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RFE/RL Newsline, 06-12-11
CONTENTS
[01] MINISTER PLAYS DOWN EFFECT OF MURDER CASE ON U.K.-RUSSIAN
RELATIONS
[02] U.K. AMBASSADOR IN MOSCOW 'STALKED' BY PRO-KREMLIN YOUTH GROUP
[03] RUSSIA TO LAUNCH ITS OWN MURDER INVESTIGATION
[04] SELF-EXILED OLIGARCH, CHECHEN ENVOY ATTEND LITVINENKO'S FUNERAL
[05] PUTIN CLAIMS 'DEFINITE RESULTS' IN HUNT FOR JOURNALIST'S KILLER
[06] PUTIN SIGNS LAW ABOLISHING MINIMUM VOTER TURNOUT
[07] FINANCE MINISTER SAYS GOVERNMENT SHOULD GET OUT OF BUSINESS
[08] CHECHEN PRIME MINISTER WARNS AGAINST NEGATIVE PRESS COVERAGE OF
ADMINISTRATION HEAD
[09] DUMA DEPUTY LAMBASTES INGUSHETIAN PRESIDENT
[10] ARMENIAN OPPOSITION POLITICIAN ATTACKED
[11] ARMENIAN FOREIGN MINISTER DEFENDS KARABAKH REFERENDUM
[12] AZERBAIJANI PRESIDENT AFFIRMS READINESS FOR 'POLITICAL DIALOGUE'
WITH OPPOSITION
[13] GEORGIAN PARLIAMENT DENOUNCES RUSSIAN STATE DUMA STATEMENT ON
ABKHAZIA, SOUTH OSSETIA...
[14] ...WHILE ABKHAZ OFFICIALS HAIL IT AS 'BREAKTHROUGH'
[15] POLONIUM THAT KILLED FORMER FSB OFFICER 'DID NOT COME FROM
ABKHAZIA'
[16] U.S. EMBASSY VOICES CONCERN OVER DESTRUCTION OF HARE KRISHNA
VILLAGE IN KAZAKHSTAN
[17] KAZAKH, RUSSIA KICK OFF JOINT URANIUM VENTURE
[18] KAZAKHSTAN, RUSSIA LAUNCH URANIUM JOINT VENTURE
[19] KYRGYZ PRESIDENT CALLS FOR END TO U.S. TROOP IMMUNITY AFTER FATAL
SHOOTING
[20] RUSSIAN GAS COMPANY HEAD MEETS WITH UZBEK PRESIDENT
[21] FORMER BELARUSIAN LEADER SAYS 1991 BELAVEZHA ACCORD WAS COUP DE
GRACE FOR USSR...
[22] ...WHILE LUKASHENKA QUESTIONS SHUSHKEVICH'S RIGHT TO SIGN IT
[23] BELARUSIAN OPPOSITION LEADERS CALL ON KAZULIN TO HALT HUNGER
STRIKE
[24] UKRAINIANS PROTEST HOUSING, UTILITY-RATE HIKES AS DEPUTIES BRAWL
IN CITY HALL
[25] RUSSIAN DEFENSE MINISTER VISITS KYIV
[26] SERBIA URGES ICTY TO MEET RADICAL LEADER'S DEMANDS
[27] EU WON'T RESUME TALKS WITH SERBIA BEFORE ELECTION
[28] MONTENEGRO INDICTS 18 ETHNIC ALBANIANS FOR PLOTTING INSURGENCY
[29] BOSNIAN RADIO STATION STARTS INTERNET PROTEST AGAINST DUTCH
GOVERNMENT
[30] NEW MASS GRAVE EXCAVATED IN BOSNIA
[31] BOMB EXPLODES AT TRANSDNIESTER SCHOOL
[32] NATO CONVOY HIT BY SUICIDE BOMBER IN SOUTHERN AFGHANISTAN
[33] KARZAI: 'TERRORISM' A MAJOR OBSTACLE TO POSITIVE RELATIONS WITH
PAKISTAN
[34] UN WARNS OF 'GRAVE THREAT' TO AFGHANISTAN RECONSTRUCTION
[35] DISTRICT CHIEF GUNNED DOWN IN WESTERN AFGHANISTAN
[36] IRAN WANTS TURKEY TO CONTROL FEMALE IRANIAN VISITORS
[37] IRAN REACTS TO IRAQ SURVEY GROUP RECOMMENDATIONS
[38] IRANIAN FOREIGN MINISTER CHALLENGED BY IRAQI DIPLOMAT
[39] U.S. PRESIDENT SAYS NEW DIRECTION IN IRAQ NEEDED
[40] BAGHDAD, IRAQI KURDS FAIL TO AGREE ON BUDGET, OIL LAW
[41] IRAQI RELIGIOUS FIGURES MEET IN OSLO TO DISCUSS SECTARIAN STRIFE
[42] WITNESSES DESCRIBE CHEMICAL ATTACK ON KURDISH VILLAGE
[43] ELEVEN U.S. SOLDIERS KILLED IN SINGLE DAY IN IRAQ
[44] THERE IS NO END NOTE TODAY.
Friday, December 8, 2006 Volume 10 Number 226
Russia
[01] MINISTER PLAYS DOWN EFFECT OF MURDER CASE ON U.K.-RUSSIAN
RELATIONS
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told journalists in Moscow on
December that the imbroglio surrounding the recent apparent murder in
London of British citizen and former Russian Federal Security Service
(FSB) officer Aleksandr Litvinenko has not affected bilateral ties,
news agencies reported (see "RFE/RL Newsline," December 5, 6, and 7,
2006). Lavrov said that "on our side, the Scotland Yard investigation
[of Litvinenko's death] is not affecting our political relations [with
Britain]. I cannot speak for the British side. As I have said before,
the attempt to mount some sort of campaign around this case and make it
a political sensation is already failing." These comments seem to
contradict those he made in Brussels on December 4, when he said that
he has warned his British counterpart, Foreign Secretary Margaret
Beckett, against anyone's "politicizing" the Litvinenko case. Lavrov
added in Brussels that "it is unacceptable that a campaign should be
whipped up with the participation of [unnamed British] officials. This
is...harming our relations." PM
[02] U.K. AMBASSADOR IN MOSCOW 'STALKED' BY PRO-KREMLIN YOUTH GROUP
On December 8, Britain's "Financial Times" reported that activists from
the pro-Kremlin youth organization Nashi have been harassing U.K.
Ambassador to Russia Tony Brenton ever since he attended the July 11
session of the Other Russia conference in Moscow (see "RFE/RL
Newsline," July 12, 2006). That gathering sought to raise and highlight
opposition concerns on the eve of the St. Petersburg summit of the
Group of Eight (G8) industrialized countries. Brenton told the BBC on
July 11 that one of several people who tried to disrupt the conference
called him an "imperialist." Brenton defended the official U.K.
presence at the meeting by saying that he favors the "widest possible
political debate in Russia." Brenton told the "Financial Times" for its
December 8 issue that Nashi activists have been "stalking [him] seven
days a week for the past four months, putting him and his family under
considerable strain." He called the tactic "deliberate psychological
harassment, which is done professionally and which borders on
violence." The paper added that this is "a well-organized harassment
campaign against the ambassador, apparently waged with the knowledge of
the Kremlin, that is a striking symptom of the worsening relationship
between Moscow and London." PM
[03] RUSSIA TO LAUNCH ITS OWN MURDER INVESTIGATION
Russian prosecutors said on December 7 that they will soon launch an
investigation into the death of former FSB agent Litvinenko and what
they called the attempted murder of Dmitry Kovtun, British media
reported. Kovtun and his business partner, former KGB officer Andrei
Lugovoi, met Litvinenko at a London bar shortly before Litvinenko
reported feeling ill on November 1. The interest of the British
investigators looking into the Litvinenko affair in Moscow reportedly
centers on Lugovoi, who has been hospitalized for radiation poisoning.
His condition is unclear. After Russian and British investigators
questioned Kovtun on December 7, he too was reportedly taken ill and
hospitalized. Interfax news agency reported that he was in a coma and
later said that his condition was "critical." But Lugovoi's lawyer,
Andrei Romashov, told reporters on December 7 that Kovtun's condition
is the same as it was when he spoke to the investigators, mosnews.com
reported. Romashov called the Russian media reports about Kovtun's
condition "a provocation," the BBC reported. In London, seven employees
of the Millennium Hotel, in the bar of which Litvinenko, Kovtun, and
Lugovoi met, tested positive on December 7 for polonium-210, the
radioactive substance that is believed to have caused Litvinenko's
death. PM
[04] SELF-EXILED OLIGARCH, CHECHEN ENVOY ATTEND LITVINENKO'S FUNERAL
Also on December 7, about 50 people, including self-exiled Russian
oligarch Boris Berezovsky, a bitter enemy of Russian President Vladimir
Putin, and London-based Chechen Republic Ichkeria Foreign Minister
Akhmed Zakayev, attended Litvinenko's funeral at London's Highgate
Cemetery, where Karl Marx and many other famous people are buried,
British media reported. Litvinenko's widow reportedly wanted a
nonreligious ceremony, but a Muslim cleric performed Islamic rites in
accordance with Litvinenko's alleged wishes, British media noted (see
"RFE/RL Newsline," December 5, 2006). On December 8, the Gazprom-owned
daily "Izvestia" wrote that the Litvinenko case has revived attention
in Britain and Russia on Berezovsky and his activities in exile that
are allegedly aimed at violent revolution in Russia. The daily argued
that "Berezovsky will be extradited sooner or later," which echoes the
remarks of Prosecutor-General Yury Chaika on December 5. Many Russian
media outlets have suggested that Berezovsky might have organized
Litvinenko's murder in order to discredit Putin. Other observers have
noted that those seeking to prevent the truth from coming out in the
Litvinenko case will try in coming weeks to muddy the waters by
creating diversions and red herrings. PM
[05] PUTIN CLAIMS 'DEFINITE RESULTS' IN HUNT FOR JOURNALIST'S KILLER
President Putin told Mexican publisher Mario Vasquez Rana, who is also
an executive member of the International Olympic Committee and
president of the Association of National Olympic Committees, on
December 7 that Russian investigators have achieved "definite results"
regarding the slaying of journalist Anna Politkovskaya exactly two
months earlier, kremlin.ru and mosnews.com reported (see "RFE/RL
Newsline," October 23 and November 3 and 16, 2006). Putin did not
elaborate, but said he regrets that "certain shadowy political figures"
are seeking to exploit Politkovskaya's death for their own purposes.
Putin added that "it is sometimes hard for me to grasp the
[unspecified] great unfounded proclamations that Russian authorities
participated in the murder and that special forces are trying to steer
the inquest down the wrong road.... The most professional forces from
Russian law-enforcement structures have been called into the
investigation and there are already definite results." PM
[06] PUTIN SIGNS LAW ABOLISHING MINIMUM VOTER TURNOUT
President Putin signed into law on December 7 recently passed
legislation eliminating the requirement for a 20 percent voter turnout
for an election to the State Duma and a 50 percent turnout for a
presidential vote for an election to be valid (see "RFE/RL Newsline,"
November 15 and December 4, 2006). Several opposition leaders have
argued that the law will further marginalize their parties and deprive
citizens the opportunity to express their will by boycotting elections.
Pro-Kremlin politicians say that the legislation brings Russian law
into line with that of many established democracies. PM
[07] FINANCE MINISTER SAYS GOVERNMENT SHOULD GET OUT OF BUSINESS
Aleksei Kudrin told the cabinet on December 7 that the government must
withdraw from business if it wants its anticorruption campaign to
succeed, Interfax reported. Kudrin argued that "obviously, an official
will be lobbying the interests of company if he is a member of the
company's board.... The government is linked to the automobile and some
other industries, but we should reduce the government's stake in the
economy faster." President Putin and Prosecutor-General Chaika have
called recently for a campaign against corruption. Recent studies by
the World Bank, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and
Development (OECD), and the nongovernmental organization Transparency
International place corruption in Russia on a level with that in some
African countries (see "RFE/RL Newsline," November 22 and 28, and
December 7, 2006). Putin has favored the creation of large state-run
corporations in key branches of the economy, which Andrei Illarionov,
who is a former Putin economics adviser, and the "Financial Times" of
June 19 described as a "corporate state." PM
[08] CHECHEN PRIME MINISTER WARNS AGAINST NEGATIVE PRESS COVERAGE OF
ADMINISTRATION HEAD
Ramzan Kadyrov's press service released a statement on December 7
warning that journalists who publish materials that negatively depict
Chechen administration head Alu Alkhanov may face legal action,
according to regnum.ru and the website chechnya.gov.ru. That warning
was triggered by the publication in "Nezavisimaya gazeta" the previous
day of an article that referred to Alkhanov as "a lame duck" unable to
control developments in Chechnya; Kadyrov was quoted as saying that
Alkhanov "is successfully fulfilling his responsibilities." On December
8, Kadyrov's press service announced a meeting on December 11 to honor
journalists killed in Chechnya. LF
[09] DUMA DEPUTY LAMBASTES INGUSHETIAN PRESIDENT
Bashir Kodzoyev, who represents Ingushetia in the State Duma, has
written to President Putin detailing corruption and incompetence within
that republic's top leadership, the website ingushetiya.ru reported on
December 7. Kodzoyev cited specific instances in which the
administration of President Murat Zyazikov has provided Moscow with
falsified information concerning basic economic indicators and the use
of budget funds, and he cited statistics that register a decline since
2001 in tax revenues, per capita GDP (by 37 percent), agricultural
output (by 35 percent), employment, oil production, and industrial
output. He further claimed that 1 billion rubles ($38.1 million)
allocated from a total of 1.1 billion rubles from the federal budget
for construction have been stolen, as have 400 million rubles from a
total of 1.1 billion allocated to build new homes for flood victims in
2002. Arguing that "Ingushetia should be Russia's bulwark in the
Caucasus and not a new source of instability," Kodzoyev describes the
extent of corruption as "a threat to the whole of Russia" and pleads
for immediate intervention by the federal center to rectify the
situation. Ingushetian Deputy Prime Minister Bagaudin Tsoloyev resigned
last month to protest widespread corruption (see "RFE/RL Newsline,"
November 20, 2006), as did Magomed Kodzoyev, who headed the
presidential Public Council, ingushetiya.ru reported on December 8. LF
Transcaucasia And Central Asia
[10] ARMENIAN OPPOSITION POLITICIAN ATTACKED
Haroutiun Arakelian, chairman of the Ramkavar-Azatakan Party of Armenia
(HRAK), was assaulted and beaten in Yerevan late in the afternoon of
December 7, Noyan Tapan reported. Arakelian recently harshly criticized
the World Armenian Congress and its leader, Moscow-based businessman
Ara Abrahamian, according to Noyan Tapan on November 23. LF
[11] ARMENIAN FOREIGN MINISTER DEFENDS KARABAKH REFERENDUM
In a statement released by his ministry on December 7, Vartan Oskanian
criticized the governments of Georgia, Ukraine, and Moldova for
"meddling in an issue that does not concern them" by endorsing a
statement at the behest of fellow GUAM member Azerbaijan, Noyan Tapan
and RFE/RL's Armenian Service reported. The four GUAM member states
released a statement earlier this week affirming that the referendum to
be held on December 10 on a new draft constitution for the unrecognized
Nagorno-Karabakh Republic constitutes a serious obstruction to the
ongoing efforts to resolve the Karabakh conflict. That draft
constitution defines the NKR as an independent state. Oskanian said
that the NKR has built a "lawful, well-regulated internal governance
system" and therefore has a legitimate right to a basic law. He said
the main obstacle to resolving the conflict remains Azerbaijan's
refusal to engage in direct talks with the NKR leadership, its leaders'
militant rhetoric, and what he termed Baku's "persistent efforts to
sidetrack" the negotiation process under the aegis of the OSCE Minsk
Group. LF
[12] AZERBAIJANI PRESIDENT AFFIRMS READINESS FOR 'POLITICAL DIALOGUE'
WITH OPPOSITION
Speaking on December 7 at the ceremonial opening of a new headquarters
in the northen Khachmas district of the ruling Yeni Azerbaycan Party
(YAP), Ilham Aliyev reiterated that "we are always ready for political
dialogue," including with opposition parties, zerkalo.az reported on
December 8. Aliyev said that such dialogue is in the country's
interests, and went on to accuse the opposition of acting in a
"destructive" and "uncivilized" fashion. On December 7, zerkalo.az
quoted Sardar Jalaloglu, who is first deputy chairman of the opposition
Democratic Party of Azerbaijan, as repeating his earlier calls for such
dialogue. Jalaloglu said YAP representatives have not yet responded to
his offer. Efforts by the OSCE office in Baku to organize such a
dialogue in the run-up to last year's parliamentary elections collapsed
after three rounds (see "RFE/RL Newsline," May 13 and August 2, 2005).
LF
[13] GEORGIAN PARLIAMENT DENOUNCES RUSSIAN STATE DUMA STATEMENT ON
ABKHAZIA, SOUTH OSSETIA...
Parliament deputies adopted unanimously on December 7 a statement
criticizing as "extremely unfriendly" the two resolutions approved the
previous day by the Russian State Duma expressing support for the
aspirations of the unrecognized republics of Abkhazia and South Ossetia
to independent statehood, Caucasus Press reported (see "RFE/RL
Newsline," December 7, 2006). On December 6, Georgian Foreign Minister
Gela Bezhuashvili told journalists after consulting with parliament
speaker Nino Burdjanadze that the parliament would not issue any
official response to the Duma resolutions, which he described as
"openly anti-Georgian" and as having no legal force. Also on December
7, Russian President Vladimir Putin said during an interview in Moscow
with Mexican media mogul Mario Vasquez Rana that "there is no conflict
between Russia and Georgia," but that "the Georgian leadership is doing
everything to exacerbate relations between the two countries," Caucasus
Press reported. LF
[14] ...WHILE ABKHAZ OFFICIALS HAIL IT AS 'BREAKTHROUGH'
Stanislav Lakoba, who is chairman of Abkhaz President Sergei Bagapsh's
Security Council, described the December 6 State Duma statement on
Abkhazia as a breakthrough on the path to formal international
recognition, apsny.ru reported on December 8 quoting the presidential
webpage. Lakoba said that he does not think Russia would encounter
"problems" if it formally recognized Abkhazia's independence, given
that the West does not have a unified policy on the issue. Parliament
speaker Nugzar Ashuba similarly termed the Duma resolution "the
foundation for recognition of Abkhazia's independence," while Sokrat
Djindjolia, a former parliament speaker who now heads the Sukhum(i)
branch of the Caucasus Institute for the Development of Democracy,
reasoned that simply raising the issue of Russian recognition of the
Abkhaz people's right to self-determination means that Abkhazia "is now
on the finishing stretch," apsny.ru reported. LF
[15] POLONIUM THAT KILLED FORMER FSB OFFICER 'DID NOT COME FROM
ABKHAZIA'
Anatoly Markolia, director of the Sukhum(i) Institute of Physics and
Technology, dismissed on December 7 as "stupid" the suggestion made
earlier that day in Tbilisi by Greens party leader Giorgi Gachechiladze
that the polonium-210 used in the murder last month in London of former
Russian Federal Security Service officer Aleksandr Litvinenko may have
originated from Sukhum(i), the official government news agency
Apsnypress reported. Markolia noted that specialists from the
International Atomic Energy Agency have twice visited Sukhum(i) to
inspect his institute, in 2001 and 2005 (see "RFE/RL Newsline,"
September 12, 2005). LF
[16] U.S. EMBASSY VOICES CONCERN OVER DESTRUCTION OF HARE KRISHNA
VILLAGE IN KAZAKHSTAN
The U.S. Embassy in Kazakhstan has issued a statement voicing concern
over the late-November demolition of houses in a Hare Krishna community
in an Almaty suburb, "Kazakhstan Today" reported on December 7.
"Irrespective of what caused this incident, the forced resettlement of
the owners of the houses in cold weather and the demolition of their
property are against the principles of justice and fairness," the
statement said. The embassy called on local authorities in the Karasay
district, where the 48-hectare farm is located, to "refrain from
further forms of aggression against members of the International
Krishna Consciousness Society" and to "work toward resolving this
judicial conflict fairly, legally, and peacefully." The demolition
prompted the OSCE Advisory Council on Freedom of Religion or Belief to
issue a statement of concern on November 27. DK
[17] KAZAKH, RUSSIA KICK OFF JOINT URANIUM VENTURE
Kazakh Prime Minister Daniyal Akhmetov on December 7 inaugurated a
Kazakh-Russian joint venture in southern Kazakhstan to extract uranium
for further processing in Russia, Kazinform reported. An official news
report posted on government.kz said that the ceremony coincided with
the production of the first ton of ore by the Zarechnoye joint venture.
Sergei Kiriyenko, the head of Russia's Federal Atomic Energy Agency
(Rosatom) also attended the inauguration. Kiriyenko said Kazakhstan and
Russia hope to lead "the world's nuclear market." The Zarechnoye mine
is expected to produce 1,000 tons of uranium a year by 2009. Officials
say the development of four additional nearby deposits will eventually
bring the joint venture's total annual output to 6,000 tons. The
Russian company Tekhsnabexport and Kazakhstan's Kazatomprom each own
49.33 percent of Zarechnoye, while the Russian company Atomredmetzoloto
and the Kyrgyz Karabaltinsky ore-mining combine each own 0.67 percent
each. Kazakhstan is the world's third-largest uranium producer, after
Australia and Canada. DK
[18] KAZAKHSTAN, RUSSIA LAUNCH URANIUM JOINT VENTURE
Kazakh Prime Minister Daniyal Akhmetov on December 7 inaugurated a
Kazakh-Kyrgyz -Russian joint venture in southern Kazakhstan to extract
uranium for further processing in Russia, Kazinform reported. An
official news report posted on government.kz said that the ceremony
coincided with the production of the first ton of ore by the Zarechnoye
joint venture. Extraction of uranium was initially scheduled to begin
in April or May 2005, according to Interfax on August 18, 2005, but was
delayed after protests by local residents that the mine site was
located in a nature reserve. Sergei Kiriyenko, the head of Russia's
Federal Atomic Energy Agency (Rosatom) also attended the inauguration.
Kiriyenko said Kazakhstan and Russia hope to lead "the world's nuclear
market." The Zarechnoye mine is expected to produce 1,000 tons of
uranium a year by 2009. Officials say the development of four
additional nearby deposits will eventually bring the joint venture's
total annual output to 6,000 tons. Kazakhstan is the world's
third-largest uranium producer, after Australia and Canada. DK/LF
[19] KYRGYZ PRESIDENT CALLS FOR END TO U.S. TROOP IMMUNITY AFTER FATAL
SHOOTING
President Kurmanbek Bakiev said on December 7, one day after a U.S.
serviceman shot dead a Kyrgyz citizen at a checkpoint at the U.S. air
base at Manas Airport (see "RFE/RL Newsline," December 7, 2006), that
he has asked Kyrgyzstan's Foreign Ministry to review a 2001 agreement
that grants service personnel at the air base diplomatic immunity,
akipress.org reported. The BBC quoted Bakiev as telling U.S. Ambassador
Marie Yovanovitch and base commander Joel Reese that "It would be
appropriate for U.S. military [personnel] based in Kyrgyzstan to bear
responsibility for any illegal acts they carry out in accordance with
Kyrgyzstan's laws. " Yovanovitch for her part expressed regret and
promised a thorough probe into the Manas shooting, akipress.org
reported on December 7. "A joint commission has been set up to
investigate the incident," Yovanovitch said. "We are ready to
reconsider a procedure in order to prevent such incidents in the
future." Yovanovitch said that if the serviceman is found to have
committed an illegal act, "he will be tried by a military tribunal."
Also on December 7, Kyrgyzstan's Foreign Ministry delivered a note to
the U.S. Embassy asking the U.S. government to waive diplomatic
immunity for the U.S. serviceman involved and to ensure that he remains
in Kyrgyzstan pending the completion of an investigation, akipress.org
reported. On December 8, the command of the U.S. facility reiterated
that the U.S. soldier was acting in self-defense, RFE/RL reported,
citing the air base's official website. DK
[20] RUSSIAN GAS COMPANY HEAD MEETS WITH UZBEK PRESIDENT
Aleksei Miller, head of Russia's state-controlled gas company Gazprom,
met with Uzbek President Islam Karimov in Tashkent on December 7 to
discuss bilateral cooperation and new joint ventures, fergana.ru and
UzA reported. The two noted the increasing Russian-Uzbek gas-sector
cooperation, with Russia importing 7.114 billion cubic meters of Uzbek
gas in 2004, 8.15 billion in 2005, and an expected 10 billion in 2006.
Gazprom will also participate in the modernization of Uzbekistan's
gas-transport system, with Gazprom's total planned investment in the
Uzbek economy set to exceed $1.5 billion. DK
Eastern Europe
[21] FORMER BELARUSIAN LEADER SAYS 1991 BELAVEZHA ACCORD WAS COUP DE
GRACE FOR USSR...
Former Belarusian Supreme Soviet speaker Stanislau Shushkevich has told
RFE/RL's Belarus Service that in signing the so-called Belavezha
Agreement on the dissolution of the USSR at Viskuli in Belarus's
Belavezha Forest on December 8, 1991, he jointly with Russian President
Boris Yeltsin and Ukrainian President Leonid Kravchuk only confirmed
that the Soviet Union was already dead at that time. "Those who
consider [the Belavezha Agreement the] breakup of the [Soviet] Union
are wrong, because the union had already been broken up by the
putschists [August 1991 aborted coup leaders] and by [Soviet leader
Mikhail] Gorbachev, who did not want to agree to a confederation. We
had enough courage to acknowledge that [the breakup] had taken place,"
Shushkevich said. According to Shushkevich, the subsequent removal of
nuclear weapons from Belarus was a more momentous event for the country
than the collapse of the Soviet Union. "I think that the main event in
my life was that I did everything to unconditionally remove nuclear
weapons from the territory of Belarus. This, incidentally, became
possible thanks to [the agreement at] Viskuli.... Just imagine Belarus
being a nuclear state today, under such a troublesome leadership that
does not realize its responsibility for stability in Europe,"
Shushkevich said. JM
[22] ...WHILE LUKASHENKA QUESTIONS SHUSHKEVICH'S RIGHT TO SIGN IT
Belarusian President Alyaksandr Lukashenka said in an interview
broadcast on Belarusian Television on December 7 that former
parliamentary speaker Stanislau Shushkevich, who was formally Belarus's
head of state in 1991, did not have the right to sign the agreement on
the breakup of the USSR. "Yeltsin was a president. He could sign
something. But our [speaker] did not have that right.... If deputies in
the Supreme Soviet had known about that in advance, they would most
likely dismissed Shushkevich from his post before his trip to the
Belavezha Forest," Lukashenka said. Lukashenka also reiterated
allegations that the accord on the dissolution of the USSR was hastily
adopted by politicians under the influence of alcohol. "They wrote it
in a hurry, and this can be seen from the documents they composed
there. But they -- the Russian delegation -- knew what documents to
adopt. They scribbled their signatures, drank to that, called the
people they needed to, reported or announced that such a country was
not existing any longer etc., and began to slowly depart," Lukashenka
said. According to Lukashenka, if Moscow had given an order to the
Belarusian KGB to arrest Yeltsin, Kravchuk, and Shushkevich at Viskuli
in 1991, the order would have been fulfilled "within minutes." JM
[23] BELARUSIAN OPPOSITION LEADERS CALL ON KAZULIN TO HALT HUNGER
STRIKE
Prominent opposition leaders, including Alyaksandr Milinkevich, Vintsuk
Vyachorka, and Anatol Lyabedzka, have urged imprisoned former
opposition presidential candidate Alyaksandr Kazulin to end his hunger
strike, which entered its 49th day on December 7 (see "RFE/RL
Newsline," December 7, 2006), RFE/RL's Belarus Service reported on
December 7. "His death would be disastrous for the democratic movement
and could not be of such benefit as he can bring while staying alive
and healthy," Milinkevich said. Milinkevich stressed that Kazulin's
demand that the UN Security Council discuss the situation in Belarus is
unrealistic. "One of his demands -- that the UN Security Council view
the Belarus issue -- cannot be fulfilled. The council will not consider
such an issue, even the Cuba issue has not been raised there, because
there are those who can block it," Milinkevich noted. JM
[24] UKRAINIANS PROTEST HOUSING, UTILITY-RATE HIKES AS DEPUTIES BRAWL
IN CITY HALL
Some 5,000 Kyiv residents turned up for a rally in front of the city
hall on December 7 to protest the recent decision by Kyiv Mayor Leonid
Chernovetskyy to increase housing and utility tariffs sharply as of
December 1, Ukrainian media reported. The rate hikes would amount to a
more than threefold increase. Deputies supporting Chernovetskyy
meanwhile scuffled with deputies from the Yuliya Tymoshenko Bloc (YuTB)
during a Kyiv City Council session, after Chernovetskyy refused to put
a draft resolution on canceling the higher communal tariffs to a vote.
A YuTB councilor was reportedly hospitalized after losing consciousness
during the scuffle. Chernovetskyy's supporters in the council blocked
all attempts to revise the rate hikes, agreeing only to set up an ad
hoc commission to consider the issue. Chernovetskyy reportedly used
highly abusive language with regard to his opponents. "I prohibit you
from taking the floor in accordance with the rules of procedure because
of your hooligan's actions and your brazen mug," Chernovetskyy told
Councilor Mykhaylo Brodskyy. "All those who have so far treated Leonid
Chernovetskyy as a fool who came to power as a result of fatal
misunderstanding, have now seen that the post of mayor was taken by an
absolutely inadequate person who poses a threat to the life of normal
people," the YuTB said in a statement after the session. JM
[25] RUSSIAN DEFENSE MINISTER VISITS KYIV
Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov came to Kyiv on December 7 to
discuss the upcoming visit of Russian President Vladimir Putin to
Ukraine by the end of this month, Ukrainian media reported. Ivanov met
with his Ukrainian counterpart, Anatoliy Hrytsenko, as well as with
President Viktor Yushchenko and Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych.
Ivanov told journalists in Kyiv that Ukraine's potential NATO
membership will affect relations with Russia. "Whether we want it or
not, this step will certainly have an inevitable effect, one way or
another, on our relations, for instance on cooperation in the
military-industrial sector. We think this will happen, and not because
a malicious Russia will want it to happen. Not at all. This will simply
happen for objective reasons," Ivanov noted. JM
Southeastern Europe
[26] SERBIA URGES ICTY TO MEET RADICAL LEADER'S DEMANDS
Serbia on December 7 urged the International Criminal Tribunal for the
former Yugoslavia (ICTY) to save the life of Serbian Radical Party
(SRS) leader and war crimes defendant Vojislav Seselj by acceding to
his demands, dpa reported the same day. Seselj went on hunger strike on
November 11 to demand the right to choose his own defense team and to
unrestricted visits by his wife. Doctors say he could die within weeks
if his health continues to deteriorate (see "RFE/RL Newsline," November
13 and December 5, 6, and 7, 2006). The Serbian government issued a
statement saying that another "tragic event in the Hague tribunal would
be unacceptable." Former Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic and the
former Serbian rebel leader in Croatia, Milan Babic, both died in March
while in ICTY detention. Milosevic died of a heart attack and Babic
committed suicide (see "RFE/RL Newsline," March 6 and 13, 2006). BW
[27] EU WON'T RESUME TALKS WITH SERBIA BEFORE ELECTION
The European Union's foreign-policy chief, Javier Solana, said on
December 7 that talks on a Stabilization and Association Agreement
(SAA) will not resume before Serbia's general elections scheduled for
January 21, B92 reported the same day. Solana met earlier that day with
Serbian Foreign Minister Vuk Draskovic in Brussels. Draskovic is
pushing for a resumption of the talks before the elections. "There is
not much sense in organizing discussions during the election campaign,"
Solana said. "We will have to wait for a more relaxed moment, after the
elections, in order to continue discussion, and I am convinced that
this will happen." The EU suspended the SAA talks in May over
Belgrade's failure to arrest war crimes fugitive Ratko Mladic (see
"RFE/RL Newsline," May 2, 3, and 4, 2006). BW
[28] MONTENEGRO INDICTS 18 ETHNIC ALBANIANS FOR PLOTTING INSURGENCY
Authorities in Montenegro on December 7 charged 18 ethnic Albanians
with plotting an insurgency to carve out an ethnic enclave in the
country, AP reported the same day. Five of those indicted live in the
United States. Police arrested 14 of the suspects, including three of
the U.S. citizens, on the eve of Montenegro's September 10 elections.
Amnesty International has called for an investigation into allegations
that members of the group were tortured while in police custody (see
"RFE/RL Newsline," October 19 and November 7, 2006). Prosecutors allege
that the group intended to "use explosives and weapons for terrorist
acts aimed at controlling...military posts, police precincts and other
important facilities" in an ethnic Albanian-populated part of eastern
Montenegro. A defense lawyer for the suspects, Rajko Bozovic, said the
"charges were unfounded." BW
[29] BOSNIAN RADIO STATION STARTS INTERNET PROTEST AGAINST DUTCH
GOVERNMENT
A student radio station in Sarajevo, EFM, has set up a website allowing
people to send e-mail cards to the Dutch government to protest the
awarding of medals to peacekeepers who failed to prevent the Srebrenica
massacre, AP reported on December 7. The Dutch decision to honor the
peacekeepers has already sparked strong criticism from the Bosnian
government (see "RFE/RL Newsline," December 6, 2006). "We decided to
organize this action because the honoring of those soldiers is more
than an embarrassment. It's mocking the victims," said Nermin Cengic,
the web designer for the radio station. Since the campaign began on
December 3, more than 16,000 e-mail cards, which include photos of
bodies in mass graves and mocking messages of congratulations, have
been sent to the Dutch government, AP quoted the protest organizer as
saying. BW
[30] NEW MASS GRAVE EXCAVATED IN BOSNIA
Forensic experts have exhumed the remains of approximately 180 people
from a mass grave near Brcko in northeastern Bosnia-Herzegovina, AP and
B92 reported on December 7. The forensics team worked on the grave for
a month and collected 105 complete bodies and 146 body bags containing
other human remains, Murat Hurtic, the head of the forensic team, said.
"According to two documents two of the victims had with them," all the
victims were from Brcko and its suburbs and "were killed either in the
concentration camp Luke or just picked up from home and executed,"
Hurtic said. "Some of the skulls had three bullet holes in them," he
added. BW
[31] BOMB EXPLODES AT TRANSDNIESTER SCHOOL
A bomb exploded at a middle school in Bendery in Moldova's breakaway
Transdniester region on December 7, injuring an unidentified number of
students, dpa reported the same day. Among the injured were seniors
participating in a school-sponsored military training course. Police
investigating the incident described the number of other class
participants injured as "numerous." There were no reports of
fatalities. This summer, two bomb attacks rocked the Transdniestrian
capital Tiraspol. The explosions took place on a bus and a trolleybus
(see "RFE/RL Newsline," July 7 and August 14, 2006). BW
Southwestern Asia And The Middle East
[32] NATO CONVOY HIT BY SUICIDE BOMBER IN SOUTHERN AFGHANISTAN
A suicide car bomber struck a NATO convoy on December 7 in the southern
Afghan city of Kandar, killing two civilians and wounding 11 more, AP
reported. The dead and injured civilians were sent to a local hospital
in Kandahar, said Najibullah Khan, a doctor at the hospital. The
bombing was the seventh suicide attack in Kandahar Province since
November 27. No NATO troops were injured in the blast, said Squadron
Leader Jason Chalk, a NATO spokesman. Almost daily attacks plague
Afghanistan's southern provinces, where the central government wields
little power. RR
[33] KARZAI: 'TERRORISM' A MAJOR OBSTACLE TO POSITIVE RELATIONS WITH
PAKISTAN
Afghan President Hamid Karzai said on December 7 during a meeting in
Kabul with Pakistani Foreign Minister Khurshid Kasuri that attacks by
"terrorists" infiltrating Afghanistan through Pakistan are severely
weakening relations between the two countries, AFP reported. "The
president emphasized that the Afghan people desire to have strong and
friendly relations with Pakistan. However, the continuation of violence
perpetrated by terrorists from across the border [is] a major
obstacle," Karzai's office said in a statement. The Afghan government
regularly accuses Pakistan of allowing Taliban insurgents to use the
tribal regions along Pakistan's western border as a safe haven for
attacks inside Afghanistan. Kasuri is in Kabul on a three-day visit to
seek a solution to the escalating violence this year in southern and
eastern Afghanistan. RR
[34] UN WARNS OF 'GRAVE THREAT' TO AFGHANISTAN RECONSTRUCTION
The UN released a report on December 7 in Kabul saying reconstruction
efforts in Afghanistan face a "grave threat" due primarily to the
Taliban insurgency, narcotics, and corruption, Xinhua reported. "The
spread of [the] insurgency...linked with the illegal drug trade,
coupled with corruption and failures of governance and the rule of law,
collectively pose a grave threat to reconstruction and nation-building
in Afghanistan," said the report, written by a UN Security Council
mission to Afghanistan. The report follows a fact-finding mission in
Afghanistan that took place from November 11-16 that included meetings
with President Karzai, senior NATO commanders, and civil society
officials. Progress on reconstruction in Afghanistan in 2006 "has not
been as rapid as had been hoped," the report said, adding "The
confidence of the Afghan public in its new institutions and processes
[is] being tested." RR
[35] DISTRICT CHIEF GUNNED DOWN IN WESTERN AFGHANISTAN
Abdul Zahir, chief of Gulran District in Herat Province, was shot dead
on December 6 in an ambush by suspected Taliban gunmen, the Afghan
Interior Ministry reported on December 7, AFP reported. Zahir was
killed in his car and one of his bodyguards was wounded while traveling
to the provincial capital, Herat, Interior Ministry spokesman Dad
Mohammed Rasa said. "The enemies of Afghanistan carried out this
attack," Rasa said, using the Afghan government's usual description for
the ousted Taliban movement and its Islamist allies. Also on December
6, armed men attempted to kill Mohammad Mubeen, the chief of Barmal
District in eastern Paktika Province bordering Pakistan, but Mubeen
escaped unharmed. "Our Barmal district chief was attacked by the enemy
but he was not hit," provincial Governor Mohammad Akram Khapalwak said.
RR
[36] IRAN WANTS TURKEY TO CONTROL FEMALE IRANIAN VISITORS
The Iranian government has called on Turkey to enforce rules for
Islamic clothing for women -- the hijab -- at hotels in Anatolia that
are frequented by Iranians, Turkish newspapers reported on December 7,
according to Radio Farda. Should Turkey fail to comply with this
demand, the newspapers continued, then Iran will no longer permit
direct flights to Anatolia. The Iranian request came during Prime
Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's meeting with First Vice President
Parviz Davudi in Tehran during the first weekend of December, Radio
Farda reported. Davudi told his guest that one million Iranians visit
Turkey every year, and he went on to express concern that images of
scantily clad Iranian beachgoers have appeared in the Turkish media. BS
[37] IRAN REACTS TO IRAQ SURVEY GROUP RECOMMENDATIONS
Iranian Foreign Minister Manuchehr Mottaki said during a December 7
visit to the Netherlands that the United States does not need to
negotiate with Iran or any other country regarding Iraq, state
television reported. Mottaki was reacting to the Iraq Survey Group
report that was released in Washington the previous day and which
recommended U.S. interaction with Iran and Syria in an effort to
resolve the violence there (see "RFE/RL Newsline," December 7, 2006).
Mottaki said, "It appears that at least some American officials have
realized the errors in their policy in Iraq." Mottaki described his
solution: "The Iraqi issue will be resolved by the withdrawal of the
American military forces." Prior to the report's release, Iranian
Supreme National Security Council Secretary Ali Larijani said in Dubai
that a withdrawal of "occupation forces" from Iraq would be seen
favorably, "The Washington Post" reported on December 6. Subsequently,
a "triumphalist" Larijani said, "Iran would definitely extend the hand
of assistance and would use its influence to help solve the problem."
Larijani said the U.S. should recognize Iran as the primary regional
power. BS
[38] IRANIAN FOREIGN MINISTER CHALLENGED BY IRAQI DIPLOMAT
Iraqi Ambassador to the Netherlands Siamand Banaa took exception to
Iranian Foreign Minister Mottaki's December 6 comments, AP reported.
Mottaki said while in Holland that "the U.S. administration so often
refers to Iran's nuclear capability as a threat against regional and
international peace." It is the United States, however, that invaded
Iraq without the UN Security Council's approval, Mottaki continued, and
"set off the most dangerous security challenge in the Middle East." He
also said the U.S. military presence in Iraq is behind the violence
there. Banaa pointed out that Iran benefited greatly from the ouster of
former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein, and he encouraged Mottaki to "avoid
cynicism and hypocrisy." Banaa dismissed Mottaki's analysis and
encouraged him to avoid joining "the 'America is always wrong'
brigade." BS
[39] U.S. PRESIDENT SAYS NEW DIRECTION IN IRAQ NEEDED
George W. Bush said during a December 7 news conference in Washington
with U.K. Prime Minister Tony Blair that a new approach in Iraq is
needed, international media reported the same day. A report by the U.S.
bipartisan Iraq Study Group, which was released on December 6,
described the situation in Iraq as "grave and deteriorating" and called
for the United States to change its primary mission in Iraq (see
"RFE/RL Newsline," December 7, 2006). Bush said he is open to the
suggestions made by the commission. "I thought that made a lot of
sense. I've always said we'd like our troops out as fast as possible. I
think that's an important goal," he said. Bush expressed disappointment
at the slow progress made in Iraq and reiterated his opposition to
direct U.S. talks with Iran and Syria, one of the key recommendations
of the Iraq Study Group report. On December 6, White House spokesman
Tony Snow said during an interview on CNN that Bush may unveil a new
strategy for Iraq by the end of the year. "We're hoping to have all
that pulled together so that maybe by the end of the year the president
can announce a new way forward," he said. SS
[40] BAGHDAD, IRAQI KURDS FAIL TO AGREE ON BUDGET, OIL LAW
Kurdish region Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani said on December 6 that
no agreement has been reached with the Iraqi central government
concerning the Kurdish region's budget and oil law, Salah Al-Din
Kurdistan satellite television reported on December 7. Barzani was
speaking in Irbil after returning from Baghdad, where he held meetings
with Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki and Oil Minister Husayn
al-Shahristani to discuss how much the Kurdish region will be allocated
from the national budget. "The government was intending to grant 13
percent from the budget to the [Kurdish] province, but we told them
that was not enough. They should grant 17 percent," Barzani said.
Regarding the oil law, Barzani said that Baghdad should clarify how
much the Kurdish region should receive from the country's oil sales,
while at the same time the Kurdish regional government should have the
freedom to sign separate oil contracts with foreign companies. "If we
had reached an agreement on the budget, the oil law, and the share of
the provinces from oil sales, that would have been a major
achievement," Barzani said. SS
[41] IRAQI RELIGIOUS FIGURES MEET IN OSLO TO DISCUSS SECTARIAN STRIFE
Iraqi Shi'ite, Sunni, and Christian leaders gathered in Oslo, Norway,
on December 7 to discuss ways of ending the sectarian violence in Iraq,
Al-Jazeera satellite television reported the same day. The meeting,
sponsored by the World Conference of Religions for Peace, called on the
Iraqi government to build a balanced military to ensure the security of
all Iraqis; urged an end to all bloodshed in Iraq; rejected any
attempts to brand fellow Iraqis as infidels; and stressed the
difference between terrorism and legitimate resistance. "This
conference reflects the deep humanitarian spirit of the religious
leaders, including the Sunnis, Shi'a, Christians, and from other
faiths. The conference expressed its rejection of this dirty war," said
Jamil al-Rubay'i, a representative of the Islamic Al-Da'wah Party. On
October 20, approximately 50 Iraqi religious leaders gathered for a
similar meeting in Mecca, Saudi Arabia (see "RFE/RL Newsline," October
23, 2006). SS
[42] WITNESSES DESCRIBE CHEMICAL ATTACK ON KURDISH VILLAGE
During the December 7 session of the Anfal trial, two Kurdish doctors
gave testimony to the court describing treating victims of a chemical
attack in 1987, international media reported the same day. One of the
doctors said, "On April 16, 1987, I saw many planes hovering in the sky
as I was standing outside my clinic" and soon "there was a strange
smell" similar to "apples or garlic." Shortly afterwards, he recalled
seeing "dozens of women and children walking with their eyes red, many
were vomiting blood." Another Kurdish doctor said he treated men,
women, and children for serious body burns and blindness from an
alleged chemical attack on the village of Bargalu. "I treated a man
whose entire body was full of chemical bubbles, but he died a few days
later," he said. A security alert at the entrance to the Green Zone
prevented defense lawyers from entering the fortified area for two
hours and delayed the start of the trial. Chief Judge Muhammad
al-Uraybi adjourned the trial until December 18. SS
[43] ELEVEN U.S. SOLDIERS KILLED IN SINGLE DAY IN IRAQ
U.S. military officials announced that 11 soldiers were killed on
December 6, making it one of the single deadliest days for U.S.
soldiers in Iraq, international media reported on December 7. U.S.
military spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Christopher Garver said five
soldiers, all members of Task Force Lightning, were killed by a single
roadside bomb blast in Kirkuk Governorate. Details of the six other
deaths were unavailable. The 11 deaths brought the number of U.S.
soldiers killed since the beginning of December to 30. SS
End Note
[44] THERE IS NO END NOTE TODAY.
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