By empty (5/2/2001 issue of the CACI Analyst)

The Lebanese President, Emile Lahoud, has arrived in Armenia for a two-day official visit. Mr Lahoud is due to have talks with President Robert Kocharian and the Prime Minister, Andrankik Markarian, as well as the leader of the Armenian Apostolic church, the Catholicos Karekin II. Lebanon is home to a community of some 200,000 people of Armenian descent.

By empty (5/3/2001 issue of the CACI Analyst)

Islamist radicals aim to overthrow Azerbaijan's law and order and turn the Caucasian republic into a religion-based state, Azerbaijani authorities charged. "A number of religious groups, controlled by Iran and other Arab countries, aim to seize power in Azerbaijan," Deputy Security Minister Tofik Babayev said Wednesday."To reach that goal, extremists try to create a social base for themselves, preparing their people and organizations for an easy takeover," Babayev told reporters.

By empty (5/3/2001 issue of the CACI Analyst)

Turkmenistan on Thursday called for an end to all foreign exploration in an oil-rich area of the Caspian sea it disputes with Azerbaijan after talks over the issue fell apart Thursday. Two days of negotiations aimed at defining a boundary in the resource-rich Caspian sea dividing the two former Soviet republics "reached a total deadlock" because of the attitude of Baku, the Turkmen foreign ministry asserted in a press release. "Turkmenistan calls on Azerbaijan to cease all activities linked to researching and exploiting of oil resources in the disputed zone of the Caspian," the statement said.