By empty (8/25/2003 issue of the CACI Analyst)

Afghan troops backed by US-led forces were continuing operations after local officials said up to 50 suspected Taliban were killed and 75 arrested in ground and air raids across violence-wracked southeastern Afghanistan. \"In this operation 40 to 50 Taliban were killed and their bodies are still laying on the ground,\" a spokesman for the Zabul provincial government Ahmadullah Watan Dost told AFP by satellite telephone late Monday. Some 1,000 Afghan soldiers supported by dozens of US-led coalition troops were carrying out an anti-extremist operation in Zabul\'s Daychopan district, 300 kilometres (190 miles) southwest of Kabul.

By empty (8/25/2003 issue of the CACI Analyst)

The leaders of Azerbaijan\'s four most influential opposition parties -- Isa Gambar (Musavat), Etibar Mamedov (Azerbaijan National Independence Party), Ali Kerimli (Azerbaijan Popular Front Party [AHCP]-reformist wing), and Rasul Guliev (Democratic Party of Azerbaijan) -- failed to reach agreement during talks in London on 24 August on selecting a single opposition candidate to contest the 15 October presidential election. Kerimli stated earlier this month that he would withdraw his candidacy if agreement was reached on a single candidate, but later he said he was reluctant to do so as he believes most voters will vote for him. Gambar, Mamedov, and Kerimli are all registered to contest the ballot, from which Guliev was barred on the grounds that he is resident in the United States and holds U.

By empty (8/22/2003 issue of the CACI Analyst)

The controversial head of the Kyrgyz Human Rights Committee (KHRC), Ramazan Dyryldaev, was replaced on 25 August at a special committee conference in Bishkek. Dyryldaev, who is known for his uncompromising criticism of the government, was replaced by Bolot Tynaliev, former KHRC coordinator for Issyk-Kul Oblast, whom Dyryldaev considers to be unduly influenced by the government. Some KHRC members have accused Dyryldaev of misusing foreign grant funding, particularly some from the Dutch group Hivos.