Netherlands sends reduced Afghanistan mission, as Canada ends combat rule
7 July
The Dutch military is sending 160 soldiers to Afghanistan as part of its new, scaled-down mission to the country. The troops, mostly support staff for 225 military police trainers, will be deployed to the northern Konduz Province and will be under the protection of German troops. A total of 545 Dutch soldiers and police trainers will assist NATO in Afghanistan through 2014, a big step back from the Netherlands' previous commitment of 1,600 soldiers. The bulk of the troops was withdrawn last year after the Dutch government collapsed over whether to extend their deployment. Meanwhile, Canada ended its combat mission in Afghanistan today after nine years and the death of 157 men. The departure of nearly 3,000 troops comes as Western forces begin to announce gradual drawdowns of troops ahead of a full withdrawal in 2014. A separate Canadian training mission involving 950 troops will work in Kabul with Afghan security forces. (RFE/RL)gest

Afghanistan’s president’s brother assassinated
12 July
The assassination of Ahmad Wali Karzai, a brother of Afghanistan's President Hamid Karzai, in his hometown of Kandahar leaves a potentially dangerous power vacuum in the country’s restive south. Afghan officials say Karzai, who was head of the Kandahar Provincial Council, was shot dead on July 12 inside his home in the southern city. Local officials said the assassination was carried out by Sardar Muhammad, a close associate of the Karzai family. Muhammad was a long-serving former bodyguard of Ahmad Wali's older brother, Qayum, and a trusted man in the family. Some other reports, however, said Sardar Mohammad was a member of Ahmad Wali Karzai's own security detail. At a news conference the day of the killing, Kandahar Governor Tooryalai Wesa said Muhammad had been “misled” into carrying out the assassination. "The person who killed Ahmad Wali Karzai was very close to him," Wesa said. "He was going to his office most often. He has held police and military posts. He has been responsible for road and street security. No one ever thought that [Sardar Muhammad] would take such action. He knew [Ahmad Wali Karzai's] family. He was eating at the same table with Ahmad Wali Karzai's family. Yet it is unclear who misled him into this action. Unfortunately, it has happened. It is an irreparable and unforgivable incident." President Karzai confirmed his brother's assassination when he appeared at a joint press conference with visiting French President Nicolas Sarkozy, saying the killing reflected the sorrow of the Afghan people. "As you have already heard, my younger brother Ahmad Wali Karzai was martyred today at his home. This is the life of the Afghan people," he said. "In each household in Afghanistan, we have experienced such misery. We hope that the sufferings of the Afghan people come to an end, God willing, and that peace and a security prevail in our country so that no Afghan family ever again faces the pains and suffering we've all experienced." The president has traveled to Kandahar for the funeral. The Taliban have claimed responsibility for the assassination, calling it one of their "biggest achievements." A spokesman for the group told the AFP news agency that the Taliban had assigned a gunman to kill the powerful politician. However, officials say it remains unclear whether the killing was the result of a Taliban plot, an internal feud, or whether other motives existed. President Karzai has flown to Kandahar to attend his brother’s funeral, set for July 13. (RFE/RL)

Snow leopards found in Afghanistan
15 July
Endangered snow leopards have been spotted in one of the more peaceful areas of Afghanistan.  The World Conservation Society said the usually solitary animals have been tracked across the Wakhan Corridor, in the northeast of the country where militant activity is low. Listed as globally threatened, only some 4,500 to 7,500 snow leopards exist, scattered across a dozen nations in the high mountain ranges of Central Asia. The cats are poached for their pelts and killed by shepherds guarding their flocks from the potential predators.  "This is a wonderful discovery. It shows that there is real  hope for snow leopards in Afghanistan. Now our goal is to  ensure that these magnificent animals have a secure future as  part of Afghanistan's natural heritage," Peter Zahler, the  World Conservation Society's deputy Asia director, said in a  statement. The World Conservation Society has been working in the Wakhan Corridor since 2006 to preserve wildlife like the Marco Polo sheep and the ibex.  In tandem with the U.S. government's aid arm, USAID, the World Conservation Society says it works with all schools in Wakham to teach conservation.  It says it has also trained 59 rangers to monitor wildlife.  The New York-based group has also started a scheme to compensate shepherds for livestock lost to predators. (RFE/RL)

Employer denies Kazakh oil worker strike
20 July
European parliamentary member Paul Murphy currently in Kazakhstan, is claiming that 4,000 oil workers in Zhanaozen in Kazakhstan's Mangistau Region are on strike. However, the Razvedka i Dobycha KazMunaiGaz joint-stock company, which operates the oil company in question, denies the assertions, Almaty's Interfax-Kazakhstan news agency reported this week. A release from Razvedka i Dobycha KazMunaiGaz claims that Murphy's statement "does not conform to reality." The company said 850 people didn't report to work Monday but that the staff at the site is 9,180 people. Murphy, on his Web site, said the Kazakh national press agency issued a news release that was "an attempt to undermine the purpose of my visit." Murphy said he was in the area taking part in "GUE / NGL (European United Left/Nordic Green Left Group) delegation to Kazakhstan to meet with trade unionists, community activists, striking workers, opposition parties and human rights organizations." The dispute has the potential to escalate, as Murphy's Web site released a statement noting, "The European Parliament today reiterated its support for Murphy's statements on the situation in the country in light of false claims from the Kazakhstan national press agency that he is there only in a personal capacity." Since 1991 the development of Kazakhstan's hydrocarbon resources has been Central Asia's biggest success story. In the past two decades, since the 1991 implosion of the Soviet Union, Kazakhstan has attracted more than $120 billion in foreign direct investment, with nearly all of the funding going into developing Kazakhstan's energy industry. That industry sector had been largely overlooked in the 1970s as western Siberia's massive oil reserves came online. Of the 15 former Soviet republics, Kazakhstan is sitting on the sole "superfield" discovered in the last three decades, with its Kashagan offshore Caspian super-field, the largest oil field outside the Middle East. In terms of reserves, the Kashagan field is fifth largest in the world, with recoverable reserves estimated at 9 billion-16 billion barrels. When fully developed, Kashagan will have a projected peak production of 1.3 million barrels per day. But labor disputes have been rising in the Kazakh energy industry over the past several years, with many workers complaining that they are paid a fraction of their Western colleagues' salaries. The Zhanaozen dispute is potentially the tip of the iceberg in terms of labor disputes in Kazakhstan's most profitable industry. (UPI)

One Georgian Survives, Another Missing in Norway Attack

23 July

Georgian girl is among survivors and another girl from Georgia is missing after at least 84 people were shot dead by a gunman disguised as a policeman at a youth summer camp on Norway's island of Utøya. Natia Chkhetiani, who survived in the attack, told Georgia's Rustavi 2 TV by phone from Oslo late on Saturday, that last time she saw her friend, Tamta Liparteliani, was shortly before the shooting began. The two are members of the movement, Young Socialists of Georgia [1], and were among around 700 participants of the summer camp on island of Utøya organized by the youth wing of the Norway's ruling Labor Party. Natia Chkhetiani said that after the shooting started she saw some young people jumping into water to escape hail of bullets; she said she also wanted to jump into water, but changed her mind after seeing how one boy was hit by bullet after jumping into water. She said she was hiding from one place to another mainly , along the rocky shore of the island. Chkhetiani also said that after the police boats arrived, she and some others hiding with her were still afraid to come out of hiding as the attacker himself was in the police uniform. The Georgian embassy in Denmark, which covers Norway, said it was in contact with the Norwegian police trying to find out the fate of another Georgian girl. President Saakashvili said in a letter of condolence to Norway's Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg, that "this terrible atrocity once again reminds us that terrorism remains one of the main common challenges of the world today". "For its solution, we have to strengthen our common efforts in order to ensure peace and stability in the world", Saakashvili the letter says. (Civil Georgia)

Tajikistan says escaped militants killed, captured

26 July

Security forces in Tajikistan killed one Islamist militant who escaped prison nearly a year ago, and recaptured another, the Interior Ministry said on Tuesday, leaving only two of the 25 escapees on the run. The ministry said in a statement that one of its servicemen was also killed and two wounded in a gunfight with the militants on Monday, 250 km (155 miles) east of the capital Dushanbe. Tajikistan, the poorest of the 15 former Soviet republics, shares a 1,340-km (840-mile) border with Afghanistan and has been fighting a group of insurgents in the country's east since the jailbreak in August 2010. The Central Asian state of 7.5 million people, where tens of thousands were killed in a 1992-97 civil war, is viewed with concern by Russia and the United States because of its location on a drug trafficking route out of Afghanistan. Authorities say the 25 prisoners who escaped last year included the organisers of an alleged coup plot. President Imomali Rakhmon fired almost the entire leadership of his security services after the jailbreak. Sixteen of the fugitives have now been recaptured and a further seven killed, authorities say.

Underlining the fragile peace in the mountainous republic, Interior Minister Abdurahim Kakharov said last week that a rebel commander who terrorised Dushanbe during the civil war might launch attacks to support a growing insurgency. A militant group linked to al Qaeda claimed responsibility for an ambush on a military convoy last September that killed 28 government troops. (Reuters)

Abkhaz Candidates Sign 'Clean and Fair Election' Pledge

27 July

With cordial smiles and vigorous handshakes three candidates running in the early presidential elections in breakaway Abkhazia signed on July 27 a joint agreement for “clean and fair election”, pledging not to use “dirty tricks” against each other during the campaign. Acting president of the breakaway region Alexander Ankvab; prime minister Sergey Shamba and former vice president Raul Khajimba signed the agreement upon the initiative of Forum of People’s Unity of Abkhazia, an opposition party supporting Khajimba in the election, Abkhaz news agency, Apsnipress, reported. Text of the agreement reads that the candidates vow “to act only in line with the state interests of the Republic of Abkhazia and its people; not to allow undermining legitimacy and actual results of the election”; to conduct “open and fair” campaign and “to be open for any questions asked by voters and journalists.” (Civil Georgia)

Switzerland talks Azerbaijani WTO membership

1 August

Azerbaijan's membership in the World Trade Organization has been discussed today in Switzerland. A delegation consisting of representatives of the Economic Development Ministry, Industry and Energy Ministry, Agriculture Ministry and State Customs Committee under the leadership of Deputy Foreign Minister Mahmud Mammadguliyev visited Switzerland. During the visit, the delegation held bilateral talks on Azerbaijan's membership in the WTO with the EU, Ecuador, Switzerland, Brazil and China. The consultations have been held with the UN Conference on Trade and Development. The discussions have been held with the International Centre for Trade and Sustainable Development of Cooperation in Switzerland. The head of the Azerbaijani delegation held bilateral meetings with the heads of missions of UN member-states accredited in Switzerland. (Trend)

Uzbekistan 'halts mobile Internet, SMS' for exam day

2 August

Mobile operators in Uzbekistan suspended Internet and messaging services for the duration of nationwide university entrance exams Tuesday in an apparent bid to prevent cheating, a report said. Five national mobile operators shut down mobile Internet and text and picture messaging for four hours from 9:00 am (0400 GMT), citing "urgent maintenance work on telecommunications networks," gazeta.uz reported. Voice services were not affected, the website said. The restrictions affected not just those taking tests, but all of the country's estimated 19 million mobile phone users. "Restrictions on additional services are introduced by mobile operators in Uzbekistan every year on the day of admission test exams," the Russian-language website said. Reports suggested that authorities feared students may use mobile Internet and text-messaging to cheat on their exams. Police conduct a thorough search for phones and cheat sheets before students enter a university building. Uzbekistan is a former Soviet republic, the most populous in Central Asia with a population of 28 million people. (AFP)

Four guards reported killed in North Afghanistan attacks
2 August
Police have said that three suicide bombers attacked a guesthouse frequented by foreigners in the northern Afghan city of Konduz on August 2, killing four Afghan security guards. A Konduz police official, Abdul Rahman, said one attacker detonated a car bomb at the gates of the guesthouse while the other two stormed the building where they fought Afghan forces for a couple of hours before detonating their explosives. Ten people, including civilians and an Afghan police officer were wounded in the explosions and fighting. It was not immediately clear whether there were any foreigners among the injured. Police said that German aid workers often stayed in the guesthouse. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack. The incident is the latest in what appears to be a rising number of violent attacks in northern Afghanistan, which has previously been seen as more secure than the south and east of the country. (RFE/RL)

Co-Chairman: Some forces want to split World Azerbaijanis Congress

3 August

Some forces want to split and weaken the World Azerbaijanis Congress (WAC), the Congress co-chairman Sabir Rustamkhanli [2] said at a news conference on Wednesday. He said Saftar Rahimli, removed from his office in the WAC, now gathered several people around him and says that he removed f the Congress leadership from office. Given that these individuals do not have this right because two of seven board members of the WAC, whom he gathered around him, were dismissed from their posts at a board meeting. "The WAC has its charter, and all its activity is regulated by this charter," Rustamkhanli said. He underlined that due to the fact that WAC representation in Azerbaijan did not pass state registration and was not able to carry out any legal activity, it was eliminated. And the head of WAC representation in Azerbaijan Saftar Rahimli was planned to transfer to another post in Congress.

"As soon as Saftar Rahimli heard about the elimination of the WAC representation in Azerbaijan, he immediately made a stink in press and started the separatist activity," Rustamkhanli said. He said those dismissed from their posts in Congress have repeatedly stated that they were allegedly supporters of the unity of the WAC. With such statements these people want to deceive the public. Rustamkhanli also commented on some media statements about misappropriation of money from the Congress’s budget. "Those who seek to split the WAC, spreads press reports that I allegedly squandered the Congress’s funds. I want to stress that the WAC have never had any financial accounts in any bank. We are collecting funds on our accounts and on accounts of our friends only for holding conferences. A financial report on expenditure of these funds is always made at the end of the congresses," Rustamkhanli said. (Trend)

Tajikistan bans youth from mosques

4 August

Tajikistan on Wednesday banned all children and teenagers from worshipping in mosques as the volatile Central Asian republic pressed ahead with its battle against rising Islamic fundamentalism. President Emomali Rakhmon signed the measure into law after it was unanimously adopted by the upper house of parliament last month, local news reports said. The law bans those under the age of 18 from praying in churches or mosques and requires them to study in secular schools, Aziya-Plus news agency said. The authorities said the change would help stem the spread of religious fundamentalism in the overwhelmingly Muslim but secular nation. But the bill's passage was strongly condemned by religious groups. "The ban to attend mosques will give rise to the negative reaction among the people," prominent Muslim theologian and former deputy prime minister Akbar Turadzhonzoda said in an open letter to the president. Other religious leaders noted that Rakhmon signed the law in the beginning of the holy month of Ramadan -- a period of fasting and prayer for Muslims. The president also approved separate changes to the criminal code that make "active participation" in an unauthorised rally into an offence punishable by up to five years in prison. Those found guilty of providing "illegal religious education" to young people can now be put behind bars for up to 12 years. The impoverished ex-Soviet state shares a 1,340-kilometre (840-mile) border with Afghanistan and has previously accused religious groups of stoking unrest in a bid to impose Islamic rule. Rakhmon last year recalled Tajik students studying abroad after accusing foreign institutions of taking steps to "prepare terrorists". (AFP)

Azerbaijan ready to support Nabucco

4 August

Azerbaijan can serve not only as a potential transit country but a gas supplier to the proposed Nabucco pipeline for Europe, the country's energy minister said. The Nabucco project consortium in Vienna aims to get some natural gas to fill the pipeline with non-Russian suppliers such as Azerbaijan. In May, however, it was announced that construction was delayed by one year to 2013 and gas deliveries weren't expected until 2017 because of supplier timelines. Europe is trying to break the Russian grip on the regional energy sector through a series of transit networks in the so-called Southern Corridor, which includes the Nabucco natural gas pipeline. Baku is at the center of a regional energy race spurred by 2009 disputes between Russia and Ukraine, which hosts 80 percent of the Russian natural gas sent to European consumers. Azeri Minister of Industry and Energy Natiq Aliyev said his country was backing the Nabucco project. "As part of this project, Azerbaijan can serve as a transit country, as well as a gas supplier, as the project is seen as a priority in light of the diversification of gas supplies," he was quoted by news agency News.Az as saying. Azerbaijan has more than 50 trillion cubic feet of natural gas in its Shah Deniz gas field in the Caspian Sea. (UPI)

Turkmen President receives Tajik FM

4 August

Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov [3] received Tajik Foreign Minister Khamrokhon Zarifi on Aug. 3, the press-service of the Turkmen government said. The text states that Tajik President Emomali Rahmon [4] wished happiness, peace and welfare to the Turkmen counterpart and Turkmen people. "Tajikistan attaches great importance to developing the full cooperation with fraternal Turkmenistan," the message said. President Berdimuhamedov said that Turkmen people always valued the relations with its neighbors. The sides exchanged views on the entire range of the interstate cooperation and cooperation in all important areas, especially in economy, trade, energy, transport and communication. On the eve of Zarifi [5]'s visit, Tajik media wrote that Dushanbe wants to increase the supply of oil products to the country from Turkmenistan. The country depends on the imports from Russia in this area. Russia increased the export fees several times and it led to a jump in prices in the domestic food market. (Trend)