June 10, 2002: Israel seals off Arafat headquarters

2002 - Israeli army bulldozers piled rubble in front of the entrances to Yasser Arafat’s headquarters in the West Bank town of Ramallah, blocking all access to the compound, the Palestinian leadership said. “The bulldozers, since the afternoon, have sealed off the entrances to the besieged headquarters, with rubble and the frames of cars flattened by tanks and armoured vehicles,” the statement said. At least 70 tanks poured into Ramallah early yesterday morning, surrounded Arafat’s compound and started to comb the city for Palestinian militants. The leadership accused the army of “demolishing the military intelligence office inside the Muqataa,” the Arabic name for Arafat’s war-torn headquarters, which had been battered just four days before by an Israeli attack.

Other important events

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1898 - US Marines invade Cuba in Spanish-American War.

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1963 - US President John F. Kennedy signs into law the Equal Pay Act, which aims to abolish pay disparity based on gender.

1967 - The six-day war ends as Israel and Syria agree to observe a UN-mediated ceasefire.

1971 - US lifts 21-year-old embargo on trade with China.

1977 - Apple Computer releases the Apple II – the first personal computer to feature colour graphics.

1996 - Chechen rebels and Russian negotiators sign an accord at Nazran, Ingushetia, on withdrawal of Russian forces from Chechnya.

1998 - First graduation ceremony of the American University in Dubai is held.

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2000 - Syrian President Hafez Assad dies at the age of 69.

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2006 - Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas calls for a referendum on a Palestinian state.

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