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Itar-Tass Russia, CIS news summary for Saturday, October 2 - 2

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  • Itar-Tass Russia, CIS news summary for Saturday, October 2 - 2

    Itar-Tass Russia, CIS news summary for Saturday, October 2 - 2

    TASS
    October 3, 2004 Sunday

    MOSCOW


    Russian President Vladimir Putin had a telephone talk with Tajik
    leader Emomali Rakhmonov on Saturday to discuss practical issues
    related to the planned visit by the Russian president to Tajikistan
    and a summit of the Central Asian Cooperation Organisation, the
    Russian presidential press service said.

    SOFIA - Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov will chair a meeting of
    the anti-terror commission in two-weeks' time to evaluate the
    implementation of the president's decree on enhanced anti-terror
    measures, a government official said. Responding to a question about
    possible changes in the government structure, government chief of
    staff Sergei Naryshkin told journalists on Saturday, "The role of the
    staff matches relevant powers and functions."

    KIEV - The European Union plans to urge Ukrainian politicians to hold
    free and democratic presidential elections in October. EU High
    Representative for Common Foreign and Security Policy Javier Solana
    had a telephone conversation with presidential candidate Viktor
    Yushchenko on Saturday, during which they discussed "numerous
    violations in the course of the election campaign" and expressed
    concern about its coverage in Ukrainian mass media, Yushchenko's
    election headquarters said.

    BORISOV - President Alexander Lukashenko urged the Belarussian
    military to develop peacekeeping skills. At the same time, he said
    there was no question of their participation in peacekeeping missions
    at the moment. Speaking at the Shchit Otechestva-2004 (Fatherland's
    Shield) military exercise on Saturday, Lukashenko said, "We were
    invited and are invited to any region to carry out peacekeeping
    missions. But I am not going to make any decision on the participation
    of Belarussians in peacekeeping operations for the time being."

    KURSK - The heads of border-lying regions from Belarus, Russia and
    Ukraine ended their meeting in Kursk on Saturday. The leaders of 15
    border-lying regions from the three countries, ambassadors and
    officials from border guard agencies attended the meeting. The agenda
    included a variety of cooperation issues. The participants paid
    special attention to a draft agreement between the Ukrainian and
    Russian governments on the border crossing rules for residents of
    border-lying regions.

    YEREVAN - Russian Federation Council Chairman Sergei Mironov and
    Armenian parliament head Artur Bagdasaryan opened the Russian-Armenian
    regional cooperati on centre in a ceremony in Yerevan on Saturday. The
    objective of the centre is promoting development of cooperation
    between Russian and Armenian regions.

    YEREVAN - To consolidate ties in the CIS it is necessary first of all
    to implement the existing agreements, Russian Federation Council
    Chairman Sergei Mironov said when answering questions of Yerevan
    University students. Mironov heads the Council of the CIS
    Inter-Parliamentary Assembly. The CIS authority in the world is
    sharply higher at present, he noted.

    TBILISI - Georgia's law-enforcement agencies began an operation in the
    Pankisi Gorge and the adjacent area on Saturday to spot and detain
    suspicious persons. "Participating in the operation are special forces
    of the Interior Ministry and the Security Ministry, and some of the
    Defence Ministry's units and equipment that are used for patrolling on
    the ground and in the air," Security Minister Vano Merabishvili said.

    SUKHUMI - The situation in Abkhazia remains stable as the
    independence-seeking region is getting ready for the presidential
    elections where for the first time several candidates will compete for
    the top post. Deputy head of the Abkhazian State Security Service Yuri
    Ashuba told Itar-Tass on Saturday that the appearance of all five
    candidates on local television on Friday when they urged the
    population to exercise restraint and calm contributed to stability.

    MOSCOW - Moscow, Tbilisi and SOFIA - Russian specialists will assist
    in repair and modernisation of the Russian military hardware that is
    in service in the Bulgarian army at present, Bulgarian Economy
    Minister Lidia Shuleva said on Saturday after the meeting of the
    intergovernmental commission on Russian-Bulgarian cooperation, that
    was held in Sofia.

    KURSK - Russian Ambassador to Ukraine Viktor Chernomyrdin complained
    that the economic potential of the two countries is tapped very
    slowly. Speaking at the 16th meeting of the heads of border-lying
    regions from Belarus, Russia and Ukraine in Kursk on Saturday,
    Chernomyrdin said, "The development of the economic space of Russia
    and Ukraine is estimated at 16 billion U.S. dollars on the Russian
    side, while in the past it exceeded 70 billion U.S. dollars, and the
    border-lying Russian regions have practically not used the economic
    potential of the Kharkov region."

    MOSCOW - Russia plans to start exploring Mars's satellite Phobos in
    2009, the director of the Institute of Space Research, Lev Zelyony,
    said. "This is the only national project of Solar system planetary
    exploration," he said on Saturday. "The project envisages the
    construction of an interplanetary craft capable of flying to Mars,
    landing on Phobos, taking samples of its soil and bringing them back
    to Earth," Zelyony said.
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