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RFE/RL Newsline, 02-12-20
CONTENTS
[01] PRESIDENT NO LONGER TAKING REQUESTS...
[02] ...AS PROBLEM FROM LAST YEAR'S CHAT REMAINS UNSOLVED...
[03] ...AND TEFLON COATING REMAINS INTACT
[04] PUTIN AGAIN RULES OUT CHECHEN PEACE TALKS...
[05] ...AS CHECHEN HEAD PRAISES OUSTED GENERAL
[06] INTELLIGENCE COMMUNITY CELEBRATES ITS SOVIET ORIGINS...
[07] ...AS FOREIGN-INTELLIGENCE DIRECTOR OUTLINES PRIORITIES...
[08] ...FSB GOES AFTER SPIES IN THE REGIONS...
[09] ...AND PRESIDENTIAL ENVOY ACCUSES RED CROSS OF SPYING
[10] GORNYI FACILITY DESTROYS FIRST BATCH OF CHEMICAL WEAPONS
[11] STILL MORE HAZING-RELATED DESERTIONS...
[12] ...AS DUMA DEPUTY CALLS FOR BAN ON SOLDIERS' MOTHERS COMMITTEES
[13] DUMA GIVES REVISED PRESIDENTIAL-ELECTION LAW SECOND NOD
[14] KAZAKH PRESIDENT VISITS KREMLIN...
[15] ...AGREES TO NEGOTIATE RUSSIAN 50-YEAR LEASE ON KAZAKH SPACE
[16] RUSSIA, HUNGARY SEEK IMPROVED ECONOMIC RELATIONS
[17] FEDERAL INSPECTOR PROTECTS PUTIN BRAND NAME IN FAR EAST
[18] ANOTHER LIBERAL RUSSIA PARTY MEMBER IN HOT WATER
[19] REGIONAL LEADER SPEAKS OUT ON PROBLEM OF STREET CHILDREN
[20] ARMENIAN GOVERNMENT ADOPTS SMALL-BUSINESS PLAN
[21] SHORTCOMINGS IN ARMENIAN HUMAN RIGHTS HIGHLIGHTED
[22] U.S., ARMENIAN OFFICIALS REVIEW PARLIAMENTARY ASSISTANCE
[23] ARMENIAN FOREIGN MINISTER WELCOMES TURKISH HINT OF NORMALIZED
[24] AZERBAIJANI PRESIDENT CONVENES MEETING ON DOMESTIC ENERGY CRISIS
[25] AZERBAIJANI DEPUTY PREMIER HOLDS TALKS IN MOSCOW
[26] AZERBAIJANI VILLAGERS PROTEST POOR LIVING CONDITIONS
[27] GEORGIAN MILITARY PLEDGES TO ADOPT NATO STANDARDS
[28] PRO-GOVERNMENT DEPUTIES WALK OUT OF GEORGIAN PARLIAMENT
[29] TRIAL OF FORMER KAZAKH TRANSPORT MINISTER COMMENCES
[30] KYRGYZ OPPOSITION PLANS TO KEEP PRESSING PRESIDENT ON CHINA ISSUE
[31] KYRGYZ PRESIDENT UPBEAT ON 2003
[32] TAJIK BORDER COMMANDER JAILED
[33] OSCE MEMBERS DEMAND FACT-FINDING MISSION TO TURKMENISTAN
[34] UZBEKISTAN DENIES INVOLVEMENT IN TURKMEN ASSASSINATION PLOT
[35] UZBEK, UKRAINIAN LEADERS DISCUSS GUUAM
[36] OSCE REPORTEDLY RETURNING TO MINSK
[37] BELARUSIAN SOCCER SAID SUBJECT TO 'POLITICAL INTERFERENCE'
[38] UKRAINE COULD FACE SANCTIONS OVER DIRTY-MONEY EFFORTS
[39] UKRAINIAN OPPOSITION PROPOSES END TO PARLIAMENTARY STANDOFF
[40] GOVERNMENT STUDY CRITICIZES ESTONIA'S DAIRY SECTOR
[41] LATVIAN BORDER GUARD DECLARES STATE OF EMERGENCY AT RUSSIAN BORDER
[42] LITHUANIA, EU SIGN PHARE MEMORANDUMS
[43] JOBLESS PROTESTERS DISRUPT POLISH PARLIAMENT
[44] POLISH CHURCH LEADER VOWS SUPPORT FOR EU ENTRY
[45] POLISH PRESIDENT OPPOSES CHANGES TO ABORTION LAW
[46] CZECH SENATE FOLLOWS SUIT IN PRAISING EU NEGOTIATIONS
[47] CZECH TELEVISION IS ORDERED TO APOLOGIZE, PAY DAMAGES TO FORMER
[48] SLOVAKS IMPLORED TO SHOW COURAGE IN ANTITERRORIST STRUGGLE
[49] FORMER SLOVAK PREMIER GETS UPPER HAND ON PARTY RIVALS
[50] SLOVAK NATIONALISTS AGREE TO REUNIFICATION
[51] STANDARD & POOR'S IMPROVES SLOVAKIA'S COUNTRY RATING
[52] U.S. WELCOMES HUNGARIAN DECISION ON TRAINING BASE
[53] U.S. DAILY SAYS MISSILE-DEFENSE SHIELD MIGHT BE DEPLOYED IN
[54] MONTENEGRO FACES UNCERTAIN PRESIDENTIAL VOTE
[55] MONTENEGRO REJECTS SERBIAN BANK DEMAND
[56] MACEDONIAN PRESIDENT SETS PRIORITIES
[57] EU TELLS CROATIA: DON'T CALL US, WE'LL CALL YOU
[58] CROATIAN OIL COMPANY SHOWS BIG PROFIT
[59] BOSNIAN MUSLIMS SEEK UN COMPENSATION FOR SREBRENICA
[60] ALBANIAN FOREIGN MINISTER CALLS KOSOVA AN 'INTERNATIONAL PROBLEM'
[61] ROMANIAN PRESIDENT URGES LAWMAKERS TO WAGE ALL-OUT WAR ON
[62] ROMANIAN LAWMAKERS APPROVE APPEAL ON EU ENLARGEMENT...
[63] ...AND SELLING OF MAJORITY STAKE IN ROMTELECOM TO GREEK INVESTOR
[64] ROMANIA BANS GYMNASTS FOR NUDE PERFORMANCES
[65] MOLDOVAN OFFICIAL SAYS MOSCOW NEGOTIATIONS SIGNAL DANGERS,
[66] MOLDOVAN PARLIAMENT APPROVES FIRST READING OF BILL ON COMBATING
[67] PROSECUTOR-GENERAL ASKS MOLDOVAN PARLIAMENT TO LIFT OPPOSITION
[68] MOLDOVAN OPPOSITION FORUM WARNS AGAINST DANGERS TO DEMOCRACY
[69] BULGARIAN PARLIAMENT PASSES 2003 BUDGET
[70] NEW BULGARIAN LAW ON RELIGIOUS COMMUNITIES DIVIDES RULING
[71] SUICIDE BOMBER ATTACKS ISAF BASE NEAR KABUL
[72] AL-QAEDA BLAMED FOR ATTACK ON U.S. SOLDIERS IN KABUL...
[73] ...AS IS HIZB-E ISLAMI
[74] AFGHAN MINISTER SAYS WARLORDS POSE SECURITY THREAT
[75] EDITOR SENTENCED FOR PUBLISHING CARTOON OF AFGHAN PRESIDENT
[76] IRAN, TAJIKISTAN DISCUSS ANTIDRUG EFFORTS
[77] EU PRESIDENCY LINKS TRADE WITH HUMAN RIGHTS IN IRAN
[78] IRAN REQUESTS INTERPOL'S HELP IN POLLSTERS CASE
[79] IRANIAN PRESIDENT OPTIMISTIC THAT HE'LL HAVE MORE POWER...
[80] ...BUT PARLIAMENTARIAN NOTES FLAWS IN BILL
[81] LAWMAKER DESCRIBES IRANIAN PLAN FOR PALESTINE
[82] AL-AQSA MARTYRS BRIGADE SAYS NO AID FROM IRAN
[83] IRAN, TATARSTAN SIGN COOPERATION MEMORANDUM
[84] ARMY COMMANDER DENIES IRAN HAS MILITARY NUCLEAR AMBITIONS
[85] UNMOVIC, IAEA HEADS BRIEF UN SECURITY COUNCIL ON IRAQ
[86] U.K. FOREIGN SECRETARY SAYS IRAQ FAILED TO COOPERATE...
[87] ...AND IRAQI FOREIGN MINISTER SAYS BRITAIN LIES AND U.S. VIOLATES
[88] UNMOVIC MISSILE INSPECTORS VISIT MANUFACTURING SITES...
[89] ...AS IAEA INSPECTION TEAM SPENDS SECOND NIGHT IN MOSUL
[90] KUWAIT INCREASES PREPAREDNESS WHILE HOPING TO AVOID WAR
[91] U.S. WELCOMES HUNGARIAN DECISION ON TRAINING BASE
[92] There is no End Note today.
20 December 2002
RUSSIA
[01] PRESIDENT NO LONGER TAKING REQUESTS...
During his two-hour live television appearance on 19 December,
President Vladimir Putin answered 51 questions out of the more than
50,000 that were submitted during the appearance, Interfax reported.
How certain questioners got on the air and others didn't was not clear.
After last year's program, it was revealed that questions were
rehearsed and pre-screened. However, this year, Oleg Dobrodeev,
chairman of the All-Russian State Television and Radio Company (VGTRK),
directed personnel at regional state-owned television companies not to
release any information about preparations for the show (see "RFE/RL
Newsline," 16 December 2002). The range of subjects was broad -- from
why Putin wears his wristwatch on his right hand to how can people be
calm after the 23-26 October Moscow hostage crisis. Comparing the
content of viewers' questions from one year to the next, Putin
commented that people appear more interested in national development
than previously. "We also had some personal requests...but in the end
we should abandon the practice of top-ranking officials solving
personal problems," he noted. "We should give more attention to the
causes of people's concerns and work on eliminating [those causes]." A
transcript of the entire appearance is available at
http://www.kremlin.ru. JAC
[02] ...AS PROBLEM FROM LAST YEAR'S CHAT REMAINS UNSOLVED...
There was some follow-up from last year's program when President Putin
was asked about recent death of a pensioner in an unheated apartment in
the Irkutsk Oblast town of Ust-Kut. Demonstrating that he is very well
briefed, Putin responded that he was aware of the pensioner's death and
that the problem arose because the construction of two heating plants
had not been completed. During last year's call-in program, a boy from
Ust-Kut complained to Putin that his school had been closed because of
the lack of heat and he was worried about having to repeat a year (see
"RFE/RL Newsline," 28 December 2001). That complaint resulted in the
resignation of Ust-Kut Mayor Yevgenii Koreiko, but this time Putin
suggested the blame should be directed a notch higher. "Not only the
local authorities, but also the governor of Irkutsk Oblast, Boris
Aleksandrovich Govorin, should certainly have paid particular attention
to this matter. How was it permitted for a whole settlement at that
latitude to go into winter in such a state?" Putin said. The current
mayor has been in office only since March. NTV reported last year that
a month after the city's heating problems had been revealed on national
television, residents still lacked heat but some had installed
wood-burning stoves (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 15 January 2002). The city
has also been afflicted by hunger strikes by local utility workers and
medical personnel (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 6 August 2002). In September,
the troubled city announced a plan to sell municipal stakes in local
enterprises in order to purchase heating fuel (see "RFE/RL Newsline,"
13 September 2002). JAC
[03] ...AND TEFLON COATING REMAINS INTACT
In an express opinion poll taken in Krasnoyarsk after President Putin's
call-in program, pollsters found that the audience "still loves the
president as before and hopes change will be for the better," RFE/RL's
Krasnoyarsk correspondent reported. Nonetheless, almost half of those
polled said they believe their standard of living is declining. JAC
[04] PUTIN AGAIN RULES OUT CHECHEN PEACE TALKS...
Responding to questions about the conflict in Chechnya during his live
television appearance, President Putin reiterated his position that it
is impossible to negotiate with representatives of Chechen separatists,
RFE/RL's Russian Service reported. He described the Chechen fighters as
"international terrorists and bandits" and argued that the peace
negotiations held in 1996 simply "led to the escalation of aggression."
He reaffirmed his plan to hold a referendum on a new constitution in
the republic in the spring, to be followed by elections. He added that
he does not believe a state of emergency should be declared in
Chechnya. VY
[05] ...AS CHECHEN HEAD PRAISES OUSTED GENERAL
The head of Chechnya's pro-Kremlin administration, Akhmed-hadji
Kadyrov, has said he views positively the possible participation of
former North Caucasus Military District commander Colonel General
Gennadii Troshev in the upcoming presidential election in Chechnya,
RIA-Novosti reported on 20 December. Troshev was dismissed from his
post this week following public comments he made concerning his
possible transfer to command the Siberian Military District (see
"RFE/RL Newsline," 19 December 2002). Kadyrov said he has good personal
relations with Troshev and added that the general would make "a good
candidate." He added, however, that he still plans to participate in
the election himself. VY
[06] INTELLIGENCE COMMUNITY CELEBRATES ITS SOVIET ORIGINS...
Russia's security and intelligence services on 20 December marked the
85th anniversary of their creation by the founder of the Soviet state,
Vladimir Lenin, Russian news agencies reported. On 20 December 1917,
Lenin signed a decree establishing the notorious Soviet secret police,
the VChK-KGB. Agents of the VChK came to be called "chekists." Until
1995, the intelligence services marked 20 December as Chekist Day, but
that year President Boris Yeltsin renamed the day "Security Organ
Officer's Day." At present, the key Russian intelligence agencies are
the Foreign-Intelligence Service (SVR), the Main Intelligence
Directorate of the General Staff (GRU), the Federal Security Service
(FSB), the Federal Agency of Governmental Communications and
Information (FAPSI), the Federal Protection Service (FSO), and the Main
Directorate of Special Programs of the Russian President. All of them
except the GRU were formerly elements of the Soviet KGB and have
preserved the KGB "sword and shield" emblem as their symbols, although
they have added the two-headed Russian eagle to them. VY
[07] ...AS FOREIGN-INTELLIGENCE DIRECTOR OUTLINES PRIORITIES...
SVR Director Sergei Lebedev told "Rossiiskaya gazeta" on 20 December
that the fact that President Putin is a former intelligence officer
helps him and his service. Lebedev said his agency is efficient and
works in coordination with other elements of the country's intelligence
community "even though they are split up [after the dismantling of the
KGB]." He said the SVR "takes adequate measures to identify threats
connected with NATO's approach to Russia's borders." He also said
Russia is concerned by NATO's "declared interest in Central Asia and
the Caucasus." He added that his agency has "helpers" abroad who
cooperated with it on an ideological or political basis. "There are
people abroad who sympathize with Russia and support its striving to
form a multipolar world and to secure global and regional balances of
power," he said. The SVR has no special units to conduct diversions
abroad because the SVR has never been asked to carry out such
operations, Lebedev said. He also said that although he personally
condemns defectors, the SVR has no "cleaners" who seek out defectors
abroad and punish them as the Soviet KGB had. VY
[08] ...FSB GOES AFTER SPIES IN THE REGIONS...
FSB Director Nikolai Patrushev has said that he is satisfied with the
work of his agency in 2002 and noted that the FSB has managed to
prevent serious harm to Russia's national interests, strana.ru reported
on 20 December. He noted the FSB's role in denying visas to more than
two dozen U.S. Peace Corps volunteers, including the former head of
that organization in Primorskii Krai. The head of the FSB's Nizhnii
Novgorod directorate, Lieutenant General Vladimir Bulavin, said his
officers uncovered 19 foreign intelligence officers looking into
defense objects in the region, RIA-Novosti reported on 19 December. He
said the prime targets of interest are the Federal Nuclear Center in
Sarov and local defense enterprises working on the development of
advanced weaponry. VY
[09] ...AND PRESIDENTIAL ENVOY ACCUSES RED CROSS OF SPYING
Speaking at a meeting of members of executive branches in the Southern
Federal District on 18 December in Rostov-na-Donu, presidential envoy
to the Southern Federal District General Viktor Kazantsev said it is
necessary to take the activities of all "humanitarians" in the North
Caucasus under strict control and "redirect foreign charity" from
Ingushetia to Chechnya, changing the scheme for distributing
humanitarian cargoes, "Kommersant-Daily" reported on 19 December. "You
know very well who works for the Red Cross -- spies," he said.
Kazantsev was formerly the commander of the federal forces in Chechnya
before being appointed presidential envoy (see "RFE/RL Russian
Federation Report," 24 May 2000). Kazantsev also reported that while
the number of displaced persons from Chechnya in Ingushetia has fallen
from 148,600 last year to 68,700 this year and the situation has
stabilized, the problem of displaced persons is far from resolved. He
argued that the basic obstacle hindering their return is that they
remain afraid for their lives and this fear is reinforced by
anti-Russian provocations carried out in Chechnya and Ingushetia. JAC
[10] GORNYI FACILITY DESTROYS FIRST BATCH OF CHEMICAL WEAPONS
The much-delayed chemical-weapons destruction plant in the Saratov
Oblast town of Gornyi began operation on 20 December, Russian and
Western news agencies reported. In the presence of foreign experts and
dignitaries, 840 kilograms of Soviet-era mustard gas was destroyed, dpa
reported. Presidential envoy to the Volga Federal District and Chairman
of the State Chemical Disarmament Commission Sergei Kirienko was quoted
by ITAR-TASS as saying "the work is being conducted...with strict
observance of ecological norms." On 19 December, "Kommersant-Daily" and
other Russian news agencies reported that Gornyi will soon be given the
status of closed administrative unit (ZATO) that will be financed from
the federal budget. Kirienko told regnum.ru that the step was being
taken because the chemical-weapons destruction facility "could be of
potential interest to terrorists." The Gornyi facility was built with
international funding to assist Russia in meeting the obligations of a
1997 agreement on the destruction of chemical-weapons stockpiles.
Analogous facilities are being constructed in the southern Urals and in
the northern Russian town of Kambarka. RC
[11] STILL MORE HAZING-RELATED DESERTIONS...
The military prosecutor of the Volga-Urals Military District on 20
December denied media reports that 13 soldiers who deserted their unit
outside of Yekaterinburg on 19 December have been arrested, newsru.com
and other Russian news agencies reported. The 13 soldiers reportedly
left their unit on the evening of 19 December and walked 30 kilometers
to Yekaterinburg to complain to local prosecutors of hazing in their
unit. According to ITAR-TASS, the soldiers told their commanding
officers of their plans before they left their base. According to
lenta.ru, a spokesman for the military prosecutor's office said no
charges will be filed against the soldiers and an investigative
commission has been sent to their unit to look into their charges of
abuse. The incident is just the latest in a series of similar
desertions in recent months. On 16 December, six soldiers in Moscow
Oblast deserted their unit, as did 16 other soldiers from another
Moscow Oblast unit earlier in the month. On 8 September, 54 soldiers
from a unit stationed in Volgograd also deserted and complained of
hazing in their unit. According to the Defense Ministry, 999 soldiers
have been disciplined this year for desertion, 200 for self-mutilation,
and eight for refusal to perform military service, newsru.com reported.
RC
[12] ...AS DUMA DEPUTY CALLS FOR BAN ON SOLDIERS' MOTHERS COMMITTEES
The Duma on 20 December voted down a proposal by Union of Rightist
Forces (SPS) Deputy Vladimir Semenov demanding that Defense Minister
Sergei Ivanov and other military officials appear before the
legislature to discuss hazing in the armed forces, rusnovosti.ru
reported. During discussion of the proposal, Deputy Anatolii Chekhoev
(Communist) said that it is time "to stop discrediting the army." "In
general, we should end the activity of the committees of soldiers'
mothers, because they do nothing but harm the army," Chekhoev said.
Asked to comment on Chekhoev's remark, committee spokesperson Svetlana
Kuznetsova told rusnovosti.ru, "We defend the law and the observance of
normative acts." RC
[13] DUMA GIVES REVISED PRESIDENTIAL-ELECTION LAW SECOND NOD
The Duma on 20 December passed in their second reading amendments to
the law on the president that would impose new restrictions on the
nomination of candidates for the country's top office, RIA-Novosti and
other Russian news agencies reported. The amendments would increase
from 1 million to 2 million the number of signatures required to
nominate non-party candidates, whereas all political parties that
collect enough votes in the preceding Duma elections to gain party-list
seats would be allowed to nominate candidates without gathering any
signatures. The amendments would also reduce the maximum amount of
campaign spending allowed to 150 million rubles ($5 million) and cut
the campaign period back from five months to three. They would also
require that all candidates who hold public office or work in media
organizations take leave during the campaign period. VY
[14] KAZAKH PRESIDENT VISITS KREMLIN...
President Nursultan Nazarbaev held talks with President Putin in Moscow
on 19 December, and they discussed closer political and economic
collaboration within the framework of multilateral forums such as the
CIS Collective Security Treaty and the Shanghai Cooperation
Organization, as well as questions of bilateral energy cooperation,
economic integration, and arms deals, RFE/RL's Kazakh Service and
Interfax-Kazakhstan reported. They discussed ways to expand bilateral
trade, which declined by 12 percent in 2002. Nazarbaev was also in
Moscow to inaugurate "2003 -- the Year of Kazakhstan in Russia," a
project to boost economic, scientific, educational, and cultural
relations between the two countries. AA
[15] ...AGREES TO NEGOTIATE RUSSIAN 50-YEAR LEASE ON KAZAKH SPACE
CENTER
Also on 19 December, President Nazarbaev told RTR that Kazakhstan is
positively inclined to consider a Russian request to extend its lease
on the Baikonur Cosmodrome for up to 50 years. Russia, which rents the
facility for $115 million per year, currently has a 20-year lease that
is due to expire in 2014. Kazakhstan hopes for "larger financing and
active involvement in all space studies and launches from the Kazakh
spaceport at Baikonur," Nazarbaev said, according to Interfax. At the
same time, he noted that a joint Kazakh-Russian commission concluded
this year that the detritus falling on Kazakh territory after each
launch is harmful to the environment. He and Putin signed a memorandum
instructing their governments to start negotiations over the lease
extension. On 19 December Nazarbaev toured the Mission Control Center
in the Moscow Oblast town of Korolev, where the possibility of training
two Kazakhs for a mission to the International Space Station was
discussed. AA
[16] RUSSIA, HUNGARY SEEK IMPROVED ECONOMIC RELATIONS
Hungarian Prime Minister Peter Medgyessy met in the Kremlin with
President Putin on 20 December for wide-ranging talks on bilateral
relations, Russian news agencies reported. Speaking to journalists
after the meeting, Putin said "the main thing in bilateral relations is
economic and trade ties," RTR reported. Putin added that there have
been alarming developments, including a slump in bilateral trade at an
annual rate of about 6 percent over the last two years. He added,
however, that both sides are determined to overcome any obstacles.
Medgyessy, the first Hungarian Prime Minister to visit Moscow since
1996, said, "We neglected one another in recent years and now need to
turn a new page in our relations." He added that Hungary is ready to
sign a number of economic agreements with Russia and to discuss the
issue of Russia's $497 million debt to Hungary. VY
[17] FEDERAL INSPECTOR PROTECTS PUTIN BRAND NAME IN FAR EAST
Vladivostok Mayor Yurii Kopylov has clashed with the chief federal
inspector for Primorskii Krai, Sergei Sherstyuk, over the former's use
of banners in the Far East city proclaiming, "[President] Putin is the
strength of Russia" and "With Putin is the future of Russia,"
"Kommersant-Daily" reported on 19 December. The banners have been
gracing city streets for some months and, in Sherstyuk's opinion, they
only discredit the president. Kopylov got into trouble with the office
of presidential envoy to the Far East Federal District Konstantin
Pulikovskii two years ago when banners appeared in the city saying
"Pulikovskii -- hands off Primore." Those banners prompted Pulikovskii
to challenge Kopylov to a duel (see "RFE/RL Russian Federation Report,"
21 March 2001). Pulikovskii was battling at the time with
then-Primorskii Krai Governor Yevgenii Nazdratenko, an ally of Kopylov.
Nazdratenko's successor, Primorskii Krai Governor Sergei Darkin, has
made no secret of his dissatisfaction with Kopylov, and
"Kommersant-Daily" speculated that Kopylov might be hoping that his
status as a "clear supporter of the head of the Russian government will
save him from any unpleasantness." Earlier this week, SPS Duma faction
leader Irina Khakamada proposed a ban on the use of Putin's image in
political advertising three months before elections (see "RFE/RL
Newsline," 18 December 2002). JAC
[18] ANOTHER LIBERAL RUSSIA PARTY MEMBER IN HOT WATER
A Chelyabinsk prosecutor has charged German Galkin, chairman of
Chelyabinsk Oblast's Liberal Russia party branch, with defamation and
ordered him not to leave the oblast, regions.ru reported on 19 December
2002, citing Ural-Press-Inform. Galkin said he is suspected of having
paid for an article that appeared in the local newspaper "Rabochaya
gazeta," No. 2, this summer that was critical of Chelyabinsk Governor
Petr Sumin and his inner circle. That edition of the newspaper was
confiscated by the oblast's internal affairs administration. The
newspaper was founded by the Organization of Russian Taxpayers, whose
leader was the late State Duma Deputy Vladimir Golovlev (independent).
Golovlev was murdered in Moscow in August (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 21
and 22 August 2002). JAC
[19] REGIONAL LEADER SPEAKS OUT ON PROBLEM OF STREET CHILDREN
In an open letter to President Putin and Deputy Prime Minister
Valentina Matvienko, Kemerovo Governor Aman Tuleev has proposed that
mothers who force their children to beg for money on public streets be
deprived of their parental rights, "Vremya MN" reported on 19 December.
Despite the adoption of a federal program to combat homelessness (see
"RFE/RL Newsline," 15 February 2002), Tuleev wrote that "the streets of
our cities are filled as before with neglected and homeless children."
"They spend the nights in the sewers, frequently undernourished, living
without parental oversight or attention," he continued. Tuleev
concluded that it is necessary to "complete a unified system of
locating abandoned children and strictly controlling their care and
upbringing in closed establishments." JAC
TRANSCAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA
[20] ARMENIAN GOVERNMENT ADOPTS SMALL-BUSINESS PLAN
The Armenian government adopted on 19 December a plan to increase state
aid to support small and medium-sized businesses, RFE/RL's Yerevan
bureau reported. A core element of the plan is a measure providing 250
million drams ($430,000) in credit guarantees for small and
medium-sized businesses seeking capital investment and financing from
commercial banks. The money is to come from a newly created state fund
providing targeted support to the growing private sector. Although the
measures seek to surmount difficulties businesses face in obtaining
loans, the disproportionately high interest rates -- currently
averaging about 20 percent -- are seen as the most serious obstacle to
expanding the private sector. RG
[21] SHORTCOMINGS IN ARMENIAN HUMAN RIGHTS HIGHLIGHTED
In a report presented at the 19 December close of a three-day seminar
in Yerevan, Helsinki Committee of Armenia President Avetik Ishkhanian
noted shortcomings in the uniform observance and protection of human
rights in Armenia, with the government failing to achieve any
significant improvements in recent years, according to Noyan Tapan.
Speakers at the seminar organized by several nongovernmental
organizations and local human rights groups to examine the state of
human rights in Armenia expressed criticism of the lamentable state of
the penal system and recommended further reforms to supplement the
government's transfer of penal oversight from the Interior Ministry to
the Justice Ministry. The seminar also addressed the serious --
although improving -- human rights record of the military, as well as
the politically charged issue of capital punishment. RG
[22] U.S., ARMENIAN OFFICIALS REVIEW PARLIAMENTARY ASSISTANCE
Armenian Parliamentary Chairman Armen Khachatrian and other officials
met with representatives of the U.S. Agency for International
Development (USAID) on 19 December to review the progress of a U.S.
program providing assistance and training to the Armenian parliament,
according to Yerkir and Armenpress. The program was initiated in April
and aims to strengthen transparency, oversight, and accountability
within the legislative branch. RG
[23] ARMENIAN FOREIGN MINISTER WELCOMES TURKISH HINT OF NORMALIZED
RELATIONS
In a 17 December interview, Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanian welcomed
the recent statement of Turkish Foreign Minister Yasar Yakis suggesting
that the new Turkish government will seek to normalize relations with
Armenia, according to ARKA. Yakis stated that Turkey plans to
reevaluate its relations with Armenia based on its economic interests
and echoed some Turkish officials' claims that with the establishment
of diplomatic relations with Armenia bilateral trade could reach $300
million within a year. Turkish policy to date has strongly opposed
establishing diplomatic relations with Armenia out of consideration for
Azerbaijan's position on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, and Turkey has
maintained an economic blockade of Armenia for several years. RG
[24] AZERBAIJANI PRESIDENT CONVENES MEETING ON DOMESTIC ENERGY CRISIS
President Heidar Aliev convened a cabinet meeting on 19 December to
discuss the continuing domestic energy crisis, the Azerbaijani State
News Agency reported. The president rebuked officials for the mounting
shortages of heating fuel and electricity in the capital and in several
districts across the country. Officials stated that the energy crisis
stems from a temporary shortage of natural gas and pledged to correct
technical problems with the country's aging energy-distribution
network. The crisis has been exacerbated in recent weeks by the onset
of unusually cold weather. RG
[25] AZERBAIJANI DEPUTY PREMIER HOLDS TALKS IN MOSCOW
An Azerbaijani delegation led by Deputy Prime Minister Abbas Abbasov
met in Moscow on 19 December with Russian officials in the latest
session of a standing intergovernmental commission, ANS television
reported. The officials agreed to extend the current contract for the
export of Azerbaijani oil by pipeline to the Russian Black Sea port of
Novorossiisk. The Azerbaijani delegation also stressed that the Russian
authorities must provide better protection for the sizable Azerbaijani
community living in major Russian cities. There has been a significant
increase in ethnically motivated attacks on people from the Caucasus in
Russia over the past few months. The officials also reviewed plans to
advance economic cooperation and trade liberalization within the CIS.
RG
[26] AZERBAIJANI VILLAGERS PROTEST POOR LIVING CONDITIONS
A group of villagers in an unspecified Narimanov District town outside
of Baku staged a protest over poor living conditions on 18 December,
ANS reported. The villagers protested the continued lack of heat and
electricity in their town and demanded that the authorities take
immediate steps to correct the situation. The majority of the villagers
are displaced ethnic Azeris forced from their homes in Nagorno-Karabakh
nearly a decade ago who are still housed in temporary settlements
without public services. Local and regional authorities convened a
meeting with the demonstrators and promised to provide emergency
supplies of natural gas within a few days. RG
[27] GEORGIAN MILITARY PLEDGES TO ADOPT NATO STANDARDS
Officials of the Georgian Defense Ministry announced on 19 December
that the strategic direction of military reform will be based on
achieving conformity with NATO standards, the online Civil Georgia news
agency reported. The shift in strategy follows the government's renewed
emphasis on seeking membership of the NATO alliance and aims to exploit
the current U.S. "train-and-equip" program providing military
assistance to the Georgian armed forces. RG
[28] PRO-GOVERNMENT DEPUTIES WALK OUT OF GEORGIAN PARLIAMENT
Demonstrating their support for Georgian President Eduard Shevardnadze,
five pro-government parliamentary factions staged a walkout on 19
December after opposition deputies sought to debate the government's
reforms of government ministries, according to Prime News. The
governmental reform, a personal initiative of the president, seeks to
streamline the powers and scopes of the ministries and targets the
State Property Ministry and the Construction and Urbanization Ministry
for elimination. These two ministries have been long viewed as vehicles
for corruption. RG
[29] TRIAL OF FORMER KAZAKH TRANSPORT MINISTER COMMENCES
The trial of former Minister of Transport and Communications Ablay
Myrzakhmetov, who is being tried together with nine former senior
managers of the state railway company Qazaq Temir Zholy, opened on 19
December at the Supreme Court in Astana, RFE/RL's Kazakh Service and
Interfax reported. The defendants are accused of embezzlement, power
abuse, forming a criminal gang, and forging documents. Judge Marklen
Qamnazarov said the proceedings will be open, although audio and video
recording will be banned. AA
[30] KYRGYZ OPPOSITION PLANS TO KEEP PRESSING PRESIDENT ON CHINA ISSUE
The Movement for the Resignation of President Askar Akaev announced
plans to hold a national gathering of government, opposition, and
civic-action representatives in Bishkek or the southern town of Osh on
17 March, akipress.org reported on 19 December. The group issued a
political work plan that listed as its priority the continued gathering
of signatures on a protest document against ceding Kyrgyzstan's
Uzengu-Kuush territory to China. Some 20,000 signatures have been
collected already, according to the movement's leader, Ismail Isakov.
The plan also promises to press Akaev to hold a referendum on the issue
and to continue demanding justice from those responsible for the March
tragedy in Aksy. AA
[31] KYRGYZ PRESIDENT UPBEAT ON 2003
Addressing a public meeting in Naryn Oblast, President Akaev argued
that all the political and socioeconomic foundations necessary for the
country to flourish in 2003 have been laid, despite the irresponsible
actions of the radical opposition that threaten to destabilize society,
Kyrgyz radio and Kabar reported on 19 December. He added that the
developments occurring within the framework of the CIS Collective
Security Treaty will play a large role in enhancing regional stability
and security. Next year, Collective Security Treaty officials are
expected formally to approve the long-term deployment of Russian
warplanes on Kyrgyz territory. AA
[32] TAJIK BORDER COMMANDER JAILED
On 19 December a military court in Dushanbe sentenced Colonel Bobojon
Rajabov, the commanding officer of a military unit of the Tajik Border
Protection Committee, to 15 years in prison, Asia Plus-Blitz reported.
Rajabov was found guilty of abusing his position, forging documents,
stealing state property, and engaging in black market and smuggling
activities. He was also found in possession of some 13.2 million
somonis ($4.5 million). AA
[33] OSCE MEMBERS DEMAND FACT-FINDING MISSION TO TURKMENISTAN
At an OSCE meeting in Vienna on 19 December, a group of member
countries, as well as the United States, called for a fact-finding
mission to Turkmenistan to investigate reports of torture and mass
arrests following last month's assassination attempt against President
Saparmurat Niyazov, RFE/RL and Reuters reported. Turkmenistan is a
member of the OSCE, which can mandate such a mission if 10 member
states request it. The U.S. representative to the OSCE, Douglas
Davidson, expressed concern that confessions were reportedly being
obtained by torture, while family members of suspects were reportedly
being rounded up and some of their property confiscated. Douglas also
complained that Turkmen officials have not responded to requests to
furnish complete lists of those being held and the charges and evidence
against them. The Turkmen government has officially acknowledged 46
arrests in connection with the assassination bid. AA
[34] UZBEKISTAN DENIES INVOLVEMENT IN TURKMEN ASSASSINATION PLOT
Addressing journalists in Tashkent on 19 December, Foreign Minister
Abdulaziz Komilov dismissed Turkmenistan's accusations that Uzbek
authorities were involved in an plot to kill Turkmen President Niyazov
that was allegedly masterminded by former Turkmen Foreign Minister
Boris Shikhmuradov, AP and Interfax reported. On the previous day,
Turkmen Prosecutor-General Kurbanbibi Atajanova charged that
Shikhmuradov secretly crossed the border into Turkmenistan with Uzbek
assistance and that he took refuge in the Uzbek Embassy in Ashgabat
after the 25 November attack on Niyazov failed (see "RFE/RL Newsline,"
19 December 2002). Komilov said these allegations are groundless but
added that Shikhmuradov might have maintained numerous contacts in
Uzbekistan from his time as foreign minister. Calling the latest
developments in relations with Ashgabat "unexpected and unpleasant,"
Komilov stressed that Tashkent is still insisting on explanations of
the Turkmen police's raid on the Uzbek Embassy earlier this week. AA
[35] UZBEK, UKRAINIAN LEADERS DISCUSS GUUAM
Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma began a two-day visit to Tashkent on
19 December with a meeting with President Islam Karimov, ITAR-TASS and
Interfax-Ukraine reported. The talks focused on the future of the GUUAM
(Georgia, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan, and Moldova) grouping. The
two presidents indicated the organization will be redundant if the
member states' economic interests are ensured by bilateral means or
through the creation of a free-trade zone. The two sides signed a
cooperation agreement between their foreign ministries and a document
on mutual recognition of registration of medicines. Kuchma was also due
to meet ethnic Ukrainians living in Uzbekistan and open an
Uzbek-Ukrainian joint venture. AA
CENTRAL AND EASTERN EUROPE
[36] OSCE REPORTEDLY RETURNING TO MINSK
The OSCE and Belarus have agreed on opening a new OSCE office in Minsk
in January, Belapan reported on 19 December, quoting OSCE spokesman
Keith Jinks. Jinks added that the sides are expected to reach an accord
soon on resuming "the monitoring of human rights in Belarus" that would
be subject to approval by all OSCE members. The OSCE and Belarus are
currently negotiating the resumption of OSCE Monitoring and Advisory
Group activities in Belarus. Belarus, which expelled all members of the
group by gradually denying them visas (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 29
October 2002), has demanded changes in the group's mandate. JM
[37] BELARUSIAN SOCCER SAID SUBJECT TO 'POLITICAL INTERFERENCE'
President Alyaksandr Lukashenka told a Belarusian Soccer Federation
(BFF) conference in Minsk on 19 December that he feels "great
dissatisfaction" with the quality of Belarusian soccer, Belapan
reported. "[Belarusian] soccer will be subject to reconstruction,
starting tomorrow," the Belarusian president declared. He also charged
that financial assistance from international soccer bodies FIFA and
UEFA to the BFF is insufficient. FIFA official Joseph Mifsud and UEFA
representative Eric Epple, observers at the conference, told
journalists the BFF is subject to "political interference." Their
statement followed a decision by Belarusian authorities to bar
independent-media reporters from attending the BFF conference while
Lukashenka was addressing it. "I have attended various [soccer]
conferences, including in Asia and Africa, but this was the first time
that I witnessed the participation of a head of state in such a
gathering. This means that soccer is really important in the lives of
Belarusian people," Mifsud commented. JM
[38] UKRAINE COULD FACE SANCTIONS OVER DIRTY-MONEY EFFORTS
Premier Viktor Yanukovych on 19 December appealed to the Verkhovna Rada
to pass an antimoney-laundering bill as required by the Financial
Action Task Force (FATF) global watchdog, Reuters reported. "Today is
the last day to make a decision on FATF. If sanctions are introduced,
the country will lose a lot in 2003," Yanukovych pleaded. Under a
threat of sanctions from the FATF, the parliament passed an
antimoney-laundering bill last month that President Leonid Kuchma has
already signed; but the FATF has demanded amendments to toughen the
monitoring of financial operations in the country. The parliamentary
opposition, however, has obstructed parliamentary work for the past
three days to protest a controversial vote on replacing the National
Bank governor and parliamentary committee leaders (see "RFE/RL
Newsline," 19 December 2003). Parliamentary speaker Volodymyr Lytvyn
adjourned the session until next week. JM
[39] UKRAINIAN OPPOSITION PROPOSES END TO PARLIAMENTARY STANDOFF
Our Ukraine leader Viktor Yushchenko on 19 December proposed a
compromise to the pro-government majority in order to resolve the
current stalemate in the Verkhovna Rada, UNIAN reported. Yushchenko
said he was speaking on behalf of all four opposition parliamentary
groups: Our Ukraine, the Communist Party, the Socialist Party, and the
Yuliya Tymoshenko Bloc. According to Yushchenko, the opposition is
ready to confirm the replacement of National Bank Governor Volodymyr
Stelmakh with Serhiy Tyhypko but insists that the majority cancel its
decision to reappoint parliamentary committee leaders. The third step
to overcoming the blockade of parliamentary activities, Yushchenko
added, is setting up a working group to prepare a number of
"compromise" draft bills, including on elections, the budget, and
taxation. JM
[40] GOVERNMENT STUDY CRITICIZES ESTONIA'S DAIRY SECTOR
A study on the country's dairy sector prepared by the Estonian
Agriculture Ministry found that activities have been characterized by
inefficient and excessive investment and insufficient attention to
specialization, BNS and ETA reported on 19 December. In 1999-2001, 504
million kroons ($30 million) was invested in the dairy industry to
raise daily production capacity to 2,500 tons, but dairy companies
purchased only about 1,420 tons of milk a day in the first nine months
of the year. In its EU membership talks, Estonia initially applied for
a milk-production quota of 900,000 tons in 2004 and later said it would
be satisfied with 750,000 tons. The EU agreed to a 624,500-ton quota;
but if current trends continue, Estonia will not even be able to
fulfill that figure. In January-September, the country produced 487,500
tons of milk, which is 8.4 percent less than the 528,600 tons produced
in the same period last year. SG
[41] LATVIAN BORDER GUARD DECLARES STATE OF EMERGENCY AT RUSSIAN BORDER
The Latvian Border Guard Service declared a state of emergency at the
Terehova border checkpoint with Russia because of actions by the
Russian Customs Service on 19 December, BNS reported. Since midnight on
15 December, Russian customs officials have refused to admit Russian
passenger cars with transit numbers unless drivers pay a tax and
convoying charges totaling $400-650. The move has resulted in a massive
queue of hundreds of trucks and passenger cars at the checkpoint.
Complaining that they were not informed of the planned changes and lack
the necessary funds, as well as food and drinking water, 106 residents
of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan presented a letter to the
Latvian Border Guard Service asking that it inform the presidents of
their republics and Russia of their plight. Foreign Ministry
Undersecretary of State Andris Teikmanis told BNS that the Russian
Embassy in Riga is still unaware of the legislative changes causing the
situation, adding that Latvia will hand a note demanding explanations
to the embassy the next day. SG
[42] LITHUANIA, EU SIGN PHARE MEMORANDUMS
Finance Minister Dalia Grybauskaite and the head of the European
Commission's delegation to Lithuania, Michael Graham, signed four
financial memorandums in Vilnius on 19 December for 103.7 million euros
in PHARE assistance to Lithuania, BNS reported. The greatest share of
funds will go toward the decommissioning of the nuclear-power plant at
Ignalina and its consequences. PHARE will provide 6.3 million euros to
finance the Business Support project, aimed at promoting business
development in Lithuania and helping prepare for administering EU
structural funds. Some 14.1 million euros will be used to support five
projects of economic and social cohesion. All the contracts to
implement the projects specified in the memorandums are to be concluded
by 30 November 2004 and the work completed by 30 November 2005. SG
[43] JOBLESS PROTESTERS DISRUPT POLISH PARLIAMENT
A group of around 30 unemployed Poles forced their way into the Sejm
building and disrupted a parliamentary session for three hours on 19
December, Polish media reported. The demonstrators carried banners
reading "We Want Jobs and Bread" and "You Are Blathering While We Are
Starving." The protesters read out a petition in which they demanded
that public works be introduced in the country on a large scale, a
special government and parliamentary committee be set up to tackle
unemployment, and one hot meal for every person in need be guaranteed
on a daily basis. JM
[44] POLISH CHURCH LEADER VOWS SUPPORT FOR EU ENTRY
During his meeting with Prime Minister Leszek Miller on 19 December,
Cardinal Jozef Glemp, the primate of Roman Catholic Church in Poland,
expressed recognition for the government's "very competent and
persistent" negotiations with the European Union, PAP reported. "We are
glad that a certain stage has been favorably concluded. Now a further
stage opens, one that requires citizens' efforts [and] that the [Roman
Catholic] Church wants to join," Glemp told journalists after the
meeting. Glemp stressed that the church would like to take part in
informing society about the integration. "True, reliable, and honest
information is very important for the proper building of Europe's
future. The church, for its part, would like to realize this task," he
said. JM
[45] POLISH PRESIDENT OPPOSES CHANGES TO ABORTION LAW
President Aleksander Kwasniewski said on 19 December that Poland's
strict abortion law should remain unchanged, PAP reported. "The law
shouldn't be changed and should in no way be tied to the EU
referendum," Kwasniewski noted. The president was commenting on
Democratic Left Alliance (SLD) Secretary Marek Dyduch's interview with
the 19 December issue of "Rzeczpospolita," in which he suggested that
Poland's abortion law be liberalized after next spring's EU referendum
in line with an SLD election promise. "I'm speaking about this now so
that later the church doesn't feel it was tricked into backing the EU
only to see us liberalize abortion laws," Dyduch told the newspaper.
"Linking abortion laws to the referendum is, delicately speaking,
unfortunate and unnecessary," SLD leader and Prime Minister Leszek
Miller said later the same day. JM
[46] CZECH SENATE FOLLOWS SUIT IN PRAISING EU NEGOTIATIONS
The upper legislative chamber on 19 December approved a resolution
welcoming the recent EU summit's expansion decision and deeming the
outcome of membership negotiations a success of the country's post-1989
foreign policy, CTK reported. The Senate thus followed the example set
by the Chamber of Deputies one day earlier (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 19
December 2002). Forty-nine of 62 senators present supported the
resolution, which was proposed by Freedom Union-Democratic Union
Senator Jiri Skalicky, who is chairman of the chamber's Committee for
European Integration. Just 21 senators backed a rival draft resolution
submitted by Civic Democratic Party (ODS) Senator Milan Balaban that
criticized the results. Before the vote, Social Democratic Prime
Minister Vladimir Spidla told the chamber that negotiations were
"surprisingly tough" but the Czech Republic will "enter Europe with our
heads up." MS
[47] CZECH TELEVISION IS ORDERED TO APOLOGIZE, PAY DAMAGES TO FORMER
FOREIGN MINISTER
A Prague court on 19 December ruled that public broadcaster Czech
Television must apologize to current UN General Assembly President and
former Czech Foreign Minister Jan Kavan and pay 100,000 crowns ($3,300)
in damages for having tarnished his reputation, CTK and dpa reported.
Kavan's lawyer told CTK that the Prague High Court found no evidence to
support a report claiming Kavan avoided paying customs duties on a car
imported to the Czech Republic from the U.K. A spokesman for Czech
Television said the station might appeal the verdict. MS
[48] SLOVAKS IMPLORED TO SHOW COURAGE IN ANTITERRORIST STRUGGLE
Prime Minister Mikulas Dzurinda said on 19 December that Slovakia must
have the courage to openly participate in the battle against
international terrorism, TASR reported. Dzurinda said the 11 September
2001 attack on the United States and the attack in Bali this year
demonstrate that an unprecedented wave of evil has arisen. "The goal of
the democratic world is not to give in to this evil," he said. Dzurinda
said no decision has been made on Slovakia's participation in a strike
against Iraq, but he added that the issue will be seriously considered
and will test "whether we are really serious about defending our
commonly shared values" with the West "or only pretend to do so." MS
[49] FORMER SLOVAK PREMIER GETS UPPER HAND ON PARTY RIVALS
Former Premier Vladimir Meciar managed to enlist the backing of a
majority of district chairmen in his Movement for a Democratic Slovakia
(HZDS) party at an extraordinary meeting held in Silenica, central
Slovakia, on 19 December, TASR and CTK reported. But sharp criticism of
Meciar's leadership style emerged at the meeting, reflecting simmering
discontent since HZDS finished first in the September elections but was
shunned by potential partners (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 17 and 19
December 2002). Meciar had sought unsuccessfully to prevent the
December meeting from taking place (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 9 October
2002). MS
[50] SLOVAK NATIONALISTS AGREE TO REUNIFICATION
Slovak National Party (SNS) Chairwoman Anna Malikova and Real Slovak
National Party (PSNS) Chairman Jan Slota on 19 December agreed during
talks held in Zilina to reunite their political formations, TASR
reported. Malikova said after the meetings the parties "realized their
responsibility for the outcome of the [September] general elections,"
when both formations failed to win any seats in parliament. Slota was
SNS chairman from 1994-99. He and other SNS members were expelled from
the SNS in September 2001, and in October that year he set up the PSNS.
MS
[51] STANDARD & POOR'S IMPROVES SLOVAKIA'S COUNTRY RATING
Standard & Poor's international rating agency on 19 December raised
Slovakia's long-term foreign-currency risk rating from BBB- to BBB,
TASR reported. The hike reflects improved fiscal discipline and
implementation of EU-backed reforms, the agency said. MS
[52] U.S. WELCOMES HUNGARIAN DECISION ON TRAINING BASE
U.S. National Security Council spokesman Sean McCormack on 19 December
welcomed the Hungarian government's decision to allow the United States
to use the Taszar military air base to train Iraqi opposition personnel
in noncombat functions (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 19 December 2002),
"Magyar Nemzet" reported. Pentagon spokesman David Lapan said the Iraqi
opposition will put together a list of volunteers and their identities
will be verified by the United States. The daily reported that CIA
agents will also take part in training Iraqi volunteers at the air
base. MSZ
[53] U.S. DAILY SAYS MISSILE-DEFENSE SHIELD MIGHT BE DEPLOYED IN
HUNGARY
"The Washington Times" reported on 19 December that the United States
might seek to deploy interceptor missiles in Great Britain, Hungary, or
Poland in the near future, according to "Nepszabadsag" of 20 December.
Sources told the U.S. daily that, according to a long-term plan drawn
up by the Pentagon, a second missile-defense system will be deployed on
the eastern seaboard of the United States or in Europe to fend off
potential missile attacks from the Middle East region. As part of the
plan, missiles would be deployed in three NATO countries whose
"governments have confidentially indicated that they are prepared to
cooperate and are ready to provide a base for a missile-defense
system," "The Washington Times" wrote. "Nepszabadsag" reported that
there is no official Hungarian stance on the issue. However, Hungarian
radio quoted Defense Minister Ferenc Juhasz as saying that Hungary
might have to accept the deployment of missiles if such a request comes
from Washington. MSZ
SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE
[54] MONTENEGRO FACES UNCERTAIN PRESIDENTIAL VOTE
Montenegrin voters will have a choice of 11 candidates in the
presidential elections on 22 December, RFE/RL's South Slavic and
Albanian Languages Service reported on 20 December. The front-runner is
Filip Vujanovic of the governing Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS).
The two major opposition groups -- the Alliance for Change coalition
and the Liberal Alliance -- are boycotting the ballot and have urged
their supporters to do likewise. A recent poll suggests that only 46
percent of registered voters plan to vote. A minimum of 50 percent must
turn out for the election to be valid. Turnout might also be affected
by voter apathy and revulsion over a scandal involving politicians
allegedly trafficking in women (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 19 December
2002). PM
[55] MONTENEGRO REJECTS SERBIAN BANK DEMAND
Ljubisa Krgovic, who heads the governing body of the Central Bank of
Montenegro, told RFE/RL's South Slavic and Albanian Languages Service
in Podgorica on 20 December that Montenegro rejects the Serbian demand
that its national bank be the sole bank authorized to deal with
international financial institutions and organizations for the new
state of Serbia and Montenegro. In Belgrade, the joint working group on
implementing the new Constitutional Charter broke off deliberations
when Montenegrin representatives said they need to consult with
Podgorica over the Serbian demands. PM
[56] MACEDONIAN PRESIDENT SETS PRIORITIES
In his annual address to the parliament on 19 December, President Boris
Trajkovski called for the full implementation of the Ohrid peace
agreement, according to his official website
(http://www.president.gov.mk/eng/info/govori.asp?id=88). He lauded the
country's achievements in further stabilizing the situation after the
2001 interethnic conflict. Trajkovski said the country's priorities are
"the full stabilization of the security situation; restoring the rule
of law [throughout the country]...and full reintegration of former
crisis areas; implementation of the [Ohrid peace agreement]; economic
development and prosperity, better living standards, and poverty
reduction; drawing closer the EU and NATO;... and the fight against
organized crime and corruption." Macedonian media widely reported that
former rebel leader Ali Ahmeti entered parliament for the first time
after his election as lawmaker for the Democratic Union of Integration
(BDI). He previously stayed away from the sessions. UB
[57] EU TELLS CROATIA: DON'T CALL US, WE'LL CALL YOU
Jacques Wunnenburger, who heads the European Commission's mission to
Croatia, again told that country not to apply for EU membership yet,
dpa reported from Zagreb on 19 December (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 6
November 2002). "Although the government intends to apply for the full
membership next year, our advice is that Croatia should be cautious,
because the EU is not ready for new rounds of enlargement,"
Wunnenburger said. He also made it clear that Zagreb must resolve
problems of cooperation with the war crimes tribunal in The Hague
before it may apply. Croatia hopes to join the EU with Bulgaria and
Romania in 2007. Zagreb fears, however, that the EU wants to force it
into some sort of grouping with other former Yugoslav republics, which
is anathema to most Croats (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 18 December 2002,
and "RFE/RL Balkan Report," 22 and 29 November 2002). PM
[58] CROATIAN OIL COMPANY SHOWS BIG PROFIT
The state-owned INA petroleum company will finish 2002 about $100
million in the black, dpa reported, quoting INA's chairman of the
board, Tomislav Dragicevic. INA will start modernization of its two
refineries in Rijeka in 2003 and of its refinery in Sisak in 2005. It
has made promising oil discoveries in Syria. Privatization is scheduled
to begin in 2003, with Austria's OMV, Hungary's MOL, and Russia's
Rosneft expected to make strong bids. INA hopes to recover its markets
in former Yugoslavia and still controls 65 percent of the Bosnian
market despite controls introduced in 2002 by Bosnian authorities. INA
has just reentered the Slovenian market by signing an agreement with
that country's Petrol corporation and is beginning to penetrate the
market in Kosova. PM
[59] BOSNIAN MUSLIMS SEEK UN COMPENSATION FOR SREBRENICA
Members of a team of Bosnian lawyers told Reuters in Sarajevo on 19
December that they have filed a compensation request with the UN on
behalf of 6,500 survivors of the 1995 Srebrenica massacre of Muslim
males by Bosnian Serb forces, the largest massacre in Europe since the
World War II era. "The aim is to help people who have suffered more
than enough in the [1992-95 Bosnian] war," lawyer Semir Guzin said.
"The aim is that those responsible for the Srebrenica crimes take on
their part of responsibility." Many of the victims sought protection
from Dutch peacekeepers stationed near Srebrenica as part of UN forces
in the UN-declared "safe area." The survivors have also sought
compensation from the Netherlands. Prime Minister Wim Kok's government
resigned in April following the publication of an official report
strongly critical of the Dutch role in failing to prevent the massacre
(see "RFE/RL Newsline," 17 April 2002). PM
[60] ALBANIAN FOREIGN MINISTER CALLS KOSOVA AN 'INTERNATIONAL PROBLEM'
Ilir Meta said in Prishtina on 19 December that Albania and Yugoslavia
cannot resolve the question of Kosova's status themselves because it is
a problem of the broader international community, RFE/RL's South Slavic
and Albanian Languages Service reported (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 19
December 2002 and "RFE/RL Balkan Report," 23 February 2001). PM
[61] ROMANIAN PRESIDENT URGES LAWMAKERS TO WAGE ALL-OUT WAR ON
CORRUPTION
Addressing a joint session of the parliament's two chambers on 19
December, President Ion Iliescu urged lawmakers to wage an all-out war
against endemic corruption, saying failure to do so will endanger
Romania's efforts to join the EU in 2007, RFE/RL's Bucharest bureau
reported. Iliescu addressed parliament on the occasion of the 13th
anniversary of the 1989 anticommunist uprising. The speech also marked
the completion of the first half of his second presidential term.
Iliescu said the goals of the 1989 revolution have been achieved and
the country has been turned into a genuine democracy based on the rule
of law. MS
[62] ROMANIAN LAWMAKERS APPROVE APPEAL ON EU ENLARGEMENT...
Also on 19 December, a joint session of parliament unanimously approved
an appeal to the European Parliament and the legislatures of current EU
members and those of the 10 countries recently invited to join the
organization, RFE/RL's Bucharest bureau reported. The appeal salutes
the recent Copenhagen summit's decision to set 2007 as the target date
for Romania to join the EU, to provide it with a road map for
accession, and to expand aid to facilitate that process. The appeal
calls for a sustained acceleration of the negotiation process and the
finalization of negotiations in early 2004. It says this will make it
possible for Romanian parliamentarians to participate as observers in
European Parliament sessions in 2004. MS
[63] ...AND SELLING OF MAJORITY STAKE IN ROMTELECOM TO GREEK INVESTOR
The Chamber of Deputies on 19 December approved the sale of a 54
percent stake in Romtelcom to the Greek OTE group, Mediafax reported.
The Senate approved the deal one day earlier. MS
[64] ROMANIA BANS GYMNASTS FOR NUDE PERFORMANCES
The Romanian Gymnastics Federation on 19 December decided to ban three
world-famous former gymnasts for posing and performing gymnastics naked
for DVDs and photographs published in Japan, Reuters reported. Lavinia
Milosovici, 26, who won the floor exercise and vault titles at the 1992
Barcelona Olympic Games; Claudia Presecan, 23, a gold medallist at the
2000 Sydney Olympics; and Cornelia Ungureanu, 22, a member of the
Romanian team that won the World Championship titles in 1997 and 1999,
will not be allowed to referee or coach in events sanctioned by the
federation for five years. MS
[65] MOLDOVAN OFFICIAL SAYS MOSCOW NEGOTIATIONS SIGNAL DANGERS,
REGRESSION
In an interview with RFE/RL's Romania-Moldova Service on 19 December,
Moldova's chief negotiator with the Transdniester Vasile Sturdza said
the round of talks concluded one day earlier in Moscow marked a
regression and signaled new dangers ahead. Sturdza said the final
protocol of the meeting mentions the need to examine not only the
OSCE's proposal for Moldova's federalization, but also other past
proposals and agreements. He said Tiraspol could use this clause to
return to its earlier positions and demand a confederation of equal
states instead of a federal state. Sturdza said that a proposal put
forward by Ukrainian representative Yevhen Levytskyy suggesting that
each side should safeguard its current institutions and attributions
until a solution is reached is rife with dangers and in blatant
contradiction with the Kyiv summit agreement that relaunched the
current negotiation process earlier this year. Sturdza said he does not
rule out that Ukraine has turned into "a lobbyist for the interests of
the separatist regime," adding that the proposal "could well have been
written in Tiraspol itself." MS
[66] MOLDOVAN PARLIAMENT APPROVES FIRST READING OF BILL ON COMBATING
EXTREMISM
Parliament on 19 December approved the first reading of a bill proposed
by President Vladimir Voronin on combating manifestations of extremism,
RFE/RL's Chisinau bureau reported. The bill was supported by the
majority Party of Moldovan Communists (PCM) and opposed by the
opposition Braghis Alliance and Popular Party Christian Democratic
(PPCD). PPCD Deputy Chairman Vlad Cubreacov said the bill aims at
curtailing the freedom of expression and penalizing criticism of the
authorities. He also said the bill fails to differentiate between
"terrorism" and "extremism." Cubreacov said the communist domination of
the judiciary makes insignificant the stipulations in the bill that
grant the courts the right to decide what entails "extremist activity."
MS
[67] PROSECUTOR-GENERAL ASKS MOLDOVAN PARLIAMENT TO LIFT OPPOSITION
LEADER'S IMMUNITY
Prosecutor-General Vasile Rusu on 19 December asked the legislature to
lift PPCD leader Iurie Rosca's parliamentary immunity, RFE/RL's
Chisinau bureau reported. The Prosecutor-General's Office claims Rosca
physically assaulted a policeman in Rezina in October. Rosca rejects
the allegations and says they are intended to discredit him. MS
[68] MOLDOVAN OPPOSITION FORUM WARNS AGAINST DANGERS TO DEMOCRACY
An opposition forum on which parliamentary and nonparliamentary parties
are represented approved on 19 December a statement accusing the ruling
PCM of violating basic democratic principles, Infotag reported. The
Permanent Roundtable said in the statement that against the background
of the approaching local elections, the PCM has enacted measures aimed
at influencing the electoral outcomes. According to the forum, those
measures include amending the law on local administration and the
Electoral Code, and ignoring initiatives on holding a plebiscite on
replacing the current proportional system of representation with a
mixed system of proportional and constituency representation. The
statement accuses the PCM of blocking opposition access to state media
and of gradually introducing authoritarian rule aimed at the promotion
of a single ideology -- communism. MS
[69] BULGARIAN PARLIAMENT PASSES 2003 BUDGET
With the votes of the ruling coalition of the National Movement Simeon
II (NDSV) and the ethnic Turkish Movement for Rights and Freedoms
(DPS), parliament on 19 December passed the 2003 budget on second
reading, mediapool.bg reported. Former Finance Minister Muravey Radev
of the conservative opposition United Democratic Forces (ODS) announced
that his coalition will challenge the budget before the Constitutional
Court. The Supreme Judicial Council earlier declared the budget
unconstitutional, arguing that the Finance Ministry had interfered with
the council's budgetary rights. Likewise, Supreme Court of Appeals head
Ivan Grigorov has announced that his court will likely challenge the
budget before the Constitutional Court (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 14, 21,
and 22 November 2002, and 5 December 2002). UB
[70] NEW BULGARIAN LAW ON RELIGIOUS COMMUNITIES DIVIDES RULING
COALITION
On 19 December, lawmakers of the government's junior coalition partner
DPS and the opposition ODS staged a walkout during the voting of the
new Law on Religious Communities, "Sega" reported. The legislators
protested a provision in the new law that would exempt the Bulgarian
Orthodox Church from registration with a court. It would also define
the Orthodox faith as the "traditional religion" in the country. The
ethnic Turkish DPS protested the fact that Orthodox Christianity would
be given priority over other religions. The ODS legislators objected to
the provision under which the part of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church
headed by Patriarch Maksim would automatically be registered. The ODS
believes that Maksim was elected with the support of the Communist
Party and the party supports the so-called alternative Holy Synod
headed by Bishop Inokenti (see "End Note" in "RFE/RL Newsline," 15 May
2002). The draft law has also been criticized by the chief mufti's
office, by various Evangelical churches, and NGOs. UB
SOUTHWESTERN ASIA AND THE MIDDLE EAST
[71] SUICIDE BOMBER ATTACKS ISAF BASE NEAR KABUL
An unidentified man on 19 December detonated grenades attached to his
body at the entrance to a military base used by the International
Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Pol-e Charkhi, east of Kabul, Radio
Afghanistan reported. Reports differed on casualties resulting from the
attack, which occurred as the perpetrator was speaking to two
interpreters while attempting to gain access to the base. The BBC
reported on 20 December that the two interpreters died the next day
from their injuries and that two French members of the ISAF were
injured. Radio Afghanistan reported on 19 December that no ISAF
military personnel were injured or killed. The Afghan Islamic Press
reported that the attacker threw a grenade into the ISAF base, injuring
a foreign soldier, before detonating the other grenades that killed him
and injured three interpreters. The Voice of the Islamic Republic of
Iran reported that "a large number of people" were injured. According
to ISAF spokesman Colonel Samet Oz, early "indications are that this
attack was not the carefully planned and executed work of a
professional terrorist organization," the BBC reported. None of the
reports provided information on the nationality of the attacker. AT
[72] AL-QAEDA BLAMED FOR ATTACK ON U.S. SOLDIERS IN KABUL...
Deputy Interior Minister Helaluddin Helal on 18 December blamed
Al-Qaeda for the 17 December bomb attack in central Kabul that injured
two U.S. soldiers and their Afghan interpreter (see "RFE/RL Newsline,"
18 December 2002), Voice of the Islamic Republic of Iran reported on 19
December. Helal said the "two arrested people confessed they had been
trained and instructed by a foreign network," according to the report.
Helal said the two men are Pakistani nationals who have confessed to
being sent to Afghanistan "along with a group of Arabs, Chechens, and
other Pakistanis." Interior Minister Taj Mohammad Wardak told reporters
at a Kabul news conference on 18 December that the identities of the
arrestees and any links they might have to terrorist organizations have
not been determined (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 19 December 2002). AT
[73] ...AS IS HIZB-E ISLAMI
A Kabul Police Department official has alleged the 17 December attack
was perpetrated by Gulbuddin Hekmatyar's Hizb-e Islami party, and that
the attackers received training for three months in Khost, the "Kabul
Weekly" reported on 19 December. General Khalil told the newspaper that
four individuals traveled to Kabul from Khost to carry out the attack
and that three of them have been arrested, including one from Khost
Province and one from Nangarhar Province. High-ranking Hizb-e Islami
official Qotbuddin Helal has denied any links between the party and
Al-Qaeda and has indicated that his party wants to join the Afghan
Transitional Administration (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 16 December 2002).
Hekmatyar has denied any Hizb-e Islami links to Al-Qaeda, but has
declared a jihad against the United States because of its presence in
Afghanistan (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 4 November 2002). One of the
arrested men has denied affiliation with any organization "but
complained that the Americans had occupied his country," the BBC
reported on 20 December. AT
[74] AFGHAN MINISTER SAYS WARLORDS POSE SECURITY THREAT
In an exclusive interview on 20 December, Reconstruction Minister Mir
Mohammad Amin Farhang told Radio Free Afghanistan that during the 17-18
December meeting of the Afghanistan Support Group in Oslo (see "RFE/RL
Newsline," 17 December 2002), donor countries agreed to distribute the
bulk of their assistance through the Afghan administration and to fund
UN agencies only for humanitarian-aid projects. Farhang noted that the
lack of security in some areas of Afghanistan has had a direct
influence on donor countries' policies, but said his side indicated in
Oslo that after 23 years of conflict, security will not come to
Afghanistan overnight. Farhang added that the formation of the Afghan
National Army and the police force are the first steps toward securing
the country. The existence of warlords in some parts of the country
requires serious measures, Farhang said, adding that the Afghan
administration is working to solve this problem. President Hamid Karzai
issued a decree on 16 December banning political leaders from
participating in military activities (see "RFE/RL Afghanistan Report,"
18 December 2002). Many perceive this action as an attempt to curb the
warlords' power. AT
[75] EDITOR SENTENCED FOR PUBLISHING CARTOON OF AFGHAN PRESIDENT
Abdul Gafur, the editor in chief of the Kabul weekly "Farda," has been
sentenced to an unspecified prison term for publishing a cartoon of
President Karzai, Hindukosh news agency reported on 19 December.
Hindukosh expressed regret that Gafur's sentencing came on the heels of
seminars on human rights and press freedom that took place in Kabul
last week. The report added that Karzai is one of the most prominent
advocates of free media. The 2001 Bonn Agreement validated the 1964
Afghan Constitution as the basis for the country's legal framework
until new laws and regulations can be adopted. Article 49 of the 1964
constitution affords Afghan citizens the "right of freedom of thought
and expression...in speech and writing" and states that "censorship of
the press is not allowed." Since the fall of the Taliban, Afghan
authorities have not announced specific new media laws. AT
[76] IRAN, TAJIKISTAN DISCUSS ANTIDRUG EFFORTS
Iranian Drug Control Headquarters chief Ali Hashemi met with his Tajik
counterpart Rustam Nazarav in Dushanbe on 19 December, Tajik news
agency Asia-Plus reported. The meeting was based on a counternarcotics
agreement signed when President Mohammad Khatami visited Tajikistan in
April. The two sides worked on a strategy to stem the flow of illegal
drugs from Afghanistan and on ways to combat smuggling and
international criminal gangs. They agreed to continue regular exchanges
of information. BS
[77] EU PRESIDENCY LINKS TRADE WITH HUMAN RIGHTS IN IRAN
Danish Foreign Minister Per Stig Moeller said during an 18 December
visit to Washington that Iran must show progress on political and human
rights if it wants to enjoy the benefits of trade with the EU, RFE/RL
reported. Denmark holds the current European Union Presidency. Moeller
said linking trade and rights is the best way to help Iranian
reformists. "That's why we say we are not just trading with Iran. It's
on a condition that there's progress on political and human rights,"
Reuters quoted Moeller as saying. The European statements are
noteworthy because Tehran insists that any agreement with the EU will
have to be made without preconditions (see "RFE/RL Iran Report," 28
October 2002). BS
[78] IRAN REQUESTS INTERPOL'S HELP IN POLLSTERS CASE
The Iranian judiciary has requested that Interpol arrest Ali-Reza
Namdar-Haghighi in connection with the current trial relating to the
Ayandeh Research Institute, AFP reported on 19 December. According to a
statement carried in Iranian newspapers, Haghighi allegedly
"infiltrated an Iranian ministry and established contacts with foreign
intelligence services and counterrevolutionaries based outside the
country." The statement added that Haghighi's job was to abet "the
entry of American and foreign intelligence services into Iran." BS
[79] IRANIAN PRESIDENT OPTIMISTIC THAT HE'LL HAVE MORE POWER...
President Khatami on 19 December said he is optimistic that the
Guardians Council will approve a bill submitted in September that would
increase his powers, IRNA reported. "God willing, the bill on reforming
the president's prerogatives and authority will receive final approval,
and this will help the president in fulfilling his duties," Khatami
said at the inauguration of a conference entitled "Unimplemented
Principles of the Constitution." The legislation has already received
overwhelming support from parliament, although it awaits final
ratification. The 12-member Guardians Council must then approve it on
Islamic and constitutional grounds. Gholam-Hussein Elham, who heads the
Guardians Council Research Center, has indicated the legislation will
not win approval. (For details on the legislation and its progress, see
"RFE/RL Iran Report," 30 September and 4 and 11 November 2002.) BS
[80] ...BUT PARLIAMENTARIAN NOTES FLAWS IN BILL
Tehran parliamentary representative Hojatoleslam Ali-Akbar
Mohtashami-Pur, a leading member of the pro-Khatami 2nd of Khordad
Front, said that some aspects of the bill concerning the president's
powers must be changed, "Resalat" reported on 19 December. "In my
opinion the law on presidential authority has some flaws which must be
removed," he said. The appearance of this report in a hard-line
newspaper suggests that Mohtashami-Pur's statement was taken out of
context. BS
[81] LAWMAKER DESCRIBES IRANIAN PLAN FOR PALESTINE
Representative Mohtashami-Pur also serves as the secretary of the
"Support for the Palestinian Intifada Conference," and in the 19
December issue of Tehran's "Resalat" daily he described the Iranian
plan for resolving the Israeli-Palestinian crisis. "Iran's plan is that
elections should be held in Palestine to choose a government and to
determine the share of various religions in that government," he
explained. "If such a government decides to form a power-sharing rule,
then it can follow the example of Lebanon." Regarding the current
Palestinian uprising, Mohtashami-Pur asked, "Why is it that the
martyrdom-seeking and defensive actions of the Palestinians are
described as terrorism, while the international community closes its
eyes to the massacre of innocent Palestinian women and children by the
Zionist occupiers?" BS
[82] AL-AQSA MARTYRS BRIGADE SAYS NO AID FROM IRAN
Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade commander Abu-Mujahid rejected Israeli
accusations that his organization receives aid from Iran and Hizballah
in an interview that appeared on the Ynet website that is run by Tel
Aviv's "Yediot Aharonot" daily. "There is no such assistance. However,
even if there were such assistance, it would be legitimate and derive
from the fact that we belong to the same religion and the same nation,"
Abu Mujahid said. "We, the Iranians, and Hizballah share common roots,
which you cannot say about Israel and the United States. If the United
States extends massive aid to Israel, we are definitely entitled to aid
from Muslim Iran, although -- I repeat -- there is no such aid at all."
BS
[83] IRAN, TATARSTAN SIGN COOPERATION MEMORANDUM
A delegation of Iranian officials headed by First Deputy Islamic
Culture and Communications Organization Minister Mahmud
Mohammadi-Araqi, on 19 December met with Prime Minister Rustam
Minnikhanov of Russia's Republic of Tatarstan, and then Araqi and
Tatarstan Deputy Prime Minister Zilya Valeeva signed a memorandum of
cooperation, Kazan's Tatar-Inform news agency reported. Minnikhanov
discussed Tatarstan's experience in mechanical oil extraction under
significantly irrigated oil layers. They also discussed cultural
matters, and Mohammadi-Araqi told his hosts that Tehran is ready to
open an Iranian cultural center in the capital of Tatarstan, Kazan. BS
[84] ARMY COMMANDER DENIES IRAN HAS MILITARY NUCLEAR AMBITIONS
Brigadier General Nasser Mohammadifar, commander of the Iranian Army's
ground forces, said during a ceremony to post the 38th Independent
Armored Brigade at Torbat-i Jam's Mohammad Rasulallah garrison that
Iran does not intend to the use the nuclear facility it is building at
Bushehr for military purposes, the Iranian Students News Agency
reported. "Iran will never pursue the manufacture, purchase, and use of
weapons of mass destruction and nonconventional arms," Mohammadifar
added. BS
[85] UNMOVIC, IAEA HEADS BRIEF UN SECURITY COUNCIL ON IRAQ
UNMOVIC Executive Chairman Hans Blix and IAEA Director-General Mohammad
el-Baradei on 19 December participated in UN Security Council
discussions on Iraq's weapons dossier, the UN announced.
Secretary-General Kofi Annan attended the informal session, after which
Blix observed that "many questions about Iraq's weapons dating from the
end of 1998 -- including those on anthrax and munitions -- have not
been answered in the Iraqi declaration." El-Baradei was more
optimistic, stating that the inspections are "making good progress,"
although he noted that inspections are "still in their initial phase."
Both Blix and el-Baradei requested more information from Iraq on its
weapons programs. They will next meet with the Security Council in
January to discuss the inspections. SH
[86] U.K. FOREIGN SECRETARY SAYS IRAQ FAILED TO COOPERATE...
Referring to Blix's assertion that Iraq's weapons declaration includes
"little new information," U.K. Foreign Secretary Jack Straw stated on
19 December that "Iraq has already failed one test," the BBC reported.
Straw emphasized that this "failure" does not necessitate war, but that
Iraq must now fully cooperate with UN Security Council Resolution 1441.
If Iraq fails to cooperate with UN weapons inspectors, the result will
be military action, Straw said. He added that Iraq's declaration to the
UN "is a very serious failure to comply and a clear warning has to go
out to Iraq," AFP reported. SH
[87] ...AND IRAQI FOREIGN MINISTER SAYS BRITAIN LIES AND U.S. VIOLATES
INTERNATIONAL LAW
Naji Sabri on 19 December responded to U.K. Foreign Secretary Straw's
claims that Iraq failed in its declaration to accurately "reflect the
complete picture demanded by the United Nations," Iraq News Agency
(INA) reported. Sabri accused Straw and the U.S. and British
governments of "telling lies and continuing to tell lies until people
begin to believe them." The assertion that Iraq produced weapons of
mass destruction after the withdrawal of UN inspectors in 1998 has
placed the United States and Britain at "an impasse following Iraq's
approval of the inspectors' return and agreement to deal with the bad
Resolution 1441," according to Sabri. In a letter to UN
Secretary-General Annan, Sabri accuses the United States of violating
international law and UN resolutions by financing Iraqi opposition
groups, Iraq Television reported on 19 December. "The U.S. presidential
order flagrantly and clearly aims at interfering in Iraq's domestic
affairs.... The Iraqi people have the jurisdiction to decide their own
political choices," the foreign minister's letter states. SH
[88] UNMOVIC MISSILE INSPECTORS VISIT MANUFACTURING SITES...
An UNMOVIC team of missile inspectors met with specialists at the
Bin-Firnas State Company north of Baghdad on 19 December, the Iraqi
Foreign Ministry announced. The team proceeded to inspect the premises
of the company, which is affiliated with the Military Industrialization
Organization (MIO) and conducts "work on aircraft and remotely piloted
vehicles" for the armed forces, according to the UN. Another team
visited the Al-Harith State Company, also affiliated with the MIO, and
inspected all of the buildings on the site and met with its general
manager. A 22-member chemical-inspections team revisited an insecticide
factory in Al-Saqlawiyah, taking a sample from a barrel at one of the
factory's facilities. A biological-inspections team questioned
specialists at the Bin-Al-Bitar Center, a pharmaceutical-research
center north of Baghdad, on the center's activities and relations with
other research institutions. The team photographed and verified
equipment and obtained samples of castor oil, according to the
ministry. In addition, a team of 11 inspectors visited MIO property in
the Sab Abkar District of Baghdad and "left after ascertaining that it
was a guesthouse," the ministry stated. SH
[89] ...AS IAEA INSPECTION TEAM SPENDS SECOND NIGHT IN MOSUL
After spending a second night in Mosul, a group of 15 IAEA inspectors
conducted a radiological survey of the Al-Kindi State Company's
premises on 19 December, the Iraqi Foreign Ministry announced. The
company, which is part of the MIO, is located on the outskirts of
Mosul. The group returned to Baghdad after inspecting areas of the
company that manufacture products for commercial use and taking samples
from a water-treatment plant. A second IAEA team of three inspectors
toured the facilities of the 7 Nisan Company, an MIO affiliate located
southeast of Baghdad. The team inquired about imported machinery at the
company and then proceeded to the Al-Rashid State Company, also part of
the MIO, in order to inspect "three marked furnaces as well as marked
equipment stored in the warehouses," according to the Foreign Ministry.
SH
[90] KUWAIT INCREASES PREPAREDNESS WHILE HOPING TO AVOID WAR
Kuwaiti Deputy Prime Minister and Defense Minister Sheikh Jaber
al-Mubarak al-Hamad al-Sabah announced at a press conference on 19
December that Kuwait has increased its preparedness to "confront any
emergencies" in response to threats Iraqi President Saddam Hussein made
in a recent speech, Kuwait News Agency (KUNA) reported on 19 December.
Sheikh Jaber al-Mubarak stated the army has not yet called up
reservists, as the Kuwaiti Constitution prohibits participation in a
nondefensive war. While expressing the importance of regime change in
Iraq, Sheikh Jaber al-Mubarak said, "We will be careful in dealing with
any regime that comes to rule Iraq." He also called for Iraq to abide
by UN resolutions in order to avoid war in the region. SH
[91] U.S. WELCOMES HUNGARIAN DECISION ON TRAINING BASE
U.S. National Security Council spokesman Sean McCormack on 19 December
welcomed the Hungarian government's decision to allow the United States
to use the Taszar military air base to train Iraqi opposition personnel
in noncombat functions (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 19 December 2002),
"Magyar Nemzet" reported. Pentagon spokesman David Lapan said the Iraqi
opposition will put together a list of volunteers and their identities
will be verified by the United States. The daily reported that CIA
agents will also take part in training Iraqi volunteers at the air
base. MSZ
END NOTE
[92] There is no End Note today.
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