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xxxui CHRONOLOGY í-i: Sudan. Elections to a Constituent Assembly (voting postponed for 37 southern seats). 4 Zambia. Basil Kabwe became Finance Minister and Luke Mwan- anshiku, Foreign Minister. 5-1: Liberia. Robert Tubman became Finance Minister, replacing G. Irving Jones. 7 Lebanon. Israeli planes bombed refugee camps near Sidon, said to contain PLO factions. 13 Israel. Moshe Nissim became Finance Minister, replacing Itzhak Moda'i. 14 European Communities. Limited diplomatic sanctions were imposed on Libya, in retaliation for terrorist attacks. Sanctions were intensified on 22nd. 15 Libya. US aircraft bombed Tripoli from UK and aircraft carrier bases; the raids were said to be directed against terrorist head- quarters in the city. 17 United Kingdom. Explosives were found planted in the luggage of a passenger on an Israeli aircraft; a Jordanian was arrested on 18 th. 23 South Africa. New regulations in force: no further arrests under the pass laws, release for those now in prison for violating the laws, proposed common identity document for all groups of the population. 25 Swaziland. Prince Makhosetive Dlamini was inaugurated as King Mswati III. 26 USSR. No 4 reactor, Chernobyl nuclear power station, exploded and caught fire. Serious levels of radio-activity spread through neighbouring states; the casualty figure was not known. 4 Afghánistán. Mohammad Najibollah, head of security services, replaced Babrak Karmal as General Secretary, People's Demo- cratic Party. 7 Bangladesh. General election; the Jatiya party won 153 out of 300 elected seats. 8 Costa Rica. Oscar Arias Sánchez was sworn in as President. Norway. A minority Labour government took office, under Gro 9 Harlem Brundtland. India. Cabinet reshuffle included the appointment of Shiv Shankar 12 as Minister for External Affairs. Sudan. Sadiq el-Mahdi (elected Prime Minister on 6th) formed a 15 cabinet. Dominican Republic. General election returned the Social Chris- 16 tian Reform Party under Joaquin Balaguer. Yugoslavia. Branko Mikalic replaced Milka Planinc as Prime Minister; Sinan Hasani became head of the collective presi- dency. 19-2 South Africa. Forces carried out raids into Botswana, Zambia and Zimbabwe against alleged bases of the African National Con- gress. CHRONOLOGY—contd. 1986 May 21 Netherlands. General election returned the ruling coalition government. 24 Colombia. Virgilio Barco Vargas elected President. 28 Barbados. General elections returned the Democratic Labour Party, with 24 out of 27 seats; Errol Barrow was sworn in as Prime Minister on 29th. June 1 Ecuador. President Febres Cordero lost his Congress majority in a mid-term election. 6 Mali. Mamadou Dembelé was appointed to the new post of Prime Minister; Modibo Keita replaced Alioune Blondin Beye as Min- ister of Foreign Affairs. 8-16 Austria. Kurt Waldheim was elected President. Franz Vranitsky took office as Chancellor on 9th, following the resignation of Fred Sinowatz; the new government was sworn in on 16th. 12 UK, USA. The US Senate voted for revising the extradition treaty of June 1985, so that those convicted of certain serious crimes could not avoid extradition on the grounds of political motive. South Africa. State of emergency declared, including an embargo on news reporting; the Internal Security Amendment Bill and Public Safety Amendment Bill were approved on 20th to give all enabling powers to the Minister for Law and Order. 13 Lebanon. Truce between Amal and the PLO in the area around the Palestinian refugee camps of Beirut. 15 Nepál. Manch Man Singh Shrestha became Prime Minister; named a cabinet on 16th. 17 Mexico. Gustavo Petricoli Iturbe replaced Jésus Silva Herzog as Finance Minister. 21 Vietnam. Vu Tuan replaced Chu Tam Thuc as Finance Minister. 22 Spain. General election returned the ruling Socialist party. 23 Thailand. State of emergency declared, after rioting on Phuket Island destroyed a tantalum-ore refinery. 25 USA, Nicaragua. The US House of Representatives approved a presidential request for aid to the Contra rebels. The Inter- national Court of Justice ruled that US involvement in Nicara- guan politics was illegel (27th). July 2-3 Chile. Two-day national strike. 3 Kuwait. The Amir dissolved the National Assembly and suspend- ed parts of the constitution; a new government was formed on 13 th. 4 Lebanon. Syrian-manned checkpoints were inaugurated in west Beirut. 6 Japan. A General Election returned the ruling Liberal Democratic party. Philippines. A 24-hour rebellion proclaimed Arturo Tolentino as acting president, with an alternative cabinet including govern- ment Defence Minister Juan Ponce Enrile. XXXV CHRONOLOGY—contd. 6-21 France. Terrorist bomb attacks by Action Directe. Jordan. Closure of all Jordanian offices of Al-Fatah (Yasser 7-8 Arafat's faction of the PLO). Tunisia. Rashid Sfar replaced Mohamed M'Zali as Prime Minis- 8 ter. Bangladesh. Mizanur Rahman Chowdhury became Prime Minis- 9 ter. Vietnam. General Secretary Le Duan died; succeeded by Truong 10 Chinh on 14th. Mozambique. Mario de Gra^a Machunga was appointed to the 17 new post of Prime Minister. Poland. Bazyli Samojlik replaced Stanislaw Nieckarz as Finance Minister. Suriname. Pretaapnarian Radbakishun's cabinet was sworn in. 27 Thailand. General election; ruling Democratic Party won 100 out of347 seats. 2 Malaysia. General election, returning the ruling National Front coalition, who also retained control of peninsular state govern- ments. Dato Rais bin Yatim became Minister of Foreign Affairs on 11th. 12 USA, New Zealand. The USA suspended its ANZUS treaty obliga- tions towards New Zealand, since New Zealand will not allow US warships to enter her ports unless they are non nuclear. South Africa. KwaNdebele Legislative Assembly rejected a plan for independence as held by Transkei, Ciskei, Venda and Bophuthatswana. 16 Dominican Republic. Donald Reid Cabral was appointed Foreign Affairs Minister. 22 Cameroon. Poison gases, released from the volcanic Lake Nyos, killed over 1,500 people. 26 Cameroon, Israel. Diplomatic relations were restored. South Korea. Choi Kwang Soo became Minister of Foreign Affairs. Romania. Loan Totu replaced Hie Vaduva as Minister of Foreign Affairs; Alexandra Babe became Finance Minister. 28 Bolivia. State of Siege declared because of labour unrest. 29 Morocco, Libya. King Hassan of Morocco abrogated the 1984 federation treaty with Libya, Libya having denounced his meet- ing with the Israeli Prime Minister on July 22. Burkina Faso. Leandre Bassole became Minister of Foreign Affaire. 6 Turkey. Arab terrorists killed 21 worshippers in an Istanbul synagogue. 7 Chile. State of Siege declared, after an attempt to assassinate Presi- dent Pinochet. 6 El Salvador. Ricardo Acebedo Peralta replaced Rodolfo Antonio Castillo Claramount as Foreign Minister. XXX VI CHRONOLOGY—contd. 1986 Sept. 8-17 France. Campaign of bombing, attributed to the Lebanese Armed Revolutionary Faction pressing for the release of the terrorist Georges Ibrahim Abdullah. 9 Suriname. The government claims to have destroyed a head- quarters of rebel forces, alter guerilla raids in eastern Suriname; rebel activities, however, continued. 16 European Communities. Agreement to ban new investment in South Africa and to ban South African imports of iron, steel and gold coins-into Europe. South Africa. A serious fire in the Kinross gold mine, eastern Transvaal, killed 177 miners. 23 Togo. The government complained of a guerilla incursion from Ghana, aimed at overthrowing the President and installing Gilchrist Olympio (unsuccessful). 27 Lebanon. Pro-Syrian forces attacked Phalangists in Beirut. 28 Israeli-occupied territory. Palestinian mayors were appointed in El Bireh, Hebron and Ramallah. Taiwan. The opposition Democratic Progress Party was formed. 30 British Virgin Islands. General election, returning Cyril Romney for a further term as Chief Minister. Morocco. Azeddine Laraki was appointed Prime Minister in place of Muhammad Karim Lamrani. Oct. 1 Canada. John Fraser was elected Speaker of the House of Com- mons. 2 USA. Congress voted for new and more severe sanctions against South Africa. 4 Netherlands. Delta coastal flood-protection works opened. 6 Swaziland. Prince Bhekimpi replaced as Prime Minister by Sotsha Dlamini. 8-24 Iran. Census of population. 10 Israel. Shimon Peres resigned as Prime Minister. El Salvador. A severe earthquake caused serious damage in San Salvador, killing more than 1,200 people. 11-12 Iceland. Summit conference at Reykjavik between President Reagan and Mr Gorbachev Ghana. The border with Togo was declared closed. 15 Bangladesh. President Ershad re-elected, sworn in on 23rd. 15-19 Afghanistan. USSR begins to withdraw units of its armed forces. 19 Mozambique. President Machel was killed in an air crash. 20 Israel. Yitzhak Shamir forms a new government, with Shimon Peres as Foreign Minister. 23 Marshall Islands. Beginning of the new status of Free Association with the United States. 24 United Kingdom, Syria. Diplomatic relations were broken off and Syria was accused of complicity in the April attempt to blow up an Israeli airliner; Nezar Hindawi was convicted of the attempt. CHRONOLOGY—contd. 1986 Oct. 27 Ethiopia. Lieut.-Col. Goshu Wolde resigned as Foreign Minister. 28-30 South Yemen. Elections to the Supreme People's Council. 29 Laos. Prince Souphanouvong resigned as head of state, replaced as acting head by Phoumi Vongvichit. 30 Saudi Arabia. Sheikh Yamani was removed from his post as Minis- ter for Petroleum and Mineral Resources. 31 Zaire. Kengo Wa Dondo became Foreign Minister. Nov 1