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RFE/RL Newsline, 02-11-18
CONTENTS
[01] DUMA MOVES TO TIGHTEN CONTROL OVER BROADCASTING LICENSES
[02] BUSH, PUTIN TO MEET IN ST. PETERSBURG AFTER PRAGUE SUMMIT
[03] RUSSIA SENDS ADDITIONAL EVIDENCE AGAINST CHECHEN VICE PREMIER TO
[04] MOSCOW CONCERNED BY NORTH KOREA'S NUCLEAR-WEAPONS PROGRAM
[05] PRIME MINISTER TALKS ENERGY, AIRPLANES IN FRANCE
[06] DUMA SPEAKER TO CREATE NEW LEFT-WING COALITION...
[07] ...AS BEREZOVSKII DENIES PLANS TO BUY SPOTS ON COMMUNIST LIST
[08] YUKOS PREDICTS IT WILL PROVIDE 25 PERCENT OF CHINA'S OIL IMPORTS
[09] MOSCOW MAYOR STILL PUSHING DZERZHINSKII MONUMENT
[10] CENSUS TURNS UP 2 MILLION MORE RUSSIANS THAN EXPECTED
[11] EDUCATION MINISTRY FLOATS PLAN FOR ORTHODOX COURSES
[12] DUMA COMMITTEE PREPARING BILL TO ESTABLISH MINIMUM WAGE
[13] CAPITAL FLIGHT CONTINUES TO GROW
[14] POSTAL RATES TO GO UP AGAIN
[15] KRASNOYARSK GOVERNOR DEALS DERIPASKA IN
[16] NEWTON BACK IN THE LIBRARY
[17] FORTY YEARS OF 'ONE DAY'
[18] NEW CHECHEN PREMIER FOCUSES ON ECONOMIC RECONSTRUCTION
[19] RED CROSS OFFICIALS ABDUCTED, RELEASED IN CHECHNYA
[20] EXPLOSIONS IN INGUSHETIA, NORTH OSSETIA
[21] ARMENIAN JOURNALISTS DIVIDED OVER AMENDED DRAFT MEDIA LAW
[22] AZERBAIJANI PARLIAMENT APPROVES PEACEKEEPERS' DISPATCH TO
[23] ...PASSES 2003 BUDGET
[24] GEORGIAN PRESIDENT OPPOSES CALLS FOR TBILISI MAYOR'S RESIGNATION
[25] LABOR PARTY LEADER TO CONTEST GEORGIAN PRESIDENCY
[26] ABKHAZ-GEORGIAN WORKING GROUP MEETS
[27] FORMER GEORGIAN GUERRILLA LEADER NAMED LOCAL ADMINISTRATOR
[28] GEORGIA TO REMAND JAPANESE FOR THREE MORE MONTHS
[29] KAZAKHSTAN'S PRESIDENT ANNOUNCES NEW BODY TO PROMOTE
[30] CONSORTIUM SUSPENDS INVESTMENT IN KAZAKH OIL FIELD
[31] KYRGYZ POLICE DETAIN, THEN RELEASE PROTESTERS...
[32] ...AS ORGANIZERS OF ABORTIVE CONGRESS APPEAL TO KYRGYZ PEOPLE,
[33] LEADERSHIP ACCUSES KYRGYZ OPPOSITION OF PLANNING COUP
[34] FORMER KYRGYZ PREMIER ANNOUNCES PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDACY
[35] TURKMEN PRESIDENT FIRES FOUR REGIONAL ADMINISTRATORS...
[36] ...RESHUFFLES GOVERNMENT
[37] UZBEKISTAN MOVES TO LIBERALIZE BANKING SPHERE
[38] BELARUSIAN OPPOSITION STAGES PRO-INDEPENDENCE RALLY IN MINSK
[39] BELARUSIAN UPPER-HOUSE HEAD OPPOSES PRESIDENTIAL CONTROL OVER
[40] UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT SACKS GOVERNMENT, APPOINTS NEW PREMIER...
[41] ...AND REPORTEDLY PLANS TO ATTEND NATO SUMMIT DESPITE PERSONAL
[42] LATVIAN INTERIOR MINISTER CRITICIZES CONTRABAND PREVENTION CENTER
[43] NEW LITHUANIAN EMBASSY BUILDING OPENED IN PARIS
[44] POLAND'S FIRST NON-COMMUNIST PREMIER ABANDONS HIS PARTY
[45] POLISH OFFICIAL CAUTIONS AGAINST MAKING BELARUS A 'BLACK HOLE'
[46] NATO SECRETARY-GENERAL STRESSES HISTORIC NATURE OF PRAGUE
[47] ...AS ANTI-NATO PROTESTS BEGIN BUT ARE PEACEFUL...
[48] ...AND AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL URGES RESPECT FOR DEMONSTRATORS'
[49] CZECH LEADERS MARK FALL OF COMMUNIST REGIME
[50] NEW CANDIDATES EMERGE FOR POST OF CZECH OPPOSITION PARTY LEADER
[51] CZECH POLITICAL MAP UNDERGOING CHANGES
[52] SLOVAK PRESIDENT REACTS TO BELARUSIAN LEADER'S ISOLATION...
[53] ...AND SAYS SLOVAKIA MUST RALLY AROUND ITS NEW NATO ALLIES
[54] SLOVAK PREMIER HAILS EXPECTED NATO INVITATION...
[55] ...AND STRUGGLE AGAINST COMMUNIST DICTATORSHIP...
[56] ...BUT IS CONTRADICTED BY SLOVAK COMMUNISTS
[57] SLOVAKS HELPED CATCH TERRORIST SUSPECT IN BRITAIN
[58] SLOVAK POLITICIAN BOYCOTTS CONSULTATIONS ON HUNGARIAN STATUS
[59] ...BUT HUNGARIAN CONFERENCE AGREES ON AMENDMENT ANYWAY
[60] FORMER HUNGARIAN PREMIER WARNS OF LOST SOVEREIGNTY TO EU
[61] HUNGARIAN DEMOCRATIC FORUM ELECTS NEW PARLIAMENTARY-GROUP LEADER
[62] FOUR-COUNTRY BATTALION AGREEMENT SIGNED IN BUDAPEST
[63] PRESIDENTS OF ALBANIA, CROATIA, AND MACEDONIA AGREE TO WORK
[64] YUGOSLAV PRESIDENT SLAMS SERBIAN RIVALS, RATHER THAN NATIONALIST
[65] KOSOVAR PRIME MINISTER PLEDGES TO REPAIR SERBIAN CHURCHES
[66] UN CHIEF LAUNCHES BALKAN TOUR
[67] U.S. PRESIDENT TO VISIT ROMANIA AFTER NATO SUMMIT
[68] GREATER ROMANIA PARTY REVERSES COURSE ON EARLY ELECTIONS
[69] ROMANIA'S PNL PRESENTS FURTHER INCRIMINATING EVIDENCE AGAINST
[70] RULING PARTY CLAIMS VICTORY IN ROMANIAN LOCAL-ELECTION RUNOFFS
[71] MOLDOVAN PARLIAMENT APPROVES FINAL BUDGET READING...
[72] ...AND FIRST READING OF AMENDMENT ON PARTY-REGISTRATION LAW...
[73] ...AS WELL AS LAW AGAINST AUDIOVISUAL PIRACY
[74] MOLDOVAN PRESIDENT SENDS DRAFT LAW ON COMBATING EXTREMISM TO
[75] BULGARIAN DEFENSE MINISTER DEMANDS REGISTRATION OF DUAL-USE GOODS
[76] FOREIGN MINISTER CONFIDENT THAT BULGARIA WILL BE INVITED TO JOIN
[77] BULGARIAN PRIME MINISTER WRAPS UP VISIT TO FRANCE
[78] BULGARIAN, MACEDONIAN PRESIDENTS MEET INFORMALLY, HONOR MACEDONIAN
[79] U.S. SENATE PASSES AFGHANISTAN FREEDOM SUPPORT ACT...
[80] ...AND STATES ITS SUPPORT FOR EXPANDED ISAF ROLE...
[81] ...AS BRITISH LAWMAKERS FOLLOW SUIT...
[82] ...AND GERMANY VOTES TO KEEP TROOPS IN AFGHANISTAN
[83] AFGHANISTAN'S SAYED KARAM DISTRICT OUT OF GOVERNMENT CONTROL...
[84] ...AND COALITION FORCES ARE ATTACKED IN THE AREA
[85] IRAN'S SUPREME LEADER INTERVENES IN AGHAJARI CASE...
[86] ...AS STUDENT DEMONSTRATIONS CONTINUE...
[87] ...AND INTERIOR MINISTRY TRIES TO PREVENT RALLIES
[88] PARLIAMENT PONDERS LIFTING SATELLITE-TV BAN...
[89] ...AND CREATING NEW MINISTRY
[90] IRANIAN DIPLOMATIC VISIT TO WASHINGTON CANCELLED...
[91] ...WHILE OTHER CONTACTS OCCUR
[92] HAS IRAQI PRESIDENT ARRANGED SAFE HAVEN IN LIBYA?
[93] IRAQ REPORTEDLY HIDING WEAPONS
[94] IRAQI PRESIDENT SENDS MESSAGE TO NATIONAL ASSEMBLY
[95] IRAQI VICE PRESIDENT CRITICIZES IMPUTED U.S. PLANS FOR IRAQ
[96] INTERNATIONAL ATOMIC AGENCY DIRECTOR-GENERAL DISCUSSES UPCOMING
[97] There is no End Note today.
18 November 2002
RUSSIA
[01] DUMA MOVES TO TIGHTEN CONTROL OVER BROADCASTING LICENSES
The Duma on 15 November approved in its final reading an amendment to
the law on the mass media that would authorize the government to
withdraw the licenses of broadcasters that do not make full use of the
radio and television frequencies for which they hold licenses, polit.ru
reported on 16 November. The amendment would also authorize the courts,
in addition to the government, to initiate license-withdrawal
proceedings against media companies. VY
[02] BUSH, PUTIN TO MEET IN ST. PETERSBURG AFTER PRAGUE SUMMIT
U.S. President George W. Bush will hold a summit meeting with President
Vladimir Putin near St. Petersburg on 22 November, immediately
following the historic NATO summit in Prague where several Eastern and
Central European countries are expected to be invited into the
trans-Atlantic alliance, pronews.ru and other Russian news agencies
reported on 17 November. The summit will take place in the St.
Petersburg suburb of Pushkin. Analysts expect Bush will continue
pressing Putin to accept possible U.S. military intervention in Iraq if
the mission of UN weapons inspectors there is a failure. It will be
difficult for Putin to resist Bush, who is politically strong following
the Republican Party victory in U.S. congressional elections on 5
November, pronews.ru commented. The two leaders will also discuss the
Middle East, international terrorism, strategic stability, and a number
of bilateral issues. The Kremlin will attempt to convince the United
States to add several Chechen separatist organizations to the U.S.
State Department list of organizations accused of sponsoring or
engaging in terrorism, polit.ru reported. VY
[03] RUSSIA SENDS ADDITIONAL EVIDENCE AGAINST CHECHEN VICE PREMIER TO
DENMARK
Leonid Troshin, senior spokesman for the Prosecutor-General's Office,
said on 15 November that his agency has sent to Copenhagen an
additional dossier of materials against Chechen President Aslan
Maskhadov's envoy Akhmed Zakaev, Russian news agencies reported. Zakaev
was arrested in Copenhagen on 30 October (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 30
October 2002) and is now fighting possible extradition to Russia.
Troshin said Russia has evidence connecting Zakaev with the 1996
kidnapping of two Russian Orthodox priests in Grozny. One of the
priests, identified as Father Fillip, has allegedly identified Zakaev
as the commander of the band that carried out the kidnapping.
Meanwhile, Sergei Karaganov, chairman of the Defense and Foreign
Relations Council, said he does not understand what Russia hopes to
gain by securing Zakaev's extradition or what Moscow would do with
Zakaev if he is indeed extradited, strana.ru reported on 15 November.
"[Zakaev] is one of the few in Chechnya with whom we can still talk,"
Karaganov said. VY
[04] MOSCOW CONCERNED BY NORTH KOREA'S NUCLEAR-WEAPONS PROGRAM
Foreign Ministry Spokesman Aleksandr Yakovenko said on 17 November that
Moscow is "deeply concerned by controversial statements coming from
Pyongyang saying [North Korea] has 'the right' to possess nuclear
weapons," ITAR-TASS reported. Russia expects Pyongyang -- which
Yakovenko described as "friendly" to Russia -- to comply strictly with
international agreements on the nonproliferation of nuclear weapons,
which Moscow considers a guarantor of security and peace on the Korean
Peninsula, Yakovenko said. VY
[05] PRIME MINISTER TALKS ENERGY, AIRPLANES IN FRANCE
Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov arrived in France on 17 November for a
two-day official visit to Paris and Toulouse, Russian news agencies
reported. Kasyanov's talks will center on cooperation in the energy and
aviation sectors. "We are discussing such projects as the development
of a major oil field on the Barents Sea shelf [and] construction of a
Nordic [oil] pipeline across the Baltic Sea," Kasyanov was quoted by
ITAR-TASS as saying on 18 November. While in Toulouse on 18 November,
Kasyanov was expected to visit an Airbus plant and to participate in a
signing ceremony of an agreement to open a joint French-Russian
aircraft design bureau in Moscow. Kasyanov was quoted as saying that
aerospace cooperation "is the most promising sphere" of bilateral
economic relations. President Putin will visit France in the first
quarter of 2003, Kasyanov was quoted by ITAR-TASS as saying following
his 17 November meeting with French President Jacques Chirac. RC
[06] DUMA SPEAKER TO CREATE NEW LEFT-WING COALITION...
State Duma Speaker Gennadii Seleznev on 16 November announced that he
will form a broad-based left-wing coalition around his Rossiya movement
that will serve as an alternative to the People's Patriotic Union
(NPS), headed by the Communist Party, strana.ru and other Russian news
agencies reported. Speaking to Rossiya's second congress in Moscow,
Seleznev said the creation of the left-wing Duma faction is a top
priority, and he invited all NPS members to join it. He also emphasized
the importance he attaches to his newly registered Party of Russia's
Rebirth and its performance in next year's Duma elections. Seleznev
said his party will be "oppositionist" but emphasized its opposition
"will not be irresponsible and populist, but rather constructive and
specific." RC
[07] ...AS BEREZOVSKII DENIES PLANS TO BUY SPOTS ON COMMUNIST LIST
Speaking to Ekho Moskvy on 16 November, businessman Boris Berezovskii
denied a "Moskovskii komsomolets" report that day that accused him of
trying to buy spots on the party list of the Communist Party of the
Russian Federation (KPRF). High-ranking KPRF member Valentin Kuptsov
also told Ekho Moskvy his party is neither negotiating with Berezovskii
nor pursuing an alliance with him. Half of the 450 State Duma seats are
distributed among parties that gain at least 5 percent of the vote, and
since the KPRF is one of the few parties guaranteed to clear that
hurdle, candidates near the top of the Communist party list are
virtually assured of winning Duma seats. Berezovskii has been a
frequent target of "Moskovskii komsomolets" over the years. On 13
November, the newspaper published a document purportedly revealing the
oligarch's plans to buy his way back into Liberal Russia. LB
[08] YUKOS PREDICTS IT WILL PROVIDE 25 PERCENT OF CHINA'S OIL IMPORTS
BY 2005
Sergei Prisyazhnyuk, Yukos's representative in China, has said that his
company will provide about 25 percent of all China's imported oil by
2005, energy.ru and other Russian news agencies reported on 17
November. Yukos will provide most of the oil through the
2,200-kilometer Angarsk-Datsin pipeline, which will be able to handle
20 million tons of oil annually. By 2005, that pipeline, which is
controlled by the state-owned monopoly Transneft, will be connected to
a network of Chinese pipelines managed by the state-owned Chinese
National Petrochemical Company. Yukos is responsible for constructing
the 1,450-kilometer Russian leg of the pipeline at a cost of $2
billion. Yukos will also export 3 million more tons of oil annually to
China by rail via Mongolia, Prisyazhnyuk said. VY
[09] MOSCOW MAYOR STILL PUSHING DZERZHINSKII MONUMENT
Yurii Luzhkov said on 15 November that he does not need legislative
approval to restore the monument to Soviet secret-police founder Feliks
Dzerzhinskii to Lubyanka Square, regions.ru reported. In September,
Luzhkov created a controversy with his unexpected proposal to restore
the huge statue, which was dismantled following the unsuccessful coup
attempt against Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev in August 1991 (see
"RFE/RL Newsline," 16 and 17 September 2002). Luzhkov noted that no
legal decision had been made to authorize the dismantling of the statue
and, therefore, no legal act is required to restore it. Luzhkov did not
mention that he was the deputy head of the Moscow City Council in 1991
and personally authorized the crane that was used to bring the statue
down. VY
[10] CENSUS TURNS UP 2 MILLION MORE RUSSIANS THAN EXPECTED
According to preliminary results of the national census conducted in
October, the population of the Russian Federation is more than 145
million, about 2 million more people than demographers had predicted,
RTR and other Russian news agencies reported on 16 November. According
to Vladimir Zorin, the government minister overseeing nationalities
policies, the greatest growth was registered in the Central Federal
District and the Southern Federal District, as well as in the city of
Moscow, gazeta.ru reported on 16 November. Moscow's population now
exceeds 10.4 million permanent residents and 3 million nonresidents.
Zorin said the census results are now being tabulated and verified and
will be released in full by March. VY
[11] EDUCATION MINISTRY FLOATS PLAN FOR ORTHODOX COURSES
The Education Ministry has released a 30-page outline description of a
course on Orthodox culture that is being considered for use in the
public school system, "Nezavisimaya gazeta" reported on 18 November.
Education Minister Vladimir Filippov was quoted by Interfax as telling
journalists in Novosibirsk that there is "an objective need" to study
Orthodoxy in the schools. According to "Izvestiya," presidential envoys
Sergei Kirienko and Georgii Poltavchenko are among the state officials
who have called for including the study of Orthodoxy in the curriculum
of public schools. However, other officials have spoken against the
idea. "This document smacks of the Middle Ages and obscurantism. If the
Education Ministry considers it necessary to introduce religious
studies, the course should include the basics of all religious world
views and the history of atheism," government spokesman Aleksei Volin
was quoted by "Gazeta" as saying on 15 November. "Nezavisimaya gazeta"
warned that efforts to compel religious education might backfire. "In
pre-revolutionary schools, where Church law was a required subject and
lessons opened with prayers, a generation of people was produced that
was indifferent to religion and aggressive toward the [Russian
Orthodox] Church," the paper commented. RC
[12] DUMA COMMITTEE PREPARING BILL TO ESTABLISH MINIMUM WAGE
The Duma's Labor and Social Policy Committee is drafting a bill to
establish an hourly minimum wage of 10 rubles ($0.32) as of 1 January,
TV-Center reported on 15 November. The government has opposed similar
proposals in the past, pleading insufficient budget funds. The authors
of the new bill are sidestepping that problem by making the minimum
wage mandatory only for workers in the private sector. Since the
average employee works 168 hours a month, the new minimum wage would
guarantee a monthly wage of 1,680 rubles, which would be close to the
subsistence minimum level defined by the government. Some 27 percent of
Russian citizens have incomes below the subsistence minimum, according
to figures released recently by the State Statistics Committee (see
"RFE/RL Newsline," 13 November 2002). LB
[13] CAPITAL FLIGHT CONTINUES TO GROW
Some $16.3 billion left Russia during the first nine months of 2002, up
21.5 percent from the previous year, TV-Center reported on 15 November,
citing data released by the State Statistics Committee. More than $8.4
billion was transferred from Russia to the United States during that
period, a figure 10 times greater than the amount of capital invested
in Russia from the United States. LB
[14] POSTAL RATES TO GO UP AGAIN
On 1 December, postal rates will increase for the second time this
year, according to Radio Mayak on 15 November. Under the new rates
sending a postcard will cost 2.75 rubles ($0.09), up from 2.45 rubles,
and the standard rate for printed matter will be 6.45 rubles, up from
5.65 rubles. Postal rates last went up on 15 May. LB
[15] KRASNOYARSK GOVERNOR DEALS DERIPASKA IN
Krasnoyarsk Krai Governor Aleksandr Khloponin on 14 November met with
Russian Aluminum (Rusal) head Oleg Deripaska to discuss economic and
energy policies, Radio Mayak reported. According to Khloponin's press
secretary, the two men agreed to create a working group within the krai
administration that will include representatives from Rusal. They also
discussed other matters related to "cooperation between the authorities
and business." Deripaska was the leading businessman who backed
Khloponin's opponent in the September gubernatorial election.
Khloponin, among others, accused the Krasnoyarsk Electoral Commission
of acting on behalf of Rusal when it nullified the results and
scheduled a new election, even though Khloponin had gained the most
votes. President Putin eventually settled the matter by appointing
Khloponin governor (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 1 and 4 October 2002), and
the Central Election Commission overruled the local commission's
ruling. LB
[16] NEWTON BACK IN THE LIBRARY
Police have recovered all the rare books stolen earlier this month in a
rash of thefts in St. Petersburg (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 11 November
2002), RosBalt and utro.ru reported on 18 November. At least three
alleged members of a criminal group from Saratov were arrested on 16
November, following the 12 November arrest of a woman who is also
alleged to be a gang member (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 12 November 2002).
Two first-edition volumes by Isaac Newton and several other rare books
were recovered and will be returned to the libraries from which they
were stolen. In addition, according to RosBalt, police believe the
group was responsible for similar thefts from libraries in Moscow,
Saratov, and Kazan, although no further details on those incidents were
released. The first person arrested in the case was identified as
29-year-old Svetlana Danilova, a manager at a Saratov electronics
plant. The other three suspects were identified only as unemployed
residents of Saratov. RC
[17] FORTY YEARS OF 'ONE DAY'
On 18 November 1962, the story "One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich"
by the then-unknown author and former political prisoner Aleksandr
Solzhenitsyn appeared in an issue of "Novyi mir" under the editorship
of Aleksandr Tvarkovskii, "Izvestiya" and other Russian news agencies
reported on 18 November. The story describes a single day in the life
of an ordinary Russian in a Soviet labor camp who, despite horrendous
and debasing conditions, is able to find wellsprings of freedom and
dignity within himself and in his relations with other prisoners.
Solzhenitsyn went on to win the Lenin Prize for literature and briefly
became a symbol of Nikita Khrushchev's post-Stalin thaw. Later,
however, he was excluded from the Union of Writers, systematically
harassed, arrested, and expelled from the country. He won the Nobel
Prize for literature in 1972. RC
[18] NEW CHECHEN PREMIER FOCUSES ON ECONOMIC RECONSTRUCTION
On 15 November, Chechen administration head Akhmed-hadji Kadyrov
introduced his new prime minister, Mikhail Babich, to government
ministries and local officials in Grozny, Russian news agencies
reported (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 13 November 2002). Babich lauded the
achievements of his predecessor, Stanislav Ilyasov, in stabilizing the
social and economic situation and pledged to continue those efforts. On
16 November, Babich met with the commander of the combined federal
forces in Chechnya, Lieutenant General Sergei Makarov, to discuss
cooperation, Interfax reported. LF
[19] RED CROSS OFFICIALS ABDUCTED, RELEASED IN CHECHNYA
Two Red Cross officials who were abducted near Grozny late on 13
November while accompanying an aid convoy headed for Ingushetia were
freed unharmed four days later, ITAR-TASS reported on 17 November. An
official from the Chechen Military Prosecutor's Office said on 15
November that militants loyal to field commander Ali Paizullaev were
believed to have carried out the kidnapping. LF
[20] EXPLOSIONS IN INGUSHETIA, NORTH OSSETIA
Four people were killed and nine injured on 14 November when a suspect
exploded a hand grenade as police and security officials tried to
arrest suspected Chechen militants at a bus station in Ingushetia's
Malgobek Raion, Interfax reported. On 17 November, the Spartak Stadium
in the North Ossetian capital Vladikavkaz was damaged by two explosions
one hour after the end of a soccer match between a local team and one
from Volgograd, Interfax reported. No one was injured in those blasts.
LF
TRANSCAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA
[21] ARMENIAN JOURNALISTS DIVIDED OVER AMENDED DRAFT MEDIA LAW
Armenia's National Press Club is strongly opposed to including
discussion of the amended draft media law on parliament's agenda prior
to presidential and parliamentary elections scheduled for the first
five months of 2003, RFE/RL's Yerevan bureau reported on 16 November.
Its members believe the bill is intended to curtail critical media
coverage in the run-up to the polls. But the Yerevan Press Club
advocates dialogue with the Justice Ministry on removing the most
unpalatable restrictions on reporting. One of the club's members,
Mesrop Harutiunian, said the club has already proposed to the Justice
Ministry a number of amendments to the bill. LF
[22] AZERBAIJANI PARLIAMENT APPROVES PEACEKEEPERS' DISPATCH TO
AFGHANISTAN...
By a vote of 91 to one, deputies passed on 15 November a resolution
submitted by President Heidar Aliev on the deployment of a 22-strong
Azerbaijani military contingent to Afghanistan to serve with the
Turkish contingent to Operation Enduring Freedom, Turan reported. The
United States will provide $1 million toward the expenses involved,
U.S. Ambassador Ross Wilson informed President Aliev on 16 November,
according to Caucasus Press. LF
[23] ...PASSES 2003 BUDGET
Also on 15 November, parliament deputies approved by 110 votes, with
one abstention, the draft budget for 2003, Turan reported. Revenues are
set at 6.09 trillion manats ($1.25 billion) and expenditures at 6.42
trillion manats, of which 56.8 percent is earmarked for social
spending. The resulting deficit is equal to 1 percent of GDP, which is
estimated at 32.8 trillion manats. Industrial output is predicted to
grow by 6.1 percent and agricultural production by 7.9 percent compared
with 2002. Inflation is predicted at 2.5 percent, and the exchange rate
at 2,500 manats to the U.S. dollar. It is planned to extract 15.15
million tons of oil. LF
[24] GEORGIAN PRESIDENT OPPOSES CALLS FOR TBILISI MAYOR'S RESIGNATION
Meeting on 15 November in defiance of a 6 November ruling by the
Tbilisi Municipal Court, the opposition-controlled Tbilisi Municipal
Council voted to demand the dismissal of city Mayor Vano Zodelava, a
long-time associate of President Eduard Shevardnadze, Caucasus Press
reported (see "RFE/RL Caucasus Report," Vol. 5, No. 37, 14 November
2002). Shevardnadze categorically rejected that demand the following
day. LF
[25] LABOR PARTY LEADER TO CONTEST GEORGIAN PRESIDENCY
Labor Party Chairman Shalva Natelashvili announced on 15 November that
he will run in the presidential elections due in 2005, Caucasus Press
reported. Former parliament speaker Zurab Zhvania has already made
clear his intention to contest the ballot, in which Shevardnadze is
constitutionally barred from seeking a third term (see "RFE/RL
Newsline," 4 November 2002). LF
[26] ABKHAZ-GEORGIAN WORKING GROUP MEETS
The third working group of the UN-sponsored Abkhaz-Georgian
Coordinating Council met in Sukhum on 14 November, Caucasus Press
reported. The third working group focuses on economic and social
issues. The participants, including Georgian Minister for Special
Assignments Malkhaz Kakabadze and Abkhaz Deputy Prime Minister Beslan
Kuprava, discussed plans to prevent the further erosion of the Black
Sea coast and to introduce Georgian-language teaching in schools in
Abkhazia's southern-most Gali Raion, the pre-war population of which
was predominantly Georgian. LF
[27] FORMER GEORGIAN GUERRILLA LEADER NAMED LOCAL ADMINISTRATOR
Abkhaz government-in-exile head Londer Tsaava has appointed David
Shengelia, who won notoriety as leader of the Forest Brothers guerrilla
formation, as deputy head of Gali Raion, Caucasus Press reported on 14
November. Shengelia said he has abandoned his guerrilla activities and
will seek to restore Georgian control over Abkhazia by alternative
means. LF
[28] GEORGIA TO REMAND JAPANESE FOR THREE MORE MONTHS
A Japanese man detained in Georgia in August 2002 after entering the
country illegally from Russia has been remanded in pre-trial custody
for a further three months, Caucasus Press reported on 14 November. He
had fought alongside the Chechen resistance against the Russian
military (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 22 August 2002). LF
[29] KAZAKHSTAN'S PRESIDENT ANNOUNCES NEW BODY TO PROMOTE
DEMOCRATIZATION
Addressing the ninth session of the Assembly of Peoples of Kazakhstan
on 15 November, Nursultan Nazarbaev said he has charged the government
with establishing a permanent consultative body to draft proposals for
the further development of democracy in the country, Interfax reported.
The new body will include representatives from the parliament,
government, presidential administration, political parties, and
nongovernmental organizations. LF
[30] CONSORTIUM SUSPENDS INVESTMENT IN KAZAKH OIL FIELD
Tengizchevroil, the consortium that is developing the Tengiz oil field,
Kazakhstan's largest, has announced it will not proceed with plans to
invest a further $3 billion into the project, AP and dpa reported on 14
November. A press release indicated that Tengizchevoil and the Kazakh
government are at odds over funding for the planned second phase of
development, which would increase output from 12.5 million tons to 30
million tons annually. Meeting with Kazakh officials in July (see
"RFE/RL Newsline," 17 July 2002) and late September, Chevron executives
had pledged to go ahead with the second phase of the project. The
"International Herald Tribune" on 18 November quoted unnamed experts as
saying the Kazakh government had tried to renegotiate the terms of the
1993 contract to develop Tengiz. LF
[31] KYRGYZ POLICE DETAIN, THEN RELEASE PROTESTERS...
Police in Bishkek blocked one of the main roads leading into the city
from the south and detained dozens of participants in the protest march
that reached the city outskirts the previous day, RFE/RL's Kyrgyz
Service reported (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 15 November 2002). On 16
November, police forcibly dispersed a group of several hundred
protesters heading for the city center, where they planned to hold an
open-air People's Congress to demand the resignation of President Askar
Akaev and that those persons who gave orders to police to open fire on
demonstrators in the southern district of Aksy in March be brought to
trial. Some 129 delegates to the congress were detained, most of whom
were released on 17 November. Former Deputy Prime Minister Usen
Sydykov, who was among those arrested, was fined approximately $45, and
Kyrgyzstan Human Rights Movement Chairman Tursunbek Akunov was
sentenced to 10 days' imprisonment on charges of organizing an
unauthorized meeting. LF
[32] ...AS ORGANIZERS OF ABORTIVE CONGRESS APPEAL TO KYRGYZ PEOPLE,
PRESIDENT
Following the abortive attempt to convene the People's Congress in
Bishkek, its organizers issued an appeal to the people of Kyrgyzstan in
which they accused the authorities of violating the constitutionally
guaranteed right of assembly, RFE/RL's Kyrgyz Service reported on 16
November. They also appealed to President Akaev "to restore the
functioning of the constitution." LF
[33] LEADERSHIP ACCUSES KYRGYZ OPPOSITION OF PLANNING COUP
Presidential adviser Bolot Djanuzakov, First Deputy Prime Minister
Kurmanbek Osmonov, National Security Service chief Kalyk Imanaliev, and
Central Election Commission Chairman Suleiman Imanbaev convened a press
conference on 15 November at which Djanuzakov branded the protest
marchers "political extremists" who want power at any price, RFE/RL's
Kyrgyz Service reported. On 16 November, Prime Minister Nikolai Tanaev
told journalists the opposition is driving the population toward "the
abyss of civic dissent" and is intent on destroying the progress
Kyrgyzstan has made toward democracy, RFE/RL's Kyrgyz Service reported.
Djanuzakov named as organizers of the protests Asaba party Chairman
Azimbek Beknazarov, Sydykov, Erkindik party Chairman Topchubek
Turgunaliev, Communist Party leaders Absamat Masaliev and Klara
Adjybekova, and Akunov. LF
[34] FORMER KYRGYZ PREMIER ANNOUNCES PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDACY
Kurmanbek Bakiev has told the newspaper "Aghym" that he will run in the
presidential elections due in 2005 representing neither the present
authorities nor the opposition, according to akipress.org on 15
November. He said he doubts President Akaev will participate in the
ballot as the constitution does not permit him to run again. Bakiev,
who stepped down as prime minister in May over the Aksy shootings
scandal, was elected to parliament last month. LF
[35] TURKMEN PRESIDENT FIRES FOUR REGIONAL ADMINISTRATORS...
As he had earlier threatened to do, President Saparmurat Niyazov on 15
November dismissed the heads of the Akhal, Mary, Balkan and Dashoguz
oblasts for failing to harvest the planned 2 million tons of cotton,
ITAR-TASS and turkmenistan.ru reported (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 6 and 13
November 2002). Niyazov then named Deputy Prime Minister Enebay Ataev,
Energy and Industry Minister Annaguly Djumagylidjov,
Turkmendokunkhimiya head Kakageldy Kurbyshov, and Deputy Agriculture
Minister Ishankuly Gulmuradov to replace the disgraced local
administrators. LF
[36] ...RESHUFFLES GOVERNMENT
At the same time, Niyazov named Deputy Prime Minister Redjep Saparov to
a post in the presidential administration and appointed Dortkuly
Aydogdyev deputy prime minister responsible for the textile industry,
trade, and customs. He also appointed four new ministers: Yazkuly
Kakalyev (economy and finance), Begench Atamuradov (agriculture),
Tachberdy Tagiev (petrochemical industry and mineral resources) and
Atamurad Berdyev (energy and industry). Former Petrochemical Industry
Minister Kurbannazar Nazarov was appointed ambassador to the United
Arab Emirates. LF
[37] UZBEKISTAN MOVES TO LIBERALIZE BANKING SPHERE
President Islam Karimov signed a decree on 15 November on the creation
of a Banking Council that is intended to improve the effectiveness and
professionalism of the Central Bank and to promote the development of
commercial banks, uza.uz reported. LF
CENTRAL AND EASTERN EUROPE
[38] BELARUSIAN OPPOSITION STAGES PRO-INDEPENDENCE RALLY IN MINSK
Some 1,500 people participated in an authorized pro-independence
demonstration organized by the Belarusian opposition in downtown Minsk
on 17 November, Belapan and AP reported. Speakers at the rally, who
included the leaders of major opposition parties, called on opposition
parties to unite in their struggle against the authoritarian regime of
President Alyaksandr Lukashenka. Demonstrators left a petition at the
Russian Embassy, saying, "In the event of the continuation of the
annexing policy by Russia in Belarus, there will be enough people to
defend [Belarus's] independence." JM
[39] BELARUSIAN UPPER-HOUSE HEAD OPPOSES PRESIDENTIAL CONTROL OVER
ACADEMY OF SCIENCES
Council of the Republic speaker Alyaksandr Vaytovich said on 14
November that he opposes tightening presidential control over Belarus's
Academy of Sciences, Belapan reported on 15 November. Vaytovich was
speaking in the Council of the Republic prior to a vote in which
lawmakers approved President Lukashenka's decree of 17 October 2001
giving the president the right to appoint and dismiss the president of
the Academy of Sciences as well as to approve members of the Academy of
Sciences' Presidium. JM
[40] UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT SACKS GOVERNMENT, APPOINTS NEW PREMIER...
President Leonid Kuchma on 16 November fired Premier Anatoliy Kinakh's
cabinet and appointed 52-year-old Donetsk Governor Viktor Yanukovych as
prime minister, Ukrainian and international news agencies reported,
quoting presidential spokeswoman Olena Hromnytska. "The government of
Anatoliy Kinakh will continue in a caretaker role until a new
government is appointed," Hromnytska told Reuters. Yanukovych must be
approved for the post by the Verkhovna Rada, whose next session begins
on 19 November. JM
[41] ...AND REPORTEDLY PLANS TO ATTEND NATO SUMMIT DESPITE PERSONAL
SNUB
National Security and Defense Council head Yevhen Marchuk told Interfax
on 16 November that President Kuchma will attend the NATO summit in
Prague despite NATO's decision to hold a meeting of the Ukraine-NATO
Commission at the foreign ministers' level. Marchuk said Kuchma will
attend a session of NATO's 46-member Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council
(EAPC), while Foreign Minister Anatoliy Zlenko will represent Ukraine
in bilateral talks with the alliance. Kuchma spokeswoman Hromnytska
declined to comment on the report, while press officials at the
National Security and Defense Council said they can neither confirm nor
deny the news, Reuters reported. NATO warned that Kuchma will not be
welcome at the summit after Washington said it believes the Ukrainian
premier approved the sale of a Kolchuga early-warning radar system to
Iraq. "President Kuchma did not receive a personal invitation to come
to the EAPC summit in Prague, but Ukraine, like any other EAPC country,
has an invitation to come to Prague and is expected to be in Prague,"
NATO spokesman Yves Brodeur told RFE/RL on 18 November. JM
[42] LATVIAN INTERIOR MINISTER CRITICIZES CONTRABAND PREVENTION CENTER
Following a meeting at the Contraband Prevention Center in Riga on 15
November, Maris Gulbis told reporters that he considers its work
"unsatisfactory," LETA and BNS reported. He criticized its efforts at
combating contraband in alcohol and oil, claiming that too few cases
have been opened and even fewer sent to court. Gulbis said he will hand
over information on the matter to Latvian Police chief Juris Reksna,
Security Police chief Janis Reiniks, and Finance Minister Valdis
Dombrovskis. Dombrovkis said just nine cases have reached court in the
past three years, with only four cases resulting in convictions. His
predecessor as finance minister, Gundars Berzins, praised the work of
the center earlier in the month, asserting that the amount of
confiscated contraband in fuel, meat, and cigarettes has increased by
several hundred percent. SG
[43] NEW LITHUANIAN EMBASSY BUILDING OPENED IN PARIS
Lithuanian President Valdas Adamkus flew to Paris on 15 November to
participate in the formal opening of new facilities of the Lithuanian
Embassy, ELTA reported. The building was purchased using funds the
French government paid in compensation for Lithuania's pre-World War II
embassy building, which was handed over to the USSR and is still being
used by Russia. Adamkus discussed bilateral relations, European
integration, and parliamentary cooperation with French National
Assembly Chairman Jean-Louis Debre and attended a dinner hosted by
French Senate Chairman Christian Poncelet. The next day, Adamkus made a
speech on traditions of tolerance in Lithuania and the dialogue among
cultures, nations, and religions at celebrations in the French Senate
of the 200th anniversary of the birth of noted French writer Victor
Hugo. Adamkus returned to Vilnius on 17 November. SG
[44] POLAND'S FIRST NON-COMMUNIST PREMIER ABANDONS HIS PARTY
Tadeusz Mazowiecki, Poland's first non-Communist premier in postwar
history, announced on 17 November that he is leaving the Freedom Union,
PAP reported. "I am leaving [the Freedom Union] because such things
have taken place as [Freedom Union members] running for local councils
in the Warmia and Mazury Province on Democratic Left Alliance (SLD)
electoral lists and a Freedom Union coalition on provincial councils
with Self-Defense, a party that makes a mess of democracy in Poland,"
PAP quoted Mazowiecki as saying. He added that his decision is the
culmination of many years of differences between himself and others
within the Freedom Union -- "its current board in particular." The
Freedom Union's governing board on 16 November adopted a resolution
forbidding the party from establishing local coalitions with
Self-Defense or the League of Polish Families (LPR), but Mazowiecki
considered the move "not principled enough." Mazowiecki said he will
join "no other party" and hopes to maintain a friendship with the
party's members. AM
[45] POLISH OFFICIAL CAUTIONS AGAINST MAKING BELARUS A 'BLACK HOLE'
Polish Deputy Foreign Minister Tadeusz Iwinski on 15 November warned
Europe against "ignoring" the need for dialogue with Belarus, according
to PAP. "Belarus cannot be a black hole on the European continent," he
said. "It's understandable when one avoids summit talks with this
country [Belarus], but one should not ignore talks completely."
European Commission spokesman Gunnar Wiegend announced on 15 November
that the EU intends to forbid President Lukashenka and 51 senior
Belarusian officials from entering EU territory. Iwinski countered,
"Poland must strongly consider its response," according to PAP.
Lukashenka has threatened the West with border chaos (see "RFE/RL
Newsline," 13, 14, and 15 November 2002). "We cannot forget that we
have more than 400 kilometers of border with Belarus and a
half-million-strong Polish minority there." Iwinski added that the
Polish side is "certainly very critical" of the Belarusian regime and
"holds no top-level contacts" with it. "I think this trend will be
maintained, however there is a need for border cooperation and
cooperation between nongovernmental organizations and local councils of
both countries," Iwinski stressed. AM
[46] NATO SECRETARY-GENERAL STRESSES HISTORIC NATURE OF PRAGUE
SUMMIT...
NATO Secretary-General Lord George Robertson in an interview with the
Czech daily "Mlada fronta Dnes" on 16 November said the organization's
summit in Prague is an important symbol of the alliance's success in
promoting European unification, CTK reported. He said the invitations
that will be extended to aspiring states will definitively end the
division of Europe on Cold War lines and will prevent the return of a
dark chapter in the continent's history. Robertson said the 11
September 2001 terrorist attacks in the United States were organized by
a man who was born in Saudi Arabia and lived in Central Asia, planned
by individuals from the eastern and southeastern coast of the
Mediterranean living in Western Europe, and carried out in North
America. There is no better proof, Robertson said, that a defense
partnership reaching as far as Central Asia and the Mediterranean Sea
is now needed. He said the joint struggle against terrorism will be
intensified and the participation of NATO members in that effort will
be suited to the interests and needs of individual NATO members
following the summit. MS
[47] ...AS ANTI-NATO PROTESTS BEGIN BUT ARE PEACEFUL...
Some 70 people attended a demonstration in Brno on 16 November against
the upcoming NATO summit, CTK reported. Speakers called the summit "a
megaparty of assassins and the capitalist elite." The gathering ended
without incident. In Prague, a similar protest attracted some 200
anarchists on 17 November, CTK reported. Participants carried banners
reading "Against the state and capitalism," "Say no to NATO and the
EU," and "Death for sale -- NATO joint-stock company." That gathering
also ended without incident. More demonstrations are expected later
this week. MS
[48] ...AND AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL URGES RESPECT FOR DEMONSTRATORS'
RIGHTS
Human rights watchdog Amnesty International issued a statement on 16
November to highlight Czech authorities' responsibility ahead of the
NATO summit "to ensure that people are able to exercise peacefully
their rights of freedom of assembly and expression" in addition to
protecting local inhabitants and property. The group claimed policing
operations during the World Bank/International Monetary Fund meeting
two years ago in Prague "resulted in numerous violations of
international standards by law enforcement officials," including "on
arrest and detention, the use of force and firearms, and the rights to
freedom of expression and assembly." Amnesty International added, "The
Czech government must ensure that the sorts of human rights violations
seen in Prague in September 2000 are not repeated." AH
[49] CZECH LEADERS MARK FALL OF COMMUNIST REGIME
President Vaclav Havel on 17 November laid a wreath at a memorial in
Prague marking the site where the 17 November 1989 demonstrations
against the communist regime began, CTK reported. Those demonstrations,
now commemorated as Freedom and Democracy Day, led to the regime's
collapse. Havel told journalists the new Czech generation, which grew
up under different circumstances than those against which the 1989
protesters had stood up, "might not be much interested in what we
experienced or in the Velvet Revolution," but it has internalized "many
of the [democratic] values that were at stake then." Prime Minister
Vladimir Spidla said he is convinced "the struggle for freedom and a
humane society...has not yet ended." MS
[50] NEW CANDIDATES EMERGE FOR POST OF CZECH OPPOSITION PARTY LEADER
Miroslava Nemcova, Civic Democratic Party (ODS) deputy speaker of the
Chamber of Deputies, on 16 November announced she will run for the post
of ODS chairwoman, CTK reported. She said she took the decision in the
wake of a meeting with the ODS parliamentary group the previous day,
where support for her candidacy was strong. Last week, ODS Deputy
Chairman Jan Zahradil and ODS Senate leader Miroslav Topolanek
announced their candidacies for the position, which is likely to be
vacated at a party conference next month so Chairman Vaclav Klaus can
pursue the presidency. CTK said another possible contender for the post
is Prague 6 Mayor Pavel Bem, a front-runner for the Prague lord mayor's
post. MS
[51] CZECH POLITICAL MAP UNDERGOING CHANGES
A group of senators on 15 November established the upper house's
first-ever independent parliamentary group, CTK reported. The Senate
will now have five instead of four parliamentary groups. The group
calls itself The Independents and comprises three unaffiliated senators
elected this year, second-term independent Senator Jitka Seitlova, and
Helena Rognerova, who ran as a member of the centrist Christian
Democratic Union-People's Party. Rognerova leads the new group. On 17
November, the Right-Wing Platform was officially established within the
right-wing Freedom Union-Democratic Union (US-DEU), CTK reported. Many
of the speakers who attended the meeting to approve the new platform's
statutes in Jihlava, South Moravia, demanded that the US-DEU withdraw
from the ruling coalition and elect a new party leadership. MS
[52] SLOVAK PRESIDENT REACTS TO BELARUSIAN LEADER'S ISOLATION...
President Rudolf Schuster in an interview with TASR on 15 November said
Belarus must heed signals that it will remain isolated unless the
political situation in the country changes. Schuster was reacting to
the Czech Republic's decision not to grant a visa to President
Alyaksandr Lukashenka, thus preventing him from attending the 21-22
November NATO summit in Prague. Schuster said the decision was the sole
prerogative of the state hosting the summit, which is "a sovereign
country." But he warned that "it would be a mistake" to isolate Belarus
as a whole "just because of one controversial man." In an allusion to
former Premier Vladimir Meciar, Schuster said that Slovakia has also
been isolated in the past by the international community because of its
"democratic deficit and minorities policies, but that has changed now."
MS
[53] ...AND SAYS SLOVAKIA MUST RALLY AROUND ITS NEW NATO ALLIES
In the same interview with TASR, Schuster also said that if the United
States requests it, Slovakia should immediately provide access to its
airspace in the event of a strike against Iraq. It should also provide
whatever other military support the country is capable of rendering,
Schuster said. Slovakia has so far acted as if it is already a NATO
member, and this cannot change after gaining membership in the
organization, he emphasized. Schuster also said he is convinced that
NATO membership will help revive Slovakia's military industry. MS
[54] SLOVAK PREMIER HAILS EXPECTED NATO INVITATION...
Prime Minister Mikulas Dzurinda in an interview with TASR on 17
November called his country's expected invitation to join NATO "a
milestone in the historic journey of Slovaks and Slovakia." Dzurinda
said there is no better or more effective collective defense that the
Atlantic alliance, adding that Slovakia's NATO membership will also
consolidate stability in Central Europe as a whole. He said Slovakia
cannot "stand on the sidelines" when the alliance is militarily
involved anywhere, because the country will be not only a security
recipient but also a security provider. In the modern, increasingly
global world, the premier added, there is no room to hide when someone
is "becoming mad and trying to turn values upside down." Dzurinda
added: "Every now and then, mankind is confronted with having to choose
between supporting aggression [and] the genocide of innocent people, or
displaying the capability and responsibility for repulsing the
belligerence of dictators and murderers." MS
[55] ...AND STRUGGLE AGAINST COMMUNIST DICTATORSHIP...
In a reference to the Day of Freedom and Democracy (17 November)
marking the overthrow of the communist regime, Dzurinda said in the
same interview with TASR, "In November 1989, we all went into the
streets and squares [expressing our will] for freedom, dignity, and a
life without ideological lies." Nowadays, Slovakia is "irreversibly on
the right path," but it should never be forgotten that 17 November 1989
"was the start of that path," CTK quoted Dzurinda as saying. MS
[56] ...BUT IS CONTRADICTED BY SLOVAK COMMUNISTS
In a statement released on 16 November, the Communist Party of Slovakia
(KSS) said the 17 November 1989 events were "an antistate coup," TASR
reported. The KSS called the Velvet Revolution nothing but a bluff that
put Slovakia back 50-60 years. "Instead of the promised paradise, our
life is affected by a multifarious and deep crisis," and "the biggest
crime is that half a million people are unemployed and the capitalist
system deprives the population of social security," the statement said.
MS
[57] SLOVAKS HELPED CATCH TERRORIST SUSPECT IN BRITAIN
Slovak police helped catch one of the three terrorist suspects detained
in Britain in early November, CTK reported on 17 November, citing
Slovak TA3 television channel. The man had lived in Slovakia with his
local girlfriend, who converted to Islam, for about a year, the report
said. Three North Africans were detained by British police on 9
November on suspicion of planning a lethal-gas attack on the London
subway, according to a report in "The Sunday Times" on 17 November. MS
[58] SLOVAK POLITICIAN BOYCOTTS CONSULTATIONS ON HUNGARIAN STATUS
LAW...
Miklos Duray, executive chairman of the governing coalition's Hungarian
Slovak Coalition (SMK), on 16 November announced he would not
participate in talks in Budapest on Hungary's amendment of its
controversial Status Law. The consultations were held under the
Hungarian Standing Conference (MAERT) on 17 November. Duray is widely
viewed as a supporter of former Hungarian Premier Viktor Orban, whose
government passed the law in 2001. Duray said any amendment to the
Status Law would be detrimental to the legislation and added that he is
not ready to participate in talks whose outcome he cannot influence. MS
[59] ...BUT HUNGARIAN CONFERENCE AGREES ON AMENDMENT ANYWAY
The MAERT -- comprising government ministers and representatives of
parliamentary parties and ethnic Hungarians abroad -- reached consensus
on the Hungarian government's proposed amendments to the Status Law and
the possible consequences of Hungary's EU accession for ethnic
Hungarians, Hungarian radio reported. Prime Minister Peter Medgyessy
told the gathering that Hungary is striving to play a stabilizing role
in the region. The closing document included a proposal to eliminate
preferential treatment of ethnic Hungarians in granting work permits.
Participants also decided that ethnic Hungarian pupils abroad who
attend Hungarian-language schools will receive a 20,000-forint ($85)
annual subsidy. Opposition FIDESZ Deputy Chairman Zsolt Nemeth proposed
that 0.5 percent of the nation's budget be set aside for subsidizing
ethnic Hungarians. He complained that the 1.2 billion forints ($5
million) provided in next year's budget to implement the goals laid
down in the law will not even cover educational benefits. MSZ
[60] FORMER HUNGARIAN PREMIER WARNS OF LOST SOVEREIGNTY TO EU
Former Prime Minister Orban on 15 November told reporters that the
opposition FIDESZ party does not support a draft constitutional
amendment aimed at EU compliance that would supplant Hungarian
legislation with EU law in some cases (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 14
November 2002), as "it would give up a considerable portion of
[Hungary's] independence." Orban insisted the national and EU spheres
of authority must be exercised together and that EU legislation must
not supersede the Hungarian Constitution. Orban said FIDESZ wants to
apply the French formula to EU accession -- which he described as not
surrendering any national sovereignty. Orban also alleged that the
Socialist-led "internationalist government" relegated national
interests into the background when it proposed the amendment of the
constitution. More particularly, he said the government must not
acquiesce in the area of competition policy, particularly regarding the
withdrawal of tax benefits granted to large foreign companies. On 16
November, at a press briefing in Budapest with former Estonian Prime
Minister Mart Laar, Orban said the Hungarian public believes "an angel
is arriving from the EU, but that is not so," Hungarian media reported.
MSZ
[61] HUNGARIAN DEMOCRATIC FORUM ELECTS NEW PARLIAMENTARY-GROUP LEADER
Opposition Hungarian Democratic Forum (MDF) party spokesman Karoly
Herenyi on 17 November was elected the party's parliamentary-group
leader, Budapest dailies reported. Herenyi vowed that the group's style
will be identical to the policy embodied in MDF Chairwoman Ibolya David
and the party's leadership. Former group leader Istvan Balsai, who
resigned last week amid clashes with David and ahead of a vote of
confidence in his leadership (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 12 November 2002),
was proposed as chairman of parliament's Employment Committee. MSZ
[62] FOUR-COUNTRY BATTALION AGREEMENT SIGNED IN BUDAPEST
The chiefs of staff of Hungary, Slovakia, Romania, and Ukraine on 15
November signed an agreement in Budapest on the establishment of an
international military battalion dubbed Tisa, "whose task will be to
ensure cooperation in tackling natural disasters," Czech news agency
CTK reported. Hungarian Defense Ministry officials told CTK the
document was signed by Hungarian Chief of Staff General Lajos Fodor and
his counterparts Milan Cerovsky of Slovakia, Mihail Popescu of Romania,
and Oleksandr Zatynayko of Ukraine. The agreement provides for the
creation of a battalion of 800 troops that could be deployed at the
request of any of the four countries involved in case of a natural
disaster in the Tisa River basin. Each of the countries will provide
200 soldiers, including 100 military engineers, to the unit. When
deployed, the unit will be under host-country command. MSZ
SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE
[63] PRESIDENTS OF ALBANIA, CROATIA, AND MACEDONIA AGREE TO WORK
TOGETHER FOR NATO MEMBERSHIP
Macedonian President Boris Trajkovski and his Albanian counterpart
Alfred Moisiu agreed on 17 November to cooperate to win membership in
the Atlantic alliance, AP and dpa reported. The two met in Ohrid on the
Macedonian side of the border along Lake Ohrid, and later met in
Pogradec on the Albanian side of the frontier. Moisiu and Trajkovski
will present a "joint platform" at the NATO summit in Prague later this
week. Croatian President Stipe Mesic agreed previously to support the
platform but was not present at the Lake Ohrid meetings. The three
presidents will address a Leadership Forum at RFE/RL headquarters in
Prague on 21 November. Albania, Croatia, and Macedonia are not likely
to be invited to join the alliance at the summit but are considered
prime candidates for a subsequent round of enlargement. On 16 November,
Trajkovski said in Skopje that it is "unfair" that his country will not
be invited to join at the Prague summit. He noted that Macedonia
allowed NATO to use its territory during the 1999 Kosova conflict. PM
[64] YUGOSLAV PRESIDENT SLAMS SERBIAN RIVALS, RATHER THAN NATIONALIST
OPPONENTS, AHEAD OF PRESIDENTIAL VOTE
Registration for the 8 December Serbian presidential elections closed
on 17 November, AP reported from Belgrade. Yugoslav President Vojislav
Kostunica of the Democratic Party of Serbia (DSS) will face far-right
Radical Party leader Vojislav Seselj and Borislav Pelevic of the Party
of Serbian Unity, which was founded by the late Zeljko Raznatovic
Arkan. Making a clear reference to Serbian Prime Minister Zoran
Djindjic, Kostunica said on 15 November that some individuals want the
elections to fail. Kostunica stressed that recently revised electoral
legislation should have included a provision that a simple majority of
votes cast -- and not of all registered voters -- is enough to elect a
president on the first ballot and not just on the second one. It is not
clear why Kostunica has raised the matter only now, rather than when he
and Djindjic struck their bargain that permitted the revision of
electoral laws in the first place (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 5, 6, and 14
November 2002). Djindjic's Democratic Opposition (DOS) coalition has
not endorsed any candidate for the presidency. PM
[65] KOSOVAR PRIME MINISTER PLEDGES TO REPAIR SERBIAN CHURCHES
Prime Minister Bajram Rexhepi said in Prishtina that two Serbian
Orthodox churches in the Istog district will be repaired following
explosions that shook them on the night of 16-17 November, AP reported.
Serbian Orthodox Bishop Artemije argued the international community has
not done enough to protect the Serbian population or its churches.
Michael Steiner, who heads the UN civilian administration (UNMIK), said
the attacks are "an act of religious vandalism which does not fit the
Kosovo of 2002." Steiner and Rexhepi visited the sites of the
destruction together, RFE/RL's South Slavic and Albanian Languages
Service reported. PM
[66] UN CHIEF LAUNCHES BALKAN TOUR
On the first part of a five-day Balkan visit, Secretary-General Kofi
Annan paid tribute in Sarajevo on 17 November to 275 UN employees who
died in the course of the conflicts in former Yugoslavia since 1991,
Deutsche Welle's Bosnian Service reported. The UN will end its mission
in Bosnia at the end of 2002, when a smaller EU police mission replaces
that of the UN. Critics charge that UN police have been all too often
at the center of scandals involving prostitution and human trafficking.
Jacques Klein, who heads the UN police mission, has argued that such
publicity is the result of his organization's efforts to clean its own
house. He stresses that the Bosnian police force is first-rate. On 18
November, Annan will discuss cooperation with the war crimes tribunal
in The Hague and Bosnian Serb arms sales to Iraq with Bosnian
officials, RFE/RL's South Slavic and Albanian Languages Service
reported. He then travels to Prishtina, Belgrade, and Zagreb. PM
[67] U.S. PRESIDENT TO VISIT ROMANIA AFTER NATO SUMMIT
Presidential spokeswoman Corina Cretu announced on 15 November that
U.S. President George W. Bush will pay a four-hour visit to Romania on
23 November, RFE/RL's Bucharest Bureau reported. Bush will address a
meeting in Bucharest's Revolution Square and hold talks with President
Ion Iliescu, who is to decorate him with Romania's highest state order.
The U.S. president will be accompanied by first lady Laura Bush,
Secretary of State Colin Powell, and national security adviser
Condoleezza Rice. MS
[68] GREATER ROMANIA PARTY REVERSES COURSE ON EARLY ELECTIONS
Greater Romania Party (PRM) Chairman Corneliu Vadim Tudor said on 15
November that the PRM's previously announced support for early
elections is conditioned on the ballot being conducted under the
stipulations of the current constitution, RFE/RL's Bucharest bureau
reported. Tudor said the PRM will not agree to what he called the
"brutal modification" of the constitution envisaged by the ruling
Social Democratic Party (PSD), nor will it agree to having
parliamentary elections held separately from the presidential election,
both of which are due in 2004. The current constitutional stipulations
allow the president to dissolve the parliament only in the wake of a
no-confidence motion followed by two unsuccessful attempts to set up a
new cabinet. According to reports in the Romanian media, in its
attempts to overcome President's Iliescu's opposition to an early
ballot the PSD is proposing a constitutional amendment under which
former heads of states will automatically become members for life of
Romania's upper house. MS
[69] ROMANIA'S PNL PRESENTS FURTHER INCRIMINATING EVIDENCE AGAINST
PRIBOI
The National Liberal Party (PNL) told journalists on 17 November that
it has further evidence demonstrating that PSD deputy Ristea Priboi
participated in the quashing of the 1987 Brasov workers' uprising as a
member of the Securitate, Mediafax reported. The PNL said another
Brasov worker has identified Priboi as one of those who interrogated
him and supervised his torture after he was detained. Interviews with
the worker, Gheorghe Duduc, were published on 18 November in the
dailies "Romania libera" and "Evenimentul zilei"(see "RFE/RL Newsline,"
12 and 14 November 2002). MS
[70] RULING PARTY CLAIMS VICTORY IN ROMANIAN LOCAL-ELECTION RUNOFFS
Public Administration Minister Octav Cozmanca said in an interview with
Romanian Radio on 18 November that his PSD once again emerged on top in
the local-election runoffs held the previous day. According to
Cozmanca, the PSD won the mayoral positions in five localities, while
the Hungarian Democratic Federation of Romania and the Democratic Party
(UDMR) took one mayoral post each. One independent candidate was also
elected mayor. According to Cozmanca, the two rounds of local elections
produced 14 mayors for the PSD, three for the UDMR and one independent.
He said the returns shows the PSD's leading position is not
deteriorating, "as some have hoped." Cozmanca rejected allegations by
the PNL that the PSD violated electoral regulations in a village in the
Suceava district (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 12 November 2002). MS
[71] MOLDOVAN PARLIAMENT APPROVES FINAL BUDGET READING...
Parliament on 15 November approved the final reading of the 2003
budget, RFE/RL's Chisinau bureau reported. The vote was 72 in favor to
five against. Deputies representing the opposition Popular Party
Christian Democratic (PPCD) did not participate in the vote. The budget
envisages revenues of 3.9 billion lei ($285.7 million) and expenditures
of 4.2 billion lei, resulting in a deficit of less than 1 percent of
GDP. MS
[72] ...AND FIRST READING OF AMENDMENT ON PARTY-REGISTRATION LAW...
Also on 15 November, parliament approved the first reading of
legislation that would raise from 5,000 to 15,000 the minimum number of
members needed to register a political formation, RFE/RL's Chisinau
bureau reported. The bill was presented by PPCD leader Iurie Rosca and
supported by deputies representing the ruling Party of Moldovan
Communists, in what is a very rare instance of agreement between them.
The Braghis Alliance and two independent deputies oppose the draft,
saying it would infringe on the freedom of association. If approved in
a final reading, the currently registered 33 Moldovan parties will have
to re-register within three months, Infotag reported. MS
[73] ...AS WELL AS LAW AGAINST AUDIOVISUAL PIRACY
The Moldovan legislature approved a law on 15 November against the
pirating of compact discs and videotapes, ITAR-TASS reported. Under the
new regulations, all CD and video traders in Moldova must possess
documents certifying the origin of their merchandise as well as the
producers' consent to distribute on Moldovan territory. Authorization
labels must then be carried on CDs and videotapes. Moldovan police
claim that pirated CDs and videos account for 90 percent of the
country's trade in that market. MS
[74] MOLDOVAN PRESIDENT SENDS DRAFT LAW ON COMBATING EXTREMISM TO
PARLIAMENT
President Vladimir Voronin 15 on November submitted to the legislature
a draft law on combating extremism, Flux reported. The draft law
defines "extremist materials" as documents, whether signed or
anonymous, that incite or justify actions related to war crimes or the
full or partial elimination of an ethnic, social, racial, national, or
religious group. It defines extremist organizations as those
associations, parties, or media outlets that have been forbidden
through a final court verdict from functioning due to their involvement
in extremist activities. Before being charged with extremist
activities, such organizations would be warned by the authorities and
would have to take corrective measures within one month. The warning
would be subject to appeal. If it is determined that such entities are
engaging in extremist activities within one year of the initial warning
they could either be forbidden or suspended from operation. Public
officials and state employees engaging in such activities would face a
ban on their activities for up to five years. MS
[75] BULGARIAN DEFENSE MINISTER DEMANDS REGISTRATION OF DUAL-USE GOODS
In reaction to the scandal stemming from a state-owned company's
attempt to export dual-use goods to Syria (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 12,
13, 14, and 15 November 2002), Defense Minister Nikolay Svinarov said
on 17 November that Bulgarian companies must register all civilian and
dual-use goods they produce, mediapool.bg reported. Svinarov said the
measure will help customs authorities intercept future attempts to
export dual-use goods. In related news, Svinarov has hinted that he
might take responsibility for the recent scandal and resign immediately
after the 21-22 November NATO summit in Prague, "Standart" reported on
18 November. Meanwhile, U.S. State Department specialists arrived in
Bulgaria on 17 November to investigate the TEREM arms exporter's
attempt to ship dual-use goods to Syria, "Sega" reported. Together with
representatives of the Interior Ministry and the Military
Counterintelligence Service, the specialists visited the TEREM factory
in Turgovishte. "We would like to show the Americans that TEREM is not
a mafia company," Interior Ministry Chief Secretary Boyko Borisov said.
"It is our duty to defend the authority of our military production and
to show that we can work according to NATO standards," he added. UB
[76] FOREIGN MINISTER CONFIDENT THAT BULGARIA WILL BE INVITED TO JOIN
NATO
Foreign Minister Solomon Pasi said on 15 November that he is confident
Bulgaria will receive an invitation to join NATO at the alliance's
Prague summit on 21-22 November, BTA reported. "We have absolutely
reliable information that the [United States] will support Bulgaria and
another six countries' NATO membership bids at the Prague summit," Pasi
said. "The governments of the other 18 NATO member states confirmed
over the past few months that they will support the same seven states,
so we can claim with a great degree of confidence that these will be
the countries that will be invited to join the alliance at the Prague
summit," he added. Other leading Bulgarian politicians such as
President Georgi Parvanov and parliamentary speaker Ognyan Gerdzhikov
have also expressed their confidence that Bulgaria will receive a NATO
invitation. UB
[77] BULGARIAN PRIME MINISTER WRAPS UP VISIT TO FRANCE
Simeon Saxecoburggotski wrapped up his three-day official visit to
France on 17 November, BTA reported. In Paris, Saxecoburggotski met
with his French counterpart Jean-Pierre Raffarin, President Jacques
Chirac, and other high-ranking politicians. Chirac assured
Saxecoburggotski that Bulgaria will receive an invitation to join NATO.
"For France, the enlargement of NATO and the EU are priorities, and the
support that Bulgaria receives from Paris is something that nobody in
your country should doubt," Chirac was quoted as saying by bnn news
agency. Deputy Justice Minister Sevdalin Bozhikov, who accompanied
Saxecoburggotski, met with officials to prepare for a meeting of the
Bulgarian-French team working on judicial reform in Bulgaria. UB
[78] BULGARIAN, MACEDONIAN PRESIDENTS MEET INFORMALLY, HONOR MACEDONIAN
REVOLUTIONARY
President Parvanov and his Macedonian counterpart Boris Trajkovski met
informally in the southwest Bulgarian town of Bansko on 16 November,
BTA reported. The talks focused on bilateral cooperation on
infrastructure projects and the two countries' integration into
Euro-Atlantic structures. To the surprise of many observers, Parvanov
and Trajkovski laid flowers before the monument of Jane Sandanski in
the town Melnik. Sandanski, who was murdered in 1915 in the vicinity of
Melnik, is regarded as a national hero in Bulgaria and Macedonia and
the ceremony could be an indication of improving bilateral relations,
which have long been marred by insurmountable controversies over the
countries' common history. The Skopje daily "Utrinski vesnik" quoted
Parvanov as saying that "this was a gesture that was to show that
history must be read in a responsible and rational way [and that]
history must unite us and not divide us." UB
SOUTHWESTERN ASIA AND THE MIDDLE EAST
[79] U.S. SENATE PASSES AFGHANISTAN FREEDOM SUPPORT ACT...
The U.S. Senate on 14 November passed the Afghanistan Freedom Support
Act (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 14 November 2002), which would allocate
$3.3 billion "in economic, political, humanitarian and security
assistance for Afghanistan over the next four years," according to a
statement released by the U.S. State Department on 15 November. The
bill was sponsored by U.S. Senator Chuck Hagel (Republican, Nebraska).
"The United States must stay closely and actively engaged in helping
Afghanistan through a very dangerous and difficult transition to
stability, security, and, ultimately, a democratic government," Hagel
said. "We are at the beginning of a long process, and we must not allow
the Afghan government to unwind. We must make the appropriate
investment of resources and capital to meet our objective of a stable
and prosperous country. Afghanistan is the first battle in our war on
terrorism -- we must not fail," Hagel added. The bill must now be
approved by President George W. Bush. AT
[80] ...AND STATES ITS SUPPORT FOR EXPANDED ISAF ROLE...
In the bill, the U.S. Congress "urges" President Bush "to use [the]
full diplomatic influence of the United States to expand the
International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) beyond Kabul" by
"sponsoring in the United Nations Security Council a resolution
authorizing such an expansion." In addition, the bill recommends
"enlisting the European and other allies of the United States to
provide forces for an expanded" ISAF (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 13, 14, 15
November 2002). AT
[81] ...AS BRITISH LAWMAKERS FOLLOW SUIT...
A group of 56 members of British parliament have presented a petition
to their government calling on it to explore the feasibility of
extending the ISAF's peacekeeping activities beyond Kabul, the Voice of
the Islamic Republic of Iran reported on 17 November. According to the
radio station, the British members of parliament stressed in the
petition that security is needed before Afghanistan can be
reconstructed and that the issue has gone unanswered by the
international community despite UN support. The radio added that the
United States has "also called for the expansion of the international
forces beyond Kabul." AT
[82] ...AND GERMANY VOTES TO KEEP TROOPS IN AFGHANISTAN
The German parliament, by a vote of 573 in favor to 11 against,
overwhelmingly supported a request by Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder to
extend the stationing of approximately 1,110 German troops in
Afghanistan, "The New York Times" reported on 15 November. Germany and
the Netherlands are expected to assume joint command of the ISAF in
December. Both countries have supported an NATO role in Afghanistan,
particularly in the event that the ISAF's peacekeeping operations are
extended beyond Kabul. AT
[83] AFGHANISTAN'S SAYED KARAM DISTRICT OUT OF GOVERNMENT CONTROL...
Supporters of former Paktiya Province Governor Pacha Khan Zadran have
retaken control of Sayed Karam district after government forces were
pushed back, the weekly "Payam-e Mujahed," which is affiliated with
former Afghan President Burhanuddin Rabbani, reported in its 14
November issue. The district is located approximately 50 kilometers
northwest of the provincial capital of Khost. AT
[84] ...AND COALITION FORCES ARE ATTACKED IN THE AREA
Two rockets were fired at coalition forces in Khost from a southeastern
direction, the Hindukosh news agency cited Afghan Army 3rd Corps
commander Lieutenant General Atiqollah Ludin as saying on 17 November.
According to the report, Ludin said the attack did not result in any
casualties. "Rocket attacks on the positions of coalition forces in
Khost and other provinces are increasing these days," according the
report. AT
[85] IRAN'S SUPREME LEADER INTERVENES IN AGHAJARI CASE...
Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has ordered the Hamedan Appeals
Court to review the case of political activist and university Professor
Hashem Aghajari, "Jomhuri-yi Islami" reported on 17 November. Khamenei
gave the order following receipt of a letter from what the daily
described as "hundreds of university lecturers." Aghajari was sentenced
on 6 November to death, prison time, and a flogging for allegedly
making blasphemous comments in a June speech. Aghajari's lawyer, Saleh
Nikbakht, and Speaker of Parliament Mehdi Karrubi confirmed the
"Jomhuri-yi Islami" report. BS
[86] ...AS STUDENT DEMONSTRATIONS CONTINUE...
An anonymous student leader said there is no need for continuing the
demonstrations that began on 9 November in light of Supreme Leader
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's intervention in the Aghajari case, Reuters
reported on 17 November. However, Abdullah Momeni of the Office for
Strengthening Unity (the Allameh branch) told RFE/RL's Persian Service
on 17 November the demonstrations are not just about Hashem Aghajari.
Momeni said there is dissatisfaction with the country's system of
government, and the demonstrators want it reformed. Momeni said that
there will be another demonstration at Sharif Industrial University on
18 November. The Student Basij at Allameh Tabatabai University also
intends to hold a rally on 18 November, according to the Iranian
Students News Agency. That rally is to protest "the infiltration of
misleading ideas," insulting sanctities, boycotts of classes, unrest,
and the weak performance of university administrators and the Ministry
of Science, Research, and Technology. Moreover, more than 1,000
students staged a sit-in at Allameh Tabatabai University on 17
November, and there were some scuffles between them and hard-line
bystanders. BS
[87] ...AND INTERIOR MINISTRY TRIES TO PREVENT RALLIES
The Interior Ministry on 16 November rejected an application from the
majority wing of the Office for Strengthening Unity (the Allameh
branch) to hold a march on 18 November, the IRNA reported. Interior
Ministry official Ali Baqeri explained that the organizers of such
events cannot control them, and when this happens outsiders might
interfere. "Counterrevolutionaries and foreign agents seek to stir up
crises so that they can live in them like parasites," Baqeri said.
"There is also the possibility of violent intervention by people who
have their sensitivities inflamed by the slogans that are chanted." BS
[88] PARLIAMENT PONDERS LIFTING SATELLITE-TV BAN...
Iran's Guardians Council, which is tasked with determining the Islamic
and constitutional compatibility of all legislation, rejected on 16
November a bill that would require juries for all political and
media-related trials, according to an Islamic Republic News Agency
(IRNA) dispatch, as reported by AFP. The bill has been sent back to
parliament, but if the legislature refuses to amend it further, the
Expediency Council would have to arbitrate. The legislature will also
begin consideration of a bill to lift the ban on satellite dishes and
receivers. If that is approved, a committee chaired by the Islamic
Culture and Guidance Ministry and including representatives of the
ministries of Intelligence and Security; Interior; and Post, Telegraph,
and Telephone; and from the official Islamic Republic of Iran
Broadcasting (IRIB) would determine which channels are safe for
viewing. The ban against satellite dishes was passed in 1995, but the
law is only sporadically enforced, and satellite television is very
popular. The legislature considered ending the satellite-dish ban one
year ago but failed to do so ("RFE/RL Iran Report," 29 October 2001).
Parliament on 17 November debated a bill on taxes and duties that would
be levied on goods producers and service providers. Large industrial
organizations have indicated their opposition to the bill. BS
[89] ...AND CREATING NEW MINISTRY
Tabriz parliamentary representative Aliasqar Amir Sherdust said on 16
November that a government bill for the creation of a new Cultural
Heritage and Tourism Ministry has been submitted to the legislature,
IRNA reported. He went on to say this would require a merger of the
Cultural Heritage Organization and the Sightseeing and Tourism
Organization. Sherdust said the new ministry would encourage foreign
investors and would develop plans and programs to boost the tourism
industry. BS
[90] IRANIAN DIPLOMATIC VISIT TO WASHINGTON CANCELLED...
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Assefi said on 18
November that Iran's ambassador to the United Nations, Mohammad Javad
Zarif, has cancelled a trip to Washington to speak at the Middle East
Institute (MEI) because American officials wanted to omit the
question-and-answer session after his speech, according to IRNA.
Reuters had reported on 15 November that the trip was cancelled because
MEI did not coordinate the visit with the U.S. State Department. Zarif
was scheduled to meet with members of the U.S. Congress during the
visit. Iranian diplomats in the United States are subject to travel
restrictions because of the absence of diplomatic relations between the
two countries. BS
[91] ...WHILE OTHER CONTACTS OCCUR
An anonymous U.S. Defense Department official said on 14 November that
there are "preliminary feelers" between Tehran and Washington
concerning coping with military emergencies in the Persian Gulf region,
"USA Today" reported on 15 November. The source said the contacts are
taking place through Arab intermediaries in a small Gulf state. Former
Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Velayati, who serves as the Supreme
Leader's foreign-affairs adviser, has established an office in Dubai to
facilitate such contacts, according to reports in the 28 and 29 August
issues of "Al-Sharq al-Awsat." Tehran agreed to aid downed American
aviators during the Afghan conflict last year, and during the 1991 Gulf
War, it allowed American aircraft to pass through its airspace. BS
[92] HAS IRAQI PRESIDENT ARRANGED SAFE HAVEN IN LIBYA?
Iraqi President Saddam Hussein has reportedly struck a deal with Libya
to provide a safe haven for members of his regime and his family in the
event that he is driven from power in Iraq, "The Times" reported on 16
November. According to the London daily, Hussein sent General Ali Hasan
al-Majid (otherwise known as Chemical Ali for his supervision of a
chemical weapons attack on the Kurds in Halabja in 1988) to Libya on 8
September to make arrangements. The deal reportedly provides a safe
haven for Saddam's family and about a dozen senior Iraqi officials and
their families, including Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz and Foreign
Minister Naji Sabri. In return, $3.5 billion would be deposited into
Libyan banks. Diplomatic sources in Tripoli said President Hussein and
his son Uday would not be allowed to enter Libya, but it is unknown
whether Saddam's younger son Qusay is on the list. The Libyan news
agency JANA reported on 16 November that Hassunah al-Shawish, the
assistant secretary for culture and information at the General People's
Committee for Foreign Liaison and International Cooperation, called
"The Times" report "totally unfounded" and "fictitious." He threatened
to take legal action against the paper. KR
[93] IRAQ REPORTEDLY HIDING WEAPONS
Baghdad has shifted weapons and documents from military installations
to public spaces and has sent its scientists abroad as it prepares for
the return of UN weapons inspectors, "The Daily Telegraph" reported on
its website on 17 November. The report cited information provided by
the Iraqi National Accord (INA) opposition group, which claimed that
the Iraqi government has moved documents and materials from weapons
laboratories and a ballistic missile site into hospitals, schools, and
mosques in Mosul and Kirkuk. The operation is supposedly being overseen
by Brigadier General Walid al-Nasri and President Hussein's son, Qusay
Hussein. In addition, "The Daily Telegraph" reported that over the last
two weeks two scientists have been sent to Yemen and two to undisclosed
locations in the Middle East, while one each has been sent to Romania,
Singapore, and Malaysia. The report also quoted an official from the
U.S. Department of Defense as saying that Iraq has "trained large
numbers of personnel in how to deal with an intrusive inspection
regime," including how to rapidly sterilize the equipment that is used
to produce and store chemical and biological agents. KR
[94] IRAQI PRESIDENT SENDS MESSAGE TO NATIONAL ASSEMBLY
President Hussein sent a letter to the National Assembly concerning the
Revolutionary Command Council's (RCC) decision to accept UN Security
Council resolution 1441, Iraq TV reported on 16 November. In the
letter, Hussein praised the assembly and the Iraqi people for their
nationalism and religious devotion, and he called on them to remain
strong, "not confuse right with falsehood," and to fearlessly confront
the "Satan of the age." "Your enemy has once again covered its goals
and intentions under the cloak of the Security Council, which has
violated everything that represents the conscience of international
unanimity in accordance with the UN Charter and international law
through this resolution," he added. Hussein also vowed to protect
Iraq's scientific progress and "independently achieved" technology. In
an apparent reference to a possible war with the United States, he said
that "if the unjust ones go too far in their injustice, you know that
we can draw on the revolution's capabilities and principles against
every injustice and unjust one." KR
[95] IRAQI VICE PRESIDENT CRITICIZES IMPUTED U.S. PLANS FOR IRAQ
Iraqi Vice President Taha Yassin Ramadan told the Cairo weekly
"Al-Musawwar" of 15 November that Washington is attempting to install a
regime in Iraq akin to that established in Afghanistan -- and that it
would fail. "This is political stupidity because they do not know the
people of Iraq or how they view occupiers, or how they liberated their
land from foreign occupation," he said in an interview from Baghdad.
Ramadan also criticized Iraqi opposition groups, calling them a bunch
of "dwarfs." "They are just collaborators living in the United States
and Britain. I believe they are completely powerless," he said. He also
contrasted the recent presidential referendum in Iraq to the U.S.
presidential elections in 2000. Ramadan said the Iraqi referendum was
"in accordance with the constitution," and he implied that the outcome
of U.S. elections are determined by wealthy individuals, companies, and
"Zionist groups." KR
[96] INTERNATIONAL ATOMIC AGENCY DIRECTOR-GENERAL DISCUSSES UPCOMING
INSPECTIONS
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director-General Muhammad
al-Baradei addressed upcoming UN inspections in Iraq during a speech at
The Carnegie International Non-Proliferation Conference 2002, hosted in
Washington on 14 November by the Carnegie Endowment for International
Peace. In a report posted on the organization's website
(http://www.ceip.org), Baradei said that by December 1998 the
inspectors had successfully neutralized Iraq's nuclear program and that
"we had destroyed, removed, or rendered harmless all its facilities and
equipment relevant to nuclear weapons production -- mostly by the end
of 1992." He added that Iraq's weapons-useable material had been
removed from the country by 1994. Baradei contended that while
satellite monitoring of Iraq has continued for the last four years, it
is necessary for inspectors to confirm Iraq's compliance through
inspections on the ground. He added that the success of the inspections
will depend on the Iraqi government's willingness to cooperate and to
provide access to sites, as well as transparency and access to all
information, including intelligence data. KR
END NOTE
[97] There is no End Note today.
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