By empty (12/6/2004 issue of the CACI Analyst)

Colonel Begejan Akhmedov from Kyrgyzstan\'s National Security Service (SNB) has said that the extremist organization Hizb ut-Tahrir has 3,000 supporters in Kyrgyzstan and 10,000 in Central Asia. Akhmedov said, \"Intelligence shows that cell leaders are placing more and more significance on teaching the use of weapons and explosives.\" He noted that SNB officers frequently find weapons and ammunition in addition to radical literature when making arrests.

By empty (12/4/2004 issue of the CACI Analyst)

During the 3 December parliament session that endorsed the budget, deputy parliamentary speaker Ziyafet Askerov accused Ali Kerimli, chairman of the progressive wing of the divided Azerbaijan Popular Front Party, of planning a coup d\'etat in Azerbaijan following the same scenario as in Georgia and Ukraine. Askerov alleged that the Ukrainian opposition organization Pora is providing Kerimli with funds. Kerimli dismissed those accusations as \"serious,\" adding that Askerov and other members of the ruling Yeni Azerbaycan Party are worried because they have now realized that they \"cannot continue falsifying the outcome of elections forever.

By empty (12/3/2004 issue of the CACI Analyst)

The Georgian authorities are prepared to begin talks with Sergei Bagapsh, \"who is supported by most Abkhaz residents,\" Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili told refugees from Abkhazia on Friday. \"We will be able to reach a mutual understanding, since Abkhazians are our nearest brothers,\" he said. Georgia\'s authorities will do everything possible to settle the conflict in Abkhazia politically as soon as possible, the president said.