Timeline Seychelles
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A group of islands in the
Indian
Ocean NE of Madagascar. There are more some 115 islands in the
archipelago. 90% of the people reside on Mahe, the main island.
Total
area is 100 sq mls and the capital is Victoria.
(WUD, 1994, p.1308)(SFEM, 3/16/97, p.209)
1976
The Seychelles gained independence from Britain.
(SFC, 7/1/97, p.A9)
1977 Jun 5, In the Seychelles
France Albert Rene (b.1935) seized power in a coup. He continued as
president to 2004.
(SFC, 9/4/01,
p.B1)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/France-Albert_Ren%C3%A9)
1981 Nov 25, In the Seychelle
Islands a group of mercenaries poising as a touring rugby team
staged an ill-fated attempted takeover of the country.
(www.strategypage.com/militaryforums/516-637.aspx)
1993 In the Seychelles Albert
Rene restored multiparty democracy and went on to win three straight
elections.
(AP, 8/1/06)
1995 Nov, The government passed
its Economic Development Act which provides immunity to investors
who place $10 million in “approved” Seychelles investments. Perks
include protection against seizure of assets and in some cases
diplomatic passports.
(WSJ, 5/23/96, p.A-12)
1996 Feb, The Financial Action
Task Force cited the Seychelles Islands as: “a serious threat to the
world’s financial systems.” The Islands had passed an Economic
Development Act that provided investors immunity for investing $10
million in “approved” Seychelles investments. The immunity is waived
only in cases of drug trafficking or violent crime.
(WSJ, 5/23/96, p.A-12)
1997 Nov 22, The Miss World
pageant in the Seychelles Islands was won by Diana Hayden (24), Miss
India.
(SFEC,11/23/97, p.A2)
2001 Sep 2, Voting ended and
Pres. France Albert Rene won another 5 year term.
(SFC, 9/4/01, p.B1)
2002 Dec 7, In the Seychelles
after 3 days of voting Pres. France Albert Rene's party retained
control of parliament even though the main opposition party more
than tripled its number of seats.
(AP, 12/7/02)
2004 Apr 14, Seychelles Pres.
France Albert Rene, one of Africa's longest-serving leaders, said he
was ready to step down after nearly 3 decades at the helm of this
Indian Ocean nation.
(AP, 4/14/04)
2006 Jul 30, The Seychelles
held presidential elections. External debt was reported to be $590
million for the population of 82,000 people.
(Econ, 8/12/06, p.40)
2006 Aug 1, Officials said
incumbent Seychelles President James Michel of the People's
Progressive Front won nearly 54% of the vote over the weekend, while
opposition leader Wavel Ramkalawan got 46%.
(AP, 8/1/06)
2009 Feb 28, The yacht
Serenity, with two crew from the Seychelles on board, left the
islands en route to Madagascar and disappeared. One of the crew
called his family on March 24, saying he was being held by Somali
pirates and begging for help.
(AP, 3/25/09)
2009 Apr 1, A tourist yacht and
its crew of seven was hijacked by Somali pirates near the Seychelles
islands off Africa's east coast.
(AP, 4/2/09)
2009 Apr 28, The Seychelles
Coast Guard said it had arrested nine suspected pirates believed to
be behind the weekend attempt to hijack the melody, a luxury cruise
liner carrying an estimated 1,000 tourists in the Indian Ocean. The
Spanish navy had tracked the skiff and apprehended the suspects.
They were then turned over to the Seychelles Coast Guard.
(AP, 4/28/09)
2009 Aug 29, The EU signed a
temporary trade pact with Mauritius, Seychelles, Zimbabwe and
Madagascar calling for tariffs on European goods to be removed over
the next 15 years.
(AP, 8/29/09)
2009 Sep 6, Somali authorities,
who say they were not informed of a hostage exchange plan, stopped a
deal to swap three hostages held by Somali pirates with 23 suspected
pirates, who had been held in the Seychelles.
(AP, 9/7/09)
2009 Oct 13, French soldiers in
the Indian Ocean opened fire on pirates, warding off an attack on
two French tuna fishing vessels off the Seychelles Islands.
(AP, 10/13/09)
2010 Jul 26, The island nation
of Seychelles said it has prosecuted and convicted Somali pirates
for the first time. A Seychelles court sentenced 11 Somali pirates
to 10 years in prison each for their attempt to hijack the
Seychelles coast guard patrol boat Topaz last December.
(AP, 7/26/10)
2010 Nov 23, The EU’s
anti-piracy naval force said that have caught 16 suspected Somali
pirates over the past 5 days in the Indian Ocean with the help of
the Seychelles coast guard.
(SFC, 11/24/10, p.A2)
2011 May 21, Seychelles'
incumbent President James Michel said he was confident of
re-election as residents of the archipelago's three main islands
voted on the final day of a three-day polling. Michel from the
ruling Lepep party took 55 percent of the vote.
(AFP, 5/21/11)(AP, 5/22/11)
2011 Dec 2, The Seychelles
invited Beijing to set up a military base on the archipelago to beef
up the fight against piracy there.
(AFP, 12/2/11)
2011 Dec 13, An American
military drone MQ-9 Reaper, which had been used to monitor piracy
off the East African coast, crashed at an airport on the island
nation of Seychelles during a routine patrol.
(AP, 12/13/11)
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