AZERBAIJAN ARRESTS DEFEATED REBELS.

Nineteen participants of the March 1995 armed rebellion against president Haidar Aliev — most of them former OPON (earlier OMON) officers — have been arrested in Azerbaijan. The chief catch in the latest roundup is Yelcin Amiraslanov, who commanded the OPON unit in Kazakh district. (Turan, December 10-11) The rebellion there, like that in Baku, was defeated by army troops, and the OPON was dissolved as a force. The runaway Amiraslanov had recently returned to the Kazakh district and is being held responsible for the assassination of four security and police officers there last October.

Last week, the authorities arrested about a dozen individuals implicated in the "Generals’ plot" — an attempt to assassinate Aliev in the summer of 1995. Among those rounded up were the former press secretaries of the republic’s ex-Communist party leader and president Ayaz Mutalibov and ex-prime minister Suret Huseinov, both of whom conspired against Aliev with Russian support. The three Generals who led that plot are already in detention. (Turan, December 12) The OPON and the other group face high-treason charges.

Armenia Sentences Alleged "Dro" Plotters.