International Events in March 2000
Mar. 2:
The French Constitutional Council president, Mr. Roland Dumas resigns following corruption charges.
Mar. 3:
The former Chilean dictator, Gen. Augusto Pinochet returns home a free man after the British Home Secretary announces that he is too ill to stand trial in Spain on charges of torture.
The veteran politician, Mr. Jorge Batlle (72) sworn in Uruguay's new President.
Mar. 4:
The United Nations War Crimes Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia condemns the Bosnian Croat General Tihomir Blaskic to 45 years in prison for atrocities committed by members of the militia he commanded during the Bosnian war from 1992-95.
Mar. 5:
PPL Therapeutics, the British biopharmaceutical company that helped clone Dolly, creates the world's first cloned pigs using nuclear transfer.
Mar. 6:
Eric Clapton, Bonnie Raitt, Nat King Cole in Rock and Roll Hall of Fame for an unprecedented third time.
Mar. 7:
Mr. George W. Bush (Republican Party) and Mr. Albert Gore Jr. (Democrats) emerge front runners in American presidential election at the conclusion of the primaries.
Mar. 10:
Twenty one persons die in Colombo in an explosion triggered by an LTTE suicide bomber and subsequent exchange of fire.
Mr. Iqbal Radh, a top lawyer defending the deposed Prime Minister, Mr. Nawaz Sharif dies after being shot by four gunmen in Karachi.
Mar. 11:
The Greek President, Mr. Konstantinos Stefanopoulos (74), sworn in for a second five-year term in office.
Eighty miners die after a methane gas explosion in eastern Ukraine's Luhansk region.
Mr. Ricardo Lagos (62) sworn in Chile's new President.
Mar. 12:
The ruling Partido Popular of the Spanish Prime Minister, Mr. Jose Maria Aznar wins absolute majority in Parliament.
Chechen warlord and one of Russia's most wanted men, Salman Raduyev nabbed and brought to Moscow for trial.
Mr. Jens Stoltenberg is Norwegian Prime Minister.
Mar. 13:
A Bosnian Serb General Radislav Krstic (52) charged with overseeing the massacre of thousands of Muslim men and boys after the enclave of Srebrenica was overrun in July 1995 goes on trial at The Hague.
Mar. 16:
A Pakistani judge sentences a serial child killer, Javed Iqbal to death by strangling after finding him guilty of murdering and mutilating 100 children.
Mar. 17:
Reggiani Gucci (51), widow of the fashion mogul Maurizio Gucci gets a 26-year prison sentence for ordering his death in execution-style.
Fearing that the end of the world was nearing, as many as 500 members of a Ugandan doomsday cult commit suicide.
Mar. 18:
The pro-independence Democratic Progressive Party leader, Mr. Chen Shui-bian (49), wins Presidential election in Taiwan.
Mar. 19:
The Israeli Cabinet approves transfer of a part of West Bank to Palestinian control.
Mar. 21:
An octogenarian Austrian physician, Dr. Heinrich Gross goes on trial in Vienna for his `key role' in the Nazis' child euthanasia programme during the Third Reich.
Israel begins withdrawing troops from 6.1 per cent of West Bank as part of a land-for-security deal.
Mar. 22:
Pope John Paul II makes an impassioned plea for a Palestinian homeland at the start of a historic visit to the West Bank town of Bethlehem.
At least 50 people die in a blast while trying to tap an oil pipeline in southeastern Nigeria.
Mar. 23:
Rwanda's President, Mr. Pasteur Bizimungu, resigns after falling out with colleagues in the ruling Tutsi-dominated Rwanda Patriotic Front over the make-up of a new Cabinet.
Mar. 24:
Mr. Horst Koehler of Germany takes over as the International Monetary Fund Managing Director and Chairman.
Mar. 26:
The U.S. President, Mr. Bill Clinton and the Syrian President, Mr. Hafez-al-Assad hold a crucial summit aimed at reviving stalled Israeli-Syrian peace talks.
Russia's acting President, Mr. Vladimir Putin coasts to victory in the Presidential polls capturing over a half of all votes cast.
``American Beauty'', a dark comedy about suburban alienation and family dysfunction wins over five Oscar awards.
Mar. 28:
The former Zambian President, Mr. Kenneth Kannda quits politics after 40-year-old career.
Mar. 29:
Mr. Tang Fei, is Taiwanese Prime Minister.
Mar. 30:
Thirty six Sri Lankan soldiers and four crew members of an AN-26 military aircraft die after the plan crashes due to a ``technical failure''.