By empty (8/6/2002 issue of the CACI Analyst)

Meeting in Baku on 6 August with Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Mohsen Aminzade, President Heidar Aliev reasoned that as Iran maintains "broad economic ties" with Armenia, it is in a position to "influence" Yerevan's stance on the Karabakh conflict. Aliev said that in its future relations with Iran, Azerbaijan will abide by the bilateral treaty on friendship, cooperation, and mutual security signed during his visit to Tehran in May. But at the same time he stressed that under that accord, both countries pledge to respect the sovereignty of the other and refrain from interfering in its internal affairs.

By empty (8/6/2002 issue of the CACI Analyst)

At a session on 5 August, the Chechen government made final amendments to, and then approved, the republic's new draft constitution. Participants agreed to remove from the draft the reference to Chechnya's sovereignty; administration head Akhmed-hadji Kadyrov noted that the sovereignty granted to Chechnya and other federation subjects by former President Boris Yeltsin "turned into war, poverty, and destruction," according to "The Moscow Times" on 6 August. Added to the draft was a stipulation that presidential candidates must have lived in Chechnya for the past 10 years, a requirement that may have been directed specifically against former Russian parliament speaker Ruslan Khasbulatov, who claims to enjoy wide support among the Chechen population.

By empty (8/4/2002 issue of the CACI Analyst)

A senior Afghan official says there is evidence that the leader of the Taleban, Mullah Omar, is still alive and inside Afghanistan. Ahmad Wali Karzai, the brother of President Hamid Karzai and his special representative for the south of the country, said there were regular sightings of the cleric and a small group of followers. He said they appeared to be constantly on the move and had been seen in various places including Zabul province in the south-east, central Uruzgan province and the south-western region of Helmand.