| Week
starting Saturday 6 August |
|
| Date |
Year |
Event |
|
| 6 |
1979 |
The Mauritanian government has conceded defeat against
the Polisario Front (Popular Front for the Liberation of the Saguia el
Hamra and Rio de Oro) after three years of bitter fighting for the southern
section of Spanish Sahara (now Western Sahara), Rio de Oro. The country was
divided between Mauritania and Morocco when the Spanish pulled out in 1976. |
| 6 |
1990 |
The African National Congress in South Africa had
announced its intention to halt guerrilla attacks as part of the on-going
negotiations for the end of minority White rule. |
|
|
For more on 6 August |
|
| 7 |
1970 |
Fighting along the Egyptian-Israeli border is brought to
a halt as a new 90-day cease-fire takes effect. |
| 7 |
1992 |
Joaquim Alberto Chissano, president of Mozambique, meets
with Afonso Dhlakama, leader of the Resistência Nacional Moçambicana
(Renamo, Mozambique National Resistance), to sign a peace agreement in
Rome. |
|
|
For more on 7 August |
|
| 8 |
1960 |
Dag Hjalmar Agne Carl Hammarskjöld, UN
secretary-general, instructs Belgium to withdraw its troops from the Congo. |
| 8 |
1977 |
Qaafar Muhammad el-Nimeiry, President of the Republic of
Sudan, announces a general amnesty for all political prisoners. |
|
|
For more on 08 August |
|
| 9 |
1967 |
Biafran troops, under the command of Colonel Ojukwu,
have crossed the Niger River into Nigeria's Mid-Western State and are
heading towards Benin City. Nigeria's leader General Yakubu Gowon, promoted
since his reinstatement of Federal rule, is planning an offensive against
the Biafran capital Enugu. |
| 9 |
1994 |
Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, estranged wife of Nelson
Mandela, tells members of the Government of National Unity at parliament in
South Africa "... that my deepest regret is that I failed Stompie
[Mackenzie], that I was unable to protect him from the anarchy of those
times." Winnie Mandela was found guilty at trial for the kidnapping of
four boys by her Mandela United Football Club in February 1991, but
acquitted of charges of assault. Sentenced initially to six years
imprisonment, she was released on a suspended sentence and a fine after
appeal. |
|
|
For more on 9 August |
|
| 10 |
1909 |
Reports indicate that a sizeable gold deposit has been
found in the Banket formation, Rhodesia, which extends for over six miles
underground. |
| 10 |
1985 |
Dr Allan Boesak is arrested in South Africa. Dr Boesak
along with Archbishop Desmond Tutu and Dr Christiaan Beyers Naudé formed a
triumvirate of South African clerics opposed to the Apartheid regime. |
|
|
For more on 10 August |
|
| 11 |
1904 |
Herero people are massacred by German forces under the
command of General von Trotha near the Waterberg plateau. |
| 11 |
1940 |
World War II: North Africa
A week before Mussolini orders General Rodolfo Graziani to invade Egypt
from Libya, the British RAF raids airfields and Italian military bases. |
|
|
For more on 11 August |
|
| 12 |
1964 |
South Africa is barred from the Olympic Games in Tokyo
as a sanction against its Apartheid policies. |
| 12 |
1993 |
US marines open fire on 3,000 Somali demonstrators
protesting against the US presence in the country. |
|
|
For more on 12 August |
|
