Senate opens impeachment trial against Pres. Clinton. (NYT, WP, WT 1/8)
IDF scuffles with 100s of Palestinians protesting the continued closure on Hebron. (WP 1/8)
The IDF demolishes 15 Lebanese homes in Arnun, n. of the self-declared security zone, claiming they were used as staging grounds for Hizballah attacks; expels 25 Lebanese civilians, including 16 children, fr. Shab`a village in s. Lebanon. (RL 1/7 in WNC 1/8; RL 1/8 in WNC 1/11)
To fulfill vows to end government corruption, Pres. Lahoud, PM Huss fire 19 top-ranking officials; reshuffle the diplomatic corps; liquidate Ogero, the inefficient state-run telephone maintenance company, whose employees were once paid bonuses by fmr. PM Hariri personally. Hariri calls actions "political revenge." Government says that reform of the 230,000-strong state bureaucracy will last at least 6 mos. (MM 1/13; MEI, MM 1/29)
An Iraqi antiaircraft battery turns radar on U.S. planes flying in the n. no-fly zone. U.S. fires missile at battery in response. 2 Iraqi jets also violate the n. zone. (NYT, WT 1/8)
An Iraqi opposition group, the Center for Human Rights, reports that Iraq has executed 81 political detainees, including army officers, who plotted to kill Pres. Saddam Hussein. (NYT, WT 1/8; see GIU 1/5, 1/6)