By empty (7/11/2003 issue of the CACI Analyst)

Great Britain has allocated $250,000 to fund the establishment of a Center for Land Mine Problems in Tajikistan presidential press spokesman Saidov told Asia Plus-Blitz. The funding commitment, which according to Saidov includes the possibility of future financial support as long as the problem of land mines exists in Tajikistan, gives the green light for opening the center. It is a joint project of the Tajik government and the UN Development Program, which will manage the project.

By empty (7/10/2003 issue of the CACI Analyst)

Interior Minister Boris Gryzlov told journalists on 10 July that there is a direct connection between the 5 July suicide bombings and the 9 July attempted bombing attempt of a central Moscow restaurant. Gryzlov said the 5 July attack, in which two women believed to be Chechens reportedly killed themselves and 13 others when they detonated separate explosive devices at a rock concert, and the 9 July attempted bombing were carried out by a group of terrorists unified under a joint command structure that is sending suicide bombers to various Russian cities. He said the ministry has obtained information that will lead it to the group\'s command network.

By empty (7/10/2003 issue of the CACI Analyst)

The Tbilisi-based Abkhaz parliament-in-exile, which comprises the Georgian deputies to the Abkhaz parliament elected in late 1991, adopted a resolution on 10 July condemning the Georgian government\'s Abkhaz policy. Council Chairman Tamaz Nadareishvili told journalists after the session that the council is convinced that there is no longer any hope of resolving the Abkhaz conflict peacefully, and that the Georgian government should therefore resort to military action against the breakaway republic. He implied that if the Georgian government fails to do so, the council will withdraw its support for the pro-presidential For a New Georgia bloc.