By empty (10/17/2003 issue of the CACI Analyst)

The Uzbek government has issued a decree criminalizing attempts to smuggle cotton to neighboring countries, Deutsche Welle reported on 16 October. The Interior Ministry has been ordered to take harsh measures against cotton smugglers. In Uzbekistan pickers are paid 30 soms (about $0.

By empty (10/17/2003 issue of the CACI Analyst)

Ali Akhmedov, who is executive secretary of the ruling Yeni Azerbaycan Party, told a press conference on the evening of 16 October that Musavat Party activists had tried to storm the Central Election Commission building in order to alter the results of the previous day\'s presidential ballot, an action which, he claimed, was tantamount to seizing power by force. Akhmedov claimed that Musavat Party Chairman Gambar urged his supporters to resort to violence. Akhmedov said the leaders not only of Musavat, but also of the other parties belonging to the Our Azerbaijan bloc that backed Gambar acted as \"stooges of extremist forces\" and thereby placed themselves outside the law, adding that Gambar and the leaders of the other parties should be brought to trial.

By empty (10/17/2003 issue of the CACI Analyst)

Police in the oil-rich republic of Azerbaijan have arrested 196 people after violent battles between police and protesters over a disputed election, the interior ministry said amid fears of more violence. It said Friday that some 64 police and bystanders caught up in the violence had been hurt, 34 of them seriously, while about 20 of the protesters sustained injuries and one of them, a 51-year-old man, died. Pitched battles broke out on Thursday afternoon between police and opposition supporters who claim that this week\'s presidential election, which handed victory to Ilham Aliyev had been rigged.