By empty (1/4/2004 issue of the CACI Analyst)

The Uzbek Justice Ministry has rejected the opposition Birlik (Unity) movement\'s second attempt to register as a political party. The first registration attempt was rejected in October 2003. According to Birlik Secretary-General Vasila Inoyatova, the movement is eager to register so that it can participate as a party in parliamentary elections scheduled for the end of 2004.

By empty (1/4/2004 issue of the CACI Analyst)

According to exit polls and unofficial estimates, National Movement Chairman Mikhail Saakashvili was elected Georgian president on 4 January with between 85-90 percent of the vote, Georgian and Russian media reported. Of Saakashvili\'s five rival candidates, former Imereti Governor Temur Shashiashvili polled just under 2 percent and the others less than 1 percent. Mdzleveli candidate Zurab Kelekhsashvili\'s 3 January request to pull out of the ballot reached the Central Election Commission (CEC) too late for his name to be removed from ballot papers.

By empty (1/3/2004 issue of the CACI Analyst)

Kazakhstan has launched a space program by sending a government commission to Russia\'s Khrunichev State Space Center to build the Kazakhstan\'s first telecommunications satellite. Kazakh Prime Minister Daniyal Akhmetov discussed the construction and launching of the satellite with Khrunichev Center Director Aleksandr Medvedev in Astana on 31 December. The project, which also includes the training of Kazakh aerospace specialists, will be financed through a state innovation fund that was set up in 2003.