By empty (4/10/2002 issue of the CACI Analyst)

The tragic events, which happened in the southern Jalalabad province of Kyrgyzstan on March 17-18, provoked great concern and criticism of the Kyrgyz public as well as the international community and certainly of the Kyrgyz opposition.  As a response to these bloody events, the People’s Congress of Kyrgyzstan, which unites the four opposition parties Ata-Meken, El, Erkindik and Ar-Namys, held a meeting on March 23.  The participants of the meeting took five decisions, which if all are implemented, would bring radical changes to the political life of country.

By Gulnara Ismailova, a freelance journalist based in Baku, Azerbaijan (4/10/2002 issue of the CACI Analyst)

Though military ties between Washington and Baku began in 1997, Section 907 of the Freedom Support Act stopped the implementation of closer ties. Its waiver earlier this year enabled a significant intensification of military relations, and a first consultation between the U.S.

By Rustam Mukhamedov (4/24/2002 issue of the CACI Analyst)

In a telegram received by the Kyrgyz government on 8 April, Uzbekistan said it would halt deliveries of natural gas to Kyrgyzstan unless it pays its debts for previous supplies, RFE/RL’s Bishkek bureau reported on 11 April. As of the beginning of this month, the state gas company Kyrgyzgas owed $2.9 million to its Uzbek equivalent, Uztransgas, an official in Bishkek told RFE/RL, who added that bilateral negotiations are underway to resolve the issue.