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Join Date: Jan 2004
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From the RFE/RL Newsline:
Russia- PUTIN PROPOSES TO INCLUDE IRAN IN PLANNED CASPIAN SECURITY FORCES
Speaking at a government meeting on 24 October, President Putin proposed creating a Caspian regional security and peacekeeping force (CASFOR), RIA-Novosti reported. Putin asked Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov to involve all littoral states in the CASFOR project, including Iran. Later the same day, Lavrov had talks with his Iranian counterpart Manouchehr Mottaki. Lavrov said afterward: "our common position is to continue to regulate issues concerning the Iranian nuclear program through the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)," iran.ru reported. Lavrov added that Russia will seek a solution to that issue that on one hand "provides the legal right of Iran to access the peaceful use of nuclear energy and on the other hand to eliminate any doubts as to the peaceful nature of [Iran's nuclear] program." The meeting between Lavrov and Mottaki came on the same day that U.S. national security adviser Stephen Hadley held talks in Moscow with Lavrov and Putin. The daily "Kommersant" wrote on 24 October that Moscow may propose giving Tehran more arms and greater military cooperation in exchange for making major concessions regarding its nuclear program along the lines of what the United States and the EU-3 (Germany, Britain, France) are calling for.
- THREE MILITANTS KILLED IN SPECIAL OPERATION IN DAGHESTAN
Security forces in Daghestan killed three leading members of a radical militant group during a nine-hour siege and storming of an apartment building in Makhachkala during the night of 24-25 October, Russian media reported quoting Daghestan's interior minister, Lieutenant General Adilgirey Magomedtagirov. Two of the dead fighters were identified as Gadzhimagomed Ismailov and Murad Lakhiyalov, who took over command of the Shariat djamaat following the killing of its leader, Rasul Makarsharipov in July.
Transcaucasia And Central Asia - GEORGIA SEEKS NEW FORMAT FOR SOUTH OSSETIA TALKS
Georgian Minister for Conflict Resolution Giorgi Khaindrava said in Moscow on 24 October that at a meeting beginning that day of the Joint Control Commission tasked with monitoring the situation in the South Ossetian conflict zone, he will call for expanding the format of those talks to give a greater role to the OSCE and the EU, Russian and Georgian media reported. But both Russian First Deputy Foreign Minister Valerii Loschinin and Ambassador Valerii Kanyaikin, who heads Russia's delegation to the talks, argued against any such changes, Interfax reported. Both Kenyaikin and South Ossetian delegation head Boris Chochiev termed the JCC and the Russian-Georgian-Ossetian peacekeeping force currently deployed in the conflict zone "the only effective and promising mechanisms" for resolving the conflict, ITAR-TASS reported.
Southeastern Europe- UN SECURITY COUNCIL GRANTS APPROVAL FOR KOSOVA TALKS
The UN Security Council gave its approval on 24 October for talks on Kosova's final status to begin, international news agencies reported the same day. "The council offers its full support to this political process, which would determine Kosova's future status, and further reaffirms its commitment to the objective of a multiethnic and democratic Kosova which must reinforce regional stability," said a statement unanimously adopted by the 15-member Security Council. UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan announced that he will name a special envoy this week to lead the talks. Annan added that the envoy will most likely be former Finnish President Martti Ahtisaari.
- NEW DETAILS EMERGE ON TERROR SUSPECTS ARRESTED IN BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA
New details are emerging in the case of three individuals arrested in Bosnia-Herzegovina on suspicion of plotting to carry out a suicide attack, the BBC reported on 24 October. The three -- one Swedish, one Turkish, and one Bosnian citizen -- were arrested on 19 and 20 October on suspicion of planning an attack on an unspecified embassy of an EU member state. Citing sources close to the investigation, the BBC reported that the Swedish and Turkish citizens are believed to be natives of the former Yugoslavia. The individuals were reportedly carrying explosives when they were arrested, and weapons and other military equipment were found at their homes. One of the suspects also allegedly made a video reciting Islamic prayers.
Southwestern Asia And The Middle East- AFGHAN JOURNALIST KILLED IN BLAST IN EASTERN AFGHANISTAN
A radio journalist working for the Voice of Peace radio station was killed in a blast on 22 October in Khost Province, Pajhwak Afghan News reported on 24 October. The journalist, identified only as Maywand, was accompanying Afghan National Army soldiers when a land mine exploded, killing him and injuring three others.
- PRIME MINISTER VISITS AL-BASRAH TO ASSESS SITUATION
Ibrahim al-Ja'fari traveled to Al-Basrah on 24 October to meet with local officials three days after local police clashed with Tha'r Allah Party members in the city, Iraqi and Iranian media reported the same day. The 22 October clashes took place when police attempted to storm the headquarters of Tha'r Allah (God's Revenge) Party, which some officials have said is supported by Iran. Tha'r Allah security personnel engaged police, and a gun battle ensued. Police also raided the home of Tha'r Allah Secretary-General Yousif al-Musawi on 22 October and detained him. Police sources told Al-Zaman that the party is suspected of carrying out "non-politically motivated murders" and other crimes, the daily reported on 22 October. Tha'r Allah member Mawla al-Musawi claimed that the Al-Fadilah Al-Islamiyah (Islamic Virtue) Party -- the party of Governor Muhammad al-Wa'ili -- is behind the false accusations against Tha'r Allah, almendhar.com reported on 25 October. Al-Wa'ili's party clashed with al-Ja'fari and other Shi'ite parties in July over his demands for more oil revenues for the south. Al-Ja'fari continues to deny reports of Iranian interference in Al-Basrah, telling Tehran's Al-Alam television on 24 October that "no documents have been put in my hand regarding border violations by Iran."
- AL-ZARQAWI'S GROUP CLAIMS BEHEADING OF BADR CORPS MEMBER
Al-Qaeda-affiliated Tanzim Qa'idat Al-Jihad fi Bilad Al-Rafidayn, led by fugitive Jordanian terrorist Abu Mus'ab al-Zarqawi, claimed in a video posted on the Internet (http://alfirdaws.org) on 22 October that it beheaded a member of the Badr Organization, a Shi'ite group connected to the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI). The victim, who identified himself as Abbas Dahir Majid, "confessed" in the video to being a member of the Badr Organization, which he described as funded by Iran and the United States. He said the organization's agenda is to drive Sunni Arabs from southern Iraq and establish a Shi'a state there. He also told his captors that Shi'ite Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani has permitted through fatwas the rape of Sunni women and the stealing of Sunni property. Majid also said that his captors did not force him into making false statements in the video. Majid is then beheaded on camera.
- THREE CAR BOMBS DETONATED IN NORTHERN IRAQ
Suicide car bombers targeted a senior Kurdish official in Al-Sulaymaniyah on 25 October, international media reported. Police said two car bombs targeted a convoy carrying Mullah Bakhtiyar, a member of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) political bureau, dpa reported. Bakhtiyar escaped with injuries, and one of his bodyguards was killed in the attack. Minutes later, a third car bomb detonated outside the Ministry of Peshmerga Affairs. Reuters reported that nine people were killed in that attack.
RFE/RL Feature articles and analysis:
- Chechnya: Stolen Oil And Purchased Guns: "Late last month, RIA-Novosti reported that, according to the Russian Interior Ministry, 'criminal gangs’ steal “at least one-third of the oil produced and refined” in Chechnya and that this oil is smuggled out to be sold in neighboring regions “to line ringleaders’ pockets, as well as to finance terrorist activities and bribe government officials.” Russian authorities have charged in the past that stolen oil is used to finance the Chechen resistance movement. ..."
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