Arafat proposes Islamic force to end Gulf War
1987 - PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat, warning of increased superpower naval presence in the Gulf, proposed an Islamic peace force to impose a settlement on the war between Iran and Iraq. Arafat said troops from the 46-member Islamic Conference Organisation should take up positions to disengage the warring forces. “If one of the two countries rejects the presence of this force, then it should be stationed on the borders of the other country and impose a peaceful settlement,” Arafat said. The PLO chairman arrived in Abu Dhabi and met President His Highness Shaikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan. He said the talks dealt with various Palestinian, Arab and Islamic issues. Arafat predicted Iran will reject his offer, but said such a peace force was used successfully by the United Nations in the early 1950s during the Korean War despite objections by the Soviet Union. He said the latest escalation of the Gulf conflict, which spilt over into attacks on commercial shipping, has led to increased naval presence especially by the United States and Britain.
February 1
1881 - First signs of nationalist movement appear in Egypt as military officers stage uprising.
1896 - Crete begins revolution against Turkey.
1899 - The US flag is raised over Pacific island of Guam, formerly under Spanish control.
1908 - Portugal’s King Carlos I and Crown Prince are murdered in Lisbon.
1924 - Britain recognises the Communist government of the Soviet Union.
1925 - Ahmet Zogu becomes the first President of Albania.
1968 - Central Pacific nation of Nauru becomes independent.
1972 - British Embassy in Dublin is bombed as anti-British demonstrations sweep Ireland.
1979 - Ayatollah Khomeini returns to Iran after 15 years in exile.
1990 - Romanian National Salvation Front agrees to a power-sharing arrangement until national elections can be held.
1991 - Severe earthquake in Pakistan kills more than 200 people.
1992 - US President George Bush and Russian President Boris Yeltsin sign Camp David declaration of the end of Cold War.
1995 - Flooded rivers make refugees of almost 250,000 people in the Netherlands.
1997 - An Air Senegal plane carrying European tourists crashes in Senegal, killing at least 20 people.
1998 - Miguel Angel Rodriguez wins the presidency in Costa Rica.
2000 - UAE issues federal law on the establishment of the Emirates Securities and Commodities Market.
2002 - American journalist Daniel Pearl is executed by Pakistani militants nine days after his abduction.
2003 - Space shuttle Columbia breaks up over Texas, killing all seven astronauts on board.
2004 - At least 250 pilgrims are crushed to death during a devil-stoning ritual in Mina, Saudi Arabia.
2008 - Shaikh Hamdan Bin Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum becomes Crown Prince of Dubai.
2009 - Hamdan Bin Mohammad e-University formerly known the e-TQM college is launched in Dubai.
2012 - Riots after a football match in Egypt’s Port Saeed leave 73 people dead.
2014 - Volcano Mount Sinabung erupts, killing at least 16 people in Indonesia.
2015 -An Egyptian court bans the armed wing of the Palestinian group Hamas and lists it as a “terrorist” organisation.
