From: Justin Burke (JBurke@sorosny.org)
Date: Fri Jun 07 2002 - 11:35:41 EDT
CASPIAN NEWS AGENCY
CNA all-inclusive newsline
/17:03 07.06.2002/ Shewardnadze is not distrubed by vicotry of Armenians by
nationality in local elections
Yerevan, June 7, 2002. (CNA). After opposition forces victory at the municipal
elections in Georgia, in particular, "Democratic Front National Movement" and
Christian-Conservative party, the Tbilisi pro-authority mass media started a
campaign of discrediting the leaders of these political unions. The main argument
used against the most popular politicians in Georgia today - Mikhail Saakashvili
and Zurab Zhvania - is their Armenian descent.
PanArmenian.net reports that president Shevardnadze also made a statement on it
yesterday. Indirectly confirming the assertions about the Armenian origin of the
former Minister of Justice and ex-Speaker of the parliament, he stated that he did
not attach importance to the ethnic affiliation of the compatriots. "It is
important for them to work for the welfare of Georgia with Georgian eagerness," -
Shevardnadze stressed.
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/16:24 07.06.2002/ Kyrgyzstan will get 40 million dollars from WB
Bishkek, June 7, 2002. (CNA). This year, the World Bank will allocate to Kyrgystan
40 million dollars of grants and credits for 40 years, said representative of the
World Bank in Kyrgyzstan Mohinder S. Mudahar. Basically, the money designed for
implementation of the Program for Poverty Reduction. Soft loans of the World Bank
are directed to support the plan - Comprehensive Development Frameworks, which was
worked out by World Bank's director James Wolfensohn. Therefore all credits
interest-free. Beside, the World Bank, experts of Kyrgyzstan worked over this
document. Last year the program is confirmed at the national. However, the National
Strategy for Poverty Reduction still in the stage of completion. The World Bank
tries to attract donors to the republic, as its injections for development of
economy is not enough, Kabar reports.
______
/15:54 07.06.2002/ Russia and Azerbaijan to sign Caspian accord
Baku, June 7, 2002. (CNA). Russia and Azerbaijan will sign a bilateral accord on
dividing the Caspian Sea on Sunday, less than a month after Russia clinched a
similar deal with Kazakhstan in the northern half of the oil-rich sea, the Azeri
foreign minister said.
The agreement follows the failure of talks in April on a broader deal between five
Caspian littoral states - Azerbaijan, Iran, Russia, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan.
Experts said the new bilateral deal would further isolate Iran and Turkmenistan,
who could be forced to soften their positions on the division of the Caspian, which
is believed to hold as much oil as the North Sea.
"The Russian-Azeri agreement is the logical continuation of our bilateral work and
it will be a very important event for the whole Caspian region," Azeri Foreign
Minister Vilayat Guliyev said.
He said Azerbaijan's veteran-leader Haydar Aliyev will travel on Sunday to Russia's
second city St. Petersburg to sign the deal with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Sunday's deal could give Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan a trump card in their talks with
Iran and Turkmenistan.
"Now they will be able to say they represent the opinion of the three states, which
means a majority. And this could probably help soften the Iranian and Turkmen
position," he said.
Tensions remain high in the Caspian south especially between Azerbaijan, Iran and
Turkmenistan. Last year Iran sent its gunboats to chase off Azeri vessels that were
exploring the Alov oil block for the oil giant BP.
BP has said it would not explore Alov until Iran and Azerbaijan ended the row.
Yesterday BP praised the planned bilateral deal, Gulf News reports.
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/13:02 07.06.2002/ US-Azerbajian military cooperation priorities set
Baku, June 7, 2002. (CNA). "There are four major directions where USA wants to buff
up its military cooperation with Azerbaijan’,- said the US ambassador to
Azerbaijan Ross Wilson to Baku-based Gazette 525.
The four directions in which the two sides will concentrated their cooperation on
are air and water borders’ security, cooperation in the peacekeeping forces
deployment, as well as English language training of Azeri army officers.
According to Wilson the priorities of USA-Azerbaijan cooperation were discussed
during the US delegation’s visit to Baku on May. In Wilson’s words, USA
plans to allocate 4,7 million USD for the above-mentioned purposes. ‘This
does not mean that we want to deploy US military bases here. It is merely a
cooperation aimed at developing military ties between the two countries’,-
said the US ambassador.
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