Latest Articles about Middle East
The Second Algerian Amnesty
As widely predicted, the September 29 referendum on the proposed amnesty (the second since 1999) was a resounding ‘yes,' although the monolithic media campaign made any other result unlikely. The issue is a thorny question for human rights activists, since—unlike the Truth and Reconciliation committees... MORE
Al-Qaeda TV, Via the Web
The first editions of the weekly al-Qaeda TV news broadcasts, under the heading Sawt al-Khilafa (Voice of the Caliphate) have now appeared via the Internet. Dedicated to Osama bin Laden and Dr. Ayman al-Zawahiri, Mulla Omar and Abu Mus'ab al-Zarqawi, the Islamic armies in Chechnya,... MORE
Clashes in Egypt with Sinai Bedouin Mujahideen
Egyptian police have spent the weeks following the July 23 bombings of Sharm al-Sheikh searching for bomb suspects and others involved in attacks. On September 28, they appear to have made progress, given the announcement that police forces shot and killed Moussa Mohamed Salem Badran... MORE
TATARSTAN RETAINS PRIVILEGED RANK AMONG RUSSIAN REPUBLICS
Following the September 2004 tragedy in Beslan, the Russian State Duma adopted President Vladimir Putin's new law to eliminate the direct election of regional leaders. Now, all incoming governors in Russia are appointed by the president, subject to approval by local parliaments. Tatarstan, a republic... MORE
STATE BUDGET POSES RISKS FOR RUSSIAN ECONOMY
Last week 11 leading Russian economic experts sent a letter to Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov warning about the possible – and possibly grave – negative economic consequences from the planned massive increases in budget spending on various social programs (Vedomosti, September 30). The government is... MORE
RUSSIA UNEASY ABOUT POLAND’S RIGHTWARD SHIFT
Russia's political class is warily eyeing the government in Poland, where two center-right parties won the September 25 parliamentary elections. As relations between Moscow and Warsaw, never particularly warm, have sunk to new lows this year, the Kremlin is concerned with the possible impact of... MORE
RUSSIA WANTS TO BE MORE THAN CHINA’S SOURCE FOR RAW MATERIALS
While Moscow reiterates its pledges to beef up Russia's strategic partnership with China, some Russian officials are warning that Russia would not accept the role of raw materials supplier for China's energy-hungry economy. As Sergei Mironov, chairman of the Russian Federation Council, traveled to China... MORE
PUTIN PRAISES STABILITY AND PROMISES PROSPERITY
Yesterday, September 27, Russian President Vladimir Putin spent nearly three hours answering questions from Russians who had gathered in specially organized studios across the country. The questions had been carefully selected from over a million messages and the answers were shown live on two main... MORE
GAZPROM FIRMING UP ITS HOLD ON CENTRAL ASIAN GAS
Interviewed in the current issue of the journal Gazprom, the company's Vice-Chairman Alexander Ryazanov announces the imminent creation of a Russian-Kazakh joint venture to process gas from Kazakhstan in Russia. Gazprom and Kazakhstan's oil and gas state company, KazMunayGaz have agreed to supply gas from... MORE
IN GREAT HASTE KHODORKOVSKY FOUND GUILTY, GETS ONE YEAR LESS THAN SENTENCED
Late in the evening of September 22, the Moscow city court announced its verdict on the appeal to revisit the case of Mikhail Khodorkovsky and Platon Lebedev, who had been sentenced to nine years in jail by the Meshchansky district court. Normally, such appeals drag... MORE