government and
led to Kosovo's first parliamentary election. FRY elections in
September 2000 led to the ouster of MILOSEVIC and installed Vojislav
KOSTUNICA as president. A broad coalition of democratic reformist
parties known as DOS (the Democratic Opposition of Serbia) was
subsequently elected to parliament in December 2000 and took control
of the government. The arrest of MILOSEVIC by DOS in 2001 allowed
for his subsequent transfer to the International Criminal Tribunal
for the Former Yugoslavia in The Hague to be tried for crimes
against humanity. (MILOSEVIC died at The Hague in March 2006 before
the completion of his trial.) In 2001, the country's suspension from
the UN was lifted, and it was once more accepted into UN
organizations. In 2003, the FRY became Serbia and Montenegro, a
loose federation of the two republics with a federal level
parliament. Violent rioting in Kosovo in 2004 caused the
international community to open negotiations on the future status of
Kosovo in January 2006. In May 2006, Montenegro invoked its right
under the Constitutional Charter of Serbia and Montenegro to hold a
referendum on independence from the state union. The referendum was
successful and Montenegro declared itself an independent nation on 3
June 2006. Two days later, Serbia declared that it was the successor
state to the union of Serbia and Montenegro. In October 2006, the
Serbian parliament unanimously approved - and a referendum confirmed
- a new constitution for the country.

Seychelles
A lengthy struggle between France and Great Britain for
the islands ended in 1814, when they were ceded to the latter.
Independence came in 1976. Socialist rule was brought to a close
with a new constitution and free elections in 1993. President
France-Albert RENE, who had served since 1977, was re-elected in
2001, but stepped down in 2004. Vice President James MICHEL took
over the presidency and in July 2006 was elected to a new five-year
term.

Sierra Leone
The government is slowly reestablishing its authority
after the 1991 to 2002 civil war that resulted in tens of thousands
of deaths and the displacement of more than 2 million people (about
one-third of the population). The last UN peacekeepers withdrew in
December 2005, leaving full responsibility for security with
domestic forces, but a new civilian UN office remains to support the
government. Mounting te