By empty (11/23/2004 issue of the CACI Analyst)

A leading Chechen militant has denied assertions that Osama bin Laden\'s al Qaeda movement is linked to Chechen rebels fighting Moscow. In a statement published on a rebel Web site on Tuesday, Movladi Udugov said the international Islamist militant group had never set up training camps in Chechnya. He also denied meeting bin Laden.

By empty (11/22/2004 issue of the CACI Analyst)

Kazakhstan is building a fleet of tankers to carry crude oil exports to various destinations on the Caspian Sea, state oil company KazMunaigaz said Friday. So far KazMunaiGaz has ordered three 12,000-dwt vessels from Vyborg shipyard in northwest Russia. The first, named Astana, is expected to be delivered before the year-end.

By empty (11/19/2004 issue of the CACI Analyst)

The strategic partnership between the five Caspian littoral states in the field of protection of the marine environment could serve as a model for analogous co-operation and minimisation of pollution in the Black Sea and in the Mediterranean\', the vice-president of the World Bank for Europe and Middle East Shigeo Katsu mentioned at the Caspian Environmental Investment Forum in Baku today. According to Shigeo Katsu, the World Bank is supportive of protection of the environmental protection in the region and is prepared to continue providing practical assistance for this business. The head of the Caspian Environmental Programme Hamid Ghafarzade from Iran spoke about composition of the Caspian Protection Strategic Plan for five years.