Text of report by Azerbaijani news agency Turan on 22nd
September

Baku, 22nd September: The OSCE will not send observers to the
forthcoming municipal elections in Azerbaijan on 12th December.
The OSCE acting chairman, Knut Vollebaek, said this in a
meeting with Azerbaijani opposition party leaders in Baku a few
days ago. The reason is the OSCE's limited possibilities.
Commenting on the OSCE decision, the leader of the DPA
[Democratic Party of Azerbaijan], Ilyas Ismayilov, said that
the reason to refuse to send observers could be an appeal from
the international human rights league. The latter called for
the OSCE not to send observers to countries where elections
were being held in nondemocratic conditions. Azerbaijan was
mentioned among those countries, Ismayilov said.

Source: Turan news agency, Baku, in Russian 1215 gmt 22 Sep 99
BBC Mon TCU 230999 km/la