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European Union foreign ministers expressed annoyance that Greek Cypriots, part of the expanded EU from 1 May, voted against unification of the island in a referendum, although there was a majority in favour in Turkish Northern Cyprus. In Iraq suicide bombers in three boats attacked oil-export terminals offshore from Basra; it was claimed as the work of al-Qa’eda. American forces killed 43 militiamen in the city of Najaf, the site of the Imam Ali’s tomb, next to which Muqtada al-Sadr, the leader of the Mahdi army, has his office. American aircraft and artillery attacked parts of Fallujah. In April 115 American troops were killed, in Iraq: the same number as were killed in the invasion in 2003. An Iraqi group calling itself the ‘Green Brigade’ said it would kill three Italian hostages unless ‘the Italian people organise demonstrations to protest against their government’s policy in Iraq’; a fourth hostage was killed on 14 April. Four terrorists set off a bomb and shot dead two people in the diplomatic quarter of Damascus; two of the bombers died. Hundreds of young Islamic militants attacked police stations in southern Thailand, killing five of the security forces and losing 105 of their own men. In North Korea a chemicals train exploded at Ryongchon, killing at least 161 and injuring 1,300. In Colombia three Irishmen, Martin McCauley, James Monaghan and Niall Connolly, were found not guilty of ‘training for illegal activities’ Marxist terrorists in IRA bombing techniques. President Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe was given a standing ovation as he arrived in Pretoria for the inauguration of the re-elected President Thabo Mbeki of South Africa. A Qatari diplomat was caught speeding at 133 mph in the Mont Blanc tunnel, which has a limit of 45mph. Estée Lauder, the American cosmetics maker, died, aged 97. The face of Leonardo’s ‘Mona Lisa’ in the Louvre was said to be deteriorating because the poplar panel on which it is painted is warping. CSH
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