From: Justin Burke (JBurke@sorosny.org)
Date: Thu Oct 12 2000 - 11:01:43 EDT
CIS SECURITY PACT SIGNATORIES AGREE TO CREATE JOINT FORCE
Meeting in Bishkek on 11 October, the presidents of the six
member states of the 1992 CIS Collective Security Treaty
(Russia, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and
Tajikistan) discussed and then signed an agreement on the
creation of a joint rapid-deployment force that could be sent
to any one of those states to help counter a threat of
external aggression or terrorism, Russian media reported. The
agreement must be endorsed by the parliaments of all six
states and does not override restrictions in their
constitutions on the dispatch of troops to fight abroad.
Details of financing and the division of responsibility is to
be decided by the six general staffs. The six presidents also adopted a
statement registering their concern at the increased threat
posed to Central Asia by international terrorism and
political and religious extremism, Interfax reported. The
statement identified Afghanistan as the main source of
instability in Central Asia and called on the international
community to "actively seek ways to restore peace in
Afghanistan," Reuters reported. Russian Security Council
Secretary Sergei Ivanov told the meeting that while the
agreement on a collective force had been drafted in the light
of the recent escalation in fighting in Afghanistan, the
signatories to the CIS Collective Security Treaty have no
intention of launching strikes against that country,
according to "Nezavisimaya gazeta" on 12 October. Ivanov said
that Russia would respond to a Taliban attack on Tajikistan
according to the provisions of the Collective Security
Treaty. Russian President Vladimir Putin directed the
attention of the international community to the humanitarian
problem that an exodus of refugees from Afghanistan into
Tajikistan would create, Interfax reported. LF
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