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[edit] March 28, 2005

• The first arrests are made for war crimes in Darfur, Sudan: 15 officials in South Darfur are accused of rape, murder, and other crimes related to the Darfur conflict. Whether they will be tried in a Sudanese or international court is uncertain at this time. (BBC) (Reuters)
• The Kuomintang's 34-member delegation led by KMT Vice Chairman Chiang Pin-kun arrives on a landmark official visit to mainland China, the first since the end of Chinese Civil War in 1949. On their first day, the delegates pay homage at the Mausoleum of the 72 Martyrs in Huanghuagang (Yellow Flower Knoll), Guangzhou in the province of Guangdong. (BBC), (Taipei Times), (China Daily)
• 2005 Sumatran earthquake: An earthquake of magnitude 8.7 is reported off the west coast of North Sumatra, likely an aftershock of the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake. Concerned about the threat of a tsunami, emergency evacuations begin in Malaysia, Thailand, and Sri Lanka, although no significant tsunami activity is reported. Indonesia's vice-president reports up to 2,000 deaths (Guardian), (USGS), (CNN), (BBC), (CBC)
• Israeli-Palestinian Conflict:
  • The Israeli Knesset voted on a referendum bill on the Disengagement plan. 72 MKs rejected, 39 voted for and 3 abstained. (Haaretz)
  • The Israeli Defence Forces arrested 8 Palestinians during a raid into Jenin. Israel claims the 8 men were members of Palestinian Islamic Jihad building a Qassam rocket, and the IDF have released a list of the 8 Palestinian arrested, stating their name and their alleged activities. According to that list, one of those arrested, Hasin Mahmed Mashkah, was released in February as a part of the Prisoner-release program involving 500 men. Residents dispute the Israeli claims and state that 3 of the men were members of the security services, and that the other 5 were not known militants. (Haaretz), (BBC)(IDF), (Haaretz)
• Lebanese officials state that 2000 Syrian troops have left the country (Arabic News), (Reuters AlertNet), (BBC)
• Court in Moscow sentences director Yuri Samodurov and Lyudmila Vasilovskaya for fine of 100,000 rubles (about £2,000 or $3,600) for blasphemy because of their 2003 exhibition Caution! Religion. (Mosnews), (Reuters AlertNet), (BBC)
• In Zimbabwe, archbishop Pius Ncube calls for peaceful uprising against the government of Robert Mugabe. Government denounces his criticism. (IOL), (ITV), (BBC)
• Russian state prosecutors begin sentencing of former Yukos tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky and Yukos shareholder Platon Lebedev for tax evasion and fraud. (ITAR_TASS), (Gateway to Russia), (BBC),
• Thousands of Egyptians attend the funeral of actor Ahmed Zaki. (Al Bawaba), (BBC)