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RFE/RL Newsline, 03-01-14
CONTENTS
[01] RUSSIAN WARSHIPS HEAD TO THE GULF
[02] RUSSIA TO INCREASE OIL, GAS PRODUCTION...
[03] ...AS RUSSIAN OILMEN COMPLAIN THEY CAN'T BOOST EXPORTS
[04] PRIME MINISTER SAYS PIPELINES WILL REMAIN UNDER STATE CONTROL...
[05] ...AS RUSSIA TO CHOOSE BETWEEN JAPANESE AND CHINESE OIL-TRANSIT
[06] PUTIN SIGNS NEW PRESIDENTIAL-ELECTION LAW
[07] REGIONS TO GET THEIR CRACK AT LOCAL-GOVERNMENT REFORMS
[08] EES CHIEF WEIGHS IN ON HEATING CRISIS
[09] POLITICAL PARTIES INFLATE MEMBERSHIP TOTALS
[10] REGISTRATION OF NEW RUSSIAN INTERNET ADDRESSES SOARS
[11] JEWISH COMMUNITY COMMEMORATES VICTIMS OF STALIN-ERA REPRESSIONS
[12] GRYZLOV'S FATE TO BE DECIDED SOON?
[13] COSSACKS, POLICE CLASH IN KRASNODAR
[14] RUSSIA RULES OUT FURTHER TALKS ON OSCE CHECHEN MISSION
[15] CHECHEN ADMINISTRATION HEAD, PREMIER AT ODDS OVER FINANCE MINISTER
[16] ARMENIAN STATE MEDIA ANNOUNCES TARIFFS FOR ELECTION-CAMPAIGN
[17] ARMENIAN TRADERS SLAM GOVERNMENT HARASSMENT
[18] CONTROVERSIAL AZERBAIJANI SPLINTER GROUP OFFICIALLY REGISTERED
[19] GEORGIAN PRESIDENT SETS CONDITIONS FOR RENEWING CIS PEACEKEEPERS'
[20] UN, RUSSIAN MEDIATORS URGE GEORGIA, ABKHAZIA TO RESUME TALKS
[21] GEORGIAN LABOR PARTY UNVEILS SALVATION PLAN
[22] KYRGYZ PRESIDENT SETS REFERENDUM DATE...
[23] ...AS KYRGYZ OPPOSITION CRITICIZES PROPOSED CONSTITUTIONAL CHANGES
[24] INVESTIGATORS SAY KYRGYZ MARKET BLAST NOT ACCIDENTAL
[25] KYRGYZ, TAJIK GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS MEET
[26] TAJIKISTAN, IRAN SEEK TO EXPAND ECONOMIC COOPERATION
[27] TRIAL DATE SET FOR TURKMEN ASSASSINATION SUSPECTS
[28] BELARUSIAN PRESIDENT OFFERS SUPPORT TO YOUTH UNION
[29] BELARUS REPORTS 4.7 PERCENT ECONOMIC GROWTH
[30] UKRAINIAN PRESIDENTIAL ADMINISTRATION SAID TO BE OVERSTAFFED
[31] RESETTLED UKRAINIANS APPEAL TO PARLIAMENT FOR JUSTICE
[32] ESTONIAN PARTIES REJECT PRIME MINISTER'S CRITICISM
[33] LATVIAN GOVERNMENT APPROVES PRIORITIES FOR 2003 BUDGET
[34] LITHUANIA HOLDS FIRST ROUND OF MEMBERSHIP TALKS WITH NATO
[35] POLISH PRESIDENT SAYS WARSAW 'WILL NOT REFUSE COOPERATION' ON IRAQ
[36] POLISH PROSECUTORS TO QUESTION FILM PRODUCER OVER BRIBERY
[37] CZECH GOVERNMENT CONDITIONALLY APPROVES AID FOR POSSIBLE IRAQ
[38] CZECH RIGHT-WING OPPOSITION READY TO SUPPORT GOVERNMENT ON IRAQ --
[39] CZECH RULING PARTY'S SENATORS MIGHT SUPPORT RIVAL PRESIDENTIAL
[40] VISEGRAD FOUR VOW TO CONTINUE COOPERATION WITHIN EU
[41] PROMINENT SLOVAK OPPOSITION LEADER RESIGNS PARTY POSITION
[42] MAJOR SLOVAK ARTIST DIES AT 100
[43] HUNGARIAN ROMANY PARTY DEMANDS REPEAT OF ROMANY-AUTHORITY ELECTION
[44] HUNGARIAN OPPOSITION QUESTIONS CABINET STATEMENTS OVER U.S.
[45] GREEK FOREIGN MINISTER STARTS BALKAN TOUR IN MACEDONIA...
[46] ...REASSURES ALBANIA...
[47] ...AND GOES ON TO CROATIA
[48] DATES SET FOR PAPAL VISIT TO CROATIA
[49] BOSNIAN PARLIAMENT APPROVES NATIONALIST-LED GOVERNMENT
[50] YUGOSLAVIA OFFERS GUARANTEES FOR FORMER SERBIAN PRESIDENT
[51] MINORS RAISE ABUSE CHARGES AGAINST SERBIAN ORTHODOX BISHOP
[52] ROMANIAN PRESIDENT IN ALGERIA
[53] ROMANIAN FOREIGN MINISTER IN TEHRAN
[54] ROMANIAN RULING PARTY SHELVES RESHUFFLE...
[55] ...AND WANTS SHRUNKEN SENATE
[56] HUNGARIAN PARTY IN ROMANIA CONDITIONS SUPPORT ON CONSTITUTIONAL
[57] ...BUT CONTINUES TO BE TORN BY CONFLICT
[58] CEAUSESCU'S HOMETOWN REJECTS TUBERCULOSIS PATIENTS
[59] SECOND RUSSIAN MILITARY TRAINLOAD THIS YEAR LEAVES TRANSDNIESTER
[60] MOLDOVAN ANTIGOVERNMENT DAILY SUSPENDS PUBLICATION
[61] BULGARIAN POLITICIANS EXPECT U.S. REQUEST FOR SUPPORT IN MILITARY
[62] BULGARIAN PRIME MINISTER GETS MORE ASSISTANTS
[63] ETHNIC TURKISH LEADER FINED IN BULGARIA FOR DEFAMATION
[64] AFGHAN DRAFT CONSTITUTION TO BE READY BY MARCH
[65] HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH CRITICIZES U.S. POLICY IN AFGHANISTAN...
[66] ...KABUL ACCEDES TO ICC, WILL SUBMIT CRIMINALS FOR TRIAL
[67] UNKNOWN GROUP THREATENS FUEL SUPPLIERS TO THE U.S.
[68] U.S. LIFTS TARIFFS ON AFGHAN PRODUCTS
[69] IRAN TO PROVIDE HERAT WITH ELECTRICITY
[70] AFGHAN OFFICIAL SAYS IRANIAN WOMEN BETTER OFF
[71] GEORGIAN EXPERTS WORKING IN IRAN
[72] IRANIAN CARTOON DISPUTE CONTINUES
[73] HOJJATIEH SOCIETY RESURGENT
[74] PIJ LEADER DESCRIBES IRANIAN AID
[75] KUWAIT, IRAN SIGN GAS AND WATER AGREEMENTS
[76] ROMANIAN FOREIGN MINISTER IN TEHRAN
[77] U.S. OPPOSES DEMOCRACY, FAVORS THEOCRACY IN IRAQ
[78] UNMOVIC HEAD SAYS IRAQ MUST COME CLEAN...
[79] ...AND INSPECTORS ARE TAKING ADVANTAGE OF INTELLIGENCE
[80] ...AND THAT SECURITY COUNCIL WILL DECIDE ON CONTINUING INSPECTIONS
[81] IRAQ REPORTS SIX CITIZENS WOUNDED BY U.S.-U.K. AIR RAIDS
[82] IRAQI PRESIDENTIAL ADVISER SAYS INSPECTORS SEEK INTELLIGENCE
[83] BRITISH PREMIER SAYS IRAQ MUST COOPERATE OR BE 'DISARMED BY FORCE'
[84] RUSSIAN WARSHIPS HEAD TO THE GULF
[85] There is no End Note today.
14 January 2003
RUSSIA
[01] RUSSIAN WARSHIPS HEAD TO THE GULF
Moscow will send the Pacific Fleet cruisers "Marshal Shaposhnikov" and
"Admiral Panteleev" to the Persian Gulf in order "to protect Russian
national interests in the event of an escalation of the military
conflict between the United States and Iraq," Interfax and gazeta.ru
reported on 13 January, quoting an unidentified source in the Pacific
Fleet command in Vladivostok. According to the source, the cruisers
will set sail in February and will be charged with monitoring the
situation rather than participating in any conflict. The Russian Navy
does not rule out sending additional ships to the region, gazeta.ru
reported. The website also pointed out that the "Marshal Shaposhnikov"
carried out a similar mission during Operation Desert Storm in 1991.
President Vladimir Putin visited the cruiser in Vladivostok in August
and mentioned that the ship would be sent on far-off missions in the
future. VY
[02] RUSSIA TO INCREASE OIL, GAS PRODUCTION...
Energy Minister Igor Yusufov said on 12 January that Russia will follow
the lead of OPEC countries, which announced they will increase oil
production by 1.5 million barrels beginning 1 February, nns.ru reported
on 13 January. Yusufov said it is Russia's policy to compensate for any
oil shortages that might develop on world markets and to keep oil
prices stable. The ministry released its annual report, which said that
Russia produced 2.274 billion barrels (379 million tons) of oil in 2002
and will produce 2.340 billion barrels (390 million tons) in 2003,
"Kommersant-Daily" reported on 13 January. Natural-gas production will
be increased from 594 billion cubic meters in 2002 to 604 billion this
year, the report states. In order to increase competition and reduce
prices, the ministry has proposed the creation this year of an energy
stock exchange, the daily noted. VY
[03] ...AS RUSSIAN OILMEN COMPLAIN THEY CAN'T BOOST EXPORTS
The heads of several Russian oil majors on 10 January sent a letter to
Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov asking him to look into policies
enforced by the state-run oil-transport monopoly Transneft that they
claim are preventing private oil companies from increasing exports,
strana.ru reported on 13 January. The oilmen complain that Transneft is
ignoring their interests and barring the export of oil through the
Latvian port of Ventspils in order to increase support for the
government's Baltic Pipeline System and the newly built oil terminal in
the Leningrad Oblast port of Primorsk. Transneft Vice President Sergei
Grigoriev charged that "the oil companies want to increase exports by
any means and do not care about the interests of the country,"
according to strana.ru. VY
[04] PRIME MINISTER SAYS PIPELINES WILL REMAIN UNDER STATE CONTROL...
Addressing a conference in Murmansk on 10 January, Prime Minister
Kasyanov said the government will not tolerate the construction of
private pipelines in Russia, "Vedomosti" reported on 13 January. "You
must understand that according to Russian law, [such projects] would
not be private initiatives," Kasyanov was quoted as saying. At present,
all major oil pipelines are controlled by the state-run monopoly
Transneft, and all natural-gas pipelines are run by Gazprom. The
government has adopted a policy of trying to attract investment into
the pipeline infrastructure by offering discounted transport tariffs,
the daily wrote. Kasyanov's statement seems to have cast doubt on
ambitious plans by Russian and foreign investors to build pipelines
worth tens of billions of dollars, pravda.ru wrote on 13 January,
including a plan by LUKoil, Yukos, TNK, and Sibneft to construct a $4.5
billion oil pipeline from western Siberia to Murmansk. Also seemingly
affected is a project announced by Yukos and the Chinese state
petrochemical concern CNPC to build a $1.7 billion pipeline from the
Siberian city of Angarsk to China's Datsin capable of transporting 20
million to 30 million tons a year (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 18 November
2002). VY
[05] ...AS RUSSIA TO CHOOSE BETWEEN JAPANESE AND CHINESE OIL-TRANSIT
ROUTES
An agreement reached during the recent visit by Japanese Prime Minister
Junichiro Koizumi to Moscow has spurred competition between Japan and
China over the proposed Far East transport route for Russian oil
exports, pravda.ru reported on 13 January. According to the website,
President Putin told a recent Security Council meeting that routing oil
exports through China could jeopardize Russian national interests and
that routing them through the port of Nakhodka could help Russia
improve oil supplies to the Far East coastal region. These
considerations seem to have been bolstered by Koizumi's offer to funnel
$5 billion in Japanese investments into a pipeline in order to reduce
Japan's dependence on Middle Eastern oil. Such a project could also
enable Russia to export to the west coast of the United States. Deputy
Foreign Minister Aleksandr Losyukov has said that Moscow is currently
reviewing both plans, neftegaz.ru reported on 13 January. Losyukov
admitted that the Chinese option is more advanced but said the
Angarsk-Nakhodka project could increase competition for Russian oil. He
said a decision will be made quickly. VY
[06] PUTIN SIGNS NEW PRESIDENTIAL-ELECTION LAW
President Putin on 13 January signed the law on presidential elections
and the law on electronic voting, Russian news agencies reported.
According to the law on presidential elections, the Russian president
must be at least 35 years old and must have lived in Russia continually
for the preceding 10 years. He or she cannot serve more than two
consecutive terms. Candidates may be nominated without gathering
signatures only by those parties or election blocs that attracted more
than 5 percent of the total vote in the most recent federal
parliamentary election. Other candidates must gather 2 million
signatures in support of their candidacy. Putin also signed a bill
authorizing the use of electronic voting machines in national elections
(see "RFE/RL Russian Political Weekly," 6 November 2002). JAC
[07] REGIONS TO GET THEIR CRACK AT LOCAL-GOVERNMENT REFORMS
Deputy head of the presidential administration Dmitrii Kozak told
reporters in Moscow on 13 January that the Duma will most likely amend
the package of legislation reforming Russia's system of local
self-government that President Putin submitted earlier this month
before adopting it, ITAR-TASS reported (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 6
January 2003). Kozak added that the Duma Council is sending the bills
to the regions and giving them one month to provide their feedback. He
predicted the bills will be passed in their first reading by 1 March.
On the same day, Duma Committee on Local Government Chairman Vladimir
Mokryi (Unity) said that after the bills return from the regions, he
has no doubt the overall concept of the reforms will be approved by his
committee and by the lower house as a whole. JAC
[08] EES CHIEF WEIGHS IN ON HEATING CRISIS
Unified Energy Systems (EES) head Anatolii Chubais told EES's regional
directors that Russia's energy system overall is coping with the
unusually cold weather affecting most of Russia, ITAR-TASS reported. He
said that municipal utility companies are to blame for various local
problems with heating and electricity supplies (see "RFE/RL Newsline,"
10 and 13 January 2003). However, he suggested that the heads of
regional energy companies try to help their local counterparts to
forestall and cope with problems. An unidentified EES official also
complained to the agency that personnel at utility companies install
makeshift fuses in residential buildings instead of using
standard-issue equipment, and this causes breakdowns at electrical
substations. Meanwhile, heating outages continued throughout the
Northwest Federal District. In St. Petersburg, about 100 schools did
not reopen on 13 January after the holiday break. JAC
[09] POLITICAL PARTIES INFLATE MEMBERSHIP TOTALS
Russia's leading political parties simultaneously maintain several
lists of party members -- one for the media and public consumption, one
for the Justice Ministry, and a third for internal use, "Nezavisimaya
gazeta" reported on 13 January. The differences among these lists can
be marked. Vladimir Zhirinovskii's Liberal Democratic Party (LDPR), for
example, informed the Justice Ministry that it has 19,100 members
nationally, while it tells the media it has 600,000 members. The
Communist Party says that it has 500,000 members, but has registered
with the Justice Ministry with only 19,300. According to the daily,
there is an entire department at the ministry devoted to comparing the
declared number of party members with independently acquired data. In
theory, discrepancies can be a basis for refusing to register a party,
but the head of the department for registering pubic and religious
organizations, Galina Fokina, told the daily no declaration has ever
been turned down for this reason, despite the fact that on some
parties' lists of regional branches as many as a dozen of a total of
200 names turned out to be fictional. JAC
[10] REGISTRATION OF NEW RUSSIAN INTERNET ADDRESSES SOARS
The number of Internet addresses registered in Russia's "ru" domain
grew by 66 percent in 2002 to a total of 156,000, Interfax reported on
13 January, citing RuCenter. The majority of the domain names -- some
66 percent -- are registered in Moscow, while St. Petersburg is in
second place with just 5.8 percent. About 60 percent of the owners of
domain names are legal entities. In comparison with other countries,
Russia falls somewhere between Belgium and the Czech Republic, which
have 208,000 and 120,000 domain names, respectively. JAC
[11] JEWISH COMMUNITY COMMEMORATES VICTIMS OF STALIN-ERA REPRESSIONS
The Federation of Jewish Organizations of Russia marked the 50th
anniversary of the so-called Doctors' Plot at the Moscow Jewish Center
on 13 January, newsru.com reported. The Doctors' Plot was a case
fabricated by dictator Josef Stalin's security organs against a group
of largely Jewish medical doctors and cultural figures in the early
1950s. The doctors were accused of conspiring to poison the Soviet
leadership at the behest of U.S. and British intelligence agencies and
Zionist organizations. Many prominent members of the Jewish community
were arrested and perished in Soviet labor camps. VY
[12] GRYZLOV'S FATE TO BE DECIDED SOON?
Duma Deputy Aleksei Mitrofanov (LDPR) told "Kommersant-Daily" on 13
January that he expects rumors about a change of government personnel
-- particularly at the Interior Ministry -- to be confirmed this week.
Interior Minister Boris Gryzlov was named to head the High Council of
the pro-Kremlin Unified Russia party in November, raising questions as
to whether he can continue serving as interior minister (see "RFE/RL
Newsline," 22 November 2002). JAC
[13] COSSACKS, POLICE CLASH IN KRASNODAR
An unspecified number of Cossacks in the Leningrad Raion of Krasnodar
Krai have been participating in pickets and meetings to protest the
recent arrest of Viktor Bradulo, the ataman for the Umanskii Cossack
Station, RFE/RL's Krasnodar correspondent reported on 13 January.
Bradulo is accused of acting as the intermediary in conveying a bribe
of 400 rubles ($13). Local Cossacks told RFE/RL they believe Bradulo's
arrest is linked with a conflict between the Cossacks and local police.
The Cossacks say they have been delivering poachers from
Cossack-controlled forests to the police, who have not been prosecuting
them. In addition, the Cossacks claim to have destroyed 10,000 plants
from which unspecified narcotics are extracted. However, they say,
local police were protecting the drug dealers, because they were
getting a share of the profits. To protest his arrest, Bradulo has
declared a hunger strike. JAC
[14] RUSSIA RULES OUT FURTHER TALKS ON OSCE CHECHEN MISSION
Russian diplomats have indicated they see no point in continuing talks
with the United States and the EU on a revised mandate for the
Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) mission in
Chechnya, Reuters reported on 13 January. The mission's mandate expired
on 31 December after Russia and the West failed to reach consensus on
the terms for its extension (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 3 and 6 January
2003). Speaking to journalists in Vienna on 13 January, Netherlands
Foreign Minister Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, who is the OSCE's new
chairman-in-office, said he will try to persuade his Russian
counterpart Igor Ivanov to agree to a new mandate for the mission. In
his first address to the OSCE Permanent Council, de Hoop Scheffer on 13
January stressed the importance of the OSCE field missions as a source
of firsthand information. "We have to dispel the notion that they could
be perceived as liabilities," he added. LF
[15] CHECHEN ADMINISTRATION HEAD, PREMIER AT ODDS OVER FINANCE MINISTER
Chechen Prime Minister Mikhail Babich on 13 January criticized
administration head Akhmed-hadji Kadyrov's decision to replace Sergei
Abramov as finance minister with Abramov's deputy, Eli Isaev, Russian
news agencies reported. Babich argued that Kadyrov's decree appointing
Isaev violated a presidential decree on the functioning of the Chechen
administration and a second decree by presidential envoy to the
Southern Federal District Viktor Kazantsev. Babich also said there are
no grounds for Abramov's dismissal. He said he has ordered the first
deputy finance minister to discharge the functions of finance minister
until the issue is resolved. LF
TRANSCAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA
[16] ARMENIAN STATE MEDIA ANNOUNCES TARIFFS FOR ELECTION-CAMPAIGN
ADVERTISING
The governing board of state-run Armenian Public Television and Radio
made public on 13 January the fees it will charge candidates in next
month's presidential election for campaign advertising, RFE/RL's
Yerevan bureau reported. Each candidate is entitled to 60 minutes of
airtime free of charge. In addition, candidates may purchase a maximum
of 120 minutes television airtime and 180 minutes radio airtime at a
cost of 70,800 drams ($120) and 17,700 drams per minute, respectively.
In 1996, candidates were entitled to 120 minutes of free airtime on
television and 180 minutes of paid airtime at a cost of $20 per minute.
In 1998, free television airtime was set at 90 minutes, with the option
of purchasing 180 additional minutes at $20 per minute. LF
[17] ARMENIAN TRADERS SLAM GOVERNMENT HARASSMENT
At its annual conference in Yerevan on 13 January, the Union of Traders
-- which represents some 700 small-business owners -- rejected
government assertions that the business climate in Armenia is improving
and complained that they are systematically harassed by tax officials
demanding advance payments, RFE/RL's Yerevan bureau reported. Delegates
alleged the government is resorting to dubious methods, including
extortion, in order to meet tax-revenue targets. Tax revenues in 2002
were reportedly 26 percent higher than the previous year (see "RFE/RL
Newsline," 10 January 2003) and are slated to increase again by 20
percent in 2003. LF
[18] CONTROVERSIAL AZERBAIJANI SPLINTER GROUP OFFICIALLY REGISTERED
Azerbaijan's Justice Ministry has formally registered the so-called
Three Gs party (Gruppa Gudrata Gasankulieva) as the successor
organization to the divided Azerbaijan Popular Front Party, Turan
reported on 13 January. In late summer 2000, the Azerbaijan Popular
Front Party split into two rival groups -- the "reformists" headed by
Ali Kerimli and the "conservatives" headed by Mirmahmud Fattaev. Gudrat
Gasankuliev, who served in 2000 as an opposition representative on the
Central Election Commission, tried without success last year to reunite
the two factions. He was subsequently expelled from the reformist wing
on suspicion of colluding with the authorities (see "RFE/RL Caucasus
Report," 21 March, 4 and 26 April, and 18 July 2002). Gasankuliev's
splinter group held its founding congress in August (see "RFE/RL
Caucasus Report," 26 August 2002). Kerimli, Fattaev, and other
opposition party leaders on 13 January condemned the registration of
Gasankuliev's group as illegal, zerkalo.az reported on 14 January. LF
[19] GEORGIAN PRESIDENT SETS CONDITIONS FOR RENEWING CIS PEACEKEEPERS'
MANDATE
In his traditional Monday radio interview, Eduard Shevardnadze said on
13 January that he opposes extending the mandate of the Russian
peacekeeping force deployed under the CIS aegis in the Abkhaz conflict
zone unless Russia halts the train service that recently resumed
between the Russian Black Sea town of Sochi and Sukhum, capital of the
breakaway Republic of Abkhazia, Caucasus Press and Interfax reported.
The peacekeepers' mandate expired on 31 December. A Georgian government
delegation headed by Transport and Communications Minister Merab
Adeishvili was scheduled to travel to Moscow on 14 January to discuss
the rail link. Shevardnadze stressed he does not object to the
resumption of rail traffic per se, but that it should be postponed
until after the repatriation to Abkhazia of Georgian displaced persons
who fled that republic during the 1992-93 war. In Moscow, Russian
Foreign Ministry spokesman Aleksandr Yakovenko on 13 January expressed
the hope that Tbilisi will agree to extend the peacekeepers' mandate,
Interfax reported. In Sukhum, Abkhaz Vice President Valerii Arshba said
the Abkhaz leadership categorically opposes the peacekeepers'
withdrawal, arguing they are a guarantee of peace and stability in the
region, Interfax reported. LF
[20] UN, RUSSIAN MEDIATORS URGE GEORGIA, ABKHAZIA TO RESUME TALKS
Heidi Tagliavini, who is UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan's special
envoy for the Abkhaz conflict, told journalists in Tbilisi on 13
January that during their talks in Sukhum on 10 January she and Russian
First Deputy Foreign Minister Valerii Loshchinin discussed convening a
new meeting of the UN-sponsored Coordinating Council that serves as a
forum for discussions between the Abkhaz and Georgian sides, Caucasus
Press reported. The Abkhaz suspended participation in the council's
sessions in April, demanding that Georgia first withdraw its forces
from the upper reaches of the Kodori Gorge. Also on 13 January,
ITAR-TASS quoted Loshchinin, who is Russian President Vladimir Putin's
special envoy for the Abkhaz conflict, as saying that while in Sukhum
he urged Abkhaz Prime Minister Gennadii Gagulia to agree to attend a
new session of the Coordinating Council. Meanwhile, Russian and
Georgian Foreign Ministers Igor Ivanov and Irakli Menagharishvili
discussed the Abkhaz situation and Loshchinin's visit to Sukhum during
a 13 January telephone conversation, ITAR-TASS reported. LF
[21] GEORGIAN LABOR PARTY UNVEILS SALVATION PLAN
The opposition Labor Party on 13 January proposed to the government
nine measures that it considers essential to save Georgia from "final
collapse," Caucasus Press reported. They are the withdrawal of the
Russian peacekeepers from Abkhazia and South Ossetia and the withdrawal
of all Russian military bases from Georgia; the recalling of
ambassadors from Moscow and Tbilisi and maintenance of contacts on the
level of envoys; suspension of work on the framework agreement between
Georgia and Russia until Georgia's jurisdiction over Abkhazia is
restored; suing Russia in the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The
Hague; stripping Russia of its function as mediator between Georgia and
Abkhazia; Georgia's withdrawal from the CIS; handing Abkhaz separatist
leaders over to the international tribunal for crimes against humanity;
and the deportation from Abkhazia of all persons with Russian
citizenship currently staying in Abkhazia without Georgian visas. LF
[22] KYRGYZ PRESIDENT SETS REFERENDUM DATE...
Askar Akaev on 13 January announced that a referendum on the amended
Kyrgyz Constitution will be held on 2 February, RFE/RL's Kyrgyz Service
reported. Voters will be required to answer "yes" or "no" to two
questions. First, should the law of the Kyrgyz Republic on the new
version of the constitution of the Kyrgyz Republic be adopted? And
second, should Askar Akaev remain president of the Kyrgyz Republic
until December 2005 (to the end of his constitutional term) in order to
implement the approved constitutional amendments? Addressing a
government session the same day, Akaev said he believes the amended
constitution meets the requirements of the post-transition period and
will contribute to harmonious relations among the various branches of
power and between the authorities and the people. He said the final
version of the constitution represents a compromise, as not all
proposed amendments were approved during the public discussion. He also
stressed that while he personally had agreed to unspecified
concessions, parliament had refused to cede any of its powers, even in
the interest of resolving the country's severe economic problems,
Interfax reported. LF
[23] ...AS KYRGYZ OPPOSITION CRITICIZES PROPOSED CONSTITUTIONAL CHANGES
Opposition parliament deputy Adaham Madumarov pointed out that not only
opposition politicians but also Constitutional Court Chairwoman Cholpon
Baekova and "persons loyal to the president" have criticized the
planned constitutional amendments, RFE/RL's Kyrgyz Service reported. He
said that all the main points agreed upon by government and opposition
members of the Constitutional Council have been dropped. He further
criticized the proposal that former presidents and all members of their
families be guaranteed immunity from prosecution. A second parliament
deputy, Ishenbai Kadyrbekov, predicted that once the amendments have
been approved, Akaev will dissolve the present parliament. But both
Akaev in a 13 January address to the Kyrgyz people and First Deputy
Prime Minister Kurmanbek Osmonov said that the present parliament and
government will serve out their full terms in office, akipress.org and
Interfax reported. LF
[24] INVESTIGATORS SAY KYRGYZ MARKET BLAST NOT ACCIDENTAL
National Security Service investigators said on 13 January that the 27
December explosion at Bishkek's Dordoy market in which seven people
were killed was caused by an explosive device, RFE/RL's Kyrgyz Service
reported. The investigators said that the perpetrators have probably
already left the country. Composite portraits of two suspects, both of
Asiatic appearance, were released in early January (see "RFE/RL
Newsline," 3 January 2003). LF
[25] KYRGYZ, TAJIK GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS MEET
A meeting opened on 13 January in the Tajik town of Safara between a
Kyrgyz delegation headed by Deputy Premier Bazarbai Mambetov and Tajik
officials headed by Security Council Secretary Amirqul Azimov, RFE/RL's
Kyrgyz Service reported. The talks will focus on the 3 January clashes
between Kyrgyz and Tajiks over border posts surrounding the Tajik
exclave of Vorukh in southern Kyrgyzstan (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 6 and
7 January 2003). LF
[26] TAJIKISTAN, IRAN SEEK TO EXPAND ECONOMIC COOPERATION
Tajik Prime Minister Oqil Oqilov met in Dushanbe on 11 January with
Iranian Ambassador Nosir Sarmadi Porso to discuss cooperation in the
sphere of power engineering, ways to encourage Iranian investment in
Tajikistan, and the construction of a power line between the two
countries via Afghanistan, Asia Plus-Blitz reported. They also touched
on the problems involved in exporting Tajik aluminum by rail to Iran
via Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan. LF
[27] TRIAL DATE SET FOR TURKMEN ASSASSINATION SUSPECTS
A total of 32 people suspected of involvement in the putative 25
November attempt to assassinate President Saparmurat Niyazov will go on
trial later this week, Niyazov announced on 12 January. He said 20 of
them will be sentenced to prison terms and the remaining 12 exiled to
remote regions of the country, Interfax reported. Another 29 people
were arrested on suspicion of involvement in the alleged assassination
attempt, including five Russian and six Turkish citizens, ITAR-TASS
quoted Niyazov as saying. Those who were only "indirectly" involved
will be deported, he added. Niyazov said three suspects are still at
large -- one in Russia, a second in Germany, and a third in Sweden. All
three have been sentenced in absentia to life imprisonment for their
alleged complicity (see "RFE/RL Central Asia Report," 2 January 2003).
LF
CENTRAL AND EASTERN EUROPE
[28] BELARUSIAN PRESIDENT OFFERS SUPPORT TO YOUTH UNION
President Alyaksandr Lukashenka issued a decree on 13 January providing
for state financial assistance to the Belarusian National Youth Union
until 2006, Belapan reported, quoting the presidential press office.
The decree also guarantees leading union activists representation on
the boards of the ministries of Information, Culture, Education,
Agriculture, Sports and Tourism, and Labor and Social Security. The
measure enables the National Youth Union "to take part in the
discussion of major socioeconomic-development issues," the presidential
press office stated. JM
[29] BELARUS REPORTS 4.7 PERCENT ECONOMIC GROWTH
Belarus's gross domestic product (GDP) expanded by 4.7 percent
year-on-year in 2002, Belapan reported on 13 January, quoting the
Statistics and Analysis Ministry. The figure signals growth similar to
that in 2001. According to the ministry, industrial production grew by
4.3 percent (5.9 percent in 2001), while agricultural output increased
by 1.8 percent (1.5 percent in 2001). Consumer prices rose by 34.8
percent in 2002, the ministry reported. JM
[30] UKRAINIAN PRESIDENTIAL ADMINISTRATION SAID TO BE OVERSTAFFED
Our Ukraine lawmaker Mykola Tomenko, head of the parliamentary
Committee for the Freedom of Expression and Information, told UNIAN on
13 January that staffing of the presidential administration includes
619 salaried posts. Tomenko stressed that the figure, which was
communicated to him officially from the presidential administration, is
double the number of positions in the Central Committee of the
Ukrainian Communist Party in the 1980s. This "significant overbalance"
of posts in comparison with the number of those in the communist-era
Central Committee "looks unnatural," he added. Tomenko said the
presidential administration in its current form operates not as a
consultative body but as "the supreme organ of the executive power." He
charged that such a situation contradicts the Ukrainian Constitution.
JM
[31] RESETTLED UKRAINIANS APPEAL TO PARLIAMENT FOR JUSTICE
A nationwide organization called the Congress of Ukrainians of the
Chelm and Podlasie Regions, uniting individuals (and their descendents)
who were forcefully resettled from eastern and southeastern Poland to
the Ukrainian SSR in 1944-46, has called on the Verkhovna Rada to hold
a parliamentary hearing devoted to their plight, UNIAN reported on 13
January. The congress is demanding that legislators provide a legal and
political assessment of the forcible postwar resettlement of Ukrainians
from Poland, give those resettled the status of deported persons, and
compensate them for moral and material damages. According to an accord
between the governments of Poland and the Ukrainian SSR at the time,
some 460,000 Ukrainians were resettled from Polish territory to Ukraine
in 1944-46. Another 140,000 Ukrainians were resettled in 1947 from
southeastern Poland to the so-called Recovered Land, Poland's newly
acquired areas in the north and the west (see "RFE/RL Poland, Belarus,
and Ukraine Report," 23 April 2002). JM
[32] ESTONIAN PARTIES REJECT PRIME MINISTER'S CRITICISM
Res Publica Chairman Juhan Parts reacted sharply to recent criticism by
Reform Party Chairman and Prime Minister Siim Kallas (see "RFE/RL
Newsline," 13 January 2003), accusing Kallas of lying, BNS reported on
13 January. He countered Kallas's suggestion that Res Publica has no
genuine party platform, saying the Reform Party has adopted Res Publica
ideas like the abolition of politicians' perks. "Res Publica wants to
teach the noncitizens living here to speak Estonian," Parts said in a
reference to Kallas's claim that Res Publica wants to drop language
requirements for non-Estonian speakers and enable a naturalized
Estonian to be elected president. "That's a task with which the Reform
Party has regrettably not coped." Center Party press officer Evelyn
Sepp called Kallas's speech bravado and an effort to raise his party's
falling popularity, adding that it "more likely lost support as a
result." SG
[33] LATVIAN GOVERNMENT APPROVES PRIORITIES FOR 2003 BUDGET
At an extraordinary session on 13 January, the center-right cabinet
defined priorities for the 2003 budget and earmarked 51.79 million lats
($87.7 million) to pursue those objectives, LETA reported. The proposed
spending represents less than one-fourth of the previous demand of
223.47 million lats. More than 40 percent of the sum (21.51 million
lats) is related to Latvia's EU-integration effort. The ministries
receiving the largest amounts were those of Interior (8.88 million
lats), Finance (5.74 million lats), Agriculture (5.5 million lats), and
Education and Science (2.98 million lats). New Era Prime Minister
Einars Repse said that even after the national budget is passed by
parliament, he expects that it will be amended and more funds added if
additional revenues are found. Finance Minister Valdis Dombrovskis
predicted that financing in priority areas will not change much as the
budget is drafted, though some redistribution is likely. SG
[34] LITHUANIA HOLDS FIRST ROUND OF MEMBERSHIP TALKS WITH NATO
A Lithuanian delegation headed by Foreign Ministry Secretary Giedrius
Cekuolis participated in Brussels on 13 January in the first round of
talks on NATO integration, ELTA reported. NATO Deputy Secretary-General
Guenter Altenburg led the NATO delegation. "These are talks for joining
the organization, and Lithuania can not bring changes to the Northern
Atlantic Agreement. It will observe the major principle of NATO: 'All
for one and one for all,'" Cekuolis said. He noted that Lithuania will
keep its pledge to allocate 2 percent of GDP for defense in 2001-04 and
to assign one of its battalions for NATO operations if needed. The
second round of talks is scheduled for 23 January. SG
[35] POLISH PRESIDENT SAYS WARSAW 'WILL NOT REFUSE COOPERATION' ON IRAQ
President Aleksander Kwasniewski, when asked about the participation of
Polish troops in an eventual U.S. operation in Iraq, said in
Washington, D.C., on 13 January that his country "is a loyal ally and
will not refuse cooperation," PAP reported. Kwasniewski was scheduled
to meet with U.S. President George W. Bush on 14 January. On the first
day of his two-day official visit to the United States, Kwasniewski met
with the president of Lockheed Martin, which recently won a tender to
supply Poland with 48 F-16 fighter jets (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 27
December 2002). Vance Coffman reportedly assured Kwasniewski that the
roughly $6 billion in offsets accompanying the F-16 deal will be
implemented. JM
[36] POLISH PROSECUTORS TO QUESTION FILM PRODUCER OVER BRIBERY
ALLEGATIONS
Warsaw Court of Appeals Judge Zygmunt Kapusta on 13 January said
prosecutors will question film producer Lew Rywin but declined to give
a date, PAP reported the same day. "Gazeta Wyborcza" alleged last month
that Rywin solicited a bribe of $17.5 million from Agora, the
newspaper's publisher, purportedly on behalf of Premier Leszek Miller's
Democratic Left Alliance (see "RFE/RL Poland, Belarus, and Ukraine
Report," 14 January 2003). "We are in permanent contact with Rywin and
there is no danger that the [questioning] will not take place," Kapusta
said, adding that evidence has been collected to determine whether
Rywin sought a bribe from Agora in exchange for ensuring passage of a
favorable version of the media law. JM
[37] CZECH GOVERNMENT CONDITIONALLY APPROVES AID FOR POSSIBLE IRAQ
CAMPAIGN
Cabinet ministers on 13 January unanimously approved a decision to
allow the participation in possible military operations against Iraq of
a Czech unit currently stationed in Kuwait, CTK and international news
agencies reported. The two chambers of the parliament are expected to
debate the decision later this week. The motion says the participation
of the antichemical-, antibacterological-, and antinuclear-warfare unit
is conditioned on prior approval by the UN Security Council of military
action or a statement by the council's chairman calling for military
intervention. The condition, however, would not apply if Iraq makes use
of weapons of mass destruction against its neighbors or against NATO
allied forces. The cabinet also approved the transit of U.S. forces
through Czech territory and the use of Czech airspace. Defense Minister
Jaroslav Tvrdik said 110 experts will join the currently 250 Czech
soldiers in Kuwait within 10 days of parliamentary approval. MS
[38] CZECH RIGHT-WING OPPOSITION READY TO SUPPORT GOVERNMENT ON IRAQ --
'IF'
The Civic Democratic Party's (ODS) executive council on 13 January
decided to support in parliament participation in potential military
action against Iraq if the entire coalition rallies behind the cabinet,
CTK reported. The ODS characterized its move as "constructive
opposition." CTK reported that the three parties of the governing
coalition -- the Social Democratic Party (CSSD), the Christian
Democratic Union-People's Party (KDU-CSL), and the Freedom
Union-Democratic Union (US-DEU) -- are not united behind the cabinet's
decision (see above) despite its having been unanimously approved. The
news agency cited sources in the ODS as saying some 20 CSSD deputies
might vote against approving the decision. ODS Chairman Miroslav
Topolanek said it would not be realistic to expect his party's
legislators to "fill in" if CSSD is split. MS
[39] CZECH RULING PARTY'S SENATORS MIGHT SUPPORT RIVAL PRESIDENTIAL
CANDIDATE
CSSD's parliamentary group leader in the Senate, Petr Smutny, on 13
January told CTK his group will not unanimously endorse his party's
official presidential candidate, Jaroslav Bures, in the presidential
elections slated to start on 15 January. Smutny said that while most of
CSSD's 11 senators are likely to back Bures, some will probably endorse
KDU-CSL candidate Petr Pithart. The Senate and the Chamber of Deputies
vote separately in the first two rounds of the electoral contest. If
Pithart won the first round (for which 41 votes are needed in the
81-seat upper house), he would advance to the second round to face the
leading vote-getter from the Chamber of Deputies. Commentators have
suggested the CSSD might cut a deal to ensure Pithart's victory in the
Senate in exchange for KDU-CSL support for Bures in the lower house to
prevent rival ODS candidate Vaclav Klaus from advancing. MS
[40] VISEGRAD FOUR VOW TO CONTINUE COOPERATION WITHIN EU
Representatives of the so-called Visegrad Four -- the Czech Republic,
Hungary, Poland, and Slovakia -- agreed in Bratislava on 13 January to
continue group cooperation after EU accession, presumably in 2004, TASR
and CTK reported. The chairmen of the four countries' parliamentary
foreign-affairs and defense committees said after their meeting that
cooperation has been a stabilizing factor in the region. It should
continue and be extended to include other countries as well, they said.
Jan Figel, chairman of the Slovak parliament's Foreign Affairs
Committee, said EU membership will not end the cooperation but bring it
to a higher level. The representatives also agreed to back quick
ratification of Slovak membership in NATO and to participate in each
other's referendum campaigns in support of EU membership. They also
appealed to EU countries not to undertake structural reforms of the
organization without the full participation of the 10 future EU members
in the debate. MS
[41] PROMINENT SLOVAK OPPOSITION LEADER RESIGNS PARTY POSITION
Another prominent member of the leadership of Vladimir Meciar's
Movement for a Democratic Slovakia (HZDS) resigned on 13 January, TASR
reported. Ivan Kino resigned as HZDS's Banska Bystrica regional leader,
saying his decision is a result of HZDS's poor electoral performance in
the December local elections and the party's inability to end its
national and international isolation. Kino also said he agrees with the
positions expressed by former HZDS Deputy Chairman Vojtech Tkac, who
resigned last week and intends to form an independent parliamentary
group in the parliament (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 13 January 2003). Party
Chairman and former Premier Meciar presents an obstacle to cooperation
with a number of other parties, though his popularity remains high
among the electorate. MS
[42] MAJOR SLOVAK ARTIST DIES AT 100
Koloman Sokol, a founder of Slovak graphic arts and a world-renowned
painter, died on 12 January at his residence in Tucson, Arizona, TASR
reported. He was 100. President Rudolf Schuster and Prime Minister
Mikulas Dzurinda expressed their condolences. Sokol studied in
Bratislava and Prague and lived in Paris in the 1930s, later moving to
Mexico City, where he taught at the School of Liberal Arts in 1937-41.
He lived in New York in 1942-46 before returning to
then-Czechoslovakia, where he became a member of the Slovak Academy of
Arts and Sciences. He settled in the United States after the communist
takeover in 1948. MS
[43] HUNGARIAN ROMANY PARTY DEMANDS REPEAT OF ROMANY-AUTHORITY ELECTION
The Lungo Drom Romany party on 13 January demanded new balloting in
Romany-authority elections after the left-wing Democratic Roma
Coalition won the voting on 11 January, claiming legal violations and
outright fraud, Hungarian media reported. Lungo Drom Chairman Florian
Farkas, a parliamentary member of the opposition FIDESZ, vowed to take
his case to the Supreme Court. The Democratic Roma Coalition won the
elections after Farkas and other Lungo Drom representatives walked out
of the election hall to protest voting procedures. Lungo Drom held a
majority on the Romany authority until last weekend but was left out of
the new, 53-member national Romany authority after the walkout.
Meanwhile, Socialist parliamentary group leader Ildiko Lendvai said the
country's election commission found the elections to be valid. FIDESZ
Deputy Chairman Tamas Deutsch said the scandal could have been
predicted and charged that the current government would resort to any
possible means to ensure the establishment of a Romany authority that
is close to the coalition Socialists and Free Democrats. MSZ
[44] HUNGARIAN OPPOSITION QUESTIONS CABINET STATEMENTS OVER U.S.
TRAINING
FIDESZ lawmaker Istvan Simicsko on 13 January charged that conflicting
statements recently made by cabinet ministers regarding the training of
Iraqi opposition personnel at Taszar make his party doubt that
interpreters will be trained at the Hungarian military air base,
"Nepszabadsag" reported. He maintained that if those to be trained by
the U.S. military are only interpreters, then the conditions set by
Defense Minister Ferenc Juhasz are impossible to comprehend -- notably
that those to be trained may not leave the air base and that they may
not be sent into combat zones directly from Hungary. Simicsko asked
Prime Minister Peter Medgyessy to clarify which cabinet member told the
truth. In response, Medgyessy said that by offering the air base,
Hungary is fulfilling its part in an alliance system. He charged that
the FIDESZ politician "has no understanding" of the country's
commitments. Defense Ministry spokesman Peter Matyuc said the Pentagon
has made it clear that the goal of the operation is to train mediators
who know local conditions and have public-administration skills for
work in a future Iraqi public administration. MSZ
SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE
[45] GREEK FOREIGN MINISTER STARTS BALKAN TOUR IN MACEDONIA...
Greek Foreign Minister George Papandreou started a three-day tour of
the western Balkans in Skopje on 13 January, MIA news agency reported
(see "RFE/RL Newsline," 9 and 10 January 2003). He met with Prime
Minister Branko Crvenkovski and President Boris Trajkovski, as well as
with Ali Ahmeti, the leader of the governing ethnic Albanian Democratic
Union of Integration (BDI). Papandreou also spoke with representatives
of the opposition Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization
(VMRO-DPMNE) and the Democratic Party of the Albanians (PDSH). His
talks with Crvenkovski and Trajkovski focused on Greek efforts to
integrate the countries of the western Balkans into the EU (see "RFE/RL
Balkan Report," 22 November and 6 December 2002). Regarding his recent
statement about setting up a Balkan Federation, which had been
criticized by Trajkovski's spokesman, Papandreou said he sought to
"show to Europe and to the rest of the world that we intend to build
strong, stable, and democratic Balkans within the EU." Greece currently
holds the rotating EU Presidency. UB
[46] ...REASSURES ALBANIA...
Going on from Skopje to Tirana on 13 January, Papandreou told Albanian
authorities the EU will soon open talks with that country on a
Stabilization and Association Agreement, RFE/RL reported. Brussels
recently warned Tirana that it must speed up reforms, especially
regarding the electoral system and property rights, before an agreement
can be concluded. Papandreou reminded his hosts of the need to proceed
down the "difficult path of change," strengthen democracy, and fight
organized crime. He stressed that the EU is "committed" to promoting
the stabilization and association process, which will eventually lead
to membership. The Greek minister added, however, that the Balkan
countries "must also be committed" to meeting European political and
economic standards. Reuters reported that Papandreou is bringing a
"carrot-and-stick" message to his hosts on his five-country Balkan
tour. Speaking on condition of anonymity, an unnamed Greek official
told the news agency Papandreou wants his hosts to understand that EU
interest in the Balkans is waning because the bloc is suffering from
"enlargement fatigue." Reuters noted that EU foreign and security
policy chief Javier Solana was slated to accompany Papandreou but
instead went to a London conference on the Palestinian problem. PM
[47] ...AND GOES ON TO CROATIA
On his third stop on 13 January, Papandreou arrived in Zagreb and began
talks with his counterpart Tonino Picula the next day, dpa reported.
Papandreou praised Croatia's role in the Balkans, stressing that the
country is committed to implementing "European values." In related
news, Austrian Foreign Minister Benita Ferrero-Waldner said in Vienna
on 13 January that she expects that Croatia will apply to join the EU
in the course of 2003. Croatia did not receive an invitation to join
that body at its recent summit in Copenhagen, but the government of
Prime Minister Ivica Racan wants to join the EU by 2007, at which time
Romania and Bulgaria are expected to be admitted (see "RFE/RL
Newsline," 6 November and 20 December 2002). PM
[48] DATES SET FOR PAPAL VISIT TO CROATIA
Pope John Paul II will pay his third visit to Croatia from 5-8 June,
Renato Boccardo of the Vatican's protocol office said in Zagreb on 13
January, dpa reported. His itinerary includes Rijeka, Zadar, and
Dubrovnik on the Adriatic, as well as Osijek and Djakovo in Slavonia.
The pope will beatify a Croatian Catholic layman, Ivan Merz. He
previously visited Croatia in 1994 and 1998. No pope visited the former
Yugoslavia before its breakup in 1991, but Pope John Paul II has since
been to Slovenia, Bosnia, and Croatia. PM
[49] BOSNIAN PARLIAMENT APPROVES NATIONALIST-LED GOVERNMENT
More than three months after the 5 October general elections, Bosnian
lawmakers approved the government of Prime Minister Adnan Terzic of the
Muslim Party of Democratic Action (SDA), Deutsche Welle's Bosnian
Service reported (see "RFE/RL Newsline" 21 October and 23 December
2002). Legislators from the SDA, the Serbian Democratic Party (SDS),
the Croatian Democratic Community (HDZ), the Party of Democratic
Progress (PDP) from the Republika Srpska, and the Party for Bosnia and
Herzegovina (SBiH) backed the cabinet. High Representative Paddy
Ashdown approved seven of the eight nominees to the cabinet, the
exception being the candidate of the SDS for justice minister. Terzic
said that the post will be filled soon, Reuters reported. PM
[50] YUGOSLAVIA OFFERS GUARANTEES FOR FORMER SERBIAN PRESIDENT
Foreign Minister Goran Svilanovic said in Belgrade on 13 January that
the government will offer guarantees to the war crimes tribunal in The
Hague to enable former Serbian President Milan Milutinovic to remain
free until his trial, RFE/RL's South Slavic and Albanian Languages
Service reported (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 9 December 2002 and 13 January
2003). PM
[51] MINORS RAISE ABUSE CHARGES AGAINST SERBIAN ORTHODOX BISHOP
Serbian Orthodox believers in Vranje are divided over charges made by
three young men that Bishop Pahomije sexually abused them, "Vesti" and
Deutsche Welle's "Monitor" reported on 13 January. The Bishops'
Conference and a group of parents have defended the bishop, saying the
charges are part of a campaign by unnamed "antichurch circles" seeking
to slander a successful church leader. PM
[52] ROMANIAN PRESIDENT IN ALGERIA
Visiting Romanian President Ion Iliescu held talks in Algiers on 13
January with his Algerian counterpart Abdelaziz Boutefilika, Romanian
Radio and AFP reported. The commercial Romanian television station
Antena 1 reported that the discussions were held at President
Bouteflika's villa outside Algiers under strict security conditions due
to last week's terrorist bombings in Algeria. Journalists were shown
tapes of the talks, during which Iliescu expressed Romania's interest
in boosting gas imports from Algeria and in participating in joint
oil-drilling projects in that country. Industry Minister Dan Ioan
Popescu, who is accompanying Iliescu on his visit, said he discussed
with his hosts the feasibility of extending to Romania an undersea
pipeline linking Algeria to Slovenia, according to Mediafax. Accords on
bilateral cooperation in the economic, scientific, veterinary, and
educational spheres were signed. Iliescu was also due to meet with
Algerian Premier Ali Benflis and the chairmen of the parliament's two
chambers, according to AFP, and to address a joint session of the
chambers on 14 January. MS
[53] ROMANIAN FOREIGN MINISTER IN TEHRAN
Visiting Romanian Foreign Minister Mircea Geoana on 13 January met in
Tehran with President Mohammad Khatami, to whom he delivered a message
from President Iliescu, Romanian Radio and IRNA reported. Geoana said
he expressed Romania's interest in intensifying bilateral economic
cooperation. He also said Romania is interested in conducting political
dialogue with Iran that he said should benefit the Middle East as a
whole. Geoana also said Romania wants to cooperate with Iran in
reconstructing Afghanistan. Khatami told Geoana that Romania is a
"significant link" between Islam and the West, according to IRNA, and
that Iran will fully comply with UN resolutions and international
conventions. He expressed "deep concern" about the escalation of
tensions in the Middle East and that "the Zionist regime is exploiting
the current situation to intensify mass killings of defenseless
Palestinians." MS
[54] ROMANIAN RULING PARTY SHELVES RESHUFFLE...
The Social Democratic Party's Permanent Delegation on 13 January
decided to shelve earlier considerations that favored a possible
government reshuffle, RFE/RL's Bucharest bureau reported. Prime
Minister Adrian Nastase said after a meeting of the delegation that a
reshuffle would "change nothing of substance," changing "only people"
in government positions. Nastase also said the earlier debates on the
possibility of reshuffling the cabinet created "nervousness." He said
the party decided to opt neither for early elections nor for a
restructuring of the cabinet. "We march forward with the same team," he
said, which "has proven its efficiency." MS
[55] ...AND WANTS SHRUNKEN SENATE
Nastase also said the Permanent Delegation decided to promote a
constitutional change whereby the Senate would be reduced by about
one-fifth and would be elected by a system of multiple-constituency
representation. Under the current proportional-representation system,
the 2000 elections produced 140 senators, with counties being
represented in the upper house according to the numerical strength of
their population. MS
[56] HUNGARIAN PARTY IN ROMANIA CONDITIONS SUPPORT ON CONSTITUTIONAL
AMENDMENTS...
Hungarian Democratic Federation of Romania (UDMR) Chairman Bela Marko
reiterated on 13 January that the formation will refuse to support
envisaged constitutional amendments in parliament unless its own
proposals are taken into consideration, RFE/RL's Bucharest bureau
reported. Marko spoke after meeting with Social Democratic Party (PSD)
Deputy Chairman Viorel Hrebenciuc to discuss continuing in 2003 the
agreement under which the UDMR supports the PSD in parliament. Marko
said the UDMR wants a clearer definition of the concept of national
minorities included in the amended constitution, which should also
stipulate their right to use their mother tongues in contacts with
local administrations, according to Mediafax. MS
[57] ...BUT CONTINUES TO BE TORN BY CONFLICT
Tibor Toro, leader of the Reform Bloc in the UDMR, warned on 13 January
that the formation might split at the UDMR congress, which is scheduled
for 30 January-1 February in Satu-Mare, Mediafax reported. Toro said
that in the 12 years that have passed since the UDMR was set up, the
Szeklers -- many of whom back the bloc -- were "merely given the right
to vote, but not the right to choose," since the UDMR leadership has
remained the same. Toro called for replacing "majoritarian democracy"
inside the UDMR with "consensual democracy." The Reform Bloc is
boycotting the next UDMR congress, claiming, as Toro put it on 13
January, that "the [electoral] game is over before it started" because
no internal elections were held ahead of the gathering. Marko responded
that the Reform Bloc is undergoing a "profound crisis" and its leaders
are trying to "expand it at the UDMR's general level in order to solve
their internal problems." MS
[58] CEAUSESCU'S HOMETOWN REJECTS TUBERCULOSIS PATIENTS
Nearly 1,000 people clashed with police on 13 January in Scornicesti
during protests against the decision by Olt County authorities to
transfer patients suffering from tuberculosis from Slatina to the local
hospital, Mediafax reported. Scornicesti is the birthplace of the late
dictator Nicolae Ceausescu and was expanded from a village into a town
as part of Ceausescu's cult of personality. Scornicesti Mayor Tiberiu
Mateescu said the health of his townsfolk is endangered by the decision
and warned that the tuberculosis patients would be attacked. Health
authorities in Bucharest announced that as a result of the protest the
decision has been canceled. MS
[59] SECOND RUSSIAN MILITARY TRAINLOAD THIS YEAR LEAVES TRANSDNIESTER
On 13 January, the second Russian trainload this year evacuating
ammunition and military equipment left the Transdniester region,
ITAR-TASS reported, citing Russian military sources. The agency said
the trainload carried 50 army trucks and 40 tons of other equipment,
and that by a decision of the Russian government the separatist
authorities in Transdniester received the same quantity of armaments
from the former 14th Russian Army's arsenal. MS
[60] MOLDOVAN ANTIGOVERNMENT DAILY SUSPENDS PUBLICATION
The daily "Tara" ("The Country") on 13 January suspended publication
for an indefinite period, RFE/RL's Chisinau bureau reported. Editor in
Chief Petru Bogatu said the decision was made for financial reasons.
Prime Minister Vasile Tarlev late last week ordered government offices
to cancel all subscriptions to publications that are critical of the
cabinet (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 13 January 2003). The daily "Tara"
began publication in 1990 as the newspaper of the opposition Popular
Party Christian Democratic (PPCD) and later became an independent
publication promoting reunion with Romania. MS
[61] BULGARIAN POLITICIANS EXPECT U.S. REQUEST FOR SUPPORT IN MILITARY
STRIKE AGAINST IRAQ SOON
President Georgi Parvanov said on 13 January that "the situation is
such that we could be asked [by the United States at] any moment to
provide an air corridor for a strike against Iraq," bnn reported.
Foreign Minister Solomon Pasi said the same day he does not believe a
U.S. request for support for a possible war against Iraq would differ
from requests it made during earlier campaigns, according to BTA. "We
know how we have supported similar operations of the allied forces in
Kosovo and during the Gulf crisis in 1991, also caused by Saddam
Hussein, as well as during Operation Enduring Freedom," Pasi said. "I
do not expect the requested support to differ greatly from the set
precedents." UB
[62] BULGARIAN PRIME MINISTER GETS MORE ASSISTANTS
Government spokesman Dimitar Tsonev has announced that Prime Minister
Simeon Saxecoburggotski will be assisted by an additional two or three
counselors, "Monitor" reported on 14 January. The counselors are to
ease Saxecoburggotski's workload. Tsonev said the Prime Minister's
Office is highly centralized and that the prime minister is
overburdened by the number of issues he has to address. "It is not
normal that a Bulgarian prime minister, independent of whether his name
is Stefan Sofiyanski, Ivan Kostov, Zhan Videnov, or Simeon
Saxecoburggotski, [has] to work 12 hours on weekdays and eight to 10
hours on Saturdays and Sundays," Tsonev said. Saxecoburggotski has
rarely made public statements as of late, and some observers believe he
cannot cope with the workload he has undertaken. UB
[63] ETHNIC TURKISH LEADER FINED IN BULGARIA FOR DEFAMATION
A Sofia district court has ordered Ahmed Dogan, the leader of the
ethnic Turkish Movement for Rights and Freedoms (DPS), to pay a fine 1
lev ($0.53) to his former deputy Osman Oktay for publicly defaming him,
bnn reported. During a party meeting, Dogan accused Oktay of having
embezzled approximately $350,000 from party funds. UB
SOUTHWESTERN ASIA AND THE MIDDLE EAST
[64] AFGHAN DRAFT CONSTITUTION TO BE READY BY MARCH
Vice President and Chairman of the Constitutional Drafting Commission
Nematullah Shahrani announced on 11 January that the preliminary draft
of the new Afghanistan constitution is expected to be ready by March
2003, the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) announced on 12
January. Shahrani added that the draft will then be published for
debate by civil society and experts in all 32 Afghan provinces,
following which the final draft will be presented for adoption by the
Constitutional Loya Jirga in October, UNAMA reported. Lakhdar Brahimi,
special representative of the UN Secretary-General for Afghanistan,
said the work of the Constitutional Drafting Commission is "vital for
the consolidation of peace in Afghanistan" and expressed the hope that
it will meet its self-imposed October deadline, UNAMA reported. (For
more on the new Afghan constitution, see the forthcoming "RFE/RL
Afghanistan Report," 16 January 2003.) AT
[65] HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH CRITICIZES U.S. POLICY IN AFGHANISTAN...
Human Rights Watch (HRW) on 14 January released its 558-page "World
Report 2003," which criticizes the United States for its handling of
the war on terrorism. The report states that while "terrorists violate
basic human rights principles because they target civilians...the
United States undermines those principles when it overlooks human
rights abuses by antiterror allies such as Pakistan, China, Saudi
Arabia, and Afghan warlords." Kenneth Roth, executive director of HRW,
criticized the United States for its reluctance to expand international
peacekeeping forces beyond Kabul, claiming it is instead relying "on
abusive warlords who are inhibiting the human rights progress made
possible by the fall of the Taliban." In a separate report issued on 5
December 2002, HRW claimed that warlords are "the primary threat to
peace and stability" in Afghanistan (see "RFE/RL Afghanistan Report,"
12 December 2002). AT
[66] ...KABUL ACCEDES TO ICC, WILL SUBMIT CRIMINALS FOR TRIAL
Sayyed Fazel Akbar, spokesman for President Hamid Karzai, announced on
13 January that Afghanistan has acceded to the International Criminal
Court (ICC), a decision that would allow the extradition and trial of
warlords, Reuters reported. Akbar said the Afghan cabinet approved the
decision to join the ICC during its 13 January meeting, adding that
Afghanistan will submit a list of criminals for trial "based on the
evidence delivered [to it] and the principles of the ICC," Reuters
reported. The Karzai administration's move could allow it to indict and
prosecute some of the more notorious warlords who have committed crimes
against humanity in the past 23 years of civil war in Afghanistan, some
of whom belong to the country's current power structure. Asma Jahangir,
UN special rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary, or arbitrary
executions, recommended on 11 January that the United Nations establish
a commission to investigate human rights abuses in Afghanistan (see
"RFE/RL Newsline," 13 January 2003). AT
[67] UNKNOWN GROUP THREATENS FUEL SUPPLIERS TO THE U.S.
An unknown group calling itself "Taliban and Sincere Mujahedin" has
threatened to blow up fuel suppliers if they continue to provide fuel
to U.S. forces in Afghanistan, Afghan Islamic Press (AIP) reported on
14 January. A statement sent to AIP's offices in Peshawar said the
"supply of fuel and food items to U.S. forces in Afghanistan is
forbidden," and warned tanker owners of "death and execution" if they
continue such supplies. AT
[68] U.S. LIFTS TARIFFS ON AFGHAN PRODUCTS
U.S. President George W. Bush signed a proclamation on 10 January
making Afghanistan a beneficiary of the Generalized System of
Preferences (GSP), thus eliminating U.S. tariffs on approximately 5,700
Afghan products imported by the United States, the U.S. State
Department announced on 13 January. According to a White House press
statement of 13 January, the GSP designation marks Afghanistan's return
to the global trading system and will provide more trade opportunities
for Afghans looking to build a more prosperous future. Afghanistan's
traditional exports include carpets, dried fruits, leather goods, and
pelts. The reports did not elaborate on what products Afghanistan is
currently exporting to the United States. AT
[69] IRAN TO PROVIDE HERAT WITH ELECTRICITY
Iranian Deputy Energy Minister Masud Hojat and Afghan Water and Power
Minister Mohammad Shaker Kargar signed on 13 January in Kabul an
agreement on the provision of Iranian electricity to Herat Province,
Afghanistan state television and IRNA reported. The two-phase project
will be completed in a year at an estimated cost of $16.5 million, and
this amount will be deducted from Iran's earlier pledge of some $500
million for Afghanistan's reconstruction. The visiting Iranian
delegation also visited a thermoelectric-power plant in Kabul's suburbs
and promised to help rebuild it. BS
[70] AFGHAN OFFICIAL SAYS IRANIAN WOMEN BETTER OFF
Afghan Women's Affairs Minister Habiba Sorabi met with Iranian
presidential adviser for women's affairs Zahra Shojai in Tehran on 13
January and said that 23 years of war in her country forced women into
their homes, IRNA reported. She described her "main goal" as ensuring
that women's social, political, and economic rights are respected, and
she added that illiteracy is the main problem of Afghan women now.
Sorabi told Radio Farda in an interview broadcast on 14 January that a
U.S.-based organization is helping overcome the illiteracy problem.
Sorabi said Afghan women continue to encounter difficulties, although
the situation varies from province to province. She said women in Iran
face a much better situation than their Afghan counterparts, especially
in terms of literacy. BS
[71] GEORGIAN EXPERTS WORKING IN IRAN
Georgian President Eduard Shevardnadze said during a 13 January
briefing in Tbilisi that Georgia did not sell Su-25 Frogfoot
ground-attack aircraft to Iran, although they are built in his
country's Tbilaviamsheni Plant, ITAR-TASS reported. Shevardnadze added
that some former employees of the aircraft factory are working in Iran,
and he attributed this to the massive layoffs of the company's workers
in the 1990s. "We are in fact unable to control the dismissed personnel
and forbid them from starting work abroad," Georgian Security Minister
Valeri Khaburzania said, according to Tbilisi's "Mtavari gazeti" on 13
January. Georgian Foreign Minister Irakli Menagharishvili on 11 January
denied that Georgian specialists traveled to Iran last year to work on
the Su-25 (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 13 January 2003). BS
[72] IRANIAN CARTOON DISPUTE CONTINUES
Hojatoleslam Mohammad Reza Rahmat, who heads the Shahid Motahari
Seminary in Tonekabon, Mazandaran Province, told a gathering there that
in some of the recent protests against the publication of a cartoon in
"Hayat-i No" newspaper that many deemed offensive (see "RFE/RL
Newsline," 13 January 2003) the only thing that has not been mentioned
is the cartoon itself, "Toseh" daily newspaper reported on 14 January.
"The publication of a cartoon must not be used as a pretext for
insulting [President Mohammad Khatami's] reform process and the
president himself," he added. An example of this tendency was Qom
seminarian Mohammad Reza Faker telling one of the protest gatherings
that Khatami's supporters are insulting people's beliefs by publishing
such items, and Faker added that U.S. forces are in the region to
defend the reformists, "Aftab-i Yazd" reported on 14 January. The
"Hayat-i No" office in Khorramabad suffered an arson attack on 13
January, "Toseh" reported the next day. BS
[73] HOJJATIEH SOCIETY RESURGENT
Government spokesman Abdullah Ramezanzadeh said during an 8 January
press conference that any members of the Hojjatieh Society who
infiltrate the government will be dealt with in the same way as other
citizens, "Iran Daily" reported the next day. The newspaper also quoted
Assembly of Experts member Hashem Hashemzadeh-Harisi as saying that the
infiltration of the government by radicals from groups like the
Hojjatieh Society undermines the search for national solidarity and
threatens the Islamic system. The Hojjatieh Society was founded in the
1950s as an anti-Bahai group, and it was ordered to disband in 1983.
The ultraconservative Islamic Coalition Association (Jamiyat-i
Motalifih-yi Islami) subsequently absorbed many of its members. BS
[74] PIJ LEADER DESCRIBES IRANIAN AID
Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) leader Ramadan Abdallah Shallah has
said that his organization receives financial support from Iran in an
interview that was published in the 11 January issue of "Al-Hayah" from
London. But Shallah said the support comes from the religious community
and organizations supervised by clerics, so really these are
non-governmental organizations. Shallah refused to criticize the
disparity between Iranian funding for Lebanese Hizballah and Hamas and
for the PIJ, and he added that this disparity probably is not related
to Sunni-Shia sectarian differences. The U.S. State Department in its
annual report "Patterns of Global Terrorism" describes the PIJ as a
foreign terrorist organization that receives Iranian financial
assistance. BS
[75] KUWAIT, IRAN SIGN GAS AND WATER AGREEMENTS
Iranian Petroleum Minister Bijan-Namdar Zanganeh and Kuwaiti
Information Minister and acting Oil Minister Sheikh Ahmad al-Fahd
al-Sabah on 12 January signed a memorandum of understanding that deals
with the Kuwaiti import of natural gas from Iran and another memorandum
under which Iran will provide Kuwait with 210 million gallons of
desalinated water, IRNA and Kuwait's KUNA news agency reported on 13
January. BS
[76] ROMANIAN FOREIGN MINISTER IN TEHRAN
Visiting Romanian Foreign Minister Mircea Geoana on 13 January met in
Tehran with President Khatami, to whom he delivered a message from
President Iliescu, Romanian Radio and IRNA reported. Geoana said he
expressed Romania's interest in intensifying bilateral economic
cooperation. He also said Romania is interested in conducting political
dialogue with Iran that he said should benefit the Middle East as a
whole. Geoana also said Romania wants to cooperate with Iran in
reconstructing Afghanistan. Khatami told Geoana that Romania is a
"significant link" between Islam and the West, according to IRNA, and
that Iran will fully comply with UN resolutions and international
conventions. He expressed "deep concern" about the escalation of
tensions in the Middle East and that "the Zionist regime is exploiting
the current situation to intensify mass killings of defenseless
Palestinians." MS
[77] U.S. OPPOSES DEMOCRACY, FAVORS THEOCRACY IN IRAQ
Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI) chief
Ayatollah Mohammad Baqir al-Hakim has told a group of seminary students
and clerics that the United States and some Arab countries do not want
to see an independent, democratic Iraq because they want to control the
country's national resources and wealth, IRNA on 13 January quoted the
Qom-based weekly "Badr" as reporting. Ali Reza Sheikh-Attar, who serves
in the Iranian Expediency Council's Strategic Studies Center, said
during a recent presentation on the possibility of a war in Iraq that
the United States might hope for a post-Saddam theocracy there, the
Iranian Students News Agency reported on 13 January, but it does not
want Iraq's government to resemble Iran's. Other possible scenarios
envisioned by Sheikh-Attar include a U.S.-appointed military strongman
leading Iraq or a mix of opposition groups, which would limit Iranian
influence in Iraq. Sheikh-Attar said the appointment of an Iraqi
general by the United States would enable it to control Iraqi oil. BS
[78] UNMOVIC HEAD SAYS IRAQ MUST COME CLEAN...
UNMOVIC Executive Chairman Hans Blix told AP that Iraq must provide
further evidence to UN weapons inspectors about its chemical-,
biological-, and nuclear-weapons programs if it wants to avert war. "We
need to have more evidence supplied to us. There are a great many open
questions as to [Iraq's] possession of weapons of mass destruction
(WMD) and the Security Council and the world would like to be assured
that these questions [are being] sorted out," Blix said in an interview
with AP published on 14 January. "We think they have more evidence,"
the UN chief said, adding, "In the situation in which they find
themselves, I think they should make a very strong effort to produce
this." KR
[79] ...AND INSPECTORS ARE TAKING ADVANTAGE OF INTELLIGENCE
INFORMATION...
Referring to U.S. and British claims of evidence regarding Iraq's WMD
programs, Blix stated, "We are getting much more information from
several sources, and...that increases our credibility and the number of
places [inspectors] can go to," AP reported. Blix later told ITV
Television on 14 January that the United States and Britain "have given
us a lot of information about how they calculate their programs and
what size they are and so forth." However, he added that "we need
actionable evidence. That is, indications of where we can go, places we
can inspect." On the subject of interviewing Iraqi scientists abroad,
he added, "We don't think we should be a mechanism for defection." He
hinted that there are no immediate plans for interviewing scientists
outside Iraq, AP reported. KR
[80] ...AND THAT SECURITY COUNCIL WILL DECIDE ON CONTINUING INSPECTIONS
In his interview with AP, Blix said inspections could continue for
months but the decision to do so will lay with the UN Security Council.
"We can see a lot of work ahead of us beyond that date [27 January] if
we are allowed to do so." Blix said. He added that he does not know if
the United States would be willing to wait for inspectors to complete
their activities. "It could be that one day they will say, 'Move aside
boys, we are coming in,'" AP quoted Blix as telling the BBC on 13
January. The UN chief said inspectors will identify key disarmament
tasks that Iraq must fulfill in order for sanctions to be lifted by
March, AP reported. Blix also told AP that inspections are a far less
costly endeavor than war. "We are perhaps 250 or 300 people on the
inspection side. We cost about $80 million a year," he said. "If you
take the armed path, you are talking about $100 billion. You're talking
about 250,000 men. You're talking about a lot of people killed and
injured, a lot of damage." KR
[81] IRAQ REPORTS SIX CITIZENS WOUNDED BY U.S.-U.K. AIR RAIDS
A spokesman from the Iraqi Air Defense Command stated on 13 January
that six citizens were wounded in a U.S.-U.K. attack on service and
civilian installations in the Basra Governorate that day, Iraq Radio
reported. "U.S. and British 'ravens of evil' violated our airspace
coming from the land of Kuwait," the spokesman said, adding that the
U.S.-U.K. planes conducted approximately 60 combat sorties with the
support of AWACS aircraft operating inside Saudi airspace. "This brings
the number of combat air sorties carried out by the ravens from the
land of Kuwait since the Day of Conquest on 17 December 1998 to date to
a total of 19,637," the spokesman said. He added that 14 sorties were
also carried out from military bases in Turkey, backed by an AWACS
aircraft inside Turkish airspace, bringing the total number of sorties
from Turkish territory "since the day of conquest" to 9,986. He said
the total number of sorties carried out from military bases in Turkey,
Saudi Arabia, and Kuwait since 17 December 1998 is 47,135. KR
[82] IRAQI PRESIDENTIAL ADVISER SAYS INSPECTORS SEEK INTELLIGENCE
THROUGH QUESTIONS
Iraqi presidential adviser Amir al-Sadi has said UN inspectors are
asking questions that are unrelated to the production of arms and UN
monitoring, calling them instead "intelligence questions." In an
undated interview with the Amman-based "Al-Arab Al-Yawm" of 13 January,
al-Sadi added that Iraq has been forthright in its declaration of
weapons of mass destruction. "From our viewpoint, there aren't any gaps
in the Iraqi declarations," he said. "The things we heard about the
so-called gaps are a legacy of the UN Commission, UNSCOM, which lost
its credibility, gave up work, and left behind a bad report, which Iraq
did not accept as a realistic one or having anything to do with weapons
of mass destruction." Al-Sadi said in response to comments by UNMOVIC
head Blix and International Atomic Energy Agency Director-General
Mohammad el-Baradei that Iraq must show more cooperation that, "We have
taken note of that and seen it in their report to the Security
Council." "This matter will be the subject of discussion," he said in
reference to the upcoming meeting of the UN and International Atomic
Energy Agency heads and Iraqi officials. KR
[83] BRITISH PREMIER SAYS IRAQ MUST COOPERATE OR BE 'DISARMED BY FORCE'
British Prime Minister Tony Blair said on 13 January that Iraq has been
given a chance by the United Nations Security Council to disarm
peacefully, adding that should Iraqi President Saddam Hussein fail to
do so, "he will be disarmed by force." Blair's comments came during his
opening statement at the Downing Street monthly press conference in
London. The statement can be viewed in its entirety at the 10 Downing
Street website (http://www.number-10.gov.uk). KR
[84] RUSSIAN WARSHIPS HEAD TO THE GULF
Moscow will send the Pacific Fleet cruisers "Marshal Shaposhnikov" and
"Admiral Panteleev" to the Persian Gulf in order "to protect Russian
national interests in the event of an escalation of the military
conflict between the United States and Iraq," Interfax and gazeta.ru
reported on 13 January, quoting an unidentified source in the Pacific
Fleet command in Vladivostok. According to the source, the cruisers
will set sail in February and will be charged with monitoring the
situation rather than participating in any conflict. The Russian Navy
does not exclude the possibility that it will send additional ships to
the region, gazeta.ru reported. The website also pointed out that the
"Marshal Shaposhnikov" carried out a similar mission during Operation
Desert Storm in 1991. President Vladimir Putin visited the cruiser in
Vladivostok in August and mentioned that the ship would be sent on
far-off missions in the future. VY
END NOTE
[85] There is no End Note today.
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