The Agonist - Caucasus

The brutal biography of Chechnya's Ramzan Kadyrov

Tue, 17 Jun 2008 03:43:27 -0700

Megan K. Stack | Gudermes, Russia | June 17

LA Times - The young president has silenced dissent, pacified the Russian republic and embarked on a massive reconstruction campaign. His critics are hard to find, because they have a habit of disappearing.

'I'm going to make them scream."

The president of Chechnya looks out at the menagerie of birds, floating on the murky man-made lake in his backyard: black swans, pelicans and ducks. Ostriches roam the opposite bank. Deep grunts of laughter shake his thick chest, jolting his barrel arms. Then Ramzan Kadyrov stops laughing. "Bring me the tiger!" he barks to his camouflage-clad servants. "Bring me bread!"

Two former guerrilla fighters wrestle a chained tiger down the muddy slope. The tiger rears up on its hind legs, fangs bared, and swats at the guards with splayed paws. They yell and beat the tiger about the head until the animal is low to the ground. Meanwhile, Kadyrov is tossing chunks of bread into the water for his fancy birds, imported here from all corners of the Earth. He hopes to draw them close enough to shore to get scared by the tiger. He still wants to hear them scream.

Russia shot down Georgian spy plane -U.N.

Mon, 26 May 2008 05:50:46 -0700

Tbilisi | May 26

Reuters - The United Nations said on Monday that a Russian air force plane shot down an unmanned Georgian spy drone over Abkhazia last month, strengthening Tbilisi's claims that Moscow is aiding the rebel territory.

A U.N. report compiled from video footage, witness statements and radar records was the weightiest independent endorsement to date of Tbilisi's allegation -- denied by Moscow -- that a Russian jet downed its spy plane on April 20.

The report said radar records showed the fighter jet headed into Russian airspace after shooting down the spy plane over breakaway Abkhazia.

"Absent compelling evidence to the contrary, this leads to the conclusion that the aircraft belonged to the Russian air force," said the report posted on the Web site of the UN mission in Georgia, www.unomig.org.

Georgia Ruling Party Cements Power

Thu, 22 May 2008 05:53:18 -0700

C.J. Chivers | Moscow | May 23

NYT - As vote counts were still being tallied on Thursday, the ruling party in Georgia had a commanding lead in the Parliamentary elections held the previous day, cementing President Mikheil Saakashvili and his party’s place as the nation’s preeminent political force.

With two thirds of the polling precincts reporting, Mr. Saakashvili’s United National Movement party’s had more than 62 percent of the vote, Levan Tarkhnishvili, the head of the central election commission, said by telephone. The ruling party’s main opponent, the United Opposition bloc, had slightly more than 14 percent.

Georgia says "very close" to war with Russia

Wed, 07 May 2008 03:05:22 -0700

Mark John | Brussels | May 7

Reuters - Russia's deployment of extra troops in the breakaway Georgian region of Abkhazia has brought the prospect of war "very close", a minister of ex-Soviet Georgia said on Tuesday.

Separately, in comments certain to fan rising tension between Moscow and Tbilisi, the "foreign minister" of the breakaway Black Sea region was quoted as saying it was ready to hand over military control to Russia.

"We literally have to avert war," Temur Iakobashvili, a Georgian State Minister, told reporters in Brussels.

Asked how close to such a war the situation was, he replied: "Very close, because we know Russians very well."

"We know what the signals are when you see propaganda waged against Georgia. We see Russian troops entering our territories on the basis of false information," he said.

Revitalizing Nato's Identity

Tue, 06 May 2008 01:53:21 -0700

NATO deserves attention both in terms of its current activities in Afghanistan and because of the current debates revolving around NATO expansion to Ukraine and Georgia. NATO’s quest for a new identity since the end of the Cold War has rightly resulted in much debate about the utility of the Alliance in a world with contemporary threats that can no longer be defined by East and West. Several articles published recently at the Atlantic Community provide an excellent framework for anchoring discussions around NATO.

Andre Kelleners, a member of the Atlantic Community, argues that rather than sidelining Russia, NATO membership states should consult with Russia to determine a common understanding of NATO’s role. It makes sense, he contends, for Partnership-for-Peace countries to eventually join the alliance as full members, but only together with and at the same time as Russia. It is in all parties’ best interest for NATO and Russia to share the same vision.

Andreas Umland of the National Taras Shevchenko University of Kyiv, continued the debate about when and how to offer a Membership Action Plan (MAP) to Ukraine. He highlighted the February 2008 statistics which revealed that a staggering 53% of Ukraine’s population were against NATO membership and only 21% in favor. He blames NATO rather than Germany for this statistic, saying that NATO “has done too little too late in terms of explaining to Ukrainians what NATO is about. Instead, Ukraine's political and public discourse remains corrupted by Soviet legacies.”

Timo Noetzel and Benjamin Schreer of the German Institute for International and Security Affairs in Berlin focus the discussion around NATO on the difficulties which NATO is currently facing in Afghanistan and argue that the chances are high that the Alliance will fail. NATO, they contend, is both politically and militarily ill-prepared to execute the required counter-insurgency strategy in Afghanistan. An Afghan disaster might not be a death sentence for the Alliance, but would certainly have major repercussions.

How a tiny breakaway province could become the new cold war frontline

Wed, 16 Apr 2008 20:14:52 -0700

Luke Harding | Dikhazurga | April 17

The Guardian - While Georgia hopes to join Nato, its rebel Abkhazia area is being wooed by Russia

The bridge over the Ingur does not feel like a place at war. There is no gunfire, merely the noisy croaking of frogs. Down on the river bank, anglers with homemade willow rods dip for trout in the swirling turquoise water.

But this tranquil spot, on what was once a coast of the Soviet Union, may be about to become a flashpoint - not just between Georgia and its breakaway province of Abkhazia, which fought a war here in 1992-93, but between Nato and the Russian Federation.

Fifteen years after driving out Georgian troops, Abkhazia is on the brink of winning recognition from Russia. Yesterday Vladimir Putin ordered his officials to strengthen economic ties and provide consular support to residents in the separatist republic.

Russia power firm regains control after armed attack

Sun, 09 Mar 2008 03:07:08 -0700

Gleb Bryanski | Moscow | March 9

Reuters - A grid operator in Russia's volatile Caucasus region said on Saturday that police had helped it regain control over sub-stations that had been seized by armed men after the firm cut power supplies over non-payments.

The firm said up to 300 men, many armed with rifles, broke into five sub-stations this week in the southern region of Dagestan, before beating staff and switching the power back on for parts of the local capital Makhachkala.

The operator, MRSK North Caucasus, said it had resumed electricity supply after the incident but vowed to cut power again soon if the debt was not paid. Several members of staff were badly injured and treated in hospital, it said.

The firm said the city of Makhachkala, with a population of about 700,000, owes it 600 million roubles ($25.07 million) and blamed the local administration for stirring up trouble.

South Ossetia Demands Recognition of its Independence, Cites The "Kosovo Precedent"

Thu, 06 Mar 2008 14:11:15 -0800

When Kosovo declared independence on the 17th of February, Georgia and Russia agreed on something for perhaps the first time since the Rose Revolution, their condemnation of the US for supporting Kosovo. The reason for this is simple. Since the break up of the Soviet Union, two regions of Georgia, South Ossetia and Abkhazia have strived to become independent of Georgia, and Georgia fears that support for Kosovar independence will bring legitimacy to these claims.

Just about every country that has a minority population calling for more autonomy or independence has condemned the recognition of Kosovo by the US and several major EU countries. Spain, a close ally of the US and a member of the EU was one of the more outspoken as they struggle with a long standing conflict with Basque separatists.

Armenia declares state of emergency

Sat, 01 Mar 2008 15:28:45 -0800

Hasmik Mkrtchyan | Yerevan | March 1

Reuters -

Armenian President Robert Kocharyan declared a state of emergency in the capital on Saturday and vowed to deploy troops against opposition protesters after riots in which at least one person died.

Witnesses said many people were injured in pitched battles in Yerevan's central streets, which flared up when police tried to disperse demonstrators protesting at a presidential election they say was rigged.

Kocharyan accused the protesters of shooting at unarmed police and said he would use troops to restore law and order. A Reuters correspondent saw a column of army trucks on the main road heading towards Yerevan on Saturday evening.

Govt decree after the jump

Kyrgyzstan activists offer $200 in contest for best protest song egging U.S. air base

Tue, 26 Feb 2008 20:19:09 -0800

Feb 27

Stars and Stripes - Activists in Kyrgyzstan are offering a new carrot in their ongoing effort to have the U.S. air base in Bishkek closed: a song contest.

According to news reports this week, a contest for “best protest song” has begun and is offering a $200 prize for the winner.

“The final of the contest will take place at a rally in protest of the presence of the U.S. base on the territory of the Manas airport near Bishkek in late April 2008,” Igor Trofimov, whom wire services identified as a leader of the protest movement, was quoted as saying. “Surely, Kyrgyz rock and rap singers will back the idea.”

The U.S. air base in Kyrgyzstan is one of the U.S. military’s most strategic bases in Central Asia. It is also the main filtering point for troops and supplies heading into the war in Afghanistan and serves as home for refueling aircraft that service warplanes over Afghanistan.

Kazakhstan clinches deal on massive Kashagan oil field

Mon, 14 Jan 2008 07:00:05 -0800

Antoine Lambroschini | Almaty | January 14

AFP - Kazakhstan has ended a long-running conflict with a group of top Western oil majors over ownership of the Kashagan oil field, one of the world's largest new deposits, state oil company Kazmunaigas said Monday.

Kazmunaigas "is pleased to announce that agreement has now been reached with the entire Kashagan consortium," the company said in a statement.

After six months of fraught negotiations, the deal boosts Kazmunaigas' stake in the field to a level "equal to that of the largest shareholders," the statement said, without providing figures.

"With this successful end to the long and difficult negotiations which began last August, the way forward for the Kashagan Project has been found," the statement said.

Georgia election: opposition already crying 'foul'

Fri, 04 Jan 2008 18:46:21 -0800

Tbilisi | January 5

Russia Today - Georgia goes to polls on Saturday to vote for new president. The country's government has given assurances the vote will be free and fair, despite fraud allegations from the opposition. More than a thousand foreign observers are set to monitor the poll.

Surprising return

After a hard-fought campaign, Georgia is set to go to the polls to decide who will be its next president.

One of their potential choices is billionaire oligarch Badri Patarkatsishvili. The media mogul had earlier pulled out of the race after the government released video-tape footage allegedly showing him plotting to stage unrest in the days following the election. He was accused of using his TV channel, Imedi, to aid a coup attempt.

Election a democracy test for Georgian president

Sun, 30 Dec 2007 04:00:26 -0800

Margarita Antidze | Tbilisi | Dec 30

Reuters - Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili is likely to win a new term in a snap election on January 5, but the vote will have to be squeaky clean if he is to regain his tattered reputation as a champion of democracy.

Saakashvili, who swept to power in a 2003 "Rose Revolution", dismayed his Western allies in November when he responded to massive opposition protests by sending in police with teargas and by closing down the biggest opposition television station.

He called the election months earlier than the scheduled date as part of a package of concessions to ease the stand-off with the opposition, which accuses him of ruling in an autocratic style and failing to ease poverty and unemployment.

Unrecognized States

Thu, 06 Dec 2007 13:42:24 -0800

Mark Almond |London |December 6

IHT - The recent gathering at Annapolis of most sides in the world's most intractable political dispute has focused attention on the Middle East, but another set of bitter geopolitical problems is rapidly elbowing its way into the international limelight - unrecognized states in the Balkans and the Caucasus.

The failure of the American-EU-Russian troika to resolve Kosovo's status by consensus sets in motion a declaration of independence from Serbia by its Albanian majority within weeks. That could re-ignite conflicts across the former Yugoslavia and in the disputed territories scattered around Russia's rim in the old Soviet Union. With Washington and Moscow at loggerheads as the U.S. takes sides with the Albanians and Russia with the Serbs, it is time to look beyond the local Balkan issue. As one negotiator in the troika ruefully admitted, if 120 days of negotiation couldn't reconcile the bickering parties, 1,020 would do no better. More than Kosovo is at stake.

Trouble in Nowhere Land

Wed, 28 Nov 2007 18:14:25 -0800

Simon Tisdall | Nov 29

The Guardian - When Ganimat Zahidov, editor of the independent Azadlyq newspaper, arrived for work one day this month in Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan, he was accosted on the pavement by a young woman he had never seen before who started cursing and shouting at him. Moments later "an athletically built young man popped out of nowhere and began beating me", he said. "I defended myself as best I could."

Within hours, Zahidov had been arrested, charged with "hooliganism" and sentenced to two months' pre-trial detention. If found guilty, he faces five years in jail. He joined eight other Azerbaijani journalists in custody after criticising or otherwise annoying the government of President Ilham Aliyev.