Uzbek Parliament Holds Conference On Election Laws
Uzbek Report
Tashkent, May 28: Oliy Majlis Committee for democratic institutes, NGOs and citizens` self-governing bodies and the Committee for legislation and judicial-legal issues organised a conference on election laws of Uzbekistan and developed countries. Members of Uzbek parliament, Central election commission, representatives of political parties, NGOs, diplomatic missions in Uzbekistan and international organisations participated at the conference. Elections to two-chamber parliament and local councils will be held this year. The forum participants noted that new election legislation complied with international standards. Financial support of political parties will serve to further improvement of their work, it was noted.
Jewish Leader Opposes Demolition Of Dushanbe Synagogue
Interfax
Moscow, May 28: Federation of Jewish Communities of the CIS President Levi Levayev has urged Tajik President Emomali Rakhmonov to prevent the demolition of a Dushanbe synagogue, which is planned by the city`s administration. The building, which is the city`s only synagogue, will be replaced with a palace of nations and a park. `Demolishing the ancient synagogue will provoke a negative response not only from the world`s Jewish communities, but also in the media,` Levayev said. `The Jews came from Central Asia, including Tajikistan, and have always had warm feelings toward the friendly Tajik people, with whom they have been linked by many centuries of good relations,` he said. `Such hasty decisions will not help raise Tajikistan`s prestige on the international stage. Rather, they could damage our peoples` century- long relations,` Levayev said.
Armenian Opposition Rejects New Proposal Of Dialogue
Radio Free Europe
Yerevan, May 26: Armenian opposition party leaders rejected on 26 May a renewed offer made the previous day by the three-party ruling coalition to embark on a dialogue to resolve political tensions, RFE/RL`s Armenian Service reported. That written offer suggested that it is still possible to resolve problems through dialogue, but at the same time inferred that the opposition prefers demonstrations to dialogue and `has no interest in creating a new political atmosphere.` Stepan Demirchian, leader of the opposition Artarutiun alliance, dismissed the coalition`s offer as an attempt to hoodwink the Council of Europe, whose Parliamentary Assembly adopted a resolution last month urging a negotiated end to the standoff.
Kazakh Party Calls For Political Reform Programme
Radio Free Europe
Astana, May 26: The pro-presidential Asar (Working Together) party that is headed by Darigha Nazarbaeva wants Kazakh political forces to cooperate in drafting a so-called National Program of Political Reforms, `Kazakhstan Today` reported on 26 May. Erlan Karin, the party`s first deputy chairman, issued the call at a 26 May news conference. According to Karin, the program should be based on the `Kazakhstan-2030` development program, unveiled seven years ago by Nazarbaeva`s father, President Nursultan Nazarbaev (see `RFE/RL Newsline,` 13 October 1997). It `will not provide a specific chronology` of reforms, Karin said; rather, it will contain basic principles and act as a general framework for dialogue.
Kazakh Opposition Party Criticizes National Security Committee
Interfax
Almaty, May 26: The Kazakh opposition party Kazakhstan`s Democratic Choice (KDC) has criticized the activities of top National Security Committee officials. At a news conference in Almaty on Wednesday, the party released a statement protesting alleged violations of the constitution committed by the country`s senior officials and special services. `The statement was triggered by repeated violations of human rights and freedoms committed at the Kushmurun prison camp by National Security Committee officials and law enforcement agencies against Galymzhan Zhakiyanov, the leader of the people`s party KDC,` Asylbek Kozhakhmetov, chairman of the party`s ruling body, told the news conference. Zhakiyanov has been serving a seven-year sentence since mid-2002 for abuse of office allegedly committed when he served as governor of the Pavlodar region. His supporters believe that his sentence was politically motivated. The infringements on Zhakiyanov`s legitimate rights are confirmed by numerous statements made by his unpaid defense attorneys and wife who told the press about them, Kozhakhmetov said.
Abkhazian PM Rejects Unified Georgian-Abkhazian State
Interfax
Sukhumi, May 26: Abkhazian Prime Minister Raul Khadzhimba has rejected a proposal from Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili to unite in a single Georgian state. The Georgian president made this proposal to the breakaway republics of Abkhazia and Ossetia. `There can be no discussion of unification between Abkhazia and Georgia in a single state,` Khadzhimba told Interfax on Wednesday. `Abkhazia has finally established its status. The republic has adopted the constitution of an independent state and the status of Abkhazia cannot and will not be subject to discussion,` the Abkhazian prime minister said. `As regards the wishes of the Georgian side, wishes do not always correspond with reality,` Khadzhimba said.
South Ossetia Refuses To Discuss Unified State With Georgia
Interfax
Tbilisi, May 26: The administration of the self- proclaimed republic of South Ossetia is skeptical about Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili`s calls to form a unified state with Georgia. `Georgia, but not South Ossetia, is celebrating Independence Day today, and therefore President Mikheil Saakashvili`s address is in no way related to the people of Ossetia,` South Ossetian Foreign Minister Murad Dzhioyev told Interfax on Wednesday. `As for our republic, we have said and continue to say that South Ossetia is a sovereign state and is ready to build only good-neighborly relations with Georgia,` Dzhioyev said. Dzhioyev said South Ossetia is conducting negotiations with Georgia on the conflict settlement, but not on the creation of a unified state.
Georgia Offers Peace To Regions
BBC
Tbilisi, May 26: Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili says he is prepared to offer `special status` to the regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia to help ease tensions. Speaking at an Independence Day rally, he said he was ready to begin peace talks over any federal state model acceptable to the breakaway regions. South Ossetia and Abkhazia took to arms after Georgia`s independence from the Soviet Union in 1991. The president has said he wants to see a united Georgia. Earlier this month, the rebel region of Ajaria, on the Turkish border, returned to Tbilisi`s control after mass demonstrations forced the resignation of its separatist leaders. We have to build new relations based on understanding and friendship, Mikhail Saakashvili, Georgian President On Wednesday, Georgia celebrated its Independence Day by holding the biggest military parade in the country`s history. But amid the show of force, the president spoke of peace. He called on Georgians to remember their own mistakes and to show understanding and tolerance towards the people of Abkhazia and South Ossetia.
Law `On Financing Of Political Parties` Comes Into Force
Uzbek Report
Tashkent, May 25: Uzbek parliament published the Law `On financing of political parties` in the national press on 25 May, and the law came into force starting from this day. The law will regulate financing of political parties in Uzbekistan. According to the law, political parties of Uzbekistan will be financed through funds received from membership fees (if the charter envisages payment of fees), incomes from entrepreneurship activity, funds from the state budget and donations of legal entities and individuals resident in Uzbekistan. The donation volume should not exceed the size of 500 minimum wages. If the donation volume exceeds the established sum, the party has to return the funds or transfer them to the state budget if their return is impossible. Enterprises with foreign investments cannot donate funds to parties. The law states that parties have to ensure openness of information on their finances to their members and the public, as well as publish information on their financing volumes and sources of financing in the media. The parties have the right to receive funds from the state budget if on the results of election to the Legislative Chamber of Parliament they receive enough seats to create a fraction. According to the law, the parties will receive 2% of minimum wages stablished by 1 January of each year, multiplied to the number of voters listed in the previous elections. Only the government can finance election campaign to parliament, any other financing is prohibited. The Central Election Commission determines the sum for participation in the elections.
Uzbekistan: Authorities Accuse Opposition Of Receiving Illegal Foreign Funding
Radio Free Europe
Prague, May 25: Uzbek authorities are accusing political opposition groups of illegally receiving foreign help. The charges may have some basis in fact. Opposition groups in Uzbekistan appear destined for further setbacks. Authorities in the country have served notice to foreign organizations helping the opposition that their aid is neither wanted nor, seemingly, legal. Authorities in Uzbekistan have been taking a close look at the help foreign organizations are giving to the country`s unregistered political parties. Political organizations such as the Erk Democratic Party and Birlik Popular movement -- both of which have been in existence for more than 10 years and neither of which is officially registered -- have been receiving help from foreign organizations. Such aid is prohibited to unregistered political organizations in Uzbekistan. `An official warning was given to the National Democratic Institute [for International Affairs] of the U.S. and the International Republican Institute,` said Justice Minister Abdusamat Polvonzoda. `The aforementioned organizations were registered in June 2003 and since then violations of the law [by these organizations] have been noted and confirmed. They were in constant contact with political groups that have not been registered with the proper authorities, for example, the so-called Birlik Popular movement, the Erk Democratic Party and other organizations.` The Justice Ministry argues that the activities of unregistered groups such Erk, Birlik, and another unregistered political body, the Ozod Dehkonlar Partiyasi (Free Peasants Party), are by definition illegal since they are not officially registered. Therefore, groups that help these political organizations are also guilty of violating the law.
Uzbek Governor Sacked
Radio Free Europe
Tashkent, May 25: An extraordinary session of the Regional Council of People`s Deputies removed Andijan Governor Qobiljon Obidov from his post on 25 May, Uzbek Television reported the same day. President Islam Karimov, who attended the session, criticized Obidov, noting, `In recent years, cases of corruption and personal connections have intensified in the region. This injustice has given rise to people`s discontent.` Saydulla Begaliev, a former minister of agriculture and water resources, was appointed to replace Obidov, uza.uz reported on 25 May.
US Calls For Changes To Tajik Electionl Law
Radio Free Europe
Dushanbe, May 25: Douglas Davidson, deputy chief of the U.S. mission to the OSCE, called on Tajikistan`s parliament on 25 May to make changes to the country`s election law, Asia Plus-Blitz reported the same day. Speaking at a meeting of the OSCE Permanent Council in Vienna, Davidson urged changes that `will strengthen Tajikistan`s reputation as a country that guarantees political pluralism.` The American Embassy in Dushanbe told the news agency that adding such elements as independent electoral commissions and provisions for election observers will bring the country`s election law closer to international standards.
Kyrgyz President Sacks Top Aide
Central Asia Daily
Bishkek, May 25: Kyrgyzstan`s President Askar Akayev has sacked a top official and former confidant seen as a likely candidate to replace him as president next year, a spokesman for Akayev`s office said on Tuesday. Akayev dismissed Misir Ashirkulov from his job as secretary of this former Soviet republic`s national security council on Monday, the spokesman told AFP. There was no official explanation for the move, but it followed an announcement by Ashirkulov the previous week that he would lead a new opposition political bloc called `For Honest Elections` in the run up to parliamentary and presidential elections due next year. Observers noted that Ashirkulov`s departure came ahead of the opening next week of the trial of a man accused of launching a hand grenade attack against him in 2002, an incident that some believe to have been initiated within official circles. The attack, in which Ashirkulov was injured, marked the start of a cooling of relations between Akayev and his close aide, who had also headed the presidential administration and the national security service, political analyst Edil Baisalov said.
Armenian Authorities Call On Opposition To Negotiate
Interfax
Yerevan, May 25: The coalition of the three pro- government parties that control the majority of seats in the Armenian parliament has again called on the opposition to begin negotiations, a joint statement released by the coalition in parliament on Tuesday says. The coalition includes the Republican Party of Armenia, Orinats Erkir and Dashnaktsutyun. Two opposition parties represented in the parliament, Justice and National Unity, have formed an alliance and are seeking a change of government in Armenia. `The political coalition assumes responsibility and believes it is still possible to continue dialogue and hopes the opposition will take part in the process to find a joint solution to the country`s problems,` said Samvel Balasanyan, secretary of the Orinats Erkir faction in the coalition.
Tajikistan Synagogue to Be Demolished
Associated Press
Dushanbe, May 25: One by one, Jewish worshippers unfurl their white-and-blue prayer shawls and utter a quick blessing to begin one of the last Sabbath services in the only remaining synagogue in this former Soviet republic. The government has ordered the Jews out of the Dushanbe synagogue by the end of July so it can be demolished with the surrounding neighborhood. The plain, white building where Jews say they have worshipped for more than a century is to be replaced by a `Palace of Nations` complex that will serve as Tajik President Emomali Rakhmonov`s office. The city has offered several plots on the outskirts of Dushanbe for a new synagogue, but it refuses to compensate for the loss of the building, insisting state funds can`t be used for religious institutions. The Jewish community, though, says it has no money to rebuild, and is worried that the synagogue`s destruction could encourage anti-Semitism in this majority Muslim country. The Jews argue they should be given land closer to the current house of worship, which stands in the city center, behind metal gates decorated with Stars of David and menorahs. `If they are taking away our building, they must give us for free something that can`t be worse than the one we have now,` said Rabbi Abe David Gurevitch, the Uzbekistan-based chief rabbi for Central Asia, who has led negotiations over the fate of the Dushanbe synagogue.
Two Kazakh Political Parties Preparing To Merge Programmes
Radio Free Europe
Astana, May 24: The moderate opposition party Ak Zhol (Bright Path) and Asar (Working Together), the party of President Nazarbaev`s daughter, Dariga Nazarbaeva, are forming a working group to prepare a common program of political reforms, Ak Zhol co-Chairman Alikha Baymenov and Asar Deputy Chairman Yerlan Karin announced on Kazakhstan`s Channel 31, regnum.ru reported on 24 May. Baymenov said his party hopes that cooperation with Asar will help create conditions for healthy competition and that the two will work together to ensure that the country`s wealth is fairly distributed. He added that Ak Zhol is willing to work with any party in order to achieve these goals.
Law On Emblems Of Red Cross, Red Crescent Comes In Force
Uzbek Report
Tashkent, May 24: The Law of Uzbekistan `On use and protection of emblems of Red Cross and Red Crescent` came in force on 22 April 2004, after the parliament published the law in local press. The law is aimed at regulating use and protection of emblems, identifying signals, as well as names of the Red Cross and the Red Crescent. According to the document, Red Cross and Red Crescent emblems can be used at buildings, cars and other property of the Red Cross and the Red Crescent, as well as at uniforms of the organisations` personnel. The law also states that the emblems cannot be used on the building roofs or as bandages. Military medical formations can also use emblems of these organisations to indicate their belonging to medical staff. They need to wear bandages with emblem of their organisation. The law says the emblem and names of the Red Cross and the Red Crescent cannot be used for commercial purposes and with perfidious purpose during wartime.
Kyrgyz Security Council Head Fired After Joining Election Group
Radio Free Europe
Bishkek, May 24: Kyrgyz President Askar Akaev has issued a decree dismissing Misir Ashirkulov from his job as secretary of the Security Council, akipress.org and Interfax reported on 24 May, quoting the presidential press service. Ashirkulov had held the post since 2001. For part of that time he was concurrently head of the president`s administrative office. The press service announcement insisted that Ashirkulov`s removal had nothing to do with his election on 20 May to the chairmanship of the newly created Union for Honest Elections, a group in which a number of prominent opposition politicians are members.
Armenian Opposition Suspends Protests Until June 4
Interfax
Yerevan, May 23: The Armenian opposition intends to suspend its protest activities until June 4, prominent opposition leader and former prime minister Aram Sarkisian said at a rally in downtown Yerevan on Friday evening. `If our arrested friends are not released by this date, we will march to President Kocharian`s residence and explain our demands to him,` Sarkisian said. Sarkisian said hurrying could harm the opposition`s struggle for a change of power in the country. `The opposition should not hurry its actions,` he said. The Friday rally in Yerevan was organized by two forces represented in the parliament, the Justice bloc of parties and the party National Unity.
Georgia Insists On Revising Mandate Of Peacekeeping Force In Abkhazia
Interfax
Tbilisi, May 28: Georgian Defense Minister Gela Bezhuashvili believes it essential to revise the mandate of the Collective Peacekeeping Force, deployed in the Georgian-Abkhazian conflict area. `It is high time the mandate of Russian peacekeepers, deployed in Abkhazia, were revised,` Bezhuashvili told Interfax-Military News Agency on Friday. Noting that the Collective Peacekeeping Force will have been deployed in the conflict area for a decade by June, Bezhuashvili said that a decade before peacekeepers had played a positive part, separating the belligerent sides. `The situation is not the same any longer, the mandate is obsolete, and not it is not wise to draw a borderline between Abkhazia and the rest of Georgia,` Bezhuashvili emphasized. He said he was sure that both Georgia and Russia would benefit from the revision of the mandate, aimed at providing assistance to refugees, returning, first and foremost, to the Abkhaz Gali District. At the same time Bezhuashvili said that it was a must to establish an international administration in the Gali District in order to bring the situation back to normal.
UN Diplomat Airs Concern At Russian Border Withdrawal
Radio Free Europe
Dushanbe, May 27: Antonio Maria Costa, executive director of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime, said on 27 May that the withdrawal of Russian troops from the Tajik-Afghan border could negatively impact Tajik drug interdiction efforts, ITAR-TASS reported the same day. Costa`s comments came at the beginning of a two-day visit to Tajikistan. He said, `I am slightly concerned about this news and I am going to speak about this problem with President Imomali Rakhmonov.` Costa praised Tajikistan`s Drug Control Agency, calling it `an example and a model for other countries of the Central Asian region.` Russian border troops are scheduled to hand over control of the Tajik-Afghan border to Tajik forces over the next year.
Tajikistan: Major Mine Action Donation Will Speed Clearances
IRIN News
Ankara, May 27: A major donation of up to US $955,000 has been made to fund the second phase of the joint Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and Swiss Foundation for Mine Action (FSD) first mine action project in Tajikistan. Both the OSCE and FSD - together with the ambassadors of Canada, Norway, Sweden and Belgium - signed the agreements to support the project during their recent visit to the Tajik capital, Dushanbe. `The money will be used to train, equip and deploy two new mine clearance teams and to increase the survey capacity with an additional mine survey team. We also hope to increase the mine-awareness capacities among the population,` Meaghan Fitzgerald, programme manager with the OSCE, told IRIN from Dushanbe. With the addition of the three new teams, which will join two existing survey teams operating since May 2003 marking the exact location of the minefields, the project will have a total operational staff in the field of 87 specialists. In 2003 the two survey teams mainly examined the Rasht Valley region and across the Kyrgyz border, assessing 359 settlements. This year the teams will be focused on the areas not yet surveyed in that region and areas of urgent concern such as the southern border with Afghanistan. `In accordance with the government priorities we have concentrated our activities on the central region. This year we have started the General Mine Actions Assessment [GMAA] in Khatlon region. We will start clearance and [conduct] further survey [work] in both these regions in 2004,` David Smyth, programme manager with the FSD, told IRIN on Wednesday. Smyth explained that in 2003 their activities were mainly focused on GMAA. He said that the clearance operation would begin this month.
Tajik General Denies Russia Troops Withdrawal Reports
Radio Free Europe
Dushanbe, May 26: Major General Abdujabbor Hamidov, deputy chairman of the Tajik State Border Committee, told Asia Plus-Blitz on 26 May that recent reports of Russian troop withdrawals along the Tajik-Afghan border on 24 May are incorrect. According to Hamidov, Russian border troops will only begin to hand over the border to their Tajik counterparts after a Russian working group arrives to iron out the practical details of the impending transfer. The press service of the State Border Committee confirmed to the news agency that not all of the necessary documents have been signed. Senior Russian officials will arrive in Tajikistan `soon` to discuss the handover, ITAR-TASS reported on 26 May. Tajik border-troop commander Abdurahmon Azimov told the news agency that Aleksandr Manilov, deputy director of Russia`s Federal Border Service, will head the Russian delegation.
Britain Intends To Develop Military And Military-technical Cooperation With Tajikistan
Itar-Tass
Dushanbe, May 26: Sir Gen. Mike Jackson Britain`s chief of the General Staff, is arriving in Dushanbe on a one-day working visit on Wednesday to discuss problems of regional security and broadening military and military-technical cooperation between Britain and Tajikistan. Great Britain is showing interest in broadening military cooperation with Tajikistan in connection with the Tajik support of the anti- terrorist operation in Afghanistan and Tajik participation in the Partnership for Peace program, Chief of the press center of the Tajik Defense Ministry Zarubiddin Sirudzhev told Itar-Tass on Wednesday. The British government has been financing an English language course taught at a Tajik military lyceum and a military institute, and groups of Tajik officers undergo annual training at special educational establishments of the British Armed Forces. General Sir Mike Jackson will meet Tajik President Emomali Rakhmonov and hold talks with the Tajik defence minister.
Naval Parade In Batumi Involves About 20 Georgian Warships, Boats
Interfax
Moscow, May 26: About 20 ships and boats of the Georgian Naval Defense Force and Coast Guard Service took part in a naval in the roads of Batumi on Wednesday, Captain Jimsher Rukhadze, spokesman for the Naval Defense Force, told Interfax-Military News Agency by phone. `The naval parade which took place in the roads of Batumi today on the occasion of Georgian Independence Day involved 10 ships and boats of the Naval Defense Force and eight border guard boats,` Rukhadze said. `President Mikhail Saakashvili took the salute. Regardless of bad weather, he put out to sea on a patrol boat,` he said. According to Rukhadze, `after the naval parade, the president took the salute of participants in the coastal parade, namely about 600 servicemen of the 25th motorized rifle brigade, Interior Ministry Force units and special-purpose units stationed in Ajaria.` The festivities also involved parliament chairperson Nino Burjanadze, Patriarch Ilia II, the defense minister, the interior minister, and other officials.
Turkmen Officials Deny British Military Plane Collision In Turkmen Airspace
Agence France-Presse
Ashgabat, May 26: Officials in Turkmenistan on Wednesday rejected a British defence ministry announcement that a British military transport plane had collided with another aircraft in the Central Asian country`s airspace. `We would know if there was such an incident and we`ve received no such information,` a spokesman for Turkmenistan`s civil defence service told AFP. The denial was echoed by a spokesman for the national flag carrier Turkmen Airlines. `Nothing like that has happened in our territory,` the Turkmen Airlines spokesman said. Earlier on Wednesday a British defence ministry spokeswoman said that a Royal Air Force C-130J Hercules had survived a mid-air collision in Turkmenistan, landing safely in Baku, capital of Azerbaijan, across the Caspian Sea from Turkmenistan. The Hercules was on a flight from Kabul to Bucharest on Saturday when it collided with an `unidentified foreign aircraft`, a ministry spokeswoman in London told AFP.
Georgia Makes Proposal On Russian Bases
Interfax
Moscow, May 25: Georgia said it can guarantee that if the problem of the Russian military bases on its territory is resolved, the country will not host military bases of other countries, Georgian Prime Minister Zurab Zhvania said at a press conference on Tuesday. `If the problem of the Russian bases on Georgian territory is resolved in a constructive process, Georgia is prepared to make a sovereign statement that it will not allow the stationing of military bases of third countries on its territory,` Zhvania said. The problem of the Russian bases must be resolved in a comprehensive discussion, and Georgia has prepared a number of proposals, Zhvania said. `If our proposals are accepted, we could raise our relations to a very interesting level,` he said. Zhvania also said Russian and Georgian special services should improve the coordination of their activities in fighting terrorism.
Russia Sets Kosmos Military Satellite Launch For June 10
Interfax
Baikonur, May 25: Russia has rescheduled the launch of a Kosmos-series military satellite for June 10 after two postponements caused by flaws in the ground power supply system, a source at the Baikonur space center said on Tuesday. The Zenit 2 rocket that will take the Kosmos into space will blast off from Baikonur before dawn on June 10. In explaining the choice of date, the source told Interfax that the end of May was too busy in terms of launches and that it had been decided not to put off the flight any further as a Proton rocket is due to launch another satellite in mid-June and a Dnepr rocket will carry one more satellite into space late that month.
Georgia Not To Withdraw Peacekeepers From Iraq - Minister
Interfax
Tbilisi, May 24: Georgia has no plans to withdraw its peacekeepers from Iraq, the defense minister said on Monday. `Despite the tense situation in Iraq, Georgia is not planning to withdraw its peacekeepers from that country,` Gela Bezhuashvili told Interfax. The Georgian leadership `is not trying to conceal from the Georgian public that it`s not completely safe in Iraq for the Georgian servicemen, who are in a zone of active hostilities, but their withdrawal is not on the agenda,` he said. He said Georgia would send its next 156-strong peacekeeping unit to Iraq around mid-July.
Confusion Surrounds Russian Troops Withdrawal From Tajikistan
Radio Free Europe
Dushanbe, May 24: Russian troops began to withdraw from the Khorugh and Kulob sections of the Tajik-Afghan border on 24 May, Tajik Radio reported the next day. There is widespread confusion over what is actually happening along the border, where Russian troops are scheduled to begin handing over control to Tajik forces later this year (see `RFE/RL Newsline,` 25 May 2004). Russia`s `Nezavisimaya gazeta` reported on 25 May that Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov has called reports of a complete Russian withdrawal from Tajikistan `total nonsense,` while Sabza Sarkorov, deputy chairman of the Tajik State Border Committee, more specifically denied that Russian troops are being withdrawn from the border. The source of the current confusion appears to be the lack of a specific schedule for the handover, which has been the subject of difficult negotiations between the two countries.
Russian, Georgian Border Guards To Meet Tuesday
Interfax
Tbilisi, May 24: Representatives of the Georgian and Russian border troops will meet at the Georgian village of Omalo on Tuesday, Shalva Londaridze, spokesman for the Georgian Interior Ministry`s border guard directorate, told Interfax-Military News Agency. `The chiefs of Russia`s Khunzakh border guard detachment and Georgia`s Lagodekhi border guard detachment will meet in the village of Omalo on the Ingush section of the Russian-Georgian border on Tuesday to discuss measures aimed at improving border protection in their AoR, i.e. on the Dagestani stretch,` Londaridze said. `The meeting will start implementation of the agreement on exchanging the latest data between Georgian and Russian border guards that was signed by Vladimir Pronichev, first deputy director of the Federal Security Service and head of the border service, and leaders of the Georgian border guard service in April in Tbilisi,` Londaridze noted.
Bayat: Nothing But Questions
Radio Free Europe
Prague, May 27: The discovery of a new extremist group in Tajikistan poses troubling questions. For now, those questions have less to do with the phenomenon of Islamic radicalism than with the extravagant coverage the issue often receives in the media. Bayat -- from the Arabic word for an oath of allegiance, an important concept in early Islamic history -- burst onto the scene on 12 April, when Tajik prosecutors announced the arrest of 20 people in the northern Isfara district. The suspects are charged with crimes ranging from arson to murder, and specifically the 12 January killing of Baptist pastor Sergei Bassarab. A 27 April report by the Institute for War and Peace Reporting (IWPR) summed up the little that is known about Bayat. IWPR cited unnamed security sources who describe a radical Islamist organization with possible ties to the Taliban and the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU), a group that has been linked to Osama bin Laden and Al-Qaeda. But Tajik officials have provided scant additional information, and the report closes with a statement by prosecutors that Bayat was merely `a group of hooligans who have no political motives.` A 13 April article described Bayat as a `terrorist organization whose tentacles have encompassed all of Central Asia.` Those looking to trumpet the arrival of a dangerous new extremist group do not have to manufacture evidence. According to a 24 April article in Tajikistan`s `Leninabadskaya pravda,` Bayat has been the object of a five-month-long investigation by the Prosecutor-General`s Office and Interior Ministry that has resulted in 25 criminal cases against seven individuals who have admitted ties to the IMU. The article describes Bayat as a group that arose in 1992 and fought in Tajikistan`s 1992-1997 civil war on the side of the United Tajik Opposition. Its leader today is 48-year-old Hodi Fattoyev, also known as Qori Hodi. Many members of the group apparently received a religious education in Saudi Arabia. Other alleged links to the Arab world go beyond education. Avesta news agency reported on 20 April that Tajik special services do not rule out a link between Bayat and Bay`at al-Imam (which can be roughly translated as `the oath of allegiance to the prayer leader`), an Arab extremist group linked to Abu Mu`sab al-Zarqawi, whom U.S. forces allege to be the commander of Al-Qaeda operations in Iraq. Abdallah Abu Rumman, a Jordanian newspaper editor, told `Al-Sharq al-Awsat` on 8 March, `I met Abu Mu`sab al-Zarqawi [in prison] in September 1996. He was the leader of a group of political prisoners who called themselves `Bay`at al-Imam.` Abu Rumman also notes that Hizb ut-Tahrir, a nonviolent Islamist group banned in many countries for its radical goal of reestablishing a caliphate throughout the Muslim world, maintained a presence in the Jordanian prison where Al-Zarqawi was an inmate in 1996-1999. Even more sensational details emerge from a lurid series of articles in Kyrgyzstan`s `Vechernii bishkek.` A 13 April article described Bayat as a `terrorist organization whose tentacles have encompassed all of Central Asia.` The article continues with a breathless excursion into the radical underbrush, replete with an extensive clandestine recruiting network, military training camps in Afghanistan, and a veritable army of `trained combatants...merely awaiting the signal to bomb Tajikistan from within.`
Hizb-ut-Tahrir Members Rescue Uzbek And Kyrgyz Security Officers From Mob
Radio Free Europe
Bishkek, May 24: The office of Kyrgyz Ombudsman Tursunbai Bakir-uulu reported on 24 May that members of the Muslim extremist party Hizb ut-Tahrir rescued one Uzbek National Security Service and two Kyrgyz National Security (SNB) officers from an angry mob on 14 May when they were caught filming the congregation of a mosque in Osh Oblast`s Karasuu Raion. According to the akipress.org account appearing on 24 May, members of the congregation phoned the Osh office of the SNB and were told that no one had permission to secretly film the mosque. The congregation then decided to attack the security officers but were reportedly stopped by Hizb ut-Tahrir members. The mob then seized the men`s video camera, later handing it over to the Ombudsman`s Office, where it is along with the film. Bakir-uulu has irritated the Kyrgyz authorities by asserting that Hizb ut-Tahrir rejects the use of violence to achieve its goals and therefore should not be considered a terrorist organization.
Moody`s Raises Kazakhstani Bank`s Rating To Ba1
Reuters
New York, May 28: Moody`s Investors Service has upgraded to Ba1 from Ba2 the long-term foreign currency deposit rating of Kazakhstani Bank CenterCredit (BCC) and has changed to positive from stable the outlook on the bank`s D- financial strength rating (FSR). The Ba1 long-term foreign currency deposit rating carries a stable outlook. According to Moody`s, the Ba1 deposit rating incorporates limited support from the Kazakhstani authorities, should the need arise, reflecting BCC`s relative importance to Kazakhstan`s banking system. BCC was the fifth-largest bank with a significant market share in banking assets, and the fourth-largest collector of customer deposits as of year-end 2003. However, Moody`s cautions that any external support from the Kazakhstani financial authorities, in case of distress, may be of a limited nature; the degree and timeliness of such support is rather uncertain but well captured in the Ba1 ratings.
Germany To Lend Armenia 3.5 Mln Euros For Deposit Guarantees
Interfax
Yerevan, May 27: Germany will lend Armenia 3.5 million euros to bolster its credit guarantee fund, Karapet Gevorkian, a representative of Germany`s KfW, which will disburse the money, told Interfax. KfW will release the money after it has approved a feasibility study, due to be completed at the end of June, Gevorkian said. In addition, the bank is still waiting for Armenia`s parliament to pass a law on guaranteeing personal bank deposits, he said. Armenia started its deposit guarantee fund on July 1, 2003, but this will not be in a position to start payments until July 1, 2005.
Dragon Oil To Start Seismic Survey Offshore Turkmenistan
Rigzone
Ashgabat, May 26: Dragon reports that vessels and equipment have been mobilized to Turkmenistan to commence a marine 3D seismic survey. The survey will cover the entire area of Dragon`s LAM and Zhdanov fields and is expected to be completed in September 2004. The company also reports that a contractor has begun operations to install two new pipelines that will take the additional production from the new wells on platforms LAM21 and LAM10. Hussain M. Sultan, Chairman of Dragon Oil commented: `The marine 3D seismic survey is an important part of our plans for the LAM and Zhdanov fields. The acquisition of 3D data will give us a much clearer picture of the fields` internal reservoir architecture which is critical to our identification of further drilling targets.` Dragon reports that vessels and equipment have been mobilized to Turkmenistan to commence a marine 3D seismic survey. The survey will cover the entire area of Dragon`s LAM and Zhdanov fields and is expected to be completed in September 2004.
Statoil Opens New Office In Astana, Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan News
Astana, May 26: Statoil`s new office in Kazakhstan`s capital, Astana, was officially opened on May 25th by acting chief executive Erling Overland. Covering about 200 square meters, these premises are located in the Astana Tower in the centre of the city and will also serve as the Norwegian consulate. Per Einar Rettedal, who heads the office, was appointed Norway`s honorary consul to the central Asian republic earlier this year. In his speech, Mr. Overland noted that Statoil resolved as early as last year to establish a presence in Astana. This decision followed good progress in discussions with the national KazMunayGaz (KMG) oil company to identify attractive prospects for a strategic collaboration. With its new office, Statoil is also demonstrating a clear ambition to become a substantial player with a long-term perspective in Kazakhstan. Mr. Overland was assisted during the opening ceremony by Uzakbay Karabalin, president of KMG. The consulate was then opened by Norwegian prime minister Kjell Magne Bondevik, who is on an official visit to Kazakhstan.
Germany To Finance 3 Projects In Kyrgyzstan
Interfax
Bishkek, May 26: The German government is to provide Kyrgyzstan with 16 million euros in financial aid to implement three projects as part of a financial cooperation agreement between the two countries in 2003-2004. Kyrgyz Finance Minister Bolot Abildaev said at the signing of an agreement for the financial aid on Tuesday that 8 million euros will be used to finance local government infrastructure projects, 4 million euros - to adapt energy supply systems in Bishkek, and 4 million euros - to set up emergency medical systems. Of the total, 9 million euros will be provided in the form of credits and 7 million euros - as grants.
Kazakh Oil For BTC Gets Ready For Government Go Ahead
Baku Today
Astana, May 25: Azerbaijani and Kazakh experts are about to complete an agreement that will enable Kazakh oil to run via Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline. Azerbaijani state oil company`s president Natiq Aliyev told Turan almost all legal and technical questions relating to the agreement have been settled by a group of experts from the two countries. Yet certain paragraphs of the agreement still need getting the approval of concerned government bodies. The experts are to meet by the end of May to further negotiate the agreement. Azeri-Kazakh negotiations for transporting Kazakh oil through BTC started in 2002. Kazakhstan will be able to transport its oil from Kashagan field in the Caspian Sea if that joins the BTC.
Nazarbayev Considers Oil Pipeline To Gulf Via Iran
Financial Times
Astana, May 25: Kazakhstan would like to construct a pipeline through Iran to the Gulf as the main outlet for its natural resources, the country`s president said. Nursultan Nazarbayev said in an interview with the FT he thought a southern route for his oil reserves was `the most attractive` both for his country and for US companies that operated there. He said the current political relationship between the US and Iran made such a project impossible, but he was hopeful ties would improve. `It would be better than Baku-Ceyhan, better than China, better than Russia,` he said, referring to the country`s existing infrastructure links. `It would be the best exit for us.` His comments came shortly after Kazakhstan agreed details of pipeline links eastwards into China to meet growing energy demands by the Chinese, and he stressed the historical challenges of a landlocked country that had been closely tied to the Soviet Union. Mr Nazarbayev said one of Kazakhstan`s principal demands in the creation of a planned economic zone with Russia, Ukraine and Belarus was also related to natural resources: it sought a reduction in the tariffs charged by Russia for its oil pipelines and railway freight.
Energy Intelligence Announces Launch Of Russian And Caspian Data Source
Energy Intelligence
New York, May 25: For the first time, Energy Intelligence will be making key data from its benchmark annual publication The Almanac of Russian and Caspian Petroleum available electronically and in a format that will be updated throughout the year. This new service is to be called The Russian and Caspian Data Source. A new application of the Almanac data, this completely new information service will include other hard-to-find information published in Energy Intelligence`s weekly digest of news from Russia and the Caspian region, Nefte Compass. Updated constantly, this new data source will give energy professionals the power and insights to maximise their business dealings with the former Soviet Union -- in a timely and easy-to-use format. The Russian and Caspian Data Source tables set out the key elements required for in-depth analysis of the Russian and Caspian oil and gas industry. Subscribers will find tables showing the main indicators 1987-2003, exports by volume and destination 1995-2003 and production 1987-2003 for crude oil and natural gas, plus, refining output and capacity, price movements and company profiles. Easy to use, The Russian and Caspian Datasource includes data published in Excel spreadsheets that can be easily used for running models, projections and any other financial calculations an industry professional might need. It is also comprehensive: the data covers the Russian and Caspian market for Petroleum, Gasoline, Diesel, Fuel Oil, and Jet Fuel prices, as well as Exchange Rates, Pipeline Tariffs and company data.
ExxonMobil Announces Kazakhstan Oil Discovery
ExxonMobil News Media Desk
Irving, May 23: Exxon Mobil Corporation announced today that its subsidiary, ExxonMobil Kazakhstan Inc., has participated in a new oil discovery in the Kazakhstan sector of the Caspian Sea. It is located in the Kalamkas structural feature, around 50 miles (80 kms) southwest of the Kashagan East #1 discovery. The Kalamkas-1 discovery well was spudded in August 2002. The well was drilled in 28 feet (8 meters) of water to a total depth of 7740 feet (2360 meters) and encountered an oil-bearing reservoir that flowed at a test rate of 2300 barrels of oil per day. Data analysis and additional studies are being conducted to fully evaluate this discovery.
SCO Supports Single Central Asian Market Creation
Uzbek Report
Tashkent, May 28: The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) member states supported initiative of Uzbekistan on creation of single Central Asian market. The creation of market may take from 13 to 17 years. The initiative, directed on full disclosure of region`s potential and increase of revenues of population, was officially presented by Uzbek President Islam Karimov at the session of Central Asian Cooperation Organisation`s (CAC) head of states summit in Kazakh capital on 28 May. The statement was announced at the extraordinary session of the SCO Economy and Trade Ministers` Council, held in Tashkent on Friday. Minister of Economy of Uzbekistan Rustam Azimov, Minister of Economy and Trade of Tajikistan Khakim Soliev, First Deputy Minister of Commerce of China Yu Guangzhou, Minister of Economic Development, Industry and Trade Amanberdi Muraliev, First Deputy Minister on Industry and Trade of Kazakhstan Gusman Amrin and the Deputy Minister of Economic Development and Trade of Russia Vitaly Savelev attended the session. The session primarily was devoted to preparing economic part of the SCO head of states summit, which will be held in Uzbek capital in June, Uzbek Economy Minister said. Ministers discussed a wide range of issues on trade-economic and investment cooperation within the framework of the organisation, Azimov stated.
US To Issue 500 Million Dollars To Georgia - Mikhail Saakashvili
Itar-Tass
Tbilisi, May 28: The U.S. will issue 500 million dollars to Georgia within three years under the program Balance of Millennium Problems for 16 dynamically developing countries, Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili said at a Russian business conference in Tbilisi on Friday. He said `most of this money will be spent in Georgia for development of the infrastructure and reform of the state apparatus`. `We are creating not only the road and energy infrastructure, but first of all the infrastructure of the state apparatus that will not be corrupt,` Saakashvili said. He said Washington would also give Georgia 164 million dollars in direct annual aid this year.
Putin Congratulates Aliyev On Azerbaijan`s Republic Day
RIA Novosti
Moscow, May 28: Russian President Vladimir Putin has sent a congratulatory message to his Azerbaijanian counterpart Ilkham Aliyev on the national holiday of Azerbaijan - Day of the Republic. The message, in particular, runs: `The progress that the Azerbaijanian republic has made in the past few years in various spheres of the socio-economic and political life confirms that the course of the Azerbaijanian leadership that is supported by the nation and has become the basis of the country`s growing international prestige was correct. Your official visit to Moscow this February opened new prospects for expanding mutually advantageous cooperation between our nations. I am convinced that we will provide further development of mutually beneficial cooperation between Russia and Azerbaijan in all areas through joint efforts. Only such relations - friendly, good-neighborly, based on the principles of equality and mutual respect - meet the interests of Russia and Azerbaijan and help promote peace and security in the Caucasus.`
Ukrainian Envoy Holds Briefing On Recent Visit Of Uzbek FM To Ukraine
Uzbek Report
Tashkent, May 28: Visits on the high level always positively affect development of bilateral relations, Ambassador of Ukraine to Uzbekistan Anatoliy Kasyanenko told journalists, commenting on the recent visit of Uzbek Foreign Minister Sadyk Safaev to Ukraine. Safaev met President of Ukraine Leonid Kuchma, Prime Minister Victor Yanukovich, Foreign Minister Konstantin Grishenko and the speaker of Upper Rada Vladimir Litvin. The sides expressed satisfaction with high level of Ukrainia-Uzbek relations, underlining the role of the presidents of Ukraine and Uzbekistan in strengthening bilateral political, trade-economic, scientific-technical and humanitarian cooperation, Kasyanenko said. He added that Uzbekistan and Ukraine have similar positions on key international issues and noted the necessity to joint efforts in fight against international terrorism and drug trafficking. The Uzbek side highly evaluates the work of Ukraine as the chair-country of the CIS Leaders` Council and CIS Foreign Ministers Council. The Ukrainian ambassador said the session of Uzbek-Ukrainian intergovernment commission will be held soon, which will discuss concrete issues of trade-economic relations.
CAC Meeting Has Finished Its Work In Astana
Kabar Agency
Astana, May 28: The session of Council of heads of states of Central Asian Cooperation (CAC) has ended up in Astana. During the session, Treaty on mutual spread of TV and radio was signed. The leaders of the CAC Askar Akaev, Nursultan Nazarbaev, Islam Karimov and Emomaly Rahmonov have adopted water-energy consortium. The protocol on removing the barriers between CAC and as Islam Karimov, President of Uzbekistan suggested stage creation of single market. The CAC governments will work out the conception of single market. As Kazakh President N. Nazarbaev has informed at the press conference ` the creation of the CAC single market was firstly raised in this session`. Within the framework, the custom union of CAC, transport union and free-economic zone will be set up. The security issues of the region and mutual understanding of the CAC states-members in the other international organizations were touched upon. As Nazarbaev has noted that the CAC talks were constructive. The CAC participants noted that the CAC must join to be successfully integrated in world community.
US Ambassador Jon Purnell Pays Official Visit To Samarkand
Uzbek Report
Tashkent, May 28: On 24-27 May, the US Ambassador to Uzbekistan Jon Purnell made his first official visit to Samarkand, central Uzbekistan. During the visit, Ambassador Purnell met with the governor of the Samarkand region, Rustam Kholmurodov and toured historic Registan with deputy governor of the Samarkand region Furqat Rahimov. The purpose of the visit was to discuss issues of regional importance, to review the progress of US government funded projects, and to become acquainted with the historic city of Samarkand. During the visit, Ambassador Purnell met with the Samarkand branch of the Uzbekistan Teachers of English Association (UzTEA) at the Samarkand Regional Foreign Language Training Centre, visited a local centre aiding burn victims, toured the Juma Central Hospital, and met with area Peace Corps Volunteers and US government exchange programme alumni. While visiting the Samarkand Museum of History and Culture, Ambassador Purnell unveiled a plaque given to the Museum by the US Embassy to signify the completion of renovations paid for by the US Department of State.
Relations With Russia Of Special Importance For Georgia - PM
Itar-Tass
Tbilisi, May 28: Georgian Prime Minister Zurab Zhvania said relations with Russia are of special importance for Georgia. `The development of relations with Russia, a country that traditionally was a market of all main items of Georgian exports, is especially important,` he said at the first Russian business conference in Georgia on Friday. `We have long trade and economic relations with Russia, and the special personal relationship is an important factor in the development of cooperation,` Zhvania said, `There is a sufficiently serious law base for successful interaction in the business sphere`. Zhvania said he was ready `to discuss this question with Russian colleagues and form an additional contract base`.
Russian Team To Attend EurAsEC Session
Interfax
Moscow, May 28: A Russian parliamentary delegation led by State Duma Chairman Boris Gryzlov has left for Astana to take part on Friday in the fifth session of the Interparliamentary Assembly of the Eurasian Economic Community (EurAsEC), the State Duma said on Thursday. The assembly will review its legislative performance for 2003 and consider a development priorities program for 2003-2006 and subsequent years. `Special attention will be paid to the exchange of experience and the legislative work of national parliaments with the aim of forming new, promising forms and mechanisms of interparliamentary interaction and strengthening the parliamentary component in integration processes,` the Duma public and media relations department said.
Kazakh President Calls For Speedier Integration
Radio Free Europe
Astana, May 27: President Nursultan Nazarbaev said on 27 May that the states of the Eurasian Economic Community (EES) must hasten their efforts to harmonize national legislation in order to aid overall integration, Interfax-Kazakhstan reported the same day. The remarks came at a meeting with the heads of parliamentary delegations from the EES states (Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, and Tajikistan). Nazarbaev said, `Our task is to harmonize national laws and bring them closer together. Specific goals have been set to synchronize the ratification of the agreements and accords that have been signed.` Anatolii Maryshev, the executive secretary of the EES Interparliamentary Assembly, told a 27 May news conference that the Interparliamentary Assembly meeting scheduled for 28 May will focus on laws to aid cooperation in the transportation, energy, and customs sectors; the laws will then be ratified and adopted by national parliaments.
French Parliamentarians Meet Uzbek Counterparts In Tashkent
Uzbek Report
Tashkent, May 27: The delegation of the French Senate (parliament) led by MP Ambroise Dupont met chairman of Oliy Majlis Committee for democratic institutes, NGOs and citizens` self-governing bodies, director of the National human rights centre Akmal Saidov. The sides exchanged opinions on improvement of human rights protection system in Uzbekistan and conditions created for effective activity of democratic institutes. Strengthening of bilateral relations in legislation, experience exchange, improvement of human rights organisations` activity were the topics of discussion with chairman of the parliamentary Committee on international issues and interparliamentary cooperation Erkin Vakhidov, and ombudsman Sayyora Rashidova. The French delegation also held negotiations at the Uzbek Foreign Ministry and the Agency for Foreign Economic Relations.
Russia Offers Turkmenistan Diploma Agreement
Radio Free Europe
Ashgabat, May 27: Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Aleksandr Yakovenko told a 27 May press conference that Russia has proposed to Turkmenistan a diploma recognition agreement, RIA-Novosti reported the same day. As of 1 June, all state employees in Turkmenistan who received their diplomas abroad will be dismissed. Noting that Russia and Turkmenistan currently lack a mechanism for the mutual recognition of diplomas, Yakovenko added, `Some time ago, Russia suggested concluding such an agreement; at present, the Turkmen side is reviewing the proposal.` ITAR-TASS quoted him as saying, `Moscow regrets that such a document has not been signed yet.`
SCO Economics Minister Hold A Meeting In Tashkent
RIA Novosti
Tashkent, May 27: The economics ministers of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) member-countries will hold an extraordinary meeting in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, said Ilhom Zakirov, the Uzbek foreign minister`s press spokesman. The ministers are expected to study a report on the results of SCO senior officials` efforts to work out a plan for multilateral cooperation in the trade and economic area, according to Mr Zakirov. The conferees will also discuss member-countries` initiatives on developing trade and economic, and investment cooperation (establishing the single Central Asian market and the fund for regional cooperation development), according to Mr Zakirov. The ministers will discuss steps to be taken in the first instance to develop regional trade and other economic contacts. Besides, they will sign a memorandum on issues related to the development of regional cooperation within the SCO. Russian Deputy Economic Development and Trade Minister Vitaly Savelyev will represent Russia at the meeting.
Kyrgyz President Praises Successful Tajik Visit
Radio Free Europe
Bishkek, May 27: Kyrgyz President Askar Akaev ended a two-day visit to Tajikistan on 27 May, akipress.org reported the same day. President Akaev and his Tajik counterpart, Imomali Rakhmonov, signed treaties on partnership and military cooperation, as well as agreements on simplified procedures for obtaining citizenship, air transportation, investment protection, educational cooperation, and border crossings. President Akaev called his trip `successful,` adding that the treaties `bring the two sides up to the level of a strategic partnership.` Khovar news agency quoted President Rakhmonov as saying, `We agreed to maintain constant political dialogue and to support each other`s initiatives on the international and regional level.`
CAC Leaders To Discuss Regional Security, Cooperation Issues
Uzbek Report
Tashkent, May 27: As earlier reported, the Uzbek President Islam Karimov will attend the session of the Central Asian Cooperation Organisations` Leaders Council, which will be held on 28 May in Almaty, Kazakhstan. The CAC leaders of the session will discuss regional security and implementation of agreements from Almaty summit in July 2003 and perspectives of cooperation development. According to the Uzbek Foreign Ministry, the CAC leaders will address these issues at the face-to-face and expanded meetings. Ministry noted that the CAC leaders would sign document on the result of the summit. Central Asian Cooperation Organisation.
Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan Signed Good Neighborly And Partnership Relations Treaty
Kabar Agency
Dushanbe, May 27: After negotiations of the official delegation of Kyrgyzstan with leadership of the Republic of Tajikistan, Kyrgyz President Askar Akaev and Tajik President Emomali Rahmanov signed a treaty between Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan on good neighborly and partnership relations. Delivering a speech at the signing ceremony, President A. Akaev noted `We deeply satisfied with development of bilateral relations and signing this treaty we once again assert on intention to actively develop it`. According to the presidential press service of Kyrgyzstan, the parties also signed a treaty between Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan on military cooperation, an agreement on simplified order in receiving citizenship, an agreement on air communication, an agreement on mutual protection of secret information, an agreement on cooperation in the field of training scientific personnel, an agreement on admission centres through state borders, a memorandum on cooperation development in the field of ecological safety.
American NGOs Do Not Violate Their Charters - US Embassy
Uzbek Report
Tashkent, May 27: The US embassy in Uzbekistan did not accepted the charges made by the Uzbek Justice Minister Abdusamat Palvanzade at his press conference on 21 May that American NGOs violated their charters. `We do not accept the charges made by Minister of Justice Palvanzada at his May 21 press conference that American NGOs violated their charters or engaged in anti-constitutional activity by having contact with unregistered political organisations,` the embassy`s statement said. The statement noted that American NGOs have come to Uzbekistan to help foster the growth of democracy and civil society as part of a goal mutually agreed upon in our Bilateral Declaration on the Strategic Partnership and Cooperation Framework. `In the Declaration, the government of Uzbekistan affirmed its commitment to strengthen and develop democratic values, ensuring respect for human rights and freedoms based on the universally recognised principles and norms of international law, and the United States agreed to support those goals. That, naturally, requires these NGOs, as our implementing partners, to reach out to all interested individuals, whether or not they are registered as a political party or NGO,` it said `We also dispute the charge that Freedom House attempted to aid a political party in getting registered. Freedom House does not work with political parties, registered or unregistered.
Kyrgyz, Tajik Presidents Meet In Dushanbe
Radio Free Europe
Dushanbe, May 26: President Akaev met with Tajik President Imomali Rakhmonov in Dushanbe on 26 May, Khovar news agency reported the same day. Rakhmonov described his counterpart`s official visit as an `important landmark` in relations between the two countries, Tajik Television reported. The two leaders` talks focused on cooperation in various spheres, including trade, law enforcement, and military affairs. A number of cooperation agreements, including one on military cooperation, resulted from the meeting.
60 Agreements Planned For Common Economic Space Formation
Interfax
Moscow, May 26: At least 60 international agreements will be drafted in the framework of forming the Common Economic Space, Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov announced after Wednesday talks with his Kazakh counterpart Daniyal Akhmetov. `They should be signed in 2005-2006,` Fradkov said. Akhmetov said that high-level groups from the member-countries are working intensively. `This work is expected to be completed in the near future,` he said. Akhmetov said there remain unsettled problems in customs relations but they are not of principle importance. `There is no alternative to the Common Economic Space,` he said.
President Putin To Meet Chinese Leader In Tashkent In Summer 2004
RIA Novosti
Moscow, May 26: Russian President Vladimir Putin will meet Chinese leader Hu Jintao at a summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (which involves Russia, China, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan and Tajikistan) in Tashkent this summer. `I hope for further contacts and cooperation with Chairman Hu Jintao, with whom I will meet in Tashkent this summer and later on when I am on an official visit to China in October,` President Putin said at a meeting with Wu Bangguo, chairman of the standing committee of the national people`s congress of China. Mr. Putin gave a high assessment to the current level of cooperation between Russia and China. `We have reached a high level of cooperation in the major areas of economic and political cooperation, at the inter-regional level and on the international arena,` said Mr. Putin. The president said bilateral cooperation was developing at a brisk pace.
Uzbek Honourable Consulate Opens In Osaka, Japan
Uzbek Report
Tashkent, May 26: Hisao Nakamura, advisor of Chori Co. Ltd and well-known figure in political and Japanese circles, became the Honorable Council of Uzbekistan in Osaka, Japan. Speaking at the solemn opening ceremony of the Honourable Consulate in Osaka, Uzbek Ambassador to Japan Mirsobit Ochilov said this important event would serve to increasing efficiency of bilateral relations between Uzbekistan and Japan in different spheres and strengthening the nations` friendship. `I will do my best to strengthen Uzbek-Japanese relations,` Nakamura told Jahon news agency. Great economic, investment and cultural potential resulted in selection of Osaka as a location for the Honourable Consulate. The Jahon report said this had a great importance for development of mutually beneficial contacts. Today, Uzbekiston Havo Yollari (Uzbekistan Airways) national airline carries out three flights a week on route Tashkent-Tokyo-Osaka. Starting from July 2004, the number of flights will be increased to four per week. The idea of opening of the Consulate of Uzbekistan in Osaka was supported by known politicians of Japan. Among them are ex-Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori, MPs Toshihiko Nikkay and Koki Chuma, as well as special advisor of the Cabinet of Ministers of Japan and former Japanese Ambassador to Uzbekistan Kyoko Nakayama.
Putin, Karimov Discuss Joint Security Efforts In Central Asia
Interfax
Moscow, May 26: Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke by phone on Wednesday with his Uzbek counterpart Islam Karimov, the presidential press service reported. The two presidents discussed progress in implementing understandings reached during Karimov`s visit to Russia in April. `Opinions were also exchanged on the interaction of the two countries in guaranteeing stability and security in Central Asia,` the press service`s report says.
Russia Forges Post-Soviet Economic Union
CNSNews.com
Moscow, May 26: Russia is making yet another attempt to form an economic union among leading post-Soviet states to serve as a potential counterweight to U.S. influence in the region. On Monday, the presidents of Russia, Ukraine, Belarus and Kazakhstan met in the Ukraine Black Sea resort of Yalta to discuss formation of the Common Economic Space (CES), a body modeled loosely on the European Union. Presidents Vladimir Putin, Leonid Kuchma, Alexander Lukashenko and Nursultan Nazarbayev agreed to promote greater coordination of economic policies and trade, including a free trade zone which could be set up by 2010. The four also expressed hope that the CES would help their bids to become members of the World Trade Organization (WTO). Putin called for quick implementation of the plan, telling a cabinet meeting in Moscow Tuesday that he hoped the main agreements for a new economic zone could be signed by 2005-6. The CES proposal was first tentatively broached at a meeting in February 2003, and last September, leaders of the four major ex-Soviet states pledged to revive the economic union that collapsed with the breakup of the Soviet Union in 1991. Russia has suggested that its currency dominate transactions among the group. Kazakh President Nazarbayev, whom Putin has credited with first proposing the idea, emphasized this week that the CES would not be closed, and that other former Soviet nations would be encouraged to join. Nazarbayev also insisted that the creation of the CES would not be detrimental to other post-Soviet bodies. The CES is seen here as an attempt to counterbalance U.S. influence, and in particular the group known as GUUAM - an acronym for the former Soviet states of Georgia, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan and Moldova.
Uzbek, Russian Presidents Discuss Ties, Security Issues Over Phone
Uzbek Report
Tashkent, May 26: The President of Uzbekistan Islam Karimov and the President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin held a telephone conversation on 26 May. According to the Russian leader`s press office, the Uzbek side initiated negotiations. The presidents discussed issues on implementation of agreements reached in April visit of the Uzbek president to Russia. The sides also exchanged opinions on issues connected with maintenance stability and security in Central Asia.
Kazakh Premier Arrives In Moscow
Itar-Tass
Moscow, May 26: Kazakh Prime Minister Daniyal Akhmetov is going to discuss in Moscow ways of deepening trade and economic relations with Russia. He arrived in the Russian capital on a working visit yesterday. [Passage omitted: Akhmetov will meet his Russian counterpart and discuss cooperation in the energy sector, the use of the Baykonur spaceport by Russia and other issues]
Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan To Sign Partnership Agreement
Itar-Tass
Dushanbe, May 25: Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan will sign an agreement on partnership and good neighborly relations, in the course of Askar Akayev`s official visit to Dushanbe which begins on Wednesday. After the talks, the parties will also sign a military cooperation agreement and a number of other inter-state and inter-departmental documents, an official from the executive apparatus of the head of the Tajik state told Itar-Tass. The documents `determine the strategy of bilateral cooperation and new spheres of interaction,` Kyrgyz Ambassador to Tajikistan Miroslav Niyazov told Itar-Tass. Niyazov noted `a clear trend towards integration of the economies of the two countries, that has taken shape recently.` The joint project to build transmission lines from Kyrgyzstan`s Batken region to the Tajik city of Kanibadam, providing for uniting the energy systems of the two countries `into a single loop,` can serve as an example of such integration.
Iran, Tajikistan Keen On Scientific Cooperation
Tehran Times
Dushanbe, May 25: Deputy Minister of Sciences, Research and Technology Hadi Khaniki and Tajikistan`s Minister of Education Safarali Rajabov in a meeting here Tuesday examined ways of expanding mutual scientific and educational inter-university ties. The meeting focused on organizing joint scientific and research conferences, inter-university exchange of instructors and students and granting scholarships. The two sides underlined the need to bolster cooperation between Iranian and Tajik universities as well as institutes of higher education in order to prepare the proper grounds for the growth of scientific and cultural collaboration. At the end of meeting, he told IRNA that a Tajik working group would soon visit Iran to continue the negotiations and implement the memorandum of understanding (MOU), which was recently signed by the two states. `Direct inter-university contacts are quite indispensable for expansion of scientific ties and the preliminary steps have already been taken to the effect. `In line with such a goal, Tajikistan National University has recently signed agreements of cooperation with Tehran`s Shahid Beheshti University and Mashhad`s Ferdowsi University,` he added.
Polish Under-Secretary Of State Meets Uzbek Officials
Uzbek Report
Tashkent, May 25: The delegation of Poland, including representatives of various departments, led by Under-Secretary of State (Supervises International Relations Bureau) Andrzej Majkowski paid an official visit to Uzbekistan on 25 May. The delegation held negotiations with Uzbek Foreign Minister Sadyk Safaev to discuss issues of security and fight against terrorism, partnership in tourism and air transportation spheres, joint cooperation in light of the European Union expansion, as well as military-technical cooperation, including participation of Uzbekistan in NATO`s Partnership for Peace programme. Among the discussed issues were also trade-economic relations, including agreement on issue of new credit lines by Poland. The sides also touched upon issues of opening of the Uzbek embassy in Warsaw. Intensification of bilateral trade-economic cooperation between the two countries were considered during talks between the Polish delegation and the Uzbek Prime Minister Shavkat Mirziyayev. Uzbek and Polish officials also discussed holding of an exhibition of Poland`s achievements in Tashkent in late September. The delegation participated in the work of the Uzbek-Polish Commission for studying archives on Polish people who arrived in Uzbekistan in the 1930-40s.
Tajikistan Foreign Ministry Accuses Russia`s Media Of Anti Tajik Campaign
RIA Novosti
Dushanbe, May 25: The Foreign Ministry of Tajikistan has accused the Russian mass media of an anti-Tajik campaign. `The anti-Tajik theme in some Russian mass media has of late struck a new note and is becoming polemics around the doing of service by nationals of the Republic of Tajikistan in the Russian border troops and in the 201st Russian motor rifle division stationed in the territory of Tajikistan`, reads the note of the Tajik Foreign Ministry, sent to the Russian embassy in Dushanbe. The text, which has come to hand at RIA Novosti, specifies that some Russian media, looking into the problem of narcotics, have laid the blame for drug traffic on nationals of Tajikistan doing service in the 201st division and the Russian border troops in Tajikistan. `The Tajik side considers such ungrounded accusations against the Republic of Tajikistan and its nationals as premeditated provocative actions by definite forces purposefully conducting the anti-Tajik campaign through the Russian media, repeatedly drawn attention to by the Tajik side.
Vice Premier Meets Afghan Communication Minister In Tashkent
Uzbek Report
Tashkent, May 25: The delegation of Interim government of Afghanistan led by the Communication Minister Masum Stanakza met the Uzbek Deputy Prime Minister of Uzbekistan and the director-general of the Agency for Communication Abdulla Aripov on 25 May 2004. The sides considered issues on development of cooperation between two countries, use of experience and potential of Uzbek enterprises and specialists in rehabilitation of communication and informatisation systems in Aghanistan. They also discussed issues on establishment of direct and transit telephone communication between two countries and access to international line Trans-Asia-Europe via Uzbekistan.
Kazakh President, Norway Premier Discuss Oil, OSCE Chairmanship
Radio Free Europe
Astana, May 25: Norwegian Prime Minister Kjell Magne Bondevik met with Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbaev and Prime Minister Daniyal Akhmetov in Astana, Kazakhstan on 25 May, Interfax-Kazakhstan reported the same day. Akhmetov and Bondevik signed a joint declaration on dialogue and cooperation in the oil and gas sphere, Kazinform reported. Akhmetov cited Norway as an example for Kazakhstan to emulate as it changes the structure of its economy. Bondevik attended the opening of an office in Astana for the Norwegian state oil company Statoil, Interfax-Kazakhstan reported. Bondevik said the office opening: `attests to our great interest in participating in the development of oil and gas fields in the Caspian Sea.` Interfax-Kazakhstan also quoted Bondevik as saying that Norway will support Kazakhstan in Astana`s bid for the OSCE chairmanship in 2009.
Silk Road Rail Route Planned
Reuters
Astana, May 25: Kazakhstan is looking to make a part of the old Silk Road from China to Europe into a faster link for goods with a 2,000 miles rail project. The sprawling oil-rich country between China and the Caspian Sea has always been a hub on the ancient trade route which carried marvels of the orient like rich silks, tea and jade by horseback, mule and cart to the markets of Europe. The proposed route would link Druzhba on the border with China`s Xinjiang northwestern region to Iran and Turkey -- if Kazakhstan can get neighbours Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan to upgrade their Soviet era railways -- and then on to Europe. `I am talking about a perhaps extravagant, maybe ambitious or highly ambitious project,` Transport Minister Kazhmurat Nagmanov told parliament on Monday. `We have the Silk Road in mind.` But a hangover from history is a major obstacle. In the 19th century Russia extended its empire to Central Asia forcing all rail and road networks to point to Moscow and adopted a wider track to stop potential European invaders from using its railway system. China and most of Europe use `standard gauge` tracks that are narrower than the broad gauge used by Kazakhstan and the rest of the former Soviet Union, hindering an easy link-up. The solution would be to build extensive new sections of standard gauge track alongside existing lines, radically cutting the time it takes to transport Chinese goods to Europe.
China-Tajik Border Opened
BBC
Dushanbe, May 25: China and Tajikistan have officially opened their shared border at a pass high in the Pamir Mountains. State officials from Xinjiang province in western China and the Prime Minister of Tajikistan, Aqil Aqilov, cut a red ribbon at the mountain village of Kulma, sending a fleet of ceremonial trucks across to the Chinese side. The border was sealed tightly for almost a century during the Soviet time but now trade is growing and China is fast becoming an economic power in Central Asia. The opening brings real possibilities to a remote and undeveloped region. The Kulma Pass must be one of the highest trading routes on earth. Set among the towering peaks of the Pamir, the border is over 4,000 metres high. Traders expect a flood of Chinese imports to cross the mountains from Xinjiang. The bazaars of Tajikistan are already full of Chinese wares like clothes, shoes and household goods. Up to now they have been trucked mainly through neighbouring Kyrgyzstan. Opening the road through Kulma means a shorter route and cheaper prices and a possibility of trading onwards to other parts of Central Asia, where Chinese products are now bought as standard. In the longer term, the Tajiks hope to import the machinery and technology they badly need to modernise their country. It is also a chance for the Tajiks to reach the Karakorum highway that winds down to Pakistan and the ports of South Asia.
Kyrgyz President Asks US For More Objective Assessment Of Reforms
Radio Free Europe
Bishkek, May 24: President Akaev asked during a 24 May meeting in Bishkek with U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Lynn Pascoe that the U.S. be `more objective` in assessing democratic reforms in Kyrgyzstan, kabar.kg and RIA-Novosti reported, quoting the presidential press service. Akaev denied that the reform process was being pursued so that Kyrgyzstan could obtain foreign aid, but rather because it was in the interests of the `young Kyrgyz state.` Pascoe reportedly said that the U.S. sees Kyrgyzstan as a model in the process of political and economic reform in Central Asia, kabar.kg and RIA-Novosti reported.
Other Countries Also Want To Join Common Economic Space - Nazarbayev
Interfax
Yalta, May 24: There are other countries that want to join the Common Economic Space of Russia, Ukraine, Belarus and Kazakhstan, Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev told a Monday press conference in Yalta. `There are countries which want to become observers or affiliates to the agreement on the Common Economic Space,` he said. `Yet the admission of new members is out of the question until a legal foundation for joining the Common Economic Space is created, as it is so far unclear what they will be joining,` Nazarbayev said. `The Common Economic Space is an open organization,` he added.
Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan Signed Protocol On Mutual Allotment Of Land
Kabar Agency
Bishkek, May 24: Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan signed protocol on mutual allotment of land to build power lines and highways. Andrei Jordan, Adviser of the Kyrgyz Prime Minister told journalists at a press conference at the `Kabar` Agency that the parties agreed to solve all problems within a two months. According to the protocol, Kyrgyzstan allot lands for construction of power lines from the `Aigul-Tash` substation in Batken Province aside Tajikistan to `Kanibadam` substation in Sogdiy Province. In its turn, Tajikistan will present estate in Isfarin region for construction of Osh-Isfana highway with a length of three km, which will allow citizens of Batken to solve many transport problems. In the words of Deputy Minister of Transport and Communication K. Mamaev, the construction of this site of the highway will let to avoid heavy expenses. Moreover, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan agreed in order to make this site as `green corridor`.
Eurasec Interparliamentary Assembly Session To Be Held In Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan News
Astana, May 24: The fifth session of the Eurasian Economic Community`s (EURASEC) inter-parliamentary assembly (IPA) (EURASEC incorporates Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan with Armenia, Moldova and Ukraine having the status of observers) will be held on May 27-28 in Astana, the capital of Kazakhstan, reported the Kazakh Senate`s PR department. Chairman of the EURASEC interstate council, president of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev is expected to address the IPA plenary session. Taking part in the IPA arrangements will also be EURASEC secretary general Grigory Rapota and heads of parliaments of the Community`s members states. The Senate`s PR department reported that participants in the session would consider issues related to the Assembly`s legal support of the EURASEC development in 2003.
Azerbaijani Vice FM Ends Visit To China
Xinhua
Beijing, May 24: Azerbaijani Vice Foreign Minister Khalaf Khalafov paid a visit to China from May 19 to 23, according a source with the Chinese Foreign Ministry in Beijing Monday. Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing and Assistant Foreign Minister Li Hui had an exchange of views respectively with Khalafov on bilateral relations and issues of common concern during their meetings and talks.
Senior Chinese Legislator Meets Kazakhstan Guests
Xinhua
Beijing, May 24: He Luli, vice-chairwoman of the Standing Committee of the Chinese National People`s Congress, China`s top legislature, met in Beijing Monday with a delegation headed by Sharip Omarov, chairman of the Committee for International Affairs, Defense and Security of the Lower House of the Kazakhstan Parliament.
Iran, Russia, And Azerbaijan Railroads To Form Int`l Consortium
Tehran Times
Tehran, May 24: The directors of the Iranian, Russian, and Azerbaijani railroads signing a trilateral memorandum of understanding (MOU), agreed to establish an international consortium for planning, establishing and inaugurating Rasht-Gazvin-Anzali-Astara railroad. The railroad directors emphasized the development of direct rail transportation and the improvement of business ties among Iran, Europe, Russia, the Republic of Azerbaijan, India, and the littoral states of the Persian Gulf. According to the MOU, the nominal investment and its means of achievement by each of the three countries as well as legal and organizational considerations will be determined within an ongoing working framework. A meeting of Iranian, Russian and Azerbaijani transportation experts will be convened in September in Baku to discuss competitive transit rates for commodities in the north-south corridor
Russia Wants Stable, Friendly Relations With Georgia - SC Chief
Itar-Tass
Moscow, May 24: Russia is interested in having a stable and friendly relationship with Georgia, Russian Security Council Secretary, Igor Ivanov has said at a meeting with the visiting Georgian Prime Minister Zurab Zhvania. `We want our relations to be stable and friendly and match the interests of the Russian and the Georgian side and be oriented towards lasting friendship between our peoples,` Ivanov said. `It is in our powers to build such a relationship.` He said `Moscow knows what problems must be addressed first and foremost - those that have emerged in recent years and the legacy of the post-Soviet period.` `These problems will be soluble, provided there is the determination and political will of our leadership.` Ivanov said. He is certain that the solution of problems in relations between Moscow and Tbilisi should not be postponed, because `nobody will be ever able to solve them for us.` The Russian Security Council Secretary hopes that Zurab Zhvania`s meetings with his Russian counterpart and other Cabinet members will make it possible to `move further in resolving questions raised by our presidents.`
Putin Urges Ukraine, Belarus, Kazakhstan To Create `Single Economic Zone`
Voice of America
Moscow, May 24: Russian President Vladimir Putin has called on the presidents of Ukraine, Belarus and Kazakhstan to prepare necessary legislation this year for movement toward creating a common economic zone. The leaders met Monday in Ukraine`s Black Sea resort of Yalta to discuss plans for what the four countries call a Common Economic Space. Mr. Putin stressed the importance of the trade bloc, saying the economic integration and free trade will be `a powerful lever for growth and modernization` of the group`s national economies. He said this will make the countries more competitive in the world market. He added that the agreement will improve the quality of life of the citizens of the four countries Ukraine`s president Leonid Kuchma called it realistic for the necessary documents to prepared, screened and signed in the first months of 2005.
Tbilisi Interested In Attracting Russian Investment
Itar-Tass
Moscow, May 24: Tbilisi is interested in attracting Russian investment into Georgia`s economy, specifically, into the tourism area`, the Russian Foreign Ministry noted after the talks between Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Georgian Prime Minister Zurab Zhvania. The foreign ministry said the sides came out for `the consolidation of positive tendencies in relations between Russia and Georgia, above all, in fighting international terrorism`. In this context the sides `discussed the possibility of easing the visa regime between the two countries`. The sides discussed at the meeting `the questions of settling Georgian-Abkhazian and Georgian - South Ossetian conflicts`. Lavrov and Zhvania discussed `drafting a Russo-Georgian treaty on the basic principles of friendly relations and the resumption of bilateral talks on military matters`.
Georgian President Ends Visit To Turkey
Radio Free Europe
Ankara, May 24: President Saakashvili travelled to Ankara and Istanbul on 20-22 May where he met with Turkish President Ahmet Necdet Sezer, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, military and energy sector officials, and businessmen, Georgian agencies reported. Talks focused on expanding bilateral military cooperation, the progress of projects to export Azerbaijani oil and gas via Georgia, and economic cooperation. Meeting with Turkish businessmen, Saakashvili solicited investments in the Adjar Autonomous Republic, which borders Turkey, noting plans for a new airport in Batumi and a highway linking the city with Istanbul. He also discussed with Erdogan the planned rail link between their two countries. At a meeting with members of Turkey`s Georgian minority, Saakashvili offered them Georgian citizenship, Caucasus Press reported. Upon his return, Saakashvili visited the Georgian border crossing at Sarpi and instructed Georgian officials not to create `artificial obstacles` or `to check every car` entering Georgia from Turkey. He said he discussed with Erdogan the possibility of Ankara waiving visa requirements for residents of the districts bordering Turkey, the Caucasus Press reported on 24 May.
Afghan Information And Culture Minister Visits Uzbekistan
Uzbek Report
Tashkent, May 24: The delegation of Afghanistan led by Information and Culture Minister Mahmud Rahin is visiting Uzbekistan. Afghan Minister met Cultural Affairs Minister of Uzbekistan Bakhram Qurbanov. The sides discussed issues on strengthening relations in culture and education, creation of libraries, construction of cultural objects. The delegation visited the State Museum of Temurids and Fine Arts Museum, as well as Samarkand.
Russia, Azerbaijan Agree On Energy Cooperation
Interfax
Baku, May 24: Russia`s United Energy System (UES) and Azerbaijani state-owned Azeroenergy have signed a memorandum on cooperation in the energy sector. The document was signed by UES CEO Anatoly Chubais and Azeroenergy President Etibar Pirverdiyev. The document states that the sides are interested in long-term cooperation on providing energy in amounts previously agreed to. Russia and Azerbaijan are ready to build electric power grids in the two countries in order to achieve this. In addition, the development plan for power grids in Russia and Azerbaijan will take into account plans to transport Russian electrical energy through other countries. The document states that, in the near future, the sides will determine `technical possibilities for transporting energy to other countries.`
Russian, Kazakh Presidents Hail Bilateral Ties
Interfax
Yalta, May 23: Russian President Vladimir Putin met with his Kazakh counterpart, Nursultan Nazarbayev, in Yalta on Ukraine`s Crimean Peninsula on Sunday. `We have a large number of issues to discuss, but the most important one is naturally our progress in creating a single economic space [between Russia, Ukraine, Belarus and Kazakhstan],` said Putin, who is currently on a working visit to the Crimea. `Our work on the single economic space is proceeding in parallel with the two countries` highly successful relations in all areas - both in the economy and in politics,` the Russian president said. `The Foreign Ministries will still have to take a number of steps to reach an agreement on the border`s delimitation. But this work is proceeding normally, despite some purely technical difficulties,` he said. `I am confident that we will reach agreements acceptable for both countries,` Putin said. Nazarbayev said that `bilateral relations with Russia are developing. That is why what counts most now is to put our ideas on a single economic space into practice.`
New Kazakh Ambassador Submits Copy Of His Credentials To FM
IRNA
Tehran, May 23: New Kazakh Ambassador to Tehran Sabit Tairov conferred here Sunday with Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi and submitted him a copy of his credentials. According to the General Information and Press Bureau of Ministry of Foreign Affairs, at the meeting, the new Kazakh ambassador expressed satisfaction with his mission to the Islamic Republic of Iran and called for expansion of all-out cooperation between the two countries. Kharrazi, for his part, highlighted the two sides` high potentials for promotion of mutual cooperation in various fields such as transfer of energy, commerce and agriculture and expressed the hope that through construction of Kazakhstan-Iran oil pipeline they would witness further expansion of economic cooperation between the two countries.
UNODC Executive Director To Pay Official Visit To Central Asia
Kabar Agency
Bishkek, May 23: Antonio Maria Costa, Executive Director of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), will pay an official visit to Central Asia from 24 to 29 May. During his visit to Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Afghanistan, Mr Costa will meet with heads of state and senior government officials to review the drug control and crime prevention situation in the region. `Central Asia occupies a very special place in international efforts against the `uncivil forces` of our time: drug traffickers, organised crime groups and terrorists alike. The United Nations is especially concerned that the heroin trafficking from Afghanistan is causing growing drug abuse in the region, with a dramatic escalation of the HIV/AIDS threat. I urge the countries of Central Asia to engage in much greater regional cooperation to prevent further damage,` Mr Costa said. After visiting Tashkent in Uzbekistan and meeting with senior government officials there on 24-25 May, Mr Costa will travel on to Bishkek to participate -- at the invitation of President Askar Akayev -- in the 26 May launch of the Drug Control Agency of the Kyrgyz Republic. The day after in Dushanbe, Mr Costa will attend the celebration of the fifth anniversary of the Drug Control Agency in Tajikistan, established with the support of UNODC. In Dushanbe, Mr Costa will also participate in an assistance coordination meeting on 28 May and then visit the border regions. `
Results Of Probe Into Uzbek Jail Death Expected `shortly`
Harakat
Tashkent, May 28: An unofficial source reported that US medical experts had arrived in Uzbekistan to conduct a forensic medical expert examination into Shelkavenko`s death [Andrey Shelkavenko who died on 19 May, the authorities say he hanged himself]. We reported yesterday that he had died in custody and this incident had caused a sensation abroad. The results of the special commission which was set up to investigate Shelkavenko`s death, and which also includes foreigners, are expected to be announced shortly.
US Probes Uzbek Torture Allegations
BBC
Tashkent, May 27: A US pathology team has arrived in Uzbekistan to investigate allegations that Uzbek policemen tortured and killed a man in prison. It is the latest in a series of deaths in custody, but it is the first time foreign specialists have been brought in on such a case. It could prove a watershed, providing a direct, independent assessment for the first time. Uzbekistan is an ally of the US, which keeps a military base in the country. But there is growing awkwardness over Uzbekistan`s bleak record on human rights. If the US pathologists dispute the official version, it will raise doubts about all the other government inquiries into deaths in detention An eminent US pathologist is leading the team - Michael Pollanen, a visiting professor for the chief medical examiner in Washington. He has worked in Cambodia and East Timor, and his evidence will carry much weight. He is to supervise the autopsy of the 36-year-old man, Andrei Shelkavenko, who died in a police station on the outskirts of Tashkent last week.
Uzbekistan OKs Outside Probe Of Jail Death
Associated Press
Gazalkent, May 26: The flowers brought by mourners for Andrei Shelkovenko, allegedly tortured to death in police custody, wilt in his mother`s small apartment. But she refuses to bury him. His mother insists there will be no funeral until outside experts conduct an autopsy on her son, who Uzbek officials say hanged himself. Her persistence - and international pressure - has caused the government to take what human rights activists say are unprecedented steps to investigate the May 19 death. `They pressured me to have a funeral,` said his mother, Lyudmila Bochkaryova, at her apartment in Gazalkent, an industrial town 40 miles northeast of the capital of Tashkent. `Without an autopsy ... he won`t be buried.` American and Canadian experts invited by the U.S.-based rights group Freedom House will observe a new autopsy Thursday on Shelkovenko`s body, which is now at a morgue in Tashkent. A high-level government panel investigating the death met for the first time Wednesday. The U.S. Embassy and New York-based Human Rights Watch also are monitoring the case. `We were promised access to each and every step of the way,` said Mjusa Sever, director of Freedom House in Uzbekistan. Such an examination of the body by outside experts is a significant first. Sever said Uzbek officials have closely watched the U.S. response to prisoner abuses in Iraq.
NGO Says Tajik Journalists Face Difficulties
Radio Free Europe
Dushanbe, May 25: A report by the National Association of Independent Media of Tajikistan details 75 violations of journalists` rights in the first four months of 2004, Asia Plus-Blitz reported on 25 May. Thirty-six of the violations involved denial of access to information, while 15 involved threats against journalists. The report was presented in the course of a roundtable held in Dushanbe on 25 May and called `Access to Government Information.` Rajabi Mirzo, the editor of the opposition newspaper `Ruzi nav,` told participants that the difficulties confronting Tajik media are political in nature. Sasvata Burkhanova, deputy editor of the opposition newspaper `Nerui sukhan,` noted that officials often view criticism in the press as an infringement on their power, and that legislation must be changed to protect journalists.
Prisoners Tortured In Georgia, Rights Groups Say
Interfax
Tbilisi, May 25: Representatives of Georgian non- government organizations conducted a protest rally outside the Georgian Interior Ministry on Tuesday demanding the torture of detainees in the country`s prisons be stopped. Nana Kakabadze, leader of a non-government organization campaigning for the rights of former political prisoners in Georgia, said her organization has information that some fifty people held in detention facilities have been subjected to torture over the past three months. `The Interior Ministry is now a much more closed structure than it was under Shevardnadze and it is practically impossible to get objective information from there,` she said.
Kyrgyz Lower House Votes To Create Oversight Commission For Security Services
Radio Free Europe
Bishkek, May 24: The Legislative Assembly (lower house) of Kyrgyzstan`s parliament voted on 24 May to set up an oversight commission to control the country`s security services, Interfax reported the same day. The decision came after the assembly heard a report by a special parliamentary commission that blamed the National Security Service (SNB) for bugging and tailing opposition parliamentarians (see `RFE/RL Newsline,` 24 May 2004). The assembly adopted a resolution noting that the special commission had not been given access to all the documents it needed and thus was able to find only circumstantial evidence of SNB actions against parliamentarians.
Uzbekistan: Tashkent Warns Foreign NGOs Against Supporting Political Organisations
IRIN News
Tashkent, May 24: Uzbekistan`s Justice Ministry has formally rejected the re-registration of billionaire philanthropist George Soros`s Open Society Institute (OSI), at the same time warning three American non-governmental organisations accused of damaging the country`s reputation and acting against Uzbek law. According to a degree issued in December 2003, all foreign NGOs present in the populous Central Asian state were to re-register with the Justice Ministry, a change to the previous procedure of registering with the Foreign Ministry. Two Uzbek opposition parties were also refused registration on the basis of forged documents. On Friday, Uzbek Justice Minister Abdusamad Polvonzoda told reporters in the capital Tashkent that his ministry had received 76 applications from international NGOs for re-registration since March 2004 and only three of them were not re-registered. And while the OSI had been officially denied re-registration, three other US funded NGOs - the International Republican Institute (IRI), the National Democratic Institute (NDI), and the Washington-based Freedom House - were also warned to refrain from collaborating with `non-registered politicised organisations in Uzbekistan`. `If they continue breaching the laws of Uzbekistan the decision on their registration could be re-considered,` said Polvonzoda.
Corruption Said To Be Limiting Kazakh Drive Against Human Trafficking
Radio Free Europe
Astana, May 23: Michael Chance, the head of the International Office for Migration (IOM) in Kazakhstan, told RFE/RL`s Kazakh Service (http://www.azattyq.org/) that corrupt officials are limiting the effectiveness of Kazakhstan`s efforts to combat human trafficking. The U.S. State Department has cited Kazakhstan in its annual human-rights report for weakness in fighting human trafficking. According to official figures, 110 cases against people alleged to be involved in trafficking were initiated in the first three months of 2004; only eight cases were opened in all of 2003. The IOM official said, however, that few traffickers have been punished because those engaged in the trade have enough money to bribe investigators. He also attributed the low success rate to a lack of legislation criminalizing human trafficking. Most citizens of Kazakhstan who fall victim to human trafficking are sent to the United Arab Emirates, though some have been sent to western Europe, Israel, and Saudi Arabia.
Turkmen President Insists No One Is Persecuted For Beliefs
Radio Free Europe
Ashgabat, May 22: Speaking at the opening of Turkmenistan`s first paper mill on 21 May, President Niyazov insisted that no one in the country is persecuted or has been imprisoned because of his political convictions, turkmenistan.ru reported on 22 May. He also told members of the diplomatic corps attending the opening ceremony in the village of Yashlyk, about 45 kilometers east of Ashgabat, that petty crime is almost nonexistent in Turkmenistan, and that all levels of the population, public organizations, trade unions, workers, and civil servants are united around one goal -- the protection of the homeland and its development. He cited the absence of serious crime such as murder and theft as proof that the lives of the people have improved. While Niyazov has made similar assertions on other occasions, this time his remarks, in combination with the removal the same day of his portraits in Ashgabat, indicates an unusual defensiveness in the normally self-assured Niyazov.
Ex Mayor Of Tajik Town Killed
Radio Free Europe
Dushanbe, May 22: Sadullo Ergashev, mayor of the town of Tursunzade from 1992-93, was shot dead by unidentified attackers along with members of his family on the night of 20-21 May, RIA-Novosti reported on 22 May. Two of his children managed to escape. Tursunzade, site of the Tajik aluminium plant, is one of the most important industrial centers in the country. Murders of public figures, journalists, and ordinary citizens were common during the Tajik civil war from 1992-1997 but became extremely rare in subsequent years. Police have no motive for the killing of Ergashev, who most recently was running an agricultural firm.
Kyrgyz National Security Chief Says Report Was Biased
Radio Free Europe
Bishkek, May 24: SNB Chairman Kalyk Imankulov said on 24 May that the conclusions of the special parliamentary commission are biased, adding that his service has neither the staff nor the resources to monitor parliament members, and many of the alleged facts in the report are based on rumor and are inaccurate, Interfax reported the same day. Imankulov said, however, that he supports the creation of a parliamentary oversight commission because it might improve the parliament`s understanding of the work and needs of the security services. But he said there need to be guarantees of nondisclosure of some aspects of the services` work.
Russia To Help Kazakhstan Develop Space Program
Interfax
Moscow, May 26: The Russian Federal Space Agency will help Kazakhstan develop its space program. `There is an understanding to jointly draw up a space program for Kazakhstan. It will be a new step forward in our cooperation,` Kazakh Prime Minister Daniyal Akhmetov told reporters on Wednesday during his visit to the Khrunichev space center. `The standard of scientific and technological cooperation between our countries is not high enough,` he said. Khrunichev chief Alexander Medvedev told Akhmetov that the proposals on the Kazakh space program are currently being worked on. `The program is now being compiled with due account to proposals from the Federal Space Agency and will be completed by June 10 and sent to you,` he told Akhmetov. He gave the Kazakh official drafted intergovernmental agreements on the Baiterek space system and the first Kazakh communications satellite KazSat. Medvedev said that all stages of developing KazSat have been successful. `We will carry out the task by the scheduled date - December 25, 2005 [the launch date of the Kazakh satellite],` he said. Russia and Kazakhstan had previously agreed to build the environmentally safe Baiterek space launching pad at Baikonur. It will be developed on the basis of the Russian Angara launch system which Russia will test fly from its Plesetsk cosmodrome. Khrunichev is the manufacturer of the Angara launch vehicle. Earlier, Russia and Kazakhstan signed business agreements to build and launch KazSat. The Khrunichev center received the order for the satellite. Khrunichev is a leading Russian space corporation manufacturing Proton heavy launch vehicles, Rockot light launch vehicles and Briz rocket boosters. It also developed the Zvezda module for the International Space Station.
Russia Sees Drugs Boom If Troops Leave Tajikistan
Gazeta.RU
Moscow, May 28: A plan to strip Tajikistan of its Russian border guards could open Europe to a flood of Afghan drugs, top Russian officials said on Thursday. Russia patrols 90 percent of Tajikistan`s border with opium-producing Afghanistan, but the ex-Soviet state says it has recovered enough from a 1992-97 civil war to shoulder the task. Russian officials are concerned at the move and worry it could harm national security, reflecting an opinion once expressed by former President Boris Yeltsin - that the border was effectively Russia`s, not Tajikistan`s. `Any change in the regime will have an effect, and we are certainly not seeing an improvement. Of course, any opening up of the route will make it worse,` said Alexander Mikhailov, deputy director of Russia`s Federal Drugs Control Service. `In the worst case scenario, there will be more drugs coming into Russia, there will be more criminal money.` Tajikistan says it seized 9.6 tonnes of Afghan drugs last year, including 5.6 tonnes of heroin. But most estimates suggest that at most, only 10 percent of Afghan drugs are intercepted. The body which controls the border guards, Russia`s FSB - formerly the KGB - declined to comment on any pullout.
Central Asian Leaders Say Afghanistan Must Fight Drugs
Interfax
Astana, May 28: The problem of drug trafficking from Afghanistan needs to be resolved within Afghanistan itself, said Uzbek and Tajik Presidents Islam Karimov and Emomali Rakhmonov. `Until this problem is resolved in Afghanistan itself, and until Afghanistan earmarks money to discourage the population from producing opium, no solution can be found. All these barriers that we are erecting are a secondary thing,` Karimov said at a Friday press conference in Astana, following a regular meeting of the Central Asian Cooperation organization heads of state. The organization is made up of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan. The Uzbek president noted that despite the activity of the antiterrorist coalition in Afghanistan, drug production in that country and the traffic of drugs from it are increasing. Certain estimates indicate that revenues from drug production in Afghanistan exceed $3.5 billion a year, Karimov said. `This money, in particular, finances the terrorist and bandit units,` he said. President Rakhmonov told the press conference that `according to the estimates of UN experts, opium production in Afghanistan has grown 2.5 times since the beginning of the antiterrorist operation there.` `Some member-states of the antiterrorist coalition in Afghanistan say their job is to eliminate bin Laden and Mulla Omar, while drug contraband is not their problem. This is a mistake, because the prime source for financing terrorism and extremism is the production of drugs,` Rakhmonov said. `The drug problem is not only a problem of our region and Afghanistan. This is as global a problem as the problem of terrorism and extremism. This problem should be nipped in the bud,` Rakhmonov said.
Kyrgyzstan`s Drug Control Agency To Strengthen Peace In Region.
Itar-Tass
Moscow, May 27: Moscow hails Kyrgyzstan`s decision to set up a drug control agency which is expected `to strengthen peace in the region,` Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Yakovenko said on Thursday. `Thanks to the agency`s work, the contacts between Russia and Kyrgyzstan in fighting against drug trafficking will intensify,` Yakovenko said. `In the current situation, one should make all efforts to fight the evil of narcotics,` he said, adding `Moscow welcomes the Kyrgyz leadership` s decision.`
Russian Border Guards Kill 4 Drug Couriers On Tajik - Afghan Border
RIA Novosti
Moscow, MAy 26: Russian border guards eliminated four drug couriers and seized a large batch of heroin on the Tajik-Afghan border, the PR department of the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) said. The couriers were moving from Afghanistan to Tajikistan at a sector of the Moscow border detachment on May 25 night. `The border guards opened fire to kill. After that, they found the bodies of drug couriers and two bags with 32 kilograms of heroin and 1.2 kilograms of marijuana,` the FSB spokesman said. Since the beginning of 2004 Russian border guards seized over 570 kilograms of drugs, mainly heroin, on the Tajik-Afghan border.
Drug Control Agency Opens In Bishkek
Kabar Agency
Bishkek, May 26: The Drug Control Agency has opened in Bishkek. Prime Minister of Kyrgyzstan Nikolai Tanaev, Executive Director of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) Antonio Maria Costa, US Ambassador to Kyrgyzstan Steven Young, representatives of foreign embassies and force structures of the Kyrgyz Republic are attended the opening ceremony. `Today, we open new state agency aimed to fight this dreadful evil`, - noted in his speech N. Tanaev.
UN Concerned About Increase Of Drug Abuse In Central Asia
Interfax
Tashkent, May 25: The United Nations has expressed concerns over the increase in drug abuse in Central Asia and the proliferation of HIV/AIDS, both caused by the rise in drug trafficking from Afghanistan. Antonio Maria Costa, executive director of the United Nations Office for Drug Control and Crime Prevention, said while meeting with Uzbek Foreign Minister Sodiq Safayev on Tuesday that Afghanistan is expecting a record opium harvest this year, and because of this heroin production is expected to increase considerably. According to the UN`s information, one-fourth of the drugs produced in Afghanistan go north, which means they pass through Uzbekistan, Costa said. Speaking about the possible withdrawal of Russian border guards from Tajikistan, Costa characterized it as a very serious issue. He said that the Afghan-Tajik border is some 1,800 km long and only 73 km of it is controlled by Tajik border guards. For this reason, he stressed the need to help Tajikistan strengthen its border.
Kazakhstan Being Consumed By Cancer Of Corruption: US Envoy
Agence France Presse
Almaty, May 25: A top US envoy issued a strongly-worded warning Tuesday to Kazakhstan to address the corruption he said was undermining this oil-rich Central Asian country. `The cancer ... that is eating away at your country is the cancer of corruption,` said Stephan Minikes, US ambassador to the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), the West`s main democracy promoting body in the former Soviet Union . `As long as that corruption prevails, the full fruits of democracy and the full fruits of a market economy will never come to the people of Kazakhstan,` Minikes told journalists. While Minikes mentioned no specific names, his comments follow attempts by President Nursultan Nazarbayev to distance himself from a case due shortly before a New York city court in which he and another Kazakh politician were named as recipient of 78 million dollars (65 million euros) in unlawful payments from US oil companies. Nazarbayev was Kazakhstan`s last Soviet-era leader and has clung to power ever since through a series of controversial referenda and elections. He and his family stand accused of taking bribes while hammering out deals with Western oil companies over exploitation of Kazakhstan`s vast Caspian Shelf oil reserves. Minikes urged Kazakhstan to cleanse its reputation by ensuring free and fair parliamentary elections that are due in the autumn of this year, and similarly free and fair presidential elections due in 2006. `The opportunity that lies ahead for your country, and it`s a great opportunity, is the upcoming parliamentary and presidential elections,` Minikes said.
Special FocusAzerbaijan`s Grey Cardinal Lambastes Opposition
Mekhtiev`s criticisms are larded into a 15,000-word article published in the official Russian-language government daily `Bakinskii rabochii` and titled `Azerbaijan in the Era of Globalization: A Development Strategy.`
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http://www.eurasianet.org/departments/insight/articles/pp052204.shtmlUzbekistan: Tashkent Cracks Down On Government Opponents
Uzbekistan`s political opposition is again experiencing difficulties. Several members of the Erk Democratic Party and at least one member of the Birlik movement have been arrested or threatened with arrest during the recently. Another opponent of the government, Husniddin Nazarov, has disappeared and -- according to one Uzbek opposition website -- is also under arrest.
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http://www.eurasianet.org/departments/insight/articles/pp052304.shtmlTajikistan: New Opposition Coalition Suffers From Lack Of Cohesion
Opposition parties in Tajikistan have come together in a push for transparent parliamentary elections in early 2005. Political analysts, however, say the bloc is already suffering from a lack of cohesion that is hampering its effectiveness. Meanwhile, a report prepared by international experts cautions that Tajik stability is `at risk.`
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http://www.eurasianet.org/departments/insight/articles/eav052404.shtmlTo Survive, Villagers Buck Uzbek Border Controls
Uzbekistan, citing security concerns connected with Islamic radicalism, has sought to curtail cross-border traffic with neighboring states, especially Kyrgyzstan. Local inhabitants on both sides of the Kyrgyz-Uzbek border, however, have not accepted stricter border controls. In some areas, inhabitants continue to go to great lengths to circumvent existing restrictions.
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http://www.eurasianet.org/departments/business/articles/eav052504.shtmlOpposition Leaders Make Unity Effort As Kyrgyzstan Prepares For Election Season
A new movement in Kyrgyzstan is advocating transparent parliamentary and presidential elections in 2005. At the same time, participants in the new group openly hope it develops into an opposition vehicle that can mount a challenge President Askar Akayev`s hold on political power.
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http://www.eurasianet.org/departments/insight/articles/eav052604.shtmlClosure Of Mosque Does Not Augur Well For Azerbaijani Freedoms
Ilgar Ibrahimoglu, the imam of Baku`s controversial Juma mosque, is a man of many identities. Among Western diplomats in Azerbaijan, he is referred to as `the Sheikh.` Local and international human rights advocates call him a `friend.`
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http://www.eurasianet.org/departments/rights/articles/eav052704.shtmlArmenia Frustrated As Ties With Turkey Remain Strained
Hopes for a rapprochement between Armenia and Turkey are fading, underscored by Armenian President Robert Kocharian`s recent decision not to attend the late June NATO summit in Istanbul. Despite a flurry of diplomatic activity, Armenian officials say `no considerable progress` towards normalization has been made over the past year.
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http://www.eurasianet.org/departments/insight/articles/eav052804.shtml
Report dated 28 May 2004