MILITARY TOP BRASS ASSEMBLE AT THE DEFENSE MINISTRY
Komsomolskaya Pravda, November 11, 1999, p. 4
The traditional annual conference of top officers of the Russian Armed Forces has begun at the Defense Ministry. Results of combat training in 1999 are to be summed up, and goals for the next year set. Reports have already been delivered by Defense Minister Igor Sergeev and Anatoly Kvashnin, Chief of the General Staff. According to our sources, particular attention was paid to the performance of the troops fighting in the Caucasus, and to the prospects of completing the operation in Chechnya.
Tomorrow, Supreme Commander-in-Chief Yeltsin and Prime Minister Putin are expected to address the generals. Our source says that the generals “wholeheartedly support Putin”.
TULEEV DENIES RUMORS OF IMPENDING PROTESTS
Moskovsky Komsomolets, November 11, 1999, p. 2
Kemerovo Governor Aman Tuleev denies rumors that workers may organize mass protests.
Mass protests are promised by trade union leaders of the Kuznetsk Metals Plant, who recently called a press conference in Moscow.
Tuleev: Citing decisions of the congress of labor collectives of the region, these persons all but openly lobby the interests of Mikom, the Moscow metals investment company which is out to absorb the Kuznetsk Metals Plant.
The governor is convinced that the plant, being a strategic facility, should remain in the hands of the state. Tuleev also says that the social situation in the Kuzbass region is stabilizing.
MOSCOW DID NOT APPEAL TO TBILISI TO PERMIT RUSSIAN AIRCRAFT TO USE GEORGIAN AIRFIELDS
Parlamentskaya Gazeta, November 11, 1999, p. 1
Senior Georgian state officials say that Moscow allegedly approached them with a request to permit Russian aircraft to use Georgian airfields for strikes at Chechnya.
Russian Foreign Ministry has made it clear that any such appeal to the Georgian leadership “could not have been made, and was not made.”
An official spokesman for the Foreign Ministry says all rumors about Russian attempts “to lure Tbilisi into the hostilities in Chechnya” are “absolutely groundless.”
GOVERNMENT SESSION WILL TAKE PLACE
Rossiiskaya Gazeta, November 11, 1999, p. 1
The government session is supposed to be chaired by Prime Minister Vladimir Putin. The government will discuss the Russian Federation’s draft program on foreign loans and state loans in 1999. Finance Minister Mikhail Kasianov will make a report.
According to a source in the State Information Department, the government will also consider a draft federal program of state support for municipal formations and establishment of conditions for giving constitutional powers to local self-rule bodies.
GEORGIAN MEMBER OF PARLIAMENT CALLS RUMORS A PROVOCATION
Russian Television (RTR), “Vesti” program, November 10, 1999, 13:00
Revaz Adamiya, Chairman of the Committee for Defense and National Security of the Georgian parliament, is screaming bloody murder.
Adamiya says that the information reported in the Russian media to the effect that Georgia has allegedly agreed to have a Chechen government in exile on its territory, was a deliberate provocation. Adamiya does not rule out the possibility that the Russian General Staff may be contemplating strikes at Georgian territory, allegedly against Chechen guerrillas. The deputy says that Tbilisi is allowing only refugees (children, women, and the elderly) to cross the Georgian-Chechen border.
Valery Chkheidze, Chairman of the State Border Protection Department, was quoted at his press conference as saying that almost 200 refugees from Chechnya (no men among them) had been allowed to cross the border.
An official spokesman for the Azerbaijan Embassy in Moscow told a correspondent of RIA-Novosti news agency that no Chechen guerrillas or their bases would ever be allowed on the territory of his country. To quote the official, Azerbaijan has its own troubles with separatists.
HUMAN RIGHTS ARE THE TALK OF THE DAY IN BELARUS
Russian Television (RTR), “Vesti” program, November 10, 1999, 13:00
The subject is particularly pressing on the eve of the OSCE summit in Istanbul, which Belarussian President Alexander Lukashenko intends to attend.
Independent analysts say that all protestors arrested on October 17 (even those against whom criminal charges were laid) have been released, not without the OSCE’s help. Representatives of the opposition already say, however, that no matter how busy the agenda of the Istanbul summit may be, the Belarussian issue will be discussed at the summit.
Minsk has reached a compromise with the opposition, and the latter will be given access to state-controlled media during the lead-up to the negotiations.
Oleg Mironov, Human Rights Commissioner (Russian Federation), came to Minsk several days ago. He says he is there in order to disperse the myth of widespread violations of human rights in Belarus. The agenda of his visit does not include any conferences with the Belarussian opposition. Instead, Mironov spends all his time meeting with state officials.
Belarus will be represented in Istanbul by two delegations: the official delegation and one representing the opposition.
ARMENIAN MEMBER OF PARLIAMENT ARRESTED
ORT (Russian Public Television), News program, November 10, 1999, 12:00
This morning the Armenian parliament gave its consent to the arrest of Musherg Movsesjan, a deputy of the National Assembly. He is suspected of involvement in the terrorist act in the Armenian parliament on October 27.
Movsesjan was arrested in the parliament chamber itself, and taken to a detention cell.
