Karzai pardons imprisoned afghan rape victim
1 December
Afghan President Hamid Karzai has pardoned an Afghan woman serving a 12-year prison sentence for adultery after being a victim of rape. Karzai's office released a statement saying the woman and her attacker agreed to marry.
The Associated Press reports that would reverse an earlier decision by the woman, who had previously refused a judge's offer of freedom if she agreed to wed the rapist. It is not clear how long the woman has been in jail. The BBC reports that her child had been serving her sentence with her. Rights groups say hundreds of women jailed in Afghanistan are victims of rape and/or domestic violence. (RFE/RL)
Azerbaijan has issues with Nabucco
1 December
There are "unresolved issues" regarding the planned Nabucco natural gas pipeline for Europe, an executive at an Azeri energy company said. Europe aims to break the Russian grip on the regional energy sector through a package of projects dubbed the Southern Corridor, which includes the much-lauded Nabucco pipeline. Vagif Aliyev, an investment official at the State Oil Co. of Azerbaijan, was quoted by the Azeri Press Agency as saying there were concerns about Nabucco. "There are unresolved issues with the Nabucco project," he said. He declined to specify which issues he had with the project, though his country might not be able to fill Nabucco completely with gas from its giant Shah Deniz [1] 2 field in the Caspian Sea. Nabucco has faced economic obstacles and hasn't received firm commitments from natural gas suppliers to allay critics. Azerbaijan is weighing proposals for resources from its Shah Deniz 2 gas field from pipeline groups involved in the Southern Corridor. Of those, the Nabucco pipeline would be the most ambitious and carry the largest volume of natural gas at an estimated 1 trillion cubic feet per year. Shah Deniz couldn't support Nabucco by itself, however. (UPI)
Kyrgyzstan swears in new president
1 December
Kyrgyzstan inaugurated a new president Thursday in the first peaceful transition of power in the former Soviet Central Asian nation. Speaking after his swearing-in, Almazbek Atambayev sounded a note of ethnic harmony and called on all political camps to unite to assure Kyrgyzstan's future prosperity. Authorities hope the inauguration will usher in an era of stability, which has eluded the country since the April 2010 overthrow of former President Kurmanbek Bakiyev. A few months after Bakiyev's ouster, ethnic violence between Kyrgyz and Uzbek communities wracked the country's south and left hundreds dead. Kyrgyzstan's fate is of interest to both Russia and the United States. The Central Asian country hosts a U.S. air base crucial to operations in Afghanistan and has been the focus of competition between Washington and Moscow for regional influence. Russia also controls an air base outside the capital. The first two presidents to lead the country after independence in 1991 were overthrown in public uprisings. Outgoing President Roza Otunbayeva, who wrested power from Bakiyev, earned international plaudits for agreeing to relinquish power. Atambayev won more than 60 percent of votes in October's presidential election, easily pushing aside nationalist rivals. He spoke in both Kyrgyz and Russian during an inauguration speech tailored to forging national cohesion. The southern city of Osh is still reeling from a wave of ethnic clashes in June 2010 that left almost 500 people dead. The Uzbek minority, which suffered the heaviest losses in the violence, has seen its role in the local economy relentlessly stamped out and complains of enduring discrimination. Speaking in Russian, Atambayev said Kyrgyzstan could only remain whole by fostering unity. He called for the end of Soviet-era practice of including ethnic affiliation in passports. (AP)
Azerbaijan eyes further Iran ties
1 December
A senior Azeri military official has expressed Azerbaijan's enthusiasm to develop ties with the Islamic Republic of Iran in different spheres of collaboration. Azerbaijan's military attaché in Iran, Mehman Suleymanov, made the remarks in a Thursday interview with IRNA. Commenting on the recent visit of Iran's Defense Minister Brigadier General Ahmad Vahidi to Azerbaijan, Suleymanov said that such annual visits constitute “a step towards promoting bilateral relations, especially in the defense sector.” Brigadier General Vahidi paid a working visit to the Azeri capital of Baku on October 23 and held talks with the country's President Ilham Aliyev and Defense Minister General Sefer Abiyev on issues of mutual interest including the ways to settle the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
Suleymanov also hailed the cordial relations between Tehran and Baku, noting that a joint meeting of the foreign ministers of Iran, Turkey, and Azerbaijan will be held in the Azeri border town of Nakhjavan in the near future.
He also announced a planned visit by the Azeri defense minister to Iran early next year to exchange views with his Iranian counterpart. (Press TV)
Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan members detained in Moscow
3 December
Officials from the Russian Interior Ministry extremism department in Moscow have detained members of an Islamic party who might have been preparing a terrorist attack, the department press service reported on Saturday. The operation was conducted based on a tip that a cell of the international terrorist organization Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU) existed in Moscow, it said. The detainees are suspected of involvement in drug trafficking, proceeds from which were financing terrorist activities, it said. The men lived in Moscow and the Moscow region and strictly followed secrecy precautions. They did not have IDs and registration documents when they were detained. (Interfax)
Russia killed 300 militants in North Caucasus in 2011
3 December
Russian interior forces have eliminated over 300 militants in the Northern Caucasus regions in 2011, the government said Friday. As per a report presented by ministry official Army General Nikolai Rogozhkin, the forces also destroyed 366 hideouts of the militants, seized 1,400 firearms, 17,000 pieces of ammunition and 500 kg of explosives, Xinhua reported. He also noted that the interior troops of Russia have reached the planned size of 170,000 in 2011, 40 percent of them are equipped with modern arms. Militants frequently launch attacks against police officials and authorities in the country's North Caucasus republics of Chechnya, Dagestan and Ingushetia. The North Caucasus is the northern part of the Caucasus region between the Black and Caspian Seas and within European Russia. The term is also used as a synonym for the North Caucasus economic region of Russia. (Indo Asian News Service/IANS)
Kazakhstan: 5 militants, 2 troops die in clash
4 December
A clash outside Kazakhstan's commercial capital has left five militants and two government troops dead, prosecutors said Sunday, violence that could unnerve authorities trying to contain a surge in Islamist and other militant activity in the Central Asian nation. The fighting occurred as security services in Boraldai village cornered suspects wanted in the murder last month of two policemen in nearby Almaty, the Prosecutor General said in a statement. Authorities did not name the targeted group or give its affilation, but said it was armed and planning attacks in Almaty. The clash fits into a broader pattern of Islamist-related violence in which more than 30 people have been killed this year in Kazakhstan, an oil-rich, mainly Muslim nation of 17 million along Russia's southern border. The ex-Soviet state had been largely untouched by Islamist violence since gaining independence in 1991. But the killing of two police officers in western Kazakhstan in June was linked by authorities to indigenous terrorist groups. In November, a radical Islamist killed seven people, including five law enforcement officers, in a rampage in the southern city of Taraz. That prompted security operations in which two more police officers and nine suspected militants were killed. Authorities have responded to the wave of violence by passing a law that tightens registration rules for religious groups. Supporters of the bill said it would help combat religious extremism. The law marked a reversal of President Nursultan Nazarbayev's earlier attempts to cast Kazakhstan as a land of religious tolerance. Some argue the legislation may further marginalize and radicalize devout Muslims. (AP)
Uzbekistan to change presidential terms back to five year
5 December
Uzbekistan's Senate, the upper house of parliament, has adopted a bill that would change the term in office for a president back to five years instead of the current seven-year term. A national referendum in January 2002 approved changing the presidential term to seven years. Incumbent President Islam Karimov has been elected once since then in 2007. There are suspicions that Karimov, who proposed this change back to a five-year term, may use the amendment to seek two more terms in office. Uzbekistan's constitution says a president may only serve two terms in office. Karimov, 73, has been elected three times, twice extending his term in office through referendums. Other Central Asian presidents have used constitutional changes to justify seeking what could be anti-constitutional third or fourth terms, by claiming the amendments meant previous terms did not count. The lower house of parliament already passed the amendment, which now only needs Karimov's signature. (RFE/RL)
Uzbek Parliament approves amnesty bill
5 December
The Senate of Uzbekistan has approved an amnesty to mark the 19th anniversary of the Uzbek constitution."The amnesty bill is an act of humanism and another proof of the continuous juridical reform," Chairperson of the Senate Committee for Legislation and Justice Svetlana Artykova said at the Senate plenary meeting on Monday. She stressed that convicts who did not present a danger to the public would be amnestied in the first turn. These include women, minors, men older than 60 and foreign citizens. The amnesty will also apply to persons convicted of taking part in terrorist organizations without committing any felonies. The amnesty bill will enter into force on the day it is published by the official media and will be fulfilled within three months. The Senate was given the right to issue amnesty bills by the president's proposal when the republic formed a two-chamber parliament in 2005. Before that, the amnesty was an exclusive prerogative of the president. The first amnesty bill approved by the Senate marked the 13th anniversary of the Uzbek constitution in 2005. (Interfax)
Kazakhstan Launches Almaty Metro
6 December
Kazakhstan launched the first metro system built in Central Asia since the collapse of the Soviet Union, a $1.1 billion project in its earthquake-prone commercial capital Almaty. President Nursultan Nazarbayev [2], who has run his vast steppe country since before independence 20 years ago, was among the first to ride the underground line across the center of Kazakhstan's largest city, home to 1.5 million people. "The stations are a work of art," he told construction workers and reporters inside the marble and granite-clad metro at the opening late last week. "All safety measures have been taken here against any earthquakes and other emergencies," he added. A powerful earthquake almost obliterated the city — then called Verny — in 1887 and a strong, 5.4-magnitute earthquake rocked Almaty's houses and shook windows in May this year, leaving no damage or casualties.
Nazarbayev, who brooks no opposition in his oil-producing nation of 16.6 million, has put in place market reforms that have helped Kazakhstan's economy become the largest in Central Asia. Construction of the metro was funded wholly by the state. The Almaty metro project began in 1988 on the orders of the Kremlin, when the population of Kazakhstan's then-capital surpassed the 1 million threshold that demanded a Soviet city be awarded an underground system. The collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 halted work, leaving the metro in Tashkent, capital of next-door Uzbekistan, as the only underground rapid-transit system in vast and resource-rich Central Asia. After being frozen throughout most of the 1990s, the project resumed in stages during the last decade. The 8.6-kilometer first line has seven stations, reinforced by pillars and roof supports to withstand earthquake tremors. (Reuters)
Armenian, AzerBAIJANi presidents ready to meet to discuss Karabakh –ministry
6 December
Yerevan and Baku have stated they are ready to hold another high-level meeting as part of efforts to resolve the Karabakh problem, the Russian Foreign Ministry said. Following the meeting of the OSCE (Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe) Ministerial Council in Vilnius, the heads of the delegations from the countries co-chairing the OSCE Minsk Group, as well as the Azeri and Armenian foreign ministers issued a joint statement confirming the importance of resolving the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict peacefully, the Russian Foreign Ministry said. "They [the Azeri and Armenian foreign ministers] informed the heads of the delegations from the [OSCE Minsk Group] co-chairing countries that given the recent experience, their presidents are ready to meet again under the auspices of the co-chairing countries in the very near future to continue their direct dialog on ways of providing peace, stability and prosperity for their nations," the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a document posted on its website. "The five heads of delegations [Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, French European Affairs Minister Jean Leonetti, as well as the Azeri and Armenian Foreign Ministers, Elmar Mamadyarov and Eduard Nalbandian, respectively], citing the Moscow Declaration passed in November 2008, as well as the statements made by their countries at the OSCE Ministerial Council meetings in Helsinki (2008) and in Athenes (2010) agreed with the need to continue the negotiating process in the OSCE Minsk Group format and to improve the atmosphere for advancement towards peaceful resolution," the ministry said. Besides, the heads of the delegations "agreed that as one of the steps in this direction, further efforts should be made to work out the mechanism of investigating cease-fire violations, which is a result of a joint statement issued by the presidents of Azerbaijan, Armenia and Russia at a summit in Sochi in March 2011," the ministry said. Having recalled the statement made by their presidents in Deauville in May 2011, urging Armenia and Azerbaijan to finish their work on basic principles of peaceful resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, the heads of the delegations from the Minsk Group countries expressed their regret over the sides' failure to make this decisive step, the Russian Foreign Ministry said. (RFE/RL)
TURKMENISTAN PRESIDENT ON THREE-DAY STATE VISIT TO MALAYSIA
6 December
Turkmenistan President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov is on a maiden three-day state visit to Malaysia, beginning today. The visit is aimed at enhancing bilateral relations between the two countries. Berdimuhamedov, accompanied by Vice-Premier and Foreign Minister Rashid Meredov and senior government officials, will have a royal audience with Yang di-Pertuan Agong Tuanku Mizan Zainal Abidin. He will also be attending a delegation meeting to discuss bilateral, regional and international issues of mutual concern to both countries, said a press statement issued by the foreign ministry here today. While here, Berdimuhamedov will also visit the Petronas Twin Towers and be conferred an honorary doctorate by the University Technology Petronas. In terms of trade relations, Turkmenistan is Malaysia''s third largest trading partner in the Central Asian region. (Bernama Media)
U.S. ambassador: Azerbaijan very important partner of U.S in terms of transportation to Afghanistan
8 December
Azerbaijan is very important partner of the U.S. and NATO allies in terms of transportation to Afghanistan, the U.S. ambassador to Azerbaijan Matthew Bryza said at the meeting with the Peace Corps representative in Baku on Thursday. "This transportation link is helping Azerbaijan become a regional hub of cargo," Bryza underscored.
According to Bryza, the U.S. has developed a very fruitful program of cooperation with the Azerbaijani government to support Azerbaijan's own efforts to protect the energy infrastructure in the Caspian Sea. "Azerbaijan is fully capable to protect itself. It does not need a help of basic protection. But our countries need to get prepared for unpredictable risks," he said. At the same time Bryza said that next week General William Fraser, who is in charge of our transportation, is coming to Azerbaijan. (Trend)
Lavrov Slams NATO for calling Georgia “aspirant”
8 December
Russia’s Foreign Minister, Sergey Lavrov, criticized NATO foreign ministers for naming Georgia in their joint communiqué among the “aspirant” countries. The final statement of NATO foreign ministerial meeting, held in Brussels on December 7, reads: “We applaud the significant operational support provided to NATO by our aspirant partners the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Georgia.” Speaking at a news conference in Brussels after the NATO-Russia Council on December 8, Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that he had “openly warned” his counterparts from the Alliance that such statements might serve as an encouragement for President Saakashvili to undertake “an adventure similar to the one of August, 2008.” “I noticed that yesterday’s communiqué, which was adopted by the NATO foreign ministers, contains a term ‘aspirant countries’ and among them was named Georgia too. I openly warned our colleagues not to again push, wittingly or unwittingly, the current regime in Georgia towards repeating an adventure similar to the one of August, 2008… it was shortly after the [April, 2008 NATO] Bucharest summit, during which [NATO] imperatively stated, that Georgia will join NATO,” Lavrov said. “I have not the slightest doubt, taking into account Saakashvili’s psyche, that it [NATO Bucharest summit decision] played an important role in insane and reckless decision which Saakashvili took. So I expressed hope that the NATO will take a responsible approach towards encouraging such events that took place in 2008 in the region, which is strategic not only for the South Caucasus states, but for the Russian Federation too – our close allies and neighbors are living there. I hope I’ve been heard [by NATO],” the Russian Foreign Minister added. Giorgi Baramidze, the Georgian state minister for Euro-Atlantic integration issues, welcomed the wording of the communiqué, saying it was “the first time when Georgia was named in an official NATO document in a status of NATO membership candidate country.” Georgian Foreign Minister, Grigol Vashadze, said in a televised comments from Brussels on December 8, it was natural that the NATO foreign ministers’ statement “triggered Russia’s terrible irritation”, which, he said, was reflected in the remarks of his Russian counterpart. (Civil Georgia)
Supply trucks set alight at NATO terminal in Pakistan
9 December
Pakistani police say as many as 20 trucks were ablaze after a rocket attack on a NATO trucking terminal in the southwestern city of Quetta in Baluchistan Province. Senior police official Malik Arshad said unknown gunmen fired bullets and a rocket at the NATO oil tankers and the ensuing blaze engulfed 15 to 20 vehicles. No group has so far claimed responsibility for the attack, but the Taliban have in the past said they carried out similar attacks to disrupt supplies for the more than 130,000 U.S.-led international troops fighting in Afghanistan. There were no immediate reports of casualties. Most supplies and equipment required by foreign forces in Afghanistan are usually shipped through Pakistan, although U.S. troops increasingly use alternative routes through Central Asia. (RFE/RL)
Kazakhoil Aktobe commissions gas refinery
9 December
Kazakhoil Aktobe JSC has put into production gas refining facilities at the Alibekmola and Kozhasai oilfields. Aktobe Region Mayor Archimed Muhambetov presented the project at the national teleconference. The project cost was 41.7 billion tenge (147.64/$1). The project of the gas-processing complex consists of an associated gas processing plant at the Alibekmola oilfield and a gas treatment plant at the Kozhasai oilfield (both are located in the Aktobe region, western Kazakhstan). The implementation of the project will allow the company to process 400 million cubic meters of associated gas and produce 320 million cubic meters of dry commercial gas and 57,000 tons of liquefied gas (propane/butane mix) per year. The gas will be sold both on the domestic market and abroad. The gas refining complex project, the largest in the company's history, will fully resolve gas utilization problem. The shareholders of Kazakhoil Aktobe are national company KazMunayGas and Caspian Investments Resources Ltd. (controlled by Lukoil Overseas and Mittal Investments). The company has been developing the Alibekmola and Kozhasai oilfields since 1999. (Interfax)
Kokoity quits
10 December
Eduard Kokoity, who has ruled Georgia’s breakaway South Ossetia since late 2001, announced on Saturday about quitting the post as part of a deal with opposition. Kokoity, who intended to stay in power at least till repeat presidential election set for March 25, 2012, said: “I am quitting in order to work even more for my people.”
He also said, according to the Russian news agencies, that the authorities managed to prevail over “orange revolution” – Kokoity was describing to opposition’s street protest rallies, which were ongoing in Tskhinvali since annulment of the November 27 presidential runoff results, as an attempt to stage “the orange revolution”. Earlier on Saturday he addressed a governing body of his ruling Unity party, which he chairs. Kokoity said that the party should “analyze mistakes” and it should play a leading role in the upcoming repeat presidential election. “It is the merit of the party that it prevented criminal elements from coming into power,” Kokoity said. Kokoity and Alla Jioyeva, an opposition candidate whose victory in the November 27 presidential runoff over the Kremlin-backed candidate Anatoly Bibilov was annulled, signed in presence of a Kremlin official in Tskhinvali an agreement to put an end to the post-election crisis. According to the deal PM Vadim Brovtsev, not a native of South Ossetia who was sent into the breakaway region from Russia to lead its government in summer, 2009, will assume duties of an interim leader before the inauguration of a new leader, elected in the March polls. Some of Kokoity’s key allies, including chief prosecutor, his deputy and chairman of supreme court, have also resigned as part of the deal. (Civil Georgia)
Karzai says death toll from ashura bombing now at 80
11 December
fghan President Hamid Karzai says the death toll from bomb attacks on Shi'ite Muslim ceremonies last week is far higher than previously reported. Speaking today in Kabul, Karzai said he had received fresh statistics indicating that 80 people were killed in the attacks targeting Shi'a during commemorations of the Ashura holiday on December 6. It had previously been reported that a total of 59 people had died in three different bombings in Kabul, Mazar-e Sharif, and Kandahar, the vast majority of them in Kabul. It was not clear if the new toll is only in reference to Kabul or includes the other two incidents. Karzai has blamed the Pakistan-based militant group Lashkar-e-Jhangvi for the attacks. (RFE/RL)
Kazakh opposition activity noticeable only on Internet –presidential advisor
12 December
The Kazakh opposition is divided and cannot unite, Presidential Political Advisor Yermukhamet Yertysbayev said in the Public Servants program KTK broadcasted on Sunday night."The opposition is systemic in Russia; it is a part of the authorities. Here the opposition is divided into small parties. All the pro-presidential parties united in 2007. If non-presidential parties had held negotiations and said they would forget their earlier grudges and elect a leader in a secret ballot - Bolat Abilov, Zharmakhan Tuyakbai, Amirzhan Kosanov or Toktar Aubakirov, no matter who - then the situation would be totally different," he said."I keep encouraging them to do that all the time. The process of Kazakhstan's development as a truly democratic nation is very important to me. Due to the political division, we have an inefficient state mechanism, in which parties are not represented in the parliament," he said. The advisor said that the opposition activity was not quite efficient. "[The opposition] has done nothing but make statements online. Their political activity is reduced to making loud statements on the Internet," he said. (Interfax)
Turkmens resurrect late president's gold statue
12 December
A golden rotating statue of Turkmenistan's late eccentric dictator adorned the skyline of the isolated energy-rich Central Asian nation's capital again Monday, one year after it was toppled as authorities sought to dismantle the leader's overwhelming personality cult. The Arch of Neutrality topped by the monument to Saparmurat Niyazov was officially unveiled during a lights and firework display to mark the 16th anniversary of Turkmenistan's declaration of neutrality at the United Nations. The tower was once a centerpiece of Ashgabat and the most distinctive monument built in honor of Niyazov, who died unexpectedly in 2006. Now, it stands several kilometers (miles) away, on the outskirts of the city. Once-omnipresent reminders of Niyazov have gradually been removed as authorities seek to highlight the profile of current President Gurbanguli Berdymukhamedov. The mythology surrounding Niyazov has been gradually chipped away, only to make way for similarly slavish adulation for Berdymukhamedov. In a vein reminiscent of Niyazov's title of Turkmenbashi, or father of all Turkmens, state media now routinely refers to Berdymukhamedov as Arkadag, which is Turkmen for protector. Even so, authorities have so far largely refrained from aping the megalomaniacal excesses of the Turkmenbashi era. Niyazov renamed cities, streets, months, periodicals and public organizations after himself and family members and made a two-volume spiritual tome he wrote mandatory reading. Restoring the golden statue, on top of an even taller tower that now soars 95 meters (312 feet), appears to suggest authorities are wary of jettisoning Niyazov's legacy wholesale. Turkmenistan's declaration of neutrality in 1995 is a cornerstone of the diplomatically isolated ex-Soviet nation's foreign policy and is still hailed in state media as a major achievement of the Niyazov era. (AP)
Three militants killed in Dagestan [3]
12 December
Three militants were killed in a shootout with police on Monday in Makhachkala, the capital of Russia’s North Caucasus republic of Dagestan, a police source told RIA Novosti. “The incident occurred at around 9:00 p.m. (17:00 GMT), when police officers tried to stop a car for a document check,” the source said. “They were fired on and returned fire. As a result of the shootout, the three men in the car were killed.” The source also said there were no police injuries. Dagestan sees frequent militant attacks on police officers and officials. The restive republic saw around 50% of all terrorist attacks in Russia in 2010. (Ria Novosti)
Kazakhstan stands for adopting Caspian Sea’s legal status concept as soon as possible
13 December
Kazakhstan stands for adopting the Concept on the legal status of the Caspian Sea, Kazakh Foreign Minister Yerzhan Kazykhanov said in Astana on Tuesday addressing at a meeting with Kazakh diplomatic missions. "Today it is necessary to adopt the Convention on the legal status of the Caspian Sea based on agreements reached during the Third Caspian Summit in Baku in November 2010," Kazykhanov said. He recalled that the agenda includes issue of crossing the state borders in the Caspian Sea. The Caspian littoral states face a difficult task to resolve issues related to delimitation of the sea areas and promoting operations related to the development of its biological and mineral resources, navigation, as well as environmental protection. "Over twenty years of seeking compromises, positions of some littoral states have changed and today most of the Convention on legal status of the Caspian Sea has been coordinated," Kazykhanov said. The littoral states (Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Russia, Turkmenistan and Iran) signed the Framework Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the Caspian Sea in November 2003. In July 1998, Russia and Kazakhstan signed an agreement on the delimitation of the northern part of the Caspian Sea in order to exercise sovereign rights for subsoil use. On Nov. 29, 2001 and Feb. 27, 2003, Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan signed an agreement on the delimitation of the Caspian Sea. Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan and Russia signed an agreement on the delimitation of adjacent sections of the Caspian Sea on May 14, 2003. (Trend)
Azerbaijan Ministry instructs GSM-operators to prepare for Eurovision-2012
13 December
The Azerbaijani Communications and IT Ministry gave appropriate instructions to all three mobile operators in the country to prepare for Eurovision-2012 Song Contest in Baku, the ministry said on Tuesday. According to the ministry, operators were instructed to organize sending short messages to phone numbers of roamers. The messages must contain the information about Internet resource of the contest, as well as contact information and other required information about the embassies of countries whose citizens will be in Baku during the contest. (Trend)
Kazakhs jailed for ties to suicide bomber
14 December
Twelve men have been jailed for up to 15 years by a court in northwestern Kazakhstan after being called "associates of Kazakhstan's first-ever suicide bomber," RFE/RL's Kazakh Service reports. Judge Damesh Abdali of the Aqtobe Oblast interdistrict court found the men guilty of propagating terrorism, organizing a terrorist group, and illegal weapons possession. Prison terms ranged from one to 15 years. The trial was held behind closed doors. Journalists were only allowed to attend the readings of the verdict and sentence. Zhumabai Arystanov, a lawyer for one of the convicted men, told journalists he would appeal the verdict. The court ruled that the 12 defendants belonged to the same unnamed group that Rakhimzhan Makhatov was an active member of. Makhatov blew himself up in the entrance of the Aqtobe office of the National Security Committee on May 17. Three people were injured in the blast. The attack is believed to be the first suicide bombing in Kazakhstan. The attack is believed to be the first suicide bombing in Kazakhstan. (RFE/RL)
HRW: Uzbek Torture Ignored by the West
14 December
Western governments moving closer to the government of Uzbekistan are ignoring torture in its criminal justice system, Human Rights Watch said. The rights group, in a 104-page report said the use of electric shocks and asphyxiation are commonplace in the Uzbek criminal justice system. Human Rights Watch pointed to a 2002 case in Uzbekistan in which a man jailed, allegedly for religious extremism, died after being dumped in boiling water. The European Union lifted sanctions on Uzbekistan in 2009 and Washington followed a similar course this year. Human Rights Watch noted the concessions came during negotiations to move British military supplies through Uzbek territory for the Afghan conflict. Nevertheless, the organization determined, through more than 100 interviews conducted over two years, that torture in the country was widespread and systematic. "The West has to wake up to the fact that Uzbekistan is a pariah state with one of the worst human rights records," Steve Swerdlow, Uzbekistan researcher at Human Rights Watch, said in a statement from Berlin. "Being located next to Afghanistan should not give Uzbekistan a pass on its horrendous record of torture and repression." The United Nations made similar claims about the justice system in neighboring Kyrgyzstan. (UPI)
Iran says “not concerned” over possible oil sanctions
14 December
Iranian Oil Minister Rostam Qasemi dismissed again Wednesday the possibility of sanctions on his country's energy sector despite market fears of crude oil shortages that have kept prices high."We are not concerned that Iran's crude oil will be sanctioned or embargoed," he told journalists after a meeting in Vienna of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), which Iran chaired. "I really don't think that the EU would sanction or embargo Iran's crude oil. "Iran's crude oil is very important to the international oil market. We are the second OPEC producer. It would make the market very tense (if sanctions were imposed.) Qasemi's comments echoed those he made on Sunday in Tehran but were also accompanied by supportive talk from OPEC colleagues despite recent tensions between Iran and the cartel's kingpin Saudi Arabia. Iran has been at odds with Saudi Arabia following an alleged Iranian plot to kill the Saudi envoy to Washington and Riyadh also reportedly offered to step in to help the United States and others if they suffered oil shortages due to sanctions. Qasemi on Tuesday met for face-to-face talks with his Saudi counterpart Ali al-Naimi. On Wednesday, OPEC Secretary General Abdullah El-Badri praised Iran's contribution to the cartel's latest production meeting."This meeting was successful," El-Badri said." It is the efforts of the president, the minister of Iran, that he really made a great effort to bring the ministers together to agree on this solution." OPEC agreed in Vienna to an oil production ceiling of 30 million barrels per day for its 12 members, which corresponds to current overall production, effectively keeping in check over-producing Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. (AFP)
Afghanistan “does not want role in US-Iran hostilities”
14 December
Afghan territory should not be used in a proxy war between the United States and Iran, President Hamid Karzai said Wednesday after the Islamic republic captured a US drone. Karzai was speaking in Kabul after an hour-long meeting with US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, who nevertheless said the US would continue to pursue "important intelligence operations". The bat-winged RQ-170 Sentinel, a stealth drone designed to evade radar for surveillance flights, was launched from Afghanistan on a CIA spying mission when it went missing, US officials have said. "Afghanistan should maintain and has maintained a very friendly relationship with Iran so we don't want to be involved in any adversarial relation between Iran and the US," Karzai said. "Afghanistan wishes that its sovereignty and territorial integrity is not used one against the other." But Panetta said such intelligence operations would continue. "Those are operations that I will not discuss publicly, other than to say that part of our efforts to defend this country and to defend our country involves important intelligence operations which will continue to pursue," he said. The drone episode has handed Iran a propaganda coup and Iranian state television has shown images of a robotic aircraft that experts say resembles the Sentinel. Kabul is negotiating a strategic partnership deal with Washington which will define the terms of the US military presence in Afghanistan after the withdrawal of combat troops in 2014. And Karzai has said a condition of the deal will be that the US does not use its territory against its enemies in the region. But Iran has voiced its objections to the continued presence of international forces in Afghanistan after NATO combat troops pull out in 2014. (AFP)