Georgian Inauguration Complicates Us-russian Relations
Kazakhstan News
Tbilisi, January 23: US Secretary of State Colin Powell will attend Mikhail Saakashvili`s inauguration as president of Georgia. The transition of power there has some Washington strategists imagining ways to export Georgia`s `revolution` to other post-Soviet states. It has also led to consternation in Moscow which could further erode the spirit of partnership that the Kremlin forged with US President George W. Bush in late 2001. From Tbilisi, Powell will go to Moscow for meetings with Russian president Vladimir Putin and other key officials. Insiders expect that Powell will not mince words in expression of support for Saakashvili, whom the Kremlin considers (according to a Moscow political scientist) `too pro-American and too unknown.` This is delicate geopolitical territory. Russia commands four military bases in Georgia. During a December 2003 visit to Georgia, US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld called for Moscow to withdraw its troops from Georgia in line with agreements signed at the 1999 Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe Istanbul summit. [For background see the Eurasia Insight archive]. This call prompted concern in Russia`s Foreign and Defense Ministries that the Bush administration seeks to use Saakashvili`s ascent to extend its own military presence in Georgia. [See the Eurasia Insight archive]. Saakashvili marked his campaign with promises to tackle Georgia`s internal corruption and its endemic poverty. He has tried to placate Russia in speeches but has been firm about his insistence on keeping breakaway provinces from seceding to Russia. Powell`s spokesman has said that the secretary will deliver an unstinting message to Putin on this issue. Powell also seems likely to demand that Russia expedite its troop withdrawal. Why would Powell be so firm? In the past he has negotiated more gently with Uzbekistan`s Islam Karimov and Kazakhstan`s Nursultan Nazarbayev, both of whom have invoked antiterrorist rhetoric to blanket their misdeeds. [For background see the EurasiaNet Insight archive]. The answer may have to do with the fact that Saakashvili represents something new in post-Soviet politics: the leader of a massive, well-organized effort to peacefully render a sitting president illegitimate. The Bush administration cannot afford to let Russia undermine Saakashvili`s story. A confident Georgia can deliver many benefits. It could stabilize the South Caucasus, shielding American access to the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline and other valves on the Caspian Sea. It could weaken separatist rhetoric in Abkhazia and South Ossetia, which might discourage Russian intervention. And it could become a more effective partner in tracking, stopping and punishing terrorists. [For background on these issues, see EurasiaNet`s package on the Pankisi Gorge]. Indeed, some in the Bush administration doubt that Saakashvili`s `rose revolution,` so dubbed because celebrants clutched roses after Shevardnadze stepped aside, will necessarily foster stability. Proponents of the Realpolitik school, primarily at the State Department, point out that a rush to overhaul Georgia could weaken Russia`s membership in Bush`s antiterrorist coalition and jeopardize American access to Caspian energy sources. Analysts at the National Security Council and the United States Agency for International Development (US AID) understand that Georgia`s entrenched corruption is just one of the symptoms keeping the country poor. It also lacks competitive industries and sound models for capitalist ethics. Moreover, Russian interests control critical chunks of Georgia`s economy. During 2003, state-controlled Russian companies RAO UES and Gazprom acquired the vital electric and natural gas grids in Georgia. [For background, see the Eurasia Insight archive]. Migrants sending money home from Russia contribute meaningfully to Georgia`s annual output. In this context, if Russia encourages the breakaway provinces of Abkhazia, South Ossetia and Ajaria to fully secede, it could sap Georgia`s already anemic economy. Washington understands how many challenges the untested Georgian leadership faces. These include conducting legitimate parliamentary elections in the spring, battling organized crime, and rebuilding public institutions that became sinecures under Shevardnadze. Temur Yakobashvili of the Georgian Foundation for Strategic and International Studies www.gfsis.com suggests that Saakashvili will have to scale down unrealistic expectations, generated in November`s rush of events, in order to thrive. The president`s inaugural address may try to cool the popular mood. According to Yakobashvili, the new regime will struggle to attract honest, competent and educated people to the government, deliver pensions, salaries and other social safety payments on time and restarting economic growth and foreign investment amid deep economic crisis. Finally, Mr. Saakashvili will face a difficult relationship with Russia while attempting territorial reintegration in the face of Moscow-supported separatist opposition. Because conditions in Georgia are so fragile, Russia could swiftly claim that the country needs Russian troops. Powell and his colleagues will have to advance Washington`s goals while staying friendly to a Kremlin that balks at the idea of Georgian initiative.
Saakashvili`s Task: To Be The Builder
The Moscow Times
Moscow, January 22: Georgian President-elect Mikheil Saakashvili will be sworn in Sunday at the grand Gelati Cathedral, which was founded by the greatest of Georgian kings, David IV the Builder, more than 900 years ago. The symbolism of this ceremony will not be lost on Georgians, but their faith in Saakashvili may evaporate if he fails to stabilize the country and revive its economy -- a daunting task that will be hard to achieve without a normalization of relations with Georgia`s largest neighbor and one of its largest trade partners, Russia. Saakashvili has been sending mixed signals to Moscow, alternating public acknowledgment of Russia`s vital interests in Georgia and the South Caucasus with sharply worded calls for President Vladimir Putin to `understand the realities.` `The realities are that Russians do not have too much leverage, except leverage of stirring up some more trouble in Georgia that would finally alienate every individual Georgian from the Russians,` he said Wednesday at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. `They stirred up trouble. They were nasty. They were aggressive. They were making problems and people didn`t like them. And this vacuum was filled in by other states,` he said. `In order to regain their position, they need to be sweeter -- if you want to put it -- and kinder, and nicer to us.` The Kremlin`s policy vis-Č-vis the new Georgian leadership is as contradictory. While Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov is bluntly refusing Tbilisi`s demands to withdraw troops from its bases in Georgia any time soon, Federal Security Service chief Nikolai Patrushev on Wednesday posed with his Georgian counterpart to announce the extradition of Georgia`s most wanted fugitive to Tbilisi. `Both sides need to leave this circle of irritating` one another, said Arthur Martirosyan, an expert on Georgia and program manager at the Conflict Management Group in Cambridge, Massachusetts. `Saakashvili should refrain from playing on a confrontational field between Russia and United States as such a policy is doomed to fail.` Saakashvili`s predecessor, Eduard Shevardnadze, tried for years to play Russia off the United States and often attempted to bolster support at home by portraying Russia as an empire bent on subjugating Georgia to its control. Such policies and Shevardnadze`s role as then-Soviet foreign minister in engineering a hasty pullout of Soviet troops from Eastern Europe has made him an allergen in Russia, especially among the military leadership. Attempts by Shevardnadze to force the United States and Russia into loggerheads over Georgia also failed to bear any substantial fruit, with Moscow and Washington `more or less` coordinating their policies in the former Soviet republics after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, said Karine Gevorkyan, senior researcher at the Institute of Oriental Studies.
US Expresses Concern For Opposition Detainees In Azerbaijan
Voice of America
Baku, January 21: The United States expressed concern Wednesday about opposition political activists in Azerbaijan still in custody after being detained by authorities following disputed elections in October. Human rights monitors accuse the government in Baku of a widespread crackdown against its opponents. The State Department says U.S. diplomats have repeatedly raised concerns with senior Azerbaijani authorities about the treatment of detainees and other human rights issues, in the wake of the October 15 presidential election that was widely criticized as flawed by the international community. Amid post-election violence, Azerbaijani authorities made sweeping arrests of opposition party members, journalists and local election observers who had accused the government of fraud. More than 100 detainees are reported to remain in custody. At a news briefing, State Department spokesman Adam Ereli said the United States is urging authorities in Baku to expedite the investigations of persons detained during and after the October election and to grant them due process of the law. `We believe the authorities should either charge those arrested with crimes, and present the evidence against them, or release them. And we call on the authorities to proceed in accordance with international standards, and to provide all appropriate legal protections and due process to all detainees,` he said.
Armenian Political Party Joins Opposition
Radio Free Europe
Yerevan, January 21: The Ramkavar-Azatakan Party of Armenia (HRAK) is joining the political opposition to protest government economic policies, in the first instance the recent steep increase in the prices of basic commodities, HRAK republican board Chairman Haroutiun Arakelian told a press conference in Yerevan on 20 January, Noyan Tapan reported. The HRAK, which is not represented in parliament, signed a cooperation agreement last year with the Armenian Revolutionary Federation-Dashnaktsutiun, one of the two junior partners in the present coalition government.
Kazhak President`s Daughter Proposes Own Party As Parliamentary Lobby For Journalists
Radio Free Europe
Astana, January 20: Darigha Nazarbaeva, head of the Congress of Journalists of Kazakhstan and of the state television channel and the official news agency Khabar, told a session of the congress in Karaganda on 20 January that the country`s journalists need their own lobby in the lower house of parliament, Interfax reported. Further, she proposed her own political party, Asar, which was formed last year, as the basis for such a lobby following parliamentary elections later this year. Questioned about her attitude toward the controversial media law that was adopted by the Kazakh lower house in late December and has since been submitted to the Senate, Nazarbaeva told journalists that the current version is more liberal than the initial version drafted by the government, but it still has shortcomings because the changes sought by professional journalists have not been included.
Tajik President Continues Government Shake-up
Radio Free Europe
Dushanbe, January 19: Imomali Rakhmonov on 19 January continued the government shake-up he started in December (see `RFE/RL Newsline,` 15 and 16 December 2003), RIA-Novosti and Interfax reported. Presidential spokesman Abdufatokh Sharipov explained the changes as eliminating unnecessary bureaucracy and bringing younger people into the government. In the 19 January round of changes, Nigina Sharopova was replaced as deputy prime minister by Khairinisso Mavlonova, and Energy Minister Abdullo Yerov was replaced by Dzhurabek Nurmakhmadov. Nurmakhmadov is the former head of the Barki Tojik Holding Company, which has been transferred to the Energy Ministry. State Television and Radio Chairman Ubaidullo Radzhabov was replaced by Abdudzhabbor Rakhmonov, who previously headed the culture department of the president`s office. The state airline has been removed from the Transportation Ministry`s control and turned into an independent state company in order to make the civil-aviation sector more efficient.
Kyrgyz President Appeals For Unofficial Ban On Early Election Campaigning
Radio Free Europe
Bishkek, January 19: Askar Akaev has proposed an unofficial ban on what he called a `premature` election campaign, akipress.org reported on 19 January. The president, speaking to a group of Bishkek residents, also called for an unofficial ban on high-ranking officials organizing political parties and events. Presidential and parliamentary elections are scheduled for 2005, but some political parties -- pro-government and opposition alike -- have already begun preparing by merging or forming blocs and discussing potential presidential candidates. Some opposition figures say they believe the elections will be moved forward in order to catch the opposition unprepared.
Azerbaijani Courts Prolong Detention Of Opposition Activists
Radio Free Europe
Baku, January 19: A Baku district court ruled on 15 January that Musavat Party functionaries Ibrahim Ibrahimli and Sulhaddin Akper, People`s Party Chairman Panakh Huseinov, and Umid Party Chairman Igbal Agazade must remain in pretrial detention for a further three months, Turan reported. The four men were arrested for their participation in the clashes in Baku on 16 October to protest the perceived falsification of the outcome of the previous day`s presidential election. On 17 January, a second Baku court similarly ruled that Rauf Arifoglu, the editor of the opposition newspaper `Yeni Musavat` who is also charged with participating in the clashes with police, must also remain in detention for a further three months. The first hearings in the case of 27 people accused of participating in the post-election clashes have been scheduled for 27 January, Turan reported on 19 January.
Saakashvili Again Promises War On CorruptionInterfaxTbilisi, January 18: Georgian president-elect Mikhail Saakashvili reaffirmed on Friday that he plans to crack down on corruption. `All officials who have plundered the national treasury must go to prison and return to the people what they have stolen,` Saakashvili told a news conference in Tbilisi. Such officials may receive milder sentences if they give back the money they misappropriated, he said. `It is much more problematic for us when mafiosi are in prison, while all the property they have plundered is at large,` he said. Saakashvili said he planned to ask Russia to extradite Levan Mamaladze, a former presidential representative in the Kvemo Kartli region, who is wanted by the Georgian police. Georgian Soccer Federation President Merab Zhordania returned 742,000 lari to the state after imprisonment, and so no further criminal actions are planned against him, Saakashvili said.
Russia`s 201st Division In Tajikistan Trains Field Fire
Kabar Agency
Dushanbe, January 23: The Russian 201st Division deployed in Tajikistan began field fire exercises Friday at the Lyaur training range, 30 kilometers from the Tajik capital, division representative Lieutenant Colonel Pavel Konev told Tass Friday. This is the final phase of the four-day war games, which focused on `improvement of combat cohesiveness and field training of servicemen in the course of an anti-terrorist operation,` he said. Today, the troops are to train countermeasures against a group of international terrorists who penetrated into Tajikistan. All in all, 200 servicemen, artillery and combat aircraft take part in the war games. Division Commander Major General Yuri Perminov commands the maneuvers. Representatives of Tajikistan`s security agencies are present at the exercises.
NATO To Consider Withdrawal Of Russian Military From Georgia SoonKabar AgencyTbilisi, January 23: NATO will consider the issue concerning the withdrawal of Russian military bases in Georgia in the near future, Georgian President elect Mikhail Saakashvili said in an interview on Imedi television citing his meeting with NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer in Davos (Switzerland). According to Saakashvili, NATO will discuss this issue after the new Georgian president is inaugurated. The Georgian leader reiterated that the withdrawal of military bases from Georgia was stipulated in the Istanbul agreements and Russia was to comply with them.
US Gives Helicopters To Kyrgyzstan To Help Secure Border
Radio Free Europe
Bishkek, January 22: Two Russian-made Mi-8 MTV helicopters were presented to Kyrgyzstan by the United States on 22 January at a ceremony at the Frunze-1 military airfield outside Bishkek, akipress.org reported. The helicopters are to be used to combat smuggling. The Mi-8s and their accompanying spare-parts packages were described by U.S. Ambassador to Kyrgyzstan Stephen Young and Kyrgyz National Security Council Secretary Misir Ashirkulov as the largest single aid package given to Kyrgyzstan by the United States to date. Young said a decision has been made to buy and refurbish Soviet-type helicopters rather than U.S. machines, because Kyrgyz pilots are familiar with them and will not have to be retrained. In addition, the Mi-8 is well adapted to Kyrgyzstan`s mountainous conditions.
Tajik Parliament Reduces Military Service For Those With Higher Education
Radio Free Europe
Dushanbe, January 21: The lower house of the Tajik parliament has reduced the term of military service for draftees with higher education from 18 months to 12, Asia Plus-Blitz reported on 21 January. Deputies also elected a commission to count votes in the legislature when the electronic voting system is not functioning properly. A replacement was chosen for former Science, Education, Culture, and Youth Committee Chairman Abdufattoh Sharipov, who was appointed presidential press secretary in December (see `RFE/RL Newsline,` 16 December 2003). Mirodasen Khudoyiev was moved from the chairmanship of the Economy, Budget, Finance, and Tax Committee to replace Sharipov.
Georgian President Wants Russian Military To Leave Georgia
Kabar Agency
Tbilisi, January 21: Russian military bases located in Georgia should be withdrawn, since they do not provide for the security of Russia nor Georgia, Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili declared at a news conference in Davos, Switzerland, Ristavi-2 television reported. He stressed that there was no threat to Russia from Georgia. The problem of the Pankisi Gorge where Chechen terrorists used to be has been solved with US assistance, he added. Speaking about former Georgian president Eduard Shevardnadze, he said that Shevardnadze should not interfere in Georgia`s political life.
Final Stage Of US Training Program For Georgian Military Gets Underway
Radio Free Europe
Tbilisi, January 19: The final, four-month phase of the Train and Equip program launched in the early summer of 2002 was formally inaugurated on 17 January, Caucasus Press and Interfax reported. Thirty U.S. instructors will train 267 Georgian servicemen of the 11th Motorized Brigade in the use of Russian tanks and light armored personnel carriers. U.S. Ambassador Richard Miles said that the United States will continue training for the Georgian armed forces after the initial Train and Equip program ends.
Kazakhstan Puts Off Replacement Of Air DefensesInterfaxMoscow, January 18: Kazakhstan has no immediate plans to replace its air defenses or civilian air traffic control systems, Defense Minister Mukhtar Altynbayev told reporters in Moscow on Friday `Kazakhstan is not yet going to buy armaments or control systems for its air defenses or civil aviation,` he said. `At the moment, we are studying world products in this field. There have been discussions about calling tenders, but none have been called, nor are we going to call any yet. These are very expensive products,` he said. Kazakhstan has an armaments modernization program covering the period until 2010. Altynbayev said it is based on existing Kazakh weapons that have mostly reached the end of their service lives. `We need to think about the partial replacement, modernization and repair of those armaments. Kazakhstan will mainly stick to Russian weapons. First of all, [they are] cheaper, and secondly, we are in the Collective Security Treaty Organization,` the minister said. Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov said his country is ready to give Kazakhstan any form of assistance in carrying out the program. `In the course of its visit to Russia, the Kazakh delegation will visit the Lianozovo Electromechanical Plant in Moscow, which is already manufacturing such equipment. Kazakh air defense representatives will be able to familiarize themselves on the spot with the modern systems we already possess,` Ivanov said.
US Military Will Stay In GeorgiaBBCTbilisi, January 17: US officials have said that their military presence in Georgia will now become permanent. The American military has been training and equipping the Georgian army since the spring of 2002. Having trained three battalions of Georgian soldiers, US military instructors were due to leave in March. Georgia`s new president-elect has set the removal of Russian troops still based in the country as a major priority for his government. On Saturday the US ambassador to Georgia said they had decided to continue training the Georgian army in a full-time programme.US `security guarantee` During the Soviet era, Krtsanisi military base outside Tbilisi was home to the Red Army. The programme forms part of the US war on terror Now it is US soldiers who are in charge and, according to the US Ambassador in Tbilisi Richard Miles, they are in Georgia to stay. In 2002 the Bush administration set up an 18-month, $65m programme aimed at training and equipping Georgia`s impoverished army. The programme was part of America`s war on terror and it started after the US confirmed Russian allegations about the presence of Chechen and al-Qaeda fighters in Georgia`s Pankisi Gorge, on the border with Chechnya. Details are still to be announced of the new permanent programme, but analysts say that any sort of US military presence is good news for the Georgian Government, which sees the US engagement as a security guarantee against Georgia`s northern neighbour - Russia. Russia tensions For Moscow, the Caucasus is a geopolitical backyard, rich in energy resources and crucial to the conflict in Chechnya. Moscow`s refusal to remove its military bases from Georgia has long fuelled tensions between the two countries. Georgia`s President-elect, Mikhail Saakashvili, says the removal of the Russian troops will be high on his government`s priority list. The US, whose own stakes in the Caucasus include a multi-billion dollar Caspian oil pipeline, backs this demand. Last week, the Bush administration also called for Russia to remove its military and said it was even prepared to take up some of the costs needed for the relocation of Russian troops.
Tajik Official Disagrees On Potential Threat To Americans In Tajikistan
Radio Free Europe
Dushanbe, January 22: Tajik Deputy Prime Minister responsible for security issues Saidamir Zuhurov said on 22 January that there is no evidence that any terrorist group, including the Islamic Party of Turkestan (formerly, the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan), has intensified its activities in Tajikistan, Asia Plus-Blitz reported on 22 January. He was reacting to a statement by the U.S. State Department warning U.S. citizens of the continuing danger of anti-American terrorist activities in Tajikistan and cautioning against travel outside of Dushanbe. Zuhurov said the situation in the country is calm.
Moscow Extradites `Georgia`s Terrorist No. 1`
The Moscow Times
Moscow, January 21: Russia extradited a Georgian charged with serious crimes, including the kidnapping of foreign aid workers, to his homeland Wednesday, Federal Security Service chief Nikolai Patrushev said. The charges against Shota Chichiashvili include bank robbery, illegal trade in firearms and explosives, and setting up an armed group, Interfax reported. He is also suspected of participation in the abduction of Georgian and foreign nationals, including Red Cross workers. In particular, he is accused of involvement in the case of two Spanish businessmen who were held captive for more than a year and released after a ransom was paid. In a meeting broadcast on Russian state television, Patrushev and his Georgian counterpart, State Security Minister Valery Khaburdzania, spoke about their agencies` cooperation. `This has been done before and it will continue,` Patrushev said. Khaburdzania called Chichiashvili `Georgia`s terrorist No. 1` and praised the extradition agreement. `We have laid a new foundation for cooperation between the Georgian and Russian prosecutor`s offices and security agencies,` Khaburdzania said. Georgia`s ambassador to Russia, Zurab Abashidze, said the hand-over was `without a doubt a positive step and a positive gesture by the Russian side in our anti-terrorism cooperation,` and indicated Georgia might reciprocate by extraditing Russians.
U.S. Govt To Double Financial Aid To Georgia In 2004 - Saakashvili
Interfax
Tbilisi, January 23: Georgia`s new leader, Mikhail Saakashvili, said the U.S. government intends to double its financial aid to Georgia in 2004. `The aid will reach up to $200 million,` Saakashvili said on a live program on Rustavi-2 television from Davos, Switzerland, where he is currently attending the World Economic Forum. Saakashvili said he had reached a preliminary agreement on the matter during a meeting with the U.S. commerce secretary in Davos. In previous years, U.S. annual aid to Georgia did not exceed $100 million, he said.
Kyrgyzstan`s Monetary And Credit Sector In January-November 2003
Interfax
Bishkek, January 23: The National Bank of Kyrgyzstan held 144 auctions in the first eleven months of 2003 for the initial placement of government treasury bills with all durations, selling a total of 831 million som, including 353.1 million som with duration of 12 months, 345.8 million som with duration of six months and 132.1 million som in three-month bills. Average weighted yields were 12.15 per cent on treasury bills with duration of 12 months; 10.39 per cent on six-month bills and 6.93 per cent on three-month bills. In the eleven months, 28.8 per cent of demand for three-month bills was met; the figures for six-month and 12-month bills were respectively 33.3 per cent and 35 per cent. Sales of National Bank notes with duration of 28 days totaled 16 million som in the eleven months (80 per cent of amount issued). The average weighted yield was 4.01 per cent; 40.6 per cent of demand for the notes was met. The M2 money supply stood at 13.739 billion som as of November 1, 2003, up 24.9 per cent or 2.743 billion som from the beginning of 2003.
Kazakhstan Ratifies Agreement On International Road Transport
Interfax
Astana, January 22: The upper chamber of the Kazakh Parliament ratified an agreement on Thursday on the movement of vehicles between member-nations of the Transport Union. The agreement on international road transport was developed as part of the Transport Union agreement, signed by Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Russia in Moscow on January 22, 1998. This document was later signed by Tajikistan. The ratified agreement outlines a set of rules regulating passenger traffic and luggage and cargo shipments between the countries, as well as the transit of vehicles registered in them through the territory of member-nations.
Kyrgyzstan Reduces Coal Production 3.9 per cent
Interfax
Bishkek, January 20: Kyrgyzstan reduced coal production 3.9 per cent to 411,300 tonnes in 2003 due to under-funding for the sector, a senior coal industry official told Interfax. The state-owned coal producer Komur saw output drop 10.8 per cent to 337,300 tonnes, Zhaparbek Amantayev, leading coal industry specialist at the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Industry, said. Komur had output of 152.9 million som in value. Amantayev said coal production fell because funding was not released quickly enough. Fixed-asset wear at Komur is approaching 85 per cent and more than half of the coal producer`s fixed assets are beyond repair. And the financial plight of two coal producers - Korgoin-Tash and Almalykkomur - was severe enough to reduce them to bankruptcy, Amantayev said.
IMF Approves $14.6 Mln Loan For Tajikistan
Interfax
Dushanbe, January 19: The International Monetary Fund has approved allocation of a $14.6 million loan tranche for Tajikistan as part of the $22 million poverty reduction program envisaged for 2004, the IMF office in Tajikistan told Interfax. IMF Managing Director Horst Koehler praised Tajikistan`s economic development when he visited the country in November 2003. He pointed out the high indicators of economic growth and macroeconomic stability achieved recently. The IMF board in December 2002 approved a three-year agreement envisaging loans of $90 million to implement a poverty reduction program put together by the Tajik government. Tajikistan received about $21 million for the program in 2003.
Kazakhstan: Young Country With Huge OpportunitiesKazakhstan NewsJeddah, January 18: Kazakhstan`s Foreign Minister Dr. Kassymzhomart Tokayev set out his stall with a vivid display of the opportunity and potential available in the former Soviet republic. Reeling off figures and bureaucratic deals, Tokayev retailed the young country in front of a slightly thin, late afternoon audience of the Jeddah Economic Forum yesterday. The birth of the Central Asian state 12 years ago was greeted at the time with serious doubts about its survival and independence. With the extinction of the Soviet dinosaur, Kazakhstan suffered from hyperinflation and unsure borders. Since 1999, however, it has achieved a remarkable 50 percent growth, with 10 percent predicted for 2004. Dr. Tokayev attributed a great deal of this aggressive surge to the one million small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in a country with a population of only 15 million, and to the 80 percent privatization rate. `Kazakhstan is the most successful country in Central Asia by any economic indicator,` he said, `including GDP.` With a land area three times that of Saudi Arabia but a smaller population, he accepted that the internal markets are small, but that the government is actively dismantling barriers to boost trade. Access to Russian and Chinese markets are key elements of government policy, but so too is development of new markets in the GCC states, he said. Over the last 10 years, Kazakhstan has seen $33 billion invested in the infrastructure and state debts reduced to 15 percent of GDP. `Our financial systems are totally transparent,` he said, `and this has resulted in them becoming one of the best in the world, aligning with all internationally recognized accounting standards.` A net exporter of beef and with a sound agricultural base, Kazakhstan is, like Saudi Arabia, currently negotiating membership of the WTO. Underpinning its future development, Dr. Tokayev said, is the fact that the country has the biggest oil resources in the region - in the Caspian Sea basin. As yet, however, only 30 percent of state revenues derive from oil and gas, representing 20 percent of GDP. `We produce 50 million tons of oil currently,` he said, `and by 2015, we plan to reach 180 million tons per annum.` A new major pipeline, which will transport oil to the West, will give Kazakhstan an export capacity of 20 million tons per annum and a second pipeline east to China is planned. Foreign investors - especially in the oil industry - are actively being sought, tempted with a five-year zero-tax break and the minister urged the Saudi business community to take up the opportunity. `We have created a stable political and investment environment in the heart of Eurasia.` Answering questions about the protection of foreign investment in a relatively new - and therefore untried - country, Dr. Tokayev said: `Over the last six years, Kazakhstan has become the No. 1 of all post-Soviet and No. 2 post-socialist countries for stability and protection of investment. New laws are in place to protect the sanctity of the contract, and any contract signed with us no matter where or how is safeguarded by the government.`
Oil Production In Azerbaijan Up 0.3 per cent In 2003InterfaxBaku, January 18: Oil production in Azerbaijan in 2003 increased 0.3 per cent to 15.38 million tonnes, a source in the republic`s State Statistics Committee told Interfax. Azerbaijan International Operating Company, the operator of the Azeri-Chirag-Gunashli project, produced 6.46 million tonnes of oil, up 1 per cent from 2002. Gas production in 2003 fell 0.33 per cent to amount to 5.13 billion cubic meters, including 1.96 bcm of natural gas - down 3.3 per cent, and 3.17 bcm of associated gas - up 1.9 per cent. The State Oil Company of the Azerbaijani Republic (SOCAR) said that gas production in Azerbaijan in 2003 amounted to 5.17 bcm, up 0.3 per cent from 2002. The source explained that the difference between the figures from SOCAR and the State Statistics Committee is due to differing information on AIOC gas production.
Uzbek, Russian FMs Discuss Relations, SCO Summit
Uzbek Report
Tashkent, January 22: Foreign ministers of Uzbekistan and Russia discussed issues of bilateral and international relations during a telephone conversation on Thursday. In particular, the sides discussed Uzbek-Russian cooperation within the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, including preparation for the SCO leaders summit in Tashkent in June 2004. They also considered other issues of mutual interest, RIA Novosti reported.
Azerbaijan President Heads For France For Official Visit
Kabar Agency
Baku, January 22: President Ilkham Aliyev of Azerbaijan left for Paris early on Thursday morning for a two-day official visit at the invitation of French President Jacques Chirac. This is Ilkham Aliyev`s first official trip abroad in the capacity of the Head of State. While in Paris, Ilkham Aliyev is to focus on matters concerning the development of bilateral economic cooperation. According to diplomatic sources here, the programme for Ilkham Aliyev`s visit provides for his meetings with the French President, the Prime Minister, the Senate president, and members of the business community, among them the executives of the oil company Total, which participates in a number of energy projects in Azerbaijan, including the construction of the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil trunkline. Azerbaijan`s Prime Minister Artur Rasizade has told journalists that France` assistance in the development of small businesses and the banking system in Azerbaijan will be examined during the President`s visit to France. Neither did the Head of Government rule out the possibility that the sides would discuss matters connected with French investors` participation in the rehabilitation of an autoworks in Gyandzh, a large industrial centre in Azerbaijan`s west, as well as the allocation of a 35-million-euro credit for the reconstruction of the sewage system of Baku. The President of Azerbaijan told journalists on the eve of the visit that a settlement of the Karabakh issue would be one of the main subjects of discussion at the upcoming talks with Paris.
Armenia Rejects Azerbaijan`s Call For New Karabakh Peace Plan
Radio Free Europe
Yerevan, January 21: Armenian Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian rejected on 21 January Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev`s statement the previous day that the OSCE Minsk Group is not doing enough to resolve the Karabakh conflict and should come up with a new peace proposal, RFE/RL`s Yerevan bureau reported. Oskanian argued that talks should continue on the basis of agreements reached between the two sides during talks in Paris and the U.S. state of Florida in the spring of 2001. Oskanian said it would be `an unfortunate loss of time if all of a sudden the process were to be rolled back and relaunched from scratch.` He added that he hopes French President Jacques Chirac, who mediated the Paris talks in 2001, will remind Aliyev when the two men meet in Paris later this week of the details of the provisional agreement arrived at during those talks.
Uzbek President Ends Official Visit To Kuwait
Uzbek Report
Tashkent, January 20: President of Uzbekistan Islam Karimov paid a two-day official visit to Kuwait on 19-20 January. On Monday Prime Minister Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al Jaber as-Sabah welcomed the Uzbek leader at Al-Kuwait Airport. Later the same day, President Karimov accepted the chairman of Kuwait Commercial and Industry Chamber`s Council, Saad Ali an-Nahiz. The sides exchanged opinions on establishing cooperation between the Uzbek Chamber of Commodity Producers and Entrepreneurs and the Commercial and Industry Chamber`s Council, as well as boosting business contacts between the two countries. Islam Karimov also met the chairman of the National Council of Kuwait, Jasem al-Harrafi. The officials considered development of interparliament relations and strengthening legal bases of collaboration. Prime Minister Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al Jaber as-Sabah and President Islam Karimov met at the residence of Kuwaiti emir. The sides discussed different aspects of cooperation between the two states and other issues of mutual interests. They also exchanged opinions on practical measures in further development of political, economic and cultural relations at the expanded meeting of delegations. Uzbek and Kuwaiti officials agreed to determine priority directions of cooperation and hold sessions of intergovernmental commissions. The first session of the commission will be held in Tashkent. At the same time, the Kuwaiti officials noted the necessity to open the Uzbek embassy in Al-Kuwait. Uzbekistan and Kuwait signed several documents, envisaging trade-economic and scientific-technical cooperation, mutual protection and encouragement of investments, and avoidance of double taxation. The sides also inked agreements on air communication and cooperation in fighting terrorism, drug trafficking, smuggling and organised crime, as well as memorandum on cooperation between the Uzbek government and Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development. The memorandum envisages allocation of US$215 million to nine projects in Uzbekistan, namely in the fields of water and energy supply, irrigation and construction. The fund has already implemented two projects in Uzbekistan worth US$38.8 million. President Karimov met director general of the Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development Badir Mishari al-Humaidhi to discuss attraction of investments in Uzbekistan. Islam Karimov also visited Kuwaiti national committee for military prisoners. He familiarised with museum dedicated to victims of Saddam Hussein genocide. Presentation of Islam Karimov`s book `Uzbekistan on the threshold of the 21st century: threats to security, conditions of stability and guarantees for progress` in Arabic was held in Al-Kuwait within the framework of the visit.
Kyrgyz Prime Minister Nikolai Tanaev Starts Working Visit To Russia
Kabar Agency
Bishkek, January 20: Prime Minister of the Kyrgyz Republic Nikolai Tanaev will pay a working visit to Russia. In the course of the visit, January 21-22, N. Tanaev will meet with his counterpart Mikhail Kasyanov, head of the RAO UES Anatoliy Chubais, CEO of JSC `Gazprom` Alexei Miller, Extreme Situations Minister Sergei Shoigu. During the meeting, issues of implementation of the Investment Forum `Kyrgyzstan-Russia` will be discussed. The parties will consider problems of cooperation in different fields. In particular, the energy supply from Kyrgyzstan to Russia, joint implementation of the second phase of the project on reconstruction of Bishkek Heating Power Station and participation of Russia in construction of Hydroelectric Power Stations Kambarata-2 will be discussed. It is expected the parties will also discuss a number of issues of cooperation in industry and in the sphere of commerce. Governor of Moscow Oblast Boris Gromov and Prime Minister of Kyrgyzstan Nikolai Tanaev signed in Moscow an agreement on trade-economic, scientific-technical and cultural cooperation for 2004-2005.
Indian Businesses Start Three Day Visit To Uzbekistan
Uzbek Report
Tashkent, January 19: In keeping with the policy of the government of India to promote economic and commercial relations with Uzbekistan, a 20-member business delegation representing 17 leading Indian companies under the aegis of the Federation of Indian Export Organisations(FIEO) started visit to Uzbekistan on 19 January 2004.
President Of Kyrgyzstan A. Akaev Meets Foreign Minister Of Finland E. Tuomioja
Kabar Agency
Bishkek, January 19: President of Kyrgyzstan Askar Akaev has met in the Government House with Foreign Minister of Finland Erkki Tuomioja. During the meeting, perspectives of Kyrgyz-Finnish cooperation discussed, reported the presidential press service of Kyrgyzsta. Besides, the parties exchanged opinions on military and political situation in Central Asia, in connection with current events in Afghanistan and Iraq. The head of the state noted the first visit of E. Tuomioja to Kyrgyzstan and emphasized the history of our relations have begun long before the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two states in 2002. Taking into account the importance of political and inter-parliamentary exchanges for further development of bilateral relations, President A. Akaev expressed readiness of Kyrgyzstan to activate political and inter-parliamentary relations.
President Karimov Starts Official Visit To Kuwait
Uzbek Report
Tashkent, January 19: President of Uzbekistan Islam Karimov arrived in Kuwait with an official visit on 19 January. At the Al-Kuwaiti Airport, Prime Minister Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al Jaber as-Sabah welcomed the Uzbek leader. At the same place official welcoming ceremony of the high-ranked guest was held. Later the same day, President Karimov accepted the chairman of Kuwait Commercial and Industry Chamber`s Council, Saad Ali an-Nahiza. The sides exchanged opinions on establishing cooperation between the Uzbek Chamber of Commodity Producers and Entrepreneurs and the Commercial and Industry Chamber`s Council, as well as boosting business contacts between the two countries. Islam Karimov also met the chairman of the National Council of Kuwait, Jasem al-Harrafi. The officials considered development of interparliament relations and strengthening legal bases of collaboration. Prime Minister Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al Jaber as-Sabah and President Islam Karimov met at the residence of Kuwaiti emir. The sides discussed different aspects of cooperation between two states and other issues of mutual interests. The sides also exchanged opinions on practical measures in further development of political, economic and cultural relations at the expanded meeting of delegations. Uzbekistan and Kuwait signed several documents, envisaging trade-economic and scientific-technical cooperation, mutual protection and encouragement of investments, and avoidance of double taxation. The official visit of the Uzbek President to Kuwait will continue on 20 January.
Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan Finance Agreements To Be Initialed On January 27InterfaxBaku, January 19: The final meeting between creditors of a project to build the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline and shareholders in BTC Co. - the operator of the project - will take place in London on January 27, 2004, a source in BP-Azerbaijan told Interfax. `Documentation for providing credits for the project will be confirmed at the London meeting and these documents will be initialed, ahead of being signed in Baku on February 3,` the source said. He said that it is expected that 27 agreements will be reached in Baku. Energy ministers from Georgia, Turkey and the U.S. plan to participate in the signing ceremony. BTC Co. President Mike Townsend said earlier that one agreement would be signed with all of the project`s creditors.
Uzbek Leader Thanks Iranian Counterpart For Sympathy
Uzbek Report
Tashkent, January 19: Uzbek President Islam Karimov in a message to President Mohammad Khatami thanked him for sending condolences on the recent crash of an Uzbek airliner that killed all 37 on board, IRNA reported. Turning to President Khatami“s sympathies on the crash of the Soviet-era Uzbekistan Airways Yak-40 plane on a domestic flight, which also killed a United Nations official, Richard Conroy, Karimov wished success for the Iranian government and nation. President Khatami had sent a message two days earlier to offer condolences to his Uzbek counterpart over the death of passengers of the plane, which crashed on 14 January.
Kyrgyz PM To Discuss Cooperation In MoscowInterfaxBishkek, January 19: Kyrgyz Prime Minister Nikolai Tanayev will visit Moscow on January 20-22 to discuss bilateral cooperation. Tanayev will meet with Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov, UES CEO Anatoly Chubais, Gazprom CEO Alexei Miller, Moscow region governor Boris Gromov, and Emergency Situations Minister Sergei Shoigu, sources in the Kyrgyz prime minister`s staff told Interfax on Monday. `Bilateral trade and economic relations fall short of their potential so far, and both sides should work on their development,` Tanayev told Interfax. `Russia ranks fifth among the leading investors in Kyrgyzstan, after the United States, Canada, Turkey and Kazakhstan,` he said. Russian-Kyrgyz trade reached $245.3 million in 2003, Tanayev said. `This shows 24.7 per cent growth since 2002. Exports to Russia reached $68.3 million, and imports amounted to $163.3 million,` he noted. Russian tourism in Kyrgyzstan is a promising sphere of cooperation, Tanayev said.
Zayed, Nazarbayev Discuss Regional, International IssuesCentral Asia DailyAbu Dhabi, January 18: President His Highness Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan held talks yesterday with visiting Kazakhstan President Nursultan Nazarbayev over a host of current regional and international issues. The two leaders also reviewed bilateral relations. Present were His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Abu Dhabi Crown Prince and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, a number of sheikhs, ministers and top officials as well as members of the high-level ministerial delegation accompanying the Kazakh president. Earlier, Sheikh Khalifa received Nazarbayev and expressed the hope that the visit would further boost the strong cooperation between the two countries in economics, trade and investment. He stressed the UAE`s desire to extend bridges of cooperation and friendship with Kazakhstan. Nazarbayev said he was delighted to visit the UAE, which he noted enjoys the respect of his government and people. He hailed the achievements made by the UAE in various fields, thanks to the sagacious policy of the President. The leaders exchanged views on a number of regional and international issues of mutual concern.
Russian, Uzbek Physicians Holds Scientific ConferenceUzbek ReportTashkent, January 18: Physicians of Russian and Uzbekistan discussed the current state and perspectives of general medical practice development at a scientific-practical conference in Tashkent. Within the framework of the conference, held on 16 January, a presentation of medical technologies produced by Russian Elatomskiy Priborniy Zavod (Ryazan region) open joint-stock company was held. The equipment is designed both for physiotherapy rooms and home use.
Japan Grants $4 Million 100 Thousand To KyrgyzstanKabar AgencyBishkek, January 18: The agreements on giving two grants of the Japanese Government to Kyrgyzstan signed at the Finance Ministry of Kyrgyzstan. First Deputy Finance Minister of Kyrgyzstan Emirlan Toromyrzaev, Ambassador of Japan to Kyrgyzstan Toshio Sunodzaki, Minister of Education and Culture of Kyrgyzstan Ishengul Boljurova, Deputy Healthcare Minister of Kyrgyzstan Guljigit Aliev attended the signing ceremony. The Japanese Government gives to Kyrgyzstan two grants on a project `The improvement of children`s health in rural area` worth 399 million yens (163 mil. 670 thousand soms or 3 mil. 730, 332 Us dollars). In the frame of the this project, it is expected to improve medical service of children in the whole territory of Kyrgyzstan via equipping medicinal institutions, above all, children`s. The second project `Presenting videoprojector for reading microfilm and special printer of the National Library of Kyrgyzstan` worth 42,7 million yens (17 mil. 515 thousand soms and about 370 thousand US dollars).
Iran-Uzbekistan Relations ImprovingIRIB NewsTashkent, January 17: Iran`s ambassador to Uzbekistan Mohammad Fathali and Uzbek Security Minister Rostam Enayatov in a meeting here Friday discussed ways and means to boost the bilateral relations in all cultural, political, economic and trade areas. The Uzbek minister was pleased over the improving relations between the two states and said there were prospects of further improving ties. `A brilliant future is seen from now on for the Tehran-Tashkent ties,` he said while adding that his country attaches high importance to improving relations with Tehran in all areas. Developing economic and political ties with Tehran is top on Uzbekistan`s foreign policy agenda, he noted and said Tashkent is well determined to promote all-out cooperation with Iran at the highest possible level. He said Tehran and Tashkent have similar viewpoints on many regional issue including Afghanistan. He called for further cooperation between the two states to help reconstruct the war-shattered Afghanistan. He stated that inking a trilateral agreement between Iran-Uzbekistan- Afghanistan on the transportation area was a praiseworthy move in this respect. He expressed sympathy with the Iranian nation over the killer quake in Bam on December 26. Uzbekistan sent a cargo plane, December 30, to Iran which carried 15 tons of humanitarian aid to Kerman province, southeast Iran. The plane was carrying medicine, clothing, blankets, tents, mineral water and food to Kerman province. Iran`s envoy Fathali presented condolences to the government and people of Uzbekistan over the recent plane crash, killing a number of Uzbek nationals. He said Uzbekistan is of a very strategic location in the Central Asia and that is why Iran is interested to promote ties with it. Fathali thanked Uzbek people and government for sending aid to the bereaved people of the Bam quake. He called for measures to boost the trade exchanges and economic cooperation between Tehran and Tashkent. Iran-Uzbekistan trade exchanges currently stand at dlrs 210 million from dlrs 40 million on average in the past four years indicating a good progress in their ties.
Abuses Force America To End Aid To UzbekistanThe GuardianMoscow, January 17: Uzbekistan, an authoritarian state with which Washington forged a controversial alliance to aid its war on terror in neighbouring Afghanistan, is set to lose its $100m (£55m) annual US aid because of its poor human rights record. The withdrawal of the aid, due to US laws that prohibit Washington from supporting regimes considered too abusive of human rights, could have damaging consequences for the Pentagon`s strategic presence in central Asia. The US base at Khanabad, in southern Uzbekistan, both expanded America`s military reach within the former Soviet Union and aided the toppling of the Taliban. But in April the state department is set to recommend that funds to Uzbekistan be stopped because it has made no progress towards ending police torture and other abuses. Such an open moral and financial censure by Washington may lead President Islam Karimov to re-examine the benefits of US military presence on Uzbek soil. Under American law, the state department has to annually `certify` regimes that receive Washington`s financial aid as being sufficiently supportive of human rights. Without that certification, US assistance cannot be given. Mr Karimov`s appalling human rights record was heavily publicised by Britain`s ambassador to Tashkent, Craig Murray, whose outspoken remarks in the run-up to the Iraq war about the compromises the US was prepared to make in its offensive on terror led to an investigation into his conduct. Critics of US policy said the publicity Mr Murray gave to Uzbek torture would make it impossible for the state department to re-certify the country. Uzbekistan became a key US ally in the war on terror in October 2001,when the Pentagon set up the Khanabad base to aid its offensive against the Taliban. But Mr Karimov`s regime has been repeatedly condemned for its brutality. A crackdown on Islamic fundamentalists, for instance, led to prisoners being boiled alive. The US state department called the use of torture by Uzbek police `routine`, yet in 2002 gave the same law enforcement structures $80m in aid - about a third of its total contribution that year. Uzbekistan has received nearly $1bn in US aid since 1992. Assistance rocketed after September 11. The state department`s hardening attitude towards Uzbekistan surfaced earlier this month when officials refused to certify it as `committed to human rights`, a requirement for the funding of a US programme assisting Tashkent in the disposal of old Soviet nuclear facilities. A state department official said that the bulk of financial aid was covered by a different certification, due for review in April. Uzbekistan has to be seen to be `making progress in human rights` before April to qualify. The official said: `If we could not certify that they were `committed to` human rights, it would be hard to show that they were `making progress` in these issues.` The official added that the April certification was a more exacting set of tests than those that Uzbekistan had already failed.
Uzbekistan Amnesties Over 3,380 Persons
Uzbek Report
Tashkent, January 23: 3,381 persons were amnestied in Uzbekistan, including 391 convicted for crimes against constitutional regime and threatening public security. In accordance with Article 6 of the presidential decree `On amnesty in connection with 11th Constitution anniversary` issued on 1 December 2003, penalty terms of 468 persons were reduced and criminal cases against 961 persons were suspended. Overall, State Prosecutor`s Office approved 3,853 cases of persons, who formally satisfy the amnesty decree requirements. Currently, the Prosecutor`s Office is considering 872 more cases. Besides, in accordance with the presidential decree `On freeing from criminal responsibility of Uzbek citizens who had mistakenly joined terrorist groups` dated 6 September 2000, over 213 persons have been released so far.
Uzbeks Fear A Georgia-Style Revolution
The Moscow Times
Tashkent, January 22: The Uzbek government is seeking to tighten control over international human rights and democracy organizations, fearing that some are promoting a revolution similar to that in Georgia two months ago, officials with the groups said. Uzbek authorities have instituted a new requirement for international groups to register with the Justice Ministry by March 1. The organizations previously registered only with the Foreign Ministry. U.S. diplomats, fearing that some groups may be denied registration and driven from the country, have threatened sanctions if the new policy is not reversed, a Western official said on condition of anonymity. The Americans argue that the new requirement violates a 1994 bilateral agreement concerning groups supported by the U.S. government in Uzbekistan. The targeted organizations -- including George Soros` Open Society Institute and the U.S. government-backed National Democratic Institute and International Republican Institute -- worked with Georgian opposition groups before President Eduard Shevardnadze`s ouster in November following weeks of opposition protests. The institutes have temporarily halted work with Uzbek opposition parties. Following the events in Georgia, the Uzbek government `realized the presence of international organizations could be an undermining presence from within -- working with young people and changing their minds,` said Alisher Ilkhamov, who heads the Open Society Institute in Uzbekistan. During a discussion of the new registration procedure, at least one U.S. government-funded organization was accused by an Uzbek official of interfering with the country`s domestic politics and teaching opposition groups to follow the Georgian example, the Western official said. The group denied the claims. Foreign Ministry spokesman Ilkhom Zakirov said the registration was a procedural matter that would not prevent any groups from working. He denied Uzbek authorities were concerned that Georgian events could be replayed here.
Kyrgyzstan Modernize Passport System
Kabar Agency
Bishkek, January 22: Director of the State Agency on Information Resources and Technologies under the government of Kyrgyzstan Yevgeniy Lysogorev, Head of the IOM Mission in Kyrgyzstan Kakoli Ray, expert of the department for affairs of defense and security of the presidential administration of Kyrgyzstan Ilyas Amanbaev and others told journalists at a press conference at the `Kabar` Agency on implementation of the joint project of the Kyrgyz Government and International Organization for Migration `Modernization of passport system in Kyrgyzstan`. Y. Lysogorev denied the information of the Foreign Ministry on obligatory cancellation of passports. In his words, according to a decision of the government in January 2004 a tender commission is set up and a document is worked out on which expected to set up Automated Passport Personification System (APPS) of citizens of Kyrgyzstan. According to the tender commission, on January 26, 2004 an open tender with participation of community to purchase APPS will be announced that will let to begin natural exchange of passports in late July 2004. Y. Lysogorev emphasized the introduction of APPS not signify the obligatory exchange of documents. The new passports will be given to citizens of Kyrgyzstan step by step. The new passports will have two types in state and official languages. One for departure to abroad with a five years term. The another one is available inside the country with a ten years term. The cost of the passports will be announced after conducting the tender.
Uzbek Prisoner`s Death Detailed
BBC
Tashkent, January 22: The Uzbek government says a prisoner who was allegedly tortured to death in jail last year died of high blood pressure, pneumonia, tuberculosis and anaemia. The prisoner, Orif Ershanov, died after he was arrested for spreading anti-government religious leaflets. Witnesses who saw his body said it was heavily bruised and bore signs of torture. The government says Mr Ershanov`s injuries were caused by first aid given to him when he became ill. The US State Department and several international organizations called for an explanation from the Uzbek authorities. The UN Special Rapporteur on Torture says the use of torture in Uzbekistan is systemic.
Tajik Journalists Complain Of Government Pressure
Radio Free Europe
Dushanbe, January 21: Some Tajik journalists complained at a 20 January roundtable in Dushanbe that government pressure on free speech has been increasing recently, Asia Plus-Blitz reported on 21 January. The roundtable on the question of whether freedom of speech is under threat in Tajikistan included journalists and government officials. Journalists cited the cases of the independent weeklies `Nerui Sukhan` and `Ruz-i Nav,` which were recently refused publication (see `RFE/RL Newsline,` 5 January 2004). Presidential information office head Abdurrakhmon Abdumannonov denied that the authorities were involved in those cases, saying they were simply disputes with the state publishing house and not freedom-of-speech issues.
Tashkent Has Its Own Neighborhood Watch
The Moscow Times
Tashkent, January 21: Under a portrait of Uzbekistan`s president gazing sternly from the wall, a half-dozen members of a neighborhood committee and a policeman confronted the opposition activist they had called in for questioning. `We`ve summoned you because we received a phone call from the police,` Muhameddin Mirnigmatov, the committee head, told Gauhar Oripova. `Can you explain what happened?` Uzbeks have always known that in time of need they can turn to their mahallya, or neighborhood committee -- for men to help a family build a house, women to feed the hungry, elders to give advice. Now the government, too, has turned to the mahallyas as a substitute for the local branches of the Communist Party that used to maintain discipline when Uzbekistan was part of the Soviet Union. As the government`s fear of dissent rises, the mahallyas are getting more intrusive, human rights groups say. Oripova`s alleged offense was taking part in an unapproved demonstration against authorities` confiscation of documents, literature and office equipment from the opposition Erk party. Mirnigmatov, wearing a traditional skullcap, listened impassively from the head of the table. Most of the committee members stared at the table, trying to avoid Oripova`s gaze. But one, who did not give his name, rattled off a list of questions. `Have you protested before? Don`t you think a protest should be the last resort? Did you think that there are foreigners in town and what they would think if they saw your demonstration?` he demanded. Oripova, a middle-aged woman, told the committee about her work as leader of the women`s wing of Erk. She said she could not stay aloof in the face of injustices, but added firmly, `I didn`t break any laws.` Rights groups say President Islam Karimov`s government is one of the most repressive in Central Asia. But the United States has dramatically increased aid after Uzbekistan let in U.S. troops in 2001 to back up anti-terrorism operations in neighboring Afghanistan. The government says it is trying to broaden the role of the mahallyas to preserve a centuries-old tradition. Matilda Bogner, a researcher for New York-based Human Rights Watch, says the committees are being used `to carry out mass control of the population at the local level.` Oripova`s hearing before the committee representing the Mirzo-Ulugbek district of the capital, Tashkent, ended without a ruling, apparently because a journalist and others were there, tipped off by Oripova supporters. The police officer acting as prosecutor declared that the committee would `confine ourselves to discussion.` But Human Rights Watch says it has documented dozens of cases of committees being used to bypass the courts and interfere in people`s private lives. I
Kyrgyz Ombudsman Criticizes Detention Facilities
Radio Free Europe
Bishkek, January 21: The Kyrgyz Ombudsman`s office has carried out an inspection of a range of detention facilities, including labor colonies for women and juveniles and a pretrial-detention facility in Bishkek, and has found that many inmates are being kept in inhumane conditions, kabar.kg and Deutsche Welle reported on 20 January. Ombudsman Tursunbai Bakir-uulu personally inspected all the cells in the Bishkek pretrial-detention facility and said he found many cases of human rights violations, including overcrowding, failure to comply with deadlines for completing investigations into alleged crimes, and evidence that law enforcement officers have beaten inmates to extract confessions. Bakir-uulu said he found a number of inmates who are ill with AIDS, tuberculosis, and syphilis. In the death-row section of the facility, nine inmates died in 2003: three committed suicide and six died of diseases.
Kyrgyz Parliament Chairman Rejects Assertion That Parliamentarians Planted Bugs Themselves
Radio Free Europe
Bishkek, January 19: Abdygany Erkebaev, the chairman of the lower house of the Kyrgyz parliament, condemned on 19 January National Security Committee Chairman Kalyk Imankulov`s assertion that listening devices found in some parliamentarians` offices the previous week (see `RFE/RL Newsline,` 15 and 16 January 2004) were planted by the parliamentarians themselves to embarrass the government, akipress.org reported. Erkebaev said that Imankulov`s statement was `unethical.` After lively parliamentary discussions of the bugging scandal on 15 and 16 January, including the questioning of Imankulov, Erkebaev said that three versions have emerged. Either, some parliamentarians were bugging others, or the security service planted the devices, or the bugging was done by foreign security services. Erkebaev rejected the suggestion that commercial interests were spying on parliamentarians.
Kyrgyz Parliamentarian Sees Bugging Scandal As Effort To Set South Against North
Radio Free Europe
Bishkek, January 19: General Ismail Isakov, chairman of the Kyrgyz lower house`s State Security Committee, has told his parliamentary colleagues that, with one exception, the parliamentarians who discovered listening devices in their offices were all oppositionists from southern Kyrgyzstan, Deutsche Welle reported on 19 January. In Isakov`s interpretation, the devices were planted on the instruction of President Aksar Akaev`s closest supporters -- all northerners -- in order to destroy their political opponents from the south. Isakov, a former deputy defense minister, also called on parliament to cut the National Security Service`s budget by half on the grounds that taxpayers` money should not be used to spy on their elected representatives. Anti-Akaev forces in parliament are calling on the president to resign for failing in his duty as protector of the constitution. Prominent opposition parliamentarian Azimbek Beknazarov noted that a similar bugging scandal occurred in 2000 and was used by the authorities to discredit former National Security Service chief Feliks Kulov, who had joined the opposition.
Tajik Interior Ministry Confiscates About 3 Tonnes Of Drugs In 2003
Interfax
Dushanbe, January 22: The containment of drug trafficking is one of the main targets set by the Tajik Interior Ministry, which confiscated 2.7 tonnes of drugs last year, head of the ministry press service Khudonazar Asoyev told Interfax on Thursday. `The ministry`s efforts were successful, and 2,773 kilograms of drugs, 80 per cent of them heroin, were confiscated in 2003,` Asoyev said.
Tajiks Watch Warily As Afghans Grow Poppy
Afghan News Network
Dushanbe, January 20: Geography has rendered Tajiks keen observers of Afghanistan and lately they see two worrying trends emerging in their southern neighbour - radicals are establishing bases in the north and poppy fields are multiplying. Extremists who have been opposing Afghanistan`s government following the ouster of the Taliban regime in 2001 are beginning to establish bases in the north, near the Tajik border, border guards officials said. `The Afghan opposition aims to create bases that would support major partisan actions in the northeastern provinces of Kunduz, Takhor and Badakhshan,` said one official. Guerrillas from Uzbekistan`s Islamist Movement, which features on the US blacklist of terrorist groups, had already moved north from their former bases on Pakistan`s border, the official said. The move places the guerrillas closer to impoverished Central Asian countries where they aim to attract recruits and foment unrest, military officials say. Meanwhile, drug smuggling from Afghanistan, with which Tajikistan shares a 1,340-kilometre border, shows no sign of abating. Afghanistan is the world`s biggest producer of opium, from which heroin is made, with 77 per cent of world output. Much of the production is smuggled through Tajikistan in the north on its way to Western markets. `The Afghans are enlarging poppy planting fields in the northern provinces of the country and at the same time are increasing the capabilities of heroin laboratories,` said Khushnod Rakhmatulayev, press officer of the Tajik drug agency. Following the ouster of the Taliban regime in 2001, opium production in the country has shot up and shows no signs of slowing down. Poppy planting fields have increased by eight per cent in 2003 compared with the previous year, Tajik experts say. `In the Badakhshan province bordering Tajikistan, the increase stands at 55 per cent,` Rakhmatulayev said. Some estimates say that 23 per cent of Afghanistan`s working age people are involved in poppy cultivation and that revenues from the illegal drug trade reach up to one billion dollars annually. United Nations figures estimate that this year`s opium harvest will yield 4,000 tons of opium from which 400 tons of heroin will be produced. Officials say it will take years to rein in the burgeoning trade. `The lack of control, the existence of numerous local groups, many of them armed and none subject to the authorities, and their ties to international drug cartels are a serious problem,` said Dovud Panjsheri, Afghanistan`s ambassador to Tajikistan. `It will take at least 10 years to solve the problem and only if a strong central government continues to develop,` Panjsheri said. Fifteen drug smugglers were killed last year on the Tajik-Afghan border and a record 5.6 tons of Afghan heroin was seized. Observers say that the trade will not die down as long as profit from poppy cultivation exceeds that from other agricultural products, like grain.
250 Kg Of Drugs Burnt Up In Tajikistan Capital
Kabar Agency
Dushanbe, January 19: Nearly 250 kilograms of illicit drugs, mainly heroine, were burnt up in the furnaces of the Dushanbe motor vehicle-manufacturing plant on Tuesday. One hundred drug traffickers have been detained and are serving their prison terms in Tajikistan`s jails, said the head of the Republic`s Interior Ministry Department, Colonel Faizullo Gadoyev. Tajikistan law enforcers have seized 120 kilograms of heroine since the beginning of 2004.
Heroin Confiscated At Tajik-Afghan Border
Kabar Agency
Dushanbe, January 19: A drug courier from Afghanistan was wounded while being detained by frontier guards in Tajikistan. As the press service of the Russian frontier guard group in Tajikistan reported, the frontier guard detachment discovered two border trespassers from Afghanistan who crossed the border river Pyanj at 5:50 a.m., Moscow time. When the trespassers tried to flee to the Afghan territory the frontier guards had to open fire at them. One of the smugglers was wounded and apprehended by the frontier guards while the second managed to escape to the adjacent state`s territory. During the survey of the incident`s location the frontier guards found three packages containing heroin with the total weight of three kilograms which the smugglers had thrown away.
Uzbek Crash Probe
The Moscow Times
Tashkent, January 23: Pilot error was the likely cause of the Uzbek Airways crash last week that killed 37 people, with officials on Thursday ruling out terrorism. The Yak-40 jet, bound from the town of Termez on the Afghan border, overshot the runway at the Tashkent airport while trying to land Jan. 13. Among those killed was the head of the UN mission in Uzbekistan. The government commission investigating the crash, led by Prime Minister Shavkat Mirziyayev, has ruled out terrorism, heavy weather conditions and plane malfunction as possible causes, government spokesman Malik Kadyrov said. `Pilot mistake, the only option left, can only explain why the airliner overshot the runway,` Kadyrov said. `Its wheels touched the ground 200 meters beyond the runway, and then finally the plane crashed into the concrete wall and fell into a canal.` Kadyrov said the flight data recorders indicated that nothing unusual had happened on the plane just before the accident.
Report Dated 23 January 2004