By empty (2/22/2006 issue of the CACI Analyst)

Talks with Iran on a Russian proposal aimed at resolving an international crisis over Tehran\'s suspected nuclear weapons program are not going easily, President Vladimir Putin said Wednesday.\"The talks are not going easily but we are counting on reaching a positive result,\" Putin told journalists on a visit to Azerbaijan.The Russian leader said that the Kremlin\'s offer to enrich uranium for Tehran to avert suspicions that the Iranians could divert the nuclear fuel for atomic weapons should be \"perfectly acceptable\" to Iran and could be used as \"a means to solve the problem.

By empty (2/22/2006 issue of the CACI Analyst)

Russian President Vladimir Putin believes that the Georgian leadership should first of all concentrate on solving problems existing in the country instead of looking for new enemies. The visiting Russian leader said Russia sympathizes with the Georgian people “as Georgia is facing difficult times and immense social problems”. “If someone believes that problems of that kind could be solved by way of redirecting attention towards the search for new enemies, - this is a wrong path,” President Putin emphasized.

By empty (2/21/2006 issue of the CACI Analyst)

Kazakhstan\'s KNB security service has said five of its officers have been arrested over the murder of opposition politician Altynbek Sarsenbaiuly. The KNB said the five were members of its elite Arystan combat division. Opposition groups have accused the government of involvement in the death of Mr Sarsenbaiuly, who was found shot dead by a roadside earlier this month.