Liz Fuller

Analysis: Tensions Rise In Ossetia, Ingushetia

Tensions are rising at two separate locations in the Caucasus. In Georgia, the leadership of the breakaway Republic of South Ossetia rejected on 12 June Georgian allegations that Russia sent a military convoy of 160 trucks carrying materiel and some 120 troops into the breakaway Republic of South Ossetia the previous day to repulse an anticipated Georgian military incursion. Further north, an opposition parliament deputy in the Republic of Ingushetia has sounded the alarm over the arrest of two young men for distributing publicly materials discrediting the Ingushetian leadership.

Analysis: Abkhazia Rejects New Georgian Peace Plan

Sergei Shamba, who is foreign minister of the unrecognized Republic of Abkhazia, has rejected the offer of "a state entity within Georgia with maximum powers" contained in a new proposal for resolving the conflict drafted by Georgian experts, Caucasus Press reported on 10 June. Shamba stressed that the people of Abkhazia have opted for independence and are prepared to tolerate economic hardship in the hope that the international community will one day grant formal recognition to Abkhazia.

Analysis: Georgian Premier Reshuffles Power Ministers

Prime Minister Zurab Zhvania announced on 5 June an impending reshuffle of the government officials responsible for defense, security, and crime. That move is apparently intended to serve at least two key purposes: to galvanize Georgia's efforts to achieve NATO membership and to stamp out petty corruption and inefficiency within the Interior Ministry.

Analysis: Looking For Kadyrov's Successor

Speculation is intensifying in the Russian press over which candidate Moscow will support in the 29 August ballot to elect a successor to slain pro-Moscow Chechen leader Akhmed-hadji Kadyrov, on the assumption that as in the October 2003 election, the support of the Kremlin, rather than the preferences of the Chechen electorate, will prove the decisive factor.

Analysis: Azerbaijan's 'Magnificent Seven' Stand Trial

The so-called preliminary hearing in the trial of seven Azerbaijani oppositionists charged for their involvement in the clashes in Baku on 15-16 October in the wake of the disputed presidential election opened in Azerbaijan's Court for Serious Crimes on 7 May. Although such preliminary hearings generally last no longer than one day, this one entered its 11th day on 26 May, albeit in the absence of the defendants, who refused on 24 May to participate in further sessions, citing numerous procedural violations.

Analysis: Azerbaijan's 'Grey Cardinal' Lambastes Opposition

Ramiz Mekhtiev, who served as Azerbaijan's Communist Party ideology secretary in the1980s and since 1993 has headed the administration of two successive Azerbaijani presidents, Heidar and Ilham Aliyev, has launched a scathing attack on the Azerbaijani opposition and on unnamed foreign powers that he claims sought to promote Islam in Azerbaijan in ways that posed a threat to the country's national security.

Analysis: Is There Light Or Death At The End Of The Chechen Tunnel?

"Why is Putin's Russia doomed to defeat in Chechnya?" asks self-exiled Russian oligarch Boris Berezovskii in an article published in "Nezavisimaya gazeta" on 19 May. The article is pegged to the claim made two days earlier by radical field commander Shamil Basaev of responsibility for the 9 May bomb blast in Grozny that killed pro-Moscow Chechen leader Akhmed-hadji Kadyrov.

Analysis: Georgian Officials Send Mixed Signals Over Abkhazia

Georgian and Abkhaz officials accused each other last week of planning a new military operation to coincide with the anniversary on 26 May of the 1918 declaration of an independent Georgian republic. An attempt by Georgian guerrilla detachments in May 1998 to restore Georgian control over Abkhazia ended in failure (see "RFE/RL Caucasus Report," 26 May and 9 June 1998).

Analysis: Who Could Succeed Kadyrov In Chechnya?

Akhmed-hadji Kadyrov Five days after the death of pro-Moscow Chechen administration head Akhmed-hadji Kadyrov, there are still no clear indications who was responsible for planting the bomb that killed him and five others on 9 May. Nor is it clear whom Moscow plans to co-opt and install as Kadyrov's successor.

Analysis: Armenian, Azerbaijani Foreign Ministers Resume Karabakh Talks

On 12 May, the foreign ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan, Vartan Oskanian and Elmar Mammadyarov, will meet for the second time within one month to discuss approaches to resolving the Karabakh conflict. Two weeks earlier, the presidents of the two countries, Robert Kocharian and Ilham Aliyev, held similar talks on the sidelines of the European Economic Summit in Warsaw (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 29 April 2004).

Analysis: Is Georgia Planning To Snatch Abashidze?

Adjar Supreme Council Chairman Aslan Abashidze Georgian leaders' increasingly bellicose rhetoric, in conjunction with the deployment of Georgian heavy armor to the internal border between Adjaria and the rest of Georgia for military exercises, have fuelled fears that the Georgian leadership is planning a military incursion to try to oust Adjar Supreme Council Chairman Aslan Abashidze.

Azerbaijan: Parliamentary Elections Unlikely To Be Fair

Georgia: Autocratic Authoritarian Rule Prevails, Political Activist Says

Georgia: Election Not Likely To Solve Basic Problems

Armenia: New Leaders Represent Desire For Stability

Caucasus: Strategic Cooperation Between Chechnya And Georgia Proves To Have Limitations

Armenia: Q & A With Analyst Liz Fuller

Armenia: Obituaries For Sarkissian, Demirchian

Armenia: Conflicting Motives Led To Shootings

Georgia: Violence, Recriminations Overshadow Election Campaign