upplying Uzbek gas to southern Kazakh regions was discussed in Tashkent November 9. Deputy Prime Minister Daniyal Akhmetov led the Kazak government delegation in the talks with the Uzbek side.

The meeting of the intergovernmental delegations was expected about three weeks ago, but it was delayed for unknown reasons. The main issue was the supply of Uzbek gas to Kazakhstan's southern regions. Uzbekistan currently sells 1,000 cu.m. of gas for 35 dollars on the border. The Uztransgaz [Uzbek Gas Transport] company is going to increase the price by 15 dollars from the New Year.

The delegation led by Deputy Prime Minister Daniyal Akhmetov will try to keep the price down. So far it is not clear what will happen. Some experts think that Uzbekistan will not back down.

The meeting will also discuss the Uzbek railmen's debt of 1,682,000 dollars to Kazakhstan Temir Zholy [Kazakhstan Railways]. The Uzbek Xalqaro-Telecom telecommunications operator also owes Kaztelecom over 4m dollars, a debt that it ran up over more than 18 months. (Kazakh Khabar TV, November 9)

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he Uzbek Supreme Court trial of 12 alleged terrorists on 10th November watched the recording of testimonies of three out of the six people condemned to death by the Supreme Court in 1999 for involvement in bomb attacks in Tashkent the same year, Uzbek TV reported. The recording of testimonies was watched in order to shed light on the present trial, it said.

The TV report also showed the three accused present at the trial repenting of their deeds. One of them, Ulughbek Mahmudov said: "I have gained nothing from my involvement [in subversive acts]. I have been deprived of everything, of my parents, my freedom and now my life is in the balance."

The other two also repented and said that making easy money was their main motive. The trial will resume on Monday 13th November, the report said.

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he third round of the Tajik-Uzbek intergovernmental talks on border delimitation and demarcation started in Dushanbe today, the Asia-Plus news agency was told at Uzbekistan's embassy in Tajikistan.

The secretary of Tajikistan's Security Council , Amirqul Azimov, is leading the Tajik delegation at the talks, and Deputy [Uzbek] Justice Minister Pulat Samadov heads the Uzbek delegation. According to an Uzbek embassy spokesman, the work of the joint intergovernmental delegation on settling border issues is continuing successfully.

The issue being discussed is particularly pressing for the two countries owing to the mining of certain border districts by Uzbek servicemen and the blowing up of civilians (mainly Tajik citizens). The Tajik authorities state that Uzbek mines are frequently planted on the territory of Tajikistan, resulting in the killing and wounding of the republic's citizens. (Tajik news agency Asia-Plus, November 10)

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ashkent does not rule out that terrorists may make new attempts to invade Uzbekistan, Uzbek Defence Minister [Col] Qodir Ghulomov told a news conference on Friday [10th November].

It is now difficult to forecast "when and with what forces guerrillas might try to enter Uzbek territory", he said.

"We do have information on the number of guerrillas, but one must also admit that Afghanistan, where the majority are hiding, has turned into a beachhead housing extremist forces from different countries of the world," the minister said.

Possible terrorist actions will not differ from those that took place in summer 2000, Ghulomov said, adding that Islamic guerrillas suffered considerable losses in the course of this year's combat actions.

Touching on measures to defend the borders, the defence minister noted that difficult-to-access border areas on Uzbek territory are mined. "As a rule, terrorists or drug couriers use those sectors to illegally enter Uzbekistan from Tajikistan," Ghulomov said.

The Uzbek defence minister admitted that Tajik citizens are sometimes killed by these mines, but said that in order to prevent such incidents numerous meetings have been organized with Tajik officials and "they are well aware of which sectors are mined". (Russian news agency Interfax, November 10)

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top judge denied on Friday [10th November] that one of the leaders of Uzbekistan's Islamic Movement had offered to come to a current trial of the movement's members in Tashkent.

A deputy chairman of the Supreme Court, Bakhtiyor Jamalov, told Interfax the Supreme Court had not received any letter from Mohammad Solih (Salay Madaminov) to the effect that he is willing to go up for trial. Twelve members of the movement have been charged with terrorism. The Supreme Court has been trying four of them since 31st October. The rest are abroad.

The Prosecutor-General's Office claims that the movement has organized armed groups that have acted in various parts of the country. Movement members committed 19 murders and 35 violent assaults between 1991 and 1999, the prosecution says.

Bombs they planted in Tashkent killed 16 people and injured 128 in February 1998. They were also involved in sabotage in Tashkent Region. The movement also organized invasions by Islamic militants of Surkhandarya and Tashkent Regions in July and August this year. (Interfax news agency, November 10)

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n 10th November, Uzbek radio broadcast a report on a news conference given by Uzbek Defence Minister Qodir Ghulomov, held the same day for local and foreign journalists at the presidential office.

In an excerpt from his speech quoted in the report, Ghulomov spoke about Uzbek-Turkish military cooperation and the implementation of a document signed by the two states on cooperation in the military sphere: "Three day ago, at a meeting with the Turkish military attache, we also discussed our plans for next year. Of course, this is, above all, an issue connected with the fight against terror. Turkish officers have come here to exchange their experience with our officers, and, by sending a number of our officers to Turkey, we have to discuss and get an accord on many issues in the near future. I want to say that much work is being done to implement that document."

The report also gave an excerpt from Ghulomov's speech about the need to increase the skills of army offices engaged in training. "Of course, you know, the level of our officers who are engaged in training should be high. Let us say, there is a field of science termed behaviouristic in the world about how people should behave in various conditions. Nobody here has studied this science before and nobody knows its conclusions and results. We should, first of all, teach them to our officers: how one should train another so as to affect his mind; how one should behave so as to display big ideas and goals to people and to create the sense of inspiration needed to achieve them," Ghulomov said.

In an excerpt from his speech about setting up a professional army in our country, Ghulomov said the following: "By saying that we are going to set up a professional army, one should, at the same time, understand one thing - that we also have to train it in how to defend our people, let us say, our homeland. Of course, the army should not be a big one, but it should be highly professional. At the same time, we have to think more about the tasks involved in the mobilization and training of the reserve. I think that, currently it is our most important task."

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