By empty (10/31/2003 issue of the CACI Analyst)

An unspecified number of members of the Karabakh Liberation Organization, which advocates a military campaign to restore Azerbaijani hegemony over the unrecognized Nagorno-Karabakh Republic, on 31 October tried to picket the Baku hotel where an Armenian delegation headed by Deputy Foreign Minister Ruben Shugharian was staying, but were dispersed by police. The Armenian delegation was attending a one-day meeting of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation, of which Azerbaijan is currently chairman. Shugharian told Azerbaijani journalists later on 31 October that Armenia and Azerbaijan could cooperate in such areas as ecology, combating organized crime and international terrorism, and the use of water resources.

By empty (10/31/2003 issue of the CACI Analyst)

At a Cabinet of Ministers meeting on 29 October, Turkmen President Saparmurat Niyazov signed his annual decree granting amnesty to 7,093 convicts in honor of the Muslim holy night that marks the end of Ramadan, the Turkmen State News Agency reported. This year, the holy night falls on 21 November. The amnesty does not cover those people convicted of involvement in the November 2002 purported coup attempt against Niyazov, who were excluded from the possibility of amnesty as part of their sentences.

By empty (10/30/2003 issue of the CACI Analyst)

Municipal authorities in Baku still have not made alternative premises available to the opposition Musavat Party, which Mayor Hadjibala Abutalibov ordered on 24 October to vacate its current headquarters by 1 November, Musavat Deputy Chairman Vurgun Eyyub told Turan on 30 October. Eyyub said the Economic Development Ministry still has not granted written permission for Musavat to use the only suitable offices among the seven alternatives offered, and those offices are currently occupied by municipal workers who are in no hurry to vacate them. Abutalibov has threatened court action if Musavat does not leave its present premises by the 1 November deadline.