Bruce Pannier is a Central Asia analyst and appears regularly on the Majlis podcast for RFE/RL.
China's largest oil producer, PetroChina, yesterday launched a $4.18 billion bid for PetroKazakhstan, in what could be China's first successful takeover of a foreign-listed energy company. The deal helps China’s need for new and secure sources of energy. And as RFE/RL reports, it also gives Beijing extra influence in Central Asia.
Incumbent President Nazarbaev could cruise to an easy victory (file photo) Kazakhstan's Constitutional Council has set the first Sunday of December as the date of the country's early presidential elections. The date, 4 December, still requires approval from parliament, but already many are predicting an easy victory for incumbent President Nursultan Nazarbaev. The country's last early presidential election caught the political opposition unaware, leaving them little time to campaign or strategize. This time, however, the opposition had anticipated an early vote and has been forging a platform for the better part of the past year. With just over 100 days until the polls open, RFE/RL looks at the Kazakh opposition and its presidential candidate.
Kazakhstan will replace half the members of its upper house of parliament, or Senate, tomorrow. But not by virtue of popular elections -- provincial and local officials will choose the deputies. Otan, the ruling party and the party of President Nursultan Nazarbaev -- has the most candidates. The opposition parties have none. But even so, the selection process is significant, in that it may have an effect on an ongoing debate about when presidential elections should next be held. RFE/RL looks at the system for choosing Kazakhstan's senators, and the possible consequences of a resounding Otan victory.
Local residents blocking the road to the mine Several hundred people in northern Kyrgyzstan are protesting, demanding a past wrong be put right. Residents of the Barskoon area, on the southern shore of Lake Issyk-Kul, are blocking the road leading to the Kumtor gold mine, Kyrgyzstan’s most lucrative joint venture. They are seeking compensation, at last, for being poisoned when one of the gold-mining company’s trucks overturned, spilling cyanide into the river. Their protest opens an old wound, and if they succeed it could inspire similar future protests by people suffering in environmentally contaminated areas of Central Asia.
Uzbek refugees at the Suzak camp in Kyrgyzstan in June Kyrgyzstan has faced a dilemma since hundreds of Uzbek refugees crossed into the country to flee violence in May. Uzbekistan wants the remaining refugees back and strongly criticized the United Nations' transfer of more than 400 of the refugees to Romania in late July. Fifteen more now await a decision by Kyrgyzstan as to whether they will be allowed to follow the earlier group. The UN says they should be permitted to leave, but Tashkent claims that the 15 refugees are criminals and is demanding their return. Stuck in the middle is Kyrgyzstan, whose new government is fearful of Uzbek authority but equally concerned about maintaining good ties with the international community.
For the first time in 15 years, representatives of the various Uzbek opposition parties have come together to discuss a common strategy. Last week, outside Washington, D.C., exiled leaders of unregistered secular opposition parties and movements as well as representatives from Uzbekistan gathered to discuss ways to democratically wrest power from the current government.
President Musharraf (file photo) Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf yesterday denounced the London bombings earlier this month as "un-Islamic." Musharraf also accused some madrasahs -- religious schools which once received Pakistani government support -- of involvement in extremism. Musharraf's remarks come after news that three of the four London suicide bombers were of Pakistani origin and had spent time in recent months in the South Asian nation.
Saddam Hussein file photo) Iraq's Special Tribunal, empowered to try war crimes, yesterday announced the first charges against former President Saddam Hussein and three others. They are accused of organizing the killing of some 145 people in the village of Al-Dujayl in 1982. This is not the bloodiest of Saddam's alleged crimes. But legal experts say this case will be easier to prosecute than some of those involving far larger numbers of victims. The crime can be traced through official documents, while witness have already given their testimony to the tribunal. The trial might begin as early as the middle of September.
The election date hinges on whether Nazarbaev can remain president until December 2006 Kazakhstan's next presidential elections are scheduled for the first Sunday of December 2006, or are they? That is what the country's Constitutional Council is now considering. Kazakhstan's opposition hopes to defeat incumbent President Nursultan Nazarbaev so their attention is fixed on the council's deliberation. It is a complicated issue and our correspondent takes a look at why some believe elections should be held according to schedule and why others say the poll must be held nearly a year before that.
Tough new legislation on nongovernmental organizations in Kazakhstan has run up against unexpected opposition. After being approved by the lower house of parliament, the bill sparked renewed debate in the upper house. Then, the country's foreign minister came out in opposition. What does the bill say? And what's behind the sudden opposition to it?
Mahmudruzi Iskandarov (file photo) Tajikistan's opposition says it is being harassed by the authorities. Last week, the U.S. government complained about the treatment of Tajik opposition leader Mahmudruzi Iskandarov. Iskandarov, the leader of the Democratic Party of Tajikistan, is in custody pending his trial on terrorism and other charges. He has not been allowed to see his lawyers or family for weeks. He is not the only opposition figure facing problems in Tajikistan. Some see a connection to next year's presidential election.
Gurbanmuradov with President Niyazov (file photo) The Turkmen president says he stole more than $100 million from the state. He had three wives, fancy foreign cars, and plotted to create an artificial gasoline shortage in the country. He is in jail now. But a little more than one month ago, Yolly Gurbanmuradov was the deputy prime minister in charge of the country's lucrative gas and oil industry. RFE/RL takes a look at Gurbanmuradov's fall from grace.
Ousted Kyrgyz leader Askar Akaev It wasn't long after ousted Kyrgyz President Askar Akaev fled to Russia in late March that lawmakers began investigating his finances. Specifically, parliamentarians wanted to know if Akaev had any business interests, and if so, how he had gotten the money to fund them. Kyrgyzstan's acting prosecutor-general is due to travel to Moscow soon to question the former president about his financial holdings. But the ousted leader looks set to launch a legal battle of his own. His attorney traveled in late May to Bishkek, where he hinted that Akaev may be filing lawsuits of his own, targeting members of Kyrgyzstan's new interim government. RFE/RL looks at what is shaping up to be a massive legal battle.
Baikonur cosmodrome The world's oldest and to this day most active site for space launches -- Baikonur in Kazakhstan -- is celebrating its 50th anniversary today. The first artificial satellite and cosmonaut began their celestial journeys from this spot. Indeed, the history of space exploration cannot be told without mentioning Baikonur. RFE/RL takes a look at what remains one of the primary launch sites for the exploration of space.
Interim President and Premier Kurmanbek Bakiev Scores of people stormed Kyrgyzstan's Supreme Court building today and ejected a group of some 50 protesters who had occupied the building since April. Police and security agents were present and appear to have done little to prevent the eviction. The police have since secured the building and cleared it of all protesters.
Uzbek President Islam Karimov (file photo) Scores of opposition activists and rights campaigners have been reportedly arrested in the past two days in Uzbekistan. The action is widely seen as part of a government crackdown on all forms of dissent following May's unrest in Andijon.
U.S. Senators Lindsey Graham, John McCain, and John Sununu (right to left) in Bishkek Three U.S. senators traveled to the Uzbek capital Tashkent yesterday to learn more about the recent violence in the east of the country and support calls for an international investigation into the events. However, no Uzbek government officials agreed to meet with the delegation comprised of Republican Senators John McCain, Lindsey Graham, and John Sununu.
Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbaev (file photo) Presidential elections aren't scheduled in Kazakhstan until late 2006. But the opposition is already receiving reminders that the campaign won't be easy. There have been two reported attempts to attack the opposition candidate for president. There have also been clashes between young people and police because of clothing interpreted as supporting pro-democracy revolutions, as well as the closure of one of the country's few remaining independent newspapers.
After nearly two weeks, the mystery of the whereabouts of the leader of the Tajikistan Democratic Party, Mahmudruzi Iskandarov, was solved yesterday as Dushanbe announced he has been brought back to Tajikistan under arrest. The future location of another well-known figure in Tajikistan, former Interior Minister Yakub Salimov, also became clear yesterday: He will likely be in a Tajik prison for the next 15 years.
Neighboring states don't want to see a repeat of Kyrgyzstan's protests in their own countries In the wake of last month's popular revolt in Kyrgyzstan, neighboring governments are taking measures to prevent the same thing from happening in their own countries. The abrupt ouster of Kyrgyz President Askar Akaev resonated throughout the region -- and no doubt raised anxiety among his fellow heads of state, all of whom have been in power since the early 1990s. Kyrgyzstan's neighbors have been quick to pass new laws in order to avert their own homegrown revolutions.
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