Just 2 Seconds (50 page)

534.
Date: October 14, 1996
Target: President Alvaro Arzu
Location: Guatemala City, Guatemala
Details: An explosion ripped through the fourth floor of a building 100 yards from Arzu's office complex, killing two women and wounding a man. Police investigated two men seen placing a satchel charge, then fleeing. Arzu was not injured.

535.
Date: October 31, 1996
Target: President Charles Taylor
Location: Monrovia, Liberia
Details: Gunmen opened fire on Taylor's entourage as it arrived at the Executive Mansion. The gunmen were able to follow his motorcade past the guards and onto the grounds, using a taxicab. Taylor escaped injury, but his bodyguard and two others were killed.
(2-STARS: Protective Strategies or Resources at the scene favorably influenced safety/survival.)

536.
Date: December 25, 1996
Target: Army Chief of Staff Tin Oo
Location: Rangoon, Burma
Details: A bomb exploded at the World Peace Pagoda, shortly before Oo arrived to pay his respects. The SLORC blamed the attack on armed opposition groups, the exiled All Burma Students Democratic Front (ABSDF) and the Karen Nation Union (KNU), and implicated the NLD as an "above-ground destructive element" with whom these groups were alleged to have contact. By the end of the year, no arrests had been made in relation the attack.

537.
Date: February 12, 1997
Target: President Ernesto Samper
Location: Barranquilla, Colombia
Details: A 44-pound dynamite bomb exploded near the airport as Samper's jet was coming in for a landing. There were no injuries.

538.
Date: March 9, 1997
Target: Guerilla Leader Shamil Basayev
Location: Grozny, Chechnya
Details: A remote-controlled land mine exploded as Basayev's motorcade was going by, wounding a bodyguard and damaging several cars. He was not hurt.

539.
Date: April 5, 1997
Target: Prime Minister Bashkim Fino
Location: Bushat, Albania
Details: Gunmen stopped Fino's motorcade just short of his destination, Shkodra. When they tried to negotiate, the rebels threw two hand grenades at the cars. Fino's motorcade turned around and he escaped unharmed.
(3-STARS: Protector action during the attack favorably influenced safety/survival.)

540.
Date: April 6, 1997
Target: Army Chief of Staff Tin Oo
Location: Rangoon, Burma
Details: A mail bomb exploded at Oo's home when his daughter, Cho Lei Oo, opened it, killing her. General Oo was reportedly not injured. The SLORC blamed the attack on armed opposition groups, the exiled All Burma Students Democratic Front (ABSDF) and the Karen Nation Union (KNU), and implicated the NLD as an "above-ground destructive element" with whom these groups were alleged to have contact. By the end of the year, no arrests had been made in relation the attack.

541.
Date: May 23, 1997
Target: King Leka
Location: Tropoje, Albania
Details: Two gunmen fired shots at the lead police car of Leka's motorcade as it entered town. Leka's bodyguards quickly jumped out and caught one of them. Leka later ordered him released. No one was injured.
(4-STARS: Protector action during the attack entirely prevented injury.)

542.
Date: June 4, 1997
Target: President Sali Berisha
Location: Shkallnuer, Albania
Details: A man threw a grenade at Berisha as he was speaking to a crowd of several hundred. The grenade landed at Berisha's feet, failed to explode, and the assailant was arrested.

543.
Date: May 14, 1997
Target: Government Leaders
Location: Beijing, China
Details: A bomb exploded under a park bench near the offices of China's top leaders. There were no reported injuries.

544.
Date: May 25, 1997
Target: President Ahmed Tejan Kabbah
Location: Freetown, Sierra Leone
Details: Mutinous soldiers seized the Parliament building and set fire to the national treasury, killing four and wounding 21. Kabbah fled to neighboring Guinea. Stray fire from rocket-propelled grenades and mortars hit the U.S. Embassy, 200 yards from the assembly building.

545.
Date: June 26, 1997
Target: President Sali Berisha
Location: Lushnja, Albania
Details: Gunmen fired assault rifles at Berisha's motorcade during a campaign rally, missing him, but wounding three bodyguards. The attack came within hours of other pre-election violence, including a kidnapping and a firefight that caught a government minister in the crossfire.
(2-STARS: Protective Strategies or Resources at the scene favorably influenced safety/survival.)

546.
Date: July 18, 1997
Target: Community Leader Ivan Maron
Location: Cape Town, South Africa
Details: Terrorists firebombed Maron's home, which also serves as a Jewish book center, but he and his family escaped unharmed.

547.
Date: February 9, 1998
Target: President Eduard Shevardnadze
Location: Tbilisi, Georgia
Details: Shevardnadze was returning to his official residence when gunmen opened fire with a grenade launcher and machine guns on the four-car motorcade. The attack took place about a kilometer (.6 mile) from Shevardnadze's residence. The gunmen were hiding behind trees on a small hill overlooking the road. The front of Shevardnadze's armored Mercedes was badly damaged when a rocket-propelled grenade hit the front. Two other cars in the motorcade were badly burned. A bodyguard in Shevardnadze's car was killed. Two other bodyguards were injured in the 10-minute gun battle that followed. The president was taken to his residence in a police car. Shevardnadze was shown later on state television and appeared to be uninjured. Police and troops flooded the area, searching vehicles and buildings after the attack. They recovered a videotape of the attack taken by the attackers.
(4-STARS: Protector action during the attack entirely prevented injury.)

548.
Date: November 5, 1998
Target: President Boris Yeltsin
Location: Moscow, Russia
Details: A man drove his car across Red Square to the Spassky Gate, the main gate of the Kremlin. He jumped out and detonated a bomb in the car. He then tried to shoot himself with a pistol, but was apprehended. The blast was reported to have had the force of 13 pounds of dynamite. Kremlin guards found another, stronger bomb soon after the explosion and defused it. Two Kremlin guards, one presidential guard, and the driver were injured. The gate was slightly damaged.
(2-STARS: Protective Strategies or Resources at the scene favorably influenced safety/survival.)

549.
Date: November 7, 1998
Target: Judge Salah Badour
Location: Cairo, Egypt
Details: Badour was
en route
home from a resort when gunmen fired at his car. They hit the car, but caused no injuries. Badour's driver returned fire.
(3-STARS: Protector action during the attack favorably influenced safety/survival.)

550.
Date: January 2, 1999
Target: Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif
Location: Raiwind, Pakistan
Details: A time bomb destroyed a bridge two miles from Sharif's home, at the time that he was expected to cross it on his way home. Sharif was running behind schedule. The explosion killed three civilians and a policeman. Three other policemen were wounded. Sharif and his family used a helicopter to return home.