UNMOT NEWSLETTER

1-15 April 1999, No. 37

BRIG. GEN. HVIDEGAARD TAKES OVER

AS UNMOT CHIEF MILITARY OBSERVER

Brig. Gen. John Hvidegaard arrived in Dushanbe on 31 March 1999 to replace Brig. Gen. Tengku Ariffin as UNMOT Chief Military Observer. Upon his arrival at the UNMOT HQ, Brig. Gen. Hvidegaard was received by the MILOBs. Later at a reception at UNMOT Welfare Club, the new CMO was warmly welcomed by Deputy SRSG on behalf of UNMOT family. This was followed by the official briefing and Handing -over/ Taking-over Ceremony at the Conference Room.

Brig. Gen. Hvidegaard was born in Copenhagen in 1940. Immediately after graduating from college in 1959, he was drafted to the new Royal Danish Army. Since commissioning in 1963, he has served with troops on all levels up to and including the command of a brigade. He also had his tours to military schools for national and NATO staff, in short, a little bit of everything.

The General is a veteran Peacekeeper. His first experience in peacekeeping was with UNFICYP in 1967 for a period of six months. From 1992-1993, he was in charge of the Danish UN Department, responsible for all Danish UN contributions. In that capacity, he visited UNFICYP and UNMOGIP once, UNTSO and UNIKOM twice and UNPROFOR several times. He was also the HOM/COM of UNOMIG from September 1993 to October 1995.

Brig. Gen. Hvidegaard’s Peacekeeping activities were not only under UN auspices but also in other organizations. He undertook several visits to IFOR/SFOR and shortly before he came here, he was included in the planning team for setting up of the OSCE Kosovo Mission.

In an interview with UNMOT Newsletter, Brig. Gen. Hvidegaard, having thanked UNMOT for the kind and friendly reception given to him, had this to say, "Now I am here on assignment with UNMOT. I was looking forward to coming here and my first impression is positive. I have already noted that this Mission certainly lines up to the saying : All missions are difficult, and would like to add : Especially UNMOT - I am impressed with the good cooperation between the mission elements which is of fundamental importance should UNMOT be capable of meeting its mandate. It is my hope to be able to maintain and further improve this cooperation and contribute to UNMOT’s efforts to ensure fulfillment of the mandate to the benefit of Tajikistan and its people."

PRESIDENT’S RESPONSE TO THE DRAFT CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT PROPOSALS

Media reported that the CNR received a response from the President to the draft Constitutional amendments proposals in which the President expressed his opinion, including his disagreement with some points on various issues agreed between both sides within the CNR. This, according to the UTO, undermined the credibility of the Government side in the CNR and brought difficulties in the work of the CNR. Yet, after certain exchanges the CNR came to an opinion, that it is essential to overcome also these problems and to prepare a joint position on the President’s opinion, moving the discussion on Constitutional amendments rapidly further.

UTO LEADERSHIP EXPRESSES SERIOUS CONCERN OVER THE SLOW PACE OF PEACE PROCESS

During the period under review, the UTO leadership issued a statement expressing serious concern over the slow pace of the peace process and the implementation of the General Agreement. The said statement pointed out that despite the fact that the decree of the Government on the establishment of relevant transient units of the armed forces on the basis of the UTO armed formations was issued long time ago, the matter remains nevertheless unresolved. The UTO leadership also listed a number of examples of the Government power structures’ inappropriate actions against the UTO supporters in various regions in the country. Similar statement addressed to the SRSG, CNR and Contact Group was sent by a number of the UTO Field Commanders from the Leninsky and Kofarnikhon districts.

DELEGATES FROM UNHQ VISIT TAJIKISTAN

Three member delegation headed by Mr. Joachim Hutter, Director of Asia, Middle East Division of the Department of the Peacekeeping Operations, UN Headquarters, New York, arrived in Dushanbe on 13

April. Apart from visiting UNMOT, Mr. Hutter is scheduled to meet with a number of the Tajik high ranking officials. The visit will last one week and Newsletter will report further on the matter in our next edition.

SRSG HOLDS A PRESS CONFERENCE

On 9 April, the SRSG held a press conference for Tajik and international media. Mr. Kubis informed some 20 journalists who gathered for this occasion about his recent trip to Geneva and Vienna and his contacts there. Special emphasis was put on the meeting Mr. Kubis held with the High Commissioner for Refugees, Ms. Ogata on refugees related problems in Tajikistan and the need to intensify HCR assistance to them. He also focussed on the election oriented matters and the planned cooperation between the UN and the OSCE in this field. This issue was thoroughfully examined at another meeting Mr. Kubis held in Vienna with the Director of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR Ambassador Stoudmann. SRSG also informed that, already for a certain period of time the UN system in Tajikistan has been considering a possibility of assuming gradually its activities in the Karategin valley. An exploratory group, led by UNOPS departed for Garm to consider carefully, the existing conditions there, especially security, and will prepare recommendation; when to proceed further and what are the necessary arrangement and conditions which then would enable the UN agencies and programmes to resume their activities in this region.

VISIT OF RUSSIAN MINISTER OF DEFENSE

The Russian Minister of Defense arrived in Dushanbe on 06 April 99 and met with his Tajik counterpart to discuss issues related to development of Tajik-Russian military and technical cooperation as well as the status of the Russian forces stationed in Tajikistan. A plan for military and technical cooperation between the Tajik and Russian defense ministries for 1999 was signed . The document envisages a wide range of joint measures with a view to developing military and technical cooperation both on bilateral basis and under the CIS Collective Security Treaty. During the meeting the two defense ministers also agreed to set up a military base of the Russian Federation in Tajik territory. A treaty on the status of and conditions for maintaining the base on the territory of Tajikistan will be signed when Tajik President pays an official visit to Moscow in mid April.

TAJIK PRESIDENT MEETS HEAD OF RUSSIAN BORDER FORCES

Tajik President Emomali Rahmonov received the Director of the Russian Federal Border Services, Konstantin Totskiy on 7 April 99. At the meeting, both sides exchanged views on cooperation between the two countries in the field of protecting the borders in the southern outposts of the CIS. They also discussed issues of enhancing cooperation between the two countries’ border guards in this sector. The issue of training cadres at Russian Federation’s schools for the border service of Tajikistan was high on the agenda.

PRESIDENT RAKHMONOV ATTENDS HEADS OF STATES OF CIS COUNTRIES MEETING

During the review period, President Rakhmonov participated in the meeting of the Heads of States of the CIS countries in Moscow, during which issues related to reforms of the CIS were discussed. The

participants agreed upon a protocol on amendments to the CIS agreement on free trade area. Furthermore, CIS countries, with the exception of Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan and Georgia decided to continue their participation in the CIS Collective Security Agreement.

TAJIK PRESIDENT PARTICIPATES IN THE CENTRAL ASIAN SUMMIT ON THE PROBLEMS OF ARAL SEA

President Rakhmonov participated in the Central Asian Summit on the problems of the Aral Sea which took place in Ashkhabad on 08 April 1999. The Summit discussed problems related to the Aral Sea basin as well as perspectives for further development of political, economic and cultural relations between the countries in the region. A declaration which came out as a result of the summit on the problems of the Aral Sea has been adopted.

Meanwhile, in a separate meeting, President Rakhmonov and the Uzbek President discussed the issues related to the political and economic situation in both the countries, development of bilateral relations and the situation in Afghanistan. Both Presidents expressed willingness for further development of bilateral relations and direct contacts between the relevant ministries and administrative bodies of the two countries.

Followingly, Tajik government delegation headed by PM Azimov arrived on a working visit to Taskent to discuss with Uzbek authorities on issues related to development of bilateral economic cooperation. It is expected that a package of documents aimed at further consolidation of bilateral relation would be signed.

IMF, WORLD BANK REPRESENTATIVES ASSESS LOANS TO TAJIKISTAN

Mr. Tapio Saavalainen, who headed the IMF mission to Tajikistan, addressed a meeting in Dushanbe on 27 March to assess the fulfilment of programmes and projects financed by the IMF, the World Bank, and other organizations. Mr. Saavalainen said the IMF would continue to support Tajikistan, but he expressed concern at the country’s $ 984.7 million foreign debt, the largest of any CIS state. Saavalainen also discussed with President Emomali Rakhmonov the need to improve tax collection and to accelerate the privatization of state enterprises. World Bank regional director Ishrat Husein, who met with President Rakhmonov on 26 March, said the World Bank planned to lend Tajikistan some $ 95 million in 1999. One third of that sum was earmarked for restructuring the economy, while the remainder would finance housing construction and improvements to the civil service and education system, he added.

HCA CHAIRS A TALK PROGRAMME ON "THE ROLE OF THE TAJIK MEDIA DURING THE PRE-ELECTIONS PERIOD"

Head of the Civil Affairs division, UNMOT, Mr. Yogesh Saksena chaired a round table discussion on "The role of Tajik media during the pre-elections period", organized by CAD. The head of the OSCE Mission, Ambassador Buhuara also made some important remarks, emphasizing the importance of mass media for preparation and conduct of free and fair elections. The participants (journalists from different Tajik and international media) discussed the problems faced by representatives of mass media while reflecting upon the political activities in the country. Furthermore, they stressed the importance of

creating conditions for equal acccess of different political parties to national media and especially to the TV and Radio.

KICK-BOXING AGAINST NARCOMANIA

A tournament of stronger kick-boxing of Tajikistan with a motto of "Kick-boxing against narcomania" was held on 14 March 1999 at the Tajik Circus. To mark a Tajik struggle against narcomania, this tournament was organized by the assistance of UNDP.

The Kick-boxing Federation of Republic of Tajikistan has plans to conduct several other programmes under the motto " Kick-boxing against the drug addiction and children’s criminality in all the districts of the Republic".

UNDP was highly appreciated by mass-media for its assistance in the programme; and therefore the Kick-boxing Federation of the RT had this to say, " We express our sincere gratitude to UNDP and its representative Mr. Paolo Lembo for the support to this humanitarian action and hope for further cooperation in struggle against the drug addiction."

The members of Kick-boxing Federation of RT also expressed their profound gratitude to Capt. Roman Jancik for his support and active participation on behalf of UNMOT in the Kick-boxing tournament. UNMOT also complemented and thanked the MILOB for his commendable initiative taken to make the programme a success.

BRIEF NEWS

ð RETURN OF MR..NURI FROM HAJJ: Chairman of the CNR, Mr Nuri, has returned from Hajj and resumed his duties in the Commission. He met with the SRSG on 10 April and is expected to meet with President Rakhmonov soon.

ð APPOINTMENT OF A NEW DEPUTY MINISTER: Local and international media reported that, as per the UTO’s recommendation within the 30% quota, Mr Nazarov Abdurahmon Khubeirdievich had been appointed Deputy Minister of Transport and Road Infrastructure.

ð EXPLORARY TRAVEL: UNOPS led an exploratory travel on behalf of all UN Agencies with UNMOT’s participation to Garm with a view to eventually resuming UN activities.

ð INDUSTRIAL GROWTH IN TAJIKISTAN : According to the Russian Goskomstat statistics committee and the CIS Inter-state statistics committee, industrial production registered a 6.7 % growth in January and February of this year in Tajikistan as compared to the same period of last year.

ð GRANT OF A SEPARATE INTERNATIONAL TEL-CODE FOR TAJIKISTAN: Tajikistan has been granted a separate international telephone code, 922, by the International Telecommunication Union with effect

from 25th March. However, the old code and method of making calls to Tajikistan will remain in use until countries of the "far abroad" become fully informed.

ð INCREASE IN IRAN-TAJIK TRADE: According to the Tajik Minister of Economy and Foreign Economic Relations, the volume of trade turnover between Tajikistan and Iran had increased from USD 2.7 mln in 1995 to USD 25 mln in 1998. He however, pointed out that the amount of Iranian investments into Tajik economy remained modest.

ð GOVERNMENT TO FINANCE PROJECTS IN KARATEGIN VALLEY: Local Tajik media reported that the Government intends to finance 12 projects for the rehabilitation of electricity supply system in the Karategin Valley, as part of the post-conflict reconstruction of the area.

ð REGIONAL SEMINAR ON BUSINESS: Businessmen from Belgium organized a regional seminar in Tashkent on issues related to development of trade and economic relations of Belgium with the Central Asian countries. In this connection, a provincial Belgian office is expected to open in Dushanbe to promote Belgian-Tajik business relations.

MILITARY ISSUES

m RBF MI-8 HELICOPTER CRASHES: An RBF MI-8 helicopter crashed into the river Pyanj on 02 April 1999, while carrying out a reconnaissance along the Nyzni Pyanj sector of the Tajik-Afghan border. The helicopter was carrying 18 military personnel, including the RBF COS Gen. Bersenev, his deputy Col. Sokol and the Commanding Officer of Pyanj border detachment Col. Usenko. All crew members and passengers were killed. Newsletter sends its most sincere condolences to the RBF and the families of those killed.