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| 1998, Oct. 16–2000, March |
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| In London, British police arrested Gen. Augusto Pinochet Ugarte, the former military dictator of Chile, after Spanish officials requested his extradition on charges of human rights abuses such as torture and genocide, allegedly committed when his military regime ruled Chile. In Oct. 1999 a court reversed an earlier ruling, saying that Pinochet could be extradited to Spain and face prosecution. However, British doctors in Jan. 2000 concluded that Pinochet was medically unfit to stand trial. By March 2000 the British authorities decided to extradite Pinochet to his home country of Chile, where he also faced numerous charges for war crimes committed during his reign. | 1 |
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| Dec. 19 |
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| Along with the United States, Britain launched air strikes against Iraq after Saddam Hussein had permanently expelled UN arms inspectors earlier in the year. Periodic attacks on Iraqi military and arms-producing targets continued for the next two years as Iraq refused compliance with UN calls for the admittance of inspections teams into Iraq to confirm that all chemical, biological, or nuclear weapons production had ceased in the country. | 2 |
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