By Shahin Eghraghi (10/22/2003 issue of the CACI Analyst)

BACKGROUND: On October 13, the UN Security Council unanimously adopted a resolution which mandates ISAF to operate beyond its present Kabul boundaries. Germany and NATO have also given a green light for up to 450 German peacekeepers, a force separate from ISAF, to deploy to Kunduz in the north of the country as a Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT). The British already have a PRT presence in Mazar-e-Sharif with 72 men, and it is planned that they will be followed by others in up to eight different locations, including Herat and Kandahar.

By Rizwan Zeb (10/22/2003 issue of the CACI Analyst)

BACKGROUND: Pakistan and China last year signed a deal to build the $248 million deep-sea port, to be completed in March 2005. China is funding three-quarters of the project, supplying $ 198 million in a mixture of loans and grants, and Islamabad the remaining $ 50 million. Pakistan intends to take on other Gulf ports, especially Oman’s Salalah and UAE’s Jebel Ali and offer Central Asian states their most efficient warm-water access to both the west and the east.

By Fariz Ismailzade (10/22/2003 issue of the CACI Analyst)

BACKGROUND: Incumbent President Heydar Aliyev stepped down 13 days prior to the race, thus ending his nearly 34 year long reign and paving the way for his son Ilham to succeed him. According to the final results from the Central Election Commission, Prime Minister Ilham Aliyev received 76.84 percent of the cast votes and his closest rival Isa Gambar of the Musavat party received 13.