Asia Africa Intelligence Wire articles from January 2004, page 10

Asia Africa Intelligence Wire archives from January 2004

US president congratulates Uzbek counterpart on Id al-Adha.
January 31, 2004... (From BBC Monitoring International Reports) [Presenter] The Uzbek president [Islam Karimov] is receiving congratulatory messages on the occasion of Id al-Adha. "To His Excellency Mr Islam Karimov, president of the Republic of...

Somalia: Interim president invited to attend summit in Libya.
January 31, 2004... (From BBC Monitoring International Reports) The director of information of the interim presidential palace [in Mogadishu] has been quoted saying that the interim [Somali] president, Abdiqasim Salad Hasan, has received an invitation from...

Iranian president's office says Khatami did not say "dead-end".
January 31, 2004... (From BBC Monitoring International Reports) Tehran, 31 January: The Presidency's media affairs office has sent a fax to IRNA with some explanations about Khatami's interview with reporters today at the blessed mausoleum of Imam Khomeyni....

Report says China's offshore areas still face "serious" pollution problems.
January 31, 2004... (From BBC Monitoring International Reports) (New China News Agency) Beijing, 31 January: China still faces serious pollution problems in its offshore areas, despite the fact that its ocean pollution has been improved, the State...

UN suspends anti-AIDS programme in Ukraine.
January 31, 2004... (From BBC Monitoring International Reports) Kiev, 31 January: The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria has suspended financing of three major grant recipients in Ukraine. The global fund told Interfax-Ukraine that it was...

Premier welcomes Del Ponte's optimism over cooperation with Croatia.
January 31, 2004... (From BBC Monitoring International Reports) Zagreb, 31 January: The National Council of the ruling Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) on Saturday [31 January] called an intra-party election and convened a general convention for 24 April in...

Arms cache found in Azeri capital.
January 31, 2004... (From BBC Monitoring International Reports) January The Sabuncu district police [Baku] have found a large amount of ammunition at a cemetery in the vicinity of the settlement of Balaxani. Ten hand grenades, one shell for an infantry...

German tourists briefly kidnapped in Sahara, paper says.
January 31, 2004... (From BBC Monitoring International Reports) According to information obtained by the Focus news magazine, German tourists have again been abducted in the southern Sahara. The magazine reported in a prerelease, that a group of seven...

Chechen web site says nine Russians killed in three days of fighting.
January 31, 2004... (From BBC Monitoring International Reports) 30 January, Chechenpress correspondent B. Engeno: The Chechen side reports that on 29 January, Chechen fighters opened fire at a unit of sappers of occupation troops while they were searching a...

Marine disasters cause economic losses of 970m dollars in China in 2003.
January 31, 2004... (From BBC Monitoring International Reports) (New China News Agency) Beijing, 31 January: Marine disasters led to direct economic losses of 8bn yuan (about 970m US dollars) last year in China, up 22 per cent over the same period last...

Almost three-quarters of Croatians support EU membership - poll.
January 31, 2004... (From BBC Monitoring International Reports) Zagreb, 31 January: Three quarters of Croatians have a positive opinion about the European Union, and 72.4 per cent of citizens would vote for the country's admission to the EU, according to an...

Council of Europe urges Armenia to take measures against human trafficking.
January 31, 2004... (From BBC Monitoring International Reports) Yerevan, 29 January: The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe [PACE] is calling on the Armenian leadership to cooperate with international organizations and take effective measures to...

British NGO holds conference on child prostitution inTajikistan.
January 31, 2004... (From BBC Monitoring International Reports) On 24 January a round table entitled "The sexual exploitation of minors: problems and solutions" was held in the building of the UNTOP [United Nations Tajikistan Office of Peace-building]. ...

French lawyer says US, Boeing responsible for Egypt plane crash.
January 31, 2004... (From BBC Monitoring International Reports) Paris, 31 January: The chairman of a defence league for the families of the victims of the Flash Airlines Boeing 737 plane that crashed off the coast of Sharm al-Shaykh killing all 149 people...

South Africa: Mbeki's office rejects request for statement on third term.
January 31, 2004... (From BBC Monitoring International Reports) Pretoria, 31 January: President Thabo Mbeki's office has rejected Democratic Alliance (DA) leader Tony Leon's request for him to make a statement about not changing the constitution to allow him...

PROTESTS MARK SEVENTH ANNIVERSARY OF LEGAL RIGHT TO ABORTION.
January 31, 2004... (From SAPA (South African Press Association)) Groups around the country are currently taking to the streets to protest against South Africa's abortion laws, an MP said on Saturday. The demonstrations mark the seventh anniversary of the...

Ukrainian army official interviewed on foreign-language training.
January 31, 2004... (From BBC Monitoring International Reports) Foreign-language skills are becoming increasingly important for officers serving in the Ukrainian armed forces, a Defence Ministry official has said. Speaking in a newspaper interview, Col Oleh...

Haiti: Private sector calls for civil disobedience.
January 31, 2004... (From BBC Monitoring International Reports) unidentified announcer I want to announce a decision of the private sector following the events of 28 January and I shall read part of it. It reads as follows in French: The private...

Haiti: Aristide says there are "false" students, policemen in demonstrations.
January 31, 2004... (From BBC Monitoring International Reports) [Announcer Regine Cazeau] Head of State Jean-Bertrand Aristide has denounced sectors that are using students, false students, and causing their deaths so they can take power. In a statement made...

Progarmme summary of Iranian Sahar TV news 0730 gmt 31 January 04.
January 31, 2004... (From BBC Monitoring International Reports) News headlines 1. 0249 The Iranian spiritual leader has challenged Western countries over their "so-called" claims on human rights and liberties. He was speaking on the occasion of the hajj...

Algerian premier installs committee to prepare presidential elections.
January 31, 2004... (From BBC Monitoring International Reports) The prime minister, Ahmed Ouyahia, installed today at the Government Palace the national committee for preparing the forthcoming presidential elections. The president of the republic,...

Top Iraqi administrator says UN election decision "not binding".
January 31, 2004... (From BBC Monitoring International Reports) Iraqi administrators are increasingly backing down on their initial pledge to accept without argument the decision of a UN mission, which has been invited to examine the election issue in Iraq....

US, Turkish officials discuss Middle East peace, Cyprus, Iraq.
January 31, 2004... (From BBC Monitoring International Reports) Washington, 29 January: US Secretary of State Colin Powell said on Thursday [29 January] that they were very close to a solution in Cyprus question. Powell and Foreign Minister and Deputy Prime...

Council of Europe official concerned at human rights situation in Chechnya.
January 31, 2004... (From BBC Monitoring International Reports) 30 January: Russia has again been criticized by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe [PACE] in Strasbourg over constant human rights violations in Chechnya, Ichkeria.dk news...

Russian General Staff targeted in Defence Ministry "sensation" - paper.
January 31, 2004... (From BBC Monitoring International Reports) The protracted conflict between Russia's Defence Ministry and the General Staff came to a head on 24 January when Defence Minister Sergey Ivanov suggested that the General Staff was incapable of...

Report says sea levels around China continue to rise.
January 31, 2004... (From BBC Monitoring International Reports) (New China News Agency) Beijing, 31 January: Sea levels around China in 2003 were 60 mm above the average world sea level between 1975 and 1986, according to the 2003 Bulletin on Sea Levels...

Iranian Speaker comments on election crisis.
January 31, 2004... (From BBC Monitoring International Reports) Tehran, 31 January: We will definitely hold an open Majlis session tomorrow. According to the parliamentary reporter of the Iranian Students News Agency (ISNA), Hojjat ol-Eslam val-Moslemin...

Italy supports Croatia's EU bid - Berlusconi.
January 31, 2004... (From BBC Monitoring International Reports) Rome, 31 January: Italian media on Saturday [31 January] carried the statement by Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi following a quadrilateral meeting in the Slovene town of Brdo pri Kranju on...

New fund created for Georgian president.
January 31, 2004... (From BBC Monitoring International Reports) Tbilisi, 31 January: The Georgian president will be able to spend money from two funds. Apart from the money available to the presidential fund, [Georgian President] Mikheil Saakashvili...

Briton's release from Indian jail stalled.
January 31, 2004... (From BBC Monitoring International Reports) Kolkata [Calcutta], 31 January: The much-awaited release of Peter Bleach, the British life convict in the Purulia arms-drop case, after his sentence was remitted by the president of India, was...

Haiti: Groups in Cap-Haitien announce anti-Aristide Demonstration on 31 January.
January 31, 2004... (From BBC Monitoring International Reports) In the [Department of the] North, the anti-Aristide mobilization seems to be restarting. The Opposition Front of the North [Fron], the Democratic Platform of Civil Society Organizations and...

Azeri defence chief discusses cooperation issues with top US officer.
January 31, 2004... (From BBC Monitoring International Reports) January Azerbaijani Defence Minister Safar Abiyev has received a delegation of the Oklahoma National Guard led by the adjutant-general, Maj-Gen Harry M. Wyatt. Speaking about the...

Afghan paper comments on proposal to convene Bonn Conference No 2.
January 31, 2004... (From BBC Monitoring International Reports) Text of editorial entitled: "Bonn Conference No 2" by Afghan newspaper Rah-e Nejat on 27 January The Bonn Conference was held in Qaws 1380 [2001] at a time when the Taleban administration...

Iraqi administrator says Shari'ah law decision unlikely to be enforced.
January 31, 2004... (From BBC Monitoring International Reports) The rotating chairman of the Iraqi Governing Council (IGC) Dr Adnan Al-Pachachi, whose terms ends 31 January, has dissociated himself from the IGC decision to scrap secular family laws and to...

PEACE BOAT URGES GOVERNMENT TO INCREASE AIDS FUNDING.
January 31, 2004... (From SAPA (South African Press Association)) A peace boat travelling around the world to highlight the need for funding to combat HIV/Aids will land in Cape Town on Sunday. A total of 600 participants were expected to visit South Africa...

Top Iraqi administrator says UN election decision "not binding" (text).
January 31, 2004... (From BBC Monitoring International Reports) Text of interview with Dr Adnan Al-Pachachi, chairman of Iraq's interim Governing Council, by Mu'idd Fayyad on 30 January, published by London-based newspaper Al-Sharq al-Awsat on 31 January;...

Nasrallah: Hizbullah to continue efforts to detemine fate of missing Lebanese.
January 31, 2004... (From Al Bawaba) The Secretary General of Hizbullah, Hassan Nasrallah said the "resistance would do its best to determine the fate of the remaining prisoners, missing and remains of the martyrs whose whereabouts are still unknown."...

Taleban leader Mola Omar blasts "arrogant devil" USA.
January 31, 2004... (From BBC Monitoring International Reports) Mola Omar has said the USA will fail in its attempt "to give a legal status to its illegal presence" in Afghanistan. The following is the text of Mola Omar's Id al-Adha message to the Afghan...

SAfrica: United Democratic Movement launches election manifesto in Durban.
January 31, 2004... (From BBC Monitoring International Reports) Durban, 31 January: The United Democratic Movement [UDM] has addressed issues relating to the economy, jobs, poverty, fighting crime, HIV/AIDS and health care, accountability in parliament and...

Rebel web site says Russians mining Chechen cemeteries.
January 31, 2004... (From BBC Monitoring International Reports) 31 January: A powerful explosive device was discovered at a cemetery in Groznyy's Leninskiy district on 30 January. According to some reports, the capacity of the home-made bomb was equivalent...

British home secretary in India comments on work permit system, terrorism.
January 31, 2004... (From BBC Monitoring International Reports) New Delhi, 30 January: Britain is opening a new work permit system, visiting British Home Secretary David Blunkett said on Friday [30 January], a move that will bring cheer to those heading for...

ABDUCTED PRETORIA MINISTER ARRESTED FOR ALLEGED PERJURY.
January 31, 2004... (From SAPA (South African Press Association)) A minister in the Dutch Reformed Church, Paul Beyl, who earlier claimed he was abducted and hijacked after disappearing from his house in Pretoria has been arrested for perjury, police...

Kazakh president's daughter confident of father's victory in next elections.
January 31, 2004... (From BBC Monitoring International Reports) Almaty, 31 January: The first congress of the Asar party [All Together] was held in Almaty today. [Passage omitted: the leaders of the party confirmed the party's principles] Following...

Afghan paper urges good relations with Pakistan.
January 31, 2004... (From BBC Monitoring International Reports) Text of editorial in Pashto entitled "The result of the efforts to establish good neighbourhood between Afghanistan and Pakistan" by Afghan newspaper Hewad on 29 January "I am sure...

British diplomat appointed coalition new administrator in northern Iraq.
January 31, 2004... (From BBC Monitoring International Reports) satellite TV on 31 January The head of the Kurdistan Democratic Party, KDP-led regional government, Nechirvan Barzani, met the new coalition administrator for the northern region, Dr Lianne...

G17 Plus leader appeals to DS to accept offer on new Serbian government.
January 31, 2004... (From BBC Monitoring International Reports) [Announcer] Citizens are justifiably angry over the authorities' incompetence and they are afraid for their future, G17 Plus leader Miroljub Labus has said. [Labus] We appeal to the...

Palestinians bemoan US, Israel pressure over world court hearing.
January 31, 2004... (From BBC Monitoring International Reports) January Foreign Minister Dr Nabil Sha'th has said that the US pressure and Israel's blackmail is the reason why some countries changed their stands regarding the racial wall of annexation...

Writer says Arabs should leave Iraqis to run their affairs.
January 31, 2004... (From BBC Monitoring International Reports) newspaper Al-Ittihad on 29 January After announcing the end of military operations in Iraq, some took an initiative to declare that Iraq and its people are under their guardianship. Those...

Palestinian leader Arafat receives Belgian MPs.
January 31, 2004... (From BBC Monitoring International Reports) January President Yasir Arafat received a Belgian parliamentary delegation headed by Maria Jose Lui, head of the parliamentary group for Palestine, at the Presidential Compound at noon...

Croatian premier rejects criticism over allocation of commission seats.
January 31, 2004... (From BBC Monitoring International Reports) Zagreb, 31 January: The Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) leader and Croatia's premier [Ivo Sanader] has refuted criticism which the parliamentary opposition levelled against the HDZ accusing it...

Armenian leader nominates ombudsman.
January 31, 2004... (From BBC Monitoring International Reports) Yerevan, 30 January: Armenian President Robert Kocharyan has submitted to parliament the candidacy of Larisa Alaverdyan, chairwoman of the fund against violations of the law, to the post of...

Sudanese vice-president, opposition leader Al-Mirghani to meet in Jeddah.
January 31, 2004... (From BBC Monitoring International Reports) Akhbar al-Yawm has learnt that the first vice-president Ali Uthman Muhammad Taha and the leader of the [opposition] National [Democratic] Alliance [NDA], Mawalan [honorific] Assayid Muhammad...

Arafat aide urges world court to rule on Israeli barrier issue.
January 31, 2004... (From BBC Monitoring International Reports) President Yasir Arafat's Adviser Nabil Abu-Rudaynah has said that our people are looking forward to the International Court of Justice [ICJ], which will decide on the legality of the racial...

Kurdish human rights group calls for bigger UN role in Iraq.
January 31, 2004... (From BBC Monitoring International Reports) Text of letter from the Human Rights Commission in Kurdistan to UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, published by Iraqi Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) newspaper Kurdistani Nuwe on 31 January ...

ONE ROBBER INJURED, TWO ARRESTED DURING ARMED ROBBERY.
January 31, 2004... (From SAPA (South African Press Association)) Two robbers have been arrested and another injured after they robbed a security guard of cash he had collected from Clicks stores at the Eastgate Mall on Saturday morning, East Rand police...

Iranian president taken to hospital with back pain.
January 31, 2004... (From BBC Monitoring International Reports) Tehran, 31 January: One of the president's advisers has pointed out that the president has been taken to Khatam-al-Anbia Hospital and said: He had severe back pain this morning when he was at...

India cites records to claim 125 acres from Pakistan.
January 31, 2004... (From BBC Monitoring International Reports) Amritsar, 30 January: Although the international boundary dispute with Pakistan related to the border districts of northern Indian state of Punjab were settled soon after the partition in 1947,...

Syrian paper opposes Iraqi federation proposals.
January 31, 2004... (From BBC Monitoring International Reports) [Passage omitted] US President George Bush's emphasis, during his meeting with Turkish Prime Minister Receb Tayyib Erdogan, that he is keen on Iraq's territorial unity and integrity is...

Turkish premier says army fulfilling constitutional duties.
January 31, 2004... (From BBC Monitoring International Reports) Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan is at Harvard University, Boston, the last leg of his visit to the United States. When he arrived at the university, he replied to reporters' questions. To a...

Syrian paper opposes Iraqi federation proposals (add).
January 31, 2004... (From BBC Monitoring International Reports) Text of commentary by Mufid Khansa, entitled "The other image", published by Syrian newspaper Al-Thawrah web site on 31 January Is this really the true image of the United States that the...

Kashmir court sentences militant to 25 years' jail.
January 31, 2004... (From BBC Monitoring International Reports) Jammu, 31 January: In the first ever judgement on an arrested militant in northern Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir, a Pak[istani] national and Lashkar-i-Toiba militant was awarded 25 years'...

Experts see big capital increasing pressure on political developments in Serbia.
January 31, 2004... (From BBC Monitoring International Reports) The talks on the forming of a new Serbian government have not only sparked new confrontations, but pushed ajar the heavy and well-guarded doors behind which one can more easily discern the...

Indian, Romanian leaders issue joint statement after talks.
January 31, 2004... (From BBC Monitoring International Reports) New Delhi, 31 January: Romania on Saturday [31 January] extended its support to India's candidature for permanent membership of an enlarged UN Security Council, saying it was a "natural...

Iran: Khatami's brother says deputies in sit-in will not stand in elections.
January 31, 2004... (From BBC Monitoring International Reports) Tehran, 31 January: The spokesman for the Majlis deputies who have staged a sit-in said: "The people are vigilant and they will make their own decision with regard to boycotting the elections."...

Azeri foreign minister says Armenia not ready for compromises.
January 31, 2004... (From BBC Monitoring International Reports) [Presenter] The Yerevan government has rejected an EU proposal on a peaceful settlement to the Nagornyy Karabakh conflict. We should remind you that the EU has proposed re-opening the...

Heroin seized at border crossing between Kosovo and Albania.
January 31, 2004... (From BBC Monitoring International Reports) [Presenter] The UNMIK [UN Mission in Kosovo] police, Kosovo Police Service and Albanian police today seized about 30 kilograms of heroin at the Vrbnica border crossing between Kosovo and...

Russian shuttle building still underfunded - space expert.
January 31, 2004... (From BBC Monitoring International Reports) Korolev, 31 January: US shuttles will not be going into space this year and Russia will continue to bear the main burden of work relating to the International Space Station, the head of the...

Moldovan cabinet discusses integration tasks head after recent EU talks.
January 31, 2004... (From BBC Monitoring International Reports) Chisinau, 31 January: Premier Vasile Tarlev convoked the National Commission for European Integration on Saturday [31 January], immediately after the first round of talks on the Moldova-European...

International bank syndicate allocates 1bn for Azeri oil pipeline.
January 31, 2004... (From BBC Monitoring International Reports) Baku, 31 January: An international bank syndicate allocated on 30 January 1bn dollars for funding the construction of the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline, thus completing the funding required...

Pakistan prime minister offers training, technical cooperation to Tajikistan.
January 31, 2004... (From BBC Monitoring International Reports) Prime Minister Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali has offered assistance to Tajikistan in training and technical cooperation. He made this offer to the visiting Foreign Minister of Tajikistan Talbak...

Afghan paper concerned at presidential elections.
January 31, 2004... (From BBC Monitoring International Reports) Text of editorial in Pashto entitled "The upcoming elections and the two major concerns" by Afghan newspaper Erada on 28 January Afghans have recently been confronting major tests and they...

MBEKI CALLS FOR PEACEFUL ELECTIONS.
January 31, 2004... (From SAPA (South African Press Association)) President Thabo Mbeki ended a whirlwind tour of KwaZulu-Natal by calling for peaceful elections. Mbeki had criss-crossed the province over the past three days, travelling into deep rural areas...

Armenian nuclear power plant to continue operating - Russian deputy premier.
January 31, 2004... (From BBC Monitoring International Reports) Yerevan, 30 January: Armenia and Russia are planning to continue the exploitation of the Armenian Nuclear Power Station, the Russian first deputy prime minister and co-chairman of...

Russia: New upper house deputy speaker gives press freedom assurance.
January 31, 2004... (From BBC Monitoring International Reports) [Passage omitted: Tropkina report on background to resignation of Federation Council First Deputy Chairman Valeriy Goreglyad, appointment of two new deputy chairs] The new deputy speakers...

Twelve Slovaks to run for president - nominations submitted.
January 31, 2004... (From BBC Monitoring International Reports) [Announcer] The list of nominations to run in [Slovak] presidential elections was closed at midnight from yesterday to today - seven of 12 nominations are supported by citizens through a...

Turkoman leader, Syrian vice-president discuss Iraq's territorial integrity.
January 31, 2004... (From BBC Monitoring International Reports) The leader of the Iraqi Turkoman Islamic Movement, Sami Domiz, and his accompanying delegation have visited Syria and received by the Syrian Arab Republic's vice-president, Abd al-Halim Khaddam....

Leader of Russia's Tatarstan hails Kazakh party.
January 31, 2004... (From BBC Monitoring International Reports) It is noteworthy that political circles both in our country and abroad reacted to the creation and the first congress of the Asar party. The co-chairman of the Russia's One Russia [United...

Chief of Russian General Staff inspects Volga-Urals Military District.
January 31, 2004... (From BBC Monitoring International Reports) Moscow, 31 January: The chief of the General Staff of the Russian armed forces, Anatoliy Kvashnin, has highly assessed the combat readiness of the Volga-Urals Military District units. Kvashnin...

Iran seeks permission to open two banks in Afghanistan.
January 31, 2004... (From BBC Monitoring International Reports) January Two Iranian banks have asked [the Afghan government] for permission to launch banking operations in the country. According to IRNA [Iranian] news agency, the governor of Da...

Ajarian envoy in Moscow repeats no secession from Georgia planned.
January 31, 2004... (From BBC Monitoring International Reports) Text of Anatoliy Gordiyenko interview with Ajarian First Vice Premier Badri Meladze, "'We will go all the way to Tbilisi itself, come what may'", by Russian newspaper Nezavisimaya Gazeta on 29...

Turkish president warns against undermining judicial system.
January 31, 2004... (From BBC Monitoring International Reports) President Ahmet Necdet Sezer has said that the debates about the Lancet 2 operation [corruption in the health service] have reached a level that may erode the judicial institution. He said:...

India's Gujarat bans bird, egg imports.
January 31, 2004... (From BBC Monitoring International Reports) Gandhinagar, 31 January: Government of western Indian state of Gujarat on Saturday [31 January] banned import and cross-border movement of chicken, eggs, and birds with immediate effect in the...

Iraqi Kurdish editorial criticizes UN policy.
January 31, 2004... (From BBC Monitoring International Reports) Violence, blasts and terror have been escalating in the past 48 hours [in Iraq], and are possible to continue on the same rhythm or even growing further. Some analysts believe that it is like a...

Iraqi National Olympic Committee elected.
January 31, 2004... (From BBC Monitoring International Reports) [Under the auspices of the International Olympic Committee, IOC] The second session of the conference for the election of the head, deputy heads, secretary and members of the Iraqi National...