| October 30-November 6, 1999 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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President will visit China
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|  resident Islam Karimov will pay an official visit to People's Republic of China at the invitation of its Chairman Jiang Jemin November 8-10.
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Uzbeks, Russia to consider hitting guerrilla bases
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|  he defence ministers of
Uzbekistan and Russia indicated on Wednesday they would be ready by next
spring to take joint military action against Islamic guerrillas operating out of
Tajikistan.
"At today's meeting special attention was paid to measures to destroy the rebel
groups," Russia's Igor Sergeyev told a news conference after joint field exercises
conducted with four ex-Soviet Central Asian states.
"By spring we shall be ready to launch attacks in places where people may try to
illegally cross into our country," Uzbekistan's defence minister, Khikhmatulla
Tursunov, said.
Uzbekistan is worried by the growth of radical Islamic sentiment in the former
Soviet republics of Central Asia, adjacent to China and Afghanistan. Officials
say a group of fundamentalist Moslem rebels were behind a series of February
bomb blasts in Tashkent aimed at President Islam Karimov.
The same group is said to have invaded neighbouring Kyrgyzstan in August and
taken several people hostage, including four Japanese nationals. They were
chased back to their bases in Tajikistan last month and released all their
hostages.
Officials said the threat of a fresh invasion remained alive as the gunmen were
holed up in inaccessible mountain areas.
"The bandits have left but with full intentions of returning," Tursunov said. "To
destroy them, we must first destroy their bases where they are trained."
Officers from Uzbekistan, Russia, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan took
part in the exercises in the Ferghana valley under a Collective Security Treaty
which unites several former Soviet states.
Uzbekistan announced at the beginning of the year that it would withdraw from
the treaty, but changed its mind after the Tashkent bombing and the events in
Kyrgyzstan.
It now appears more willing to cooperate with Russia. But its attempts to help
Kyrgyzstan flush out the guerrillas backfired when its warplanes accidently
bombed civilian targets in Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan.
Russia is in the throes of a military offensive against its rebel region of Chechnya
in an attempt to destroy Islamic militants it says are responsible for attacks in
Russian cities and Russian areas of the North Caucasus.
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New ambassadors appointed to work in Uzbekistan
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| hree ambassadors-designate presented their credentials to President Islam Karimov in Tashkent. They are Yakhya bin Abdujabbar of Malaysia, Hossein Naroqien of Iran and Artur Puga of Latvia. President Karimov said that Uzbekistan welcomed Latvia's efforts to join NATO and the European Union. Russian President Boris Yeltsin appointed Dmitri Ryurikov ambassador to Uzbekistan. Ryurikov had been Yeltsin's and later, the Federation Council Chairman's Foreign Policy advisor. The former Russian Ambassador to Uzbekistan was Alexander Patsev.
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Pre-election campaign kicks off in Uzbekistan Tuesday
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|  pre-election campaign started in Uzbekistan on Tuesday in the run-up to a
parliamentary vote scheduled for December 5, the chairman of the Central Election Committee (CEC), Najmiddin Kamilov, told reporters.
As many as 1,240 candidates -- members of five political parties and independents -- will vie for 250 seats on the Oliy Majlis (parliament), Kamilov said.
Asked by Itar-Tass about the what sets the forthcoming election apart from the 1994 one, he said it was for the first time that independents would be let in.
A republican centre was set up to back their interests. It is headed by Akmal Saidov, an incumbent MP.
1,240 people were registered as candidates for the Parliament. The Central Electoral Commission registered 156 of 161 nominated candidates from "Adolat"; 133 of 136 from "Vatan Taraqqiyoti"; 113 of 116 from "Milliy Tiklanish"; 222 of 224 from "Fidokorlar"; 247 of 250 from the People's Democratic Party; 131 of 193 from initiative groups and 238 of 250 from representative authorities.
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Uzbek customs officers seize over 25 kg of heroin
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|  zbek customs officers seized on Monday more than 25 kilograms of heroin, which
several Tajik citizens attempted to smuggle into Russia, Major-General Utkir Kamilov told Itar-Tass.
According to Kamilov, the drugs were stashed in a Zhiguli car, belonging to a Russian citizen. The occupants of the car were
Tajiks.
The major-general said he knew which Russian city was the destination, but declined to disclose it in the interests of
investigation.
In the morning, Kamilov told Itar-Tass that customs services of the Samarkand region had detained a truck with 35 kilograms of
heroin and opium, which was also heading to Russia.
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Uzbekistan customs seize 35 kg of Russia-bound drugs
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| zbekistan customs officers have seized 35 kilograms of opium and heroin hidden
under potatoes in a Russia-bound truck, Major General Utkir Kamilov, head of the republican customs comittee told Itar-Tass
on Monday.
The KamAZ truck with a 10-ton load of potato was held for cutoms control in the Samarkand region, near the Turkmenian
border.
Though the documents for the load were in order, officers of customs and Uzbekistan's National Security Service decided to
examine the truck more thoroughly. Sniffer dogs found easily the drugs hidden in special containers under the load.
Three persons convoying the load have been arrested, their identity is kept in secret. Kamilov said that the Uzbekistan's law
enforcement agencies are now trying to find out sources and destination of the load.
For the past ten days, it has been a second large batch of drugs seized by Uzbek customs. Late in October, 223.5 kilograms of
opium and heroin in a similar truck were arrested in the Tashkent region. All in all, the Uzbekistan's customs officers seized
almost 2 tons of narcotic drugs this year, Kamilov said.
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Islamists again vow to make Uzbekistan an Islamic state
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|  uring a press conference conducted by telephone on 27
October, Zubair ibn Abdurrakhim, who is chairman of the board
of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, said the movement aims
to focus world attention on the persecution of "thousands and
thousands" of Muslims in Uzbekistan and ultimately to oust
the current Uzbek leadership and establish an Islamic state,
ITAR-TASS and Interfax reported. He said the seizure by the
movement's guerrillas of hostages in Kyrgyzstan was in
retaliation for the Kyrgyz government's expulsion of 250
Uzbek oppositionists to Uzbekistan. Speaking in Dushanbe the
following day, United Tajik Opposition leader Nuri argued
against the forced deportation from eastern Tajikistan of
Uzbek Islamists who had failed to comply with the Tajik
government's 27 October deadline to leave the country
voluntarily, according to ITAR-TASS.
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Tajikistan concerned over border with Uzbekistan
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| Tajik governmental commission for territorial and border issues and the legalization
of the state border in accordance with the international norms had a sitting in Dushanbe on Friday under the chairmanship of
Vice-Premier Abdurakhmon Azimov. The commission members voiced concern with the unilateral moves of Uzbekistan to
equip the border.
"In violation of the international norms and without a proper demarcation, the Uzbek side has started to erect engineering-
technical structures along the administrative-territorial border between the two countries of the former Soviet Union, which still
does not have a state status," speakers at the sitting said.
They cited facts of the Uzbek construction of border towers and wire barriers on territory of Tajikistan, which is viewed in the
international practices as "seizing of alien ground." Such cases are especially characteristic of the Zafarabad, Nau and Asht
districts in Tajikistan's Leninabad region. All in all, Uzbekistan has taken over 800 hectares of Tajik land.
The demarcation of the state border with Uzbekistan becomes a priority but it requires serious preparations, speakers at the
sitting resolved. It is decided to form a working group to study the situation, especially that in the Leninabad region, to prepare
documents on the border of the Soviet times and to suggest a joint demarcation of the border to Uzbekistan.
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CIS military exercises focus on anti-terrorism ñooperation
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|  ajor command-and-staff military exercise of the CIS countries called Southern Shield
of Commonwealth 99, now on in the region of Central Asia, has entered its final stage. According to the press service of the
Coordination headquarters of the CIS member countries' military cooperation, taking part in the exercise are Kazakhstan,
Kirghizia, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Russia. The exercise has been carried out under the command of Lieutenant-General
Leonid Maltsev.
The exercise was reported to aim at coordinating efforts to counteract the transnational terrorism. It has been carried out in full
compliance with the Treaty of collective security. The experience to be gained during the exercise will come in handy to fight
back any extremists' attacks and to contribute to ensuring security of the countries in the region, the press service of the
coordination headquarters reported.
The exercise, which started on October 27, will end on November 2
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