http://eng.gazeta.kz/art.asp?aid=76187


Gazeta.kz (Kazakhstan)
June 1, 2006


Strategy of Bush administration in Central Asia
By Akram Asrorov from Tashkent


-I don't think that Moscow was deeply satisfied when
the NATO bombers were patrolling Yugoslavian skies.
Moscow was not overjoyed silently letting the Yankees
in Afghanistan, once an exclusive sphere of Soviet
influence. There were no celebrations when the Desert
was Stormed in the Gulf.
Colour revolutions in Georgia and Ukraine became
something of a permanent toothache for official
Moscow.
-Another point is how the Kazakhstani government
regards its relationship with the United States. It is
enough to cast a glance to the US policies in Ukraine
and Kazakhstan in order to realise: it can turn into a
bigger economic and political dependence.


There is an opinion that cardinal changes have taken
place in the US foreign policy since Bush Jr. came to
power.

Usually the personal character is mentioned as a main
reason, like, he's too direct, not very intelligent.

However few ever thought that Bush Jr. is a fruit of
an epoch.

The epoch when Russia exhausted by the perestroika and
divorce between brotherly peoples could not defend its
interests in Yugoslavia, Afghanistan, then in Iraq,
and later maybe also in Iran.

We will even not speak about Ukraine and Georgia here.


The Kremlin could only watch the revolution financed
by the USA win in these countries.

The Baltic states, their European orientation, and
airports close to Moscow - all this influenced the
moral condition of the former USSR and Russia in
particular.

The weakness of Russia meant force of the USA.

Naturally, the force is needed for applying it from
time to time. Therefore, if there were some other
American in the place of Bush, I don't think that
anything would change in the foreign political
doctrine of the USA.

It is on this basis that such phenomenon as the effect
of force should be regarded. Why does it prevail in
the Bush administration? Because Russia could not and
cannot do anything against it.

I don't think that Moscow was deeply satisfied when
the NATO bombers were patrolling Yugoslavian skies.
Moscow was not overjoyed silently letting the Yankees
in Afghanistan, once an exclusive sphere of Soviet
influence. There were no celebrations when the Desert
was Stormed in the Gulf.

Colour revolutions in Georgia and Ukraine became
something of a permanent toothache for official
Moscow.

In the Soviet times the tightest bonds connected these
republics and the Centre.

Attempts to interfere in the Ukrainian domestic
affairs looked simply ridiculous.....

Georgia proved to be a bizarre occasion. Russian did
not like the former Foreign Minister of USSR and it
applied a lot of efforts to oust him.

Nobody behind the Kremlin walls could suggest though
that Eduard Shevarnaze would be replaced by an openly
anti-Russian politician.

Today it can be stated that Russia has lost its chess
games in both Ukraine and Georgia even having
advantages.

Many of Bush's foreign political gains are Russia's
losses.

On September 11, 2001...is when the US administration
turned to unilateral global actions. Bush decided that
the lack of the second superpower in the world allowed
him to carry out foreign politics exclusively in the
light of the US interests.
....
America lost its chance. It did not agree on the
format of co-operation with the countries
participating in the global war on terrorism.

In order to resolve local tasks he allied with
Uzbekistan, deploying a military base Karshi-Hanabad
to support military operations in Afghanistan.

When Vladimir Putin uttered words of support for the
USA on TV some hopes for US-Russian co-operation and
friendship appeared.

If the US invasion into Afghanistan was perceived by
Russians as a lesser evil in comparison with the
unpredictable and aggressive Taliban, the Crusade
against Baghdad provoked only negative reactions.

Russia was far from perceiving the Saddam regime as a
friendly one, but Iraq for many years was a centre
from which waves of Soviet and then Russian influence
were dispersing around the Arab world.

Another circumstance disliked by Moscow is a chronic
fear of events that can take place at the Arabic
peninsula.

A crisis on the oil market, virtually triggered by
Americans in Saudi Arabia, became one of the reasons
for the collapse of the USSR in due time.

Nobody is asking today whether Americans could or
could not find weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.

They have never been there.

But oil and the dangerous addiction of the USA to the
oil exports from Gulf present another point.

A naive fairy tale about the bad guy Saddam, his
maltreatment of his own and nearby peoples, and
threats against the USA was created for simple-minded
Americans.

It is extremely unlikely that the Bush administration
itself believed in the hurly-burly created for public
consumption. The real intentions of the USA in the
Gulf were of course perfectly well understood in the
Washington offices.

Control over oil. It suggests a number of advantages.
The first advantage is stable oil supplies to the
American continent. This process will be smooth under
the barrels of US guns.

The second advantage is an opportunity to exert strong
pressure on Russia that has become a hostage of the
oil needle.

The third advantage of the US presence in the Gulf is
the control over China.

Chine reached the second place in the oil consumption
in 2005 after the USA, the speed of the economic
growth is very high there.

And the latter can be sustained only at the expense of
the energy imports from the Gulf. Americans have
partially received a key to the Arab oil, so China had
to diversify its energy imports, concluding
appropriate agreements with Russia and Kazakhstan.

The unilateral foreign political doctrine of the USA
does not promise any good to the Central Asian states.


A clear example is Uzbekistan that actively
co-operated with the United States for several years,
gaining nothing apart from the headaches. The Andijan
events of May 2005 have marked a final break of
alliance between the USA and Uzbekistan.

Today Americans are seeking a centre of gravity in the
neighbouring Kazakhstan.....

The financial aid not received by Uzbekistan can now
start flowing towards Kazakhstan.

Another point is how the Kazakhstani government
regards its relationship with the United States. It is
enough to cast a glance to the US policies in Ukraine
and Kazakhstan in order to realise: it can turn into a
bigger economic and political dependence.

Kyrgyzstan does not have a choice. Possessing limited
natural and export resources, this country cannot oust
the US airbase provoking displeasure of China.

Tajikistan is more concerned about the problems that
don't have any direct relation to the American foreign
strategy. Having the lowest living standard in the
republic, Tajikistan is resolving immediate economic
tasks without thinking too much about tomorrow.

The formula of the politics of Turkmenistan is "don't
touch me and I will not touch you." Close in his
self-sufficient autarky Saparmurat Miyazov only
sometimes shows interest in the Turkmen tariff
policies, because the transit of Turkmen gas is
carried out through the Uzbek gas networks.

Anyway, generally Central Asia can be satisfied with
the fact that the US concerns are outside the life
important zones of the region.

On the other hand, the developments in Kyrgyzstan show
that the appetite of George Bush Jr. is bigger than it
is recognised officially.




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AKI Press (Kyrgyzstan)
June 1, 2006


Group on Central Asia rattles US


China and Russia moved to fortify their growing
security cooperation in Central Asia, but reassured
the United States that their newfound unity of purpose
in the region was not designed to subvert US interests
there.

Chinese President Hu Jintao said the new security
grouping led by China and Russia on Central Asia had
become an “important force” for peace and stability in
the world, while Russian President Vladimir Putin
acknowledged growing “competition” to the group.

In the first meeting of its kind, parliamentary
leaders from the six countries of the Shanghai
Cooperation Organisation (SCO) met on Tuesday in
Moscow to discuss ways to harmonise their laws and
begin building a legislative dimension for the
grouping.

The SCO parliamentary leaders held a meeting at the
Kremlin with Putin, who said involvement of national
legislatures in the organisation would “enrich the
partnership” of its member states.

Led by China and Russia, the SCO, founded five years
ago, also includes Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan
and Tajikistan.

Other key countries in the region – India, Iran,
Mongolia and Pakistan – currently have observer status
and have also expressed interest in becoming full
members.

The United States however is not a member and,
according to sources, is growing increasingly uneasy
at the direction and purpose of the organisation,
which has been described by experts as the foundation
of a new Eurasian counterweight to the North Atlantic
Treaty Organisation.


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Stars And Stripes
June 2, 2006


Navy's top security officer in Europe joins talks on
security issues in Africa
By Jason Chudy


The Navy’s top officer in Europe was in Abuja,
Nigeria, this week taking part in a three-day
conference that included discussions of increasing
security and safety in the continent’s waters.

Naval Forces Europe commander Adm. Harry Ulrich and
members of his staff met with representatives from 47
nations and 13 international organizations in the Sea
Power for Africa symposium.

The symposium enabled African navies to discuss and
find solutions to common maritime problems on the
continent, according to the Nigerian navy’s Web site.

Ulrich addressed the conference Monday, talking about
maritime safety and security as well as the importance
of maritime domain awareness, or the idea that the
nations should pay close attention to what’s happening
off their shores.
....
[T]he Gulf of Guinea region, including host-nation
Nigeria, is rich in oil....

The Gulf of Guinea region has been a key focus of U.S.
naval forces in Europe.

For the past two years, the La Maddalena, Italy-based
submarine tender USS Emory S. Land has deployed to the
region, working with nations along the continent’s
western shores.

The region is also key to the U.S. European Command,
which has pinned much of its future focus on Africa
and Eastern Europe.

Non-African nations taking part in the symposium are
Germany, France, the United Kingdom and Brazil.


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Xinhua News Agency
June 1, 2006


Upcoming SCO summit "milestone": organization chief


-The member nations have invited leaders of the four
observer countries to attend the meeting, in addition
to President of Afghanistan Hamid Karzai, who will
come as guest of the host country.
The leaders of some international organizations will
also be invited for the first time to attend a summit
meeting of the regional group.
-[SCO member states] sent a strong signal to the
international community that the SCO is an
organization of peace, cooperation, openness and
nonalignment that is devoted to promoting regional
stability, security and development.


BEIJING - The upcoming summit meeting of the Shanghai
Cooperation Organization (SCO) will be a "milestone"
that marks a new stage for the development of the
5-year-old organization, the chief of the regional
group said here Thursday.

During the June 15 summit meeting, slated for
Shanghai, the heads of state of the member countries
will review the SCO's achievements and in its
construction and development over the past five years,
said SCO Secretary-General Zhang Deguang.

The organization, established in Shanghai in 2001,
comprises China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia,
Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.

Since 2004, it has accepted Mongolia, Iran, Pakistan
and India as observers.

The six heads of state will also draw up the future
developmentgoals and tasks of the organization, Zhang
said in an exclusive interview with Xinhua.

The member nations have invited leaders of the four
observer countries to attend the meeting, in addition
to President of Afghanistan Hamid Karzai who will come
as guest of the host country.

The leaders of some international organizations will
also be invited for the first time to attend a summit
meeting of the regional group.

As preparations are going on smoothly, Zhang said, all
parties concerned have basically reached a consensus
on the main agenda of the summit meeting, and some
documents on development and cooperation are expected
to be signed.

Over the past five years, he said, the SCO has
completed its institutional construction and legal
framework. "The necessary systems and mechanisms are
all in place, creating conditions and laying a sound
foundation for promoting regional stability and
economic development."

The SCO will devote itself to regional economic
integration. "Our present goal is to realize the free
flow of commodities, capital, technologies and
services in the region within 20 years,"said Zhang.

The SCO pursues an open policy, but it has not
formulated legal documents on accepting new members at
present, he added.

Zhang refuted media reports calling the SCO an
"oriental NATO, "saying this is "totally groundless."

The SCO has never sought confrontation with any
parties and its aims have nothing to do at all with
becoming a military bloc. The organization will
continue holding high the banner of peace, cooperation
and openness, said Zhang.

As a founding member, China has played "a very
important role" in the establishment of the SCO and
the formation of its aims and principles, especially
the "Shanghai Spirit," which embodies mutual trust and
benefit, equality, respect for cultural diversityand a
desire for common development.

The SCO is the first intergovernmental organization
with its headquarters in China.

Zhang said the remarks of Chinese President Hu Jintao
during a joint interview by journalists of SCO member
states on Tuesday showed that the Chinese leaders
attach great importance to the SCO.

They also sent a strong signal to the international
community that the SCO is an organization of peace,
cooperation, openness and nonalignment that is devoted
to promoting regional stability, security and
development.

The challenges the SCO now faces mainly include the
"three forces" of terrorism, separatism and extremism,
as well as drug trafficking, cross-border crimes and
illegal trafficking and sale of weapons, he said.

The SCO member countries also have to deal with the
attempts to disturb the "normal process" of their
social, political and economic development, in
addition to poverty reduction, diseases and natural
disasters.

On the Iran nuclear issue, Zhang expressed the hope
that it would be properly settled through negotiations
and diplomatic efforts.

As all the member countries have agreed to invite the
leaders of SCO observers to attend the summit meeting,
the presence of the Iranian leader will not conflict
with the international efforts to resolve the Iran
nuclear issue, said Zhang.



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http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=12720


Civil Georgia
June 2, 2006


Ivanov Warns of Provocations in S. Ossetia


Tbilisi = Russian Defense Minister Sergey Ivanov
warned on June 2 that provocations are being planned
against the Russian peacekeeping troops in the South
Ossetian conflict zone, Interfax news agency reported.

“Anything is possible at anytime there,” Ivanov said.

He also said that the Russian peacekeepers will remain
in the South Ossetian conflict zone as long as
relevant political agreements are in force.
------------------------------------------------------
http://www.interfax.ru/e/B/politics/28.html?id_issue=11528254


Interfax
June 2, 2006


Russia accuses Georgia of violating understandings on
Ossetia settlement


MOSCOW - Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has
described the latest moves of Georgia in the
Georgian-Ossetian conflict zone as a violation of all
the understandings that had been reached in the early
1990s and an attempt to aggravate the situation in the
region.

He said that Georgia is incapable of controlling the
situation in South Ossetia because it is an
internationally recognized conflict zone.

"What is happening there now is a violation of all the
understandings signed in 1992 and 1993 after bloodshed
had been stopped at a high price, including the life
of Russian servicemen," Lavrov said during his
Thursday visit to the headquarters of the Black Sea
Economic Cooperation organization in Istanbul.
------------------------------------------------------
http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=12722


Civil Georgia
June 2, 2006


Tbilisi Briefs Foreign Diplomats over South Ossetia


Tbilisi - Georgian Deputy Foreign Minister Valery
Chechelashvili and State Minister for Conflict
Resolution Issues Giorgi Khaindrava met with diplomats
from EU member states, as well as U.S. Ambassador John
Teft and representatives of the international
organization accredited in Georgia and briefed them
over Georgia’s position regarding the situation in the
South Ossetian conflict zone.

The Georgian Deputy Foreign Minister stressed that
Georgia is committed to solving the conflict only
through peaceful means and dismissed allegations by
the Russian and the South Ossetian sides that Tbilisi
is preparing to regain control over the breakaway
region with the use of force.

“The only thing we are now preparing is the upcoming
donors’ conference in Brussels, scheduled for June
14,” Chechelashvili said.

It is expected that donor countries will be asked to
contribute EUR 10 million to fund infrastructure and
economic rehabilitation projects which were proposed
in an OSCE-led Needs Assessment Study.

Georgia considers these rehabilitation projects an
important part of confidence building process in the
conflict zone.




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http://www.regnum.ru/english/650819.html


Regnum (Russia)
June 2, 2006


Picketers follow bus with NATO troops along the whole
Crimea (Ukraine)


-Leader of the Ukrainian Progressive Party Natalya
Vitrenko believes that they want to establish a NATO
base (a building site is already cleared away at Old
Crimean ground) not only for threatening Russia, but
as a base for “summer attack on Iran.”


On July 2, a session of the Crimean Supreme Council
started, which is supposed to consider appointment of
the Crimean Council of Ministers’ chairman.

As a REGNUM correspondent reports, the session started
quite loud, as a number of MPs urged to include
immediately the issue of NATO presence in Crimea into
the agenda.

The MPs’ decisiveness was strengthened not only by the
blockade of the port of Feodosia, but by yesterday’s
arrival by air of 150 US infantrymen (according to
other reports, the number was 120).

Largely activists of the Proryv! Non-Governmental
Youth Alliance.

Nonetheless, according to information received by the
REGNUM correspondent from participants of the picket,
after leaving the airport, the NATO troops had to take
a roundabout way through the whole night and cover
about 500 km, as the Ukrainian authorities decided
because of security reasons to convoy them through a
bypass route, via north-western areas in Crimea.

However, Crimeans somehow learned the by-pass route
and met it near the village of Vladislavovka, breaking
windows of the NATO buses.

The convoy turned backwards and and headed towards the
village of Partenit, but its residents blocked entry
to the village.

Then, the NATO troops were sent to a health center in
Alushta, and another picket is being held there right
now.

Participants of the picket claim for moving the
unwanted guests away, otherwise, threatening to block
the health center. At that they refer to the fact that
there was no Supreme Rada’s decision on arrival of
NATO corps to Crimea.

Blockade of the port of Feodosia turns to become a
national one, as picketers from Donetsk,
Dnepropetrovsk, Nikolayev, Zaporozhye, Odessa and
other cities.

People have been scanning “Our future is with
Russia!,” “Russia is a friend, NATO is an enemy!,”
“Shame on predators,” “Yankee, go home!”.

Leader of the Crimean Communists Leonid Grach
announced at the meeting that they would “lie down
under caterpillar track, but would not let NATO in!”

Leader of the Ukrainian Progressive Party Natalya
Vitrenko believes that they want to establish a NATO
base (a building site is already cleared away at Old
Crimean ground) not only for threatening Russia, but
as a base for “summer attack on Iran.”

The REGNUM correspondent is also told in the village
of Novoozyornoye, where major Donuzlav sea base is
located left from the Soviet times that at present
time Ukrainians hastily prepare it for deploying NATO
forces.

“On several Ukrainian Web-sites information was
published citing Vzglyad newspaper containing impudent
and flagrant words by Deputy Chhief Commander of the
Ukrainian Navy Ilya Chaly,” Crimean political analyst
Vladimir Jaralla has told to the REGNUM correspondent.


“It says that Chaly allegedly answered to all claims
presented by Feodosian MPS concerning deploying of
NATO troops in their territory in the following words:
‘NATO helps Ukraine, military training is held at
their expense. And Russia is enemy number one.’”

“If this high-ranking military official has really
worded this aggressive statement, he should be
immediately withdrawn from the commandment of the
Ukrainian Armed Forces, as he is more dangerous than
any terrorist,” the analyst believes.




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Russian Information Agency (Novosti)
June 2, 2006


Georgia has not ruled out S. Ossetia military action -
FM Lavrov


MOSCOW - Georgia's recent actions show it has not
ruled out a military solution to the long-running
South Ossetia conflict, Russia's foreign minister said
Friday.

Sergei Lavrov told journalists that Georgia had
refused to sign agreements on South Ossetia that would
prohibit the use of force to resolve the conflict, and
that Georgia has procured a large number of weapons.

"This is a huge quantity of offensive weapons. All of
this can only lead to the thought that the use of
force to resolve the situation is being considered,"
Lavrov said.

He said Russia has always supported Georgia's
territorial integrity, but that "in conditions when a
considerable part of Georgia is internationally
acknowledged as a conflict zone - South Ossetia, as
well as Abkhazia - the Georgian authorities cannot
really control this territory."

"To solve the problem we need to return to the
negotiating table, which are often hindered and
sometimes sabotaged by Georgia," Lavrov said.

Georgia's state minister for conflict resolution
issues earlier accused Russia of bringing forces into
South Ossetia in excess of an established quota for
peacekeepers, using the rotation of its peacekeeping
battalion in the zone of the Georgian-Ossetian
conflict as a cover.

A Russian peacekeeping battalion has been stationed in
South Ossetia since an end to fighting in the early
1990s after the region tried to secede from Georgia.






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Regnum (Russia)
June 2, 2006


South Ossetian President: We call on Georgian
officials not to follow their leader


-"I want to remind to the Georgian leadership that its
chief has got bogged down in Afghanistan and Iraq
anyway, and I call on Georgia not to go in the same
way.”


“Conducting a referendum on South Ossetian
independence in 1992, we struggled against Georgian
separatism, because the USSR was at that time a legal
state, recognized in the whole world,” South Ossetian
President Eduard Kokoity stated on June 2, 2006 at a
news conference in Moscow, a REGNUM correspondent
informs.

“By the way, in Russia nobody hindered us in holding
the referendum and nobody organized peoples’
genocide,” Kokoity stated. “As for Georgia, it refused
to recognize the referendum, abolished South Ossetian
autonomy and organized genocide of the Ossetian
people.”

“Georgia is a puppet state, which spends its
practically whole budget for armaments; at the same
time, its economy and social sphere are in a shaky
position. It is absolutely obvious that Georgia is
going to settle Abkhazian and South Ossetian problems
by using force. From our part, we call on the Georgian
leadership to reject these plans,” The South Ossetian
president stated.

“Labeling Georgia as a puppet state, I mean its
leadership,” Eduard Kokoity stressed.

“I respect the Georgian people. Everybody understands
who designates such policy of Georgia, if the
ambassador of a foreign country takes decisions at a
session of the State Security Council, practically
leading it.

"I want to remind to the Georgian leadership that its
chief has got bogged down in Afghanistan and Iraq
anyway, and I call on Georgia not to go in the same
way.”

“From our part, we are going further to strive for
recognition of the Republic of South Ossetia and its
joining Russia,” Kokoity concluded.



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Itar-Tass
June 2, 2006


Crimea defies illegal presence of US ship at Crimean
port.


FEODOSIA - The population of the Crimea continues
protests and pickets against the arrival of the U.S.
military transport ship - the Advantage, that brought
cargoes and some weapons to Feodosia sea port intended
for Ukraine’s military test sites.

Vasily Kisilyov, leader of the Crimean branch of the
Party of Regions, declared on Friday that "the
population of the Crimea would appeal to the UN
Security Council and Russia, asking to defend Ukraine
from NATO intervention if the pro-Western forces in
the Ukrainian Rada pass a law on the presence of
foreign troops on the territory of Ukraine,"

"The US ship, that was absolutely illegally unloaded
at the Ukrainian sea port, rallied the entire
population and all political organizations, with
pro-orange forces standing shoulder-to shoulder to us.
A threat of Ukraine’s disintegration has united all of
us," Kisilyov told Tass on Friday.

"Yushchenko has trespassed the law, violated the
Constitution, allowing the US marines, who brought
cargoes and weapons, to land on the territory of
Ukraine," Kisilyov said. On Friday, the Presidium of
the Crimean Supreme Council will address President
Yushchenko, demanding explanations about the situation
in Feodosia. If he fails to settle the problem, the
question of Yushchenko’s impeachment will be raised,
Kisilyov said.

Meanwhile, protest acts and pickets are containing at
the Ukrainian merchant sea port protesting against the
equipment and weapons brought by the U.S., military
transport ship from being sent elsewhere.

Around 50 Cossacks guarded the gates to the seaport
terminal throughout last night.

The Ukrainian National Security and Defense Council
will discuss the situation in the Crimea that
obviously went out of the central authorities’
control.

A conference held by President Yushchenko with
representatives of the Ukrainian security structures
ruled to call a meeting of the Ukrainian Security
Council, said press secretary of the Ukrainian
president Irina Gerashchenko on Friday.








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Itar-Tass
June 2, 2006


Georgia plots use of force in South Ossetia - Lavrov


MOSCOW - Georgia is hatching plans for the use of
force in a bid to resolve problems in South Ossetia,
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Friday.


“Purchases of a attack weapons in amounts tremendous
for a normal country cannot but make us suspicious,”
Lavrov said. “We see this fact and we have been doing
everything to upset such plots, if they do exist.”
------------------------------------------------------
http://en.rian.ru/world/20060602/48973565.html


Russian Information Agency (Novosti)
June 2, 2006


Russia, Georgia continue clash over separatist S.
Ossetia


MOSCOW - Russia and Georgia continued Friday a heated
exchange over the unrecognized republic of South
Ossetia that was re-ignited by a Russian peacekeeping
battalion's rotation in the region at the end of last
month.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that
Georgia had no control over the zone of the South
Ossetia conflict, which dates back to the early 1990s,
and its claims that Russia refused to recognize
Georgia's territorial integrity were unfounded.

He also said that Georgia had refused to sign
agreements on South Ossetia that would prohibit the
use of force to resolve the conflict and that Georgia
has procured a large number of weapons.

"All of this can only lead to the thought that the use
of force to resolve the situation is being
considered," Lavrov said.

Georgia's state minister for conflict resolution
issues earlier accused Russia of bringing forces into
South Ossetia in excess of an established quota for
peacekeepers and using the rotation of its
peacekeeping battalion in the zone of the
Georgian-Ossetian conflict as a cover.

Giorgi Khaindrava also slammed statements made by
South Ossetian leader Eduard Kokoity that the
unrecognized republic in Georgia was de facto a part
of Russia.

"Let him say whatever he wants to say," Khaindrava
said. "He is talking about South Ossetia being part of
Russia for the 799th time."

Earlier Friday, Kokoity told a press conference in
Moscow: "At present, South Ossetia is de facto part of
Russia, because 90% of the citizens of the
unrecognized republic are Russian citizens who have
Russian passports."

The South Ossetian leader said the republic determined
its goal to join Russia during a 1991 referendum that
adhered to all international standards and should be
recognized by the international community.

He added that Russian laws were enforced in South
Ossetia and that the ruble was an official currency.
....
Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov reiterated
Friday that Russian peacekeepers in South Ossetia
would see their mission through to the end despite the
threats to their safety.

"Our soldiers will implement their mandate to the end,
until all political agreements are in existence,"
Sergei Ivanov told journalists.

Ivanov said the presence of Russian peacekeepers in
the conflict zone was the only factor preventing an
outbreak of war.

He also said peacekeepers were acting under a mandate
from the Joint Control Commission -comprising Georgia,
South Ossetia and Russia - which is attempting to find
a solution to the conflict and added that Russia had
no plans to increase the number of peacekeepers.

A Russian peacekeeping battalion has been stationed in
South Ossetia since an end to fighting in the early
1990s after the region tried to secede from Georgia.







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Interfax
June 2, 2006


Kyiv ignoring public opinion on NATO - Russian Foreign
Ministry


MOSCOW - Moscow believes that the Ukrainian leadership
should take into account public opinion in Ukraine on
interaction with NATO, Russian Foreign Ministry
spokesman Mikhail Kamynin told journalists on Friday,
commenting on mass protests in Theodosia [Feodosia]
against the arrival of NATO servicemen in the Crimea.

"Russia is closely following developments in
Theodosia," said Kamynin, whose remarks to the press
are available on the Russian Foreign Ministry website.


"Sure, aspects of Ukraine's relationship with NATO
should be within the Ukrainian leadership's
jurisdiction. But this all should be done within the
legal framework, based on the Ukrainian law, and, what
is the most important, with full respect for their own
public opinion as a fundamental principle of a free
and democratic state," he said.





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Interfax
June 2, 2006


Russian peacekeepers will not be made to leave
conflict zone - Kokoity


MOSCOW - Russia's peacekeeping contingent will not be
ordered to leave the Georgian-South Ossetian conflict
zone even if the Georgian authorities demand that they
be withdrawn, the breakaway province's President
Eduard Kokoity said at a news conference at the
Interfax central office on Friday.

"Nobody will make Russian peacekeeping forces pull-out
from the conflict zone, no matter what provocative
acts are staged and what attempts are made to
discredit them, " he said.

"In my opinion, Russian peacekeepers should stay in
the area until the conflict is settled," Kokoity said.

------------------------------------------------------
http://www.interfax.ru/e/B/politics/28.html?id_issue=11528337


Interfax
June 2, 2006


South Ossetia seeking to become part of Russia -
Kokoity


MOSCOW - South Ossetia's aim is to merge with the
Russian republic of North Ossetia and to enter the
Russian Federation, the breakaway province's President
Eduard Kokoity told a news conference at the Interfax
central office on Friday.

"The leaders and the people of South Ossetia defined
their objectives a long time ago. The ultimate goal of
our struggle is to restore historical justice, to
merge with North Ossetia and to become part of the
Russian Federation," he said.

"South Ossetia has already become a de facto Russian
region. Ninety-five percent of South Ossetia's
population are citizens of the Russian Federation,"
Kokoity said.









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Reuters
June 2, 2006


Japan Moves To End Ban on Military Use of Space


-Japan has been stretching the boundaries of its
postwar pacifist constitution in various ways, notably
by sending troops to Iraq in what is seen as the armed
forces’ most dangerous overseas mission since World
War II.


TOKYO - Japan’s ruling party aims to end a decades-old
ban on military involvement in space development,
officials said on June 2.

A bill that would relax regulations and allow
non-aggressive military use of space is expected to be
submitted to parliament later this year, the Liberal
Democratic Party (LDP) officials said.

Japan’s armed forces are prohibited from involvement
in space development under a strict interpretation of
a 1969 parliamentary resolution limiting the use of
space to peaceful purposes.

Critics have said this puts Japan at a disadvantage
compared with countries such as Russia and the United
States, where technology developed for military
purposes often then filters down to the commercial
market.

The regulation has also affected the quality of
information available to Japan’s armed forces, which
are prohibited from developing their own satellites.

The LDP will seek to revise the parliamentary
resolution after enacting the new law, the officials
said.
....
An attempt to launch a further two intelligence
satellites later the same year had to be aborted, an
embarrassing failure for Japan while rival China has
carried out manned space flights - something Japan has
never attempted.

Japan has been stretching the boundaries of its
postwar pacifist constitution in various ways, notably
by sending troops to Iraq in what is seen as the armed
forces’ most dangerous overseas mission since World
War II.

The outline of the legislation stresses the need for
Japan to secure closer cooperation between the public
and private sectors, maintain its own space technology
and improve the competitiveness of its space industry.

Japan’s 1947 constitution has been interpreted as
allowing armed forces but strictly limiting their role
to self-defense.

The government has been stretching that restriction,
however, most recently with a decision to send about
500 soldiers to help rebuild Iraq.


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Prime News
June 2, 2006


De Facto South Ossetian President Terms Georgia As
Puppet State


Tbilisi – Georgia is a puppet state and spends almost
all its budget on armament, while its economics and
social sphere are in sorrow state, Eduard Kokoiti, de
facto President of South Ossetia said at the press
conference in Moscow on Friday.
“We were fighting against Georgian separatism by
holding referendum on South Ossetian independence in
1992, since the Soviet Union was a legal, recognised
state at that time”, he said.

“There was no prohibition of referendums and genocide
of people in Russia. Georgia abolished autonomy of
south Ossetia and committed genocide of Ossetian
people”, he added.

“It is clear that Georgia is not going to resolve
Georgian-South Ossetian and Georgian-Abkhazian
conflicts peacefully. We appeal to the Georgian
government to reject those plans”, De Facto president
said.

“I would like to remind Georgians that their master
has already lost wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and I
appeal to them not to take the same path”, Eduard
Kokoiti added.


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Prime News
June 2, 2006


US Embassy Appeals To Russia And Georgia To Hold
Negotiations


-“All we can do is to explain CIS member states that
if Russia’s illegal and violent actions are not
stopped now, it will continue so in the future too.
And this will turn into the international problem”,
State Minister said at the press conference after the
meeting with ambassadors of the EU member states, UN
and the USA in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of
Georgia.



Tbilisi – The US Embassy to Georgia Appeals To Russia
And Georgia to carry out negotiations and find
solution for the given state.

“We have got detailed information on the situation in
Tskhinvali region. Georgia is concerned with Russia’s
actions. The Georgian and Russian parties should carry
out negotiations. The USA supports peaceful resolution
of the Georgian-South Ossetian conflict”, Mark Perry,
Deputy US Ambassador told journalists after the
meeting held in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on
Friday.

Support from foreign diplomats is the only way for
resolving the issue on deployment of additional
contingent of Russian peacekeepers in Tskhinvali
region and Abkhazia, Giorgi Khaindrava, State Minister
for Conflicts Resolution told journalists.

“All we can do is to explain CIS member states that if
Russia’s illegal and violent actions are not stopped
now, it will continue so in the future too. And this
will turn into the international problem”, State
Minister said at the press conference after the
meeting with ambassadors of the EU member states, UN
and the USA in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of
Georgia.


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Agence France-Presse
June 2, 2006


Anti-NATO demonstrators block US forces in Ukraine


KIEV - Activists from Ukraine's pro-Russian opposition
Friday prevented around 100 US troops from reaching a
Ukrainian army base in Crimea, southern Ukraine, the
Interfax news agency reported.

The Americans were to be housed in a Ukrainian defence
ministry sanatorium in the southern Crimean village of
Partenit while they prepared for military exercises
designed to develop military cooperation between
Ukraine and NATO.

But an anti-NATO demonstration blocked the road to the
village, and the US troops had to be housed in a
different sanatorium some distance away in Alushta.

The preparations for the Sea Breeze 2006 military
manoeuvres involving NATO members and their former
Cold-War Warsaw Pact enemies, now participants in
NATO's Partnership for Peace, have met with a great
deal of opposition in Ukraine.

The country's pro-Western President, Viktor
Yushchenko, wants Ukraine to join NATO eventually, but
a large section of the population is opposed to that
goal.

The former Soviet country is split between those who
favour maintaining a special relationship with Russia
and those who want to forge closer ties with Western
institutions.

The pro-Russian Regions party came top in
parliamentary elections held on March 26, but has not
been able to form a government.

The Communist party, well represented at the Crimea
demonstrations, is also staunchly pro-Russian [sic].

Hostility to the North Atlantic alliance is
particularly strong in Crimea, where the Russian Black
Sea fleet is based.

Also on the initiative of Ukraine's pro-Russian
parties, several dozen people have been blocking the
port of Feodosia in eastern Crimea in protest at the
arrival of a US ship carrying military materials.

And there have been demonstrations at the nearby
Starokrymsky training facility, where the Sea Breeze
exercises are due to take place, Interfax reported.








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Interfax
June 2, 2006


Russia won't subsidize political transformation in
Ukraine - Putin


NOVO-OGARYOVO - Russia is not going to subsidize
the political transformation under way in Ukraine,
Russian President Vladimir Putin said.

"Our Western friends very actively supported the
orange events in Ukraine,and we can perfectly see what
has been happening there all this time," Putin  said
at a meeting with the heads of the leading news
agencies from the G8 countries on Friday evening.

"If you want to support everything that is happening
there, you pay for it. Why should we do that?" Putin
said.

Russia has been supplying energy resources to the West
promptly and flawlessly for forty years, Putin said.

"As to the fact that the transiting country - Ukraine
- siphoned off significant amounts of European
resources, questions on this account
should be put to Ukraine, not to us," he said.

Talking about the increase in energy prices for
Ukraine, Putin said Russia has been subsidizing
Ukraine in the amount of $3.5 billion annually over
the  past 15 years. "Each year we raised the question
of switching to the European method of pricing," he
said.

"Why should German consumers pay $250 per 1,000 cubic
meters [of gas] and Ukrainians $50? But if you want to
present such a gift to Ukraine - pay for it," Putin
said addressing the head of a German news
agency, who asked a question about Russia's energy
dealings with its foreign partners.

"Why do you want us to make such gifts? Take those
$3.5 billion out of the pockets of German taxpayers
and explain to them why this is appropriate - we won't
have anything against this, just pay the money,"
Putin said.




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Russian Information Agency (Novosti)
June 2, 2006


Russia lays responsibility for CFE treaty on NATO
states
Taras Lariokhin


VIENNA - Responsibility for the future of the
Conventional Forces in Europe Treaty lies with NATO
countries, the head of a Russian delegation to a
Vienna conference said Friday.

"Given the unconstructive position of NATO member
countries, and their unwillingness to launch the
ratification process of the adaptation agreement, all
responsibility for the CFE's future will rest with our
Western partners," said Anatoly Antonov, who heads the
Foreign Ministry's department on security and
disarmament.

"Russia will conduct a comprehensive analysis of the
situation regarding control over armaments," he said,
adding that the treaty no longer reflected the
signatories' interests.






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Itar-Tass
June 2, 2006


Ukrainian Russians demand NATO servicemen out


-[D]eputies called on the Ukrainian president and
parliament to stop “pulling the country into NATO,
because that contradicts the people’s will and
actually eliminates the national sovereignty through
an occupation of Ukraine by foreign forces.”


DONETSK - The Ukrainian Russian community has
supported Crimean protests against the arrival of NATO
servicemen and demanded their “expulsion from the
Ukrainian territory, the punishment of culprits, and
the prevention of similar incidents in the future,”
says a Friday statement received by Itar-Tass.

“Ukrainian authorities have been maniacally driving
away the Russian language and culture and trying to
separate the people from fraternal Russia for many
years,” community chairman Konstantin Shurov told
Itar-Tass.

“The Crimea has become an outpost of this struggle.
For many years it has been hosting Sea Breeze
exercises involving NATO. It seems that the exercises
are bound to accustom people with the presence of
foreign servicemen on the territory of sovereign
Ukraine and eventually put the people and the
territory into the hands of the NATO military,” he
said.

The U.S. Advantage freighter’s visit to the Ukrainian
seaport of Feodosiya and the landing of a plane
carrying American ‘specialists’ in Simferopol
flagrantly breach the declaration on state
sovereignty, which the Ukrainian parliament adopted on
July 16, 1990, and the constitution that proclaimed
the neutral status of Ukraine, Shurov said.

Meanwhile the Lugansk region, which has a
746-kilometer border on Russia, has been proclaimed a
NATO-free territory at the Friday session of the
regional council.

Lugansk deputies called on the Ukrainian president and
parliament to stop “pulling the country into NATO,
because that contradicts the people’s will and
actually eliminates the national sovereignty through
an occupation of Ukraine by foreign forces.”

The deputies also sent an appeal to city, town and
village councils of the Lugansk region.

Thereby lawmakers denied entry to NATO servicemen,
instructors and other representatives to the Lugansk
region. They said they would withstand any attempts of
NATO to interfere in the regional life, including the
economy, culture, politics and science.
....

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RosBusinessConsulting
June 2, 2006


Russia and Belarus to hold joint military exercises in
June


Minsk - Russia and Belarus are to hold Union Shield -
2006, large-scale command and staff military
exercises, in the Belarus training facilities on June
17-25.

The exercises are intended to settle questions
relating to the Union State defense, and test the
efficiency of the established united air defense
system, Lieutenant General Sergei Gurulev, Chief of
General Staff of the Belarus Armed Forces, told a
press conference today.

The main purpose of the exercises is to evaluate the
ability of regional detachments of the Russian and
Belarusian Armed Forces to defend the Union State.

A total of 8,800 people will take part in the
exercises, including 7,000 people from Belarus and
1,800 Russians.

Various types of military equipment will be employed
in the exercises - more than 40 tanks, around 180
armored infantry carriers, 140 anti-tank guided
missiles, 40 artillery pieces and 30 multiple launch
rocket systems.

The Air Forces and Air Defense Forces of the two
countries will participate in the exercises.



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RosBusinessConsulting
June 2, 2006


Georgia gives Russia 3 hours for troop withdrawal


Georgia gives Russia until 6:00 p.m. Moscow time to
withdraw 500 troops from South Ossetia and 1,000
troops from Abkhazia, Georgy Khaindrava, Georgia's
State Minister for conflict settlement, said at a news
conference in Tbilisi on Friday.

Earlier on the same day, he accused Russia in
intervention, saying, “We have already explained to
everyone that we will not put up with Russia’s actions
in the Tskhinvali region. It is unlawfulness and
violence, and under no circumstances will we tolerate
this. Today is the last day of the unlawful rotation
of Russia’s peacekeeping battalion, but not a single
Russian serviceman has left Georgian soil. We will
monitor the situation until the evening, after which
we will make our assessment. In international language
this is called intervention,” he said.

On May 31 the rotation of Russian troops took place,
as part of the Joint Peacekeeping Forces in the Area
of the Georgian-Ossetian conflict.

The battalion numbers 500 troops. Fresh troops came
through the Roksky Tunnel, which is not under
Georgia’s control.

Georgian authorities saw it as a challenge from
Russia, but Russia’s Foreign Ministry assured them
that Russia “was far from the intention of infringing
on Georgia’s sovereignty and humiliating its national
pride.”

The passage of Russian troops and equipment through
the Roksky Tunnel was in compliance with the
resolutions of the Joint Control Commission, the
Russian Foreign Ministry said. The co-chairmen of the
commission were notified twice about the planned
passage, on April 24 and May 11.

Troops rotations, which are in full compliance with
the international legal documents regulating
peacekeeping operations in conflict areas, have been
carried out since 1992, when the Joint Peacekeeping
Forces were formed.

Meanwhile, Georgia itself had violated the agreements,
the Russian Foreign Ministry said, referring as an
example to the rotation of a Georgian battalion
without notifying the Joint Control Commission, the
Russian Foreign Ministry said.

“We respect the principle of territorial integrity.
But for Georgia, territorial integrity is rather a
possible state than reality, and it can only be
achieved through complicated negotiations, in which
South Ossetia’s position is based on the right of
nations to self-determination,” the statement said.


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Ukrainian Journal
June 2, 2006


More U.S. troops airlifted to Crimea to prepare for
NATO exercise


KIEV - More U.S. troops were airlifted to Crimea on
Thursday to prepare for a joint NATO-Ukrainian
military exercise that had been tentatively scheduled
for the next month, an official said.

Sending the troops, mostly engineering reservists, may
trigger greater protests from vocal pro-Russian
parties that have been campaigning vigorously over the
past four days against the exercise.
------------------------------------------------------
http://5tv.com.ua/eng/newsline/179/0/26328/


Channel Five (Ukraine)
June 2, 2006


Anti-NATO protests in Crimea spread


The anti-NATO protests in Crimea have spread to at
least three locations.

On Friday, theCommunist Party, the Vitrenko bloc and
Crimean Kozaks [Cossacks] prevented US soldiers from
entering the sanatorium in the Partentit resort town.

The troops were supposed to stay there as part of the
international Sea Breeze exercises.

The sanatorium is operated by the Defense ministry.

Other protesters sought to prevent access to the Old
Crimean military training grounds on the peninsula.

Another group continued to block the port in Feodosiya
where the US ship Advantage delivered cargo for use in
the naval exercises on May 27.

Ukraine has been taking part in Sea Breeze since 1997.


This year, 17 countries are expected to participate.
------------------------------------------------------
http://www.nrcu.gov.ua/index.php?id=148&listid=29395


National Radio Company of Ukraine
June 2, 2006


National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine held
special session today


The NSDC session tackled the situation in Crimea and
resolved to continue preparations for holding
multinational military exercises Sea Breeze 2006 and
Tight Knot 2006, in correspondence with the
presidential decree of January 31, 2006.

As acting Secretary of the National Security and
Defense Council Volodymyr Horbulin said, the Ukrainian
Defense and Internal Affairs Ministries are instructed
to ensure order while preparing and holding
multinational military exercises Sea Breeze 2006 and
Tight Knot 2006.

Within two days a relevant decree by President Viktor
Yushchenko will be readied.

As it was noted during the NSDC session, local
self-government bodies, aggravating the situation
around international exercises, stepped beyond the
frameworks of their authorities and harmed the
international image of Ukraine.

According to Mr Horbulin, the special session also
resolved to analyse incidents of interference by
citizens of other countries, including of Russia, in
protest actions in populated areas in Crimea and
blocking roads.

If the information is confirmed, these persons will be
deported and may be even declared persons non grata in
Ukraine.



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Pajhwok Afghan News
June 2, 2006


Rocket lands near US base in Nangarhar


JALALABAD - A rocket fired from an undisclosed
location landed close to a US military base in the
Khogiani district of the eastern Nangarhar province
last night.

Esmatullah, resident of the Biyar village, told
Pajhwok Afghan News the rocket was landed in an
uninhabited area near the US base.

The bang was heard by people living in the nearby
areas.

While the provincial police say they were unaware
about the incident, a district official, who declined
to be named, said the rocket missed the target and
landed in the fields.

He said it caused no harm to life or property.

Meanwhile, police have recovered two 82 mm mortar
shells in the Chaparhar district the other day.

Spokesman for the provincial police headquarters
Colonel Abdul Ghafoor told Pajhwok Afghan News the
shells were found in a mountainous area.

No one had been arrested, he informed.
------------------------------------------------------
http://www.pajhwok.com/viewstory.asp?lng=eng&id=19109


Pajhwok Afghan News
June 2, 2006


Three civilians killed in Kandahar suicide blast
Saeed Zabuli


KANDAHAR CITY - At least three civilians and a bomber
were killed in a suicide attack in the Arghandab
district of the southern Kandahar province Friday
evening.

The three people killed were civilians who had come
for picnic to the Arghandab district.

A security official, who wished not to be named, told
Pajhwok Afghan News the bomber was riding in a taxi
car.

The official said the explosive-packed car went off
near the three people, who were riding a motorcycle
near the Sarkari Bagh area of the district.

He said investigations had been ordered into the
incident but nothing could be said about identity of
the bomber at the moment.

Police chief of the district Zmarai told this scribe
investigations were on. He said the three people
killed were civilians. No police or military personnel
killed or injured in the attack, said the police
officer.

Speaking to this news agency, spokesman for the
Interior Ministry Yousaf Stanizai said the bomber
himself and three civilians were killed in the blast
that rocked the Arghandab district this evening.

Meanwhile, a source in the ministry, on condition of
anonymity, said the target of the attack was the
Canadian military convoy. However, the source would
not say about casualties among the foreign troops.
------------------------------------------------------
http://www.afghanislamicpress.com/english/viewnews.asp?newsID=1953&newscat=2


Afghan Islamic Press
June 2, 2006


Deputy dist in charge killed in Ghazni, claims Taliban



KANDAHAR - Taliban claimed to have killed a deputy
district incharge and his guard in Ghazni province
late Thursday.

“Taliban fighters killed Matiullah, deputy in charge
of Maqrad district, and his guard in Zabit village of
Ghazni province,” Taliban spokesman Qari Muhammad
Yousaf told Afghan Islamic Press.

He did not disclose further details.

There was no word from officials regarding the Taliban
claim.
------------------------------------------------------
http://www.afghanislamicpress.com/english/viewnews.asp?newsID=1952&newscat=2



Afghan Islamic Press
June 2, 2006


Taliban claims killing five ANA soldiers; official
denies


KANDAHAR  - Taliban on Friday claimed to have killed
five Afghan National Army (ANA) soldiers in Helmand
province last night but officials denied the claim and
said no ANA soldier had been deputed in the area.

Taliban spokesman Qari Muhammad Yousaf while talking
to Afghan Islamic Press said, “Taliban attacked a
party of ANA soldiers in Lashkargah city which left
five soldiers killed and four other injured.”

Spokesman of Governor Helmand Mohiuddin Khan phoned
Afghan Islamic Press and said, “Some unidentified
armed motorcycle riders attacked a police station in
Karta Lakand area of Lashkargah city, causing no
damages.”

He rejected Taliban’s claim to have killed five ANA
soldiers in Lashkargah and said, “ANA soldiers were
not deputed in Lashkargah.”



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Navy NewsStand
June 2, 2006


Phoenix Express Begins
From Commander, U.S. Naval Forces Europe/Commander,
U.S. 6th Fleet Public Affairs


MEDITERRANEAN SEA - More than 1,300 U.S. Navy and
Marine Corps personnel are participating in a series
of scenario-related exercises with Morocco, Algeria,
Tunisia, France and Spain in the Mediterranean Sea and
Atlantic Ocean to enhance regional maritime and air
capabilities May 30-June 13.

Named Phoenix Express, the series of exercises is
focused on developing the individual and collective
maritime proficiencies of participating nations, as
well as promoting friendship, mutual understanding and
strengthening regional partnerships.
....
“This exercise will provide U.S. and allied forces an
opportunity to participate in diverse combined
maritime training scenarios helping to increase
maritime domain awareness and strengthen regional
partnerships,” said Capt. Robert Bougher, commander,
Amphibious Squadron 8.

The amphibious assault ship USS Saipan (LHA 2),
homeported in Norfolk, Va., and frigate USS Simpson
(FFG 56) homeported in Mayport, Fla., will join ships
and aviation assets from Morocco, Algeria, Spain and
France for the series of related exercises.

Training will include helicopter operations, search
and rescue scenarios, maritime interception
procedures, maritime maneuvering, refueling at sea,
communications exercises, and liaison officer
exchanges.



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Infotag (Moldova)
June 2, 2006


FORMER KING OF ROMANIA VISITS MOLDOVA


-The memorial opening caused a painful reaction of
Moldovan veterans of the Second World War who fought
in the Soviet Army ranks in those times. For over a
decade by now, they have been equaled in rights and
privileges with whom many of them regard as aggressors
and invaders - the Romanian army vets.


Chisinau - Mihai, the Former King of Romania and
Commander-in-Chief of the Romanian armed forces during
the Second World War, yesterday took part in the
inauguration of a military memorial in the village of
Tiganca (Cantemir raion, southern Republic of Moldova)
where over a thousand Romanian soldiers and officers,
killed in action in summer 1941, are buried.

Mihai stated at the ceremony he was deeply touched and
grateful to the Moldovan authorities for their
promotion of and participation in this memorial to the
Romanian military.

Romanian Minister of National Defense Teodor Atanasiu
said that at last the memory of the 1,020 soldiers and
officers buried in Tiganca has been immortalized.

Moldovan Deputy Minister of Culture and Tourism
Valeriu Turcanu said that veneration of the memory of
warriors is the citizens' duty and the country's duty
to observe the 1949 Geneva Convention.

The solemn ceremony of the memorial opening and
consecration was attended by officials from the Office
of the President, Parliament and Government of
Romania; Moldovan Deputy Speaker, the leader of the
Right-wing pro-Romania Christian Democratic Popular
Party Iurie Rosca, members of the Moldovan
parliamentary Right factions of the CDPP, Moldova
Noastra Alliance, and Social Liberal Party; His
Highness Prince Radu de Hohenzollern-Veringen of the
Royal Family of Romania - the Romanian Government's
Special Representative on Issues of Integration,
Cooperation and Sustainable Development; foreign
diplomats working in Moldova, high-ranked church
officials from both states, veterans of the Romanian
army, local residents, and other.

Last time King Mihai, 84, visited this land in October
1942, when Bessarabia was a part of the Kingdom of
Romania.

On Thursday, the Monarch went directly to the Tiganca
Memorial.

He did not called to Chisinau, and held no meetings
with anybody from the Republic of Moldova's
leadership.

The memorial opening caused a painful reaction of
Moldovan veterans of the Second World War who fought
in the Soviet Army ranks in those times. For over a
decade by now, they have been equaled in rights and
privileges with whom many of them regard as aggressors
and invaders - the Romanian army vets.

Until now, these two groups of the old warriors living
in this republic celebrate the Victory Day separately
and with different feelings.




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http://www.expatica.com/source/site_article.asp?subchannel_id=26&story_id=30468&\
name=Germans+approve+780+troops+for+Congo


Deutsche Presse-Agentur
June 1, 2006


Germans approve 780 troops for Congo


-Reinhold Robbe, parliament's special commissioner for
the armed forces, said German troops were very unsure
of what awaited them in Congo and that he had never
experienced "such rejection of a mission" among
soldiers.



BERLIN - The German parliament Thursday overwhelmingly
approved the deployment of 780 troops to help secure
elections in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Chancellor Angela Merkel's government wants to send
the soldiers to Congo for the July 30 election day on
a limited seven-month mandate.

Merkel's grand coalition has a big majority in the
Bundestag, parliament's lower house, which voted 440
to 135 to approve the deployment of the troops as part
of a European Union force.

Soldiers will be based only in Congo's capital,
Kinshasa, says German Defence Minister Franz Josef
Jung. Many of the German troops are expected to be
held as reserves in nearby Gabon.

The main mission for German forces is expected to be
the evacuation of election observers in case of
violence, officials say.

Congo, a country rich in natural resources, is holding
its first free elections since the period immediately
after winning independence from its former colonial
power Belgium in 1960.

Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier says it was
vital to help insure stability in Congo following the
central African wars of the 1990s which had left
millions dead.

Steinmeier warns that if Congo slides back into chaos
it would fuel a flood of refugees seeking to enter
Europe.

The German troop deployment has been criticized by
members of the opposition Free Democrats (FDP), who
predict that having two separate foreign military
missions in Congo will cause confusion.

A 17,000-member United Nations force is already
deployed in Congo. This is to be followed by a EU
force of around 2,000 dominated by German and French
troops.

The FDP says it would make more sense to beef up the
UN force. FDP foreign affairs spokesman Werner Hoyer
told parliament his party "doubts the effectiveness of
these measures" to deploy German troops.

A spokesman, for the co-ruling Social Democrats, Gert
Weisskirchen, said the deployment was needed so that
Congo could move to a "peaceful economy from one
wracked by violence."

Reinhold Robbe, parliament's special commissioner for
the armed forces, said German troops were very unsure
of what awaited them in Congo and that he had never
experienced "such rejection of a mission" among
soldiers.

"I would claim that the German armed forces are not
prepared for Africa," said Robbe in comments to ARD
TV.




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Infotag (Moldova)
June 2, 2006


Karel de Gucht Announces OSCE's Preparedness to Allot
10 Million Euros for Russian Troop Withdrawal


The OSCE stands ready to provide 10 million euros for
withdrawal of the Russian military force from the
territory of the Republic of Moldova.

He stated at his news conference here this money is
available in the OSCE budget, and it can be furnished.


The OSCE Chairman-in-Office said that this is quite
enough to pull out the Russian contingent from
Transnistria in 3 months' period, that this is an
absolutely realizable task, but the entire problem is
that Russia would not recognize the need for
fulfilling its commitments taken at the 1999 OSCE
Istanbul Summit.

In his words, this is indeed a substantial obstacle to
work in the OSCE frame where all decisions have to be
taken by a consensus.

And, still, the Organization will be insisting on
having the Russian troop out of Moldova and on
replacing the Russian peacekeeping contingent in
Transnistria with multinational forces that are quite
able to both control the Transnistrian segment of the
Moldova-Ukraine state border and the ammunition
stockpiles.


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http://paktribune.com/news/index.php?id=145629


Pakistan Tribune
June 2, 2006


Afghan spring offensive stronger than expected: Dutch
army chief


THE HAGUE - The offensives against NATO forces in
Afghanistan are particularly strong this spring, the
commander of the Dutch armed forces said, shortly
after Dutch soldiers were ambushed in the south of the
country.

"We were expecting a resurgence of offensives in
spring, but not like this. However the attacks are not
of such a nature that it will keep us from carrying
out our mission," General Dick Berlijn said at a press
briefing in The Hague.

Earlier Thursday Dutch soldiers escaped unharmed from
an ambush in the southern Uruzgan province where the
troops are stationed as part of the NATO-led ISAF
force in Afghanistan.

"During the ambush Apache helicopters intervened.
There were no casualties on the Dutch side and the
attackers withdrew," General Berlijn said. General
Berlijn warned journalists not to attribute every
attack to the Taliban.

"It could also be other groups who reject (Afghan
President Hamid) Karzai or farmers upset that the
convoys destroyed their field or even people who want
to take our equipment," he said. It was not the first
time that the Dutch soldiers have been fired upon.

The Netherlands is due to send a total of 1,400
soldiers to Uruzgan as part of the ISAF force. Some
600 troops are already on the ground in Afghanistan to
prepare for arrival of the Dutch mission in August.




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http://en.for-ua.com/news/2006/06/02/133951.html



ForUm (Ukraine)
June 2, 2006


Ukraine Foreign Minister on Transdniestrian settlement


-While discussing the EU Mission functioning on the
Ukrainian-Moldovan border Borys Tarasyuk pointed to
the efficient organization of its work, qualified
assistance and recommendations. ”Without any
exaggeration, I can say that at the European space a
new system of sharing experience and cooperation in
the border sphere is forming. I do not exclude that
this experience the EU will be able to apply on the
Balkans and on the Caucasus,” the Head of the
Ukrainian foreign ministry stated.


“Our goal is to make everything necessary to establish
efficient system of control on the Ukrainian-Moldovan
border,” stressed Foreign Minister Borys Tarasyuk
addressing the audience at the meeting withKarel de
Gucht, OSCE Chairman-in-office and Minister for
Foreign Affairs of Belgium and Andrei Stratan,
Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Republic of
Moldova, which took place on June 1, 2006 in the Odesa
region at the cross-border point
“Kuchurgan-Pervomayskiy” of the Transdniestrian
segment of the Ukrainian-Moldovan border.

The participants of the negotiations stated that
within the year since the initiatives of President of
Ukraine Viktor Yushchenko had been proclaimed the
significant achievements were reached in the
settlement of the Transndiestrian conflict.

In particular, the negotiations in the enlarged format
were resumed.

The interlocutors agreed that the Yushchenko Plan
remains to be the basic one for further settlement of
the Transnistrian issue, the Foreign Ministry press
office reports.

While discussing the EU Mission functioning on the
Ukrainian-Moldovan border Borys Tarasyuk pointed to
the efficient organization of its work, qualified
assistance and recommendations. ”Without any
exaggeration, I can say that at the European space a
new system of sharing experience and cooperation in
the border sphere is forming. I do not exclude that
this experience the EU will be able to apply on the
Balkans and on the Caucasus,” the Head of Ukrainian
foreign ministry stated.

The Minister for Foreign Affairs of Ukraine also
confirmed that our state would proceed with clear and
consistently supporting of the customs regime, open
and transparent cooperation with Moldova and the EU
Mission.

“Ukraine will proceed with acting in accordance with
agreements reached with the European Commission and
Moldova, in spirit of maximum openness, and will do
its utmost to make the Mission work successful,”
Tarasyuk declared.

The participants of the meeting stated that the
Transdniestrian settlement should be reached in
compliance with the principles of sovereignty and
territorial integrity of the Republic of Moldova.


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http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2006-06/03/content_4639751.htm


Xinhua News Agency
June 2, 2006


Museum of German History opens in Berlin


-One of the highlights of the collection is a globe
upon which Adolf Hitler gazed while contemplating
world domination. The globe was pieced through by a
bullet fired by a Soviet soldier after the Nazi
dictator's defeat in 1945.


BERLIN - The Museum of German History opened Friday in
Berlin as German Chancellor Angela Merkel said
exhibits here record not only achievements but also a
"dark chapter" in German history.

"Only those who can understand their past can go ahead
in a confident and open manner," said Merkel at the
opening ceremony. "This is also the case for a
nation."

The exhibition opens through a Roman gate and traces
2,000 years of German civilization from bitter battles
fought by Germanic tribes to the German reunification
in 1990.

The museum, located in the center of Berlin, boasts
some 8,000 objects ranging from an early version of
the Volkswagen beetle cult car to military uniforms of
Prussian's King Friedrich the Great and Germany's Iron
Chancellor Otto von Bismarck, and to chunks of the
Berlin Wall.

One of the highlights of the collection is a globe
upon which Adolf Hitler gazed while contemplating
world domination. The globe was pieced through by a
bullet fired by a Soviet soldier after the Nazi
dictator's defeat in 1945.

Germany's 1990 reunification is another focal point
and the museum has an extensive collection of posters
and banners carried before the fall of Berlin Wall.

"History has become in vogue - we need it to find our
way in a divisive world," said German Historical
Museum director Hans Ottomeyer.



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