April/May 1995, Pages 118-120

Facts For Your Files: A Chronology of U.S.-Middle East Relations

Compiled By Janet McMahon

Jan. 1: A four-month cease-fire agreement between the Bosnian government and Bosnian Serbs took effect at noon.

Jan. 2: The Israeli cabinet ordered an immediate halt to expanded Jewish settlement construction on a disputed hilltop near the West Bank village of El Khader.

—Eight Egyptian policemen and three civilians were killed and at least six others wounded in four separate attacks by suspected Islamist militants near the southern Egyptian town of Mallawi.

Jan. 3: Israeli soldiers who said they were searching for gunmen who had fired on their patrol crossed for the first time into the autonomous Gaza Strip, where they killed three Palestinian policemen.

—David Ivry, director-general of Israel's Defense Ministry, confirmed that his country sold China "some technology on aircraft."

—An Israeli military court convicted Palestinian American Mohammed Salah of channeling funds to Islamic militants, sentencing him to five years in prison.

Jan. 4: Israeli plainclothes police shot and killed four Palestinians in the West Bank town of Beit Lakia, and four Gazans were shot by Israeli soldiers at the Erez crossing.

—Violations of the Bosnian cease-fire were reported on the edge of the Bihac pocket.

—Four top officials of Algeria's National Liberation Front, the country's former ruling party, met with jailed Islamist leaders.

Jan. 6: The U.S. and Britain criticized France for receiving Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz and announcing that it soon would open a diplomatic mission in Baghdad.

—Iraq's air force commander, Brig. Gen. Mansur Sattari, was killed along with four generals and seven other officers when their plane crashed while trying to land at Isfahan.

Jan. 7: On a visit to the Middle East, Secretary of Defense William Perry told Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak that the Clinton administration was committed to maintaining the current level of $2.2 billion in annual U.S. aid to Egypt.

—Iran announced it would sign a contract with Russia for completion of a nuclear power plant at the Persian Gulf coast site of Bushehr, believed to be Iran's most active center for nuclear weapons research and production.

Jan. 9: In Jerusalem, Defense Secretary Perry reiterated American willingness to send peacekeeping troops to the Golan Heights in the event of an Israeli-Syrian peace treaty.

—Jury selection began in the trial of Sheikh Omar Abdel Rahman and 11 other defendants charged with conspiring to blow up the Lincoln Tunnel and other New York City landmarks.

Jan. 10: As the U.S. and Pakistan agreed to resume high-level military discussions, Pakistan's Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto demanded of visting Defense Secretary Perry that the U.S. deliver the F-16s ordered and paid for by Pakistan or refund Pakistan's $650 million.

Jan. 11: At a Rome meeting criticized by the Algerian government, representatives of Algeria's banned Islamic Salvation Front (FIS), the Front of Socialist Forces and the former ruling National Liberation Front said they were close to a joint proposal for a cease-fire and transitional government.

—Bosnian government and Serb military commanders agreed to ease the blockade of Sarajevo and allow U.N. troops to patrol the front lines.

—Officials from 39 countries meeting in Washington agreed to establish a group to work out details for creating a Mideast regional development bank and to propose a separate organization to promote regional economic cooperation.

Jan. 12: Croatian President Franjo Tudjman said he would not renew the U.N. Protection Force's mandate, which expires March 31.

Jan. 13: The U.N. Security Council, at its regular 60-day review, voted to maintain economic sanctions against Iraq.

Jan. 14: In violation of the "cessation of hostilities," Bosnian Serbs continued to blockade the Sarajevo airport, while fighting continued in the northwest Bihac pocket.

Jan. 15: In an Israeli television interview, U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich said he "strongly" favors moving the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem from Tel Aviv.

—In the third attack in the first three weeks of 1995, Israeli jets and helicopter gunships hit targets 10 miles south of Beirut, killing three and wounding four civilians, and forcing the temporary closure of Beirut's airport.

—Algeria's banned FIS offered to end its insurgency if the government accepts an opposition peace plan and several other conditions.

Jan. 16: Following a series of recent armed clashes, Saudi Arabia and Yemen agreed to seek a peaceful settlement of their border dispute.

Jan. 17: The Bosnian government demanded that U.N. military commander Gen. Michael Rose reopen the Tuzla airport by Feb. 1 or remove the some 200 U.N. troops stationed there.

Jan. 19: At a border meeting at the Erez crossing, Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin assured PNA President Yasser Arafat that Israel would not approve new settlement building in the West Bank and would closely monitor construction in existing settlements.

Jan. 20: In a letter to Bosnian President Alija Izetbegovic, Secretary of State Warren Christopher maintained that the U.S. must open direct talks with the Bosnian Serbs despite a U.N. Security Council resolution barring such contacts.

Jan. 21: In the first talks between the two countries since the 1990 Gulf war, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak met in Aqaba with Jordan's King Hussein.

Jan. 22: The Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility for a suicide bombing at an Israeli military bus stop near Netanya, Israel which killed 19 Israeli soldiers and a civilian and wounded 60. PNA President Yasser Arafat condemned the attack, while Israeli President Ezer Weizman called for a reassessment of the peace process.

—At a Beirut rally in honor of a Hezbollah activist who died in an Israeli-run south Lebanon prison, Hezbollah political leader Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah said that all six Israeli soldiers missing in Lebanon are dead.

—U.S. envoy Charles Thomas, unaccompanied by other members of the five-nation "contact group," met with Bosnian Serb leaders at their Pale headquarters. American Ambassador to Bosnia Victor Jackovich, an opponent of direct talks with the Bosnian Serbs until they accept the international partition plan, was in Washington, where he had been recalled for "consultations."

—The Rome peace proposal arrived at by three Algerian opposition groups was rejected by Algerian government hard-liners and by the Islamic Armed Group and the Islamic Salvation Army.

Jan. 23: Israeli President Rabin vowed to "continue on the path of peace—there is no alternative."

—A Clinton administration report found no evidence that the Bush administration had secretly supplied arms to Iraq prior to the Gulf war or engaged in a cover up, as charged during the 1992 election campaign by Rep. Henry Gonzales (D-TX) and syndicated columnist William Safire, who called the alleged actions "Iraqgate."

Jan. 24: Israeli Prime Minister Rabin announced a committee to study the feasibility of fencing off the occupied West Bank.

—President Clinton announced a freeze on contributions to and on the U.S. assets of 12 groups—including Hamas, Islamic Jihad and the Abu Nidal organization, as well as Kach and Kahane Chai—and 12 individuals, including Sheikh Omar Abdel Rahman, accused of links to international terrorism.

—As British Lieut. Gen. Sir Michael Rose ended his one-year assignment as U.N. military commander in Bosnia, to be succeeded by British Maj. Gen. Rupert Smith, representatives of the five-nation "contact group" met with Bosnian Serbs at their Pale headquarters but were unsuccessful in gaining Serb acceptance of the international partition plan.

Jan. 25: A special committee of the Israeli cabinet approved the construction and sale of an additional 4,000 homes in Jewish West Bank settlements outside Jerusalem.

Jan. 26: At King Hussein's palace in Amman, PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat and Jordan's Sharif Zeid bin Shaker signed a "General Agreement for Cooperation and Coordination."

Jan. 27: Israeli Prime Minister Rabin called settlements "a liability," saying they "add... absolutely nothing to Israel's security."

—The five-nation "contact group" on Bosnia called a halt to peace efforts, citing the Bosnian Serbs' refusal to negotiate with the Bosnian government.

Jan. 30: Visiting Washington, Bosnian Prime Minister Haris Silajdzic was told by Clinton administration officials that the U.S. would not unilaterally lift the U.N. arms embargo on Bosnia, while Republican Senate Majority Leader Robert Dole and Armed Services Committee Chairman Strom Thurmond said they would do what they could to arm the Bosnian government.

—In Croatia, rebel Serbs refused to consider a plan for limited autonomy in the Krajina region.

—A car bomb exploded outside security police headquarters on a crowded Algiers street, killing at least 38 people and wounding hundreds.

—In accordance with the terms of the Jordanian-Israeli peace agreement, Israeli troops began withdrawing from 130 square miles of territory in the Arava Valley, although an Israeli ambassador to Jordan has yet to be named.

Jan. 31: Meeting in Gaza, representatives of more than 30 international donors pledged to speed up aid to the Palestinian National Authority.

Feb. 1: In a letter to Algeria's minister of information, jailed Islamic Salvation Front leader Ali Belhaj warned against holding presidential elections in 1995.

Feb. 2: The leaders of Egypt, Jordan, Israel and the PLO met in Cairo to reaffirm support for the peace process.

Feb. 3: Israeli security officials advised Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin to ease restrictions against West Bank Palestinians during the month of Ramadan.

Feb. 4: U.N. troops observed Serbian helicopters landing outside the eastern Bosnian Muslim enclave of Srebrenica, apparently to resupply Bosnian Serb forces in violation of Serbia's pledge to cut aid to the Bosnian Serbs.

Feb. 5: Meeting in Munich, Croat and Bosnian government representatives agreed to submit any disputes to an international mediator for binding arbitration.

—In what was thought to be retaliation for a series of shootings of Shi'i Muslims in Karachi, gunmen firing into a crowd of Sunni Muslims killed at least 21 and wounded 26 others in two separate attacks.

Feb. 6: The foreign ministers of Egypt, Syria, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain, Oman, Kuwait and the UAE called on Israel to sign the nuclear non-proliferation treaty and gave full support to Syria's "just demands" in its negotiations with Israel.

—Siddig Ibrahim Siddig Ali, one of the 12 defendants, including Egyptian Sheikh Omar Abdel Rahman, charged with conspiring to blow up various New York landmarks, changed his plea to guilty and indicated he would testify against his former co-defendants.

Feb. 7: PNA President Yasser Arafat ordered the detention of members of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine after the DFLP claimed responsibility for the killing of an Israeli security guard in the Gaza Strip.

—Heading a business delegation to the Middle East, U.S. Commerce Secretary Ron Brown met with PNA President Arafat and declared that "Gaza is open for business."

Feb. 8: NATO ambassadors meeting in Paris, concluding that the risk of instability was greater in the Mediterranean basin than in Eastern Europe, agreed to initiate a dialogue with Egypt, Israel, Morocco, Tunisia and Mauritania.

Feb. 9: Israeli Prime Minister Rabin and PNA President Arafat, meeting at the Erez crossing, reached an impasse in negotiations on Palestinian self-rule.

—Rebel Serbs in Croatia broke off talks with the Croatian government and formally placed themselves on "war alert."

—Ramzi Ahmed Yousef, the alleged mastermind in New York's World Trade Center bombing, was arraigned in a New York federal court following his capture in Pakistan two days earlier.

—The Pentagon announced that some 7,200 U.S. troops will participate in the evacuation of U.N. peacekeeping forces from Somalia.

Feb. 10: PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat called for the U.S. to pressure Israel to ease the closing of the West Bank and Gaza Strip in order to rescue peace negotiations.

Feb. 11: Leaders of Afghanistan's warring factions agreed to form a multi-party council to serve as an interim government.

—At a rally marking the 16th anniversary of Iran's Islamic revolution, President Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani defended the revolution's achievements against the West's "poisonous campaign of lies."

Feb. 12: At a Washington meeting convened by President Clinton and chaired by Secretary of State Christopher, Foreign Ministers Amr Moussa of Egypt, Shimon Peres of Israel and Karim Kabariti of Jordan, and Palestine National Authority official Nabil Shaath agreed to establish a series of industrial zones in the Gaza Strip and West Bank.

Feb. 13: In the first such indictment ever handed down by an international tribunal, the United Nations tribunal on war crimes in the former Yugoslavia charged Zeljko Meakic, the commander of the Serb-run Omarska camp in northwestern Bosnia, with genocide.

Feb. 14: On the anniversary of the Hebron massacre, as Israeli soldiers killed one stone-throwing youth and wounded at least three others, Israeli Prime Minister Rabin demanded that PNA President Arafat ban Hamas and the Islamic Jihad in Jericho and the Gaza Strip.

—As Bosnian Serb forces reneged on a promise to allow food supplies to reach starving Muslims in northwestern Bosnia, the Clinton administration adopted the Bosnian "contact group" proposal to offer to lift sanctions against Serbia in exchange for Serbia's cutting off aid to rebel Serbs in Bosnia and Croatia and recognizing the borders of the two former Yugoslav republics of Bosnia and Croatia.

—Raising hopes for an end to the Afghan civil war, nonaligned Taliban (Islamic Students) militia troops occupied territory that had been held by rebel leader Gulbuddin Hekmatyar and his Hezb-e-Islami fighters, who fled their main base south of Kabul without a fight.

—Japan, acceding to U.S. appeals and extensive intelligence information, agreed to suspend a $450 million loan package to Iran.

Feb. 16: Israel agreed to ease border restrictions and allow 10,000 West Bank Palestinians and 5,000 Gazans to return to jobs in Israel.

Feb. 19: In the year's heaviest fighting, Israeli warplanes and artillery attacked targets in southern Lebanon in retaliation for Hezbollah attacks on an Israeli-occupied border post.

Feb. 22: PLO Chairman Arafat, in a statement following a two-day meeting of the PLO executive committee in Cairo, called for an Arab summit meeting and increased international pressure on Israel to redeploy its troops in preparation for Palestinian elections.

—The foreign minister of the Yugoslav federation, comprising Serbia and Montenegro, ruled out recognition of Croatia and Bosnia in the near future.

—Rival Afghan militias failed to agree on an interim ruling council to end the three-year civil war.

—A U.S. task force assembled off the coast of Mogadishu in preparation for the evacuation of U.N. peacekeeping troops from Somalia.

Feb. 23: In Pakistan, the Lahore High Court dismissed blasphemy charges against a 14-year-old Christian boy and his uncle who earlier had been convicted and sentenced to death.

Feb. 24: Israel expanded its two-week-old blockade of fishing off the southern Lebanese coast from Tyre to include Sidon.

—NATO opened its controversial "security dialogue" in separate meetings with Egypt, Israel, Mauritania, Morocco and Tunisia.

Feb. 26: Israeli gunboats fired warning shots at the town of Damour, 11 miles south of Beirut, in a further expansion of their blockade against Lebanese fishermen.

Feb. 27: A car bomb exploded in the Kurdish-controlled northern Iraqi city of Zakho, killing at least 54 people and wounding up to 80.

Feb. 28: Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. John Shalikashvili said Iran has deployed Hawk anti-aircraft missiles and artillery near the Strait of Hormuz.

—U.S. Marines landed in the Somali capital of Mogadishu, as the final U.N. pullout from Somalia began.