Nelson Mandela retires from active politics and is succeeded by Thabo Mbeki as South Africa's president

President Kabbah and the guerrilla leader Foday Sankoh arrange for shared government in Sierra Leone

A peace plan signed in Lusaka brings to an end eleven months of renewed civil war in the Congo

An amnesty is declared for some 8000 Muslim terrorists held in Algeria's gaols

Approximately 130,000 Hutus are held in gaol awaiting trial for their part in Rwanda's genocide

The UN commits 6000 troops to a peace-keeping role in war-torn Sierra Leone

Laurent Kabila, the president of the Congo, is assassinated in a failed coup attempt

The death of Jonas Savimbi is soon followed by the disbanding of UNITA and the end of 27 years of Angolan civil war

Civil war breaks out in the Darfur region of the Sudan, resulting in large numbers of civilian deaths and accusations of government-sponsored genocide