ALMATY, May 20
(THE GLOBE)
�Interfax-Kazakhstan� agency announced on May 20 in Astana, that the President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbaev charged the government to reconsider the provisions of the bill regarding the mass media. In accordance with the bill, the activity of the mass media may be suspended by order of the Office of the Public Prosecutor.
We should remind you that this provision (point 3, article 2) invoked a negative reaction from both the opposition parties and some international organisations.
According to the informational agency, the President of the Republic believes that the right to suspend and stop the activity of the mass media should be exclusively held by the resolution of the court or owner of the mass media.
The opinion of the participants of the round table on the problems of the liberty of the mass media in Kazakhstan, attended by mass media representatives, political parties and international organisations were present, which was held in the beginning of May, 1999 in Almaty.
An informed source notified THE GLOBE that while preparing this bill, the other laws such as �On national security�, �On State secrets�, etc. were taken into consideration. The above-mentioned provision complies with point 6 (article 22) of the law of the Republic of Kazakhstan �On national security�, and that is why that provision was included in the bill.
According to the source, now, after the President�s initiative this provision will be excluded from the bill. But the law �On national security� still exists and nothing has actually changed.
It should be mentioned that the law on press and other mass media approved in 1991 which regulates the activity of the mass media is still currently in force in Kazakhstan.
STOCKHOLM, May 20 (AFP)
Sweden�s embassy in Belgrade was damaged overnight in a NATO attack on a nearby military barracks, the Swedish press agency TT reported Thursday.
�The windows and the door of the building were blown out by two strong explosions some 200 metres (yards) away,� ambassador Mats Staffansson said.
�As far as I know, no-one was injured among the embassy staff there at the time,� he said.
The NATO attack was aimed at a military barracks nearby, he said.
Sweden is a neutral country. It is a member of the European Union (EU) but not of the NATO alliance.
DIYARBAKIR, Turkey, May 20 (AFP)
Semdin Sakik, the former right-hand man of captured Kurdish rebel leader Abdullah Ocalan, was sentenced to death here Thursday.
Sakik had been charged with treason and activities aimed at dividing the country, under Article 125 of the Turkish penal code.
His brother, Arif, was also sentenced to death under the same charges.
The case has been seen here as a model of the likely outcome to Ocalan�s trial, which is set to begin on May 31.
Ocalan, head of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), who was captured and hauled to Turkey in mid-February, faces the same charges. Prosecutors in his case have called for capital punishment.
Astana, May 20 Interfax-Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan was forced to introduce a duty of $300 on Uzbek vehicles crossing into its territory after Uzbekistan unilaterally barred entry to its territory for motor vehicles including passanger cars from Kazakhstan, according to the Director of Department of Motor Transport at Ministry of Transport Communications and Tourism of the Republic of Kazakhstan Zhanat Burunbayeva. The Director said that all Kazakh passengers undergo �double customs supervision� on the Kazakhstan to Uzbekistan border. After crossing the border, Kazakh citizens are then forced to use Uzbek transport.
The transit of Kazakh motor vehicles over Uzbek territory has been prevented, Burunbayeva stated. Thus the tension was created on the border, she remarked.
The Director said that Astana tried to reach an agreement with Tashkent about the situation, but with no result.
Tashkent explains these harsh measures on the border, she said due to the alleged �entry of terrorists from Kazakhstan territory�.
The day before, Uzbek customs officials announced what they claimed to be countermeasures to the Kazakh duty.
EREVAN, May 20 (INTERFAX)
Six CIS countries � Russia, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgystan and Tajikistan - confirmed their readiness to continue to participate in the Collective Security Treaty of CIS countries, said Igor Sergeev, Russian acting Defense Minister, at the press-conference in Erevan on Tuesday. The results of the session of the Council of Defense Ministers of CIS countries were discussed at the press-conference.
Sergeev said that the rest of the participants of the Treaty did not confirm their intention to support it.
The Collective Security Treaty of 9 CIS countries was concluded in Tashkent on May 15, 1992.
Interviewed by Interfax, Sergeev said that the military leaders of CIS at their session supported Russia in its efforts to solve Yugoslavian conflict by political means.
A military exercise of anti-aircraft troops of CIS countries under the code name �Anti-aircraft Defense �Commonwealth,1999� will take place on the testing ground in Ashuluk (Astrakhan Oblast) on August 25, said Sergeev. That very day the next session of the Council of Defense Ministers of CIS countries will be held.
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