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11 Jul 2002
The United States has offered a compromise over its dispute with the International Criminal Court over the demand for complete immunity for American peacekeepers from prosecution by the court, New York Times reported. The new document proposes that officials or personnel of United Nations missions not be investigated or prosecuted by the court for a year, after which the U.N. Security Council could vote to renew the arrangement. 1730 GMT
Four Algerian police officers were killed July 10 while patrolling the coastal town of Gouraya, BBC reported. The Islamic militant group GIA is suspected of both the attack on the police officers as well as an attack that killed 10 people in Tiaret on July 9. 1710 GMT
Turkey's former Deputy Foreign Minister Husamettin Ozkan, former Economy Minister Kemal Dervis and former Foreign Minister Ismail Cem have formed an alliance which they hope will attract support from other defectors from Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit's Democratic Left Party (DSP), The Associated Press reports. The country's confidence in the new alliance and the possibility of snap elections might have been the cause of a 2 percent rise in the Istanbul stock exchange on July 10. 1649 GMT
South Korean President Kim Dae Jung reshuffled his cabinet July 11 in an effort to improve his political image before presidential elections in December, Reuters reports. Although Kim cannot run for another term, he still wants to increase voter approval for his administration. The reshuffle included the appointment of South Korea's first female prime minister, Chang Sang, and six new ministers, including a new defense minister. The foreign minister and economic team remain unchanged. 1645 GMT
Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat has appointed Mohammed Dahlan as his national security adviser, only a month after Dahlan resigned as head of the Preventive Security Service in the Gaza Strip, BBC reported. Dahlan has been seen as a prime candidate to replace the aging Arafat. 1615 GMT
China and Russia are planning rare joint military exercises in August along the Inner Mongolia region's border with Russia, AFP reported. 1610 GMT
10 Jul 2002
Turkish Foreign Minister Ismail Cem resigned his post and left the Democratic Left Party of Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit July 10, delivering another blow to the ailing leader's coalition, AFP reported. More than 30 lawmakers, including six ministers, have resigned in the past week. 2230 GMT
Indonesian military chief Endriartono Sutarto, Home Affairs Minister Hari Sabarno and National Police Chief Gen. Dai Bachtiar traveled to Aceh on July 10 to meet with Coordinating Minister for Security and Political Affairs Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, the Jakarta Post reports. The officials will discuss whether a state of emergency is warranted in Aceh. The participation of Sutarto, Sabarno and Bachtiar should increase the likelihood of a state of emergency in the province, which likely would lead to a military crackdown on separatists and fresh violence, at least in the near term. 2035 GMT
Judicial Watch, a self-described nonpartisan group, is suing Halliburton Co. and its former CEO -- U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney - claiming that the company overstated revenues by $445 million between 1999 and 2001, The Associated Press reports. Cheney led the company from 1995 to 2000. The suit also names Andersen Worldwide and Arthur Andersen LLP as defendants. 1736 GMT
Spain's new cabinet was sworn in July 10, a day after Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar reshuffled the government, according to The Associated Press. Three ministers switched jobs, five new members were added to the cabinet and Spain's first female foreign minister, Ana de Palacio, was sworn in. 1726 GMT
Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf has established Oct. 10 as the date for elections for the lower house of parliament, the BBC reports. Musharraf dissolved parliament when he ousted former leader Nawaz Sharif in October 1999. 1725 GMT
Ayatollah Jalaluddin Taheri, a senior religious figure in Iran, resigned on July 10 as Friday prayers speaker in the city of Isfahan after 30 years of service in the position, BBC reported. His resignation came as a form of protest against the Iranian government, which Taheri condemned as corrupt. The resignation is unprecedented in the 23 years of the Islamic republic. 1720 GMT
Bolivia's Congress will choose the country's next president on Aug. 4, the National Electoral Council has announced. The choice lies between the top two vote-getters in the June 30 election: former president Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozada or Evo Morales, the leader of the country's coca farmers. The inauguration date is set for Aug. 6. 1718 GMT
09 Jul 2002
Moshe Yaalon became chief of the general staff of Israel's military July 9, replacing the recently retired Shaul Mofaz, AP reported. 2258 GMT
Iranian opposition media report that security forces in shot and killed two activists in Tehran and injured two others during demonstrations marking the anniversary of student protests that shook Tehran in July 1999. A similar account comes from the city of Maydane, where two reportedly were shot and 12 injured. More protests are occurring in the cities of Isfahan, Sanandag, Ahvaz, Narmak, Islam-Shar and Mashhad.
Opposition sources report that the government has blocked or shut down almost all telephone lines in Iran, and that it is using volunteer Islamic militias and foreign security personnel rather than regular police forces. Neither of the opposition reports could be independently confirmed. 2227 GMT
NATO troops arrested Radovan Stankovic July 9 in Bosnia for his alleged involvement in a 1992-92 campaign of mass rape of Muslim women during the Bosnian war, reported Reuters. Stankovic, one of 23 most wanted suspects by the U.N. war crimes tribunal, is being processed for his transfer to The Hague. 2130 GMT
The InterAmerican Development Bank has given Argentina's central bank a six-month extension on payments due this month for a $535 million loan, the daily Buenos Aires Economico reports. The loan extension, previously declined, still requires ratification by the IADB board. If approved, Argentina will gain a crucial buffer against using its reserves -- which have fallen to $9.5 billion since September -- to pay debts. 1924 GMT
African leaders launched the 53-country African Union on July 9. The system, modeled after the European Union, is designed to address the continent's political and financial woes. The African Union will remain a ceremonial body, akin to the Organization of African States, until its 15-member security council demonstrates a clear mandate to intervene in regional crises. 1910 GMT
Turkey's projected debt rating was changed by U.S. credit rating agency Standard and Poor's from stable to negative on July 9 due to increasing political instability in the country, AFP reported. Turkey's currency the lira has plummeted against the dollar in the past year, as the Turkish economy has reflected the instability in the health and support in parliament of Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit. 1815 GMT
The U.N. World Food Program reports that 500,000 people are starving in Angola and more than 1 million others are fully dependent on food aid for survival. The situation is the worst starvation epidemic to affect southern Africa in more than a decade. One-quarter of Angola's population will require some form of aid during the next few months. 1804 GMT
Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat may allegedly step down in the upcoming weeks as the result of an agreement among the United States, Israel and some Palestinian groups, UPI reported, citing the Jordanian publication Al-Majd July 8. The magazine pointed to the president of the Palestinian Legislative Council, Ahmad Qurai, as Arafat's most likely successor. 1800 GMT
Standard and Poor's has reduced Turkey's debt rating outlook to negative from stable, without alter the rating itself from its current B-. A political crisis sparked by the poor health of Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit and his refusal to resign has sent the Turkish lira to record lows and Turkish markets, already in a sad state, into a tailspin. 1652 GMT
Responding to a collective suit filed by Argentine depositors, a federal judge in Argentina has ruled that government-imposed limits on banking withdrawals and the "pesofication" of dollar-denominated bank deposits are unconstitutional, Argentine news service Clarin reported July 9. The verdict will not result in any immediate action, since it still must be vetted by a higher court and certainly will be fought by the federal government. An immediate reversal of either pesofication or controls on banking withdrawals would crash what remains of Argentina's banking and financial system. 1650 GMT
Security forces foiled an assassination attempt against Afghan President Hamid Karzai and former President Burhanuddin Rabbani during the July 7 funeral of Vice President Abul Qadir -- who was killed by gunmen last weekend, IslamOnline reported. A bomb was discovered inside a water tank in the Central Mosque in Kabul where the funeral prayers were held. Security forces reported that they have apprehended the person who positioned the bomb and are currently questioning him. 1640 GMT
Wasim Akhtar, an inspector in Pakistan's security forces, has been charged with aiding militants in a plot to assassinate President Pervez Musharraf in April, BBC reported. Three of his suspected accomplices have been arrested as well, and will be put on trial not only for a car bomb that failed top go off as the president's motorcade drove by, but also in association with two recent bombings against foreigners in Karachi. 1615 GMT
The foreign ministers of France and Russia announced July 8 that both countries have formed a joint security council, AP reported. French President Jacques Chirac is due to meet with President Vladimir Putin in the Black Sea resort of Sochi on July 19 and 20. 1600 GMT
08 Jul 2002
Turkey's fragile coalition government took a serious blow July 8 when ailing Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit's closest aid, Deputy Prime Minister Husamettin Ozkan, quit both the government and Ecevit's Democractic Left Party (DSP). Ozkan was a key figure in attempts to maintain the current the current three-party coalition. His defection -- along with that of at least two other ministers and 15 DSP legislators -- has all but assured the early demise of Ecevit's government and will cloud Turkey's political landscape for the foreseeable future. Turkey is the United States' primary logistical ally in the region. So long as Ankara is in turmoil, Washington will be forced to postpone any serious military action against Iraq. 2232 GMT
Three ministers, including Deputy Prime Minister Husametin Ozkan, resigned from Turkey's government July 8, BBC reported. Up to 14 deputies have also reportedly left Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit's Democratic Left Party (DSP), putting more pressure on the ailing leader to call for early elections. 2222 GMT
A survey released July 6 by Brazilian pollster Vox Populi shows that the ruling coalition's presidential candidate, Jose Serra, has fallen behind former Ceara governor Ciro Gomes into third place, Reuters reports. The poll showed Serra with 17 percent of the vote, Gomes with 18 percent and Socialist candidate Luiz Inacio "Lula" da Silva with 39 percent in the run-up to October's election. Serra is favored by foreign investors, and his failure to gain ground against da Silva -- along with Gomes' recent emergence at the head of a coalition of left-leaning parties -- could exacerbate the fall in bond prices and the drop in Brazil's currency, the real. 1939 GMT
The Russian foreign ministry has condemned any U.S. military action against Iraq, Agence France Presse reported July 8. The ministry issued a statement saying, "The Iraqi problem can only be resolved through political-diplomatic means on the basis of U.N. Security Council resolutions. Any other options, especially military, are absolutely inadmissible." 1647 GMT
The International Monetary Fund reportedly has agreed to roll over $3 billion in loan payments due from Argentina this year to 2003, Bloomberg reports, citing Buenos Aires Economico newspaper. Argentina's new Central Bank president, Aldo Pignanelli, requested the rollover in weekend meetings with IMF Managing Director Horst Koehler, though neither has announced any agreement. A senior Central Bank source also told Argentine daily La Nacion July 8 that there is a "high probability" that the IMF will comply with the rollover request, and that fresh funds likely will be released. A postponement of debt payments would help Buenos Aires avoid further deterioration of foreign currency reserves and allow it to continue defending the peso. 1634 GMT
06 Jul 2002
Afghan Vice President Abdul Qadir was assassinated July 6 as he left a government building in Kabul. Two gunmen leapt out of the shrubbery firing assault rifles, killing Qadir and his driver, before escaping in a car that sped to the scene shortly afterward. The Kabul police chief says some 36 rounds were fired at Qadir's vehicle, which went out of control and smashed into a brick wall. Ten uniformed guards from the Ministry of Public Works, which Qadir had just departed, were arrested for failing to react properly.
The victim, an ethnic Pushtun, was one of three vice presidents elected by the Loya Jirga in June in efforts to make up an ethnically balanced government. However, Qadir is not the first Afghan official to be assassinated since the Taliban's ouster last year -- the civil aviation and tourism minister was murdered in February under mysterious circumstances at Kabul airport -- and he likely won't be the last. Taliban and al Qaeda fighters are not the only ones on the suspect list. Innumerable factions are dissatisfied with the distribution of power in Afghanistan, and it will be a monumental task for the government to avoid a descent into open factional fighting. 1644 GMT
05 Jul 2002
Egyptian Mohamed Hadayet has been identified as the man who opened fire at a ticket counter for Israeli airline El Al July 4, killing three people, AP reported. The FBI said the man had California driver's licenses listing two different birth dates -- April 7, 1961, and July 4, 1961. 1715 GMT
Authorities in Kyrgyzstan said a Chinese diplomat killed last weekend in the capital Bishkek was an accidental victim of an attack on a Chinese businessman the diplomat was traveling with, who was also killed, BBC reported. 1710 GMT
Colombia's government July 4 reduced its forecast of the economy's growth in 2002 from 2.5 percent to 1.5 percent, and postponed over $1 billion in planned investments. Finance Minister Juan Manuel Santos told the Bogota daily El Tiempo that it was deemed prudent to postpone these investments because the country needed to insulate itself more effectively against the spillover consequences of the economic crisis in Argentina. However, critics in Bogota said that postponing needed investments could slow the economy further, cutting into fiscal revenues and complicating the government's financial stability anyway. 1500 GMT
03 Jul 2002
Venezuela's new defense minister is a retired army brigadier general who was chosen mainly for his strong personal and political loyalty to President Hugo Chavez, Union Radio network broadcast from Caracas July 3. Jose Luis Prieto Silva, a former professor at the Venezuelan Military Academy, was serving as president of the National Institute of Educational Cooperation (INCE) when Chavez tapped him to succeed retiring Gen. Lucas Rincon Romero at the defense ministry. Critics warned that Prieto Silva's appointment could aggravate tensions within the armed forces, due to his strong political identification with Chavez. 2146 GMT
The chief of Peru's national intelligence service (CNI) said July 3 that the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) is believed to have established contact with a Maoist faction of the Peruvian Communist Party (PCP) called Red Homeland (PR), according to the Bogota daily El Espectador. CNI head Juan Velit also said there are indications that FARC units have been entering Peruvian territory with growing frequency recently, and that the FARC is believed to have provided PR with cash. However, PR leader Alberto Moreno denied Velit's allegations. 2145 GMT
While patrolling the banks of the Miguel River in Ecuador's northern province of Sucumbios on July 2, four members of Ecuador's national police were attacked and wounded by a group of men wearing jungle camouflage uniforms and armed with automatic assault rifles, Quito daily El Comercio reported July 3. The attack occurred near the settlement of General Farfan, about 500 meters from the border with Colombia. Col. Edgar Riofrio, police commander in the province's capital city of Lago Agrio, said he did not know if the attackers fled toward Colombia. 2139 GMT
Indonesian President Megawati Sukarnoputri has ordered Iskandar Muda military Commander Maj. Gen. Djali Yusuf to "sternly punish" rebels of the Free Aceh Movement for committing violence and disturbing public order, the Jakarta Post reported July 3. 1848 GMT
Dominican Republic authorities have allegedly seized a Venezuelan air force aircraft after "42 kilograms of pure heroin were discovered aboard the plane," U.S. congressional sources told STRATFOR July 3. Dominican treasury police reportedly impounded the aircraft within the past 72 hours. 1740 GMT
Israel has begun loosening curfews for Palestinians, the Jerusalem Post reports. The Israeli security cabinet reportedly has decided to apply curfews only at night in some cities and to allow around 5,000 Palestinians to work again inside Israel. 1535 GMT
The French embassy acknowledged Madagascar's Marc Ravalomanana as "President of the Republic" in a written statement issued July 3. The statement comes after days of discord with the United States, which became the first world power to recognize Ravalomanana as president last week. Former Madagascan leader Didier Ratsiraka has continued to claim the office since December's presidential election. 1534 GMT
The U.S. Air Force will deliver AIM-120 medium-range air-to-air missiles to Taiwan to counteract the AA-12 missiles China recently acquired from Russia, the Taipei Times reported July 3. Whether Taiwan will gain possession of all 200 AIM-120 missiles it ordered from the United States in 2000 is unknown. 1527 GMT
Standard & Poor's has lowered Brazil's long-term foreign currency debt rating to B+ from BB-, Bloomberg reported July 2. Brazil's local currency rating also dropped from BB+ to BB. A lower credit rating raises the costs of government borrowing, a critical factor in the current presidential campaign. The country's outlook remains "negative." 1525 GMT
02 Jul 2002
One U.S. soldier was wounded in an air attack July 2 about 1.5 miles outside of the Afghan city of Kandahar, AP reported. The soldier was part of a U.S. military convoy returning from a hospital in Kandahar. 2320 GMT
Fitch Ratings agency has lowered Venezuela's long-term foreign currency rating from B+ to B and similarly downgraded senior unsecured currency ratings for state-owned Electricidad de Caracas S.A. and Petroleos de Venezuela S.A. (PDVSA). Several other entities have been placed on a negative watch, including PDVSA-affiliated Petrozuata Finance Inc. (Petrozuata), Cerro Negro Finance Ltd. (Cerro Negro) and Sincrudos de Oriente Sincor C.A. (Sincor Project). 1835 GMT
The purchasing managers' index increased by half a point, to 56.2, from May to June -- the highest point in two and a half years for the U.S. manufacturing sector, the Institute for Supply Management reports. Since manufacturing is normally the last sector to recover in an information-based economy, this signals that the U.S. economy is in full recovery. If consumer confidence tapers off, manufacturing levels should be able to make up the difference. 1733 GMT
The Brazilian real fell July 2 by 1 percent, to a record 2.923 to the dollar -- the lowest level in the currency's eight-year history, Bloomberg reports. The drop complicates Brazil's ability to repay its $330 billion debt, almost 40 percent of which is in dollar-linked local bonds. Although Brazil's debt is proportionally less dollar-denominated than that of Argentina, the two country's overall debt loads as a percentage of GDP are similar. A strong external shock could force Brasilia into an economic situation much like that of Buenos Aires. 1717 GMT
China Civil Engineering and Construction Company (CCECC) has announced plans for a joint venture with Nigeria to manage Nigerian railways, which CCECC is currently restoring. CCECC Chairman Di Yu Chung said this joint venture, as well as future ventures in the energy sector, will provide Chinese technology to Nigeria in efforts to promote the country's self-sustenance, the Daily Trust, an Abuja newspaper, reported. 1710 GMT
The United Nations reported July 2 that conflict and the growth of towns and cities in West Africa are causing the HIV virus to spread. HIV1, a more virulent strain of the disease normally found in southern Africa, now is traveling with migrants to West Africa, causing HIV/AIDS rates to double in countries such as Cameroon and Nigeria, the BBC reports. The new, stronger strain of HIV leaves patients with a life expectancy of nine to 10 years, compared to 30 to 40 years for those with the strain that has been common in West Africa. 1655 GMT
German gas distributor Ruhrgas has upped its stake in Russian gas giant Gazprom by 0.3 percent -- or $68.8 million on the internal market and $116.5 million on the overseas market - to 5.3 percent, Russian daily Vedemosti reports. Ruhrgas executives hope eventually to gain control of 8 to 10 percent of Gazprom. The deal benefits both companies: Gazprom desperately needed the cash injection, and Ruhrgas has been seeking a gas supplier. Officials in Moscow and Berlin also will take a positive view of the deal, which furthers their mutual goal of solidifying the growing economic links between Germany and Russia. 1645 GMT
Filipino Vice President Teofisto Guingona officially gave notice July 2 of his resignation from the post of Secretary of Foreign Affairs, Manila Times reported. His action follows last week's confusion in which President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo wrote a letter accepting a resignation that Guingona later said he had not given. 1630 GMT
Two airplanes, a Tupolev and a Boeing, have collided and crashed near the town of Sigmariegen, Germany, the BBC reports. Casualty numbers are not yet known. 0018 GMT
01 Jul 2002
Violent clashes and riots broke out in Nigeria on June 30 as the ruling People's Democratic Party (PDP) prepared to choose its candidates for local elections in August. Rival PDP factions clashed in the city of Warri, Delta State, where members burned the homes of party officials and stormed the police building. No one was killed. The PDP primaries, held in 7,000 local government areas, began July 1. The local elections on Aug. 10 will be the first since Nigeria's return to civilian rule. 2105 GMT
Pakistani and U.S. Special Forces will begin joint exercises involving the army, navy and air force by the end of July, and which will be larger in scale than those India carried out with U.S. Special Forces in May, Pakistan Daily the Dawn reported. 1652 GMT
Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen, who is assuming the rotating six-month presidency of the European Union July 1, said he agrees with a recent U.S. call for the Palestinians to replace Yasser Arafat as their leader, the Jerusalem Post reported. 1650 GMT
Two rocket-propelled grenades were fired at a U.S. Special Forces air base in southern Afghanistan July 1. No casualties were reported, and U.S. Col. Roger King said that the U.S. forces did not return fire because they could not tell which direction the attack came from, BBC reported. 1642 GMT
Saudi Arabian delegates have been granted permission to visit Saudi citizens being held at the U.S. detention center at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba, BBC reported. The more than 100 Saudis there make up about one-fifth of the suspected Taliban or al Qaeda members from 30 different countries being detained. 1635 GMT
China, looking to bolster consumer spending, gave a 10 percent to 15 percent raise to civil servants on July 1, Bloomberg reported. This raise, however, may not succeed as a method to buoy economic growth, as more Chinese citizens save their earnings as a safeguard against massive state layoffs that have already claimed hundreds of thousands of jobs, Bloomberg reported. 1630 GMT