N. peacekeeping force in that country.
SIERRA LEONE/DISARMAMENT Voice of America 07 February 2000 -- The war in Sierra Leone may have ended but parts of the country remain too dangerous even for armed United Nations peace keepers.
U-N / SIERRA LEONE Voice of America 07 February 2000 -- The United Nations Security Council voted Monday to almost double the size of the U-N peacekeeping force in the west African nation of Sierra Leone.
YUGOSLAV DEFENSE MINISTER Voice of America 07 February 2000 -- Police officials and independent media say Yugoslavia's Defense Minister (Pavle Bulatovic) has been shot to death in Belgrade.
ISRAEL / LEBANON Voice of America 07 February 2000 -- Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak called his security cabinet into special session as he faces growing domestic pressure to launch military strikes against Iranian-backed Hezbollah guerrillas in south Lebanon.
HYDERABAD BOMB BLAST AND FURTHER BOMB SCARES IN KARACHI Monday, February 07, 2000 -- Yet another bomb detonated in the Consulate General Karachi District and once again in the city of Hyderabad, approximately 150 kilometer east of Karachi.
NORTHERN IRELAND - SUSPENSION Voice of America 07 February 2000 -- Nine-weeks after a bit of self-rule was given to Northern Ireland, the British government has introduced legislation suspending governing institutions in the British province.
RUSSIA / CHECHNYA RIGHTS Voice of America 07 February 2000 -- The group Human Rights Watch says it has documented a pattern of atrocities by Russian troops in the Chechen capital, Grozny, during the past several weeks.
RUSSIA / CHECHNYA SITREP Voice of America 07 February 2000 -- Russian officials say federal troops have killed hundreds of rebel fighters trying to flee to the mountains of southern Chechnya as government forces consolidate control of the capital, Grozny.
U-N-H-C-R / BURUNDI REFUGEES Voice of America 07 February 2000 -- The United Nations says refugees from Burundi continue to flee to neighboring Tanzania to escape fighting between government and rebel forces.
AFRICAN CONFLICTS Voice of America 07 February 2000 -- Africa continues to be torn by warfare as the new century begins. Among the most violent and destructive conflicts are the civil war in the mineral-rich Congo, the border war between Ethiopia and Eritrea, which appears ready to explode again, and the Hutu-Tutsi conflict in Burundi.
SECURITY COUNCIL BRIEFED ON SITUATION IN SIERRA LEONE BY ASSISTANT SECRETARY-GENERAL FOR PEACEKEEPING Press Release SC/6800 - 7 February 2000 -- Observing that there had been several incidents last month in which the troops of the UNITED Nations Mission in Sierra Leone (UNAMSIL) had been confronted by rebel troops and had not responded satisfactorily, he stressed the need to apply UNAMSIL's rules of engagement strictly.
SECURITY COUNCIL EXPANDS MANDATE, NUMBERS OF SIERRA LEONE FORCE, ADOPTING RESOLUTION 1289 (2000) UNANIMOUSLY Press Release SC/6801 - 7 February 2000 -- The Security Council this afternoon to expanded the military component of the United Nations Mission in Sierra Leone (UNAMSIL) to a maximum of 11,100, including the 260 military observers already deployed, and extended UNAMSIL’s mandate for a further six months from today.
AFGHAN PLANE / TALEBAN Voice of America 07 February 2000 -- Taleban Supreme Leader Mullah Mohammed Omar blames the military commander of the opposition Northern Alliance - Amad Shah Masood - for the incident.
BRITAIN / HIJACK Voice of America 07 February 2000 -- More hostages have been released from a hijacked Afghan airliner sitting at a London airport since early in the day.
MEXICO - UNIVERSITY Voice of America 06 February 2000 -- In Mexico City, officials say there are now 745 militant students behind bars as a result of the retaking of the campus of the National Autonomous University of Mexico.
ZEDILLO/UNIVERSITY Voice of America 06 February 2000 -- In Mexico City, more than 600 militant students remain behind bars following federal police intervention early Sunday to recover the campus of the National Autonomous University of Mexico.
MEXICO UNIVERSITY Voice of America 06 February 2000 -- In Mexico City, 25-hundred federal police have occupied the main campus of the National Autonomous University of Mexico, known as UNAM, taking into custody more than 400 striking students.
CHECHEN FIGHTING Voice of America 06 February 2000 -- Russian troops continue consolidating their control over Grozny, the devastated capital city of Chechnya. At the same time field commanders say they're shifting their attention to the fight against Chechen rebels in the southern mountains.
BURUNDI TALKS Voice of America 06 February 2000 -- Burundi President Pierre Buyoya is consulting with former South African President Nelson Mandela, the mediator of the Burundi crisis.
AFGHAN HIJACK Voice of America 06 February 2000 -- The Ariana Air Boeing 727 jet was on the ground in Moscow a little more than three and a half hours. It lifted off into a snow-filled ski shortly before one-thirty Monday morning heading west.
AFGHAN HIJACK Voice of America 06 February 2000 -- A hijacked Afghan airliner with more than 150 people on board has left Moscow for somewhere in Europe.
SUDAN/PLANE Voice of America 05 February 2000 -- Sudanese militiamen are holding a plane chartered by the United Nations World Food Program in southern Sudan.
CHECHEN FIGHTING Voice of America 05 February 2000 -- Russian forces are consolidating their hold on Grozny, where some rebels continue to shoot at the troops from ruined buildings.
BURUNDI/CAMPS Voice of America 05 February 2000 -- Authorities in the central African nation of Burundi have announced they will begin closing some of the more than 50 so-called "regroupment camps" in hills around the capital.
Lebanon-Israel Monitoring Group Considers Thirty Complaints USIA 4 February 2000 -- The Lebanon-Israel Monitoring Group met February 2-3, 2000, in Naqura, Lebanon, to consider thirty complaints of violation of the April 26, 1996 Understanding, fourteen filed by Israel and sixteen filed by Lebanon.
SRI LANKA INDEPENDENCE Voice of America 04 February 2000 -- Sri Lankan President Chandrika Kumaratunga has called upon all Sri Lankans to help her find peace, saying she believed the country was finally on the right track to solving ethnic problems.
NORTHERN IRELAND Voice of America 04 February 2000 -- Northern Ireland's power-sharing government was formed only nine weeks ago, and now it is very close to being suspended indefinitely.
INDONESIA - WIRANTO Voice of America 04 February 2000 -- Indonesia's Defense Minister says today (Friday) he has called on General Wiranto, the former head of the Armed Forces to resign from the presidential cabinet.
U-S / RUSSIA JOURNALIST Voice of America 04 February 2000 -- The United States has expressed outrage at reports that Russia may have traded a journalist working for a U-S radio Station for captive Russian soldiers in Chechnya.
RUSSIA / CHECHNYA WITHDRAWAL Voice of America 04 February 2000 -- A senior Russian general says the number of troops deployed in Chechnya will be reduced, now that the regional capital, Grozny, is in almost completely in government hands.
RUSSIA / CHECHNYA / JOURNALIST Voice of America 04 February 2000 -- Russian television has broadcast pictures of a controversial exchange in which a Radio Liberty journalist arrested in Chechnya was apparently handed over to rebels in a swap for Russian soldiers.
Kavkaz-Tsentr reports: February 4th, 2000 -- Kavkaz-Tsentr's correspondent, who left Dzhokhar together with the units of the armed forces of the ChRI, reports that the last detachments of the Mujahideen have now reached their new positions. Shamil Basayev once again confirmed that the redeployment has been carried out successfully.
SREBRENICA SURVIVORS / U-N Voice of America 04 February 2000 -- The United Nations is reacting cautiously to complaints against Secretary-General Kofi Annan and other top U-N officials, by survivors of the 1995 Serb massacre of Muslims in Srebrenica.
U-N-H-C-R / ZAMBIA Voice of America 04 February 2000 -- The United Nations refugee agency, U-N-H-C-R, says about eight-thousand refugees from war-torn Angola are trapped in a remote, dangerous border area of Zambia.
Holbrooke Intends to Keep Emphasis on Africa By Judy Aita USIA 4 February 2000 -- Although his efforts to put Africa at the center stage of the Security Council for what he termed "the Month of Africa" have ended, U.S. Ambassador Richard Holbrooke is already saying that 2000 must be the "year of Africa."
THE MONTH OF AFRICA: AIDS, DROC ON 'THE FRONTBURNER' AT THE UN Foreign Media Reaction 04 February 2000 -- The U.S.-initiated Month of Africa at the UN Security Council sparked commentary--mostly accolades--from around the globe. But writers judged that the real litmus test of U.S. and international concern about the continent will be in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DROC). Several writers determined that the UN has been "reluctant" to intervene there because of a "double standard," devoting resources to the resolution of European and Asian conflicts to the detriment of those in Africa and because of a fear, deemed "not without reason" of becoming imbroiled in an African "quagmire" binding troops for years.
RUSSIA'S 'VICTORY' OVER GROZNY; MOSCOW'S RELATIONS WITH WEST ON 'UPSWING'? Foreign Media Reaction 03 February 2000 -- On Chechnya, papers outside of Russia acknowledged that the Chechen pullout is "good news" for Acting President Putin and could mark a "decisive moment" in the four-month-old conflict, but generally agreed that it was far too premature to "proclaim victory" overall. In fact, many anticipated that "the 'victory' could be a prelude to a longer and more costly war," if the rebels merely regroup and continue the fighting in southern Chechnya.
EAST TIMOR REPORT Voice of America 03 February 2000 -- In a report to the U-N Security Council, the top United Nations official in East Timor drew a picture of almost total devastation in East Timor as a result of the violence before and after last year's independence vote.
CHINA / PHILIPPINES Voice of America 03 February 2000 -- A dispute between China and the Philippines over islands in the South China Sea is heating up. China calls it Huangyan Island. The Philippines refers to it as Scarborough Shoal.
ASIAN MILITARY Voice of America 03 February 2000 -- Post-colonial armed forces were developed in Asia to combat internal enemies. The Asian military continues to concentrate on internal suppression of groups that are no longer communist and often democratic - a legitimate opposition.
AMBON VIOLENCE Voice of America 03 February 2000 -- Tension remains high in the Indonesian city of Ambon, the capital of eastern Maluku province after a year of clashes between Christians and Muslims that have left up to two thousand people dead.
MOZAMBIQUE POLITICS Voice of America 03 February 2000 -- In Mozambique, President Joachim Chissano has ruled out negotiations on power-sharing with the opposition Renamo party. And Renamo's leader, Afonso Dhlakama, has said he will go ahead and form an alternative government.
LANKA/WOUNDED Voice of America 03 February 2000 -- More than 70 Tamil rebels have been killed in fresh fighting in Sri Lanka's north. And 18-people have been wounded in two separate explosions as Sri Lanka prepares for 52nd anniversary celebrations, Friday.
NORTHERN IRELAND Voice of America 03 February 2000 -- The British government has announced plans to strip power from Northern Ireland's eight-week-old Protestant - Catholic joint administration.
ANOTHER CRISIS IN NORTHERN IRELAND Voice of America 03 February 2000 -- The fragile peace agreement between the Irish Republicans and pro-British Unionists in Northern Ireland appears to be coming apart. This latest crisis involves the refusal by the outlawed Irish Republican Army to begin turning over its weapons and explosives in what the agreement terms - decommissioning.
RUSSIA / CHECHNYA / JOURNALIST Voice of America 03 February 2000 -- Russia says it has swapped a Radio Liberty journalist arrested in Chechnya in exchange for three Russian soldiers captured by Chechen rebels.
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 03.02.2000 -- Let’s begin with the situation in Grozny, where the storm units and the federal forces are completing the liquidation of the remaining resistance sites, of which there are still quite a few. As of now, over 50% of Grozny is firmly held by the federal forces. The military think there are kamikaze sharpshooters in some buildings, who have the task of fighting to the bitter end, doing as much damage to the storm units as possible. We came across the fiercest resistance in the neighbourhoods west of Minutka Square and in the Zavodskoi district. The bandit chieftains also tried to lead small groups of fighters from Grozny in the past day, but their attempts were foiled. It is not true that the bandits broke through to Alkhan-Kala from the southern regions, the foothills outside Grozny, in order to ensure the retreat of the Grozny defenders from the city.
PRESS BRIEFING BY PRESIDENT OF INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL TRIBUNAL FOR THE FORMER YUGOSLAVIA 3 February 2000 -- The recently-elected President of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, Claude Jorda, told correspondents at a Headquarters press briefing this afternoon that the purpose of his visit to New York was to discuss the future of the Tribunal, as well as a possible timetable for its reform.
HEAD OF UN TRANSITIONAL ADMINISTRATION IN EAST TIMOR BRIEFS SECURITY COUNCIL Press Release SC/6799 - 3 February 2000 -- Internal security had greatly improved and there was now no threat of violence for most people. However, in some areas along the border with West Timor, particularly in the Oecussi enclave, there had been incidents involving pro-integration militia members.
U.N. Security Council Concludes "Month of Africa" USIA 3 February 2000 -- As the United Nations Security council ended its month-long look at Africa January 31, the key sentiment expressed by ambassadors, African statesmen, and U.N. officials was for "follow-up" steps that can bring hope for the continent in the twenty-first century.
EAST TIMOR / HUMAN RIGHTS Voice of America 02 February 2000 -- U-N officials in East Timor Wednesday found 10 bodies in a mass grave that may contain the corpses of up to 60 victims of anti-independence militias.
MEXICO CLASH Voice of America 02 February 2000 -- In Mexico City, more than 250 people are in jail following a violent confrontation late Tuesday at a high school affiliated with the National Autonomous University of Mexico, known as UNAM.
INDONESIA / WIRANTO Voice of America 02 February 2000 -- Indonesia's former Armed Forces chief, General Wiranto, has not resigned his cabinet post, despite a call Tuesday by Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid that he do so.
CONGO / HUMAN RIGHTS Voice of America 02 February 2000 -- A U-S human-rights group says rebels in eastern Congo-Kinshasa are using illegal arrests and torture to silence their civilian opponents.
COLOMBIA REBELS Voice of America 02 February 2000 -- This is one of the first signs of real cooperation between the guerrillas and the government since they started peace talks a year ago. The war itself -- which has claimed 30-thousand lives over the past 35 years -- is blazing as hot as ever.
ARMENIA REACHES OUT Voice of America 02 February 2000 -- Russian Acting President Vladimir Putin and U-S Secretary of State Madeleine Albright have urged Armenia and Azerbaijan to settle their longstanding dispute over the Nagorno Karabakh enclave.
SERGEI YASTRZHEMBSKY DISPROVES REPORTS ON MILITANTS LEAVING GROZNY RIA Novosti 01.02.2000 -- Reports on militants leaving Grozny and Shamil Basayev operated on in Alkhan-Kale are not accurate, Sergei Yastrzhembsky, the Russian Acting President's assistant for co-ordination of news and analysis work, told a Tuesday news conference.
ON SITUATION IN THE NORTH CAUCASUS SERGEI V. YASTRZHEMBSKY – RF Acting President Assistant for co-ordination of information-analytical work of the federal executive authorities, taking part in counter-terrorist operation in the North Caucasus 02.02.2000 -- In Grozny within the past 24 hours sub-units, operating in the Oktyabrsky district, have taken full control of Gudermes street, which connects Minutka square and Prigorodnaya square. In the Leninsky district storm-troops have expanded their control zone by having completely blocked the northern outskirts of the Novaya Sunja district. Bandits from the special- task squad Almaz, which had been created in its time for guarding of Basayev, have also attempted to break out of the encirclement. Activities of the militants in the mountains have been slightly reduced for the time being. At the same time federal forces continue to build up their grouping at the foothills and parts, controlled by paratroopers.
Taliban ready to hold talks with opposition: Mulla Rabbani Associated Press of Pakistan 02 February 2000 -- Afghanistan’s Taliban-led government on Feb. 1 agreed to Pakistan’s proposal for resumption of talks with the Northern Opposition Alliance to amicably resolve the lingering crisis in war-ravaged country. “There was a proposal from Pakistani side for talks with the Northern Alliance (NA).
CHINA-INDONESIA-HUMAN RIGHTS Voice of America 01 February 2000 -- China says it opposes establishment of a United Nations tribunal to investigate allegations of Indonesian human rights atrocities in East Timor.
INDONESIA / RIGHTS Voice of America 01 February 2000 -- Indonesia's former Armed Forces chief General Wiranto says he is not ready to resign his cabinet position, despite a report implicating him in last year's wave of violence in East Timor.
INDONESIA-TIMOR REPORT REACT Voice of America 01 February 2000 -- Indonesia's ambassador to the United Nations, Makarim Wibisono, is disputing a U-N report accusing his country's military of involvement in human rights violations, and says there is no need for an international tribunal for East Timor.
MOZAMBIQUE POLITICS Voice of America 01 February 2000 -- In Mozambique, the disgruntled leader of the country's main opposition party is threatening a civil disobedience campaign unless President Joachim Chissano agrees to talks on power-sharing.
ISRAEL / LEBANON Voice of America 01 February 2000 -- Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak is calling on Syria to help reduce the violence in southern Lebanon. But he says a recent escalation in the fighting should not be linked directly to peace negotiations with the Damascus government.
INDONESIA / WAHID Voice of America 01 February 2000 -- Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid is demanding the immediate resignation of his former military chief, General Wiranto, who now heads Indonesia's security ministry.
RUSSIA / CHECHNYA Voice of America 01 February 2000 -- Chechen rebels say they have abandoned the capital, Grozny, in what they called a tactical retreat. But Russian officials say fighting is continuing.
SOCIO-ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT OF THE CHECHEN REPUBLIC NIKOLAI P. KOSHMAN - authorised representative of the Government of the Russian Federation in the Chechen Republic, Vice Premier of the RF Government 01.02.2000 -- The authorised mission of the Russian Federation's Government, as well as the interim Chechen republican administration were relocated to Gudermes January 18. Acting Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a decree on establishing a government commission for aiding the Chechen Republic in restoring its economy and social sector.
U-N-H-C-R / CHECHNYA Voice of America 01 February 2000 -- The United Nations says more than two-thousand refugees each day are fleeing the war in Chechnya by crossing the border to neighboring Ingushetia.
HABRE PROSECUTION Voice of America 01 February 2000 -- Witnesses have wrapped up their testimony in a Senegalese court where a judge will decide whether to prosecute former Chadian ruler Hissene Habre on charges of crimes against humanity.
SPECIAL REPRESENTATIVE FOR CHILDREN AND ARMED CONFLICT CALLS ON COLOMBIAN REVOLUTIONARY GROUP TO HONOUR COMMITMENTS Press Release HR/4457 - 1 February 2000 -- The Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict, Olara A. Otunnu, has called on the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) to honour its commitments concerning the recruitment and deployment of children in armed conflict.
EPL TOP COMMANDER KILLED IN ACTION Tuesday, February 01, 2000 -- Hugo 'El Nene' Alberto Carvajal Aguilar, commander of the Popular Liberation Army, was killed during the weekend of January 28, 2000 in a skirmish with the 'Los Guanes' 5th Counter-guerrilla Battalion of the Colombian Army.