STOPNATO/Petokraka:
>
>In a message dated 17/11/00 13:14:04 Pacific Standard Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED]
>writes:
>
><< WELCOME TO IWPR'S CAUCASUS REPORTING SERVICE, NO. 58, November 17, 2000
>
> OSCE SLAMS AZERBAIJANI ELECTIONS Azerbaijani opposition parties are
> refusing to recognise the nation's second democratically elected parliament.
> Shahin Rzaev reports from Baku
>
> COMMENT: HIJACK DRAMA DESCENDS INTO TRAGICOMEDY The blaze of publicity
> which surrounded the hijacking of a Russian aeroplane last week could well
> serve the interests of Islamic extremist groups. By Mikhail Ivanov in
> Moscow
>
> ABKHAZIA: GOD'S COUNTRY For years the darlings of the Soviet regime, the
> Abkhazians now face their greatest challenge: building a stable nation-state
> through hard work and personal sacrifice. Askerbi Minasharov reports from
> Sukhumi
>
> NALCHIK AUTHORITIES LAUNCH WAHHABI WITCH-HUNT Police say the Wahhabi
> religious cult is targeting young people in rural areas and promoting
> Chechnya as a spiritual Mecca. Musa Alibekov reports from Nalchik
>
> ********** VISIT IWPR ON-LINE: www.iwpr.net **************
>
> OSCE SLAMS AZERBAIJANI ELECTIONS
>
> Azerbaijani opposition parties are refusing to recognise the nation's second
> democratically elected parliament
>
> By Shahin Rzaev in Baku
>
> Opposition leaders in Azerbaijan are set to stage a mass demonstration in
> Baku to protest against alleged infringements during this month's
> parliamentary elections which saw a sweeping victory for the presidential
> party.
>
> Several opposition parties have already voted to boycott the new parliament,
> which was elected on November 5, and are demanding a fresh round of
> elections. The rally, scheduled for November 18, is aimed at lending support
> to these demands. More than 10,000 people are expected to attend.
>
> Meanwhile, the Baku city authorities are refusing to grant organisers
> permission to stage the event and the Azerbaijani interior minister, Ramil
> Usubov, has warned that any protest meetings will be dispersed by police.
>
> The moves come hard on the heels of claims by international observers that
> the voting was heavily rigged by the ruling party whilst both opposition
> politicians and voters were subjected to open harassment.
>
> Gerhard Studmann, of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in
> Europe, OSCE, said, "We were very disappointed with these elections. We
> expected that there would be infringements during the count but we didn't
> expect such a primitive falsification of the results."
>
> His opinion was echoed by Andreas Gross, head of the Council of Europe
> delegation to Azerbaijan, who said, "Despite the positive changes observed
> in Azerbaijan in recent years, the scale of the infringements doesn't fit
> into any framework. We've never seen anything like it."
>
> The Council of Europe has already warned Azerbaijan that the conduct of the
> elections could have a direct bearing on the former Soviet republic's
> ongoing membership bid.
>
> Journalists covering the elections for the local press highlighted a wide
> range of alleged infringements which included votes made on behalf of
> relatives or friends, voter harassment and incidents of observers been
> prevented from entering polling stations.
>
> At one polling station, a girl asked me, "How many ballot papers do you
> want?" On hearing my ironic reply ("Do you issue them by weight, then?"),
> she said quickly, "Oh it's you Shahin! Sorry, I didn't recognise you!"
>
> In another district, according to OSCE mission head Paula Kokkonen, a member
> of the electoral commission was caught dumping 150 pre-prepared papers into
> the ballot box.
>
> Meanwhile, the opposition can barely contain its fury. Preliminary results
> have shown that, in addition to winning the bulk of the 25 seats distributed
> by proportional representation, President Heidar Aliev's Yeni Azerbaijan
> party has won more than half of the 100 seats from single-seat
> constituencies.
>
> Only one of the 12 other parties taking part in the elections - the Popular
> Front - was able to pass the 6 per cent barrier necessary to secure
> parliamentary seats.
>
> Etibar Mamedov, chairman of the National Independence Party, said, "I cannot
> view the election results as being just and legal. They must be overturned.
> If not, the entire democratic world will turn away from us."
>
> Isa Gambar, chairman of the Musavat Party, dubbed the new Milli Medzhlis a
> "toy parliament" which could not be considered legitimate.
>
> The preliminary results were followed by a wave of protest meetings in the
> Kakhsky, Zakatalsky, Kusarsky and Geichaisky regions. Three protesters were
> arrested in Zakataly whilst, in Geichai, Ibragim Mamedov, deputy editor of
> the Azadlyg newspaper and a parliamentary candidate, was detained by police.
> The journalist was only freed after he had appealed to the demonstrators to
> disperse. He lost the seat to Anar Rzaev, chairman of the Union of
> Azerbaijani writers.
>
> The hail of criticism has provoked a measured, non-committal response from
> the authorities. Mazakhir Panakhov, chairman of the Central Electoral
> Commission, commented, "If that's the way [the international monitors] are
> talking, then that means they saw something. They wouldn't lie to us, would
> they? But that doesn't mean the same is true of all the electoral
> districts."
>
> Yeni Azerbaijan secretary Sivayush Novruzov said, "Azerbaijan has the best
> record for democratic elections of any country in the CIS. And the situation
> regarding human rights and social reforms is much better here than in other
> post-Soviet states."
>
> However, there have been some signs of compromise. According to the Azadlyg
> newspaper, President Aliev has disciplined a number of officials over fraud
> claims while results in two electoral districts have already been declared
> null and void. Observers say Aliev is likely to sacrifice some seats in
> future rounds of voting in order to give the new parliament a semblance of
> legitimacy.
>
> Shahin Rzaev is a regular contributor to IWPR
>
>
> COMMENT: HIJACK DRAMA DESCENDS INTO TRAGICOMEDY
>
> The blaze of publicity which surrounded the hijacking of a Russian aeroplane
> last week could well serve the interests of Islamic extremist groups
>
> By Mikhail Ivanov in Moscow
>
> Last week's hijack drama aboard a Tupolev-154 flying out of Makhachkala
> started as a gripping international thriller and ended as a grotesque
> vaudeville farce.
>
> The plane with 48 passengers and 10 crew was hijacked en route to Moscow and
> diverted to Israel. The terrorist was later seized by Israeli police who
> initially informed the Russian authorities that he was a Chechen supporting
> the Islamic cause.
>
> However, the sanity of the hijacker, Akhmed Amirkhanov, was soon called into
> question when, according to Israeli officials, he announced that his father
> had sent him to protest to the "emperor of Japan and the world" about "the
> yellow race overthrowing the white race".
>
> The prosecutor general of Dagestan then told journalists that Amirkhanov had
> thrown a handwritten note out of the plane when it touched down for
> refuelling in the Azerbaijani capital of Baku. It began, "Attention! This is
> an announcement for the secret services of the white race..."
>
> It later emerged that the hijacker was a former law student from Makhachkala
> University, who had been expelled for consistently failing to attend his
> exams. Both he and his father were reported to have suffered from various
> psychiatric problems.
>
> But, in the hours following the hijack, the Russian and Israeli media wasted
> no opportunity to wring every drop of tension out of the mid-air crisis -
> and to score a few propaganda points in the process.
>
> Izvestia daily newspaper in Moscow reported that the man was 36-year-old
> Zagir Gusseinov, a resident of the Khasavyurt region of Dagestan, who had
> served three jail terms and was "an active Wahhabite". (Apparently common
> wisdom holds that anyone who is deranged is automatically a Wahhabite, since
> the reverse is clearly the case).
>
> The Israeli authorities were quick to announce that the hijacker was an
> Islamic militant from Chechnya who had re-routed the plane to the Middle
> East as a demonstration of support for the Palestinian uprising. Israeli TV
> claimed that the Chechens had dubbed the operation "Al-Aha" after a mosque
> of the same name in Jerusalem.
>
> Meanwhile, Lieutenant-General Shaul Mofaz, chief of the Israeli general
> staff, took personal charge of the operation and Prime Minister Ehud Barak
> turned back from a trip to Washington as fears grew that the drama might
> turn into a re-enactment of the 1972 anti-terrorist operation in Ben Gurion
> airport. The operation, incidentally, was headed by Barak personally, with
> the future premier, Binyamin Netanyahu, among the commandos.
>
> However, the suspense soon turned to disappointment as the hijacker
> surrendered and made just one demand - to hold a press conference. Press
> reports still fail to agree as to what Amirkhanov used as a fake bomb - a
> blood pressure gauge or a rolled-up bandage. But there is still more
> confusion over why the Chechen Wahhabite theory enjoyed such wide exposure
> in the Russian and Israeli press.
>
> With the Israeli-Palestinian conflict still raging, the Israelis - to quote
> Daniel Pipes, director of the Middle East Forum in Philadelphia - "are in
> retreat". Both the nation's leaders and its people are desperate for some
> spectacular success to boost flagging morale.
>
> At the same time, Israel seems increasingly eager to strengthen its ties
> with Russia by emphasising the "Islamic threat" which faces both countries
> (see article by Mikhail Ivanov in CRS No. 54). And, while President Vladimir
> Putin tried to play down the incident, commenting, "It's a shame that crazy
> people drive the world crazy", Barak himself responded, "We should be
> prepared for similar threats and join forces in international efforts to
> combat terrorism."
>
> Of course, these are commendable sentiments - and it seems that Israel is
> not the only nation eager to help solve Russia's Chechen problems. On
> November 14, Polish secret service agents arrested a gang of five Chechens
> and announced that one of the suspects was implicated in August's bomb
> attack on Pushkinskaya Square. The claims astonished the Moscow team
> investigating the bombing and Kommersant daily quoted the officers as
> saying, "Well, send him to Moscow and we'll sort it out here". Apparently,
> the Polish authorities are equally keen to improve relations with the
> Kremlin by chasing the Wahhabite phantom.
>
> But, all this said, it is vitally important to keep a cool head in the face
> of the much-vaunted Islamic threat and to recognise that such a blaze of
> publicity can ultimately serve the Wahhabites' own political goals. Worse
> still, it could encourage genuine fundamentalists to follow suit and hijack
> other planes in a bid to further their cause.
>
> And, in the cold light of day, there are several aspects of last week's
> hijacking which raise a number of disturbing questions. Why were the four
> FSB operatives on board the Tupolev-154 (a fact confirmed by the head of the
> FSB in Dagestan, Vladimir Smirnov) unable to overpower the hijacker before
> he took control of the plane? And how is that a passenger with a criminal
> record and a history of mental problems was allowed to board a plane in an
> area which is supposedly the focus of a massive security operation?
>
> Perhaps the psychiatric examination will show that Amirkhanov is not quite
> as disturbed as his scribbled notes and erratic behaviour seem to indicate.
> After all, Platon Obukhov, the son of a high-ranking Russian diplomat, also
> pleaded insanity during his trial on spying charges. However, medical
> experts later declared Obukhov of sound mind and the court imposed a lengthy
> jail term.
>
> There is, however, one silver lining is this cloudy story. The passengers
> aboard the Tupolev-154 included a group of Dagestani soccer fans flying to
> Moscow to watch their team, Anzhi, play Torpedo in the bronze medal round of
> the national championship.
>
> Anzhi lost the match after Torpedo scored a penalty in the third minute of
> extra-time and won 2-1. Thus the Makhachkala fans stuck in the hijacked
> plane were spared the agony of watching the bronze medal slip through
> Anzhi's fingers. Of course, they're already arguing over the legitimacy of
> the penalty, but that is a different story altogether.
>
> Mikhail Ivanov is executive editor of Russian Life, a bimonthly magazine
> published by Russian Information Services, Inc.
>
>
> ABKHAZIA: GOD'S COUNTRY
>
> For years the darlings of the Soviet regime, the Abkhazians now face their
> greatest challenge: building a stable nation-state through hard work and
> personal sacrifice
>
> By Askerbi Minasharov in Sukhumi
>
> There is an ancient legend which the Abkhazians never tire of recounting.
> They say that, when God had created the earth, He allocated each tribe its
> ethnic homeland, according to the number of its people and the services they
> had rendered Him.
>
> The Abkhazian leader was the last to make an appearance and God asked,
> "Where were you when I was handing out the countries? I've got nothing left
> for you." The Abkhazian replied, "We had guests at our house, Lord, and we
> couldn't leave them without showing proper hospitality."
>
> As a reward for such generosity of spirit, God gave the Abkhazians the lands
> that he had set aside for himself.
>
> But this promising start has turned out to be more of a curse than a
> blessing. It was largely due to this abundance of natural beauty and
> legendary hospitality that, during the Communist period, the proportion of
> ethnic Abkhazians in the republic dropped from 80 per cent to just 17 per
> cent.
>
> Boasting one of the few sub-tropical climates in the former Soviet Union,
> Abkhazia became a major producer of tobacco, tea, citrus fruits and grapes.
>
> Most importantly, as the old joke goes, the Caucasus mountain ridge was so
> high that the shadow of Communism never really fell on Abkhazia. Instead, it
> become a destination of choice for the Soviet elite who built their heavily
> guarded dachas along the Black Sea coast.
>
> However, during the Stalinist era, a process of Georgianification was set in
> motion with the Georgian population of Abkhazia soaring from 10 per cent in
> the 1930s to 46 per cent by 1952. And, despite the moderating influences of
> Khrushchev and Brezhnev, a huge rift opened up between the Georgian and
> Abkhazian political elites.
>
> War broke out in 1992 and a series of Abkhazian victories, supported by
> Russian troops, forced 250,000 Georgians to flee either to Georgia or to
> southern Russia. The population of the republic was almost halved but only a
> third of those who remained were actually Abkhazian. Other major ethnic
> groups include Armenians, Russians and Megrelians (from the Galsky region,
> which borders on Georgia).
>
> Nevertheless, the Abkhazians are today effectively the masters of their own
> destiny. The republic enjoys de facto independence, and has all the
> attributes of a nation state, including an army, border forces and customs.
>
> Ten years ago, there was little to mark the border between Georgia into
> Russia. But today, the far bank of the Psou River is manned by cohorts of
> Russian border guards, typically puffed up with the vast importance of their
> work. When you cross to the opposite side, the border troops stage a truly
> Abkhazian welcome - full of warmth and greeting and yet politely insistent
> on the complex rules of local border etiquette.
>
> The trip from the border to Sukhumi is not without its problems - petrol is
> wildly expensive and trains are erratic. Still, with the average wage in
> Abkhazia eight times lower than in neighbouring Russia, a little money goes
> a long way. Even the Russian tourists feel like wealthy visitors to a
> benighted backwater.
>
> It is only recently that the Russians have started returning to their
> erstwhile tropical playground. The Black Sea resorts of Gagra, Pitsuna and
> Sukhumi were slow to recover from the war, when they were used as barracks
> for Abkhazian military units and volunteer brigades from
> Karachaevo-Cherkessia and Chechnya.
>
> But, to those who remember Sukhumi before the war, today it resembles a
> ghost town. In the old days, Georgians, Megrelians, Russians, Armenians and
> even Greeks met together and drank coffee in their cafes and restaurants.
> Now, the streets are poorly lit and overshadowed by unkempt eucalyptus, palm
> and chestnut trees. There are few cars and even fewer pedestrians.
>
> The city's bureaucracy begins work at around 10am and finishes at 11. Then
> most of the state workers slip away to a friend's wedding or a relative's
> funeral. Official duties come a poor second to the consuming passion for
> good company, good food and a bottle of Isabella.
>
> And, to be fair, there is little enough for them to do. Wallowing in its
> political limbo, Abkhazia pays taxes neither to Moscow nor to Tbilisi. The
> state budget is practically non-existent and the bureaucrats have nothing to
> allocate. The most profitable sectors of local industry - the import of
> energy resources and the export of wood - are presidential monopolies. The
> lion's share of this income is spent on the army and the police.
>
> Strangely enough, Abkhazia's rural communities have become the most
> prosperous in the republic. They can sell almost unlimited supplies of tea,
> tobacco and citrus fruits to the voracious Russian market.
>
> Meanwhile, the city people understand that the rebirth of the tourist and
>
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