By empty (4/2/2003 issue of the CACI Analyst)

Nursultan Nazarbaev met on 2 April with Wu Yaowen, first vice president of the China National Petroleum Corporation to discuss, among other things, the construction of an oil pipeline from western Kazakhstan to China. Kazakhstan and China signed an agreement in 1997 to build that pipeline, of which a 500-kilometer segment has already been built in western Kazakhstan. A press release issued after the meeting quoted Wu as saying the capacity of the pipeline would be between 30 million-50 million tons per year.

By empty (4/2/2003 issue of the CACI Analyst)

The Media Ministry on 1 April denounced an annual report by the U.S. State Department that criticizes Russia for its human rights record and, particularly.

By empty (4/2/2003 issue of the CACI Analyst)

Quoting Kyrgyzstan\'s National Security Service, the pro-government daily \"Vechernii Bishkek\" has reported that leaflets produced by the banned Muslim extremist organization Hizb ut-Tahrir were recently distributed in the major towns of Issyk-Kul Oblast in northern Kyrgyzstanl. More than 100 leaflets were handed in to the security service in Cholpon-Ata, the major resort on Lake Issyk-Kul, alone. Five young people were reportedly detained on suspicion of having been involved in distribution of the leaflets, but were released when nothing was found during searches of their homes.