By empty (9/8/2001 issue of the CACI Analyst)

Namig Abbasov returned to Baku on 8 September after meeting in Tehran on 6 September with Iranian President Mohammad Khattami. Khattami affirmed his conviction that "with understanding and mutual respect," it will prove possible to resolve all contentious issues between the five Caspian littoral states without infringing on their legitimate interests. He also expressed satisfaction over the upcoming visit of President Aliev, scheduled for 17 September.

By empty (9/7/2001 issue of the CACI Analyst)

Following the failure of the majority Union of Citizens of Georgia (SMK) parliament faction to elicit support for an open letter to President Eduard Shevardnadze calling for more effective measures to counter corruption, parliament speaker Zurab Zhvania offered to resign if 100 of the total 235 parliament deputies sign a statement calling on him to do so. Both opposition and SMK deputies rejected that proposal. (Caucasus Press).

By empty (9/7/2001 issue of the CACI Analyst)

The OSCE has agreed "in principle" to a request by the Georgian government to deploy observers on Georgia's borders with Daghestan and Ingushetia, in addition to those who since early last year have been posted along Georgia's border with Chechnya, but the technical issues involved have not yet been resolved, Georgian Foreign Ministry spokesman Kakha Sikharulidze told journalists in Tbilisi on 7 September. Also on 7 September, new accommodation for the OSCE monitors on the Georgian-Chechen border was opened in the village of Shatili. (AP).