By empty (5/23/2005 issue of the CACI Analyst)

President Nursultan Nazarbaev told journalists in Aktau on 23 May that Kazakhstan\'s plan to export oil through the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline is a \"necessity.\" Noting that Kazakhstan already exports oil through the Caspian Pipeline Consortium and the Atyrau-Samara routes, Nazarbaev added, \"Now we are opening a new branch -- through the Caspian to Russia and Baku, which goes on to the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline. This is a great necessity for us.

By empty (5/22/2005 issue of the CACI Analyst)

Kazakhstan\'s opposition parties held an authorized rally in Almaty on Sunday to demand an end to reprisals against newspapers which criticize the authorities. Opposition leaders and mass media managers spoke about the importance of developing independent and opposition media. They argued that alternative viewpoints positively influence democratic processes, an Interfax correspondent reported.

By empty (5/22/2005 issue of the CACI Analyst)

Kyrgyz border guards have handed 84 refugees over to the Uzbek authorities, a Kyrgyz law enforcement source told Interfax on Sunday. \"Eighty-four Uzbek citizens, who illegally crossed into Kyrgyzstan, have been handed over to the Uzbek authorities from May 13 to 22,\" the source said. He also said that Kyrgyz border guards have handed 26 Kyrgyz citizens of Uzbek origin, who were in the temporary residence center in Suzak district in Dzhalal-Abad region, over to the Osh regional national security department.