The Tajik government reported yesterday the destruction of rogue commander Rovshan Gafurov's armed group, which had operated on the eastern outskirts of Dushanbe and was periodically raiding the capital itself. Government troops captured Gafurov with some of his fighters and killed the rest. Crimes attributed... MORE

Yerevan sources have circulated the text of Vano Siradeghian's January 26 parliamentary speech, in which the Armenian Pan-National Movement (APNM) chairman defended himself against criminal charges and, in turn, pilloried the "clan" of President Robert Kocharian (see the Monitor, January 27). The leader of the... MORE

In March 1995, Azerbaijan's elite OPON (special-purpose police detachments) led by the brothers Rovshan and Mahir Javadov staged a coup against President Haidar Aliev. Army troops defeated the rebellion after fierce fighting, Rovshan was killed, Mahir escaped abroad, and the OPON was disbanded. Mahir Javadov... MORE

In a vote of 115 to 15, with 9 abstentions, Russia's Federation Council decided yesterday to postpone considering the Russian-Ukrainian interstate treaty. Nationalist and irredentist arguments appeared on the verge of prevailing during the debate, which turned emotional at times. Some moderate leaders ultimately opted... MORE

The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) unanimously voted yesterday to admit Georgia as a full member of the Council of Europe (CE). Under CE rules, PACE's vote is the final step in a lengthy admission procedure. The decision is being forwarded to... MORE

On January 25 Moscow reacted sharply to an errant U.S. missile attack which resulted in civilian Iraqi casualties. The incident underscored Moscow's and Washington's deep differences over policy toward Baghdad. A Russian Foreign Ministry statement--released shortly after Ivanov and Albright gave a joint news conference--expressed... MORE

Ivanov also used the concluding press conference, however, to reiterate both Moscow's alarm over recently announced U.S. plans to build an antimissile defense system which might breach the 1972 ABM treaty, and the Kremlin's contention that Washington's doing so would greatly complicate future efforts at... MORE

Secretary of State Madeleine Albright left Moscow yesterday morning after two days of talks with top Russian leaders. In their discussions both sides underscored how important improved bilateral Russian-U.S. cooperation is, but produced little to suggest any imminent substantive progress. The two sides did, apparently,... MORE

Several of Russia's top law enforcement officials made separate statements yesterday about a number of ongoing high-profile criminal cases. Interior Minister Sergei Stepashin, who was in Strasbourg to sign a European anticorruption agreement, promised that the murder of State Duma deputy Galina Starovoitova "will be... MORE

Yevgeny Primakov and Boris Yeltsin held a "prolonged meeting" yesterday at the Central Clinical Hospital, where the Russian president is recovering from a bleeding gastric ulcer. During its news broadcasts yesterday, Russian Public Television aired a brief, soundless fragment of the president and prime minister... MORE