state Abkhazia. October 7 – United States invasion of Afghanistan: In response to the September 11 attacks, Afghanistan is invaded by a US-led coalition, beginning the War in Afghanistan. October 8 – U.S. President George W. Bush announces the establishment of the Office of Homeland Security. October 17 – Israeli tourism minister Rehavam Ze'evi becomes the first Israeli minister to be assassinated in a terrorist attack. October 23 – The Provisional Irish Republican Army of Northern Ireland commences disarmament after peace talks. October 25 – Citing connotations with the Rwandan genocide, the government of Rwanda adopts a new national flag for the country. October 26 – U.S. President George W. Bush signs the Patriot Act into law. November November 4 – The Police Service of Northern Ireland is established, replacing the controversial Royal Ulster Constabulary. November 10 – John Howard, the Prime Minister of Australia, is elected to a third term. November 13 – In the first such act since World War II, U.S. President George W. Bush signs an executive order allowing military tribunals against any foreigners suspected of having connections to terrorist acts or planned acts against the United States. November 14 – Fall of Kabul: Northern Alliance forces take the Afghan capital Kabul. November 23 – The Convention on Cybercrime is signed in Budapest, Hungary. December December – The International Commission on Intervention and State Sovereignty produces a report on Responsibility to protect. December 3 – Officials announce that one of the Taliban prisoners captured after the prison uprising at Mazar-i-Sharif, Afghanistan is John Walker Lindh, a United States citizen. December 6 – Fall of Kandahar: The Taliban surrenders in Kandahar, its final stronghold. December 11 The United States government indicts Zacarias Moussaoui for involvement in the September 11 attacks. The United States Customs Service raids members of international software piracy group DrinkOrDie in Operation Buccaneer. December 13 2001 Indian Parliament attack: 12 are killed, leading to a 2001–02 India–Pakistan standoff. U.S. President George W. Bush announces the US withdrawal from the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty. December 22 – Burhanuddin Rabbani, political leader of the Northern Alliance, hands over power in Afghanistan to the interim government headed by President Hamid Karzai. December 27 – China is granted permanent normal trade status with the United States. Deaths January 2 – William P. Rogers, American diplomat (b. 1913) January 7 – Charles Helou, 9th president of Lebanon (b. 1913)