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RFE/RL Newsline, 02-11-25
CONTENTS
[01] PUTIN, BUSH SATISFIED WITH SUMMIT RESULTS...
[02] ...AS ACCORD ON ENERGY DIALOGUE SIGNED
[03] MEDIA QUESTIONS THE ROSY SUMMIT REPORTS
[04] FSB GOES AFTER ENVIRONMENTALISTS...
[05] ...AS MINISTER REACHES OUT TO THEM
[06] 'VERSIYA' PROBE CONTINUES
[07] PUTIN TO VISIT CHINA IN DECEMBER
[08] CONTROVERSY OVER NUMBER OF HOSTAGE-CRISIS VICTIMS CONTINUES
[09] AGRARIANS MAP OUT THEIR STRATEGY
[10] OLIGARCH, COMMUNISTS FLIRTING
[11] RUSSIAN GIANT MOVES TO CONTROL PALLADIUM MARKET
[12] 'VOTER FATIGUE' STRIKES KRASNODAR
[13] FOUR ARRESTED IN ST. PETERSBURG SUBWAY TUNNEL
[14] MINISTER SAYS CHECHEN REFERENDUM PLANNED FOR MARCH 2003...
[15] ...DETAILS ECONOMIC PROGRESS
[16] BASAEV WARNS OF NEW ATTACKS ON RUSSIAN TARGETS
[17] ARMENIAN PRESIDENT ACCUSES AZERBAIJAN OF BACKTRACKING ON KARABAKH
[18] SUPPORT GROWS FOR ARMENIAN PRESIDENT'S RE-ELECTION BID
[19] ARMENIAN OPPOSITION WEIGHS DANGER OF ELECTION ALLIANCE COLLAPSE
[20] AZERBAIJANI PRESIDENT APPEALS TO INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY TO
[21] AZERBAIJANI OPPOSITION CALLS ON PRESIDENT TO RESIGN
[22] GEORGIA ANNOUNCES ASPIRATION TO JOIN NATO
[23] GEORGIAN, U.S. PRESIDENTS MEET
[24] GEORGIAN OPPOSITION POLITICIAN ACCUSES AUTHORITIES
[25] KAZAKH PRESIDENT WANTS CLOSER INTELLIGENCE TIES WITH NATO
[26] KAZAKHSTAN AIMS FOR ECONOMIC DIVERSIFICATION
[27] KYRGYZ FOREIGN MINISTER SAYS NATO MEMBERSHIP UNLIKELY, WHILE
[28] KYRGYZ DEPUTY PARLIAMENT SPEAKER MEETS WITH FORMER DEPUTY
[29] DETAINED KYRGYZ PROTESTERS RELEASED
[30] OPINION POLL IDENTIFIES FUTURE KYRGYZ POLITICAL HEAVYWEIGHTS
[31] RUSSIA EXPELS FIRST ILLEGAL TAJIK IMMIGRANTS
[32] TURKMEN PRESIDENT ESCAPES ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT
[33] CHANGES IN UZBEKISTAN'S CRIMINAL-PROCEDURE CODE ASSESSED
[34] BELARUSIAN ENVOY SLAMS NATO FOR NOT INVITING PRESIDENT...
[35] ...BUT SAYS BELARUS WILL HARBOR NO GRUDGE OVER LUKASHENKA SNUB
[36] BELARUS TO HOLD LOCAL ELECTIONS IN EARLY MARCH
[37] NATO-UKRAINE COMMISSION SESSION IN PRAGUE RESULTS IN 'ACTION PLAN'
[38] U.S. AMBASSADOR DETAILS UKRAINE'S OBSTRUCTION TO KOLCHUGA PROBE
[39] UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT SAYS 1932-33 FAMINE IN UKRAINE WAS AN ACT OF
[40] RUSSIAN RIGHTIST LEADER APPROVES OF ESTONIA'S NATO ENTRY
[41] CANADA TO REOPEN ITS PORTS TO ESTONIAN FISHERMEN
[42] LATVIA'S SOCIAL DEMOCRATS REPLACE EMBATTLED CHAIRMAN
[43] U.S. PRESIDENT MEETS BALTIC HEADS OF STATE IN LITHUANIA
[44] POLISH PRESIDENT VISITS LITHUANIA
[45] POLISH LOWER HOUSE PASSES 2003 BUDGET...
[46] ...AND LIFTS TRADE SECRECY ON PUBLIC ORDERS
[47] POLISH PRESIDENT SAYS WEST MUST NOT ISOLATE UKRAINE
[48] NATO SUMMIT ENDS IN PRAGUE...
[49] ...AS INCIDENT MARS SECRETARY-GENERAL'S PRESS CONFERENCE...
[50] ...BUT NO VIOLENCE REPORTED AMID ANTI-SUMMIT PROTESTS
[51] CZECH PREMIER DISCUSSES EU ENLARGEMENT ON NATO SUMMIT'S SIDELINES
[52] U.S. DEFENSE SECRETARY TALKS NATO, MILITARY REFORMS IN SLOVAKIA
[53] SLOVAK PRESIDENT THANKS COUNTRYMEN FOR SUPPORT IN NATO ACCESSION
[54] SLOVAK DEFENSE MINISTER SAYS NATO BASES IN SLOVAKIA NOT UNDER
[55] GERMAN CHANCELLOR WARNS SLOVAK PREMIER AGAINST 'EXCESSIVE DEMANDS'
[56] SLOVAK PREMIER RE-ELECTED TO PARTY CHAIR
[57] SLOVAK PROSECUTORS CHARGED WITH CORRUPTION
[58] HUNGARIAN LEADERS DISCUSS EU ACCESSION AT NATO SUMMIT
[59] HUNGARIAN CONSERVATIVE OPPOSITION THREATENS STREET PROTESTS OVER
[60] 'THE GUARDIAN' ALLEGES YUGOSLAV PRESIDENT KNEW OF ARMS SALES TO
[61] ...WHICH REMAINS A BOOMING BUSINESS...
[62] ...WITH IMPLICATIONS FOR THE WAR AGAINST TERROR...
[63] ...AS YUGOSLAV PRESIDENT'S ALLIES BASH 'AMERICAN IMPERIALISM' IN
[64] MACEDONIA, YUGOSLAVIA, AND BULGARIA MARK THEIR COMMON BORDER
[65] U.S. SECRETARY OF DEFENSE VISITS SLOVENIA
[66] MONTENEGRIN PRESIDENT SET TO RESIGN
[67] BOSNIAN SOCIAL DEMOCRATIC LEADER RETURNED TO PARTY OFFICE
[68] CONFISCATED BOSNIAN SERB ARMS CACHE PROVES HUGE
[69] CONTROVERSIAL CROATIAN JUDGE FREES EIGHT AFTER WAR CRIMES
[70] U.S. PRESIDENT ADDRESSES CHEERING CROWD IN BUCHAREST...
[71] ...SAYS ATTACK ON ROMANIA IS ATTACK ON U.S. AND NATO
[72] ROMANIAN PREMIER SAYS U.S. MISSILE BASES UNDER CONSIDERATION
[73] FORMER U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE ALBRIGHT IN ROMANIA
[74] ISRAEL REFUSES ENTRY TO PAN-FLUTE VIRTUOSO ZAMFIR
[75] ROMANIAN PREMIER SAYS HE EXPECTS RELATIONS WITH MOLDOVA TO IMPROVE
[76] MOLDOVAN PRESIDENT RAISES TRANSDNIESTER ISSUE AT PRAGUE SUMMIT
[77] MOLDOVAN PARLIAMENT APPROVES BILL DEPRIVING CHISINAU MAYOR OF
[78] BULGARIAN GOVERNMENT FACES VOTE OF NO CONFIDENCE FROM CONSERVATIVE
[79] ...AND FROM THE SOCIALIST OPPOSITION...
[80] ...AS RULING COALITION SAYS VOTE WOULD BRING BAD PUBLICITY AT THE
[81] AFGHAN SECURITY FOILS ATTEMPT TO ASSASSINATE DEFENSE MINISTER...
[82] ...IN WHICH PRESIDENT WAS REPORTEDLY THE INITIAL TARGET OF THE
[83] ...WHO IS SAID TO HAVE PAKISTANI CONNECTION
[84] AFGHAN PRESIDENT'S BODYGUARDS TO BE REPLACED
[85] AFGHAN PAPER REPORTS THAT U.S. CHOPPER DOWNED
[86] ISAF COMMANDER WORRIED ABOUT IRAQ SITUATION
[87] BASIJIS RALLY IN TEHRAN AGAINST ARROGANT AMERICAN POLICIES
[88] HUMAN RIGHTS GROUP WARNS AGAINST MORE VIOLENCE IN IRAN
[89] EXPERT SAYS U.S. AND IRAN HAVE MUTUAL INTEREST IN DISARMING IRAQ
[90] IRANIAN BORDER GUARD KILLED
[91] IRAQI FOREIGN MINISTER SENDS FOLLOW-UP LETTER TO UN
[92] IRAQI PRESIDENT REDEPLOYS REPUBLICAN GUARD
[93] PUK LEADER PREDICTS 'CHAOS' IF OPPOSITION IS EXCLUDED FROM
[94] ...AS 'NATIONAL-ACCORD PLAN' FLOATED IN BAGHDAD
[95] There is no End Note today.
25 November 2002
RUSSIA
[01] PUTIN, BUSH SATISFIED WITH SUMMIT RESULTS...
Speaking to journalists following his 22 November summit meeting with
U.S. President George W. Bush near St. Petersburg, President Vladimir
Putin described the talks as productive and useful, Russian and Western
news agencies reported. The two presidents discussed "many matters,"
including NATO expansion, bilateral relations, Iraq, and combating
international terrorism. Bush and Putin also issued a joint written
statement on Iraq, warning that Iraqi President Saddam Hussein will
face serious consequences if he does not comply completely with UN
Security Council Resolution 1441 and cooperate unconditionally with UN
weapons inspectors. Putin also said that the United States and Russia
will work together to identify those who support and finance
international terrorism. "We must not forget that 16 of the 19 people
who carried out the 11 September [2001] terrorist attacks in the United
States were Saudi citizens," Putin said. Putin also expressed Russia's
displeasure with NATO expansion. "However, as a pragmatist who realizes
that it is pointless to argue against the inevitable, Putin is seeking
to gain maximum benefits from the situation," "Izvestiya" commented on
22 November. VY
[02] ...AS ACCORD ON ENERGY DIALOGUE SIGNED
A two-page statement on the U.S.-Russian energy dialogue was the only
written economic document produced by the 22 November summit,
"Izvestiya" reported. In the statement, the two presidents said they
will energetically support the efforts of Russian and U.S. oil
companies to develop Russia's energy sector and energy-transportation
system. President Bush also reportedly told Putin that the United
States would respect Russia's economic interests in a post-Hussein
Iraq, the daily continued. The U.S. administration wants to maintain
global oil prices above $21 a barrel, which is in the interests of both
U.S. and Russian oil companies, "Izvestiya" added. VY
[03] MEDIA QUESTIONS THE ROSY SUMMIT REPORTS
Both President Bush and President Putin seemed much more gloomy after
their summit meeting than they did when they greeted one another before
the talks, NTV noted on 22 November. The channel speculated that the
two presidents made no substantive progress and that Putin was
irritated by Bush's calls for a political solution to the war in
Chechnya and for the strict observance of human rights there.
"Izvestiya" noted that, at a recent press conference in Brussels, Putin
sharply responded to a provocative question about Chechnya from a
Belgian reporter. The paper added that he could not speak to Bush in
such a way. VY
[04] FSB GOES AFTER ENVIRONMENTALISTS...
Federal Security Service (FSB) agents on 22 November searched the
Irkutsk offices of an environmental group called Baikal Ecological
Wave, seizing documents and computers, Russian and Western news
agencies reported. The group, which works closely with Greenpeace,
monitors radioactive contamination in and around Lake Baikal. According
to initial FSB statements, at least five secret documents were found in
the office and a criminal investigation was launched over the weekend,
RosBalt reported. However, lenta.ru on 25 November reported that no
charges will be filed against the activists, although the FSB will
continue trying to identify those who gave the allegedly secret
documents to the group. The allegedly secret information concerns maps
of environmental contamination surrounding a chemical plant in Angarsk,
lenta.ru reported. AP cited a Greenpeace spokesman in Moscow as saying
that the likely reason for the search was Baikal Ecological Wave's
opposition to plans by oil giant Yukos to build a pipeline through a
national park along the shore of the lake. RC
[05] ...AS MINISTER REACHES OUT TO THEM
Atomic Energy Minister Aleksandr Rumyantsev on 23 November proposed
creating supervisory boards that would include legislators and
environmental activists to oversee the import and reprocessing of spent
nuclear fuel, AP and Russian news agencies reported. "We want to find a
point of contact with serious environmentalists," Rumyantsev was quoted
by Interfax as telling journalists in Nizhnii Novgorod. RC
[06] 'VERSIYA' PROBE CONTINUES
FSB agents in Moscow on 22 November returned computers seized on 1
November during a search of the offices of the newspaper "Versiya,"
lenta.ru reported. They also questioned another employee of the paper,
journalist Irina Borgan, in connection with an investigation of an
article by Andrei Soldatov that was published in May. Borogan is the
fifth employee of the paper to be interrogated in the investigation. RC
[07] PUTIN TO VISIT CHINA IN DECEMBER
After meeting in the Kremlin with Chinese Foreign Minister Tang Jiaxuan
on 23 November, President Putin said that Moscow is attentively
following developments in Beijing after a Communist Party congress
there elected Vice President Hu Jintao as the party's new general
secretary recently, Russian news agencies reported. Putin said he is
looking forward to meeting Hu and other Chinese leaders during his
scheduled 1-3 December trip to Beijing. Tang also met in Moscow with
Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov, who briefed him about the recent NATO
summit in Prague. "China has taken note of the results of the
alliance's summit," Tang said, "and hopes NATO will concentrate more on
combating international terrorism." VY
[08] CONTROVERSY OVER NUMBER OF HOSTAGE-CRISIS VICTIMS CONTINUES
One more former hostage from the 23-26 October hostage crisis in Moscow
died on 24 November, bringing the official death toll to 129, Russian
news agencies reported. Almost all of the victims died from the effects
of the sleeping gas used by special-forces units during the storming of
the theater where more than 700 people were being held hostage by
Chechen fighters. Gennadii Raikov, head of the People's Deputy faction
in the Duma, said on ORT that the actual number of victims is 190.
However, ORT host Nikolai Svanidze commented that it remains unclear
whether Raikov has additional information or whether the remark was
just a slip of the tongue. Law enforcement agencies on 24 November
released the names of three people who have been arrested as
"accomplices" of the hostage takers. They were identified as Khampash
Sobraliev of Chechnya, Arman Menkeev of Kazakhstan, and Yurii
Yankovskii of Moscow Oblast. VY
[09] AGRARIANS MAP OUT THEIR STRATEGY
A Central Committee plenum of the Agrarian Party of Russia on 23
November decided that the party will contest the December 2003 State
Duma elections independently, Russian news agencies reported. Party
leader and Altai Republic head Mikhail Lapshin told the plenum that the
party will not ally with either the Communist Party or Unified Russia
and will instead rely "on the support of the many millions of rural
dwellers" to surmount the 5 percent barrier for party-list seats,
lenta.ru reported. Deputy Prime Minister and Agriculture Minister
Aleksei Gordeev, who is deputy head of the party, criticized Lapshin at
the session for dividing the party into "reds" and "whites," ITAR-TASS
reported. "Izvestiya" commented that Gordeev believes the Agrarian
Party is capable of drawing considerable support away from the
Communist Party and becoming a "powerful pro-governmental lobby in the
agricultural sector." RC
[10] OLIGARCH, COMMUNISTS FLIRTING
Self-exiled tycoon Boris Berezovskii on 20 November published an
article in "Nezavisimaya gazeta" calling for the Communist Party to
cooperate with him during the December 2003 State Duma elections.
Recent developments prove that only the Communist Party represents any
real, vital opposition to the Kremlin, Berezovskii wrote. He proposed
joining forces with the party in order to prevent a pro-Kremlin
majority from forming in the Duma. Berezovskii said that a genuine
opposition must gain at least 150 seats in the Duma and should try for
a majority of 226 seats. On 21 November, "Nezavisimaya gazeta," which
is controlled by Berezovskii, published a response by Communist leader
Gennadii Zyuganov, who wrote that the party will not bargain with those
"who betrayed the Motherland" and who for many years led it into
disaster. He added, however, that when considering alliances, one
should count the resources that both sides have to offer. VY
[11] RUSSIAN GIANT MOVES TO CONTROL PALLADIUM MARKET
Norilsk Nikel, which is owned by Vladimir Potanin's Interros group, is
attempting to purchase a 51 percent stake in U.S. palladium producer
Stillwater Mining Company for a reported $341 million, gazeta.ru and
other Russian news agencies reported on 22 November. Stillwater, which
produces about 640,000 ounces of palladium per year, is the only
producer in the United States and is the largest in the world outside
of South Africa and Russia, gzt.ru reported on 22 November. "Now
Norilsk Nikel is becoming on the palladium market something like
DeBeers is on the diamond market," gazeta.ru commented, "and it will be
able to cushion itself from the effects of the drawn-out crisis in the
[palladium] market." RC
[12] 'VOTER FATIGUE' STRIKES KRASNODAR
Krai-level legislative elections in seven of the 70 districts in
Krasnodar Krai on 24 November were declared invalid because of
insufficient voter turnout, newsru.com reported. Throughout the krai,
only 29 percent of voters came to the polls. "In recent months across
Russia there has been a tendency toward lower turnouts..." said Central
Election Commission representative Sergei Danilenko, who was observing
the vote. "Most likely this tendency reflects voter fatigue, as
elections are going on constantly." The local election commission must
set a new date for elections in the seven districts within 10 days. RC
[13] FOUR ARRESTED IN ST. PETERSBURG SUBWAY TUNNEL
Three men and a woman were arrested in a tunnel of the St. Petersburg
subway system in the early morning hours of 24 November, RosBalt and
other Russian news agencies reported. The four were reportedly carrying
a video camera and keys to a restricted area within the subway system.
Subway service was shut down for a few hours following the arrests,
although the part of the tunnel where the suspects were found is closed
for repairs. An investigation has been launched. RC
[14] MINISTER SAYS CHECHEN REFERENDUM PLANNED FOR MARCH 2003...
Former Chechen Prime Minister Stanislav Ilyasov, who is currently
minister responsible for reconstruction in Chechnya, told journalists
in Moscow on 22 November that the planned referendum on a new draft
Chechen constitution will take place in March 2003, Russian news
agencies reported. He said the constitution defines Chechnya as a
presidential republic with a unicameral legislature. The parliament, he
said, will be empowered to approve or reject candidates for key
ministerial posts. An earlier draft constitution prepared under the
supervision of Chechen administration head Akhmed-hadji Kadyrov
reportedly provided for a bicameral parliament (see "RFE/RL Caucasus
Report," Vol. 5, No. 17, 17 May 2002). Chechen Deputy Prime Minister
Beslan Gantemirov, who has publicly clashed with Kadyrov on several
occasions, told "Ekspert," No. 43, that he favors a parliamentary
republic as the only way to prevent one person from usurping control in
Chechnya which, he argued, is the main ill that has plagued Chechnya
over the past 10-12 years. LF
[15] ...DETAILS ECONOMIC PROGRESS
Ilyasov also told journalists on 22 November that 120,000 new jobs have
been created in Chechnya since 2000, ITAR-TASS reported. He said the
republic's budget has expanded to 7.1 billion rubles ($222.8 million)
in 2002 from 2.3 billion rubles in 2000 and 6.4 billion in 2001.
Ilyasov also argued, however, that Chechnya does not make the most
effective use of its oil resources, as none of the oil extracted is
legally refined in Chechnya. He proposed that 300,000 tons of oil be
refined in Chechnya in 2003. That amount is equal to local consumption.
Oil output so far this year is marginally over 1 million tons,
according to Interfax on 12 November. Ilyasov told ITAR-TASS on 19
November that daily output is some 4,000 tons, of which up to 500 tons
is stolen. LF
[16] BASAEV WARNS OF NEW ATTACKS ON RUSSIAN TARGETS
In an open letter addressed to NATO heads of state and posted on
kavkazcenter.com (which is currently inaccessible), Chechen field
commander Shamil Basaev has warned that his fighters will launch new
attacks on "military, industrial, and strategic facilities" on Russian
territory unless Moscow withdraws its troops from Chechnya, Reuters
reported on 23 November. He advised NATO leaders to pressure Russia to
comply with that demand and to embark on peace talks. In Grozny,
Chechen Interior Ministry head Major General Said-Selim Peshkhoev told
Interfax he believes Basaev might be in Chechnya's southern Vedeno
Raion, but that he and his men are not currently strong enough
militarily to undertake a large-scale terrorist attack. LF
TRANSCAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA
[17] ARMENIAN PRESIDENT ACCUSES AZERBAIJAN OF BACKTRACKING ON KARABAKH
Robert Kocharian said in his address to the Euro-Atlantic Partnership
Council session in Prague on 22 November that Azerbaijan subsequently
rejected a settlement of the Karabakh conflict that the two sides
agreed on during talks last year in Paris and Florida, Noyan Tapan and
RFE/RL's Yerevan bureau reported. Had Baku not done so, "we would have
already been halfway through the implementation of the peace
agreement," Kocharian said. Kocharian further stressed Armenia's
commitment to deepening ties with NATO and cooperating with the
U.S.-led war on terrorism. He said Armenia plans to expand cooperation
with NATO within the parameters of the Partnership for Peace (PfP)
program. Kocharian added that harmonizing NATO's individual cooperation
programs members of the PfP program at the sub-regional level would
contribute to preserving peace and stability in regions with unresolved
conflicts. LF
[18] SUPPORT GROWS FOR ARMENIAN PRESIDENT'S RE-ELECTION BID
So many Armenian politicians, government officials, and prominent
intellectuals are eager to endorse President Kocharian's candidacy in
the presidential elections scheduled for February 2003 that the planned
membership of an initiative group currently being formed to nominate
Kocharian has been increased from 200 to 300, RFE/RL's Yerevan bureau
reported on 23 November. Sources close to Kocharian said he wants the
group to be as broad-based and nonpartisan as possible. Defense
Minister Serzh Sarkisian is likely to be named to manage Kocharian's
re-election campaign, RFE/RL's Yerevan bureau predicted. LF
[19] ARMENIAN OPPOSITION WEIGHS DANGER OF ELECTION ALLIANCE COLLAPSE
Representatives of the 16 Armenian opposition parties that aligned in
late September with the intention of fielding a single candidate in the
February 2003 presidential ballot differed on 22 November in their
assessments of the decision by three of those parties to nominate their
own candidate, RFE/RL's Yerevan bureau reported (see "RFE/RL Newsline,"
22 November 2002). Vagharshak Harutiunian of the Hanrapetutiun party
downplayed its significance, saying that all 16 parties continue to
pursue the same agenda. But Shavarsh Kocharian of the National
Democratic Party admitted that the decision by the three left-wing
parties will make it more difficult to reach consensus on a single
opposition candidate. LF
[20] AZERBAIJANI PRESIDENT APPEALS TO INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY TO
RESOLVE KARABAKH CONFLICT
In his 22 November address to the Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council in
Prague, Heidar Aliev singled out "aggressive nationalism and violent
separatism" as a major threat to the South Caucasus and appealed to the
international community to do its utmost to resolve the Karabakh
conflict "before it is too late," according to Azerbaijani State
Television and ANS TV, as cited by Groong. Aliev also reaffirmed
Azerbaijan's commitment both to the international antiterrorism
campaign and to integration and "intensive partnership dialogue" with
NATO. Acknowledging NATO's growing interest in the South Caucasus,
Aliev added, "Any regional initiatives and proposals should first of
all be directed toward the elimination of the consequences of all
conflicts and wars and the restoration of internationally recognized
borders." Both Aliev and Kocharian met separately on 22 November with
French President Jacques Chirac to discuss the Karabakh mediation
process. LF
[21] AZERBAIJANI OPPOSITION CALLS ON PRESIDENT TO RESIGN
Four influential Azerbaijani opposition groups -- the Musavat, National
Independence, and Democratic parties and the progressive wing of the
Azerbaijan Popular Front Party -- organized a march and demonstration
in Baku on 24 November, during which participants demanded President
Aliev's resignation; the creation of conditions that will ensure next
year's elections are free and fair; and an end to reprisals against
inhabitants of the village of Nardaran on the outskirts of Baku,
Interfax and Turan reported. Attendance at the rally, which was
approved by the municipal authorities, was estimated by the police at
between 1,000-2,000 and by the organizers at 30,000. LF
[22] GEORGIA ANNOUNCES ASPIRATION TO JOIN NATO
In his address to the Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council session in
Prague on 22 November, Georgian President Eduard Shevardnadze formally
announced his country's desire to become a full-fledged NATO member but
acknowledged that it will take time for Georgia to meet NATO's
standards, CTK and Caucasus Press reported. He said Georgia's survival
as an independent state is contingent on receiving firm guarantees of
support. Shevardnadze also met separately on 22 November with NATO
Secretary-General Lord George Robertson. The final communique adopted
at the NATO summit contained no specific time frame for additional
rounds of expansion. Instead, it advocated the adoption of individual
action plans for aspirant countries. Shevardnadze told journalists in
Tbilisi on 23 November that NATO will send specialists to Georgia to
help draft such a plan, Caucasus Press reported. He implied that
resolving the Abkhaz conflict with the help of the Friends of the UN
Secretary-General group of countries is one of the keys to Georgia
ultimately being accepted into NATO. LF
[23] GEORGIAN, U.S. PRESIDENTS MEET
Also on 22 November, Shevardnadze met briefly in Prague on the
sidelines of the NATO summit with U.S. President Bush, Interfax
reported. Georgian National Security Council Secretary Tedo Djaparidze
said the two presidents discussed the ongoing anticrime and
antiterrorism operation in Georgia's Pankisi Gorge and the progress of
the U.S.-funded $64 million Train and Equip program for the Georgian
armed forces. He also said that Bush expressed support for Georgia's
bid for NATO membership. But Interfax on 23 November quoted an unnamed
member of the Russian delegation to the Bush-Putin summit as saying
that Washington is not satisfied with Georgia's efforts to isolate and
apprehend suspected terrorists in Pankisi. LF
[24] GEORGIAN OPPOSITION POLITICIAN ACCUSES AUTHORITIES
Addressing the Georgian parliament on 22 November, former Communist
Party First Secretary Djumber Patiashvili, who currently heads the
Unity Party, accused the authorities of seeking to infiltrate
opposition parties under the guise of combating terrorism, according to
Caucasus Press and Rustavi-2 Television as cited by Groong. Patiashvili
produced a 24-page classified document he claimed was drafted by the
National Security Ministry and which called for infiltrating Unity,
Mikhail Saakashvili's National Movement, supporters of former President
Zviad Gamsakhurdia, the Georgian Orthodox Church, and Georgia's
Armenian and Azerbaijani minorities. Those measures, Patiashvili said,
violate the Georgian Constitution. National Security Minister Valeri
Khaburzania told deputies the document was drafted by one of his
subordinates who was subsequently dismissed and that he had refused to
endorse it. A similar document naming Patiashvili was leaked to
parliament two months ago (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 25 and 26 September
2002). LF
[25] KAZAKH PRESIDENT WANTS CLOSER INTELLIGENCE TIES WITH NATO
Nursultan Nazarbaev proposed to the Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council
on 22 November that interested countries explore the possibility of
forging "working contacts" among their intelligence services, Interfax
reported. He explained that doing so would help prevent the
infiltration into Europe of an international terrorist organization
that, he claimed, is currently seeking to recruit new members in the
Central Asian states. He also proposed the creation of a training
center under PfP auspices to train border guards and help prevent the
smuggling of dangerous substances. Nazarbaev told journalists in Prague
on 22 November that Kazakhstan's participation in the PfP program is
beneficial, noting in particular the establishment of a NATO
information center and NATO's advice on reforming Kazakhstan's armed
forces. Meanwhile Kazakhstan's Defense Ministry on 22 November
dismissed as "speculation" media reports that Defense Minister Colonel
General Mukhtar Altynbaev's plane had been forced to land at Pardubice
en route for the Prague summit because it had failed to secure
air-traffic-control clearance, Interfax reported (see "RFE/RL
Newsline," 21 November 2002). LF
[26] KAZAKHSTAN AIMS FOR ECONOMIC DIVERSIFICATION
Kazakhstan hopes to reduce its economic dependence on the oil-and-gas
sector and become a regional leader in software production,
pharmaceuticals, nuclear energy, and aerospace, Deputy Prime Minister
Karim Massimov told Reuters on 21 November. Massimov was visiting the
United States for talks with administration officials and aid and
investment (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 22 November 2002). LF
[27] KYRGYZ FOREIGN MINISTER SAYS NATO MEMBERSHIP UNLIKELY, WHILE
OPPOSITION DEPUTY FAVORS IT
Foreign Minister Askar Aitmatov, who headed the Kyrgyz delegation to
the NATO Prague summit, said on 22 November that it is premature to
raise the issue of possible NATO membership for his country or for
other Central Asian states, RFE/RL's Kyrgyz Service reported. He noted
that the alliance has not reached agreement on further rounds of
expansion. In Bishkek, however, former Deputy Defense Minister Ismail
Isakov, who is now an opposition parliament deputy, argued that the
states of Central Asia should aspire to join NATO, which he said is a
guarantee of further democratization. Neither President Askar Akaev nor
Defense Minister Colonel General Esen Topoev attended the Prague
summit. LF
[28] KYRGYZ DEPUTY PARLIAMENT SPEAKER MEETS WITH FORMER DEPUTY
PREMIER'S SUPPORTERS
Sooronbai Djeenbekov, who is deputy speaker of the People's Assembly
(the upper chamber of Kyrgyzstan's parliament), met on 22 November with
some 500 supporters of former Deputy Premier Usen Sydykov who are
demanding that Sydykov be allowed to contest a runoff ballot in the
southern constituency of Kara-Kuldja, where he polled 46 percent of the
vote in a 20 October by-election, RFE/RL's Kyrgyz Service reported. The
following day, Djeenbekov held a similar meeting in the Osh Oblast town
of Uzgen with some 600 Sydykov supporters who warned they might demand
autonomous status within Kyrgyzstan for Djalalabad, Osh, and Batken
oblasts if Sydykov is not allowed to participate in the runoff,
RFE/RL's Kyrgyz Service reported. They also vowed to boycott the
planned 22 December referendum on constitutional amendments. LF
[29] DETAINED KYRGYZ PROTESTERS RELEASED
Thirty-three people detained in Bishkek to several days' administrative
arrest for attempting to participate in an unsanctioned opposition
rally on 18 November were released on 24 November, RFE/RL's Bishkek
bureau reported (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 20 and 21 November 2002). The
detainees, most of them from the southern district of Aksy, appealed on
24 November to the Kyrgyz people to condemn reprisals against the
opposition and to the government to bring to trial those people --
including former Interior Minister Temirbek Akmataliev and former
presidential administration head Amanbek Karypkulov -- suspected of
having ordered police to open fire on demonstrators in Aksy during a
protest on 17-18 March. LF
[30] OPINION POLL IDENTIFIES FUTURE KYRGYZ POLITICAL HEAVYWEIGHTS
The Sotsinform sociological research center on 22 November unveiled the
findings of an anonymous poll conducted in October among government
employees, NGOs, and journalists, RFE/RL's Bishkek bureau reported.
Respondents were asked to rank Kyrgyz politicians in terms of their
current political influence, the quality of their political activities,
and their anticipated future importance on the political scene. While
incumbent President Akaev ranked first in the first category, Deputy
Prime Minister for foreign investment Djoomart Otorbaev and former
Prime Minister Kurmanbek Bakiev topped the third category. Bakiev
recently announced his intention to run for president in 2005 as an
independent candidate (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 18 November 2002). Other
influential political figures included imprisoned former Vice President
Feliks Kulov moderate opposition parliament deputy Adaham Madumarov,
and Social Democratic Party leader and businessman Almaz Atambaev. LF
[31] RUSSIA EXPELS FIRST ILLEGAL TAJIK IMMIGRANTS
A group of 115 Tajiks found to be working illegally in the Russian
Federation, mostly in the construction sector, were flown back to
Dushanbe on a Russian military transport aircraft on 21 November,
ITAR-TASS reported. A second contingent of 80-100 Tajiks was to be
flown home the following day. On 20 November, the Tajik government
approved a three-year program setting quotas for Tajiks wishing to work
abroad. The question of Tajiks wishing to work in Russia will be
resolved by a separate bilateral agreement to be signed within the next
two months, Minister of Labor and Social Welfare Rafika Musaeva told
ITAR-TASS on 20 November. Visiting Tajikistan on 15 November, Russian
Interior Minister Boris Gryzlov said Russia will set a ceiling of
530,000 migrant workers from other former Soviet republics in 2003. At
present an estimated 600,000 Tajiks travel to Russia annually in search
of seasonal employment. LF
[32] TURKMEN PRESIDENT ESCAPES ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT
Saparmurat Niyazov escaped unscathed on the morning of 25 November when
his motorcade was subjected to machine-gun fire, Reuters and RFE/RL's
Turkmen Service reported. An unidentified member of the presidential
convoy was injured in the attack. Niyazov later chaired an emergency
cabinet meeting, at which he accused former Foreign Minister Boris
Shikhmuradov and former Agricultural Minister Imanberdy Iklymov of
organizing the attempt on his life. LF
[33] CHANGES IN UZBEKISTAN'S CRIMINAL-PROCEDURE CODE ASSESSED
The staff of the Prosecutor-General's Office has reviewed the
implementation of a law passed one year ago that introduced milder
punishment for certain offenses, uza.uz reported on 22 November. Over
that period, more than 4,800 criminal cases have been closed and the
accused released from pre-trial detention. A further 1,400 cases under
investigation were also closed. The percentage of people arrested who
were remanded in pretrial detention has fallen from 52 to 29 percent.
LF
CENTRAL AND EASTERN EUROPE
[34] BELARUSIAN ENVOY SLAMS NATO FOR NOT INVITING PRESIDENT...
Belarusian Ambassador to NATO Syarhey Martynau told a sitting of the
Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council (EAPC) on 22 November that the Czech
Republic's denial of an entry visa to President Alyaksandr Lukashenka
-- preventing him from attending last week's NATO summit -- was an
"ignominious act without precedent," Belarusian and Czech media
reported. "Your decision is an act of disrespect not only toward the
Belarusian president but, first of all, toward the Belarusian people,"
CTK quoted Martynau as saying. "Each and every day, we stop an
unprecedented flow of drugs [flowing] to the West at the crest of the
migration avalanche and suppress the flow of arms and nuclear materials
coming the opposite way and destined to wind up in the hands of
terrorists.... Is this not, in your mind, a contribution to Europe's
security? Is this not a contribution to the antiterrorist coalition?"
Martynau expounded. "It was a pretty angry message," NATO
Secretary-General Lord George Robertson commented. JM
[35] ...BUT SAYS BELARUS WILL HARBOR NO GRUDGE OVER LUKASHENKA SNUB
Martynau pledged at the EAPC session on 22 November that despite NATO's
snub of President Lukashenka, Belarus will "continue and intensify its
contribution to the common cause of the [antiterrorism] coalition,"
Belapan reported. "Given the potential of Belarusian
military-industrial and scientific complex [and] the country's
strategic location, we do not have the right to abandon the
responsibility for participation in the coalition," Martynau added. He
said Belarus could host a Partnership for Peace exercise in the
Chornobyl-affected zone to train troops in combating radioactive
contamination. He also said Belarus could contribute a rescue team to
the NATO Euro-Atlantic Disaster Response Coordination Center "to
provide urgent assistance in overcoming consequences of a possible
nuclear, biological, or chemical attack." JM
[36] BELARUS TO HOLD LOCAL ELECTIONS IN EARLY MARCH
President Lukashenka has decreed that local elections be held on 2
March 2003, Belarusian media reported on 22 November. Belarusians are
expected to elect more than 24,000 representatives on the village,
raion, and oblast levels on that day. "Women and young people in the
local soviets should constitute no less than 40 percent of their
membership," Belarusian Television quoted Lukashenka as saying. "The
woman is a stabilizing factor that is able to secure the efficient
operation of any organ of the authority," the Belarusian leader added.
JM
[37] NATO-UKRAINE COMMISSION SESSION IN PRAGUE RESULTS IN 'ACTION PLAN'
The NATO-Ukraine Commission at the NATO summit in Prague on 22 November
endorsed an "action plan" to take the bilateral relationship to a
"qualitatively new level," Reuters reported, quoting NATO Deputy
Secretary-General Alessandro Minuto Rizzo. Ukrainian Foreign Minister
Anatoliy Zlenko, who headed the Ukrainian delegation at the session,
said the plan will put Kyiv on the road to membership of the alliance.
Rizzo said allegations that Ukraine sold a Kolchuga radar to Iraq were
also discussed at the session. "Ministers concluded that transparency
and trust were indispensable features to continue to forge a solid
community of values between the alliance and Ukraine," Rizzo told
journalists. ITAR-TASS on 23 November quoted a source from Ukraine's
National Defense and Security Council as saying the "action plan"
spells out a long-term program of adopting European standards in
Ukraine's defense sector, the economy, science, counterterrorism, and
dealing with emergency situations. JM
[38] U.S. AMBASSADOR DETAILS UKRAINE'S OBSTRUCTION TO KOLCHUGA PROBE
U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Carlos Pascual has sent a letter to the
media charging that Ukrainian officials stonewalled U.S. and British
arms experts invited in October to verify whether Ukraine sold any
Kolchuga radar systems to Iraq, AP reported on 22 November. Pascual's
letter came as Ukrainian officials were denying the Kolchuga charges at
the NATO summit. Pascual said inspectors were not allowed to see full
reports of investigations by Ukraine's National Defense and Security
Council, the Defense Ministry, or the prosecutor-general. "While
Ukraine's export system is supposed to have checks and balances, such
checks were either not exercised or they were not documented,
precluding a reconstruction of the events that surrounded the
authorization of the sale of the Kolchuga system in 2000," Pascual
wrote. JM
[39] UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT SAYS 1932-33 FAMINE IN UKRAINE WAS AN ACT OF
GENOCIDE
President Leonid Kuchma on 23 November addressed the nation on
television with a speech devoted to the famine in Ukraine in 1932-33,
which, according to various estimates, claimed 5-10 million lives,
Ukrainian media reported. Kuchma said Ukraine should insist that the
world recognize the 1932-33 famine as an act of Bolshevik genocide
against the Ukrainian people. "The famine became a national
catastrophe. In 1932-33 alone, one-fifth of Ukraine's rural population
was killed," Kuchma said. "This [act of] terror through famine was a
cynical response of the Bolshevik authorities to the resistance of the
Ukrainian peasantry to total collectivization and to the policy of
transforming free farmers into silent slaves." Kuchma said a "grand
memorial to the victims of famine" should be built in Kyiv and smaller
monuments in other parts of Ukraine. JM
[40] RUSSIAN RIGHTIST LEADER APPROVES OF ESTONIA'S NATO ENTRY
Leader of the Russian Union of Rightist Forces and Duma Deputy Boris
Nemtsov delivered a speech entitled "Democratic Reforms In Russia: Myth
Or Reality?" at a conference called Putin's Russia: Partner or Rival?
in Tallinn on 23 November, ETA reported. At the event, organized by the
Baltic Center of Russian Studies, Nemtsov congratulated Estonia on its
invitation to join NATO and said relations between Russia and Estonia
might improve with the NATO invitation because both sides might be free
of their complexes. Nemtsov praised Estonia's economic reforms and
asserted: "For Russia, it would be a plus to join the EU, but for
liberal Estonia it is a minus.... The EU is too socialist and
bureaucratic for capitalist Estonia." During his visit he also held
talks with Foreign Minister Kristiina Ojuland, Res Publica Chairman
Juhan Parts, and Tallinn Mayor Edgar Savisaar. SG
[41] CANADA TO REOPEN ITS PORTS TO ESTONIAN FISHERMEN
In talks in London on 21 and 22 November, Ain Soome, head of the
Estonian Environment Ministry's fishery department, and representatives
of the Canadian Fishing Administration reached an agreement under which
Canada will again open its ports to Estonian fishing boats, BNS
reported. Canada on 9 April closed its ports to fishing boats from
Estonia because of what it called "clear evidence of violations" of
shrimp-fishing quotas off its east coast (see "Baltic States Report,"
17 April 2002). Estonia countered that the Canadian estimates were
incorrect and that it was not exceeding the quotas. Estonia has agreed
to permit Canadian observers to be assigned to all of its vessels
fishing in Canadian waters. SG
[42] LATVIA'S SOCIAL DEMOCRATS REPLACE EMBATTLED CHAIRMAN
The 34th congress of the Latvian Social Democratic Workers' Party
(LSDSP) was held in Riga on 23 November, LETA reported. LSDSP Chairman
Juris Bojars declared that the party's failure to overcome the 5
percent barrier in October's parliamentary elections was due to
inefficiency and the "objective conditions of the political situation."
Bojars spoke out against a merger of all parties with social democratic
views -- some of which include politicians who left the party in
response to Bojars's leadership -- declaring that the LSDSP is the only
genuine social democratic party in Latvia. Dainis Ivans, the chairman
of the Popular Front in 1988, was elected the party's new chairman,
winning 373 votes, while Bojars won 169 and former Deputy Chairman
Valdis Lauskis got 164. The replacement of Bojars might clear the way
for mergers among the self-described social democratic parties. The
congress elected Lauskis and Viola Lazo as deputy chairmen from a list
of 19 candidates. SG
[43] U.S. PRESIDENT MEETS BALTIC HEADS OF STATE IN LITHUANIA
President Bush flew to Vilnius on 22 November following a meeting in
St. Petersburg with President Putin, ELTA reported. Bush was greeted at
the airport by Lithuanian President Valdas Adamkus and Foreign Minister
Antanas Valionis. On 23 November, Bush was officially welcomed at the
Lithuanian president's office, where he held talks with Adamkus, Prime
Minister Algirdas Brazauskas, and parliament Chairman Arturas
Paulauskas. Adamkus presented Bush with one of Lithuania's highest
honors -- the Order of Vytautas the Great. The U.S. president then
spoke in front of Vilnius Town Hall, congratulating Lithuania on its
NATO invitation, declaring: "Our alliance has made a solemn pledge of
protection, and anyone who would choose Lithuania as an enemy has also
made an enemy of the United States of America." He then had a meeting
with Adamkus, Latvian President Vaira Vike-Freiberga, and Estonian
President Arnold Ruutel. SG
[44] POLISH PRESIDENT VISITS LITHUANIA
Accompanied by his wife Jolanta and a large group of relatives, Polish
President Aleksander Kwasniewski traveled to Vilnius on 23 November to
celebrate the invitations to NATO given to the Baltic states and his
23rd wedding anniversary, "Lietuvos rytas" reported on 25 November. He
arrived in Vilnius shortly after the departure of President Bush.
Together with the three Baltic presidents, Kwasniewski celebrated the
NATO invitations at the Vilnius Opera and Ballet Theater. The next day
at the Lithuanian president's office, he participated in the
presentation of Jerzy Giedroyc Foundation awards to four Lithuanians
and Poles active in Lithuanian-Polish cooperation. SG
[45] POLISH LOWER HOUSE PASSES 2003 BUDGET...
The Sejm on 23 November voted 249 to 150 with no abstentions to pass a
2003 budget with a planned deficit of 38.7 billion zlotys ($9.8
billion), compared with 40 billion zlotys in 2002, Polish media
reported. The bill projects 2003 revenues of 154.9 billion zlotys and
expenditures of 193.7 billion zlotys. The 2003 budget act includes a
forecast of 3.5 percent economic growth, versus a growth forecast of
1.4 percent for 2002. Annual inflation is predicted at 2.2 percent and
unemployment at 17.8 percent. The budget bill now will go to the Senate
and will be sent back to the Sejm if there are amendments in the upper
house. The president, who cannot veto a budget bill, must sign it
within seven days after it is cleared by the parliament. JM
[46] ...AND LIFTS TRADE SECRECY ON PUBLIC ORDERS
The same day, the Sejm voted 385 to zero with no abstentions to amend
the law on public orders so as to lift the seal of trade secrecy on
public orders in the country, Polish media reported. The amendments
were proposed by the coalition Peasant Party, which argued that trade
secrecy in public orders contributes to greater corruption, including
in the recently mismanaged computerization at Poland's ZUS insurer and
the introduction of the EU's Integrated Administration and Control
System. JM
[47] POLISH PRESIDENT SAYS WEST MUST NOT ISOLATE UKRAINE
At a news conference following the NATO summit in Prague on 22
November, President Aleksander Kwasniewski said the West must not
isolate Ukraine, Polish Radio reported. "Much depends upon President
[Leonid] Kuchma himself, and on his circle, and whether he has drawn
the conclusions from the fact that the world expects a Ukraine that is
moving forward and not one that is marking time," Kwasniewski said.
"The world wants a Ukraine that resolves problems and does not seek
successive justifications." Commenting on the NATO ploy to arrange
countries' representatives at the Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council
session according to their names in French in order to move Kuchma
farther away from Tony Blair and George W. Bush (see "RFE/RL Newsline,"
22 November 2002), Kwasniewski said Kuchma was treated "like a partner,
critically but openly." JM
[48] NATO SUMMIT ENDS IN PRAGUE...
A meeting of the Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council (EAPC) held on 22
November -- the second and last day of the NATO summit in the Czech
capital -- approved a statement expressing determination to meet the
new challenges posed by a changing global environment and increase EAPC
members' contribution to the struggle against international terrorism,
CTK reported. The EAPC includes the current 19 NATO members and 27
states participating in the Partnership for Peace. The final communique
approved by the session stated that participants welcome the
Partnership Action Plan Against Terrorism designed by NATO members and
consider that plan to be "a concrete expression of their desire to join
forces against the terrorist menace, consistent with their national
policies and capabilities," according to NATO's website
(http://www.nato.int). Addressing the forum, U.S. President Bush
pledged his country's support for the EAPC, saying its aims are to
extend freedom and democracy and strengthen security and stability.
Before the summit's closure, a meeting of the NATO-Russia Council was
also held (see "Russia"). MS
[49] ...AS INCIDENT MARS SECRETARY-GENERAL'S PRESS CONFERENCE...
NATO Secretary-General Lord George Robertson was interrupted at a press
conference on 22 November by two men shouting in Russian "NATO is worse
than Gestapo" and throwing tomatoes, CTK and international news
agencies reported. One of the men took off his jacket to show off an
armband with the hammer and sickle. The two hecklers were posing as
journalists, and one said they are members of the extremist National
Bolshevik Party of Russia. The two were escorted out by security
guards, and a Prague police spokesman said they will be charged with
disturbing the peace, noting that they were not detained. President
Vaclav Havel, who earlier said security measures during the summit
might have been unnecessarily high, apologized to Robertson for the
incident. CTK said the two were from Belarus and from Ukraine and were
posing as Russian journalists. MS
[50] ...BUT NO VIOLENCE REPORTED AMID ANTI-SUMMIT PROTESTS
Several hundred drum-beating anarchists wearing masks protested in
Prague against the NATO summit on 22 November, chanting "It is not
worth dying for NATO" and "Enough of NATO violence," CTK reported. The
demonstration ended without incident. A spokesman for the protesters
said they were satisfied with protests staged during the summit and
added that people had expected a "mega-event that would block the
meeting" because they "listened to [Czech Interior Minister Stanislav]
Gross and not to us." Between 150 and 1,000 people took part in several
anti-summit demonstrations organized by anarchists and other leftist
groups. Also on 22 November, a group of members of the ultranationalist
National Party demonstrated against the summit in Prague's Old Town
Square, but CTK said they attracted little attention. MS
[51] CZECH PREMIER DISCUSSES EU ENLARGEMENT ON NATO SUMMIT'S SIDELINES
Prime Minister Vladimir Spidla on 22 November told journalists he
discussed various aspects of EU enlargement with his counterparts from
the Netherlands and Luxembourg on the sidelines of the NATO Prague
summit, CTK reported. Spidla also met with the premiers of Romania and
Bulgaria and said he and Romanian Premier Adrian Nastase discussed the
possibility of Romania's purchase of Czech-made L-159 subsonic
aircraft. On 25 November, Spidla is to head the Czech delegation at the
final round of EU accession negotiations in Brussels, CTK reported on
24 November. MS
[52] U.S. DEFENSE SECRETARY TALKS NATO, MILITARY REFORMS IN SLOVAKIA
Arriving in Bratislava on 22 November, U.S. Defense Secretary Donald
Rumsfeld discussed with Slovak leaders Slovakia's future contribution
to NATO, Slovak military reforms, and the battle against corruption,
RFE/RL's Slovak Service, TASR, and international news agencies
reported. Rumsfeld met with President Rudolf Schuster, Prime Minister
Mikulas Dzurinda, and Defense Minister Ivan Simko. After the talks,
Rumsfeld said Slovakia can offer peacekeepers, special forces, and
military engineers to NATO, AP reported. On Slovakia's military
reforms, Rumsfeld said he has "great confidence" they will continue
"while recognizing that navigating from where one was 10 years ago to
where you are heading today is not an easy path," according to RFE/RL's
Slovak Service. He said he expressed "appreciation" to the Slovak
leaders for the country's contribution to the war against international
terrorism "and particularly for the assistance in Afghanistan, which is
so important." Rumsfeld also warned, "Corruption strikes at the heart
of a democratic system, because a democratic system is to serve the
people; and if there is anything that corruption does, it steals from
the people," according to Reuters. MS
[53] SLOVAK PRESIDENT THANKS COUNTRYMEN FOR SUPPORT IN NATO ACCESSION
EFFORTS
In a speech broadcast live on state radio and television on 24
November, President Schuster thanked Slovaks for their contribution to
the effort to secure a NATO invitation, TASR reported. Schuster said,
"Through no fault of our own, we were left behind the Iron Curtain...by
the superpowers after World War II," and he added in an allusion to the
government headed by former Premier Vladimir Meciar: "We needlessly
complicated our return [to the democratic world] and, unlike our
neighbors, were left behind. Today...the [NATO] alliance has definitely
ceased to follow the demarcation of borders created by the Cold War."
The invitation to join NATO was celebrated on 23 November at an
official Slovak-U.S. festive dinner at a Bratislava hotel, where the
key speaker was former U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright. She
said: "All the negative comments I made in the past were not about the
country and its people, but about its government [at the time]. I like
Slovakia very much. I have never considered myself as being simply
Czech but rather Czechoslovak," the Prague-born former U.S. official
said. MS
[54] SLOVAK DEFENSE MINISTER SAYS NATO BASES IN SLOVAKIA NOT UNDER
DISCUSSION FOR NOW
Defense Minister Simko said on Slovak Television on 24 November that it
makes no sense to ask now whether NATO will set up military bases in
Slovakia, TASR reported. Simko said global security has undergone rapid
changes in 2002 and what NATO will do in the future is hardly
predictable at this stage. Simko added that, in general, the alliance
has been closing down military bases around the world rather then
opening new ones. Foreign Minister Eduard Kukan, who also participated
in the televised debate, said NATO membership entails duties and
Slovakia must be prepared to fulfill them. Kukan said Slovak soldiers
will not be deployed abroad, except when "absolutely justified." MS
[55] GERMAN CHANCELLOR WARNS SLOVAK PREMIER AGAINST 'EXCESSIVE DEMANDS'
ON EU
During a discussion on the sidelines of the NATO Prague summit on 22
November, German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder told Slovak Premier
Dzurinda that his country "understands" the concern of EU candidate
states not to contribute to the EU budget more than they receive in the
first years after accession, CTK reported, citing the Slovak premier.
However, Dzurinda said that Schroeder also warned that excessive and
unbearable demands might endanger the successful completion of the
enlargement process at the upcoming Copenhagen summit. The Slovak
premier said Schroeder promised support for additional EU aid to
facilitate closing down the Jaslovske Bohunice nuclear power plant
after 2006. Dzurinda said the chancellor "did not raise" the subject of
the Benes Decrees and added, "And I hope he will never raise it."
Dzurinda said he has invited Schroeder to visit Slovakia. The Slovak
premier also met on the NATO sidelines summit with U.S. President Bush,
discussing mostly the Iraqi crisis, TASR and CTK reported. He extended
an invitation to Bush to visit Slovakia. MS
[56] SLOVAK PREMIER RE-ELECTED TO PARTY CHAIR
Prime Minister Dzurinda was re-elected chairman of the Slovak
Democratic and Christian Union (SDKU) at a party convention in
Bratislava on 24 November, TASR reported. He ran unopposed, garnering
229 votes. Two votes were cast against and 11 votes were deemed
invalid. As SDKU deputy chairmen, the forum elected Foreign Minister
Kukan, Defense Minister Simko, Finance Minister Ivan Miklos, deputy
parliamentary speaker Zuzana Martinakova, and the SDKU parliamentary
group's second in command, Deputy Milan Hart. Ivan Harman was elected
SDKU secretary-general, replacing Simko in that position. The forum
also approved a document stating that the SDKU "rejects any experiment
in social engineering, leftist demagogy, [or] the vain populism of the
so-called Third Way" -- the last a clear reference to Smer (Direction)
Chairman Robert Fico. MS
[57] SLOVAK PROSECUTORS CHARGED WITH CORRUPTION
A Kosice regional investigator on 23 November charged three of the
region's prosecutors and two other citizens with bribery, CTK reported,
citing Slovak Television. A police spokesman said one of the
prosecutors in January accepted a 100,000-crown ($2,330) bribe from a
lawyer and another individual in order to free two Ukrainian nationals
charged with cigarette smuggling. Accompanied by a colleague from the
Kosice prosecutor's office, he allegedly then traveled to Humenne,
eastern Slovakia, securing a promise from the local prosecutor to
release the two men within a fortnight. If found guilty, the three
prosecutors face up to eight years in jail, while the two who offered
the bribe face three years behind bars. This is the first time
prosecutors have been charged with accepting bribes in Slovakia. MS
[58] HUNGARIAN LEADERS DISCUSS EU ACCESSION AT NATO SUMMIT
Prime Minister Peter Medgyessy on 22 November held bilateral talks on
the sidelines of the NATO summit in Prague with his Norwegian, Swedish,
Danish, Portuguese, and Belgian counterparts, primarily to discuss
Hungary's expected entry to the EU, Hungarian dailies reported the next
day. Regarding the abolition of tax breaks that do not conform to EU
regulations, Medgyessy said Hungary cannot accept any retroactive
measures that disadvantage employers who create jobs in Hungary. He
also reiterated that the EU's preferred level of 25 percent of direct
agricultural funding is low and the 10-year transition period to full
funding is unacceptable for Hungary. Foreign Minister Laszlo Kovacs
urged German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder and Foreign Minister Joschka
Fischer after the summit to use their influence to ensure that Hungary
is granted a number of seats in the European Parliament that is
proportionate to its population level. MSZ
[59] HUNGARIAN CONSERVATIVE OPPOSITION THREATENS STREET PROTESTS OVER
PRIVATIZATION
The opposition FIDESZ is setting up a "privatization monitoring" body
and will organize demonstrations, if necessary, to protest the sale of
particular companies, the party's deputy parliamentary group leader,
Antal Rogan, told journalists on 22 November. FIDESZ has submitted 35
amendments to the 2003 budget in an effort to prevent what Rogan called
"the almost-total privatization" of 400 billion forints ($1.6 billion)
in state assets, "Magyar Nemzet" reported. It appears the cabinet wants
to finance the budget deficit with privatization revenues, Rogan
continued, claiming that the government "urges, supports, and even
finds desirable a Russian presence in Hungary." The Russians left
Hungary only 11 years ago and are now once again back, "not with
weapons but with money," he said. Rogan noted Economics Minister Istvan
Csillag's recent announcement that Hungary expects Russian
participation in privatizations within the oil and gas industries,
including plans to sell state shares in Hungarian oil company MOL to
Russia's LUKoil. MSZ
SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE
[60] 'THE GUARDIAN' ALLEGES YUGOSLAV PRESIDENT KNEW OF ARMS SALES TO
IRAQ...
London's "The Guardian" reported on 25 November that: "Yugoslavia is
the hub for East European arms smugglers and military experts who have
been supplying [Iraqi President] Saddam Hussein with crucial equipment
and know-how to help him frustrate a U.S. air campaign against Iraq.
Senior Western officials and regional analysts say that Serbia is the
center of the illicit trade.... The trade has been going on for some
time, and has even increased since the toppling of [President] Slobodan
Milosevic, a Saddam ally, in 2000." The daily added: "Despite claims by
senior Yugoslav officials, including President Vojislav Kostunica, that
they knew nothing of the trade, documents seen by 'The Guardian' show
that the Kostunica administration was warned in January [2002] by its
Foreign Ministry of the damage being done by its trading with Iraq. The
Kostunica cabinet then voted to continue with the clandestine deals"
(see "RFE/RL Balkan Report," 25 October and 8 November 2002). PM
[61] ...WHICH REMAINS A BOOMING BUSINESS...
"The Guardian" also reported on 25 November that a new study by the NGO
International Crisis Group (ICG) concludes that, "According to
[unspecified] diplomatic sources, the pace of arms sales to Iraq may
have increased during 2002." The daily added that an unnamed "senior
Western official told 'The Guardian': 'Just about every defense company
in [Yugoslavia] sold to Iraq via Syria or via a third country.'" The
paper also noted that unnamed "U.S. diplomats in the Balkans say a
string of defense plants in Serbia, Bosnia, and Montenegro have
supplied Baghdad with -- among other weapons -- armor-piercing
missiles, rockets, anti-tank ammunition, tank engines, various
explosives, chemical stabilizers, and grenade launchers, as well as
missile fuel, MiG aircraft engines, spare parts, and expert advice on
how to configure air defenses against the U.S." PM
[62] ...WITH IMPLICATIONS FOR THE WAR AGAINST TERROR...
On 25 November, "The Guardian" quoted the new ICG report as saying that
the group's findings "show the urgency of Yugoslavia taking steps to
stop exports of any kind of arms or technology that could be used in
any way for terrorist activities, or that could be used by these
countries to manufacture weapons of mass destruction." The daily quoted
the Yugoslav Interior Minister Zoran Zivkovic as saying the arms trade
is not the government's responsibility. PM
[63] ...AS YUGOSLAV PRESIDENT'S ALLIES BASH 'AMERICAN IMPERIALISM' IN
BAGHDAD
"The Guardian" noted on 25 November that: "The ICG investigation also
claims that [unnamed] allies of Mr. Kostunica visited Baghdad last year
for a conference devoted to attacking U.S. policy in the Balkans and
the Middle East. 'The conference resolution unanimously condemned
'American imperialism and hegemony' and everything the U.S. was doing
in Afghanistan, Palestine, and Iraq, and had done in Yugoslavia.'" PM
[64] MACEDONIA, YUGOSLAVIA, AND BULGARIA MARK THEIR COMMON BORDER
In a ceremony near Gradiste on 24 November, Macedonian Foreign Minister
Ilinka Mitreva, Yugoslav Foreign Minister Goran Svilanovic, and
Bulgarian Deputy Foreign Minister Ivan Petkov officially began the
process of demarcating the border between Yugoslavia and Macedonia, MIA
news agency reported. The ministers set up a symbolic column marking
the point where the three countries' borders come together. After the
ceremony, Mitreva and Svilanovic met with their Bulgarian counterpart
Soloman Pasi in the monastery of St. Joakim Osogovski. Asked about the
objections by Kosovar leaders to the right of Belgrade to determine the
border between Kosova and Macedonia, Mitreva noted that "all relevant
factors" in the international community recognize the border as agreed
between Skopje and Belgrade (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 2 March 2001).
Svilanovic ruled out any further border changes that would impinge on
the sovereignty of the countries involved. He did not rule out minor
adjustments on practical grounds (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 8 March 2002
and "RFE/RL Balkan Report," 31 May 2002). UB
[65] U.S. SECRETARY OF DEFENSE VISITS SLOVENIA
Donald Rumsfeld paid a brief visit to Slovenia on 23 November, where he
watched crack specialized troops perform a mock exercise, Reuters
reported. "The country is on a good track," he said. Recent polls
suggest that public opinion is about evenly split over NATO membership,
which some Slovenes fear will expose their country to terrorist attacks
and higher defense costs. But Prime Minister Janez Drnovsek said during
Rumsfeld's visit, "The security that we [enjoy] today is also a result
of NATO's and the U.S.'s intervention in the Balkans. We expect now
that the invitation has been issued [for Slovenia to join NATO],
support [for membership] will only increase" (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 22
November 2002). Slovenia plans to end conscription by 2004 and increase
the number of professional soldiers from 5,000 to 18,000 by 2010. The
number of reservists will drop during the same period from 30,000 to
19,000. PM
[66] MONTENEGRIN PRESIDENT SET TO RESIGN
In a widely expected move, Milo Djukanovic is slated to resign as
president of Montenegro on 25 November, RFE/RL's South Slavic and
Albanian Languages Service reported. Shortly afterward, parliamentary
speaker Filip Vujanovic is expected to propose Djukanovic to the
legislature as the new prime minister (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 6 and 21
November 2002). PM
[67] BOSNIAN SOCIAL DEMOCRATIC LEADER RETURNED TO PARTY OFFICE
Delegates to the congress of the Social Democratic Party (SDPBiH) voted
in Sarajevo on 24 November to keep Zlatko Lagumdzija as party leader,
RFE/RL's South Slavic and Albanian Languages Service reported. The new
deputy chairmen are Alija Behmen, Zeljko Komsic, and Mladen Grahovac,
while the general secretary is Svetozar Pudaric. Four of the party's
leading members -- Sejfudin Tokic, Sead Avdic, Miro Lazovic, and Ivo
Komsic -- resigned to protest the decision to keep Lagumdzija as party
chairman. They hold him and his leadership style responsible at least
in part for the party's defeat in the 5 October general elections. The
four men are expected to found a new party. PM
[68] CONFISCATED BOSNIAN SERB ARMS CACHE PROVES HUGE
SFOR spokesman Yves Vanier said in Sarajevo on 22 November that the
cache of arms that NATO peacekeepers found recently in Prijedor is
"very, very large," Reuters reported (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 22
November 2002). "We are talking about more than 20 types of extremely
dangerous material," he added. Vanier noted that the cache included an
unspecified quantity of mortars, mortar shells, bazookas, mines, and
machinegun ammunition, as well as 300,000 rounds of small ammunition.
Vanier declined to answer a reporter's question as to how peacekeepers
learned about the hidden weapons. PM
[69] CONTROVERSIAL CROATIAN JUDGE FREES EIGHT AFTER WAR CRIMES
ACQUITTAL
Judge Slavko Lozina freed eight former military officers after
declaring them not guilty of involvement in war crimes against Serbs at
the Lora military prison in 1992, AP reported from Zagreb on 22
November. The Split-based judge said atrocities were committed at the
prison, adding, however, "There is not a shred of evidence to suggest
that any of these suspects committed them." Tonci Majic, who heads the
independent human rights group that monitored the trial, called
Lozina's verdict "a complete outrage." Lozina has made no secret of his
nationalist views, and many critics have demanded his exclusion from
war crimes trials (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 23 July and 19 September
2002). PM
[70] U.S. PRESIDENT ADDRESSES CHEERING CROWD IN BUCHAREST...
President George W. Bush told a cheering crowd in Bucharest's
Revolution Square on 23 November that Romania "brings moral clarity to
our NATO alliance.... You know the difference between good and evil,
because you have seen evil's face," AP reported. Bush also said that
the courage of Romanians, who rose to topple dictator Nicolae Ceausescu
in 1989, should inspire others to tackle aggressive dictators like
Iraq's Saddam Hussein, dpa reported. Bush told his listeners that "the
path of freedom you have chosen is not easy, but is the only path worth
taking," an RFE/RL correspondent reported. Bush stressed that he is
aware of the fact that "your hardships did not end with [the end of]
your oppression," and emphasized that "America respects your labor,
your patience, your daily determination to find a better life." "Your
effort has been recognized by an offer for NATO membership. We welcome
Romania into NATO," he said. MS
[71] ...SAYS ATTACK ON ROMANIA IS ATTACK ON U.S. AND NATO
U.S. President Bush assured his audience in Bucharest on 23 November
that "the promises of our alliance are sacred and we will keep our
pledges to all the nations that join us. Should any danger threaten
Romania...the United States of America and NATO will be by your side,"
RFE/RL reported. "God smiles on us," Bush said after a rainbow appeared
in the sky on the rainy November day. President Ion Iliescu, who
decorated Bush during his brief four-hour visit, said the moment was a
"historic one, marking the definitive break from the past and a new
beginning," according to AP. Former King Michael I and former President
Emil Constantinescu were also on the official podium at the ceremony.
In an interview with Romanian Radio on 24 November, President Iliescu
said representatives of the U.S. administration will soon come to
Romania to discuss the "concrete implementation" of bilateral
cooperation plans agreed to during the discussions between the U.S. and
Romanian delegations during Bush's visit. MS
[72] ROMANIAN PREMIER SAYS U.S. MISSILE BASES UNDER CONSIDERATION
Prime Minister Adrian Nastase said in an interview with dpa on 22
November that Romania is ready to consider hosting U.S. missile bases
on its territory, if asked by NATO to do so. He said Romania and
Bulgaria could play a "strategic role" in NATO due to their access to
the Black Sea and their geographic location between non-NATO states and
the western Balkans and Eurasia. Nastase said in an interview with
Romanian Radio on 23 November that the results of President Bush's
visit will have a "cumulative effect" that will reveal itself over
time. Nastase said that in order to enhance these potential effects
Romania must improve its economic performance and eliminate corruption,
as well as finalize the restitution of property and the privatization
process. Finally, the premier said on Romanian Television on 24
November that the government has worked out a precise timetable for
meeting objectives in order to ensure that Romania joins the Atlantic
alliance by 15 May 2004. MS
[73] FORMER U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE ALBRIGHT IN ROMANIA
At the Social Democratic Party Institute in Bucharest on 24 November,
Madeleine Albright warned that "the road ahead to NATO accession is
still difficult, and much remains to be done," Romanian Television
reported. Interviewed on Romanian Television later that day, Albright
said the 1997 NATO Madrid summit statement that "NATO's doors remain
open" has now materialized. She said that in 1997 Romania was not
sufficiently prepared to become a NATO member because at the time it
lacked a free-market economy and was not a state based on the rule of
law. Since then, she said, the country has made much progress. Albright
is visiting Romania as part of the international campaign against
HIV/AIDS and is to be received during her visit by President Iliescu
and Premier Nastase. MS
[74] ISRAEL REFUSES ENTRY TO PAN-FLUTE VIRTUOSO ZAMFIR
Romanian citizen Gheorghe Zamfir was refused entry to Israel on 22
November on the grounds that he lacked a work permit for the five
concerts he was scheduled to perform, AP reported, citing an Interior
Ministry spokeswoman. The spokeswoman added that Romanian Jews in
Israel had lobbied heavily for Zamfir to be denied entry because of his
alleged anti-Semitic views and denial of the Holocaust in Romania.
Zamfir occasionally publishes ultranationalist articles in the Greater
Romania Party's weekly "Romania mare." A Romanian Television
correspondent in Israel said Zamfir vowed to hold a public press
conference to distance himself from the opinions attributed to him and
to donate to a fund for Romania's Holocaust survivors. The Interior
Ministry spokeswoman added that Zamfir never applied for a work permit
and therefore his alleged anti-Semitic views were not investigated and
thus did not play any role in his being denied entry. According to AP,
the only person in the group of artists accompanying Zamfir who was
eligible for entry was his Jewish wife. Zamfir can still apply for a
permit next week, according to the spokeswoman. Zamfir refused to
comment on the incident, telling Romanian Television only that he had
been contacted by former Foreign Minister Shimon Peres and by the mayor
of Tel Aviv, adding that he "awaits a clarification" before reacting
publicly. MS
[75] ROMANIAN PREMIER SAYS HE EXPECTS RELATIONS WITH MOLDOVA TO IMPROVE
Prime Minister Nastase said in Prague on 22 November that relations
between Bucharest and Chisinau should improve following Romania's
invitation to join NATO, Romanian Radio reported. Nastase said that
"there is no rational reason" to believe bilateral relations will
deteriorate as a result of the invitation. He added that the two sides
must focus on finding the best channels of communication to solve
current disagreements. MS
[76] MOLDOVAN PRESIDENT RAISES TRANSDNIESTER ISSUE AT PRAGUE SUMMIT
Addressing the Euro-Atlantic Council during the Prague NATO summit on
22 November, President Vladimir Voronin said NATO's Euro-Atlantic
Partnership should urgently focus its attention on solving pending
regional conflicts, citing the Transdniester conflict as a good
example, Flux reported. That conflict, he said, not only endangers
regional security but is triggered by the existence of "a totalitarian
enclave" that "grossly thwarts the democratic rights of my countrymen."
Furthermore, he said, the separatist region's political problems have
been dwarfed by criminal aspects. He said the Transdniester produces
illegal weapons and traffics in them, having transformed itself into a
"black" offshore zone that endangers the security of Southeastern
Europe as a whole. Voronin said that not long ago he used to be opposed
to NATO expansion, which he viewed as a path to renewed East-West
confrontation. However, now he believes those perceptions belong to the
past because today's world is confronted with an entirely different set
of problems, such as international terrorism. MS
[77] MOLDOVAN PARLIAMENT APPROVES BILL DEPRIVING CHISINAU MAYOR OF
CABINET SEAT
Parliament approved a bill on 22 November that would annul the
automatic cabinet post given to the mayor of Chisinau, Flux reported
(see "RFE/RL Newsline," 21 November 2002). The bill was supported by
the Party of Moldovan Communists majority and opposed by deputies
representing the opposition Braghis Alliance and the Popular Party
Christian Democratic. MS
[78] BULGARIAN GOVERNMENT FACES VOTE OF NO CONFIDENCE FROM CONSERVATIVE
OPPOSITION...
The conservative opposition United Democratic Forces (ODS) moved a vote
of no confidence on 22 November because of what it called a "gross and
unprecedented violation of the constitution" by the government, BTA
reported. According to the ODS, the government violated the
constitution when it signed an agreement with the EU closing the energy
chapter of the EU's acquis communautaire (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 19
November 2002). Under the agreement, Bulgaria committed itself to close
down blocks No. 3 and No. 4 of the Kozloduy nuclear-power plant by 2006
at the latest. Parliament, however, has decided that the blocks in
question should under no circumstances be closed down prior to
Bulgaria's EU accession, which will be in 2007 at the earliest. UB
[79] ...AND FROM THE SOCIALIST OPPOSITION...
Socialist Party (BSP) Chairman Sergey Stanishev has signaled that his
party has also decided to move a vote of no confidence in the
government, mediapool.bg reported on 22 November. He added that the BSP
will possibly support the ODS's vote of no confidence if their
rationale coincides. However, he also accused the ODS of causing the
current problems involving the nuclear-power plant when Prime Minister
Ivan Kostov's ODS-led government signed a memorandum with the EU in
1999 under which blocks No.3 and No. 4 must be decommissioned by 2006.
"Apparently, the [ODS] feels...guilty for the whole situation with the
nuclear-power plant and now it wants to clear its record with [this]
move," Stanishev said. UB
[80] ...AS RULING COALITION SAYS VOTE WOULD BRING BAD PUBLICITY AT THE
WRONG TIME
Prime Minister Simeon Saxecoburggotski said on 24 November that he
believes a vote of no confidence in the government at this time would
be "a bad advertisement for Bulgaria," BTA reported. "I always think of
Bulgaria first," Saxecoburggotski added. Parliamentary speaker Ognyan
Gerdzhikov of the National Movement Simeon II (NDSV) said the ODS's
move was "ill-considered" at a time when Bulgaria has scored two major
foreign-policy successes -- its invitation to join NATO and the EU's
verification of 1 January 2007 as the target date for Bulgaria's
accession to the union. According to Gerdzhikov, the vote of no
confidence will strengthen the ruling coalition of the NDSV and the
ethnic Turkish Movement for Rights and Freedoms (DPS). "The ruling
majority can categorically cope with the no-confidence motion submitted
by the ODS, as well as with a no-confidence motion proposed by the
[BSP] because there are no grounds for such motions," NDSV
parliamentary group leader Plamen Panayotov said. UB
SOUTHWESTERN ASIA AND THE MIDDLE EAST
[81] AFGHAN SECURITY FOILS ATTEMPT TO ASSASSINATE DEFENSE MINISTER...
The Afghan National Security Department prevented an attempt to
assassinate Defense Minister Marshal Mohammad Qasim Fahim on 22
November in the affluent Wazir Mohammad Akbar Khan district of Kabul,
Radio Afghanistan reported the next day. The would-be assassin
identified himself as an Iraqi citizen named Nur Mohammad but later
reports identified him as Bukan Akram Taufiq Herami and as Bukan Akram
Taufiq Muramy. The individual reportedly has links to Taliban
commanders Jalaluddin Haqqani, Mawlawi Mansur, and Akhtar Mohammad
Usmani. The man spent four months in Kashmir before entering
Afghanistan, according to the radio report. Afghan resistance leader
Ahmad Shah Masud, who was the defense minister of the pre-Taliban
regime, was assassinated on 9 September 2001 by two Arabs posing a
journalists. AT
[82] ...IN WHICH PRESIDENT WAS REPORTEDLY THE INITIAL TARGET OF THE
PERPETRATOR...
"The New York Times" reported on 24 November that the would-be
assassin, whom it named as Bukan Akram Taufiq Herami, is a 22-year-old
Iraqi Kurd who "admitted under interrogation that he had planned to
ambush...[Afghan President Hamid] Karzai's motorcade as the president
returned from the airport on his arrival from New York." He reportedly
strapped 10 kilograms of explosives to his body in a bid to ambush
President Karzai's motorcade. However, when he "found that the
president was still abroad, he changed to his fallback plan, which was
to throw himself at Marshal Fahim's car," according to the New York
daily. AT
[83] ...WHO IS SAID TO HAVE PAKISTANI CONNECTION
Afghan intelligence officer Amrollah Salehi told a news conference on
23 November that the would-be assassin had "clear links with Taliban
leaders and some Pakistani extremist groups," Reuters reported. Salehi
also said that the incident "clearly demonstrated that the enemy of
peace and the enemy of Afghanistan, the terrorist who we fight against
together with the international community, has time, resources,
expertise, and the network for such operations," "The New York Times"
reported on 24 November. AT
[84] AFGHAN PRESIDENT'S BODYGUARDS TO BE REPLACED
The U.S. Special Forces officers who guard President Karzai are to be
replaced by guards from DynCorp Inc., a U.S.-based private military
contractor, "The Daily Telegraph" reported on 25 November. "The move by
Washington, which had detailed elite soldiers to replace a motley band
of local bodyguards amid constant death threats, comes despite the
extreme risk" the Afghan president faces, the daily commented. Karzai
has survived three assassination attempts in the past three months,
including one on 5 September in Kandahar in which the president's U.S.
bodyguards shot a gunman who fired on Karzai. While Karzai is said to
have personally requested that U.S. forces protect him, many Afghans
reportedly do not like seeing their president constantly surrounded by
foreign forces. AT
[85] AFGHAN PAPER REPORTS THAT U.S. CHOPPER DOWNED
The Kabul newspaper "Sahar" published an unconfirmed report on 23
November that a U.S. helicopter involved in operations against Taliban
commander Mulla Mansur in the Shahi Kot area of Paktiya Province was
shot down, killing 12 personnel on board, the Voice of the Islamic
Republic of Iran reported. Mulla Mansur is one of the people named by
Afghan authorities as being behind the attempt to assassinate Defense
Minister Fahim. The reported downing of the helicopter was not
confirmed by any other source. AT
[86] ISAF COMMANDER WORRIED ABOUT IRAQ SITUATION
Major General Hilmi Akin Zorlu, the Turkish commander of the
International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan, said at
a 22 November news conference at the Turkish Embassy in Washington,
D.C., that he and other ISAF commanders fear that "if there is any Iraq
operation, it means terrorist attacks against ISAF may start," AP
reported. Zorlu said he does not believe the ISAF will soon be deployed
beyond its current mandate of protecting Kabul, as the international
community "could not agree on this necessity," AP reported (see "RFE/RL
Newsline," 12 and 13 November 2002). AT
[87] BASIJIS RALLY IN TEHRAN AGAINST ARROGANT AMERICAN POLICIES
Volunteer militias known as the "Basiji" forces rallied in Tehran on 24
November in front of the former U.S. Embassy to protest U.S.
"interventionist and arrogant policies," IRNA reported. "Iran became
outraged after U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said in
Washington recently that he saw signs of an early overthrow of the
Islamic Republic by the Iranian people, or the government collapse,"
the news agency added. Two weeks ago, former President Akbar Hashemi
Rafsanjani responded to Rumsfeld's comments by saying that "Mr.
Secretary can take this hope into hell," IRNA reported. Foreign
Minister Kamal Kharrazi has said that "despite a slight change of tone
in U.S. rhetoric toward Iran recently" the two countries remain at odds
with even "more distrust" between them, according to IRNA. AT
[88] HUMAN RIGHTS GROUP WARNS AGAINST MORE VIOLENCE IN IRAN
Human Rights Watch (HRW) warned in a report released on 22 November
that the threats Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei made against
student demonstrators during his Friday prayer sermon on 22 November
"could spark a repeat of [the July] 1999 paramilitary violence in Iran"
conducted against students. According to HRW, Khamenei ordered students
who participated in protests this month against the death sentence
imposed on university Professor Hashem Aghajari to "return to their
homes" or "the people will intervene" against them. HRW said "it was
concerned that the leader's apparent threat to act
extra-constitutionally reflected the depth of the crisis in Iran and
could lead to bloodshed." The report noted that in 1999, several
hundred students were injured "when irregular, unidentified forces
stormed student dormitories and assaulted students in the streets in
Tehran and other [Iranian] cities." AT
[89] EXPERT SAYS U.S. AND IRAN HAVE MUTUAL INTEREST IN DISARMING IRAQ
David Phillips, an expert from the New York-based Council on Foreign
Relations think tank commented in the "International Herald Tribune" on
25 November on many of the goals he believes the United States and Iran
share regarding Iraq. According to Phillips, both countries have an
interest in disarming and, perhaps, removing Iraqi President Saddam
Hussein from power. Phillips added that the United States and Iran
share an interest in "managing Iraq after a regime change" and "are
adamant about preserving Iraq's territorial integrity." In addition, he
said, "Both are committed to contain vigilantism and revenge taking
that might destabilize the country. And both want to ensure that Iraq's
ethnic and religious [groups] secure their political and cultural
rights in a post-Saddam Iraq." AT
[90] IRANIAN BORDER GUARD KILLED
Unidentified gunmen shot and killed one Iranian border guard and
wounded another on 21 November near the Iranian-Turkish border town of
Chaldoran in West Azerbaijan Province, IRNA reported on 25 November.
The shots were fired from Turkish territory and an investigative
committee has been set up to look into the matter, according to the
report. AT
[91] IRAQI FOREIGN MINISTER SENDS FOLLOW-UP LETTER TO UN
Iraqi Satellite TV on 24 November reported on the text of Iraqi Foreign
Minister Naji Sabri's second letter to UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan
addressing Iraq's concerns over UN Security Council Resolution 1441.
Sabri's letter dated 23 November stated that the terms of the
resolution violate international law, previous UN resolutions, and the
UN Charter, according to the television station. He said in the letter
that the resolution distorts Iraq's cooperation, "for it is this
cooperation with the former UN Special Commission [UNSCOM] and the IAEA
that enabled the two bodies to accomplish their tasks in the
disarmament field," according to the report. Sabri also criticized the
inclusion of the term in the resolution "giving Iraq a final
opportunity to comply with its obligations." "Despite the withdrawal of
the inspectors and the fact that some of them carried out espionage on
Iraq's security and vital national interests and also provoked crises;
and despite the fact that the report by the last UNSCOM chairman was
used by the United States and Britain as a cover for their treacherous
aggression on 16 December 1998, Iraq has taken the initiative and held
a dialogue with the secretary-general since February 2000," Sabri's s
letter stated. KR
[92] IRAQI PRESIDENT REDEPLOYS REPUBLICAN GUARD
Cairo's "Al-Qanat" reported on 24 November that President Saddam
Hussein has redeployed Republican Guard troops outside Baghdad in the
areas of Al-Suwayrah, Al-Rashidiyah, Al-Nahrawan, and Al-Taji. Citing
an "informed source," the report said the decision came as a result of
"suspicion" by the regime that the Republican Guard forces might try to
launch a coup if left in Baghdad. However, these areas have been
suspected in the past of harboring chemical and biological weapons
facilities, and the deployment of troops could somehow be related to UN
weapons inspections. KR
[93] PUK LEADER PREDICTS 'CHAOS' IF OPPOSITION IS EXCLUDED FROM
MILITARY OPERATION IN IRAQ...
Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) Secretary-General Jalal Talabani
told London's "Al-Hayat" on 25 November that there would be "sweeping
chaos, disasters, and possible sectarian clashes" in Iraq if the
opposition is not allowed to participate in a U.S.-led attack to bring
down President Hussein's regime. Talabani said he expects the situation
inside Iraq to get out of control but said the opposition "is capable
of controlling the situation in Baghdad if there is a popular
uprising." When asked about the possibility of sectarian clashes, he
said there "is an understanding with other parties operating inside the
country." He added that it will be necessary for the opposition to
organize well in order to control the streets in Iraq, should Hussein
be removed from power. Talabani also predicted that a U.S.-led attack
will occur between February and March 2003. Talabani earlier predicted
that the United States would attack Iraq in the first week of December
2002. KR
[94] ...AS 'NATIONAL-ACCORD PLAN' FLOATED IN BAGHDAD
The European-based opposition group The Iraqi National Alliance has
sent a delegation to Baghdad to discuss a "national-accord plan" that
would allow for the inclusion of opposition parties in a Saddam
Hussein-led government, "Al-Hayat" reported on 23 November. The plan
calls for the dissolution of the Bath party, as well as the
Revolutionary Command Council (RCC), which would be replaced by a
national-security council. A transitional national-unity government
would then be established and a new constitution written. A general
amnesty would also be issued to allow for the return of exiles and
dissidents to Iraq. "We were surprised to see that the Iraqi
leadership...proposed formulating a new constitution and reactivating
political life through political pluralism and issuing a law on parties
and the press," National Alliance spokesman Awni al-Qalamji told
Al-Jazeera on 23 November. Al-Qalamji added that Iraqi RCC Vice
Chairman Izzat Ibrahim al-Duri will head the committee to draft a new
constitution. KR
END NOTE
[95] There is no End Note today.
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