BAKU MOVES AGAINST GULIEV WHO HITS BACK.

The parliament of Azerbaijan voted on December 16 to deprive its former chairman, Rasul Guliev, of his mandate as a deputy. Initiated by the ruling New Azerbaijan party, the resolution cited Guliev’s absence from parliament sessions for more than a year. Guliev, currently in the U.S., responded yesterday with a broadside against "dictatorship" and announced his intention to run in next year’s presidential election against President Haidar Aliev. Guliev recently published in the U.S. the book "Road to Democracy," a sequel to his "Oil and Politics" published last year. In both books he takes issue with some aspects of Aliev’s oil policy and his system of political rule. (Turan, December 16-17)

A trained oil engineer, Guliev headed Azerbaijan’s oil industry during the last years of Soviet rule, and later teamed up with Aliev to build an independent Azerbaijan. He is believed to have amassed a large personal fortune in Azerbaijan — a charge that he denies. Last year, Guliev came out against the government’s privatization and other economic programs. He was deposed as chairman of parliament and went into exile in Britain, and from there in the U.S.

Aid Organizations Review Activities in Kazakhstan.