[Airbornelawyer]

From the RFE/RL Newsline:

Russia

• RUSSIAN AND IRAQI FOREIGN MINISTERS DISCUSS ENERGY, TROOP TRAINING
  Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar al-Zebari on 21 November asked Russia to assist in training his country's security forces, RIA-Novosti reported the same day. "We proposed that Russia considers its assistance in training the staff of our security services. The stronger Iraq's positions in this field, the sooner foreign troops will withdraw from Iraq," said al-Zebari, who is in Moscow with an Iraqi delegation. Speaking the same day, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Russia wants to establish broader ties with Iraq in the oil and gas sectors, Interfax reported. "We have good prospects for establishing contacts in...spheres including oil and gas," Lavrov said at a briefing following talks with al-Zebari. "The Russian side has confirmed its determination to expand ties with Iraq. At this transitional stage support for the efforts of the Iraqi leadership to revive the economy and social life assumes special significance," he added.

• AGENCY SAYS RUSSIAN ARMS EXPORTS INCREASED 15-FOLD SINCE 2002
  According to the state-controlled arms export agency Rosoboroneksport, exports by the Russian military-industrial complex have increased by 15 times over the last three years, mosnews.com reported on 21 November. According to an unidentified official with Rosoboroneksport's press service: "In 2002...cooperation in this segment of the world arms market included 30 countries, but this year it increased to 50. Among our partners are the countries of Latin America, Southeast Asia, [and] the Middle East."

Transcaucasus and Central Asia

• LAST U.S. PLANE LEAVES UZBEK BASE
  The last U.S. military plane left the air base in Karshi-Khanabad on 21 November, AP reported, quoting U.S. military attache Gregory White. U.S. Central Command spokesman Joe Vermette said that a small support staff is wrapping up operations at the base. The base was opened in 2001 to support military and other operations in Afghanistan. Uzbekistan gave the United States six months to vacate the base on 29 July (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 1 August 2005) after the United States called for an independent international investigation into allegations that Uzbek government forces killed hundreds of peaceful demonstrators in Andijon on 13 May.

Southwestern Asia And The Middle East

• WESTERN AFGHAN GOVERNOR BLAMES POLICE FOR CLASH WITH ARMY
  Herat Province Governor Sayyed Hosayn Anwari on 21 November blamed the Afghan National Police for a clash that occurred on 18 November between police and Afghan National Army forces in a park on the outskirts of Herat, Peshawar-based Afghan Islamic Press reported. "After an investigation, we found that the national army troops were not armed and the national military police fired on them," Anwari told reporters in Herat. One soldier was killed in the clash, the cause of which remains unclear.

• IRANIAN KURDS RIOT IN NORTHWEST
  A riot broke out in the predominantly Kurdish city of Mahabad on 20 November after police reportedly shot and killed a local youth, Radio Farda reported. Kurdish reporter Sohrab Sharifi told Radio Farda that a police car was set alight in the wake of the shooting. Security personnel made numerous arrests, Sharifi said, but the exact number is unknown. Sharifi added that there are differing accounts of the shooting. Some reports suggest the youth was caught with smuggled goods, Sharifi said, and this would not be the first time a smuggler has been shot. The northwestern part of Iran is relatively underdeveloped and some locals earn a living through smuggling. Sharifi said there is a heavy security presence in Mahabad since the riot, there is martial law, and occasional shooting can be heard.