April 2000 Military News

PHILIPPINES HOSTAGES Voice of America 30 April 2000 -- The location of the 27-hostages being held by an Islamic extremist group on Basilan island is not known, while the 21-hostages on neighboring Jolo island are reported to be weak and in need of food.
LEBANON ECONOMY Voice of America 30 April 2000 -- Lebanon's trade association declared a state of emergency last week, saying three-years of economic decline has seriously hurt the country's business climate.
LEBANON - HEZBOLLAH Voice of America 30 April 2000 -- Hezbollah was founded in the early 1980's reportedly with Syrian support and money from Iran. Hezbollah has also become increasingly involved in civic activities.
LANKA/DEFENSE Voice of America 30 April 2000 -- Sri Lanka is shopping around for guns to modernize its security forces, following recent military losses.
ALGERIA/PEACE SUMMIT Voice of America 30 April 2000 -- The mini-summit aims to find ways of ending Congo's conflict, which has destabilized central Africa. But experts are not hopeful of a breakthrough.
PHILIPPINES - HOSTAGES Voice of America 29 April 2000 -- In the first rebuke to demands by the Muslim extremists holding the 21 hostages in the southern Philippines, the Philippine Government has rejected a call by the kidnappers for the chief negotiator to be replaced.
PHILIPPINES HOSTAGE CRISIS Voice of America 29 April 2000 -- Philippine forces have attacked and captured most of a Muslim rebel stronghold but they did not find the 27 hostages who had been held there for nearly six weeks.
SRI LANKA PRESIDENT Voice of America 29 April 2000 -- Sri Lankan President Chandrika Kumaratunga says she is always open to peace talks but she says the war with the Tamil Tiger rebels will continue with the use of maximum energy by government forces.
MANDELA/BURUNDI Voice of America 29 April 2000 -- Former South African president Nelson Mandela was in Burundi Friday for talks on ending the country's ethnic violence.
ZIMBABWE / ARREST Voice of America 28 April 2000 -- Police in Zimbabwe have arrested a journalist working for the Associated Press and charged him in connection with a bomb blast last Saturday near an opposition newspaper, The Daily News.
UNHCR / TIMOR Voice of America 28 April 2000 -- The United Nations Refugee Agency, U-N-H- C-R, has welcomed a decision by Indonesian authorities to remove East Timorese soldiers loyal to the government from refugee camps in West Timor.
PHILIPPINES HOSTAGES Voice of America 28 April 2000 -- Rebels holding 21 hostages in the southern Philippines are demanding direct negotiations with governments around the world before they will consider releasing their captives.
PHILIPPINES / HOSTAGES Voice of America 28 April 2000 -- Philippine troops launched a major assault on Friday in a bid to rescue 27 Filipino hostages held by Muslim rebels for nearly six weeks.
SOUTH LEBANON FIGHTING Voice of America 28 April 2000 -- Hezbollah guerrillas attacked an encampment of the pro-Israeli South Lebanon Army Friday, leaving an undetermined number of casualties.
LEBANON / PALESTINIANS Voice of America 28 April 2000 -- The Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon has brought a period of uncertainty to the region. There is uncertainty about whether Israeli forces will withdraw completely from Lebanon.
SRI LANKA - U-N Voice of America 28 April 2000 -- Sri Lanka's main opposition party has called for an overhaul of the armed forces after the recent military defeats near Elephant Pass.
CAMBODIA / TRIBUNAL Voice of America 28 April 2000 -- U-S Senator John Kerry arrived in Phnom Penh on Friday to help broker a deal between the United Nations and Cambodia on genocide trials for the Khmer Rouge.
ISLAM AND DEMOCRACY Voice of America 28 April 2000 -- Political Islam is a scare word for many people. It suggests turbaned zealots rioting in the streets.
INDONESIA / POLITICS Voice of America 28 April 2000 -- A cabinet minister fired by Indonesian President Wahid has rejected the president's allegations that he engaged in corruption.
HORN OF AFRICA FAMINE Voice of America 28 April 2000 -- Ethiopia's bitter and costly border war with Eritrea is making the job of aid agencies significantly more difficult than in past disasters.
COLOMBIA / PEACE / U-S Voice of America 28 April 2000 -- The situation in Colombia - where armed insurgencies of the right and left are growing stronger - appears to have reached a critical point. Leftist rebel attacks against the Colombian army and police are on the rise, while rightwing paramilitary groups terrorize civilians suspected of supporting the guerrillas.
UNHCR / CHECHNYA Voice of America 28 April 2000 -- The United Nations Refugee Agency, U-N-H- C-R, and its partners are distributing food and other relief supplies to tens of thousands of needy people in Chechnya.
MANDELA / BURUNDI Voice of America 28 April 2000 -- Former South African President Nelson Mandela was in Burundi Friday on a peace mission to end that country's ethnic violence.
ZIMBABWE Voice of America 27 April 2000 -- Zimbabwe is imposing new restrictions on political activity in anticipation of parliamentary elections later this year.
ZIMBABWE - BRITAIN Voice of America 27 April 2000 -- Crucial talks trying to end the land crisis gripping Zimbabwe have been extended in London. But the two sides are finding it difficult to reach middle ground.
U-N-EAST TIMOR Voice of America 27 April 2000 -- A senior U-N official presented a generally positive report today (Thursday) about the situation in East Timor.
HOLBROOKE ON U-N PEACEKEEPING Voice of America 27 April 2000 -- The United States ambassador to the United Nations today (Thursday) expressed concern about mounting demands for U-N peacekeeping operations.
PHILIPPINES - HOSTAGES Voice of America 27 April 2000 -- The negotiator seeking release of 21 hostages seized in Malaysia and taken to the Philippines, is ruling out ransom demands.
ISRAEL / LEBANON Voice of America 27 April 2000 -- United Nations Special Envoy Terje Larsen has begun a tour of the Middle East to discuss Israel's planned troop withdrawal from southern Lebanon.
LEBANON - SYRIA Voice of America 27 April 2000 -- A military court in Lebanon recently sentenced nearly one-dozen students to several weeks each in jail for demonstrating against the presence of 35-thousand Syrian forces in Lebanon.
LANKAN FIGHTING Voice of America 27 April 2000 -- Sri Lanka's Tamil Tiger rebels have launched a new offensive in their bid to re-capture their former stronghold and capital, Jaffna.
COLOMBIA/PEACE PROCESS Voice of America 27 April 2000 -- Unlike the demilitarized zone for the FARC, there will restrictions on the E-L-N area to prevent the rebels from creating their own government in the region.
U-N / HUMAN RIGHTS Voice of America 27 April 2000 -- Human rights groups have praised the United Nations Human Rights Commission for its condemnation of Russia's military action in Chechnya.
RUSSIA / CHECHNYA Voice of America 27 April 2000 -- President-elect Vladimir Putin has reiterated Russia's hardline policy in the breakaway Chechnya region. Meanwhile, details are emerging of heavy losses suffered by Russian troops.
MANDELA / BURUNDI Voice of America 27 April 2000 -- Former South African President Nelson Mandela arrives in Burundi Friday as part of a peace mission to end that country's ethnic violence.
ASSISTANT SECRETARY-GENERAL FOR PEACEKEEPING BRIEFS SECURITY COUNCIL, DESCRIBES MONTH OF ‘STEADY PROGRESS’ IN EAST TIMOR Press Release SC/6850 -- 27 April 2000 - Steady progress had been made in East Timor over the past month, with security on the border with the Indonesian province of West Timor remaining generally stable, and even improving.
OCHA RELEASES NEEDS ASSESSMENT FINDINGS FOR ANGOLA Press Release IHA/704 - 26 April 2000 -- The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) presented the findings of a rapid needs assessment undertaken in 31 locations throughout Angola.
PHILIPPINES HOSTAGES Voice of America 26 April 2000 -- The Philippines military says the gunmen who kidnapped 21 people at a resort in eastern Malaysia have taken their hostages to the southern Philippines.
LEBANON / ISRAEL WITHDRAWAL Voice of America 26 April 2000 -- Lebanese Prime Minister Salim al-Hoss has announced his government's acceptance of Israel's withdrawal from an area in southern Lebanon it has occupied for the past 22-years.
LEBANON / ISRAEL Voice of America 26 April 2000 -- Lebanon's prime minister says he would welcome an international peacekeeping force along the border with Israel, after Israeli troops are withdrawn from Southern Lebanon.
ISRAEL / LEBANON Voice of America 26 April 2000 -- Israel is quietly preparing to reinforce its international border with Lebanon before a planned pullout of Israeli troops from a self-declared security zone in southern Lebanon.
LANKA/ATTACK Voice of America 26 April 2000 -- Sri Lanka's armed forces are bracing for more fighting with the Tamil Tiger rebels at the strategic Elephant Pass base they lost to the guerrillas in recent fighting.
SHARIA / COMPARISON Voice of America 26 April 2000 -- Islamic law - and its role in a pluralistic democracy - is a continuing focus of controversy in Nigeria. Though Nigeria has gotten the most attention, it is not the only country in Africa that uses Sharia in its legal system.
COLOMBIA-PEACE TALKS Voice of America 26 April 2000 -- In Colombia, the government has agreed to demilitarize a second region of the country to help begin peace talks with the nation's second major rebel group, known as the National Liberation Army -- or E- L-N-.
FARC PLENARY SESSION ISSUES COMMUNIQUE ON NEW "TAXES" April 26, 2000 - FARC has announced a new policy to collect funds from Colombian entities with estates worth 1 million US dollars or more.
RUSSIA / CHECHNYA Voice of America 26 April 2000 -- Russia has rejected a U-N Human Rights Commission resolution on Chechnya and intensified bombing raids on the breakaway region. Russian officials have flatly ruled out talks with Chechnya's president.
Text: State Department on Violence in Indonesia's Aceh 26 April 2000 -- "The United States believes this conflict must be resolved on the basis of justice, security, greater self-government, and economic development for the province, within the framework of a united Indonesia," the State Department said. "The United States rejects the use of violence and urges restraint by all parties in Aceh."
UN / EAST TIMOR Voice of America 25 April 2000 -- The U-N Human Rights Commission has repeated its demand that Indonesia investigate violations of fundamental human rights and international humanitarian law that took place in East Timor.
MALAYSIA-PHILIPPINES/HOSTAGES Voice of America 25 April 2000 -- A Muslim extremist group in the southern Philippines has claimed responsibility for the kidnapping of 20 people from a Malaysian resort island.
CAMBODIA / LAOS Voice of America 25 April 2000 -- Cambodia and Laos are pledging to define their long-disputed common border by the year 2001, at the latest.
LANKA/ELEPHANT PASS Voice of America 25 April 2000 -- Sri Lankan troops are preparing for another wave of attacks following a weekend offensive in which Tamil Tiger guerrillas captured the strategic Elephant Pass, gateway to the country's northern Jaffna region.
U-N CONGO OPTIMISM Voice of America 25 April 2000 -- A top United Nations official today (Tuesday) repeatedly used the words "prudent optimism" to describe his feelings about the current situation in Congo-Kinshasa.
U-N / CHECHNYA / RIGHTS Voice of America 25 April 2000 -- The United Nations Human Rights Commission has sharply criticized Russia for what it calls the indiscriminate use of force in Chechnya.
U-N / CHECHNYA Voice of America 25 April 2000 -- U-N aid agencies have sent another convoy of relief supplies to Chechnya.
NOTE TO CORRESPONDENTS STUDY ON ‘PEACEKEEPING IN AFRICA: CAPABILITIES AND CULPABILITIES’ 25 April 2000 -- This joint study of peacekeeping initiatives undertaken on the African continent considers a number of factors that underpin any operation, including the political will of Member States.
PRESS BRIEFING BY SPECIAL REPRESENTATIVE FOR DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO 25 April 2000 -- While prospects for peace were now good, the United Nations must continue to work with the parties to consolidate those prospects.
BURUNDI FIGHTING Voice of America 25 April 2000 -- Burundi's army has launched a new offensive against rebels outside the capital just days before former South African President Nelson Mandela is scheduled to arrive on a peace mission.
Transcript: NATO Supreme Allied Commander Press Briefing 25 April 2000 -- U.S. Army General Wesley Clark, outgoing NATO Supreme Allied Commander Europe (SACEUR), told reporters in Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina, April 25 that he is optimistic about the future of Southeastern Europe.
12 SOLDIERS WOUNDED April 25, 2000 - 12 soldiers of the Indonesian Army Strategic Command (KOSTRAD) where slightly wounded when a rifle grenade/rocket was fired at a local military headquarters in Aceh Utara District.
MOBIL FACILITIES ATTACKED April 25, 2000 - Five outposts of the Mobil Oil Indonesia (MOI) complex came under attack from armed insurgents in the area of Lhokseumawe-Lhoksukon in Aceh Province.
MAOIST ACTIVITY IN KATHMANDU April 24, 2000 - Since the end of March, there have been eighteen reported Maoist incidents in Kathmandu. The majority of these incidents have been public demonstrations, which have occurred without violence or any police interference. However, several incidents indicate a more aggressive Maoist presence in the Valley.
Text: U.S. Welcomes Sudan's Announcement on Civilian Bombing 24 April 2000 -- The United States government welcomes President Omar Bashir's April 19 announcement that the Sudanese government will end its aerial bombing of civilian targets in "deep" southern Sudan.
MALAYSIA / PHILIPPINES HOSTAGES Voice of America 24 April 2000 -- Suspected Philippine gunmen have kidnapped more than 20 people from a Malaysian resort island off the coast of Borneo.
SRI LANKA FIGHTING Voice of America 24 April 2000 -- Tamil Tiger rebels in Sri Lanka say they have recovered large amounts of weapons and ammunition from a government military base in northern Sri Lanka that they overran on Sunday.
INDONESIA / MALUKU / VIOLENCE Voice of America 24 April 2000 -- At least four people are dead and 18 injured in a fresh outbreak of violence in Indonesia's Maluku province.
RUSSIA / CHECHNYA Voice of America 24 April 2000 -- Rebel fighters have ambushed a Russian military convoy in Chechnya, killing at least 15 soldiers.
PHILIPPINES - REBELS Voice of America 23 April 2000 -- The military in the Philippines says it is confident of securing the release of a group of 27 hostages held for more than a month by an Islamic extremist movement in the south of the country.
SRI LANKA FIGHTING Voice of America 23 April 2000 -- Tamil Tiger rebels in Sri Lanka say they have overrun Elephant Pass, a key army base which links the northern Jaffna peninsula with the rest of the country.
GEORGIA GEOPOLITICS Voice of America 23 April 2000 -- Russia's military offensive in Chechnya is being watched with concern by other countries in the region. Georgian authorities say they fear the fighting could spill over into their territory when the snow melts in the high Caucasus mountain passes along the frontier.
CONGO/DIALOGUE Voice of America 23 April 2000 -- The government in Congo-Kinshasa has rejected a proposal to hold a national dialogue with its opponents in July.
AFGHANISTAN DROUGHT Voice of America 23 April 2000 -- In Afghanistan, the worst drought in more than half-a-century is said to have gripped several southern provinces of the country.
INDONESIA ACEH Voice of America 23 April 2000 -- The security situation in Aceh remains tense days after the opening of a landmark human rights case in the Indonesian province.
ISLAMIC OPPOSITION Voice of America 22 April 2000 -- The Islamic opposition groups have similar traits, says Michael Rubin of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. For instance, their hatred of the West. But they are not really unified.
RUSSIA PEACE MOVES Voice of America 22 April 2000 -- Russian officials have confirmed that they received a peace plan from the leader of Chechnya, Aslan Maskhadov. But President-elect Vladimir Putin says that the chances are slim that the bloody war in Chechnya will end anytime soon.
NATO/ARREST Voice of America 22 April 2000 -- NATO officials say a Bosnian Serb, the first war crimes suspect indicted by a United Nations tribunal, has been arrested for alleged atrocities committed during the Bosnian conflict.
Text: NATO Secretary General's Statement on Arrest of Dragan Nikolic 22 April 2000 -- NATO Secretary General Lord George Robertson praised the actions of the Bosnia Peace Stabilization Force (SFOR) in detaining accused war criminal Dragan Nikolic.
Text: Bosnia Peace Force Detains Accused War Criminal 22 April 2000 -- Soldiers of the NATO-lead Peace Stabilization Force (SFOR) in Bosnia-Herzegovina arrested accused war criminal Dragan Nikolic April 22. Nikolic was transferred to The Hague to appear before the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY).
ACEH TRIAL Voice of America 22 April 2000 -- Defense attorneys for 24 Indonesian soldiers accused of taking part in a massacre in northern Aceh province have called for the case to be dismissed.
MUGABRE LEADS ZIMBABWE ASTRAY Voice of America 21 April 2000 -- For weeks, black settlers, including men and women who fought in Zimbabwe's war of independence, have been occupying the nation's large, commercial farms, owned by the country's tiny white minority.
HOLLYWOOD'S YEMEN Voice of America 21 April 2000 -- Muslims and others are now demonstrating in various American cities against a Hollywood film called "Rules of Engagement." They say it makes Arabs look like bloodthirsty fanatics, with not a good Arab in sight.
EAST TIMOR RIGHTS Voice of America 21 April 2000 -- Indonesian authorities say they are confident that they will have enough evidence to bring to trial six top generals accused of involvement in last September's campaign of terror.
KAGAME / RWANDA Voice of America 21 April 2000 -- Paul Kagame, the rebel leader credited with ending Rwanda's 1994 genocide, was overwhelmingly elected president on Monday during a special joint session of parliament and the cabinet.
SRI LANKA ARMY Voice of America 21 April 2000 -- In Sri Lanka a highly decorated army officer has been put in charge of halting a Tamil Rebel offensive in the northern Jaffna peninsula.
RUSSIA / CHECHNYA Voice of America 21 April 2000 -- Russia's President-elect Vladimir Putin says Moscow has been in contact with Chechnya's leader to exchange peace proposals.
CHECHNYA-RUSSIA Voice of America 21 April 2000 -- Ilyas Akhmadov is the chief aide to Chechnya's leader, Aslan Maskhadov. In an interview with V-O-A's Russian language service, Mr. Akhmadov dismisses recent Russian peace proposals for the province as ploys designed to fend off international criticism.
NIGERIA / MOSOP Voice of America 20 April 2000 -- A leading human-rights activist in Nigeria has filed a counter-suit against the police for allegedly detaining him illegally last week.
U-N STATEMENT ON LEBANON Voice of America 20 April 2000 -- The United Nations Security Council issued its first formal statement today/Thursday on Israel's decision to withdraw its soldiers from Lebanon.
COLOMBIA CORRUPTION Voice of America 20 April 2000 -- In Colombia, a corruption scandal in congress has the public on the verge of revolt against their politicians.
SECURITY COUNCIL, IN PRESIDENTIAL STATEMENT, WLECOMES NOTIFICATION OF ISRAEL’S INTENT TO WITHDRAW FROM LEBANON Press Release SC/6849 - 20 April 2000 - The Security Council welcomed the letters from Secretary- General Kofi Annan that include notification of the decision of the Government of Israel to withdraw its forces in Lebanon.
PRESS BRIEFING BY DEPUTY LEGAL ADVISER, UN MISSION IN EAST TIMOR 19 April 2000 - The 23 East Timorese prosecutors and judges now serving at district courts in Dili, Baucau and Oekussi were the first ever locals to fill these roles in East Timor.
SECRETARY-GENERAL, ADDRESSING SECURITY COUNCIL ON PROTECTION OF CIVILIANS IN CONFLICT, REVIEWS PAST PROGRESS, RECOMMENDS FUTURE APPROACHES Press Release SG/SM/7364 SC/6848 - 19 April 2000 -- Following is the address of Secretary-General Kofi Annan to the Security Council debate on the protection of civilians in armed conflict
SECURITY COUNCIL MOVES TO ENHANCE PROTECTION OF CIVILIANS IN CONFLICT Press Release SC/6847 - 19 April 2000 - The Security Council reaffirmed its readiness to adopt appropriate steps to deal with deliberate attacks on civilian populations and other protected persons, as well as with widespread violations of international humanitarian law and of human rights in conflict situations.
ZIMBABWE: 'A DISTURBING MATTER OF CONSCIENCE FOR ALL OF AFRICA' Issue Focus - Foreign Media Reaction 19 April 2000 -- Zimbabwe "is on the road to anarchy" 20 years after its independence from Britain. "The blame," they maintain, "lies almost entirely" on its only president, the former freedom fighter, Robert Mugabe.
E.TIMOR INVESTIGATION Voice of America 19 April 2000 -- Indonesia's Attorney General is pushing ahead with plans to investigate six top generals accused of involvement in the violence that consumed East Timor last September.
INDONESIA'S MILITARY Voice of America 19 April 2000 -- As Indonesia struggles to stay together against separatist pressures, it must rely on its army. But what if the military is the cause of a country's insecurity?
RIGHTS / COLOMBIA Voice of America 19 April 2000 -- The U-N Human Rights Commission says it is deeply concerned by continuing widespread human-rights violations in Colombia.
ACEH TRIAL Voice of America 19 April 2000 -- A high-profile human rights trial got underway Wednesday in Indonesia's Aceh province of 24 soldiers accused of massacring a group of civilians last year.
Text: Ambassador Soderberg's UNSC Remarks on Protection of Civilians 19 April 2000 -- Discussing a variety of options that could help protect civilians caught in war, U.S. Ambassador Nancy Soderberg emphasized to the UN Security Council that "civilians cannot be adequately protected by the international community alone."
Security Council Steps Up Investigation of UNITA Sanctions Busting By Judy Aita Washington File 19 April 2000 -- The Security Council April 18 unanimously voted to strengthen the implementation of sanctions against UNITA.
ON THE SITUATION IN THE NORTH CAUCASUS SERGEI V. YASTRZHEMBSKY - assistant to the Russian Acting President 19.04.2000 -- Several detachments of the 42nd motorised division have indeed been airlifted southward. This is the division, which will be stationed in Chechnya on a permanent basis. Let me share some curious information with you. The source is intercepted telephone communications between ringleaders of bandit formations. : Look at the map and you will see that the fighters hold a small territory of some 66 by 25 kilometres.
ON THE SITUATION IN THE NORTH CAUCASUS SERGEI V. YASTRZHEMBSKY - assistant to the Russian Acting President 18.04.2000 -- Let us read carefully what Ivanov said. He said that the military operation in Chechnya is completed and there are no large-scale hostilities. The Russian leaders understand that the Chechen "problem" cannot be solved by military means. But it is impossible to solve it by political means without a military stage, either.
Transcript: Inderfurth Voice of America Interview on Afghanistan 18 April 2000 -- Afghans are under the impression that the U.S., which provided all kinds of aid to the people of Afghanistan during the years of Jihad, for which they are extremely grateful, does not care about Afghanistan or its people anymore.
Text: Holbrooke's Remarks on UNITA Sanctions to the UN Security Council 18 April 2000 -- The United States favors taking additional action to stop UNITA leader Jonas Savimbi's sanctions-busting activities in Angola, U.S. Ambassador Richard Holbrooke said.
U-N / RIGHTS / YUGOSLAVIA Voice of America 18 April 2000 -- The United Nations Human Rights Commission has overwhelmingly approved a resolution condemning what it says are serious human rights violations in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.
SIERRA LEONE / SECURITY Voice of America 18 April 2000 -- Security ministers from Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea-Conakry have agreed to form a joint committee to monitor their shared borders.
LEBANON ATTACKS / ISRAELI WITHDRAWAL Voice of America 18 April 2000 -- In Lebanon, a Syrian construction worker has been killed and three people severely wounded by shelling near the southern Lebanese buffer zone occupied by Israel.
U-N-UNITA SANCTIONS Voice of America 18 April 2000 -- The United Nations Security Council today (Tuesday) has approved a resolution designed to put pressure on governments that violate sanctions against UNITA.
U-N / RIGHTS / AFRICA Voice of America 18 April 2000 -- The United Nations Human Rights Commission has condemned six African countries for what it calls gross violations of human rights.
INDONESIA / ACEH Voice of America 18 April 2000 -- A police chief who headed the crackdown on separatist rebels in the northern province of Aceh, has been removed from his post for alleged human rights violations.
SECURITY COUNCIL VOTES TO TIGHTEN SANCTIONS AGAINST UNITA, UNANIMOUSLY ADOPTING RESOLUTION 1295 (2000) Press Release SC/6846 - 18 April 2000 - Security Council this afternoon unanimously voted to tighten its sanctions against the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA) and undertook to consider additional measures -- use of armed force not included -- to make them more effective.
PRESS BRIEFING ON PROTECTION OF CIVILIANS IN ARMED CONFLICT BY EMERGENCY RELIEF COORDINATOR 18 April 2000 -- Carolyn McAskie, Emergency Relief Coordinator, a.i., briefed correspondents at Headquarters today on the protection of civilians in armed conflict.
UNITA Sanctions in Angola Ambassador Richard C. Holbrooke, United States Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Statement to the United Nations Security Council April 18, 2000 -- UNITA's sanctions-busting activities, aided and abetted by the parties identified in the report of the Experts' Panel, allowed it to pursue a military option that has brought death and destruction to a long suffering nation.
An American Diplomat's Perspectives On Kurds in the Global Arena Francis J. Ricciardone, Special Coordinator for Transition in Iraq Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs Remarks at the American University, Center for Global Peace Washington, DC, April 17, 2000
SPEAKERS CALL FOR CLEARER DEFINITION, TIGHTER TARGETING OF UN SANCTIONS AS COUNCIL DRAWS ON ‘LESSONS LEARNED’ TO REFINE SANCTIONS REGIMES Press Release SC/6845 - 17 April 2000 -- Acknowledging that the case for sanctions remained compelling, a number of speakers in the Security Council tonight called for their refinement and improvements in their effectiveness.
PRESS CONFERENCE ON SANCTIONS BY SECURITY COUNCIL PRESIDENT 17 April 2000 -- A legal framework was necessary to clarify ambiguity in terms of legal standards and norms in considering sanctions.
U-N SANCTIONS DEBATE Voice of America 17 April 2000 -- The United Nations Security Council is taking a hard look at the effectiveness of international sanctions.
RWANDA POLITICS Voice of America 17 April 2000 -- The government of Rwanda has named acting president Paul Kagame as the central-African country's new head of state.
ISRAEL / LEBANON PRISONERS Voice of America 17 April 2000 -- Israel's Supreme Court has refused to block the release of 13 Lebanese prisoners being held as bargaining chips for Israeli soldiers missing in action in Lebanon.
U-N ISRAEL-LEBANON WITHDRAWAL Voice of America 17 April 2000 -- The Israeli government has notified the United Nations that it will withdraw its forces from southern Lebanon by early July.
LANKA/MSF Voice of America 17 April 2000 -- Doctors Without Borders has urged the Sri Lankan government to allow the re-supply of urgently needed medicine to the country's north.
U-N ETHIOPIA DEMONSTRATION Voice of America 17 April 2000 -- Several dozen people today (Monday) demonstrated outside United Nations headquarters to protest what they call discrimination by the government of Ethiopia against the Oromia region of that country.
ERITREA / DROUGHT Voice of America 17 April 2000 -- A U-N special envoy has been meeting with Eritrean officials in Asmara - the latest stop on her tour of the Horn of Africa.
CONGO EXPLOSION Voice of America 17 April 2000 -- The death toll from Friday's explosion at Kinshasa's international airport, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, has risen to more than one- hundred.
RUSSIA / CHECHNYA RIGHTS Voice of America 17 April 2000 -- A group of prominent Russian politicians is forming a non-governmental commission to investigate complaints about human-rights abuses in Chechnya.
ANGOLA / NAMIBIA / REFUGEES Voice of America 17 April 2000 -- : International aid workers and local human-rights activists say the rights of Angolan refugees in Namibia are being violated.
GRENADE ATTACKS IN ACEH Friday, April 14, 2000 -- A spokesman for the insurgent Aceh Merdeka Movement (AMM) took responsibility on behalf of his group for the attack against the Indonesian military base camp and the ambush of the mobile brigade members near Lhosukon.
HOLBROOKE TO CONGO Voice of America 14 April 2000 -- The American Ambassador to the United Nations, Richard Holbrooke, will lead a U-N Security Council mission to Congo-Kinshasa early next month.
CHAIRMAN OF INDEPENDENT INQUIRY INTO UNITED NATIONS ACTIONS DURING 1994 RWANDA GENOCIDE PRESENTS REPORT TO SECURITY COUNCIL Press Release SC/6843 - 14 April 2000 -- The Security Council had the power to have prevented at least some of the Rwandan tragedy, and could act to ensure such a tragedy did not happen again. The report made clear that in Rwanda -– as in Bosnia and Somalia -– “we failed”, stated the representative of the United States. It pulled no punches, spared no responsibilities, and left no stone unturned.
SECURITY COUNCIL COMMITTEE CONCERNING AFGHANISTAN DESIGNATES FUNDS, FINANCIAL RESOURCES OF TALIBAN Press Release SC/6844 - 13 April 2000 -- Member States are required to freeze funds and other financial resources as designated by the Committee.
ISRAEL - GOLAN Voice of America 13 April 2000 -- Israel has lifted a freeze on public construction in the occupied Golan Heights. Israeli government says the move is the result of the stalemate in efforts to work out a comprehensive peace with Syria.
EAST TIMOR / RIGHTS Voice of America 12 April 2000 -- Jose Ramos-Horta, a winner of the Nobel peace prize for his defense of human rights in East Timor, has told the United Nations Human Rights Commission that people who committed human rights atrocities in East Timor must be punished for their crimes.
Holbrooke Urges Congress To Support Lusaka Peace Plan By Susan Ellis Washington File 12 April 2000 -- There are "no roads, the rivers are silted up, communications are down," the jungle is encroaching, and numerous bands of rebel armies and some "very strange elements" are shooting and roaming the country in quest of its rich natural resources.
Security Council Commends New Congo Agreement By Judy Aita Washington File 12 April 2000 -- The Security Council April 11 welcomed the decision of the Lusaka signatories to adopt a plan for a cease-fire and the disengagement and redeployment of forces in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).
SENEGAL FIGHITNG Voice of America 12 April 2000 -- Rebels in Senegal's southern Cassamance province have been waging a bloody independence campaign against the central government in Dakar for the past 18 years.
ISRAEL / LEBANON / PRISONERS Voice of America 12 April 2000 -- Israel is to release 13 of the 15 Lebanese prisoners it has been holding without trial as bargaining chips for Israeli soldiers missing in action.
INDONESIA / MUSLIM PROTESTS Voice of America 12 April 2000 -- Indonesian authorities say they will crack down on Muslim extremists planning to launch an offensive against Christians in eastern Maluku province.
ETHIOPIA FAMINE Voice of America 12 April 2000 -- United Nations officials on Wednesday began a trip to the Horn of Africa region where 16-million people are facing starvation because of a prolonged drought.
U-N CONGO DISCUSSION Voice of America 12 April 2000 -- The United Nations Security Council meeting in closed session today (Wednesday) discussed the latest developments in Congo-Kinshasa and reviewed plans for the deployment of more than five thousand U-N troops there.
RUSSIA / CHECHNYA Voice of America 12 April 2000 -- Russian forces are attacking rebel positions in Chechnya's southern mountains, as Russia signals it might be moving towards a negotiated end to the conflict.
BOSNIA: KRAJISNIK ARREST WELCOMED; MIXED VIEWS ON MUNICIPAL ELECTIONS Issue Focus - Foreign Media Reaction 12 April 2000 -- A majority of analysts applauded Mr. Krajisnik's arrest, viewing it as an indication of NATO's "new resolve" in bringing to justice indicted war criminals. They said it sends several "messages": to other indictees that they "may be next," as well as to Bosnian voters that the international community is serious in seeking justice.
ANGOLA AID Voice of America 12 April 2000 -- The United Nations World Food Program says more than 200-thousand Angolans are at risk of starvation in the provincial city of Cuito because of the poor condition of the airport runway there.
ANGOLA / UNITA Voice of America 12 April 2000 -- Angola's government says the "backbone" of the UNITA rebel movement has been broken. But regional security analysts say the rebels, relying on guerrilla tactics, still pose a significant threat.
PRESS CONFERENCE ON LEBANON 12 April 2000 - The United Nations presence in southern Lebanon was important, and some thought should be given to strengthening it in light of the promised Israeli withdrawal from that region.
SECRETARY-GENERAL WELCOMES DISENGAGEMENT PLAN AS ‘SIGNIFICANT STEP FORWARD’ IN DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO PEACE PROCESS Press Release SG/SM/7355 - 11 April 2000 -- Political Committee established under the Lusaka Ceasefire Agreement adopted a plan for the disengagement of belligerent forces from their current confrontation lines in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
SPECIAL REPRESENTATIVE FOR CHILDREN AND ARMED CONFLICT CALLS FOR WORLDWIDE ‘WEEK OF TRANQUILLITY’ DEVOTED TO CHILD PROTECTION Press Release HR/4466 HR/CN/981 - 11 April 2000 -- -- The Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict, Olara A. Otunnu, has proposed that the international community call on all warring factions in all ongoing conflicts to adhere to a simultaneous week-long ceasefire each year for the sake of children.
ISRAEL / SYRIA / GOLAN Voice of America 11 April 2000 -- Israel has approved the construction of 200 new homes on the Golan Heights because, officials say, it does not appear that peace talks with Syria will resume anytime soon.
ETHIOPIA / FAMINE Voice of America 11 April 2000 -- The United Nations and international relief organizations are struggling to get food aid to Ethiopia, where starvation threatens up to eight-million people.
U-N CONGO MOVEMENT Voice of America 11 April 2000 -- A new cease-fire commitment among the warring sides in Congo-Kinshasa seems to have sparked movement toward deployment of U-N observer troops to that central African nation.
CONGO-KINSHASA / U-N Voice of America 11 April 2000 -- The top United Nations official in the Democratic Republic of the Congo says the cease-fire set to take effect on Friday (April 14th) in Congo-Kinshasa is what he calls "a test" for all the parties involved in the war.
CHILD SOLDIERS Voice of America 11 April 2000 -- The United Nations estimates that more than 300-thousand children under the age of 18 are taking part in armed conflicts in more than 30 countries.
CHECHEN REFUGEES / RIGHTS Voice of America 11 April 2000 -- International pressure is mounting on Moscow to investigate allegations that Russian soldiers in Chechnya have committed widespread human rights abuses.
Text: U.S. on Chechnya Human Rights at UN Meeting 11 April 2000 -- Ambassador Nancy Rubin, head of the U.S. delegation to the United Nations Commission on Human Rights, addressed the commission's meeting in Geneva April 11 on the human rights situation in Chechnya.
GAMBIA VIOLENCE Voice of America 10 April 2000 -- As many as 10 students were killed in the Republic of the Gambia on Monday, as students and police clashed in the capital and another large city.
AFRICA / HORN OF SCARCITY Voice of America 10 April 2000 -- New estimates say as many as 18-million people in the Horn of Africa are at risk of starvation due to drought. Parts of Ethiopia, Djibouti, Kenya and Somalia are facing severe food shortages.
E-U / RUSSIA Voice of America 10 April 2000 -- Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov has met with his European Union counterparts in Luxembourg. There were no limits on European criticism about Russian actions in Chechnya.
ANGOLA / JOURNALIST Voice of America 10 April 2000 -- A prominent Angolan journalist says he will continue speaking out against the war, government corruption, and other problems in his country.
SRI LANKA MONKS Voice of America 09 April 2000 -- Buddhist monks and many nationalist organizations are wary of making concessions to the Tamil Tigers.
CONGO CEASEFIRE Voice of America 09 April 2000 -- Governments involved in the war in Congo- Kinshasa are reacting cautiously to a new cease-fire agreement signed on Saturday in Uganda.
EGYPT/SYRIA Voice of America 08 April 2000 -- Syrian Foreign Minister Farouk al-Sharaa met with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak on the stalled peace talks between Israel and Syria, and on the Israeli decision to withdraw its troops from south Lebanon.
ISRAEL/LEBANON Voice of America 08 April 2000 -- The head of Israel's army has pledged that no Israeli military bases will be left inside Lebanese territory after Israeli troops withdraw in July.
BOSNIAN ELECTIONS Voice of America 08 April 2000 -- Bosnians are voting in municipal elections Saturday. Western officials hope voters there will use the occasion to reject hardline nationalism, which in the past has led to war and bloodshed.
MIDDLE EAST: QUEST FOR PEACE CONTINUES ON ALL FRONTS Issue Focus - Foreign Media Reaction 07 April 2000 -- With Israel's support on Tuesday for the deployment of UN forces in South Lebanon as Israel ends its occupation there and the resumption of Israeli-Palestinian talks in Washington on Thursday, Middle East watchers this week focused on Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak's efforts to bring peace to Israel's borders. The Israeli press, left and right, criticized Mr. Barak's actions on the Palestinian track.
TIMOR REFUGEES Voice of America 07 April 2000 -- More than 140 thousand East Timorese refugees remain in camps in the Indonesian province of West Timor.
RWANDA / GENOCIDE Voice of America 07 April 2000 -- The central African nation of Rwanda commemorated the sixth anniversary Friday of the country's genocide, which left an estimated 800-thousand people dead in 1994.
UNICEF / ETHIOPIA DROUGHT Voice of America 07 April 2000 -- The United Nations Children's Fund, UNICEF, says critical, life-saving health and nutrition programs planned for children and women must not be ignored in the effort to get food aid to drought-stricken Ethiopia.
UNHCR / ERITREA / SUDAN Voice of America 07 April 2000 -- The United Nations Refugee Agency, U-N-H-C-R, says it concluded an agreement Friday with Eritrea and Sudan to repatriate an estimated 160 thousand refugees now in Sudan.
ERITREA - PRESIDENT Voice of America 07 April 2000 -- Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki says peace negotiations with Ethiopia have gone "back to square one" after proximity talks between the two nations were postponed last month.
RUSSIA / CHECHNYA / EUROPE Voice of America 07 April 2000 -- A delegation from the European Union visiting Moscow says Russia wants to improve relations with Europe despite its increasing anti-western statements.
BOSNIA WAR CRIMES Voice of America 07 April 2000 -- In his first appearance before the Yugoslav War Crimes Tribunal, former Bosnian Serb political leader Momcilo Krajisnik pleaded not guilty to all the charges against him.
U-N AFGHANISTAN Voice of America 07 April 2000 -- The United Nations Security Council today (Friday) strongly condemned human rights violations by the Taleban rulers in Afghanistan.
SECURITY COUNCIL, IN PRESIDENTIAL STATEMENT, REITERATES GRAVE CONCERN AT AFGHANISTAN CONFLICT, CONDEMNS TALIBAN FOR NEW OFFENSIVES Press Release SC/6841 - 7 April 2000 -- e Security Council this afternoon strongly condemned the Taliban for the launching of new offensives and expressed concern at reported preparations for renewed large- scale fighting.
NO REASON FOR OPTIMISM ABOUT EARLY CEASEFIRE IN AFGHANISTAN SECURITY COUNCIL TOLD DURING OPEN BRIEFING Press Release SC/6840 - 7 April 2000 -- While severe weather and the observance of the holy month of Ramadan had forced both sides to reduce the intensity of the fighting, it had not come to a halt. In fact, there was every indication that the parties were preparing for a full-scale offensive in the spring.
SECRETARY-GENERAL PLEASED BY AGREEMENT IN EAST TIMOR CONCERNING JUDICIAL, HUMAN RIGHTS MATTERS Press Release SG/SM/7353 -- 6 April 2000 - This agreement will facilitate the working together of the United Nations and Indonesia on investigations and prosecutions of those responsible for last year’s violence in East Timor.
U-N / TORTURE Voice of America 06 April 2000 -- A special United Nations investigator says torture is widely practiced throughout the world.
SUDAN / POLITICS Voice of America 06 April 2000 -- Senior members of Sudan's influential Umma opposition party are returning home after years in exile.
YUGOSLAVIA / MEDIA Voice of America 06 April 2000 -- The World Association of Newspapers has sent a letter to Yugoslav authorities to protest restrictions on independent media in Serbia.
RWANDA GENOCIDE MEMORIAL Voice of America 06 April 2000 -- Rwanda is commemorating the country's 1994 genocide in which an estimated 800-thousand Tutsis and moderate Hutus were slaughtered by Hutu extremists.
ISRAEL / LEBANON Voice of America 06 April 2000 -- Israeli defense officials are warning that the government's plans to withdraw Israeli troops from southern Lebanon could lead to attacks on Israeli towns that border Lebanon.
U-S AND INDONESIA Voice of America 06 April 2000 -- Muslims have called for a jihad or holy war against Christians in the Moluccan Islands. So far, some two thousand people have died in religious warfare.
INDONESIA - MUSLIM RALLY Voice of America 06 April 2000 -- More than five-thousand people have staged a Muslim prayer rally in the Indonesian capital Jakarta. They met to launch a jihad or holy war against the killing of Muslims in Maluku province.
ANNAN / HORN OF AFRICA Voice of America 06 April 2000 -- United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan is calling for quick action and generous support from the international community in helping starving people in the Horn of Africa region.
RUSSIA / CHECHNYA Voice of America 06 April 2000 -- Russian lawmakers are speaking out as Moscow mulls over an official response to a decision by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe to suspend Russia's voting rights in the 41-member body.
18 Million Africans at Risk of Starvation in Horn By Charles W. Corey Washington File 06 April 2000 -- Eighteen million Africans are now at risk of starvation from drought in the Horn of Africa and more than half of those potential famine victims are living in already hard-hit Ethiopia, warned a top U.S. relief official who just returned from the region.
INCREASED FARC ACTIVITY Thursday, April 06, 2000 -- Colombian and international media reported that FARC activity has increased in Meta and Cudinamarca Departments
UNITA ACTIONS April 05, 2000 -- UNITA incursions into Namibia along the Kavango/Caprivi border regions continued this quarter.
ISLAMIC INSURGENCY Wednesday, April 05, 2000 -- For the first time in recent years, the Islamist insurgency in Algeria has dropped significantly as compared to past reporting periods. After a sharp rise in incidents for November and December 1999, incidents are now considerably lower.
INCIDENTS IN ACEH Wednesday, April 05, 2000 -- The daily Kompas (Jakarta) reported the following terrorist incidents in the troubled province of Aceh in the last few days.
PRESS CONFERENCE ON SITUATION IN ETHIOPIA 5 April 2000 - Rudolph von Bernuth, of Save the Children, and Michael Delaney, Director of Humanitarian Assistance of Oxfam American, described themselves as “desperate” to bring to the world’s attention the drought and famine crisis affecting millions of people in Ethiopia.
Aid Organizations Warn of Impending Famine in Horn of Africa By Judy Aita Washington File 05 April 2000 -- Warning of impending widespread famine in the Horn of Africa, representatives of two major humanitarian aid organizations said April 5 that governments and relief agencies must begin sending food and water to Ethiopia immediately to prevent an even greater crisis in the region.
INDONESIA / RIGHTS Voice of America 05 April 2000 -- Indonesia's attorney general says the former head of the country's armed forces may not face prosecution for his alleged failure to prevent last year's militia rampage in East Timor.
ETHIOPIA/ AID APPEAL Voice of America 05 April 2000 -- Humanitarian aid groups are urging the international community to take immediate action to avert widespread human suffering in Ethiopia.
AFRICA FAMINE Voice of America 05 April 2000 -- U-S Agency for International Development official Hugh Parmer, says as many as ten million people are now at risk of starvation in Ethiopia.
ROBINSON / CHECHNYA Voice of America 05 April 2000 -- The top U-N human-rights official has renewed her call for an investigation into alleged human rights abuses by Russian soldiers in Chechnya.
U-N / ISRAEL / LEBANON Voice of America 04 April 2000 -- Israel's foreign minister says the United Nations is ready to cooperate with Israel's plan to withdraw its troops from southern Lebanon in July.
RUSSIA / ROBINSON Voice of America 04 April 2000 -- Russian officials are denouncing what they call western interference in Chechnya and have labeled her trip a propaganda offensive.
SENATE-CHECHNYA Voice of America 04 April 2000 -- The Clinton administration has joined in demanding an investigation of human-rights abuses in Chechnya, but stopped short of calling them war crimes.
ANNAN - CHECHNYA Voice of America 04 April 2000 -- The United Nations secretary-general backs a call by the top U-N human rights official for an independent investigation into alleged abuses by Russian soldiers in Chechnya.
THAI-BURMA FIGHTING Voice of America 04 April 2000 -- Fighting has again flared between Burmese government troops and ethnic rebels along the Thai-Burmese border.
AFGHAN DRUGS Voice of America 04 April 2000 -- Afghanistan's Taleban movement is stepping up a campaign to reduce the country's production of opium, which reached a record 46-hundred metric tons last year.
Few but mighty: U.S. troops in East Timor doing important work, Stars and Stripes, 03 April 2000 -- Their numbers are small, but the Americans deployed to the peacekeeping mission in East Timor are accomplishing a lot, the top U.S. military commander there says.
SHARIA REACT / NORTHERN NIGERIA Voice of America 03 April 2000 -- The controversy over Islamic law continues in Nigeria. Sharia was never raised during nearly four-decades of rule by northern Muslim generals.
COLOMBIA DEATH SQUADS SET SIGHTS ON PEACE Monday, April 03, 2000 -- Colombia's ultra-right death squads are demanding a role in peace talks between the government and Marxist rebels so they can confront their rivals on the political stage and seek amnesty after decades of murder.
INCIDENTS IN ACEH Monday, April 03, 2000 -- The weekly Serambi (Banda Aceh) reported the following incidents in Aceh during the last week of March.
ISRAEL / LEBANON / U-S Voice of America 03 April 2000 -- Defense Secretary William Cohen says he does not expect the United States will deploy any soldiers in southern Lebanon as part of an international peacekeeping force, after Israel withdraws from the area.
TURKEY / RIGHTS Voice of America 03 April 2000 -- Turkey's constitutional court is deciding whether to ban the country's largest pro-Kurdish party the People's Democracy Party, known as Hadep.
TURKEY / KURDS Voice of America 03 April 2000 -- Turkish troops are pushing ahead with their annual spring offensive against Kurdish rebels in northern Iraq.
U-N-CONGO Voice of America 03 April 2000 -- Congo-Kinshasa's ambassador to the United Nations has called for the immediate deployment of U-N military observers to his country.
PRESS CONFERENCE BY DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO 3 April 2000 - The Permanent Representative of the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the United Nations questioned the Security Council's sincerity about deploying peacekeeping troops in his country. André Mwamba Kapanga said that the delay in sending peacekeeping troops to his country was the first time that he had heard the United Nations invoke the need for a ceasefire before peacekeepers could be deployed. Peacekeeping troops had been sent to Kosovo, Bosnia and Croatia even as fighting was continuing.
RUSSIA / CHECHNYA Voice of America 03 April 2000 -- The U-N Human Rights Chief is meeting with Russian authorities in Moscow to urge an investigation into possible human-rights abuse in Chechnya.
CHECHNYA. THE WHITE BOOK [Russian Information Centre and RIA Novosti, 03 April 2000] Chechnya gained de facto independence for several years, but it was not ready for it. It failed to take hold of its freedom, protect the rights of its citizens, or restore the economy. In a word, it failed to steer the developments into the right direction. Chechens could not come to an agreement with Russians or with each other.
U-S / BOSNIA ARREST Voice of America 03 April 2000 -- U-S officials have welcomed the arrest of a former top Bosnian Serb leader on war crimes charges, saying his apprehension should cause sleepless nights for wartime leader Rodavan Karadzic.
BOSNIA / WAR CRIMES Voice of America 03 April 2000 -- NATO-led peacekeeping troops in Bosnia have handed war crimes prosecutors in The Hague their biggest catch to date.
ISRAEL - LEBANON Voice of America 02 April 2000 -- Israel rejects a Lebanese threat to deploy Syrian troops on its southern border in the event of a unilateral Israel withdrawal.
LANKA OFFENSIVE Voice of America 02 April 2000 -- Sri Lankan troops have launched a new offensive to recover lost territory in the Northern Jaffna region.
RUSSIA/CHECHNYA Voice of America 02 April 2000 -- Russian authorities have denied U-N Human Rights Chief Mary Robinson access to five detention camps.
RUSSIA - UN - CHECHNYA Voice of America 02 April 2000 -- What Russian authorities are calling a "transport delay" is disrupting a trip by United Nations Human Rights Chief Mary Robinson to detention camps in the breakaway republic of Chechnya.
SIERRA LEONE REBELS Voice of America 01 April 2000 -- The United Nations says more than 200 rebels have surrendered their weapons in Sierra Leone.
RUSSIA/CHECHNYA Voice of America 01 April 2000 -- Russian troops have recovered the bodies of 32 soldiers killed in a rebel ambush in Chechnya.
AFGHANISTAN-U-N RIGHTS Voice of America 01 April 2000 -- Afghanistan's Taleban authorities are rejecting allegations by a United Nations special investigator, who says the dominant Taleban group has committed serious human rights violations.
INDONESIA PROTESTS Voice of America 01 April 2000 -- Riot police in the Indonesian capital, Jakarta, fired tear gas and beat student demonstrators protesting near the home of former President Suharto.