2004 And Beyond: The Year’s Most Dramatic Stories -- In Quotes

RADIO FREE EUROPE/ RADIO LIBERTY: "The year began where it had left off in late 2003 -- with a massive earthquake in Iran that killed more than 25,000 people.

Also in early January, a U.S. spacecraft successfully landed on Mars for the first time since 1997. NASA’s Administrator Sean O’Keefe joined in the celebrations: "This is a big night for NASA. We are back. I am very, very proud of this team and we're on Mars. It is absolutely an incredible accomplishment."

In February, Macedonian President Boris Trajkovski was killed in a plane crash. The government plane, carrying six other officials, went down in bad weather over Bosnia. A spokesman for the Bosnian Interior Ministry announced the news: "Unfortunately, we have to confirm the news that the airplane carrying the Macedonian delegation to the international conference in Bosnia, in Mostar, has crashed. The SFOR teams have found the wreckage of the airplane and confirm all on board were dead."

In late March, Uzbekistan was hit with a wave of bombings and shootings in Tashkent and Bukhara. At least 19 people were killed and many others wounded.

Uzbek President Islam Karimov blamed Hezb ut-Tahrir, a banned radical Islamic group: "If we look back at the events one by one and try to draw a lesson, I would say that all these attacks were very well planned in advance and the preparation, in all aspects, was from outside. The support came from extremist centers which have large funds and opportunities."

Less than a week later, a tense political standoff ended in Georgia’s autonomous republic of Adjara. Its leader, Aslan Abashidze, had long refused to submit to Tbilisi’s authority. But his confrontation with Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili failed to escalate into civil war, as many had feared.

Faced with a popular uprising, Abashidze fled into exile. Saakashvili announced the news on Georgian television: "Georgians: Aslan has fled! Adjara is free! I congratulate everyone on this victory. Georgia has to be united and rise up. Georgia will be united."

On 9 May, Chechen separatists assassinated the Moscow-backed leader of Chechnya. Akhmed-hadji Kadyrov was killed after a bomb exploded beneath the stands where he and others were watching a World War II memorial parade.

In October, the chairman of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, Ole Danbolt Mjoes, announced the winner of the Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo: "The Norwegian Nobel Committee has decided to award the Nobel Peace Prize for 2004 to Wangari Maathai for her contribution to sustainable development, democracy, and peace."

Maathai is the first African woman to receive the honor. The 64-year-old biologist founded the Green Belt Movement, which has helped to plant more than 30 million trees across Africa. She is also praised for efforts to protect the rights of women and children.

On 17 October, Belarus held a referendum on changing the constitution to allow President Alyaksandr Lukashenka to run for a third five-year term. "