News Digest

OMON convoy attacked in Dagestan; 2 killed, 7 wounded - police
23 August
Two police officers were killed and seven others wounded in an assault on a police convoy in the Buinaksk district of Dagestan, a duty officer of the Buinaksk district police department told Interfax. "Unknown gunmen opened fire on a OMON convoy returning from the Untsukul district. Two OMON officers were killed and seven others wounded. Five of them are in serious condition. The wounded were taken to the Buinaksk district hospital. Additional police units have arrived on the scene. They are combing the area looking for the attackers," the office said. The incident happened at about 3.30 p.m. Moscow time near the Gimri tunnel, which connects the mountainous and lowland districts of Dagestan, the officer said. (Interfax)

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)

Kyrgyzstan to tighten laws on religious groups

12 July

Kyrgyzstan will tighten regulation and surveillance of religious groups in largely Muslim Central Asian nation, a government official said Thursday, citing concerns about extremist groups. More than 2,100 religious organizations are currently registered with authorities, said Toigonbek Kalmatov, director of the State Agency for Religious Matters. Another 400 are believed to be operating illegally in the country and are causing "great difficulties," Kalmatov said, naming a few including Rev. Sun Myung Moon's Unification Church, the Falun Gong spiritual movement, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi's Transcendental Meditation movement and Hizb-ut-Tahrir, a banned group that advocates the establishment of a worldwide Islamic state. Kyrgyz laws required that all religious groups be officially registered and present an operating charter, Kalmatov told reporters. Authorities are obligated to monitor the groups to ensure they do not violate laws, and new legislative proposals would help tighten oversight, he said. "These measures have become necessary in connection with the great number of religious movements operating in Kyrgyzstan, illegally and without registration," he said. He gave no details regarding the new legislation. The poor, largely rural ex-Soviet state has been buffeted by political turmoil for nearly two years now and there are growing fears of Islamic extremism, particularly in the poor, densely populated Fergana Valley. (AP)

U.S. CHEVRON TO OPEN OFFICE IN TURKMEN CAPITAL
29 June
Turkmenistan's official TDH news agency on June 28 reported that the U.S. oil major Chevron has decided to open an office in Ashgabat. TDH said the announcement was made the same day at a meeting between Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov; Jay Prior, Chevron's vice president for business development; and Ian MacDonald, the head of Chevron's operations in Russia. Early last month, Berdymukhammedov invited Chevron to prospect and develop oil fields in the Turkmen sector of the Caspian Sea shelf. The invitation was seen as a sign of Berdymukhammedov's willingness to open Turkmenistan to Western investment. Also on June 28, Berdymukhammedov authorized the government to sign a $42 million drilling contract with the state-controlled China Petroleum and Chemical Corporation (Sinopec) and another deal for the construction of a $53 million polypropylene-film plant with France's Darlet Marchante Technologies. (RFE/RL)

KYRGYZ OPPOSITION SEEKS REFERENDUM ON UNION WITH RUSSIA

14 June

The Kyrgyz opposition movement United Front for a Worthy Future for Kyrgyzstan on June 14 formally submitted documents to the Justice Ministry requesting a national referendum to consider a proposal to form a union between Kyrgyzstan and Russia. An unnamed official from the Bishkek headquarters of the Ar-Namys (Dignity) party, which is a part of the United Front, said the documents meet all the legal requirements for a referendum, and added that "we hope that the Justice Ministry will officially register our campaign in the near future in line with the prescribed procedures." The opposition is also seeking Justice Ministry registration of an "initiative group" created specifically to advocate holding the referendum, and requested official state-issued "identification cards" to assist members in collecting signatures throughout the country. According to Kyrgyz law, any issue can be put forth in a referendum as long as at least 300,000 citizens sign a supporting petition. Earlier in June, former Prime Minister Feliks Kulov, the leader of the United Front, explained that "a union with Russia will preserve the unity of Kyrgyzstan and its people," and threatened to seek the dissolution of parliament if the Kyrgyz authorities failed to consider his proposal. (akipress.org)

KYRGYZ LEFTISTS DEMONSTRATE AGAINST U.S. PRESENCE

2 June

Approximately 50 representatives of leftist political parties in Kyrgyzstan held a demonstration in front of the U.S. Embassy in Bishkek on June 2 to protest the presence of the U.S. military base in the country, RFE/RL's Kyrgyz Service reported. Klara Ajibekova, the leader of one of Kyrgyzstan's two communist parties, told demonstrators that the rally was the beginning of a drive to oust the base from Kyrgyz territory. "Kyrgyzstan is becoming the hostage of the U.S. Let the U.S. play all its games on its own territory. Today's rally is the beginning of the Kyrgyz people's struggle against the deployment of the base in the country," Ajibekova said. Aleksandr Tiperov, head of a movement calling for the removal of the U.S. air base, said that he and his supporters plan to gather signatures for a referendum on the U.S. presence, akipress.org reported. Kyrgyz law requires at least 300,000 signatures to trigger a nationwide referendum. A number of committees in Kyrgyzstan's parliament have recommended a review of the U.S. military presence. (24.kg)

 

TURKMEN PRESIDENT SEEN AS CONSOLIDATING POWER

17 May

Arkady Dubnov, a long-time observer of Turkmen politics, wrote in Russia's "Vremya novostei" on May 16 that the recent dismissal of Akmurat Rejepov as head of the presidential guard is only part of broader moves by President Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov to consolidate power. Dubnov noted that Murad Agaev, a business owner and an associate of Rejepov, was recently arrested in Ashgabat, and that references to former President Saparmurat Niyazov in the country's state-controlled media are becoming less frequent. Dubnov quoted sources in Turkmenistan as saying that Berdymukhammedov is appointing residents of his native village, Goektepe, to posts in the security services and other agencies. Also on May 16, the online opposition newspaper "Turkmenskaya iskra" published an unconfirmed report that Geldimuhammed Ashirmuhammedov has been relieved of his post as head of the National Security Service. (RFE/RL)

Swiss to Hand Over $84 Million in Blocked Assets to Kazakhstan
4 May
Switzerland said Friday it has agreed to send $84 million in blocked assets to Kazakhstan. The Foreign Ministry said the cash had been frozen in Switzerland as the result of a corruption case involving an American businessman and oil concessions in the Central Asian nation. It said Switzerland, the United States and Kazakhstan agreed to the arrangement earlier this week. While the ministry's statement did not identify the businessman, the details of the case appear to correspond with U.S. investigations of James H. Giffen, a New York banker indicted in 2003 on charges of making more than $78 million in unlawful payments to two senior Kazakh officials. Giffen allegedly made the payments in the 1990s on behalf of U.S. oil companies, including Mobil Oil Corp, to obtain concessions to exploit oil resources. The indictment accused Giffen of defrauding Kazakhstan out of millions in oil dollars. Ambassador Paul Seger, head of the Swiss ministry's international law department, said only that the transfer of funds had been agreed to as part of a deal between U.S. authorities and the American businessman, whom he also declined to identify. "The funds will be used for the benefit of needy children in Kazakhstan," the ministry said. The U.S. and Switzerland will both be allowed to veto the transfer of any funds, it said. The World Bank will help the three countries in monitoring payments. (AP)

GEORGIAN PRESIDENT LOOKS AHEAD TO NATO MAP

19 April

Addressing a NATO seminar in Tbilisi on April 19, Mikheil Saakashvili predicted that by autumn of 2007 Georgia will have successfully implemented the measures outlined in its Intensified Dialogue with NATO and will advance to receiving a Membership Action Plan, the final stage of preparation before a formal invitation is extended to join the alliance. At the same time, Saakashvili warned unnamed European states that they should not retreat from their expressed support for Georgia's accession to NATO for fear that Russia might retaliate by raising the price of natural gas for European customers. In the course of his address, Saakashvili affirmed that ethnic minorities are being willingly integrated into Georgian society and learning the Georgian language. Saakashvili said the international community is beginning to understand that the status quo with regard to unresolved conflicts on Georgian territory is untenable, and that new approaches to resolving those conflicts are called for. He condemned the mass flight of Georgians from Abkhazia during the 1992-93 war as "a clear example" of ethnic cleansing. (Caucasus Press)

Russian Duma ratifies protocols on Kazakh test sites
6 April
The lower house of parliament Friday ratified protocols on changes to agreements between Russia and Kazakhstan on the lease of four military test sites in the Central Asian state. Russia and Kazakhstan signed additional protocols to 1996 bilateral treaties on the lease of the 4th and 929th testing ranges of the Russian Defense Ministry, and testing ranges at Sary-Shagan and Emba on November 25, 2005. "The ratification of the protocols meets the national interests of the Russian Federation and will promote the maintenance and further development of Russia's facilities aimed at testing new weaponry and military equipment, including missile defense systems, which will ensure the strengthening of the country's defense potential," the State Duma said in a statement. According to the protocols, Russia is required to pay an annual sum of about $24.8 million for the lease of four testing grounds and related research facilities totaling 10 million hectares on the territory of the former Soviet republic as of January 1, 2005. Twenty-three percent of Russia's 4th state firing range at Kapustin Yar is located in Kazakhstan. In recent years, Kapustin Yar has been the site of the official trials of the Iskander-M missile system, as well as tests of the S-400 (SA-20 Triumf) surface-to-air missile system. The 929th State Test Flight Center, also known as Taysoygan or Vladimirovka, is comprised of three sections in Atyrau, Mangystau, and Western Kazakhstan regions. The territory is used to test combat aircraft and various types of weapons for all branches of the military. The Sary-Shagan test site was established in 1956 as the 10th State Scientific Research Testing Range of the former Soviet Union where anti-ballistic missile defense systems, air defenses, and laser weapons were tested. It was the only Soviet ABM test site permitted under the 1972 ABM Treaty. The Emba testing grounds, subordinated to Kapustin Yar in 1998, is where the F300, Buk, Tor and Tunguzka air defense systems have been tested. (RIA Novosti)