22 August 2007 News Digest

KAZAKHSTAN AGREES TO EXPAND COUNTERTERROR COOPERATION WITH JORDAN
10 August
Following a meeting in Astana, Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbaev announced on August 9 that a new agreement on expanding counterterrorism cooperation with Jordan was signed with visiting Jordanian King Abdallah II, RFE/RL's Kazakh Service reported. The new agreement calls for specific cooperation between the two countries' security services and for measures to "fight extremism and international crime." Lesser agreements were also concluded, including a contract for the Jordanian import of 300,000 tons of Kazakh wheat, the construction of a pharmaceutical plant in Jordan, and an accord providing Kazakh technical assistance in uranium exploration in Jordan, according to Kazakh television. In a separate meeting with Kazakh Prime Minister Karim Masimov the same day, the Jordanian monarch expressed hope that bilateral ties will deepen further, citing a new agreement on air transport that names Royal Jordanian Airlines as the official carrier from Jordan to Kazakhstan and Air Astana as the official air carrier from Kazakhstan to Jordan. The Jordanian minister of education, higher education, and scientific research, Khalid Tuqan, also approved on August 9 a memorandum of understanding between the two countries' Education Ministries. Heading a delegation of senior Jordanian officials and businessmen, Abdallah arrived in Astana on August 8 on the start of an official three-day visit to Kazakhstan. (RFE/RL)

 

TAJIK PRESIDENT VISITS AZERBAIJAN

13 August

Accompanied by several government ministers, Emomali Rahmon arrived in Baku on August 13 on a two-day official visit, Russian and Azerbaijani media reported. Following talks with his Azerbaijani counterpart Ilham Aliyev, Rahmon told journalists that the two countries plan to raise bilateral trade turnover from last year's level of $131 million to $500 million, and that Azerbaijan will send a group of experts to Tajikistan to prospect for oil. Aliyev said Azerbaijan has plans for investment in Tajikistan, but did not elaborate. The two presidents signed a joint declaration registering their shared position on economic integration and bilateral and regional cooperation. Also signed were intergovernmental agreements on trade; avoiding dual taxation; science and technology; education; and communications. (day.az)

 

KAZAKH OFFICIAL HOPES FOR REVERSAL OF AUSTRIAN EXTRADITION RULING

13 August

Kazakh Interior Ministry spokesman Baghdat Kozhakhmetov said on August 13 that "there are still chances" for a successful challenge to Austria's refusal to extradite Rakhat Aliev, the former son-in-law of Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbaev. At a press conference in Astana, Kozhakhmetov said Kazakhstan intends to challenge the Austrian court's ruling by bringing an "appeal to a higher court, as well as international courts." A court in Vienna earlier in the month ruled against the extradition request for the return of Aliev, who until recently served as the Kazakh ambassador to Austria. The spokesman added that Kazakh officials are "perplexed" by the court ruling and vowed to "secure Aliev's extradition," noting that "if Aliev tries to go to another country using his documents, he will be detained and handed over" to the Kazakh Interior Ministry. Aliev faces criminal charges of corruption, money laundering, and kidnapping in Kazakhstan. (Interfax-Kazakhstan)

 

UZBEKISTAN HOSTS INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ISLAM

14 August

An international conference devoted to Islamic culture and society opened on August 14 in the Uzbek capital, Tashkent. The conference, which includes participants from some 30 countries and officials from the Arab League, the Organizationof the Islamic Conference, and the United Nations, is taking place in the city designated as the 2007 "capital of Islamic culture" by the Morocco-based Islamic Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization. Uzbek President Islam Karimov hailed the conference as proof of the "large contribution Uzbeks have made to the development of Islamic culture," and invited the dozens of visiting Islamic scholars, religious leaders, and public figures to celebrate Uzbekistan's centuries-old Islamic heritage. (AFP)

 

MILITANT LEADER'S EX-WIFE APPEALS TO PUTIN

14 August
Zukhra Tsipinova, who was married for five years to Anzor Astemirov (aka Amir Seyfulla), now a leader of the so-called Kabardino-Balkaria jamaat, has written to President Putin, Russian Prosecutor-General Yury Chaika, and presidential human-rights commission Chairwoman Ella Pamfilova to protest continued victimization and harassment by the police and security services. Tsipinova explained that she married Astemirov, then a "law-abiding citizen," in 2000 and divorced him in 2005, since when she has been unaware of his whereabouts. She said she learned of Astemirov's putative involvement in militant activities, including the October 2005 attacks on police facilities in Nalchik only from the media. She remarried in May 2007 and moved with her new husband to Adygeya. Her husband was arrested five days later, and security officials have said they will release him only if she divulges Astemirov's whereabouts. Tsipinova asked Putin to intervene on her behalf and that of her six-year-old son, who has been expelled from several kindergartens because of his father's terrorist reputation. On August 2, the Interior Ministry of the Kabardino-Balkaria Republic has offered a reward of 3 million rubles ($117,354) for information leading to Astemirov's capture. (RFE/RL)

 

INGUSH WRITER APPEALS TO WORLD COMMUNITY

14 August

Respected Ingush writer Issa Kodzoyev has addressed an open letter to international organizations, including the United Nations, the European Parliament, and the Arab League, and to the presidents and legislatures of Russia, the United States, Turkey, Japan, and almost two dozen European countries, appealing for support to end the arbitrary violence and reprisals to which the population of Ingushetia is subjected on a daily basis. Kodzoyev said that the violence is a concerted effort to provoke a popular uprising in Ingushetia that would serve as a pretext for armed intervention to "restore constitutional order." Kodzoyev raised the possibility, as have other Ingush commentators, that President Putin's entourage deliberately misinforms him about the situation in Ingushetia. (ingushetiya.ru)

 

Putin should remain for third term – Nazarbayev
16 August
Kazakhstan President Nursultan Nazarbayev has said that Vladimir Putin should have his presidential office extended for a third consecutive term. "I think the Russian people should make him [Putin] remain in office for a third term. The president must do everything that is needed for his country and his people," Nazarbayev said in an interview with St. Petersburg television channel STO on Thursday.  "We were elected by our people, and we work from them, and the rest is all nonsense," he said. (Interfax)

Putin wants regular SCO exercises
16 August
 Russian President Vladimir Putin has proposed holding regular exercises within the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO). "The idea of holding such regular exercises on the territory of various SCO member-countries deserves consideration," Putin told a SCO summit in Bishkek on Thursday. "The system being created to collectively respond to the threats facing the region is intended to help bolster the SCO's potential in security matters. Its elements will be fine-tuned during tactical maneuvers, including the Peace Mission-2007 exercises, which are taking place in Chelyabinsk. We will watch their final phase tomorrow," he said. (Interfax)

Putin proposes creating "financial security zones" along Afghan border
16 August
"Financial security zones" could be added to "anti-drug security belts" along the Afghan border, Russian President Vladimir Putin told a Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit in Bishkek on Thursday. "It is important to continue creating 'anti-drug security belts' along Afghanistan's [border]. 'Financial security zones' could be added to them. The financial monitoring services of the SCO member-countries could help fulfill this task," he said.  "It will help increase the efficiency of the fight against drug trafficking and money laundering," the president said.  Measures to counter drug trafficking in all SCO member-countries are highly important, Putin said, adding that he means joint operations, personnel training and analysis of certain national laws. "We expect heads of anti-drug structures to conduct a comprehensive analysis of the situation and to put forth suggestions on ways to conduct systematic work in this area," the president said. "We hope that observer-countries with the SCO, primarily the Afghan authorities, the UN and the international community as a whole, will closely cooperate with us to stem drug trafficking," he said. (Interfax)

US to fund feasibility studies of trans-Caspian energy pipelines
16 August
The US will provide Azerbaijan with a 1.7-million-dollar (1.27-million-euro) grant to pay for research into the viability of building new pipelines to carry Central Asian oil and gas across the Caspian Sea to Western markets, US officials said here Thursday. "This is the largest grant that the US Trade and Development Agency has given Azerbaijan, which testifies to its political importance," Daniel Sullivan, US assistant secretary of state for economic, energy and business affairs, told reporters in the Azerbaijani capital Baku. The grant will fund feasibility studies on two pipelines across the Caspian Sea. One would deliver oil from Kazakhstan to the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline, which currently pumps Azerbaijani crude to Turkey. The other would ship gas from Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan across the Caspian to feed the South Caucasus Pipeline, which also connects to Turkey. Azerbaijan, a US-friendly Muslim state wedged between Russia and Iran, is a key partner in the Western-backed corridor of oil and gas pipelines built in recent years to deliver Caspian energy resources to the West. (AFP)

2 Tajik Guantanamo inmates sentenced
17 August
Tajikistan's high court on Friday sentenced two former detainees of the U.S. military prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to 17-year terms for serving as mercenaries in Afghanistan, a court judge said. Mukit Vokhidov and Rukhiddin Sharopov were also found guilty of illegal border crossing, Judge Musammir Urakov said. Vokhidov and Sharopov were accused of entering Afghanistan in 2001 and serving as mercenaries for the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, an al-Qaida connected militant group responsible for several bombings and armed incursions across ex-Soviet Central Asia. They were detained by the U.S. military in northern Afghanistan in November 2001 and taken to the U.S. Guantanamo base. In March, they were handed over to Tajik authorities. Urakov said the two maintained their innocence. "In their last words, they said they didn't expect such consequences for acts they committed," he said. The IMU is blamed for bomb blasts outside the Tajik Emergencies Ministry in 2005 that killed two people and injured three. (AP)

Georgia receives first IBA loan for Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway
17 August
The Marabda-Kartsakhi Railway, the operator of the Georgian section of the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars rail corridor, has received  a  first  credit  tranche  from  the International Bank of Azerbaijan, amounting to $40 million, to build this railway, a source in the company told Interfax. The  source  said  that  in  line  with  an international agreement between  Georgia  and  Azerbaijan, the total volume of the IBA credit is $202 million, and it is being provided for 25 years at 1% per year. The  first  tranche  will  be  used to build a 29-km railway to the Turkish  border,  and also a wheel-changing station, to change trains to the European gauge from the system used in Georgia. The total cost of the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars project is $422 million, of

which $202  million  will  be  spent  on  the  Georgian section and $220 million - on the Turkish. The railway is  expected to show a profit from 2009. According to the calculations, in its first year it will transport 3 million tones of freight,  and  in  the  following  three years - 5 million tonnes per year. It is  planned that  by  2015 the railroad will carry 15 million tonnes of freight per year. (Interfax)

Russia, China, other SCO countries fit to counter terror - Putin
17 August
Russian President Vladimir Putin said he is confident that Russia and China, as well as other SCO (Shanghai Cooperation Organization) countries, are capable of a worthy contribution to the fight against terrorism, a view Chinese leader Hu Jintao seconded, highly praising the completed Peaceful Mission-2007 exercises in the process. "I am confident that by cooperating with other countries in world, Russia and China, as well as other SCO countries, will make a worthy contribution to the cause of fighting terror," Putin said at a meeting with the Chinese leader on Friday after the completion of the Peaceful Mission-2007 exercises. (Interfax)

 

RUSSIA BLOCKS UN VOTE ON GEORGIAN MISSILE INCIDENT

17 August

Russia vetoed on August 16 a UN Security Council vote on two drafted statements submitted by the United

States concerning the August 6 incident in which an unidentified aircraft entered Georgian airspace and dropped or jettisoned a missile. Russian Ambassador to the UN Vitaly Churkin said that any discussion of the drafts would be premature as Russian experts arrived in Georgia to participate in the investigation into the incident only on August 16. In Tbilisi, Russian ambassador-at-large Valery Kenyaikin told journalists late on August 16 that the Russian experts have provided their Georgian colleagues with Russian radar records that prove Russia was not responsible for the incident. In a statement summarized by Caucasus Press on August 17, the U.S. Embassy in Tbilisi called attention to what it termed the "credible" preliminary conclusion by an international group of experts probing the incident. That report failed to identify the type or origin of the aircraft in question, but said that it entered Georgian airspace from Russia, and noted that the Georgian armed forces do not have missiles of the type dropped. The statement further urged the international community to support confidence-building measures in South Ossetia; international monitoring of the Roki Tunnel linking South Ossetia with the Russian Federation; the deployment of OSCE observers throughout South Ossetia; and to intensify efforts to promote a peaceful solution of the South Ossetian conflict. The U.S. State Department similarly released a brief statement on August 16 saying, "we believe the report accurately summarizes the available evidence," "The New York Times" reported on

August 17. (RFE/RL)

 

Kazakh-Chinese trade turnover will reach $1 Bln per day – Nazarbayev
18 August
Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev hopes that Kazakh-Chinese trade turnover will reach $12 billion in 2008. "I hope that the trade turnover will be $12 billion. This means that our economy will have $1 billion every month," Nazarbayev said at a joint press conference with Chinese President Hu Jintao on Saturday in Astana. "Of course, it is great to reach the level of the U.S.-Canadian trade turnover - $1 billion every day. I am convinced that we will do this," the president said. "The fact that we will secure $10 billion in the bilateral trade turnover this year instead of 2010 as it was planned earlier proves that our trade and economic relations are successful," Nazarbayev said. "A large number of interaction issues" was discussed at a meeting with the Chinese leader, Nazarbayev said, adding that "the key topic was, of course, trade, economic, and investment cooperation." "We discussed such cooperation areas as energy, oil and gas industry, petrochemicals, oil processing, tourism, transport, and communications, in details today," Nazarbayev said. According to the Kazakh presidential press service, the total amount of Chinese investments in the Kazakh economy stays at $8 billion. According to Chinese statistical data, the Chinese-Kazakh trade turnover grew 22% in 2006 year-on-year and totaled $8.3 billion. The bilateral trade turnover reached $4.7 billion in January-May 2007, a 59.4% increase compared with the same period in 2006. (Interfax)

 

Kazakhstan opposition doesn’t recognize election returns
19 August
Kazakhstan's opposition parties Ak Zhol (Bright Path) and Nationwide Social-Democratic Party do not recognize preliminary returns of Saturday's parliamentary elections, announced by the Central Elections Commission. "We don't recognize the outcome of the elections. They absolutely do not reflect the actual alignment of political forces or the social support they draw. These elections are neither a step forward, nor even remaining at standstill," a leader of the Ak Zhol Party, Burikhan Nurmukhamedov told Interfax on Sunday in Astana, while commenting on the results announced. He said, citing his own figures, that Ak Zhol had mustered about 12% of the vote. "We have definitely won these votes," he said. "We were shocked [by the figures announced by the Central Elections Commission,]" Nurmukhamedov said, adding that, "reports on irregularities are being processed and will be submitted to the Central Elections Commission, to the Prosecutor General's Office and other law enforcement agencies." Ualikhan Kaisarov, the Nationwide Social-Democratic Party's representative in the Central Elections Commission described the elections as "utter profanation." "The elections have been utterly profaned," he told the press. "Only one party - Nur Otan - is represented in the parliament! What democracy can one talk about?" Kaisarov said. Central Elections Commission Chairman Kuandyk Turgankulov said at a press conference in Astana on Sunday that the governing party, Nur Otan, had won a confident victory in the elections, mustering 88.05% of the vote. The Nationwide Social-Democratic Party came in second with 4.62% and Ak Zhol third with 3.27% of the vote. According to preliminary reports, none of the parties, except Nur Otan, has won seats in the lower house of parliament.  Seven parties ran in the elections. The threshold required for parliamentary representation is 7%. (Interfax-Kazakhstan)

 

Ahmadinejad seeks to counter US clout in Azerbaijan

20 August
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was due Tuesday to begin an official visit to neighboring Azerbaijan, seeking to counter US influence in the oil-rich, fellow Shiite Muslim country. Officials said a number of bilateral agreements would be signed with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev during the two-day visit, including cooperation deals on energy and transportation. Although Ahmadinejad has visited Baku before to attend international events, the trip will be his first official visit to the country, said Mahjid Feizullan, the spokesman for the Iranian embassy.  Azerbaijan has close diplomatic and trade relations with Iran, with which it shares strong historical and religious ties. Northern Iran is also home to 16 million to 30 million ethnic Azeris, according to varying estimates, easily outnumbering the 8 million in Azerbaijan itself. But the country is also a key US ally in the strategic Caucasus region, wedged between Iran and Russia. The US has strongly backed a corridor of pipelines to deliver Azerbaijani oil and gas through Turkey to Western markets. Washington has also provided military assistance and held joint exercises with Azerbaijan, which, in turn, allows its airspace to be used by North Atlantic Treaty Organization planes for crucial access to Central Asia and Afghanistan. Analysts said Ahmadinejad would be looking to address Tehran's concerns about Azerbaijan's pro-Western course.  "The president of Iran will be interested, first of all, with the question of the possible use by the US of Azerbaijani territory against Iran," said Vafa Guluzade, a one-time foreign policy adviser to former Azerbaijani president Heidar Aliyev. Washington has expressed interest in obtaining the use of airfields in Azerbaijan for military purposes, and analysts speculate that the US has studied using Azerbaijan as a potential launchpad for attacking Iran. Azerbaijan has categorically rejected rumours that it would let US troops use its territory to attack neighboring countries. Analysts said the two presidents were also likely to discuss Russia's proposal to use the Soviet-built Gabala radar station in Azerbaijan as part of a missile-defense system the US is proposing to counter potential threats from Iran and North Korea.  Iranian officials have said they are not concerned by the proposal, which, experts say, is unlikely to be accepted by the US.  The two leaders were also expected to discuss a long-running dispute over maritime borders in the Caspian Sea. Iran and Azerbaijan, along with the other states with Caspian shorelines, Kazakhstan, Russia, and Turkmenistan, have been unable to agree on how to divide up the sea. Despite cultural and religious links between the two countries, many Azerbaijanis mistrust the authorities in Tehran, accusing Iran of denying the rights of ethnic Azeris across the border, and of trying to spread Islamic fundamentalism to their secular ex-Soviet state. (AFP)

 

RUSSIA TO EXPAND MILITARY BASE IN KYRGYZSTAN

21 August

Russian Ambassador to Kyrgyzstan Valentin Vlasov announced on August 20 that Russia intends to expand its military presence at the Kant air base outside Bishkek. Vlasov said that the number of Russian servicemen and maintenance personnel will be increased, reflecting the significance of the Kant air base as both "the face of Russia's military presence in Kyrgyzstan" and as "a very important part of the system of ensuring stability in Central Asia in the framework of the Collective Security Treaty Organization." The Russian Air Force commander of the Kant base, Colonel Vladimir Nosov, also revealed that the overall number of servicemen stationed at Kant has already been increased by 50 percent this year. Nosov also hailed the combat readiness of the Russian flight crews under his command, adding that "since the air base was founded nearly four years ago, it has evolved from forward headquarters to a combat aviation group capable of operating in drills and in a combat environment," Interfax reported. Following a meeting in Bishkek in June between Russian Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov and his Kyrgyz counterpart, Ismail Isakov, the Kyrgyz Defense Ministry announced it expects to receive military equipment worth $2.5 million from Russia this year, compared to $2 million in 2006, largely intended as compensation for the use of the Kant base by the Russian Air Force. As of June, 250 Russian Air Force officers and 150 personnel are stationed at the air base, which is equipped with five Su-25 attack aircraft and two Mi-8 helicopters. (RFE/RL)

 

KYRGYZSTAN ALLOWS HEAD SCARVES IN PASSPORT PHOTOS

21 August

Jyldyz Akmatbekova, a lawyer at the State Agency for Information Resources and Technology, announced on August 20 that Kyrgyz women will be allowed to wear Islamic head scarves while being photographed for their official passports, RFE/RL's Kyrgyz Service and AKIpress reported. Akmatbekova added that the Justice Ministry is currently drafting new regulations reversing an earlier ban on head scarves in official identification photos. According to Jamal Frontbek-kyzy, the leader of an Islamic women's nongovernmental organization, the decision to overturn the ban was made by a special interagency commission set up earlier this year to consider the issue. Frontbek-kyzy also said that 45,000 signatures have been collected nationwide in support of the initiative. The wearing of head scarves, or hijab, is a traditional Islamic practice associated with a woman's modesty and piety. In February, the Kazakh Justice Ministry similarly abolished a ban on women photographed wearing head scarves for identification documents. (RFE/RL)

 

JAPANESE COMPANY ANNOUNCES ACQUISITION OF STAKE IN KAZAKH URANIUM MINING

21 August

According to a corporate press release issued in Tokyo, unnamed officials of the Japanese Toshiba Corporation announced on August 20 the acquisition of a stake in a uranium mine in southern Kazakhstan. The acquisition gives Toshiba the right to mine up to 600 metric tons of uranium annually from the Kharasan deposit. The specific financial terms of the deal were not disclosed, but the announcement follows a recent deal whereby Toshiba agreed to sell a 10 percent stake in the U.S. nuclear-power-plant maker Westinghouse to the Kazakh state-run energy company Kazatomprom for $540 million. That deal was part of a larger agreement between Toshiba and Kazatomprom for joint nuclear-plant construction projects involving the transfer of uranium-processing technology from Toshiba and Westinghouse to Kazakhstan. In May, Japanese Trade and Industry Minister Akira Amari announced during a visit to Kazakhstan that Japan plans to import up to 40 percent of the uranium it uses from Kazakhstan. (RFE/RL)

Uzbeks unveil 2 new oil wells
21 August
Uzbekistan's Neft Va Gaz Quduqlarini Sinash has handed over two oil wells in the south to Muborakneftgaz and Shortonneftgaz unitary subsidiary companies. Pravda Vostoka newspaper reported Tuesday that the wells were in the southern Qashqadaryo region. "The wells daily produce 15 and 30 tons respectively. Horizontal tests were carried out in other 76 wells in the past seven months," Azamat Ergashev, deputy chairman of the joint-stock company's board of directors, told the newspaper. According to the Oil and Gas Journal, Uzbekistan has 594 million barrels of proven oil reserves, with 171 discovered oil and natural gas fields. Most of the oil fields are in the Bukhara-Khiva region, including Kokdumalak, which makes up 70 percent of production, according to the Energy Information Administration, the data arm of the U.S. Department of Energy. Oil fields are also present in Fergana, the Ustyurt plateau and the Aral Sea. (UPI)

 

Wave of violence in Afghanistan kills 23
21 August
At least 23 people including two police officers were killed in clashes as fresh violence swept insurgency-hit Afghanistan, officials said Tuesday. Eight Taliban militants and two policemen were killed in fighting which erupted late Monday in the southern province of Ghazni where the Taliban have been holding 19 South Korean aid workers hostage for the past month, police said. The fighting in the province's Qara Bagh -- where the Korean aid workers were kidnapped on July 19 -- and Ander districts was still ongoing Tuesday, provincial police chief Alishah Ahmadzai told AFP. Two other police were seriously wounded, he said. Elsewhere in Ghazni, two Afghan civilians were killed and two injured when a landmine apparently intended for the security forces went off under their vehicle on Tuesday, Ahmadzai said. "The Taliban had planted the mine, aimed at us," the police commander said. In separate clashes between Taliban and security forces, seven militants were killed in an operation by Afghan and coalition forces in neighbouring Helmand province Monday, the defence ministry said in a statement. "Seven terrorists who had infiltrated the area to destabilise the area were killed during an operation by Afghan and coalition forces," the statement said, refering to a 10,000-strong US-led force based in the province. The operation took place in Helmand's troubled Sangin district, which has been badly hit by the insurgency. Also in Sangin, four Afghan army soldiers were injured the same day after their checkpost came under Taliban rocket fire. Four other Taliban guerrillas were killed late Monday in the southwestern province of Farah, provincial police chief Abdul Rahman Sarjang told AFP. The unrest has so far claimed the lives of 136 soldiers from the NATO-led international force this year. (AFP)