Russia and the CIS News Digest
Terror Bombing Hits Central Moscow
At about 11 a.m. local time on Dec. 9, a huge explosion rocked central Moscow, outside the historic National Hotel, which sits diagonally across from the entrance to the heart of Russian government offices. Initial reports said that six people died and another 13 were injured.
Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov rushed to the scene. Initial reports that two female suicide bombers were involved, were later revised to one. Luzhkov reported that security cameras at the hotel picked up footage of the suicide bomber, that her purse was rigged with explosives and that she was wearing a belt packed tightly with metal balls. A Moscow police spokesman said the bomb belt alone contained about 2.2 pounds of TNT. Luzhkov's spokesman Sergei Tsoi stated, "We can say with certainty that this was a terrorist act ... linked to the elections to the State Duma."
In the Kremlin, President Putin referred to terror threats, in his address to regional leaders commemorating the 10th anniversary of the nation's Constitution, celebrated on Dec. 12. Putin declared: "The Constitution is a foundation for the development of a free-market economy, democracy, and the development of the nation as a whole, and the preservation of its territorial integrity. The actions of criminals, terrorists, which we have to confront even today, are aimed against all that."
Police later shut down the Kiev railway station after finding what they called a suspicious object under a train that travels between Moscow and Moldovan capital, Chisinau.
New German-Russian Consultative Mechanism Established
At the session of the interministerial commission of Germany and Russia in Berlin, Dec. 10, the foreign ministers formally established a new institution: a high-level security consultation group. It will be presided over by the Foreign Ministers, and staffed by high-level officials of the "force ministries" of both sides. It will have on its agenda the review of developments in international crisis spots, of progress in the fight against terrorism, as well as of general geopolitical trends that affect the interests of Germany and Russia.
Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov, who also met the German Chancellor, at a press briefing on the talks, endorsed intensified German-Chinese cooperation, including in the nuclear-technology sector, as presenting no problems for Russia, as both were privileged partners of the Russians. Ivanov hinted at future German-Russian cooperation in China, adding that this should not, however, be interpreted as the formation of a Russian-Chinese-German triangle.
Russian Foreign Minister Pins Georgia Coup on USA
Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov named George Soros and U.S. Ambassador Richard Miles, in a general swipe at the American role in the overthrow of Georgian President Eduard Shevardnadze. In a Dec. 5 interview with Komsomolskaya Pravda, Ivanov said that the revolt in Georgia "wasn't spontaneous, it didn't arise suddenly." He is reported by AP as saying in the interview that a George Soros-funded NGO played a role, and that "the U.S. Ambassador was involved, as Shevardnadze himself admitted." On the trip of James Baker to Georgia ahead of the revolt, Ivanov said that "today it has become obvious that one of the goals was to convince Sheverdnadze to resign."
In response to U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld's statement, made while visiting Georgia the week of Dec. 1, that the Russians were not living up to the 1999 agreement to withdraw troops from Georgia, Ivanov told Interfax News that Russia had followed the accord exactly, and that: "As a professional diplomat, I recommend everyone read the documents, preferably in the original."
Uzbekistan Denies United States a Permanent Base
Uzbekistan's President Islam Karimov told the Associated Press on Dec. 11 that Uzbekistan will allow the United States to keep its air base at Khanabad only as long as it is needed for the war on terror in Afghanistan. Stating that he is opposed to further "militarization" of Central Asia, Karimov, addressing the international community, and the United States in particular, said: "Don't give us weapons, give us economic help. We should protect ourselves not with bases, not with military, but with economic and humanitarian development."
Khanabad air base was set up after Sept. 11, 2001. In exchange, Washington tripled its foreign aid to Uzbekistan to some $500 million last year.
Analysts claim that President Karimov is concerned about growing talk that the United States is considering shifting its bases in Germany and other NATO nations, and relocating them closer to potential trouble spots such as the Middle East, the Balkans, or Central Asia.
Central Asian Education Ministers Conference
Iran, Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Turkmenistan on Dec. 5 committed themselves to allocating maximum national resources to achieve the education for all goals. The pledge was made in an Islamabad Joint Declaration, issued at the end of the two-day meeting of education ministers of the four countries, in the Pakistani capital. The four countries agreed to collaborate and share experiences in education for all, create networks for collaboration, discussion and establishing common groups, and commit themselves to hold regular meetings of experts, policy makers, planners and implementers, on rotational basis.
The conference members also undertook to prepare joint action plans on various common issues, such as increasing girls' enrollment rates at all levels. They urged international donors, UNESCO, and development partners to extend necessary expertise to member states for planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of programs relating to education for all.
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