GEORGIA POSITION ON RUSSIAN WTO MEMBERSHIP “UNCHANGED”
5 October
Georgia will not support Russia’s WTO membership unless issue of border-crossing points in breakaway Abkhazia and South Ossetia is resolved, spokesperson for the Georgian President said on October 5. “Georgia’s position remains unchanged,” Manana Manjgaladze said. “Georgia can not support Russia’s WTO membership, unless conditions put forth by the Georgian authorities are met, including issues related with border-crossing points [in breakaway Abkhazia and South Ossetia] and set of other issues persisting between Georgia and Russia.” Speaking to investors and government officials at the International Economic Alliance forum in New York on September 22 President Saakashvili said, that Georgia was not the only impediment to Russia’s WTO membership. "There are many issues out there between them [WTO] and Russia," Saakashvili was quoted by Reuters. "So we were not the last ones left and you should give us some time until we are maybe the last ones ... Maybe we won't be the last ones. But right now there is a long line of countries.” (Civil Georgia)

SEVEN KILLED IN MILITARY HELICOPTER CRASH IN EASTERN TAJIKISTAN
6 October
Seven people were killed when a Tajik Defense Ministry helicopter crashed in eastern Tajikistan, a source in the republic's law enforcement services told Interfax on Wednesday. "At least seven people were killed. Others sustained injuries," the source said. "The Defense Ministry's helicopter crashed in Rasht today. Seven people were killed, mainly National Guard servicemen," he said. A sweep operation to trap militants, who had attacked a Defense Ministry and National Guard convoy, is on in the Rasht region in eastern Tajikistan. The operation involves helicopters and heavy armored military hardware. (Interfax)

OVER TEN KILOGRAMS OF HEROIN SEIZED FROM TAJIK MAN IN NOVOSIBIRSK
6 October
Drug control service officers have confiscated more than ten kilograms of heroin from an apartment rented by a Tajik citizen in Novosibirsk. "No one is living in the apartment. More than ten kilograms of heroin, weighing instruments and packaging material intended to divide drugs in smaller doses were confiscated from the apartment," a spokesman for the regional branch of the Federal Drug Control Service said on Wednesday. The 38-year-old Tajik citizen who rented the apartment and sold drugs in the region was detained as well. "The information available to us confirms that he transferred all of the money received by him to bank accounts in Tajikistan," the spokesman said. A criminal case based on drug dealing charges has already been opened against him. (Interfax)

KYRGYZ AUTHORITIES SEIZE MONEY ALLEGEDLY SENT BY BAKIYEV FAMILY TO FINANCE SUPPORTERS
7 October
Family members of former Kyrgyz president, Kurmanbek Bakiyev, are taking part in the financing of some political parties that are now running for parliament, according to Keneshbek Dushebayev, chairman of the Kyrgyz State National Security Service. "Bakiyev has provided huge amounts of money to finance parties representing their interests," Dushebayev told Interfax on Thursday. Dushebayev also said a car carrying a large amount of money intended for a Kyrgyz political party was recently intercepted. "The money, which was provided by the Bakiyevs through Kazakhstan, was brought to Kyrgyzstan and the social services seized the car. We seized $700,000 intended for a party to destabilize the situation before and during the elections," he said. (Interfax)

DISPUTES POSSIBLE AFTER KYRGYZ PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS – OFFICIAL
7 October
The Kyrgyz Central Elections Commission is ready for the parliamentary elections on October 10, chairman Akylbek Sariyev said on Thursday. "All is ready for the election, and technical and financial means have been allocated," he said. Kyrgyz authorities are trying to prevent the use of administrative resources, yet candidates may attempt pressure on election commissions. "Authorities want transparent and fair election. We shall see what we can do," he said. Twenty-nine out of 50 political parties registered in Kyrgyzstan are taking part in the election campaign. "The winner needs over 5% of votes nationwide, and no less than 0.5% of votes in every region," Sariyev said. Kyrgyzstan may have new elections if no party wins outright, he said. "Theoretically, that is possible," he said. "There is no mandatory turnout threshold, and the election will be valid regardless of the turnout," Sariyev said. As for the distribution of parliament seats between parties, Sariyev said, "that the election code norm will apply incase one party wins the election and has the right to all parliament seats." The existent constitution limits the rights of a victorious party to no more than 65 out of 120 parliament seats. The remaining 55 seats will be distributed proportionately between parties, which gain a sufficient number of votes. Sariyev did not rule out post-election discontent of certain parties. "If any questions are asked, they will be resolved in court," he said. (Interfax)

RUSSIA, PAKISTAN TO COOPERATE IN FIGHTING AFGHAN DRUG TRAFFICKING
7 October
The anti-drug agencies of Russia and Pakistan have signed a cooperation document, the Russian Federal Drug Control Service (FSKN) told Interfax on Thursday. The cooperation on cooperation in countering the illicit trafficking of narcotis, psychotropic substances and their precursors was signed during a visit by State Anti-drug Committee Chairman and FSKN Director Viktor Ivanov to the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. The agreement was signed by Ivanov, on the Russian part, and by State Minister of Narcotic Control Arbab Muhammad Zahir, on behalf of Pakistan. The signed document involves developing professional contacts, conducting joint operations to smash networks that traffic Afghan drugs, exchanging information and implementing staff training and professional development plans. The visit by the FSKN chief is part of an effort to fulfill Russian President Dmitry Medvedev's order to form an anti-drug coalition between Russia, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Tajikistan. Ivanov held talks with the Pakistani deputy defense and foreign ministers, the first deputy minister of narcotic control and a Pakistani representative from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. The parties discussed prospects for both regional and bilateral cooperation in countering illicit drug trafficking. The meetings also focused on Russia and Pakistan's measures to fight drug trafficking from Afghanistan. (Interfax)

VOICE OF AMERICA REPORTER ON TRIAL IN UZBEKISTAN
7 October
A journalist for a U.S.-funded radio station went on trial Thursday in Uzbekistan on charges including slander and posing a threat to public order, an Uzbek rights group said. Abdumalik Boboyev, an Uzbek journalist with U.S. government-funded Voice of America, is accused of insulting state officials and police through his reports. Other charges include illegal entry into the country, a charge that Boboyev's colleagues say stemmed from a clerical error with his passport. The U.S. and British ambassadors sought to attend the court hearing, but were denied entry, the Independent Human Rights Defenders Group said in a statement. Boboyev, 41, faces up to eight years in prison if found guilty of all the charges against him. The United States has expressed grave misgivings about the charges brought against Boboyev and urged Uzbekistan to stop the criminal prosecution of journalists. "Use of the criminal justice system to punish journalists for freely expressed views ... has a chilling effect on journalists throughout the country," Ian Kelly, the U.S. ambassador to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, said last month. VOA has spoken up in defense of Boboyev, who has been reporting for its Uzbek Service for more than five years. "Mr. Boboyev, like all VOA journalists, is required to present accurate and balanced reports, and he should not be penalized for doing his job," VOA director Danforth Austin said in a statement last month. Rights activists say that using charges such as defamation, slander and "insulting the nation's honor" have become favored methods of the Uzbek authorities for silencing critics and stifling independent reporting. Free media are virtually nonexistent in Uzbekistan, and independent journalists are routinely denied accreditation, putting them at further risk of prosecution. The Associated Press has been routinely denied accreditation by Uzbek authorities. Boboyev's trial echoes a similar case against a filmmaker who was convicted of slander earlier this year, and released on amnesty, after making a documentary on wedding rituals in the authoritarian former Soviet state. (RFE/RL)

BP INKS DEAL FOR DEEP AZERI WATERS
7 October
An agreement between BP and the State Oil Company of the Republic of Azerbaijan could lead to new discoveries in the Caspian region, a BP executive said. British energy company BP and SOCAR announced Thursday that they signed a production sharing agreement on joint exploration at the Shafag-Asiman development in the Azeri waters of the Caspian Sea. "We in BP very much hope that the combination of our leading technology and expertise with Azerbaijan's experience and potential will lead to new discoveries in the Caspian," BP Chief Executive Officer Bob Dudley said in a statement. BP has been unloading assets to cover expenses from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. BP remains steady in Azerbaijan, however, approving a $6 billion plan to increase oil production at the offshore Azeri-Chirag-Guneshli oil field early this year. The 30-year deal with SOCAR gives BP the operator role at the site with a 50 percent stake. The block outlined in the PSA is about 80 miles southeast of the Azeri capital Baku in roughly 2,100 feet of water. The reservoir depth is about 22,000 feet. Deep-water exploration is under fire in the wake of the Deepwater Horizon accident. The rig was drilling in 5,000 feet of water when a gas eruption triggered an explosion that sank the platform. (UPI)

Kazakh President replaces Health Minister
8 October
Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbaev has appointed Salidat Qayirbekova to replace hospitalized Health Minister Zhaqsylyq Dosqaliev, RFE/RL's Kazakh Service reports. Dosqaliev was hospitalized on September 27 with an apparent stroke after being interrogated by the police.  On September 29, a court in Astana refused to issue an arrest warrant for Dosqaliev due to his reported poor health. The financial police said last week that Dosqaliev, 54, may have faked a stroke to avoid being detained. On October 5, financial police spokesman Murat Zhumanbai told journalists that doctors treating Dosqaliev had confessed that they made a false diagnosis of a stroke at Dosqaliev's request. Zhumanbai told journalists that Dosqaliev is suspected of embezzlement, bribe taking, and the illegal sale of real estate. Qayirbekova, who was appointed by Nazarbaev on October 7, had served as Dosqaliev's deputy. (RFE/RL)

BAKU-TBILISI-CEYHAN PIPELINE PUMPS 2.4% MORE OIL IN JAN-SEPT
8 October
Azerbaijan pumped 27.964 million tonnes of oil through the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline in the first nine months of the year, 2.4% more than in January-September 2009, State Oil Company of the Azerbaijani Republic (SOCAR) told Interfax."In September, the BTC oil pipeline transported 3.139 million tonnes of Azerbaijani oil. In general, from the moment the pipeline was put into use [June 4, 2006] to October 1 this year - 134.501 million tonnes of oil," a SOCAR representative said. The oil terminal at Ceyhan shipped 27.892 million tonnes of Azerbaijani oil in January-September, including 2.975 million tonnes in September alone and 132.511 since shipments began on the pipeline. The BTC pipeline stretches 1,769 kilometers, with 443 km in Azerbaijan, 248 km in Georgia, and 1,078 km in Turkey. Throughput capacity is 50 million tonnes of oil per year. Project members are: BP (30.1%), SOCAR (25%), Chevron (8.9%), Statoil (8.71%), TPAO (6.53%), ENI (5%), Itochu (3.4%), ConocoPhillips (2.5%), INPEX (2.5%), Total (2.5%), and Amerada Hess (2.36%). (Interfax)

GEORGIA SAYS WILL NOT ABSTRACT RUSSIA FROM JOINING WTO
8 October
Georgia will not make attempts to block Russia's accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO), Georgian Prime Minster Nika Gilauri said in Washington on Thursday."The WTO is an organization that sets the rules of conduct. Russia's membership of the WTO could make Russia a more civilized country," Gilauri said at the Atlantic Council, an American think tank. Georgia will continue pressing for the end of occupation of its territories, but it will not link Russia's membership of the WTO to troop withdrawal from Abkhazia and South Ossetia, he said. The WTO rules require transparent customs and border checkpoints, he said, noting, however, that two of the three such checkpoints between Russia and Georgia "have no transparency." Georgia has been a member of the WTO since June 2000. On Georgia's membership of NATO, Gilauri said that this issue "remains on the table," but needs to be negotiated with many countries. "Most of Georgia's citizens want Georgia to be a member of NATO," he said. Gilauri announced that Georgia would take part in NATO's Lisbon summit next month. (Interfax)

PAKISTAN TO REOPEN KHYBER PASS BORDER CROSSING
9 October
Pakistan says it will reopen its key Khyber Pass border crossing that is used to ferry supplies to NATO and U.S. troops in Afghanistan "with immediate effect." The Foreign Ministry said in a statement today that authorities on both sides of the border were working "to ensure smooth resumption of the supply traffic." Pakistan closed the northwest crossing at Torkham on September 30, the same day a NATO air strike killed two Pakistani soldiers along the border. The closure had exposed stranded supply trucks in Pakistan to militant attacks that destroyed more than 100 vehicles this week. (RFE/RL)

IRANIAN DEFENSE MINISTER IN BAKU FOR SECURITY TALKS
11 October
Iranian Defense Minister Ahmad Vahidi arrived today in Baku on a two-day visit to discuss expanding bilateral military cooperation and regional security, RFE/RL's Azerbaijani Service reports. Vahidi told journalists at the Baku airport that his meetings with Azerbaijani officials will be beneficial for both countries and for the region. He said he will also discuss Caspian Sea-region security and stability issues with Azerbaijani officials. Azerbaijani Defense Minister Safar Abiyev told Vahidi that Baku wants stability in the region but that Armenia's aggression against Azerbaijan undermines regional security, the Defense Ministry's press service reported. "Some states have not recognized Armenia as an aggressor state. They render economic and military assistance to the aggressor while declaring Azerbaijan a friendly and brotherly country," Abiyev said. Iran has political and economic ties with both Armenia and Azerbaijan. Yerevan and Baku went to war from 1991-94 over the breakaway Azerbaijani region of Nagorno-Karabakh, which is controlled by ethnic Armenians. Some analysts say Iran wants to use the Qabala radar station, which Azerbaijan currently leases to Russia. Azerbaijani military expert Uzeyir Cafarov told RFE/RL that Iran is concerned with its own security. "Iran is concerned that U.S. soldiers could come to the region and create a threat to Iran. But Azerbaijan has its own interests, and the final decisions [regarding Qabala] will become known early next year," Cafarov said. Niyaz Yaqublu, who heads a Baku think tank, says Iran is taking diplomatic steps in the South Caucasus because it fears international sanctions. "But Iran has not changed its basic attitude toward Azerbaijan; this country's political existence and economic development are not advantageous for Iran," he said. Iranian President Mahmud Ahmedinejad and parliament speaker Ali Larijani -- who is on a visit to Armenia today -- are scheduled to visit Baku in November. Iran canceled its visa requirement for Azerbaijanis early this year, but Azerbaijan has not reciprocated as it fears an influx of migrants from Iran.  An estimated 15 to 25 percent of Iran's population of some 74 million people are ethnic Azeris. (RFE/RL)

IRAN WANTS S-300 MISSILE DEFENSE SYSTEMS
11 October
An Iranian parliamentarian called on his government to take legal action against Russia for failing to deliver the S-300 missile defense system to Iran. "According to the S-300 contract, our country should take legal action in accordance with the contents of the deal in a bid to restore the inalienable rights of the Islamic Republic of Iran," Kazzem Jalali, spokesman for the parliament's National Security and Foreign Policy Commission, told the Fars news agency. Certain powers out to harm ties between Tehran and Moscow are the reason Russia failed to deliver the S-300 air defense system, Iran's Defense Minister General Ahmad Vahidi told reporters Monday shortly after arriving in Azerbaijan for a visit. "The contract for purchasing S-300 systems does not violate laws or the international obligations of either party and this has been explicitly included in the aforementioned contract," he told Iran's Press TV. Russia should have delivered the missile defense system to Iran in 2008, two years before the United Nations Security Council passed resolution 1929 in June this year, ISNA, the Iranian students news agency, quoted the defense minister saying.  The $800 million contract signed in 2007 requires Russia to provide Iran with at least five S-300 systems, the Iranian television network said. (UPI)

KYRGYZ PARTY MEMBERS PROTEST ELECTION RESULTS
12 October
The United Kyrgyzstan party says it will hold nationwide protests to challenge the official results of last weekend's elections after it failed to clear the threshold to get into parliament, RFE/RL's Kyrgyz Service reports. Nurlan Shakiev, a member of United Kyrgyzstan's political council, told RFE/RL that party supporters have told party leaders that they plan protests across the country to "protect their voting rights." They did not specify a date for the protests. Central Election Commission Chairman Akylbek Sariev announced today that United Kyrgyzstan received 4.84 percent of the vote, just short of the 5 percent threshold. Shakiev claimed the commission first informed party leader Adakhan Madumarov that 142,000 votes represent 5 percent of the vote and United Kyrgyzstan officially received 145,455 votes. But earlier in the day, Sariev met with Madumarov and told him that 5 percent is actually 149,000 votes. United Kyrgyzstan members and supporters denounced the discrepancy as a "political game." Party supporters in southern Kyrgyzstan say they plan to block the Bishkek-Osh highway to protest the election results. Some 500 supporters of United Kyrgyzstan gathered in front of the CEC building in Bishkek where Sariev's office is located. More than 1,000 others have gathered in the central square in the southern city of Osh to protest the results. The parliamentary elections were praised by international observers and foreign governments for being free and fair. (RFE/RL)

5 bodies found after Afghanistan plane crash
13 October
Five charred bodies were recovered Wednesday from the wreckage of a cargo plane carrying NATO supplies that slammed into a mountaintop east of Afghanistan's capital with eight people aboard. Searchers scoured the blackened site high up the mountainside for three other crew members missing and feared dead, said police Gen. Zulmayi Horya Khail. The plane went down east of Kabul shortly after taking off Tuesday evening from Bagram Air Field, the main U.S. military base in Afghanistan. The cause of the crash wasn't immediately known. Weather conditions were clear at the time. Kabul Airport Director Mohammad Yaqub Rassuli said the aircraft was carrying supplies for NATO forces. Six Filipinos, one Indian and one Kenyan were aboard the flight. Rassuli said all eight were believed dead. Hundreds of Afghan security forces in fatigues carrying M-16 rifles gathered at the bottom of the mountain Wednesday. Smoke could be seen rising from the scattered wreckage. The plane, owned by United Arab Emirates-based TransAfrik, was under contract by the U.S.-based company National Air Cargo. "The company has confirmed that a TransAfrik L-100 aircraft flying from Bagram to Kabul went down shortly before 8 p.m.," National Air Cargo said in a statement. "Our thoughts and prayers go out to the crew and their families." The L-100 Hercules aircraft is the civilian equivalent of a military C-130 plane. NATO said in a statement the crash occurred about 16 miles east of Kabul International Airport. In May, a passenger plane operated by Pamir Airways, a private Afghan airline, crashed while traveling from Kunduz in northern Afghanistan to the capital. All 44 passengers on the plane died. Associated Press photographer Gemunu Amarasinghe, cameraman Ahmad Seir, and writer Robert Kennedy contributed to this report. (AP)

KYRGYZSTAN TO HAVE VOTE RECOUNT
13 October
Kyrgyzstan agreed to a formal recount of ballots from a weekend vote after one party fell just short of the 5 percent threshold for inclusion in a coalition. The election committee said preliminary results showed that the Kyrgyz nationalist party Ata-Jurt won the election with 8.88 percent of the vote. Four other parties passed the 5 percent threshold, meaning at least five parties will be represented in the 120-member parliament. Party leaders agreed to a recount after the Butun Kyrgyzstan party missed the 5 percent threshold by 1-10th of 1 percent, Russia's state-run news agency RIA Novosti reports. "The leaders of the five parties discussed the issue and agreed on a recount," the deputy leader of the Ar-Namys party, Akylbek Zhaparov, was quoted as saying. The elections came six months after supporters of Roza Otunbayeva rallied to remove Kurmanbek Bakiyev from power in an April coup. Otunbayeva won international praise when she passed a summer referendum that allowed votes to usher in a parliamentary republic in the former Soviet enclave. Otunbayeva serves as president, a relatively symbolic position, until next year. There were 29 parties that took part in the election that created a parliamentary republic. The new parliament is tasked with picking a new prime minister by a majority vote. (UPI)

AZERIS SET TO DOUBLE DEFENSE SPENDING
13 October
Oil-rich Azerbaijan hopes to nearly double its defense spending to $3.1 billion next year to boost its military capabilities, senior officials said. Azeri Finance Minister Samir Sharifov said the plans would increase the defense budget by 89.7 percent, explaining that roughly half of the amount would be spent directly on the purchase of state of the art military hardware while the rest would involve funding of special projects. He didn't elaborate. "Defense spending in 2011 will account for 19.7 percent compared with 10.7 percent in 2010, so the share of defense spending in the budget will almost double," he told lawmakers considering next year's draft budget. His remarks came as Azerbaijan continues to be embroiled in a conflict with Armenia over the rebel region of Nagorno-Karabakh and energy exports. A former Soviet republic, Azerbaijan had already nearly doubled defense spending in the previous two years to sustain its fight in the long-simmering conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh, which the country's President Ilham Aliyev has vowed to win back. Ethnic Armenian separatists backed by Yerevan seized control of the region during a war in the 1990s. An estimated 30,000 were left dead and 1 million displaced after a ceasefire in 1994. A peace accord though has never been signed and the region remains outside Azerbaijani control. Last month, the Azeri government approved a 2011 budget forecasting a growth of 3.8 percent, the country's slowest economic growth in a decade. The slump stems in the drop in oil prices. It remains unclear what hardware the Azeris are eyeing and from which countries. Ending an official visit to Azerbaijan, Iranian Defense Minister Ahmad Vahidi said Tehran was willing to help Azerbaijan bolster its military capabilities. He didn't elaborate but said the two countries were planning military war games in the Caspian Sea. By some accounts, Iran is bolstering its military ties with Caspian states in a bid to fortress its frontier from a potential attack. Analysts have indicated Tehran's interest in using the Gabala radar station which Azerbaijan already leases to Russia.  "Iran is concerned that U.S. soldiers could come to the region and create a threat to Iran," military expert Uzeyir Cafarov was quoted telling Radio Free Europe. "Azerbaijan however, has its own interests and the final decision will become known early next year." (UPI)

Russian MFA: Georgia’s Visa-Free Rules for North Caucasus is ‘Provocation’
14 October
Georgia’s unilateral decision to introduce visa-free rules for Russian citizens residing in seven North Caucasus republics is “a provocation” and an attempt “to destabilize” situation in the region, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement on October 14. President Saakashvili’s decree, according to which residents of North Caucasus republics can enter into Georgia and stay in the country without visa for 90 days, went into force from October 13. “An attempt to divide population of Russia on various categories contradicts norms of civilized inter-state communication. It is also clearly visible a link [of this decision] to Tbilisi’s drive to destabilize situation in North Caucasus and to distract attention from destructive policy of the Georgian leadership towards South Ossetia and Abkhazia,” the Russian Foreign Ministry said. “Russia is consistently advocating for friendly relations in the Caucasus, for securing normal, calm life, which Saakashvili tried to undermine by waging war in August, 2008. He cut diplomatic relations between Georgia and the Russian Federation and by doing so created obstacles in communication between our citizens. It was the Georgian side which was dragging out reopening of Kazbegi-Zemo Larsi border crossing point. And now, when it is reopened, the Georgian leadership has decided to find means to use this channel of communication for its unscrupulous goals.” Georgia said that visa-free entry rules for North Caucasus residents was part of its policy of “united Caucasus” outlined by President Saakashvili in his UN speech in September. Officials in Tbilisi also say that the decision is motivated by purely humanitarian purposes and aims at easing residents of the North Caucasus to easily access Georgia through Kazbegi-Zemo Larsi border crossing point, which was reopened in March but Georgian visas are not issued there. Visas are only available either in the Georgian interest section at the Swiss embassy in Moscow or upon arrival in Tbilisi airport. “Russia has no problems with Georgia, with the Georgian people,” the Russian Foreign Ministry said in the same statement. “We have problems with Saakashvili’s regime, which fails to calm down.” “It is clear that these convulsive actions [of Tbilisi] are aimed at searching new and new irritants, which are not in the interests of the Georgian people and which may only lead to additional problems for the Georgian people,” it said. (Civil Georgia)