Latest Articles about Middle East
GAZPROM FIRMING UP ITS HOLD ON CENTRAL ASIAN GAS
Interviewed in the current issue of the journal Gazprom, the company's Vice-Chairman Alexander Ryazanov announces the imminent creation of a Russian-Kazakh joint venture to process gas from Kazakhstan in Russia. Gazprom and Kazakhstan's oil and gas state company, KazMunayGaz have agreed to supply gas from... MORE
IN GREAT HASTE KHODORKOVSKY FOUND GUILTY, GETS ONE YEAR LESS THAN SENTENCED
Late in the evening of September 22, the Moscow city court announced its verdict on the appeal to revisit the case of Mikhail Khodorkovsky and Platon Lebedev, who had been sentenced to nine years in jail by the Meshchansky district court. Normally, such appeals drag... MORE
RUSSIA WARY OF POSSIBLE WATER DISPUTE WITH CHINA
Russian regional officials, water management experts, and media have reiterated their earlier warnings that Russia could suffer economic and ecological damage as a result of Beijing's plans to siphon off some of the waters of the Irtysh River into western China. Notably, Izvestiya ran an... MORE
NEW POLICIES OF A CHECHEN REBEL LEADER: PRAGMATISM AND SELF-RELIANCE
Six months have passed since the murder of Aslan Maskhadov in the Chechen village of Tolstoi-Yurt on March 8. There was speculation after the Chechen president's death about who would replace him as rebel leader. The Russian authorities did their best to inspire an armed... MORE
RUSSIA ASSESSES THE NORTH KOREA SIX-PARTY AGREEMENT
The Russian government and media welcomed the six-party agreement about North Korea's nuclear programs announced on September 19. Izvestiya even called it a breakthrough. Deputy Foreign Minister, Alexander Alexeyev, Russia's delegate to the talks, hailed it as an historic document that would have been unimaginable... MORE
MOSCOW AFFIRMS ITS NUCLEAR PARTNERSHIP WITH IRAN
As Russia welcomed Iran's top nuclear official on September 12, Moscow is sending signals that the Kremlin remains keen to strengthen its nuclear partnership with Tehran. Iranian Vice-President Gholam-Reza Aqazadeh, who is also head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organization, was granted a warm welcome in... MORE
A New Chemical Arsenal for the Mujahideen?
According to a report in the pan-Arab daily al-Sharq al-Awsat a group called the Jaysh al-Ta'ifa al-Mansura (Army of the Victorious Community), which claims affiliation to al-Qaeda, issued a statement that it had launched an attack on September 13 against some targets in Baghdad with... MORE
Another Algerian Jihadists’ Call to Arms
Despite the high-profile June 4 attack on a Mauritanian military outpost (see Terrorism Focus, Volume II, Issue 11), evidence exists of increasing exasperation among the Algerian jihadis. The reaction to the al-Qaeda murder of two Algerian diplomats in Iraq on July 27 demonstrated how out... MORE
LACKING SUBSTANCE, MOSCOW PREFERS TO TALK TERRORISM
The huge gathering of world leaders under the UN flag last week was generally disappointing, but for Russian President Vladimir Putin it worked out just fine. Moscow is quite content with the unreformed format of the Security Council, where it has one of the five... MORE
MOTHERS OF BESLAN DECLARE WAR AGAINST FEDERAL PROSECUTOR’S OFFICE
While the first anniversary of the September 2004 Beslan hostage tragedy passed peacefully, the tension between residents of Beslan and the Russian authorities is increasing. Initially, it seemed the September 2 meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and representatives from the Mothers of Beslan Committee... MORE