August 4, 1990
Arab states against ‘foreign role’ in Kuwait
Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak said Arab states did not want foreign intervention in the crisis over Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait. “We are not asking for any foreign intervention,” Mubarak said after three hours of talks on the invasion with Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat in Alexandria. “I think Arab leaders are capable of finding a solution to this problem without any foreign interference at all,” he added. Mubarak demanded that Iraq withdraw all the troops it sent into Kuwait. The Egyptian leader led Arab efforts to settle the Iraqi-Kuwaiti dispute before it erupted into war, visiting both countries a few days before the invasion. PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat meet President Hosni Mubarak as part of a PLO-Libyan campaign to limit the repercussions of Iraq’s invasion. Informed sources here said no firm agreement had been reached on the summit, which would bring together Mubarak, King Hussain of Jordan, King Fahd of Saudi Arabia, Kuwaiti Emir Shaikh Jaber Al Ahmad Al Sabah and possibly Saddam Hussain.
Other important events
1578 Portugal’s King Sebastian is killed when his forces, on a crusade to Morocco, are overwhelmed by a larger Moroccan army.
1902 The Greenwich foot tunnel under the River Thames opens.
1906 Central Railway Station in Sydney opens.
1907 French fleet bombards Casablanca, northwest Morocco, following anti-colonial demonstrations.
1914 Britain declares war on Germany.
1916 Denmark sells Danish Virgin Islands to the United States for $25 million (Dh91.8 million).
1922 Fighting breaks out between fascists and socialists in Italian cities.
1924 Diplomatic relations between Mexico and the Soviet Union are established.
1971 US Apollo 15 spacecraft heads back to Earth after a six-day mission exploring Moon.
1990 12 nations of European Community ban oil imports, embargo arms and suspend most trade with Iraq after invasion of Kuwait.
1991 The Greek cruise ship Oceanos sinks off South Africa’s rugged eastern coast.
1994 Yugoslavia withdraws support for Bosnia’s Serbs.
1995 Croatia launches a massive attack on breakaway Serbs, bombarding rebel towns and shelling UN peacekeepers.
1996 South Africa’s Josiah Thugwane becomes the first black South African to win a Games gold in Atlanta.
1997 Australia’s Cathy Freeman becomes the first aboriginal athlete to capture a world or Olympic track title at the 400-metres at the World Championships.
1999 Mexico wins soccer’s Confederations Cup, beating Brazil 4-3 in an electrifying final that ended decades of frustration for Mexico’s long-suffering fans.
2002 In an electoral tie, Bolivia’s Congress selects Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozada, a wealthy mining magnate and former president, as the country’s next president.
2005 An Air France A340 jet with 309 people aboard overshoots the runway at Toronto international airport and bursts into flames after plunging into a muddy ravine.
2007 The Turkish parliament dominated by the Islamist-oriented party of prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan is sworn in.
2010 Laura Dekker, a 14 year old Dutch, sails from the Den Osse harbour in hopes of becoming the youngest person to circumnavigate the world.
2012 American swimmer Michael Phelps becomes the most decorated Olympian ever with 22 Olympic medals.
2013 A horrific crash in Saudi Arabia left 14 people dead and three injured.
