AZERBAIJANI POLITICIAN-SCHOLAR ASSASSINATED.

Zia Buniadov, 75, vice-chairman of the governing New Azerbaijan party (chaired by President Haidar Aliev), vice-president of Azerbaijan’s Academy of Sciences, and parliamentary deputy, was knifed and shot to death outside his Baku home on February 21 by unidentified assassins. Political motives are widely suspected and were also hinted at in a statement from Aliev declaring national mourning. Buniadov’s historical works prompted a Yerevan newspaper to describe him as an "adamant enemy of Armenia" following the assassination. (Turan, Azg (Yerevan), February 22)

Russian Command in Abkhazia Warns Georgian "Bandits."