Russia-Iran/Strobe Talbot/Wisner-Koptev/AIG

After Viktor Mikhaylov was dismissed as the nuclear energy minister a struggle broke out between tycoons Vladimir Potanin and Boris Berezovskiy for fissile materials. Deputy Chairman of the State Duma's Committee on Conversion of the Defense Industry and High Technology Aleksandr Pomorov is calling to cancel the Russian-US agreement on the use of highly enriched uranium extracted from nuclear weapons. Announced January 1994, the Clinton policy had a US firm which was later privatized for the program and is at the heart of the problem. Vladimir Potanin is the head of Uneximbank and is in a 50-50 deal with Boris Jordan, an American, known as Renaissance Capital. Renaissance and Energiya, a subsidiary of Uneximbank, have a project known as Sea Launch, which is to be the next-door-neighbor of COSCO's new piece of real estate - the naval installation in Long Beach.

Sea launch is premised on the idea, that the closer you launch a rocket to the equator, the more fuel efficient it is because you can take advantage of the earth's rotation, an idea like building a mammoth drilling rig, put a rocket on it, and tow it down to the equator, and then launch it. Boeing is involved in Sea Launch along with Kvaerner, a huge Norwergian shipyard specializing in rigs. Sea Launch is tied to COSCO in the fact that Boris Nemtsov of the Chubais-Potanin-Jordan faction (Sea Launch) has become Boris Yeltsin's principal emissary to China.

StratFor Intelligence Briefing 7/28/98 "Until now, we have withheld comment on the long- running border dispute between Saudi Arabia and Yemen, primarily because it is such a chronic, low-grade problem..However, recent developments in the region suggest there may be more to this story than just an old grudge and the contested ownership of a piece of desert covering a potential oil field. According to a July 22 report in the Russian newspaper "Russkii Telegraf," Russia is preparing to resume arms sales to Yemen. The newspaper reported that a high-ranking Yemeni Defense Ministry delegation visited the Gagarin Aviation Production Association in Komsomolsk-na-Amure on July 21, to discuss the purchase of Su-27 fighter aircraft. The delegation was then scheduled to visit a test range at Kapustin Yar to observe combat applications of the S-300PMU surface-to-air missile system. The delegation were reported to then be traveling to Moscow at the end of last week to sign contracts for the purchase of the weapon systems.

Global Intelligence Update 9/8/98 ".It is time to start discussing what will be on the front page of newspapers in the year 2000 and beyond. Because we regard the collapse of the Russian government as both a given and a definitive event in contemporary history, we would like to devote the next few Weekly Alerts to the more important and less immediate question of what the world will look like in the first part of the twenty-first century..The agent of change here is, of course, Russia. Regardless of personalities, the liberalism of the last six years has played itself out. The Communists and nationalists control the Duma. Yeltsin cannot govern without their support. Their position is that Russia cannot expect meaningful financial help from the West. Indeed, they argue that it was the liberal Westernizers who led Russia to the brink of disaster. In exchange for nothing, Russia has paid with its empire. It has become both impoverished and insecure. This is unacceptable. Therefore, there will be a great rectification. That rectification will take place in stages. The first stage will be the reclamation of the administrative organs of the Russian government and the return of state control to the economy. The second stage will be the reclamation of the former Soviet Union.. The problem is that neither Madeleine Albright nor Strobe Talbot seem to understand that NATO may one day be called on to fight a war. The decisions they have made makes fighting that war impossible.. We expect Russia to return to the borders of the Soviet Union. Therefore, we expect Russian pressure to be exerted on Central Europe. Whatever Russia's intentions might be, the mere presence of Russian power on the Polish plain and in the Carpathians will condition the politics of the adjoining region. This shift will actualize the traditional geopolitics of Europe, driven, once again, by the German question. The first manifestation of this will be the German response to Russian default. Germany has invested far more money in Russia than anyone else. Germany stands far more exposed than anyone else. It will try to organize stabilization programs that the rest of Europe and the U.S. will not be particularly interested in, especially since German banks will be the major beneficiaries. Germany will then face the choice of abandoning its banks to the consequences of Russian default, or of organizing a Russian policy on its own. This will be a defining moment in German and European history. The bailout will fail. The experience of acting alone will redefine German foreign policy and will represent the real end of World War II."

American Spectator 8/98 James Oberg "The scandal of the Star City mansions and NASA's non- response to it perfectly characterize the U.S.-Russian space partnership. From the beginning, the program has stumbled over the issue of money--how much the Russians will get, where (and to whom) it will go, and how much will actually be spent on the promised services. By 1998, the five-year-old partnership had seen the transfer of more than $2 billion of American money (some from NASA but most from commercial enterprises) into the Russian aerospace industry, where most of it vanished utterly without a trace.."

Toronto Sun 9/7/98 Eric Margolis ".While Clinton and Yeltsin were making fools of themselves, outside the Kremlin's walls, Weimar Russia was collapsing. In fact, Clinton arrived in Moscow to find Russia without a government, Yeltsin's nominee for prime minister, the stolid Viktor Chernomyrdin, having just been rejected by the Communist-dominated Duma, or parliament. The ruble hit a new low, banks went insolvent and panicky Russians saw their savings disappear. Though Russia's economy is smaller than Holland's - or Ontario's, for that matter - Moscow's repudiation of its debts has rocked world markets. The West has loaned Russia over US$200 billion since 1991. Half is owed to the U.S. government, IMF, and other institutions, the rest to European and American banks. German banks, the biggest holders of Russian debt, are facing a financial Stalingrad: $52 billion of losses. We have just witnessed the biggest theft in modern history. At least half of the $200 billion poured into Russia to bankroll Yeltsin's regime has been stolen outright, as this column has been reporting for years, and secreted in Switzerland, Monaco, Cyprus and the Bahamas. The thieves were Russia's seven super tycoons, bankers, politicians, and, of course, the Russian mafia, which controls 60% of all business. The West - led by President Clinton - simply closed its eyes to Moscow's Ali Babas and continued the charade that Yeltsin's Russia was a worthy, emerging democracy with a budding middle class and a market system.."

CNN Interactive Reuters 9/4/98 "A group of sailors from Dagestan released 24 school children and teachers they had taken hostage on Saturday at a nuclear base in Russia's Arctic North, Interfax news agency reported. It gave conflicting reports on how the hostage-taking ended.."

The Telegraph UK 10/24/98 Marcus Warren ".A SENIOR Russian Communist has launched a vitriolic anti-Semitic attack, exposing the authorities' inability to deal with Russia's nastier strains of extremism. Gen Albert Makashov, a parliamentary deputy and member of the Communist Party's central committee, already faces criminal charges for vowing "to take at least 10 Yids" with him if threatened with a violent end. Now the retired general has surpassed himself by accusing "Yids" of sucking Russians' blood, destroying the Russian military and spitting on a country that "saved them from the fires and gas chambers of fascism". The rhetoric is extreme even by Russian standards and, by deploying it in the popular nationalist weekly Tomorrow, Gen Makashov is issuing a new challenge to the authorities. In private, senior government figures admit that a failure to prosecute Gen Makashov over his original comments at a rally this month would be a disaster for the state's authority. Now he has trumped those remarks. While claiming that "being a Yid" is "a profession", rather than "a nationality", Gen Makashov stresses that "Zionists" and "Yids" are one and the same and also expresses his contempt for Judaism.."

Global Intelligence Update 10/27/98 ".As unrest continues to grow in the North Caucasus, Russia announced last week that it will not increase its troop presence in the region. Instead, Moscow will rely on local security forces to maintain order in the troubled territory. This announcement follows a report that Russian officials are pulling out of Dagestan, a republic of the Russian Federation bordering on Chechnya, Georgia, and Azerbaijan. After having lost in a war with separatist forces in Chechnya, it appears that Moscow is on the verge of surrendering neighboring Dagestan as well. It is our conclusion that the decision to let Dagestan go is a result of uncertainty in regards to the Russian Army. The uncertainty is less a question of readiness than it is of whether, given discontent over Moscow's failure to adequately fund or even feed Russian troops, Russian Army soldiers will obey Moscow's orders."

12/2/98 AP Tom Raum ".President . Clinton may outline new ideas for reducing nuclear arsenals here and in Russia in next month's State of the Union address, administration and congressional officials say. But the officials stress that much depends on whether Russia's parliament moves first to ratify a long-delayed major disarmament agreement. The Communist-dominated Duma, the lower house, is expected to begin debating the 6-year-old START II measure as early as Friday. The pact, ratified in 1996 by the U.S. Senate, would cut the two nations' arsenals by roughly half, to 3,000 to 3,500 warheads each. Ratification would remove a major obstacle to the Pentagon's desire to consolidate its nuclear inventory -- current Republican- written restrictions that require that at least 6,000 nuclear warheads be maintained and that dictate the mix of missiles, submarines and bombers.."

Washington Times 12/3/98 ". A blue-ribbon Pentagon panel is urging the Clinton administration to improve U.S. nuclear forces for decades to come in the face of Russia's large arsenal and a growing Chinese strategic force. The report by the Defense Science Board Task Force on Nuclear Deterrence warns the direction of nuclear-weapons programs at the Pentagon and Department of Energy is weak and should be strengthened to maintain the balance of power in the years ahead. "While the declarations of senior Department of Defense leaders are very positive, the management attention to planning to sustain the nuclear deterrent does not match the declaratory policy," the task force report concludes. A copy of the report was released Thursday to The Washington Times. It states that U.S. nuclear forces are declining, while those of major strategic adversaries are improving. "There is a near certainty that, wherever arms control efforts take us, Russia will continue to be a nuclear superpower and China will continue to evolve to more capable nuclear forces," the report stated. Russia and China are both building new nuclear missiles. The task force findings represent an unprecedented public review of normally secret U.S. strategic forces and needs. They were presented to Defense Secretary William S. Cohen and Deputy Defense Secretary John Hamre in October by the task force chairman, retired Air Force Gen. Larry Welch. The panel's findings challenge many of the arms-control plans and policies of the Clinton administration, such as its ban on nuclear testing, its reliance on arms-reduction agreements, and the effort to monitor nuclear-warhead reliability dubbed the Stockpile Stewardship Program. The report states that nuclear testing "could be a hedge" to maintain deterrence if the non-testing program suffers a "substantial failure." The report is likely to fuel Republican opposition to the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, now pending before the Senate."

The Hindu 12/27/98 AP ".The military put 10 new Topol-M nuclear missiles on full combat readiness today, the first time the missile has been deployed. The missile was developed to sustain Russia as a global nuclear power. The single-warhead Topol-M's were commissioned in the Saratov region, about 700 km south-east of here, the Itar-Tass news agency reported. The deployment was a major step for Russia's cash-strapped military.."

The Hindu 12/27/98 UNI ".Former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev, disenchanted by Washington's bid for ``achieving monopoly of global leadership,'' has flayed both the United States and Britain for ``usurping the functions of prosecutor, judge and bailiff'' by resorting to the use of force against Iraq. Two western powers have struck a blow on the United Nations, hoping for the establishment of a just and effective world order, Mr Gorbachev has said in the local daily Nezavisimaya Gazeta. In a brief but scathing attack on the US, he warned it against ``nurturing illusions of its omnipotence, now widespread among many US politicians. This will pass off one day and it will become clear to all that monopoly of leadership is impossible in today's world.''.."

Global Intelligence Update 12/21/98 ".In the midst of last week's chaos, a single, crucial, clear and historically significant event took place. Russia's geopolitical flirtation with the West finally came to an end. There will undoubtedly be periods of reconciliation, cooperation and even good will in the future. But a sudden and powerful consensus emerged in Russia that held that Russia had been betrayed by the United States over Iraq, and that the only way out of this situation was for Russia to once again reassert itself as a great power. What is most important in this view is that it is the only issue on which all factions appear to agree. Apart from a few, isolated pro-western liberals, the view from the office of Boris Yeltsin to the most extreme nationalists and communists was that the decision by the United States to bomb Iraq was intolerable. It has the potential to be the foundation of a new Russian political consensus, with critical consequences for the international system. The problem was not only that the United States bombed Iraq, but that it did not even consult Russia. Indeed, that is one of the most peculiar aspects of this attack and the one that led us not to expect this attack..."

Fox News 12/21/98 ".The speaker of Russia's lower house of parliament said Monday he believed the chamber would vote next month to launch impeachment proceedings against President Boris Yeltsin, Interfax news agency reported. Gennady Seleznyov, a member of the opposition Communist Party, said he expected impeachment proceedings to start on at least one count. Impeachment is a long and complicated process which even Yeltsin critics say has almost no chance of success.."

AP 12/21/98 George Gedda http://www.newsday.com/ap/rnmpnt0p.htm ".Just a few years ago, many Americans dreamed that from the ashes of the Soviet Union would arise a reformist, democratic Russia determined to overcome the gravitational pull of communism and eager to join hands with its former adversaries. For those who harbored those dreams, these are not good times. Lately, almost everything has gone wrong. ``That euphoria was misplaced,'' said Peter Rodman of the Nixon Center for Peace and Freedom, a private think tank. Russian foreign policy has shifted in a sharply nationalist direction in recent years, the hallmark of which is that American global dominance must be opposed, he said. Some Russians openly concede that objective. Gen. Leonid Ivashov said in Moscow last Friday that ``Russia may become the leader of a part of the world community that disagrees with the (U.S.) dictate.''."

ORLANDO SENTINEL 1/3/99 Charlie Reese ".The Russians are talking to India and China about a new strategic alliance -- the three of them to offset the United States. Got to admit that would be a formidable alliance -- three nuclear powers with 2 billion of the world's 5 billion people and a huge, huge chunk of its natural resources... As one Russian military intelligence official put it, "The U.S. has become unpredictable." And the future has become more so. I strongly suspect America's starring role as the world's only superpower will close soon to bad reviews. Bill Clinton and his baby-boomer gang have swaggered about, neglected important affairs, meddled in trivial ones and given the world an almost comic-opera picture of a sanctimonious, bombastic, ineffective and incompetent superpower... While American politicians boasted about the alleged success of bombing Iraq, the Russian military intelligence noted that a half-billion dollars worth of missiles killed 67 soldiers, blew up some empty buildings and even wandered off into Iran. Apparently, under the Clinton administration, even the smart bombs have been dumbed down. Clinton, his secretary of defense and his secretary of state couldn't scrape up two hours of military experience between them. And they have even less interest in the subject.."

New Republic 1/18/99 ".When the United States and Britain bombed Iraq, the harshest condemnation came from two pro-Iraq Security Council members with whom the Clinton administration has worked overtime to improve relations: Russia and China. Boris Yeltsin left his sickbed to express "the most serious concern, a feeling of dismay and deep alarm." Russia's ambassador to the United Nations huffed about "gross violations of the rule of law." China's U.N. ambassador said the U.S. had "violated the U.N. charter and the norms governing international law." Isn't there something a little odd about the Clinton administration's equanimity toward such abuse from countries it has so solicitously befriended? Consider what the U.S. has done to help bail out the Russian economy."

AP 1/13/99 ".A new MiG fighter jet, conceived as a Russian response to the latest U.S. combat aircraft, was unveiled with much pomp Tuesday even though the plane has yet to carry out its maiden flight. The MAPO-MiG company that produces the MiG aircraf claims it would be able to outperform the most advanced U.S. fighter, the F-22 Raptor...Like the American fighter, the MFI has a "thrust vectoring" system that allows it to make sharper turns than current fighters. It also has similar stealth capabilities, relying on composite materials and a special shape to avoid detection by enemy radar..In March 1997, military officials said they were scrapping plans to manufacture the MFI because it was too expensive. Sergeyev said the Defense Ministry would support the MFI development program, and would decide on production plans following flight tests that could take up to seven years.."

Stratfor 1/24/99 page 48 Global Intelligence Update ".Something odd is going on. The Iraqis are not allowing the latest crisis to die down, but are challenging U.S. aircraft with missiles and are deploying forces southward. Their newspapers are full of threats directed toward Kuwait and Saudi Arabia. At the same time, the Serbs deliberately carried out a massacre that was intended to be detected, and then intentionally exacerbated the crisis by trying to expel a senior diplomat. There is now the real possibility that Baghdad and Belgrade are coordinating their actions to simultaneously pose challenges that strain U.S. military capabilities. At the same time, Russia has taken on a much more assertive role, demanding that the U.S. not attack either Iraq or Serbia. The U.S. Post-Cold War coalition has completely broken down. Russia, France and China are all resisting the U.S. A window of opportunity has opened here for the Iraqis and Serbs. We see signs that they are now taking advantage of it, perhaps in concert..One of the major predictions STRATFOR made in the Annual Forecast was that Russia would become much more assertive in 1999.."

New York Times 1/21/99 ". There is no longer any threat of Russia's deliberately attacking the United States. But Moscow's still-formidable stocks of nuclear bombs, nuclear ingredients and biological and chemical warfare agents pose a different kind of danger. Much of this material is inadequately secured, and the workers guarding it are paid poorly or not at all. That creates an unacceptably high risk that some material could be sold to potential aggressors like Iraq, Libya, North Korea or Serbia. Many Russian weapons scientists are also unemployed or unpaid and vulnerable to foreign recruitment.. It would not take much more than $10 billion to eliminate most of the risks from those weapons today.."

New York Times 1/22/99 Thomas Friedman ".No, no, you say, the President declared that "We must expand our work with Russia to safeguard nuclear materials." But I thought that was a laugh line. After all, for the last five years Mr. Clinton has had a signed treaty on the table with the Russians -- Start 2 - - that would require Moscow to slash the number of its long-range nuclear warheads aimed at us, from around 6,000 to 3,000. But the Clinton team chose to trade Russia's immediate ratification of Start 2 for NATO expansion. That's right, they traded the elimination of 3,000 Russian warheads for the Polish Air Force and the Czech Navy! ."

Reuters 1/31/99 Freeper Sawdring ".President Geidar Aliev has ruled out the establishment of U.S. or other foreign military bases in Azerbaijan, a Russian newspaper reported. Aliev, 75, who returned to Baku on Saturday after being treated for the flu and bronchitis at a hospital in Turkey, said it was premature to consider foreign assistance to counter a buildup of Russian military in neighboring Armenia.."

Hartford Courant 1/30/99 John Macdonald ".In a major shift of U.S. policy, Clinton administration officials said they want to move ahead with a missile defense system designed to stop attacks from small outlaw nations. The problem is that the proposed new system is larger than anything allowed under the 1972 agreement. Arms control experts who worked on the 1972 accord are horrified. They see more than two years of work evaporating for a system they doubt will work against a threat they are not certain exists. The cost, they say, will be that Russia will see the new shield, limited though it may be, as a threat to its security and will refuse to follow through on agreements it has signed with the United States to reduce both nation's long-range nuclear missile arsenals..Cohen said the United States will try to renegotiate the 1972 treaty with Russia to allow the new program to go forward. If Russia objects, the United States will push ahead anyway.."

UPI Focus 2/18/99 ".Russian President Boris Yeltsin says he has warned President Clinton not to order airstrikes against Yugoslavia if a peaceful agreement over Kosovo isn't reached. Yeltsin told reporters today he told Clinton during a recent telephone conversation, "We will not let Kosovo be touched." ."

Insight 2/13/99 J. Michael Waller ".Along a rural Virginia road, a Hartsdale, N.Y., photographer no sooner stops his car and tosses something into the leaves than he is swarmed by a team of FBI agents. In Toronto, Ian and Laurie Lambert apply for passports -- and alerted Canadian authorities haul them off to jail. Sixteen years after receiving asylum in Israel from his native Soviet Union, electrical engineer Anatoly Gendler is arrested and imprisoned in Tel Aviv. In Finland, police grab a British couple at Helsinki's Vantaa airport and deport them -- to their home in Russia. These people had one thing in common: All were deep-cover Russian spies. Even as superpower tensions subsided in the mid-1980s and after the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, Moscow continued not only to recruit turncoat Americans and other Westerners, but to penetrate Western societies with highly trained, long-term espionage officers and agents.."

Washington Times 2/16/99 Freeper LPH2 ".Comments of Richard Perle, the former assistant secretary of defense about Iraq trying to upgrade his air defenses with help from Russia: ..."The idea that the Russians would take this kind of action is a kick in the face.....It is a scandal.". The Clinton administration is a "cream puff" on foreign policy, he said. "The Russians have come to that conclusion and consider the United States weak and irresolute." .."

Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) assessment of Russia's strategic bomber exercises which simulated nuclear bombing raids and firings of long range cruise missiles against the U.S. raises the question: "Why aren't they practicing against Chinese targets?"

7/13/98 London Times Michael Evans "President Yeltsin activated his "nuclear briefcase" for a retaliatory attack against the West in 1995 when Russian early warning stations picked up what they thought was an approaching American Trident ballistic missile, according to a television documentary. .Bruce Blair, a former American nuclear forces commander and now a member of the Brookings Institute in Washington, says: "The military actually issued orders to the Strategic Rocket Forces to prepare to receive the next command which would have been the launch order." ."

7/14/98 Worldnetdaily Joseph Farah concerning COSCO and Long Beach "It's a staging ground for the New World Order. When Bill Clinton says he and China share a vision for one big happy planet, this is what he is talking about.. The wacky idea was formulated right in the Oval Office following one of those visits by Chinese arms dealers who dumped money into President Clinton's 1996 election campaign. Long Beach city officials, oblivious to the national security concerns of the plan, saw it as a bonanza for local commerce and jobs. China's interest in Long Beach is as understandable as Beijing's desire to take control of the Panama Canal. But there's even more to the story than meets the eye -- more than most of the opposition to the plan have ever imagined. China also wants COSCO, which serves as an intelligence-gathering operation for the PLA, located near the multinational Sea Launch project, which will use its Long Beach base to launch dozens of satellites into space from equatorial ocean locations. The Russian company RSC-Energia is a partner in Sea Launch along with Boeing. RSC-Energia is as closely tied to Russian military intelligence as COSCO is to Chinese military intelligence.."

8/10/98 AP Michael White "The State Department has suspended work on Boeing's Sea Launch commercial rocket program after learning that the company disclosed possibly sensitive information to its Russian and Ukrainian partners. Boeing officials, anxious to resume work on the $500 million project, which will launch satellites from a floating platform in the Pacific Ocean, were trying Monday to convince the government there will be no further unauthorized disclosures."

The American Spectator 8/11-17/98 Kenneth Timmerman "On July 13, a Norwegian-built cargo ship, the Sea Launch Commander, steamed into the former U.S. Naval Station at Long Beach, California, carrying Russian and Ukrainian-built missiles... If all goes according to plan, the two ships will set sail early next year from Long Beach to the Christmas Islands, which lie on the Equator in the South Pacific, to make their first commercial satellite launch. That is, unless federal prosecutors scuttle the entire deal. TAS has learned from law enforcement sources in Long Beach, Seattle, and Washington that Boeing has admitted to more than 350 violations of U.S. export laws in connection with the Sea Launch venture. "What you have is a U.S. company bringing Russian ICBMs into a U.S. port without a license," one official said. "This is totally unprecedented." The Zenit booster--which forms the first two stages of the Sea Launch rocket--is a larger, commercial version of Russia's ten-warhead SS-18 "Satan" ICBM, the huge city-buster that still threatens the American mainland. Until now, it has been primarily used by Russia to send military spy satellites into space.."

Freeper report on CBS 8/27/98 "A CBS Television Special reports that Boris Yeltsin just signed an official resignation dated to take effect next week. A temporary president will be appointed until elections can be held to select a new president of Russia. On the report, the DJIA fell more than 350 points in minutes, but rebounded fifty points a few minutes later. Both the beleaguered Asian markets and the European markets also fell on the announcement. President Clinton was scheduled for an official visit with Yeltsin next month. Reports say the Russian military is surviving on an official diet of dog food. (Not making it up! That's the report.) The Russian Rubble is depreciating at the rates as high as 15% per day. No word on how much it fell on the news of President Yeltsin's resignation. Presumably, when not defending Clinton's myriad scandals, the state department is studying the developments. Holding tight for possible rough weather on the horizon."

Fox News 8/27/98 Neil Cavuto: Kremlin denying that Yeltsin has stepped down. It is probably just a matter of when; Yeltsin is persona non grata. Yeltsin has blown $40 billion of IMF and other funds. Parliament dominated by Communists saying capitalism has failed; replace Yeltsin with a Communist.

Kanwa Information Center 2/10/99 Kanwa News Freeper Jolly "...On February 2, the Far East Military Tribunal of Russia convicted a number of Russian and Chinese citizens of stealing and illegally selling the navigation system of Russia's SU27 fighter plane to China. Those who were involved in this espionage case included the former major of the Intelligence Bureau of Russia's Far East Military Region and the employees of the Far East Plane Plant that produced the SU27 for China. The above espionage group even extended its activities to the air force base and hired the low-ranking officers of the base to steal the navigation equipment and the other systems of the SU27 planes that now serve the Russian army...."

MOSCOW, (Reuters) 2/24/99 "...Zhu's visit follows a trip by Chinese President Jiang Zemin last November and is part of series of high-level exchanges which began in the early 1990s. Bitter rivalry between Moscow and Beijing during the 1960s after the breakup of their close communist alliance is now almost completely forgotten. Trade and political ties have blossomed since the late 1980s and both sides now describe their relationship as a ``strategic partnership.'' ..."

Reuters 2/24/99 "...The Clinton administration warned Wednesday that legislation on a national missile defense (NMD) would send Russia a message that the United States is not interested in security cooperation. Draft legislation working its way through both the Senate and the House of Representatives would make it U.S. policy to deploy a system to defend against incoming missiles as soon as such a system is technically feasible.... To deploy a large-scale missile defense system, the United States would probably have to either negotiate an amendment of the ABM treaty with Russia or renounce the treaty on the grounds that U.S. supreme interests were at stake. The Russians say they do not want to amend the treaty and the dispute could hold up Russian ratification of START II, the strategic arms reduction treaty signed in 1993...."

Reuters 2/21/99 Adam Tanner "....The United States has offered to set up a missile early-warning center with Russia from December 1999 to reduce the risk of accidental war stemming from the millennium bug, a senior U.S. defense official said Sunday. Edward Warner, U.S. Assistant Secretary of Defense for Strategy and Threat Reduction, outlined the suggestion in two days of military talks that ended Friday on how the millennium computer bug might affect Russia's nuclear arsenal. Experts have expressed fear that the millennium bug, or Y2K problem, caused by outdated computer software that may mistake the year 2000 for 1900 could cause Russian radars to believe mistakenly that an attack was under way...."

Washington Post 3/2/99 John Mintz "...A federal grand jury in Seattle is investigating whether Boeing Co. violated criminal laws by improperly sharing sensitive rocketry data with Russian and Ukrainian technicians working with the company on a sea-launched satellite project, sources said yesterday.... The U.S. attorney's office in Seattle is leading the investigation, which was first reported in yesterday's editions of the Seattle Times. The probe focuses on the company and the foreigners who received the technical data. Investigators are examining, among other things, an allegation that some of the Russian and Ukrainian individuals who received the technical briefings and were given access to controlled areas were intelligence agents for their countries. Electronic recording equipment was found at the home of one of the Russians, sources said...."

Miami Herald 3/4/99 Andres Oppenheimer and Juan Tamayo "...A spate of construction at the Russian spy base in Cuba that included three new satellite dishes, a parking lot and even a swimming pool has sparked a debate in Washington over whether Moscow is upgrading or merely maintaining the facility. Many in the U.S. intelligence community and conservatives in Congress argue that the construction amounts to a dangerous expansion of the Lourdes base near Havana that could endanger U.S. military interventions in foreign trouble spots like Kosovo. In a classified briefing to several members of Congress and aides Feb. 24, CIA and other U.S. intelligence officials said the Russians had ``intensified their activities in Lourdes, according to three people with access to the briefing. The number of satellite dishes has doubled from three to six and workers built new buildings, new parking lots and a swimming pool for the Russian military technicians who run the base, the sources said..."

Electronic Telegraph 3/07/99 Alice Lagnado "...RUSSIAN soldiers in the war-torn Caucasus region are selling their comrades as hostages to Chechen rebels for as little as £10 to supplement their meagre wages, it has been revealed. During the past two years, 46 soldiers and officers in the 136th Motorised Brigade alone, which is based in Buynaksk, Dagestan, have disappeared. Most of them were sold to Chechen rebels, who then sell them for a ransom back to their families...."

Global Intelligence Update 3/8/99 "...Last weekend, the Washington Post broke a story stating that the United States had temporarily halted the sale of aircraft to Greece. The reason was that evidence had come to light that Greece, a U.S. ally and member of NATO, had provided the Russians with extremely sensitive codes that would enable someone to jam NATO aircraft. In exchange, according to the reports, Russia gave Greece a system known as SPN-2, which would interfere with the targeting capabilities of NATO aircraft. Presumably, Greece would have used this system against Turkey. Once the reports surfaced, Washington asserted that weapons sales to Greece would resume, because the reports were inaccurate and the transaction had not taken place...."

Newsmax, Votex 3/11/99 Christopher Ruddy "... Many Americans find it unthinkable that Russia or China would launch an attack on the US knowing that it would mean millions of casualties on their soil. But what Americans fail to take into account is the mindset of the authoritarian communists who still occupy every important military and political office in those countries. These are the same people who gave the world brainwashing, the Secret Police, and the Gulag. Under these communist leaders and their predecessors, China and the Soviet Union became the most murderous regime in the history of the human race, and the primary victims were their own citizens. According to Professor R. J. Rummel, author of Death By Government: "Almost 62 million people, nearly 54,800,000 of them citizens, have been murdered by the Communist Party -- the government -- of the Soviet Union. "Old and young, healthy and sick, men and women, even infants and the infirm, were killed in cold blood. They were not combatants in civil war or rebellions; they were not criminals. Indeed, nearly all were guilty of... nothing." [Death by Government, pp. 79 & 80.] Second only to the Soviet Union in mass murder, is Communist China. At least 35,236,000 people have been killed in Red China. Rummel writes: "These poor souls have experienced every manner of death for every conceivable reason: genocide, politicide, mass murder, massacres, and individual directed assassination. [Death by Government, p. 92] Have Russia and China "reformed," and become peaceful lambs, as President Clinton would have us believe? The evidence is overwhelming to the contrary. THE MYTH OF RUSSIAN DEMOCRACY ...In brief, the centralized apparatus of economic control remains firmly in the hands of "former" communists, both in Russia, China, and throughout the states of the former Soviet Union. And the same people are in charge of the economy..... RUSSIA'S COMMITMENT TO GLOBAL CONQUEST ... When I spoke to Teller at his home, he was very worried about Clinton's military polices, which he called extremely "dangerous." According to Teller, under Clinton the US has ceased the development of virtually all strategic weapons, especially nuclear ones. Teller seemed perplexed that an American president would do such a thing, especially since the Russians and Chinese were building new and more powerful weapons at breakneck speed. If this goes on, Teller said, the US military would witness no real improvement in its weapons systems for a decade -- exposing America to pre-emptive attack.... To put it briefly, the West has been disarming, while the Russians and Chinese have been building their militaries rapidly -- especially their strategic forces, or "superweapons." WAS THE WEST TRICKED? .Since its inception in 1917, the Soviet Union followed the policy of alternating periods of repression with relaxing of authority and opening to the West to attract Western capital and aid. Then, a few years later, revitalized by the infusion of Western money and technology, they would clamp down again, more brutally than ever. China has done the same. Time and again, the West has been taken in by this trick. Indeed, throughout the 1920s and 1930s, the Soviet Union was the darling of myopic intellectuals in America and Europe who praised it for its "noble" ideology, donated funds and urged Western aid -- while ignoring the mind-numbing repression, concentration camps and mass executions. Anatoliy Golitsyn, an important KGB defector, warned the CIA that the USSR would launch a massive "liberalization" movement, as a ruse to get the West to disarm...."

Global Intelligence Update 3/15/99 "... This past week Poland, Hungary, and the Czech Republic formally became part of NATO. This means that the mutual guarantees of assistance in time of war, that have been the essence of NATO for several generations, have now been extended to these three. If any of them are attacked then it is the legal and moral obligation of all NATO members to come to their assistance.... NATO has become defined in two ways. First, it has been defined, along with the European Union, as an alliance among democratic states. To be a bit more precise, it has been identified as an organization that motivates formerly non-democratic states to become democratic.... The second role that NATO has defined for itself derives from the first. If NATO is a club for democratic capitalist countries, and if its purpose is to motivate countries to be democratic and capitalist, then it follows that NATO should also punish countries that are not democratic and capitalist. One punishment is exclusion.... In extreme cases where the anti-democratic, anti-free market behavior of states goes beyond certain limits, NATO is seen as an instrument of rectification, imposing penalties on the transgressor, including military penalties. Serbia has become the exemplar of this treatment....NATO has, in other words, transformed itself from a defensive alliance against the Soviet Union, into a system of relations designed to regulate the internal political, economic and social relations of not only member countries, but also of non-members on the periphery of the NATO alliance...If the Russian view of the West has become as negative as it appears from what they say, then Russia will assume the worst of the West and act preemptively. In that case, it is a race over who will act first in the Baltics, Ukraine, and Slovakia..."

South China Morning Post 3/12/99 Freeper Copycat "...Beijing confirmed yesterday that it had held talks with Russia on the US plan to create a theatre missile defence (TMD) system to protect its troops and allies in Asia. Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhu Bangzao said: "Both China and Russia have expressed their respective stands on the issue of TMD." Mr Zhu did not say where and when the talks were held or who was involved. The Japanese news agency Kyodo, quoting an unnamed Russian government source, said on Wednesday that security experts from the foreign and defence ministries of China and Russia had met every two months to exchange information about the anti-missile system. The talks began late last year at China's request, and the two sides would likely end up deciding on a united approach, possibly jointly asking that the US and Japan terminate development of the programme, the source said...."

NewsMax 3/15/99 Christopher Ruddy "...The perception in much of the West is that Russian conventional and strategic forces are in complete disarray, on the verge of breakdown or worse, like the civilian economy. Fears of a military meltdown in Russia have successfully been exploited by the Russians as a subtle form of blackmail. Either the US and the West hand over billions in aid, or else. The truth is that Russia's military-industrial complex did not collapse as a result of the dissolution of the Soviet Union -- nor was its arsenal of strategic weapons dismantled.

In May of 1997, Reuters reported, citing French intelligence estimates, Russia maintains a stockpile of 18,000 to 20,000 tactical nuclear weapons -- that's in addition to approximately 8,000 big, strategic nuclear weapons. Other estimates put the total number of nuclear weapons at between 30,000 and 50,000. That's the largest nuclear arsenal that Russia has ever had, equaling or exceeding what they possessed at the height of the Cold War. Russia has also been modernizing its strategic weapons. Air Force General Eugene Habiger, commander of the US Strategic Command in Nebraska, told the Washington Times last year that Russia and China have been engaging in a massive weapons modernization program. Habiger told the Times that "Russia has begun producing its new SS-27 strategic missile (the Topol-M) and is building new submarines armed with multiple-warhead missiles and new bomber-launched cruise missiles." Habiger continued, noting that "Russia is the only power with the capacity to destroy the United States. 'The anomaly that we're faced with is that the Cold War ended, and did the loser really lose?' he said. 'Did you see a demobilization? Did you see all those nuclear weapons come down in Russia? No.'" The Air Force's National Intelligence Center concluded in a recent report to Congress that even with the economic and social problems of Russia, that she "probably will retain the largest force of land-based strategic missiles in the world."..."

NewsMax 3/15/99 Christopher Ruddy "...In March of this year, the New York Times carried an article by Ken Alibek, a chief deputy in Biopreparat, the military's biological weapons division. Alibek says Russia continues to develop new biological weapons, from anthrax to various plague strains. Alibek criticized US aid to Russia which does not allow full-scale inspection of the sites where these weapons are being developed. Alibek's claims were substantiated in September of 1998 when the Defense Intelligence Agency reported to Congress that "key components of the former Soviet biological warfare program remain largely intact and may support a possible future mobilization capability for the production of biological agents and delivery systems." ... "

STRATFOR's Global Intelligence Update 3/23/99 "... Russia has been consistent in its opposition to the use of military force against Yugoslavia, particularly by NATO, since the crisis emerged. Primakov argued on March 23 that such an attack would fundamentally change "the nature of international order," as Yugoslavia was not an aggressor against foreign countries. "Maybe someone would like to make an air strike against Turkey because the Kurdish problem hasn't been solved yet," he mused, "Or maybe against Spain because the Basque problem has not been solved." Primakov insisted that all diplomatic options had not been exhausted, while Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Vladimir Rakhmanin repeated the argument that, "One cannot use force in international relations without the agreement of the UN Security Council." The Kosovo crisis strikes a deep chord in Moscow, and has been the exceptional case uniting Russia's contentious political factions [http://www.stratfor.com/services/giu/101598.asp]. Moscow not only opposes the use of force against its traditional Slavic ally, but also sees NATO action as a dangerous precedent, furthering the encirclement of and threat to Russia itself. Already incensed at the geographic expansion of NATO, Russia is fiercely opposed to the expansion of NATO's mission....Also on March 23, Vafa Goulizade, senior foreign policy advisor to Azerbaijani President Heydar Aliyev, announced that a Russian cargo plane carrying six MiG fighters and 30 pilots and technicians had been detained at Baku's Bina airport on March 18. According to Goulizade, the Antonov An-124's crew had admitted that the plane was bound for Yugoslavia. According to Azerbaijani authorities, the crew later repeatedly changed their story, claiming to be bound alternatively for North Korea or the Czech Republic....Whichever proves to be the real story, the implications are the same. It is important not to underestimate Moscow's resentment of the way in which Russia has been marginalized in international affairs. And deeper still is Russia's opposition to what it sees as the tightening noose being drawn around it by the U.S. and NATO..."

Drudge 3/23/99 "... Russia's Defense and Foreign Ministries have been working on options to act, in connection with possible NATO strikes against Yugoslavia... All actions by the Defense Ministry will be aimed at increasing the combat readiness of Russia's armed forces. According to the information available to ITAR-TASS newswire on Wednesday morning, in case the situation takes an unfavorable turn for Russia, the Ministry is preparing proposals on possible deployment of tactical nuclear weapons on the territory of Byelorussia. Military officials are seriously considering the possibility of Russia's withdrawal from earlier agreements within the framework of the Russian-US commission as regards Russian arms supplies to Iran. Russia may order its peacekeepers in Bosnia and Herzegovina "not to take orders from NATO generals and only obey instructions from the Russian General Staff"... DEVELOPING HOT..."

AP BREAKING NEWS 3/23/99 "...Azerbaijan has detained a Russian cargo plane carrying six MiG jet fighters that may have been heading to Yugoslavia, news reports said today. The Russian AN-124 cargo plane arrived in Azerbaijan's capital last Thursday for refueling. But customs agents prevented the plane from leaving after finding the jet fighters and other military equipment aboard along with 30 pilots and technicians, the Turan news agency reported. The crew said initially that the plane was heading for Yugoslavia, a Russian ally that is under an international arms embargo. But the crew said later that they were going to North Korea, Turan reported. The crew has refused to provide information on where their flight originated and other details sought by Azeri officials, who suspect the crew members are mercenaries..."

Tass 3/24/99 Freeper lowteksh KIEV (Itar-Tass) "... Ukraine's Supreme Council on Wednesday decided to abolish the country's nuclear-free status in view of "NATO's aggressive plans with regard to countries which are not members of the Alliance", according to a statement explaining reasons for the move...."

Tass 3/24/99 MOSCOW (Itar-Tass) "...If NATO begins military action in Yugoslavia, Russia will respond in accordance with President Boris Yeltsin's decisions and depending on the situation, Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov said. In a live interview with the ORT television's news programme Vremya on Wednesday evening, Ivanov said that "it would be premature right now to speak about any steps that could lead to the escalation of tension on the European continent." ..."

AFP 3/24/99 Freeper Thanatos "...Russia's President Boris Yeltsin appealed to world leaders Wednesday to keep US President Bill Clinton from making the "terrifying and tragic" mistake of launching air strikes against the Serbs over Kosovo. "I address the whole world, I address people who have survived war, I address those who experienced bombings, I address their children, I address all politicians. "Let us while there are a few moments left convince Clinton not to make this terrifying step," Yeltsin said in a forceful and emotional national television address...."

BBC 3/21/99 Freeper Sakida "...Russia and China have agreed to develop jointly a number of islands on rivers along their border. The agreement came during talks which ended in Beijing on Saturday. Radio Russia quoted the head of the Moscow delegation as saying that a list of ten islands to be developed jointly was compiled during the talks. He said no precedents for the joint development of territories existed anywhere in the world, and he described Russia and China as trailblazers..."

Insight Magazine 4/5-12/99 J Michael Waller Freeper TxTruth "...While GAO was conducting its probe, Vice President Al Gore was hammering out a deal to expand the concept tenfold. His $600 million Nuclear Cities Initiative would fund Russian scientists who produce their weapons of mass destruction and set up commercial projects in the secret "nuclear cities" through 2007. As Gore was working on the details, GAO investigators tried to visit one of those nuclear cities, Sarov, to monitor an IPP project there. The former KGB barred them from even entering the city..."

Kanwa News Andrei Pinkov 3/11/99 "...As the source of the Russian military industry indicated to the KWIC reporter, Russia is in negotiation with China on the transfer of the Russian torpedo technology that was formerly used in the 'KILO' - class submarine. The same torpedoes can also be used in the China-made 'Song' - class submarine. Russian Prime Minister Premakov publicly indicated last month that Russia was willing to transfer its hi-tech products to China at an international market price. The military observers in Moscow generally believe that this is tantamount to a hint that some of the restrictions Moscow has long imposed on the military sales to China have been relaxed...."

Interfax 3/25/99 "...Russia will not use force to settle the Kosovo conflict. "We are not discussing using force in response to force," Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov told Interfax after a Thursday morning meeting with Prime Minister Yevgeny Primakov. On the possibility of Russia's unilaterally dropping sanctions on arms deliveries to Yugoslavia, Ivanov said, "An aggression was launched against a sovereign country that did not start any aggression, and under the U.N. charter other countries U.N. members may offer assistance to such a country." He did not specify what assistance could be given..."

Associated Press 3/25/99 Barry Renfrew "...President Boris Yeltsin said today that Russia has decided not to use force to counter NATO attacks against Yugoslavia and will continue its efforts to find a peaceful solution to the Kosovo conflict. "Russia has a number of extreme measures in store, but we decided not to use them so far," Yeltsin said after meeting with his top ministers at the Kremlin. "Morally we are above America."..... "We would have liked to use grenades, but all we had were eggs," said protester Denis Yasov in St. Petersburg..... But after its initial harsh reaction to the bombings, Moscow appeared to be backing away from confrontation with the United States and its NATO allies. The ITAR-Tass news agency reported today that Russia would keep its mission at NATO headquarters in Brussels open and apparently would continue to take part in other alliance programs. Despite its staunch support for Yugoslavia, Russia's options are limited. It is no longer a major military power, and it desperately wants Western aid to revive its shattered economy..."

Drudge 3/25/99 "... ITAR/TASS, the official state news agency for Russia, reported that Security Council deputy secretary Viktor Navelsky told Byelorussian television on Wednesday evening that the national Security Council has worked out, on the president's instruction, a set of measures in connection with the aggravation of the situation in Yugoslavia, including a possible return of nuclear weapons to Byelorussia. But on Thursday evening, Byelorussia's democratic forces issued a declaration blasting Moscow for the nuke talk. "Kosovo hostilities cannot be nether the pretext nor the cause of unleashed imperial campaign aimed at deploying nuclear arms in Byelorussia," it said.

"We consider all infringements on its sovereignty as gross interference with the home affairs of an independent state... We demand that Russia stop the nuclear blackmail of Byelorussia."..."

Reuters 3/28/99 Martin Wolk "...An international consortium led by Boeing Co. blasted its first rocket into space from a floating Pacific Ocean platform Saturday on a mission to test the novel technology for use in the commercial satellite market. The three-stage rocket, built by Boeing's Russian and Ukrainian partners, lifted off at 5:30 p.m. PST from the Odyssey, a converted oil rig platform near the equator about 1,500 miles southeast of Hawaii..... The project, developed in four years for an estimated $500 million, also was delayed last year by U.S. charges that Boeing had improperly transferred military technology to its Russian and Ukrainian partners. Boeing ultimately agreed to pay $10 million to settle civil charges but remains the subject of a federal grand jury investigation into the technology transfer. ..."

NewsMax 3/30/99 JR Nyquist "...When US and NATO warplanes struck Yugoslavia last week, President Boris Yeltsin warned of a global war. But Western leaders have seemingly scoffed at Yeltsin's statement, and those of other Russian leaders. By ignoring such peril, Western leaders have taken a casual approach to Russia that may be intensifying Russia's growing animus toward the West. To date, no high level meetings between Russian and American officials have been arranged to address Moscow's concerns. The usual anxiety about US-Russian relations is almost non-existent. At the State Department, James Rubin offered the belief that "President Yeltsin, Prime Minister Primakov and Foreign Minister Ivanov see the value of keeping the relationship (between the U.S. and Russia) on track, and not letting someone like Milosevic derail everything that's at stake." Yet the relationship is not on track....An alarm has been sounded throughout Russia. When NATO bombs began falling on Russia's ally, Yugoslavia, the banner headline of Kommersant, a business newspaper, simply said: "The Blow." Segodnya's ominous headline explained: "It's war. The Americans cannot convince the Serbs, and Russia cannot convince the Americans." Vremya's headline stated: "NATO planes have attacked Yugoslavia as well as Moscow's international authority." ...."

WorldNetDaily 3/31/99 Joseph Farah "...Sea Launch is a multinational venture, spearheaded by Boeing, but in partnership with RSC Energia, a Russian company controlled from its formation by Moscow's intelligence agents, as well as companies from Ukraine and Norway...... While the multinationals are seeing dollar signs in the technology that helps our enemies target us with nuclear ballistic missiles, the real cost to U.S. taxpayers, who have long subsidized these aerospace firms, is to national security..... For instance, even the security-unconscious Clinton administration withdrew Sea Launch's license to operate last July 27, following a disclosure that Boeing had transferred technical information to its foreign partners without proper approval. As part of the settlement arranged by the State Department, Boeing agreed to pay a fine, with a portion to be used over the next three years to shore up Sea Launch's export compliance measures. On Sept. 30, 1998, the State Department terminated the suspension of the Boeing Company's export license on Sea Launch as part of that civil settlement. That cleared the way for Saturday's test launch. Yet, as someone who has investigated Sea Launch for the last two years, I can tell you there is no way the project can prevent such transfers of technology in the future. Think about it. If you form a business partnership with an individual or a group of individuals, can you realistically expect that partnership to flourish and prosper by keeping secrets directly related to your business plan? This is the fundamental flaw in all such multinational ventures, but especially those that involve phony front companies for hostile foreign intelligence services and military arms....."

Inside Russia Today 4/2/99 Freeper hope Reuters "...Former Prime Minister Victor Chernomyrdin on Thursday warned that growing anti-American feeling in Russia could re-draw dividing lines dating back from the Cold War. Some Russian government officials have blamed the United States for leading NATO into what is routinely called "aggression" against Yugoslavia, a fellow Slav Orthodox Christian state. And the U.S. embassy in Moscow has also been the focus for protesters, angry at NATO air strikes. "The anti-Americanism that is gathering speed today is very dangerous," Chernomyrdin, who was prime minister from 1992-98, told reporters. "An image of an enemy is again being formed...It's dangerous to divide ourselves again into blocs." "We'll really never get back on our feet," he said. Former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev said he felt there was distrust on both sides. "I think this is a problem in both Russia and the United States," Gorbachev told Reuters. ...."

Russia's Ivanov Says Balkan Crisis Spreading Reuters Freeper Thanatos 4/1/99 "...Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov said Thursday the Kosovo crisis was spreading beyond the borders of Yugoslavia and he said Moscow was preparing new unspecified measures to help end the fighting. Ivanov, quoted by Interfax news agency, also said he was worried by NATO's plan to move to a third stage in its military operation, saying this development presented ``new tasks'' for Russia's armed forces. Wednesday, Defense Minister Igor Sergeyev announced Russia was sending a reconnaissance ship to the Mediterranean Sea and might send six more in connection with the Yugoslav crisis..... Sergeyev told Interfax: ``This (situation) is like a whirlpool which is drawing more and more countries into it.'' Ivanov said the fighting could affect Albania, Macedonia, Bulgaria and Hungary and also threatened to destabilize Bosnia...."

LA Times 4/4/99 Michael McFaul "...Like no other international crisis of the last decade, NATO's bombing campaign against Yugoslavia threatens to undermine support for Western-oriented reforms in Russia and isolate Moscow from the West internationally. Siding with Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic and thwarting liberal reforms at home do not serve the long-term interests of Russia as a world power or Russians as a people. In the passion of the moment, however, Russian leaders may be tempted, or feel compelled to take drastic measures to assist Serbia, which, in turn, could precipitate a passionate anti-Russian response in the West. The resulting strain in U.S.-Russia relations would give new meaning to the term "collateral damage." Well before the North Atlantic Treaty Organization's campaign against Yugoslavia began, Russia was rapidly declining as an economy, a coherent state and an international player. Since 1991, the Russian economy has contracted faster and longer than any previous major power's in modern history. With economic decline has come state weakness. The Russian government struggles to provide the most elementary of public goods, such as a single currency, a common market, security, welfare and education. This domestic feebleness has played havoc with Russia's international clout, turning the once-proud actor into a mere observer with mostly symbolic roles to perform.....To Russians, the bombing of Yugoslavia has brought their country's impotence into painfully sharp focus. In reaction, strident anti-Western sentiment is spreading throughout Russian society. Conveniently forgetting the Soviet invasions of Hungary, in 1956, and of Czechoslovakia, in 1968, Foreign Minister Igor S. Ivanov has called the NATO bombing the worst aggression in Europe since World War II. No one in Russia is prepared to disagree publicly with him. Nationalists and Communists long have rallied to the anti-American battle cry. Communist Party leader Gennady A. Zyuganov has compared "NATO ideology" to "Hitlerism," while several members of his party are calling for a military response. Although Russian weapons have yet to be delivered to Serbia, Russian warships are moving into the Adriatic Sea reputedly to provide intelligence to the Serbian government. Russian liberal leaders, many of whom privately detest Milosevic, have joined the anti-American chorus....."

Interfax 4/7/99 "...The Russian Black Sea Fleet ship 'Liman' is not tasked with providing intelligence data to Yugoslavia, even though the ship has the technical capacity to do so, a high-ranking naval officer preferring to remain anonymous has told Interfax. He said that the Liman was sent to the Adriatic by a Defense Ministry decision to collect intelligence information and report it to fleet headquarters, and then from there to Moscow. "As to sharing intelligence information with Belgrade, such decisions are made by the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces," he said. The ship entered the Adriatic on Wednesday. Liman captain Anatoly Bartyshev said there had been no incidents on the way from Sevastopol..."

Interfax 4/7/99 "...Four warships from the Black Sea Fleet are being held in a state of alert and are waiting for an order to head to the Balkans, sources in the main headquarters of the Russian Navy told Interfax Wednesday. The large anti-submarine ship Kerch, the patrol boat Pytlivy and the large landing ships Azov and Filchenkov have been assigned additional tasks on the eve of the Black Sea Fleet's large-scale exercises, which are due to begin April 19....."

Reuters 4/7/99 "...Russia's State Duma lower house of parliament voted overwhelmingly on Wednesday for a resolution advising President Boris Yeltsin and his government to send weapons and an unspecified military mission to Yugoslavia...."

STRATFOR's Global Intelligence Update 4/7/99 "...Russian prosecutors issued an arrest warrant for Berezovsky on charges of money laundering. The arrest was ordered by Russian Prosecutor General Yuri Skuratov who is involved in a bitter feud with Boris Yeltsin and who submitted his resignation on the same day. Skuratov has been investigating corruption in the Kremlin and has been under intense attack by Yeltsin.....Berezovsky, more than any other individual, symbolizes what has been called the Russian "kleptocracy." Berezovsky emerged after the fall of Communism and used his relationship with Yeltsin and other political contacts to create an empire that includes oil, airlines, and media companies. Berezovsky became the leader of the Russian oligarchs that dominated the Russian economy during the 1990s and who are held responsible by many Russians for what is seen as the looting of the Russian economy. It is not only his fall from power, but the issuance of an arrest warrant for him that we find potentially significant. Indeed, reports circulated that another oligarch, Alexander Smolensky, former head of the SBSAgro bank that collapsed in August, was about to be arrested under corruption charges...The pendulum is clearly swinging away from the Westernizers and toward the Slavophiles. This swing can be seen in areas from the emulation of Western economics to Russia's relations with Serbia. The pendular swing is an old story in Russian history. Intense infatuation with everything Western is replaced by extreme xenophobia and paranoia about all things Western..."

Associated Press 4/7/99 via NewsEdge Corporation "...Russia and Malaysia have agreed to increase defense cooperation, including training and joint production of defense material, the ITAR-Tass news agency reported Wednesday. A memorandum outlining cooperation was signed Tuesday in Kuala Lumpur by Russian First Deputy Defense Minister Nikolai Mikhailov and Malaysian Defense Ministry officials, the report said. The agreement calls for creation of a commission to investigate ways to increase military cooperation. Among other things, the agreement calls for exchanges of military personnel on training assignments..."

The Oklahoman Online 4/7/99 Thomas Sowell Freeper Penny "...RUSSIA has gone to war over the Balkans three times within the span of one century. Yet our politicians and media pundits seem to pay little attention to the danger that Russia will escalate its military aid to the Serbs -- even though there have already been rumblings out of Moscow about sending "volunteers" to fight against NATO and about the possibility of equipping the Serbs with tactical nuclear weapons. ...."

NewsMax 4/12/99 Edward Lowaneski "...On a visit to Moscow in the first days of April, I have heard many pro-western intellectuals expressing deep concern with the dangerous erosion of America's ideals and principles on which the country was built. Says, Gavriil Popov, first democratically elected Mayor of Moscow: "According to polls American people are reaching a point where they condone perjury and breaking international law and if such a belief becomes widely held, America will be rocked to its foundation which would have dire consequences for the entire world" For those of us who lived under the communist regime and fought it, America was always a symbol and guarantor of freedom and justice. America gave us the strength and courage. In times of despair, we would pass by the US Embassy in Moscow and the star-spangled banner would give us a tremendous boost of morale. Today, the embassy walls are covered by eggs, tomatoes and ink. The American flag is burned, and not only by communists or fascists. I saw a large group of young people who did not throw eggs or burn flags, but what they did was even more troubling. They displayed a poster saying "Goodbye, America, Ideal of Freedom". I asked them why they were there. It turned out that some of them had studied in America on US government grants. One young man said, "We feel betrayed because we thought America sincerely wants Russia to become a free, prosperous and democratic country, part of the West. Now wittingly or unwittingly America helps the red-brown coalition to win the Duma elections and enter the Kremlin. Each day of bombing brings this coalition closer to power". Because of this very fact he suggested that both Clinton and Albright should be nominated as Honorary Members of the Russian Communist Party...."

NY Times 4/17/99 AP "...A leading Russian politician warned today that the United States and NATO could spark another Vietnam and possibly World War III if they send ground troops to Yugoslavia. ``In the event that NATO and America start a ground operation in Yugoslavia, they will face a second Vietnam,'' Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov said. ``I do not want to forecast what is going to start then. I cannot rule out a third world war.'' ..."

www.yu/ 4/18/99 Freeper Ymani Cricket "BRITAIN sent a second Trident nuclear submarine to sea within hours of the Russian threat to re-target Moscow's nuclear missiles on the West. The move almost certainly means that the UK went on a higher level of nuclear alert, indicating that the Russian threat was taken much more seriously than the Government admitted at the time...."

UPI (via Drudge Report) 4/16/99 "...A new Russian poll indicates a sharp change in public opinion, with a severe drop in Russians' approval of the United States because of the continuing NATO bombardment of Yugoslavia. The poll of 1,500 people, released today by the respected Foundation of Public Opinion, shows 72 percent dislike the United States, up sharply from 28 percent in a similar poll conducted before the airstrikes began, while only 14 percent approve of the United States, down from 57 percent in the previous survey...."

STRATFOR's Global Intelligence Update 4/18/99 "...The war in Kosovo grew out of fundamental miscalculations in Washington, particularly concerning the effect Russian support had on Milosevic's thinking. So long as Milosevic feels he has Russian support, he will act with confidence. If Russia wavers, Milosevic will have to deal. With the air war stalemated and talks of ground attack a pipe dream, diplomacy remains NATO's best option. That option depends on Russian cooperation. However, Russian cooperation will cost a great deal of money. That brings us to the IMF, the Germans, and former Russian Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin, who is Russia's new negotiator on Serbia, a leading economic reformer and a good friend of the West...."

NewsMax Exclusive 4/19/99 J. R. Nyquist "...With 80,000 Russians volunteering to fight NATO and 30,000 U.S. reservists being called to active duty, Bill Clinton's leadership continues to propel Europe toward war. But Europe may not follow Clinton's lead to the bitter end. European leaders are beginning to realize the depth of Russia's anger and the potential consequences. Consider the following formula: If you want bad relations, insult a government. But if you want war, insult a nation. By assuming that Russia cares more about IMF money than its own national dignity, the Clinton Administration has offered a powerful insult to the Russian people. As Clinton takes blatant advantage of Russia's economic distress to wage war on Russia's ally, dislike for America has gone from 28 percent in Russia to 72 percent. Reflecting this, politicians from the mayor of Moscow on up to the President of the Russian Federation have openly warned of a third world war.....In Clark's view Russian war preparations are mere "atmospherics." In this instance, the disregard equals disrespect. Sadly, it is America that has forgotten its good manners. It is America that does not realize the military weakness into which it has fallen. It was only last October that the Pentagon itself complained about the deplorable state of the nation's military. Now we are to believe something quite the opposite -- that we are the world's only superpower..."

NPR 4/19/99 Freeper Fulbright "...NPR news at 9:30 AM EDT carried a story that three more Yugoslavs were captured by the KLA last week and were turned over to NATO. One is reported to be a Russian officer in a Serb uniform...."

Itar-Tass 4/19/99 "...U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Strobe Talbott is seriously mistaken about Russia's position on a union with Byelorussia and Yugoslavia, Duma speaker Gennady Seleznyov said. In an exclusive interview with Itar-Tass on Monday, Seleznyov said the president, the government and the parliament of the country support the idea of such a union. Commenting on Talbott's recommendations that Russia's interests are in maintaining cooperative relations with the United States and NATO, Seleznyov noted that it is extremely hard to speak about cooperation between Russia and the North Atlantic Alliance. Russia has frozen its relations with NATO. However, if it continues the aggression against Yugoslavia, "we will make sure that they (relations) are severed completely," he said...."

4/19/99 UPI Freeper Thanatos "...Russian President Boris Yeltsin has issued a new warning to the West not to start ground operations against Yugoslavia, reiterating earlier statements that Moscow would not tolerate such action. Yeltsin, speaking this morning before a telephone conversation with President Clinton, said: "They want to achieve victory and make Yugoslavia a protectorate. We will not allow this to happen." Yeltsin said Clinton hopes Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic will "capitulate, that he will cede the whole of Yugoslavia." He said Russia would not allow this to happen because "this is a strategic area." ..."

IZVESTIA 4/20/99 Navaz Sharif, Eduard Babazadeh Freeper khatch "...IZVESTIA carries an interview by the Prime Minister of Pakistan, Navaz Sharif, who granted it before starting his official visit to Russia yesterday [April 19]. Asked to estimate the present state of relations between the two countries, he said they were at a new stage of development. The important thing was to break the inertia of the past and build a new type of relations based on the realities of a new world. His present visit to Russia provided a fine opportunity for both to lay a foundation of firmer and more comprehensive ties. He had a good mind to discuss it with President Boris Yeltsin and Prime Minister Yevgeni Primakov...."

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE 4/21/99 "...Russia's seat at the NATO birthday table will be conspicuously empty this weekend when members and associates of the western alliance convene on Washington to mark the bloc's 50th anniversary. And the reasons for spoiling the party, Moscow says, are obvious. "The military action of NATO against a sovereign European nation -- Yugoslavia -- are a blatant violation of the UN Charter," the foreign ministry said on Wednesday in a statement officially revealing the Russian boycott of the event, ordered by President Boris Yeltsin. The Russian absence hardly comes as a surprise. Relations between the old adversaries have plummeted back to Cold War levels over the Kosovo crisis. The bonhomie of May 1997, when Russia formerly concluded its own special partnership with NATO, has rapidly given way to suspicion and accusation..."

New York Times 4/23/99 Judith Miller "...President Clinton's decision to retain samples of smallpox virus in the United States is likely to lead to more scientific cooperation and biological research with Russia at a time of badly strained relations, Administration officials said Thursday. As expected, the White House announced Thursday that Clinton, acting largely on the advice of independent scientific advisers, had decided to delay the planned destruction of the samples of the deadly virus this June because he fears the disease, which is apparently eradicated, might revive naturally or be spread by a terrorist attack..... He added that the Administration hopes that the reversal of its previous support for destruction would open up possibilities for joint research with Russia, the only other nation known to have smallpox stocks and a fervent opponent of their destruction...."

UPI 4/24/99 Sid Balman Jr. "...President Clinton issued Moscow a stern warning about resupply of Belgrade's war machine, refusing to rule out the use of force against Russian ships in the Adriatic Sea if they attempt to breach what is for all intents and purposes a NATO naval blockade of the former Yugoslavia...."

Agence France-Presse 4/23/99 "...Yugoslavia will not accept an international military presence in Kosovo, Yugoslav foreign ministry spokesman Nebojsa Vujovic said Friday. His comment referred to talks here Thursday between Russia's special crisis envoy to Yugoslavia, Viktor Chernomyrdin, and Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic. "This time, a different modality was discussed, a UN unarmed presence, a UN observer presence in Kosovo," he said, referring to Thursday's discussions...."

BBC 4/25/99 "...Russia looks set on a collision course with Nato after saying it will ignore calls by the alliance for an oil embargo against Yugoslavia. The alliance is drawing up plans to "visit and search" ships to try to prevent oil, arms and other vital supplies reaching the Serbian armed forces via ports in Montenegro. US President Bill Clinton defended the sea searches, saying it was unreasonable to ask pilots to risk their lives attacking oil depots when Serbia could get fuel from ships..."

Associated Press 4/26/99 "...The commander of Russia's navy said the Pacific Fleet is at a high state of readiness as extensive exercises continued Monday in the Far East, a news agency reported. Navy chief Admiral Vladimir Kuroyedov said the Pacific Fleet was deploying dozens of warships, submarines and support ships and aircraft for the second stage of exercises that started Monday, the ITAR-Tass news agency said. He said the first stage had involved some 20 ships and other units in exercises in the Kamchatka region...."

Stratfor 4/24/99 "...Anatoly Chubais' comments to British and American businessmen and politicians concerning Kosovo now locks into place the strategy Yeltsin initiated when he appointed Viktor Chernomyrdin his representative. What is happening is that Russia's reformers are being rolled out to deliver a simple warning to the West: the prosecution of the war in Kosovo will mean the end of the reform experiment in Russia and the triumph of the hard liners. Now, for all intents and purposes, that experiment is at an end anyway. But Chubais is arguing that this is the final nail in reforms coffin.

If NATO goes ahead with this policy, goes the argument, the Communists and nationalists will be in complete control of Russia, with the reformers completely discredited. If the liberals cannot even deliver a cease-fire in Kosovo, their opponents will argue, then their vaunted influence with the West is non-existent and their value to Russia nil. ...."

The Guardian (UK) 4/30/99 Tom Whitehouse "...Boris Yeltsin flexed Russia's ageing but formidable nuclear muscles yesterday and ordered the development of new tactical nuclear missiles to counter a perceived increased threat from Nato. 'Our nuclear forces were and remain a key element in the country's strategy for ensuring national security and military power,' the Russian president said. At a meeting with the United Nations secretary general, Kofi Annan, at the Kremlin yesterday he also denounced the 'lawlessness and unlimited force' of the United States. According to the secretary of his security council, Vladimir Putin, Mr Yeltsin later signed three decrees covering 'the development of the nuclear weapons complex and a concept for developing and using non-strategic nuclear weapons'. ..."

The Boston Globe 5/1/99 Freeper RR "...Russia's role as a mediator between NATO and Slobodan Milosevic is no longer a matter of speculation. Intensive discussions in Moscow between Deputy Secretary of State Strobe Talbott and Viktor Chernomyrdin, the former Russian prime minister whom Boris Yeltsin has appointed a special Balkans envoy, herald the start of a Russian peacemaking mission that suits Moscow's interests as much as it does the interests of NATO...."

Washington Post 5/2/99 Roy Medvedev "....No single event in the past 50 years has provoked such elemental and fierce emotions in Russia as NATO's bombing of Serbia. Polls here show that 95 percent of Russian citizens condemn the Western alliance's actions in the Balkans. Last weekend's NATO summit, at which leaders spoke of their intent to embrace military missions beyond its members borders, received a uniformly negative response: Was NATO suggesting it might intervene in Georgia, Chechnya or other hot spots in the former Soviet Union? The national indignation here is so strong that it is becoming an important factor in Russia's foreign and domestic policy and may even influence the outcome of the conflict. University students and schoolchildren, members of football clubs and sports associations are drawn into daily protests. People who used to be apolitical now participate in demonstrations and, until the Russian government prevented it, threw eggs and bottles at the U.S. Embassy. ...Nobody here believes talk about the determination to prevent a "humanitarian catastrophe." The bombs and missiles have simply hastened and deepened the humanitarian tragedy and strengthened doubts about the advantages of Western civilization.....* The strong strike the weak. Many strike one. Nineteen powerful countries--of which three, the United States, Great Britain and France, are great military powers--are striking targets in Serbia and even in Montenegro, which is not in conflict with anyone.... * The armed strike the unarmed. Without modern aviation or new forms of antiaircraft weapons, the Serbs are practically defenseless against NATO's missiles and bombs. NATO pilots and sailors risk little; they are beyond danger; they go unpunished...* A Slav, Orthodox country is being destroyed. It was Russia that helped Serbia attain its independence from the Ottoman Empire in the 19th century....* Serbia is being beaten to humiliate and teach Russia a lesson.... * The West deceived and robbed Russia. Our people were told over and over again about the benefits of democracy and the market economy that the rich Western countries would help Russia construct. That illusion has long since disappeared...."

MSNBC Jonathan Broder 5/3/99 "...Against a backdrop of growing U.S. concern, Israel and Russia have signed a deal to cooperate on the production of sophisticated AWACS-style early-warning aircraft for sale to the Chinese Air Force, MSNBC has learned. The Clinton administration is becoming increasingly convinced that Israel is building a disturbing new strategic relationship with Moscow. THE DEAL AND several others that are in the works represent the ripening fruits of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's controversial new policy, which seeks to forge closer ties with Russia by offering its military manufacturers lucrative co-production agreements with Israel's state-of-the-art defense industries. Israel already has similar agreements China. U.S. intelligence sources, citing classified documents, said Jerusalem and Moscow also are close to agreement on another deal under which Israel will upgrade aging MiG-21 warplanes for Russia's Third World clients...."

MSNBC 5/6/99 Dana Lewis Freeper Brian Mosely "...Russian President Boris Yeltsin, denouncing President Bill Clinton as "impudent" and warning of quick retaliation if Russia were ever attacked, caught his audience of Moscow business leaders, western diplomats and his own diplomats by surprise and sparked a Kremlin campaign to quash the statements...."

Wall Street Journal Europe 5/6/99 Andrei Kozyrev, a member of the Russian Duma Freeper Stand Watch Listen "...Russia's strong official condemnation of NATO's action against Yugoslavia as "flagrant aggression" and its early threats to take military countermeasures have dramatically revealed the anti-American, anti-Western sentiments prevailing in Russian foreign policy. The Russian government explains the need to meet NATO with an iron fist not by reference to the idea of "Slavic brotherhood" but in terms of opposition to the American policy of "world domination." There is something rotten in the kingdom of Russian-Western relations...."

WorldNet Daily 5/7/99 Col David Hackworth "...In the past few weeks, Russian politicians have begun rattling their nuclear warheads in protest against the NATO demolition job on their pals in Yugoslavia. Since we're the main NATO bomber, we could soon find ourselves in the center of ground zero with the Cold War nuclear clock back to only a few ticks before midnight. Sure, these Russian threats are probably just venting after too much vodka while watching "The Crisis in Serbia" on cable television. Yet there's always the chance that a couple of silo comrades may get the yen to do things their way. During the Cold War, my biggest fear was not a world leader pushing the button, but an accident, a miscalculation, a few extremists taking their shot at turning the globe into a radiated golf ball. The Cold War brass developed safety nets: shrinks to check out the nuke operators, fail-safe systems, red telephones and the "nuclear football" -- twin briefcases containing nuclear launch codes carried by soldiers virtually handcuffed to the American and Soviet leaders...."

Washington Post 5/8/99 Michael McFaul "....Only a few weeks ago, Russia was one of the most downtrodden and detested countries in the eyes of Washington's elite. One could not utter the word "Russia" without adding adjectives such as "crime-ridden," "collapsing" or "corrupt." Russia was considered a basket case of a country that had failed at capitalism and democracy and was soon to fail as a state....Russia's failure also was President Clinton's failure. A giant witch hunt was on to identify and punish those who had "lost Russia." Critics of the Clinton administration berated the strategies of constructive engagement and strategic partnership as empty slogans that achieved little for U.S. national interests. They charged that the Clinton administration was complicit in underwriting a rogue state that threatened U.S. strategic interests and squandered American aid..... Although the initial Russian reaction to the NATO bombing campaign served to reaffirm Russia's enemy status in the United States, subsequent Russian diplomacy has turned the war into a major public relations coup for Russia in the West. After signing a G-8 joint resolution on ending the conflict in Yugoslavia, Russia is once again our partner on the international stage....."

http://www.newsday.com/ap/rnmpin0c.htm 5/7/99 AP Freeper Thanatos "...Yeltsin, while deploring both NATO airstrikes and Serb ethnic cleansing in Kosovo, has focused on finding a diplomatic solution and insisted that Moscow will not be drawn in to the military conflict. Russia's Defense Minister Igor Sergeyev has been more hawkish. On Friday, he reiterated calls for keeping Russia's nuclear weapons at ``maximum combat readiness.'' ``The nuclear component of the armed forces plays a tremendous role in the maintenance of international stability and sobering up hot heads,'' he was quoted as saying by the ITAR-Tass news agency...."

AFP 5/8/99 "...Russian president Boris Eltsine stated Saturday " made indignant by the barbarian and inhuman act " of the bombardment by NATO of the embassy from China in Belgrade. According to the Itar-Tass agency, Eltsine made these statements by telephone with the assistant head of its administration, Sergueï Prikhodko, which is in Peking and must transmit the Russian judgment of the bombardment to the Chinese authorities...."

Fox News Wire 5/8/99 AP "...Iran has proposed boosting nuclear cooperation with Russia and wants to enlarge a nuclear power plant being built with Moscow's help, Russia's atomic energy minister said Saturday. Yevgeny Adamov told the Interfax news agency that Iran's vice president had written him to propose adding a second reactor to the power plant currently under construction in Bushehr in southern Iran....."

Miami Herald 5/7/99 Boris Kagarlitsky Freeper Stand Watch Listen "...Milosevic acts brutally, but his behavior usually can be predicted, and consequently he can be restrained and controlled. But the Clinton administration is thoroughly unpredictable. It does not take into account the possible consequences of its own actions. It makes moves that harm not only its enemies but also its friends (for example, the Kosovo Albanians and the pro-American regimes in the Balkans), and even the United States itself. .....Here in Russia, the Clinton administration's actions in the Balkans look like an effort to deprive us of any participation in solving international problems. Why were the NATO military attacks begun without the approval of the United Nations? The answer is clear: The Clinton team was unwilling to coordinate its position with Russia and China. ...We discovered that even limited military aid can be highly effective if it falls into reliable hands. Russia has learned these lessons. America, it seems, has not...."

Drudge 5/10/99 Freeper DonMorgan "...In Beijing on Tuesday, Chinese Vice-Premier Qian Qichen told the Russian President's special envoy for Yugoslavia Viktor Chernomyrdin that China and Russia share identical views on many issues including Kosovo, according to Chinese news reports. Views that were shared during a telephone call between the Chinese and Russian presidents. During his talks with Chernomyrdin, Qian said that Chinese President Jiang Zemin and Russian President Boris Yeltsin consulted each other on the Kosovo crisis on Monday during an "important telephone conversation". The telephone conversation between Zemin and Yeltsin showed "mutual trust, mutual understanding and mutual support" by the two countries in the Yugoslav crisis, the Chinese newswire XINUA reported overnight. Chernomyrdin called the telephone conversation between Yeltsin and Jiang "very important"...."

5/19/99 Washington Times Bill Gertz "...Russia is stepping up electronic spying operations against U.S. and NATO forces in the Balkans with the addition of a second intelligence-gathering ship in the region, Pentagon officials said yesterday. The Russian spy ship Kilden, which left the Black Sea port of Sevastopol on Friday, arrived in the Ionian Sea over the weekend to begin electronic eavesdropping and other surveillance of the war in the Balkans. The Kilden joined a second ship, the Limen, which has been in the Ionian since early April, said officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity..."

Reuters 5/12/99 "....Russian President Boris Yeltsin was quoted as saying Wednesday that Russia could quit Kosovo talks if NATO did not heed its position. Three leading Russian news agencies said Yeltsin made his remarks during a meeting of his Security Council held hours after he launched a government crisis by sacking Prime Minister Yevgeny Primakov. Yeltsin, quoted by Interfax, said: "Our calls, repeated recommendations, clearly have not reached somebody.'' ..."

BBC NEWS 5/12/99 "...Russian President Boris Yeltsin has sacked his Prime Minister, Yevgeny Primakov, plunging Russia into a new political crisis. The BBC's Rob Parsons: "Mr Yeltsin is undoubtedly angry with Primakov's failure to stop impeachment proceedings" Interfax is also reporting that Mr Yeltsin has dismissed the entire Russian government. The move comes as parliament confirmed plans to press on with impeachment proceedings against the president...."

The Hindu 5/13/99 UNI Freeper Jai "...Gennadi Selzenev, Speaker of Russian Duma, describing President Boris Yeltsin's action of sacking Prime Minister Yevgeni Primakov as ''a big mistake'' has predicted that it could result in a ''dramatic swing of votes'' against the President at the impeachment debate. . . ."

Wall St. Journal 5/13/99 Dimitri K. Simes "...The dismissal of Russian Prime Minister Yevgeny Primakov by President Boris Yeltsin, and Mr. Primakov's replacement by Interior Minister Sergei Stepashin (only recently promoted to first deputy prime minister) is a blow to Russia's political stability and may trigger a major constitutional crisis in an impoverished, embittered nation with 30,000 nuclear weapons. While Mr. Yeltsin attributed the change to the lack of improvement in the economy and a need "to bring to the cabinet's work the necessary dynamism and energy," neither Mr. Stepashin nor his new first deputy, Railroad Minister Nikolay Aksenenko, has a record as an economic reformer.

Mr. Stepashin, 47, spent most of his career in the Soviet police and the Russian Federal Security Service (successor to the KGB). After a short stint as justice minister, he headed the Ministry of Internal Affairs, where he had almost one million police and internal troops under his command. He is known primarily as a Yeltsin loyalist who is prepared to use force to protect his president....."

The Times of India 5/15/99 M D Nalapat Freeper Jai "...Ousted Russian Prime Minister Yevgeny Primakov paid with his job for two ``crimes'' : A refusal to accept NATO dictation in foreign policy, and efforts to clean up the Mafia-controlled administration. President Boris Yeltsin is backed by both the Western powers as well as the Russian mafia. This twin attack sealed Primakov's his fate. The new Prime Minister, Sergei Stepashin, is known to be close to both NATO as well as to the Yeltsin family...."

United Press International 5/14/99 Freeper Jai "...Russia's mediation efforts in the Yugoslav crisis are intensifying despite warnings from Moscow earlier this week that a pullout from the negotiating process could not be excluded. In a new initiative extending Moscow's diplomatic offensive, President Boris Yeltsin ordered his deputy chief of staff Sergei Prikhodko to travel to New Delhi to discuss the Yugoslav situation with Indian officials . . ."

Washington Times 5/14/99 Bill Gertz "...Russia's government has ordered high-ranking military officers to sever all ties to Western military officials in Moscow, prompting what a senior defense official called a "return to the Cold War." Army Brig. Gen. Keith Dayton, the top U.S. defense attache in Moscow, stated in an April 29 intelligence report that the Russian anti-spying measure was partly due to NATO's military bombing campaign against Yugoslavia, which Russia opposes. Details of the report come from high-ranking Pentagon officials who have seen the document and Thursday revealed its contents to The Washington Times. An aide to Gen. Dayton, who was reached by phone in Moscow, said the one-star general was not available to comment on his report...However, one ranking U.S. official who saw the report said, "The feeling [among Russians] is that if NATO bombs Serbia to help the Kosovars, it might bomb Russia to help the Chechens." Russian military forces invaded the southern Muslim enclave of Chechnya in 1994....Rep. Curt Weldon, a Pennsylvania Republican who has frequent contacts with Russian parliamentarians, called Gen. Dayton's report disturbing and "very scary." In an interview, he said, "It's not a good sign and is an indication things are getting worse." Russian sentiment against the United States is growing as a result of the NATO bombing, and many in the Russian government who favor democratic reforms are being pushed aside by anti-U.S. communists and nationalists, the representative said...."

5/14/99 Interfax Freeper Thanatos "...An IL-38 aircraft attached to the Russian Pacific Fleet anti-submarine aviation forces detected at 6:30 a.m. on Friday a foreign submarine on combat patrol off the coast of Kamchatka in the Russian Far East...."

5/14/99 Interfax Freeper Thanatos "...Russia "is greatly worried about an actual division of countries into categories, with one group of select nations that loves to describe itself as 'the world community' imposing its conditions on the others," acting Deputy Foreign Minister Yevgeny Gusarov said in Moscow on Friday as he was opening a roundtable discussion of 'The NATO Operations in Yugoslavia and the International Security System'. The recent notion of "clubs of countries" has been transformed into "groupings," Gusarov said. This is inconsistent with the construction of a Euro-Atlantic security system without division lines, Gusarov said. "What is going on in Yugoslavia is leading to consolidation of division lines and the erection of new barriers," he said...."

The Hindu 5/16/99 "...India and Russia today decided to enhance their cooperation to defuse the Kosovo crisis as part of an effort to create a "multipolar world." Both sides decided to jointly push an international effort to resolve the Yugoslav question during interaction between the Russian President's special envoy, Mr. Sergei E. Prikhodko, and top Indian leaders today..... Both sides declared that an end to the "unjustified" military action by NATO on Yugoslavia was necessary so that a congenial atmosphere for the negotiated settlement of the crisis could be created. Mr. Prikhodko's visit saw the two countries reviewing the entire gamut of bilateral relations....."

Reuters 5/15/99 Freeper HAL9000 "....A missile that hit Bulgarian territory near the border with Yugoslavia was made with Russian technology but was not in use in the Bulgarian Air Force, an Air Force official said on Saturday. "This is a guided, solid-fuel missile with a diameter of 330 millimetres," Ivan Dochev, head of the Aviation Department at Air Force General Staff, told reporters, adding that both Bulgaria and Yugoslavia had similar types of missiles...."

WorldNetDaily 5/17/99 J R Nyquist "... On Dec. 15, in a Washington Times op-ed piece, J. Michael Waller broke a mainstream media taboo. He noted that Russia's new hard-line leaders had been "spending their time and money preparing for ... nuclear war against the United States and its allies." Waller's statement, of course, is correct. As crazy as it sounds, the Russians have been preparing for a Third World War, even as Russia's leaders have warned that such a war may be imminent. In recent years, the Russians have built huge underground shelters, bunkers, and nuclear-proof cities. Under Yamantau Mountain in the Urals, the Russians have built an underground city the size of metropolitan Washington. But that is not all the Russians have done. According to Bill Lee, a former official with the Defense Intelligence Agency, the Russians have 10,000 to 12,000 ABMs defending their country. These ABMs have been deceptively described to the outside world as Surface to Air Missiles (SAMs), but as Lee told me in Washington last February, many of these so-called SAMs can carry one-megaton warheads far above the earth's atmosphere. Lee also explained how a special type of nuclear warhead, which puts out x-ray radiation, could be used in these "SAMs" to kill American nuclear warheads as they travel towards Russia, along flight-paths outside the earth's atmosphere. Inside the earth's atmosphere, explained Lee, "the Russians would use interceptor missiles with neutron bombs. The peculiar characteristics of this warhead give it a better kill radius against warhead electronics." Another peculiar move in recent months, the Russians have been upgrading 180 MiG-29s to what they call the MiG-29 SMT. The upgrade involves the addition of a fuel tank and in-flight refueling capabilities that would give the MiG-29 intercontinental range. Why the Russian Federation would need a jet fighter that could fly to Chicago is something curious. If you put this together with the stockpiling of strategic metals, food, and fuel, a more ominous picture begins to unfold...."

http://www.russiatoday.com/rtoday/news/10.html 5/18/99 AFP "...Russia is finalizing tests on an advanced missile air defense system which experts say will have ballistic missiles and the US-built AWACS early warning aircraft in its sights, Interfax reported Monday. The S-400 system, due for delivery to the Moscow district air defense forces by year's end, can "effectively destroy all existing and future air attack systems," the agency cited military experts as saying. With a range of some 400 kilometers (250 miles) the missile system will be more than two and a half times more effective than the existing S-300 system, the agency said. Some US senators rate the Russian technology so highly that they have urged the Pentagon to buy the S-300 to replace the United State's own Patriot anti-missile system...."

Stratfor 5/15/99 "...Russian President Boris Yeltsin today survived an attempt by the lower house of Russia's Duma to impeach him on five charges. While the feud between Yeltsin and the communist-dominated Duma is far from over, the crisis of the moment has passed. This is the second recent victory for Russia's moderates and, by extension, for the West. Yeltsin survived the pre-impeachment votes despite sacking Prime Minister Yevgeny Primakov - who was popular with the Duma's communists and nationalists - immediately prior to the proceedings. Yeltsin sacked Primakov in large part due to the uncompromising and confrontational path he had taken with the West over NATO actions in Yugoslavia. With special envoy Viktor Chernomyrdin taking over Moscow's diplomatic effort, Russia quickly narrowed the gap between its position and that of NATO, thereby facilitating the G-8 framework peace plan for Yugoslavia. Not only did this effort keep Russia at the center of diplomatic efforts, but it did so while keeping open the pipeline for Western economic aid...."

Manchester Union Leader 5/11/99 Richard Lessner Freeper prometheus "...NATO's gang-attack on Yugoslavia - in which hundreds of Serbs have perished - has rekindled nationalism and pan-Slavic ideology in Russia. Populist anti-Western sentiment is raging in Russia, where thousands of volunteer soldiers and officers already have poured into Serbia to defend their "little brother Slavs" against the NATO onslaught. Not even NATO's mistaken destruction of Communist China's embassy in Belgrade has moved Bill Clinton and his NATO henchmen to re-think this misguided war. The bombing of the embassy was an idiotic mistake. ..."

STRATFOR, Inc. 5/17/99 "...Over the past few weeks, Russia and China have engaged in intense, manic-depressive foreign policy, shifting between sullen quiet, to near war-frenzy, to friendly cooperation. Before one prescribes medications, this behavior should be seen as the natural, terminal maneuvers of powers that are trying to get the West's attention and are not quite sure what to do with that attention once they get it. It is not that the behavior is not ominous. It represents the process of great powers going into opposition to a super-power. But the behavior is the symptom, not the problem itself. The problem is that the structure of the international system dictates an anti-American Russo-Chinese alliance, and very little can stop that. ...The real danger here is that during these periodic, ritual chest- thumping episodes, the situation might genuinely get out of hand. Yeltsin skillfully reigned in the anti-Western forces he helped unleash. The old fox never ceases to amaze us. However, he will go to the well one time too many, and unleash forces that even he can't control. The same is true in China. The leadership can whip up anti-American frenzy on demand. It is not clear that they will always be able to control it. In the end, it won't matter. The tendency toward anti-Americanism and therefore to some form of alliance is, we believe, irreversible. The path toward that end, however, is twisted and quite noisy. The noise, whether from Moscow or Beijing, is not the real issue. There is lightning behind the thunder...."

Washington Times 5/17/99 Bill Gertz BETRAYAL: Part 2 of 3 "...It was 3:30 a.m. April 4, 1997. The mission would change Lt. Daly's life -- and his opinion of the U.S. government and the Navy he loved.... Chief Tabor handed him a photo. It showed a red dot of light on the bridge of the Kapitan Man. "I think you may have caught a laser beam in this picture," Chief Tabor said. "I know this is supposed to be the running-light area, but the signature of the light in this picture just doesn't look right to me." ..... The next morning, he awoke with a sharp pain in his right eye. Looking in a bathroom mirror, he saw a large blob of blood in the white of the eye. An eye doctor in Victoria found the eyeball was swollen. ..... the public knew nothing about it for more than a month. Until a top-secret Joint Staff report was leaked to this reporter and The Washington Times published a Page One story on May 14, 1997...... "A total of 30 frames were taken with frame number 16 showing definitive evidence of an emanation coming from the bridge area of the merchant vessel," the Joint Staff report said of Lt. Daly's photos. "Initial medical exams indicated some eye damage to both the pilot and the U.S. lieutenant, but none that is considered permanent." (Lt. Daly would wonder later where that medical assessment came from. More than two years later, he suffers from severe eye pain and headaches. And Capt. Barnes not only has eye pain but had his flying career cut short.) ....Lt. Daly and Capt. Barnes were examined and tested for several days at the Army Medical Detachment in San Antonio. Bruce Stuck, head of the medical group, told Lt. Daly there was interest in his case "at the highest levels" and that Mr. Clinton was briefed daily on his health. Doctors discovered four or five faint lesions on the retina of Lt. Daly's right eye; they believed the cause was a "repetitive pulsed laser." ...... After lunch, Cmdr. Joseph Hoeing, an analyst, confided: "You do not know the pressure I am under to sweep this under the rug." "As soon as I heard those words," Lt. Daly recalled, "I knew I was in trouble. The first thought that came to my mind was that this was a cover-up." .....The formal Pentagon report issued to the public concluded: "The Department believes that the eye injury suffered by the American naval officer is consistent with injuries that would result from exposure to a repetitive pulsed laser. Available evidence does not indicate, however, what the source of such an exposure might have been. Specifically, there is no physical evidence tying the eye injury of the American officer to a laser located on the Russian merchant vessel." The cover-up was complete....... Why the cover-up? "I firmly believe it was seen as jeopardizing our relations with Russia," he said. "Bill Clinton has said he doesn't want to be the guy who blew the opportunity for everlasting peace with Russia." A real threat to national security -- Russian spying -- is ongoing and ignored, Lt. Daly said. "Why should the government lie to its own people when our national security has been compromised?" he asked...."Secretary of Defense William Cohen not long ago stated to the press, during the Monica Lewinsky debacle, that he didn't believe that President Clinton would ever take risks with our national security. However, I am living proof that he has." ..."

5/24/99 Interfax Freeper Thanatos "...NATO's position on Yugoslavia and Kosovo has not significantly changed, Russian special envoy Boris Maiorsky, who is involved in talks in the search for a political settlement of the Kosovo crisis, said on Russian RTR television on Sunday. "Now everybody, notably the Americans who initiated the NATO operation against Yugoslavia, is aware of the need to stop the airstrikes," he said. On the other hand, the United States "needs a victory and cannot afford to allow Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic to say that he has prevailed," Maiorsky said. The NATO strikes are "dictated by the future U.S. elections, by the personality of President Bill Clinton and some partisan interests, but not by care for the Yugoslav people, for the population of Kosovo," he said...."

Strategic Intelligence/THE WASHINGTON TIMES 5/24/99 Bill Gertz "...Russia is stepping up electronic spying operations against U.S. and NATO forces in the Balkans with the addition of a second intelligence-gathering ship in the region, Pentagon officials said yesterday. The Russian spy ship Kilden, which left the Black Sea port of Sevastopol on Friday, arrived in the Ionian sea over the weekend to begin electronic eavesdropping and other surveillance of the war in the Balkans. The Kilden joined a second ship, the Limen, which has been in the Ionian since early April, said officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity. The ships are close to the Adriatic, where U.S. and NATO warships are engaged in military operations against Serbia. "The Kilden's presence there will mark the first time since 1991 that two Russian intelligence ships have operated in the same area," said one Pentagon intelligence official. ....The ships have the capability of intercepting high-frequency, very-high frequency, ultrahigh frequency and other channels of communications...."

World Net Daily 5/24/99 J.R. Nyquist "...The air war against Yugoslavia is accelerating. On Sunday, NATO warplanes flew 652 sorties after flying a record 684 sorties the previous day.... But British Foreign Secretary Robin Cook said the bombing is hardly enough. He wants NATO to deploy ground troops into Kosovo. Secretary of State Albright has noted that 50,000 NATO troops are in position and could be used to invade the ravaged Serbian province.....Over the weekend a huge stream of refugees came pouring across the Yugoslav border into Albania and Macedonia. Saturday, 10,000 refugees fled Kosovo in the biggest single-day exodus in nearly three weeks. Despite the magnitude of the catastrophe, President Clinton continues to push Yugoslavia to the wall. He continues to ignore Russia's pleas for peace, claiming that any letup in the bombing would bring a widened war -- a notion at variance with common sense. The Russian people are furious with NATO. Many concede that Yugoslav President Milosevic is bad. But that does not excuse NATO breaking its promises to Russia, promises of non-aggression and non-interference in Eastern Europe. Whatever the wrongs of Milosevic, brother Serbs are being relentlessly bombed, maimed, and killed. Representative Curt Weldon, R-PA, who recently met Russian State Duma members, has publicly expressed concerns that nuclear war may occur due to "the instabilities this war has caused." In Weldon's presence, the chairman of the Russian State Duma Foreign Policy Committee, Vladimir Lukin, openly threatened America with an EMP attack that would wipe out most computers and electronics in North America, crippling the USA. The Russian Federation possesses nuclear bombs of high yield, specifically engineered to create a strong Electro-Magnetic Pulse (EMP). If such a bomb were detonated in outer space, far above North America, it would knock out the continental power grid and fry most all electronics from New York to Los Angeles....."

The Washington Times/via Drudge 5/21/99 Bill Gertz "...A Russian intelligence officer working undercover at the United Nations was caught spying on the United States and was allowed to leave the country quietly this month, The Washington Times has learned. Senior U.S. officials were particularly upset by what they called Russia's "aggressive" spying. It was the second time in six months that FBI agents caught an SVR officer spying in the United States, a sign that Moscow is intensifying intelligence activities here. The officer for Russia's foreign intelligence service, SVR, was arrested by FBI agents late last month during a secret counterintelligence operation after he obtained a classified U.S. government document from an informant, said administration officials familiar with the case. The officer was not declared "persona non grata" and forced to leave the country, the procedure normally used to expel spies posing as diplomats and who are immune from prosecution, the officials said. Instead, the matter was handled by the U.S. and Russian governments without notifying the United Nations. Because the officer, whose identity was not revealed, was working at the Russian Mission to the United Nations in New York, the State Department allowed him to leave the country quietly on May 1, the officials said. "He was caught with conclusive evidence," said one law enforcement official...... "These activities show that the Russians are continuing aggressive intelligence activities against the United States," said one official close to the case. The last time the Clinton administration publicly expelled a Russian intelligence officer was February 1994. Alexander Iosifovich Lysenko, Russia's senior spy in the United States was ordered out of the country after the arrest of Aldrich Hazen Ames, a CIA officer who worked secretly for Moscow. The secrecy surrounding the State Department handling of the two recent spy cases contrasts sharply with another recent spy case. A former Australian intelligence official was indicted Wednesday on a charge of attempted espionage after an FBI sting. Jean-Philippe Wispelaere was an Australian military intelligence official from July 1998 until his resignation Jan. 13. He is accused with selling secret and top-secret U.S. defense documents to undercover FBI agents during the past two months...."

5/28/99 Itar-Tass via Drudge Freeper Thanatos "...The Russian Defence Ministry has recalled all its servicemen from American military colleges in protest against the continuation of bombing raids on Yugoslavia, Itar-Tass was told at the office of the Russian military attache here on Friday. ..."

5/28/99 UPI Freeper Thanatos "...The United States and the former Soviet republic of Georgia have signed two agreements that call for the United States to hand over 10 Iroquois helicopter gunships to Georgia's military forces free of charge, and provide $3 million to pay for costs of training Georgian pilots and technical personnel in the United States. The two countries also agreed on a schedule for delivery of technical supplies for a team of Georgian military communications engineers, as part of a joint U.S.-Georgian military cooperation program...."

5/28/99 UPI Freeper Thanatos "...Russian President Boris Yeltsin and visiting South Korean President Kim Dae-jung have held talks in Moscow, discussing a range of issues, including the situation on the divided Korean peninsula. A joint statement issued after the summit called for the creation of a six-nation negotiating team to ensure security in northeast Asia, which would include both North and South Korea, as well as Russia, China, Japan and the United States. The statement called for the nations to hold a forum "that could function parallel to the current four-sided Korean peace talks (consisting of North and South Korea, the United States and China)." ..."

5/29/99 Itar-Tass Freeper Thanatos "... Urge for world domination and violation of human rights this is what the military actions against Yugoslavia, unleashed by the U.S.-led North Atlantic Alliance, actually boil down to. According to official reports, this was stated by China's Defence Minister Chi Haotian during his meeting with Viktor Sheiman, Secretary of the Belarus Security Council and Security Adviser to the Belarus President, who is currently visiting here at the inviation of the Chinese Defence Ministry...."

Fox News 5/28/99John Moody "...I warned in a previous column that one of the little-noticed byproducts of the Clinton Administration's ill thought-out policy on Kosovo has been a distinct worsening of U.S. relations with Russia. Many of you sent me e-mail to express your concern about how the Big Red Bear might react to our pummeling of Serbia, and to urge caution. Now we know the depths of Russian anger. Viktor Chernomyrdin, the former prime minister whom President Boris Yeltsin appointed as Russia's envoy to end the Balkan war, wrote a scathing critique of American policy in the Washington Post. Not even the filtration of translating it from Russian to English could conceal Chernomyrdin's disdain for Bill Clinton's amateur handling of a war. U.S. Russian relations, he wrote, had been set back several decades. And among regular Russians - not the elite that roams the Kremlin - the perception of America as a friend and proponent of democratic values has been decimated....Finally, the White House's embrace of the indictment of Milosovic as a war criminal must have left the Russians apoplectic. Does that mean that anyone who disagrees with the U.S. should be similarly designated? What if a Russian leader disagrees? Should he too, be sent to The Hague for trial?..."

Reuters 6/19/99 "...The Kremlin said on Saturday it regarded talks between presidents Boris Yeltsin and Bill Clinton on Sunday as vital for lifting Russian-U.S. relations from their lowest ebb since the Cold War.

Clinton and Yeltsin are due to meet in the German city of Cologne for the first time in 10 months -- during which relations have been soured by the Kosovo crisis. ``The meeting with Mr Clinton could be absolutely crucial,'' presidential press secretary Dmitry Yakuskhkin told reporters in Cologne, where the United States and Russia are both taking part in a meeting of the Group of Eight countries. Acknowledging that relations with the West were as bad as at any time since the Cold War, he said: ``This is a thing we have to deal with.'' Officials on both sides are hoping to build on the progress made in Helsinki, where the two sides signed an agreement on Friday for Russia to take part in a Kosovo peacekeeping force. Kosovo will again be on the agenda in Cologne...."

Itar-Tass 6/18/99 starlu "...The talks now underway here between the Russian and U.S. defence and foreign ministers "have firmly established that the Russian peacekeeping force activities in Kosovo will be fully under political and military control of Russia," Russian Defence Minister Igor Sergeyev told here reporters on Friday...."

Reuters 6/18/99 "...U.S. and Russian negotiators in Helsinki reached a deal in Helsinki on Friday on Moscow's participation in Kosovo peacekeeping, German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder said. ``According to the information I have just received, they have agreed. That wouldn't surprise me as they had been going well,'' he told reporters in Cologne during a summit of the Group of Seven world leaders. He said he could give no details of the deal but said Russia should not have a separate sector...."

AP via canoe.com 6/18/99 "...U.S. and Russian negotiators signed an agreement Friday on Kosovo peacekeeping arrangements, ending an impasse that began a week ago when 200 Russian troops surprised NATO by rolling into the Pristina airport ahead of the alliance. U.S. Defence Secretary William Cohen said Russia and Washington had reached an agreement "on terms that meet the requirements of both NATO and Russia." "It preserves the unity of (NATO) command ... and it gives Russia a unique role by providing for operations of Russian forces" within sectors controlled by NATO members. Russian troops will serve under Russian command and control and will work with NATO commanders in each of the sectors overseen by NATO allies within Kosovo. The Pristina airport, currently under Russian command, will be opened to all nations, Cohen said....."

Centre for Defence and International Security Studies 6/13/99 "....On 12 June 1999, a high-ranking Chinese military delegation visited a Russian Topol (SS-25) Intercontinental-range Ballistic Missile (ICBM) unit in Novosibirsk in central Russia. Moscow's ITAR-TASS, the main government information agency, commented on the significance of the visit by noting: For the first time in the history of Russian-Chinese military cooperation, a delegation of top representatives of the People's Liberation Army [PLA] of China has visited a unit of Russia's Strategic Rocket Forces in the last years....The Chinese delegation reportedly was shown the Topol missile "and explained its possibilities in overcoming the air defense of a 'potential foe,'" according to ITAR-TASS. The Topol (SS-25) is the world's only operational road mobile ICBM... We recently reported that Russia had flight tested the Topol-M (a follow-on system to the Topol) that is currently deployed in small numbers in a silo-based configuration, but which also may be deployed in the future in a road mobile configuration. During this recent flight test, Russian commentators praised the system's maneuvering reentry vehicle (MARV), stating it could help overcome ballistic missile defense (BMD) systems (see Russia Tests Topol-M ICBM)....A ballistic missile with a MIRV can place nuclear warheads on multiple enemy targets in different locations. A ballistic missile with a MARV enables the warhead to perform preplanned maneuvers during reentry in an attempt to evade missile defenses. Both systems represent high levels of technology currently only mastered by the United States and Russia....."

UPI Spotlight 6/18/99 "...Four Russian border guards have been killed by Chechen rebels, and a fifth man has been kidnapped in an overnight attack on a checkpoint on the border between Russia's southern Stavropol ("STAHV-roh-pol") region and the rebellious republic of Chechnya, Interior Ministry officials say (Friday). ...."

The New York Times 6/20/99 Jane Perlez "...The decision-making process in Russia, never crystal clear, has also become even murkier of late. "There are deep questions in Russia, now penetrating the Administration, about Yeltsin's mental as well as physical health," said Thomas Graham, a senior associate at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and a former American diplomat who served in Moscow until 10 months ago. "He is more unreliable and erratic than he was three or four months ago. There are a lot of doubts about whether he can make the flight and then function effectively for three to four hours." ....A stark example of the anti-NATO sentiment from usually pro-Western quarters came from Boris Fyodorov, the former chief of the Federal Tax Service. Fyodorov, who helped organize a petition to stop NATO's bombing of Yugoslavia, said of the alliance, "Nobody can assume the role of a policeman to the universe, to murder people in the name of human rights."...."

The Associated Press 6/20/99 About 100 ultranationalists rallied Sunday in central Moscow to demand the annulment of a law that imposes heavy fines on those who incite ethnic hatred, claiming such laws restrict freedom of speech..... Several members of neo-Nazi and extreme rightist and nationalist groups have been hit by such fines in recent months. The popularity of the groups has been bolstered by Russia's economic crisis. They have been accused of beating members of racial minorities, desecrating Jewish cemeteries and bombing synagogues, although few have ever been convicted...."

The New York Times 6/21/99 JANE PERLEZ "....The reasonable face of Russia, President Boris N. Yeltsin, walked stiffly, but his presence here Sunday was enough to reassure President Clinton and other Western leaders that dialogue with Moscow was possible in the aftermath of the Kosovo war. After weeks of tensions since the start of the war, culminating in an unnerving standoff between Russian and NATO troops at the main airport in Kosovo, the Russian and American leaders met Sunday and decided to let bygones be bygones, according to Clinton's aides. "I think we're actually in a position to have a stronger relationship with Russia in the future than before the conflict started," Clinton said after their hourlong session....The leaders were relieved and grateful Sunday after having watched the roller coaster behavior of Russia over Kosovo -- helpful, then obstinate, over the peacekeeping role of its troops, and then helpful again in arriving at a solution two days ago....In the interview with CNN's Late Edition, Clinton expanded on his thinking at the start of NATO's air campaign and on his foreign policy generally. Asked if he thought the bombing of Serbia would last 78 days before Milosevic agreed to NATO's terms, he said, "I thought that there was maybe a 50 percent chance it would be over in a week." ...."

Reuters 6/21/99 "...Russia's Foreign Ministry said on Monday that events had vindicated its strong opposition to NATO's bombing campaign against Yugoslavia. In a statement, the ministry said the alliance's ``armed adventure'' in the Balkans had caused devastation which surpassed even that of World War Two. ``Yugoslavia has been completely devastated, the damage to its national economy and infrastructure exceed all the destruction seen during World War Two. All the peoples of Yugoslavia have been subjected to terrible deprivations and sufferings,'' the statement said. Recent visitors to Yugoslavia say that although industrial infrastructure, power stations and bridges were wrecked by NATO, most areas where civilians live and circulate looked untouched. No widespread devastation was seen, they say....."

The Associated Press Karen Gullo 6/21/99 "...Documents given by Boris Yeltsin to President Clinton on Sunday could shed light on whether Lee Harvey Oswald schemed to kill President Kennedy while he was an American defector living in the Soviet Union, assassination researchers said. Yeltsin's surprise gift to Clinton - declassified papers containing information gathered by Russian intelligence agencies about Oswald - are a ``monumental breakthrough,'' said historian Kermit Hall, a former member of the Assassination Records Review Board. That federal panel, which went out of business last September, was created to gather all known records regarding the assassination. Hall said the Russian records - which the board was unable to obtain when it sent Hall and two other board members to Russia in 1996 - could show what Oswald was thinking and doing in the years leading up to the 1963 assassination of President Kennedy in Dallas.....In Moscow, the Interfax news agency said Yeltsin gave Clinton 80 documents, which also detailed the Soviet government's reaction to Kennedy's assassination..... "

Chinatimes 6/22/99 "...Moscow has decided to sell 72 of its front-line Sukhoi-30 jet fighter-bombers to Beijing, which will certainly strengthen the mainland's air combat capacity and boost its ties with Russia. According to a report appearing Monday in The Hong Kong Standard, following years of negotiations, Russian President Boris Yeltsin has given the green light to sell three squadrons of the state-of-art combat aircraft to the mainland. The report quoted Russian-based diplomats as saying that Moscow and Beijing had agreed in principle to negotiations on the sale during mainland Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji's visit to Russia early this year. It is understood that negotiations for Moscow to grant a license for the production of another 250 Sukhoi-30 fighters in mainland China have begun as well...."

Stratfor.com 6/22/99 "...1740 GMT, 990622 - Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov said that Russian relations with NATO were "inflicted a heavy damage" by the Yugoslav conflict, and that NATO bombing "ran against the spirit and the letter of the Russia-NATO Founding Act." Ivanov said that the Russian government had worked to improve NATO's negative image in the eyes of the Russian people and that the future of the Founding Act was being "seriously considered." ...1505 GMT, 990622 - UN Secretary General Kofi Annan said that "the world was indebted" to Russian President Boris Yeltsin and other Russian representatives who "played a key role" in ending the fighting in the Balkans. Annan said that he hoped to see Kosovo benefit from autonomy and self-rule, and that the conflict could now be resolved "by the only way acceptable to the international community." Annan made the remarks while on a two-day visit to St. Petersburg....1208 GMT, 990622 - Alexy II, Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia, said June 22 that he hoped Russian peacekeepers entering Kosovo would protect Serbs from the Kosovo Liberation Army and save Orthodox holy areas from destruction. Alexy II said that he had evidence that a number of 13th and 14th century orthodox sites had already been destroyed, and feared that more would be desecrated by returning ethnic Albanians...."

The Washington Times 6/24/99 Bill Gertz "...Russia's military had a detailed plan to seize Kosovo's main airport days before 200 Russians drove there from Bosnia ahead of the NATO peacekeeping operation, according to Pentagon intelligence officials. "There was no confusion at all about this," said one official familiar with a recent report based on intercepted Russian communications. "The operational orders were worked out well in advance." The intelligence reports, according to officials familiar with them, further undermine both U.S. government and Moscow claims that the deployment ahead of NATO peacekeepers was the result of miscommunications among Russian civilian and military leaders...."

stratfor.com 6/24/99 "...0500 GMT, 990614 President Bill Clinton had a sign taped to his desk at the beginning of his first term in office that read, "It's the Economy, Stupid." He should have taped one on his desk at the beginning of the Kosovo affair that said, "It's the Russians, Stupid." From the beginning to the end of this crisis, it has been the Russians, not the Serbs, who were the real issue facing NATO. The Kosovo crisis began in December 1998 in Iraq. When the United States decided to bomb Iraq for four days in December, in spite of Russian opposition and without consulting them, the Russians became furious. In their view, the United States completely ignored them and had now reduced them to a third-world power - discounting completely Russia's ability to respond. The senior military was particularly disgruntled. It was this Russian mood, carefully read by Slobodan Milosevic, which led him to conclude that it was the appropriate time to challenge the West in Kosovo. It was clear to Milosevic that the Russians would not permit themselves to be humiliated a second time. He was right. When the war broke out, the Russians were not only furious again, but provided open political support to Serbia....."

South China Morning Post 6/23/99 Rueters "...China is happy with the constant improvement in Sino-Russian ties, China's second ranking leader said on Tuesday. ''China is pleased to see Sino-Russian exchange and cooperation in politics, economy, culture and other areas have been growing constantly,'' the China Daily quoted parliament chief Li Peng as saying. ....Russian analysts say the two countries are working overtime to use the relationship to build strategic clout and chip away at the US's role as the world's only superpower...."

Russia Today 6/25/99 AFP "...Russia's surprise capture of the Pristina airport was the first step ahead of airlifting at least 1,000 Russian soldiers to Kosovo, US media reported here. Western intelligence analysts disagree over whether the move was designed for Russia to carve out its own sector of Kosovo, or to reinforce the 200 troops who took the airport June 12 and strengthen their bargaining position, the Washington Post reported Friday. The plan failed when Hungary, Bulgaria and Romania -- urged by the United States -- refused to grant the Russians overflight rights to send in the reinforcements...."

WorldNetDaily.com 6/25/99 John Dougherty "... According to Joel M. Skousen, a political scientist and avid Russia analyst, "The most savvy Soviet-watchers can point to a host of evidence indicating that the so-called 'collapse' was engineered to disarm the West and garner billions in direct aid to assist Russia while inducing the West to take over the economic burden of the former satellite states. But the most ominous evidence is found in defectors from Russia who tell the same story: Russia is cheating on all aspects of disarmament, and is siphoning off billions in Western aid money to modernize and deploy top-of-the-line new weapons systems aimed at taking down the U.S. military in one huge, decapitating nuclear strike."..."

South China Morning Post 6/26/99 Willy Wo-Lap Lam "...Beijing and Moscow have agreed to pool resources in the development of military-related high technology. The unpublicised accord was finalised while the Vice-Chairman of the Central Military Commission, General Zhang Wannian, was in Moscow this month. Diplomatic sources in Beijing said yesterday that while the leadership had turned down Moscow's invitation for forming a military alliance, the joint development of weapons technology was a big step forward in defence ties. "Both countries will co-ordinate development of a number of weapons systems," a source said. "Beijing will provide most of the funds and Moscow the bulk of the expertise, including personnel."...A PLA expert said priority would be given to development of hardware including missiles and submarines. The expert said that before the Kosovo crisis, the leadership of President Jiang Zemin had been reluctant to significantly upgrade military ties with Moscow. "After the air strikes against Serbia began, [Russian President] Boris Yeltsin told Beijing that unless China and Russia joined forces, the American military machine could not be stopped...."

International Herald Tribune 6/19/99 Masashi Nishihara "...The Kosovo conflict has sharpened tensions between major powers in Asia and the Pacific. There is now a risk of another Cold War emerging in the region. Such a development would be destabilizing and must be averted. When NATO began bombing Yugoslavia, China and Russia once again became close political allies. High-level contacts between the two countries have increased significantly. Russia's chief naval commander, Vladimir Kuroyedov, visited Beijing in late May, followed by Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov in early June. China's top military leader, General Chang Wan-Nien, went to Vladivostok in mid-June. Among other things, General Chang's visit produced an agreement to expand the two countries' military contacts. Both China and Russia suspect that the eastward expansion of NATO and the recently strengthened alliance between Japan and the United States are linked as part of a pincer movement to squeeze their countries from both east and west...."

AP 6/28/99 "...Long-range Russian bombers flew over the North Pole and test fired strategic missiles during recent military exercises, a defense official said Monday. The exercises involving Tu-95 and Tu-160 bombers were conducted last week as part of military exercises code named ``West 99,'' air force spokesman Col. Alexander Drobyshevsky was quoted as saying by the ITAR-Tass news agency...."

Itar-Tass 6/30/99 "... US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright may be dismissed already this summer for mistakes in the US policy regarding Yugoslavia, a Russian influential newspaper reported on Wednesday citing its sources in Washington. "In Washington they are talking that a certain reshuffle will take place in the State Department leadership before this autumn. /President Bill/ Clinton has reportedly found a worthy replacement to current Secretary of State Madeleine Albright", the Nezavisimaya Gazeta wrote...."

Russia Today 6/29/99 Itar-Tass Reuters "...Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov said Monday Russia was cooperating with NATO over a peacekeeping force in Kosovo but that otherwise ties with the military alliance remained frozen.

Ivanov said a visit by a group of Russian officers to Brussels Monday could ease tensions created by NATO's 11-week bombing campaign against Russia's fellow Slav and Orthodox Christian brethren in Yugoslavia. The officers, headed by a vice admiral, are due to discuss peacekeeping in Serbia's southern province of Kosovo...."

Associated Press 6/29/99 "...Russia's prime minister urged security forces on Tuesday to stem extremism and prevent ``criminals, bandits and swindlers'' from overrunning this year's parliamentary elections. Corruption is rife in Russia, and criminals are widely expected to support parliamentary candidates they believe will advance their interests in the State Duma. The next election is scheduled for December. ``The chief task of law enforcement bodies and the government ... is to erect an effective and reliable barrier in the path of those political parties, associations, and persons that destabilize society and stir up ethnic strife,'' Prime Minister Sergei Stepashin told a meeting of the Federal Security Service, the successor to the Soviet-era KGB....``Our chief task now is to prevent criminals, bandits and swindlers from getting into the bodies of power,'' he said....."

Drudge 6/30/99 "... The WASHINGTON POST'S Dana Priest is preparing a post-Cold War shock story for Thursday's editions: Strategic bombers from Russia flew within striking distance of the U.S. last week. The POST reports that Russia is in the middle of the largest war exercises since the end of the Cold war and that U.S. and western leaders are increasingly concerned about the current military leadership in Moscow...."

Russia Today 6/29/99 Reuters "...Russian Prime Minister Sergei Stepashin gave the go-ahead on Monday for discussions with Iran on building three nuclear power plants in that country, Interfax news agency said. It said the Atomic Energy Ministry had made the proposal but did not say when the talks might start. Officials were not immediately available for comment. Russia is already building a nuclear reactor for Iran in the Gulf port of Bushehr in a deal worth $800 million...."

stratfor.com 7/2/99 "...2050 GMT, 990702 The June 29 edition of Russia's Nezavisimaya Gazeta, a newspaper controlled by close Yeltsin ally Boris Berezovsky, offered a detailed account of the flight of two Russian strategic bombers down the Norwegian coast which differed somewhat in perspective from the version of events being carried in the Western press. The Los Angeles Times reported that the two Tu-160 "Blackjack" bombers "flew down the coastline of Norway, also a NATO member." The report continued, "The move set Norwegian fighter planes scrambling. But the Blackjacks headed east before they could be intercepted." Nezavisimaya Gazeta's version of events is that "A pair of supersonic Tu-160 aircraft followed the entire Norwegian coastline, simulated the launch of Kh-55 cruise missiles, turned round, and took the same route back to their base area. The Norwegian F-16's were too late to intercept - in the space of a few years, it appears that NATO pilots have lost the ability to deal with eastern visitors." .... To add a final exclamation point to that call, the Russian newspaper cited 37th Air Army commander Lt. Gen. Mikhail Oparin as reporting that Boris Yeltsin signed documents approving the return of 10 unwanted Tu-160s from Ukraine "in the very near future," increasing the Russian arsenal of the aircraft by 150 percent. As NATO was hoping to dial back from the Kosovo action - to give its pilots a rest and do long-term maintenance on equipment - Russia made complacency impossible...."

Associated Press 7/1/99 Robert Burns "...Russia is flexing its post-Cold War muscles sending strategic bombers to probe allied air defenses and pushing for a bigger and more independent role in NATO-led peacekeeping in Kosovo. Two TU-95 Bear bombers flew so close to the coastline of Iceland last Friday that a pair of U.S. Air Force F-15 fighters were scrambled from a NATO air base to escort the Russian planes around the island. And NATO member Norway sent up fighter jets when two other Russian bombers flew down its coastline. The Clinton administration on Thursday dismissed the incidents as militarily insignificant but acknowledged that it was the first time in years that the Russian air force had flown so near to a NATO member's airspace..."

Itar-Tass 7/1/99 "...Georgia has sent a request asking for admission into NATO, Deputy Foreign Minister Giga Burduli said on Thursday. Relations between Georgia and NATO are at present regulated by the Partnership for Peace programme and the Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council (EAPC), Burduli told the newspaper, Free Georgia...."

The Straits Times 6/30/99 "...Once sworn enemies, both countries have found common cause in challenging what they perceive as growing US hegemony. In Europe, Russia sees the eastward expansion of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation as an encroachment on its sphere of influence; and in Asia, China sees the strengthening of the US-Japan military alliance, as well as US plans to install theatre missile defence systems in the region, as evidence of an anti-China containment policy. On the principle that unless they stick together, they might well hang separately, both countries have decided to upgrade their security and political links. What does this mean for the world in general, and for Asia in particular? For the moment, perhaps not much. The partnership is still a secondary relationship for both, and calling it "strategic" will not change the global balance of power overnight. To begin with, their strategic interests do not always coincide. For example, unlike China, Russia is cooperating with Nato in peacekeeping efforts in the Balkans; and its relationship with Japan, unlike China's, is growing closer. In addition, both nations are well aware that neither can prosper economically by sticking solely to the other....Still, it would be a mistake to assume that the "strategic partnership" is just smoke and mirrors. As it is, the relationship has already borne significant fruit. The presidents of the two countries have met seven times in seven years; they have successfully resolved their long-standing border disputes; and the two countries have developed close military links. To date, China has acquired from Russia Su-27 attack jets, Kilo-636 attack submarines and Sovremenny-class destroyers equipped with SS-N-22 anti-ship missiles. Reports indicate that both countries agreed earlier this month to develop missiles, submarines and other high-tech weapon systems jointly, and that Russia has agreed in principle to sell China its state-of-the-art Su-30s, an aircraft superior to the Su-27. Reports indicate, too, that Russia proposed a military alliance between the two countries, but that China turned it down...."

Itar-Tass 7/6/99 "...The United States is considering the possibility of deploying NATO troops in five Arab countries. The possibility of drawing Egypt, Jordan, Morocco, Tunisia, and Mauritania into the alliance's sphere of interests was discussing during President Hosni Mubarak's recent visit to the United States. The Jordanian newspaper "Al-Madj" reports that President Clinton asked Hosni Mubarak to discuss with his Arab colleagues the possibility of deploying large NATO contingents in five Arab countries to "strengthen strategic ties" with the nations of the Arab world. The newspaper notes that Washington had recently held consultations on this problem also with Algeria. The NATO troops that are to be deployed in the region will reportedly be used only in critical situations....."

The Limbaugh Letter 7/99 Rush Limbaugh "...RUSH: And yor are. You open Betrayal with four chapters on Russian expionage, terrorism, and the danger that the former Soviet Union's military represents for America. But America thinks that's over with, that the Russians are our buddies, that we've neutralized their threat. Would you say the Russian threat as comprised today is more dire than that of China? GERTZ: Yes, just in terms of sheer TNT power or megatonnage. The Russian nuclear arsenal represents the real strategic threat to the United States, although I wouldn't minimize the Chinese threat in any way. I highlight this in the chapter on nuclear nightmare, which goes into the crumbling control over the Russian nuclear arsenal. This is a real untold story under the Clinton Administration. I first learned about it years ago from a senior official in the Energy Department, who explained that politically motivated officials basically killed off his entire program -- an intelligence program that focused completely on how the Russians were not controlling their nuclear arsenal. This was definitely bad news for a people like Strobe Talbot and others who wanted to adopt a conciliatory approach to Moscow and to Boris Yeltsin. So they immediately disbanded this entire program, and put in officials who were more pliable and would go along with the ploitical leanings of their intelligence assessment. I was fortunate enough to get a number of classified CIA reports which revealed how dangerous the situation is. Even those reports appeared to me and to other outside observers to play down the danger of an unauthorized Russian nuclear missile launch. They kept saying that even though there are problems, the prospect of an unsanctioned use is low. Well, as they say, one nuclear missile can ruin your whole day. Even if there's a remote possibility that some rogue general could get hold of a nuclear command post and press the button, it's truly alarming. But the Administration publicly adopted the exact opposite approach. They had almost a mantra: "There's no problem with the Russian nuclear control over its missiles. Everything's fine. Don't worry about it."..."

Russia Today 7/16/99 Reuters "...For the last 15 years Russia has been operating a secret plant for producing and storing deadly chemical weapons just east of Murmansk on the Kola peninsula, the Norwegian daily Verdens Gang said on Thursday..... The paper quoted unnamed "international experts" who had studied the pictures as saying that "without doubt" chemicals were being produced at the plant.... Bellona researcher Thomas Nilsen said Russia had about 40,000 metric tons of chemical weapons in 7 stores around the country, none of which were in northwest. VG's article was logical because the site was close to the ammunition storage facilities for the Northern Fleet, he said...."

Russia Today 7/16/99 AFP "...The agency quoted Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov as saying that Russia wanted to receive all relevant information from China about its neutron bomb capabilities before formulating a more concrete position on the issue. "Russia's principal position is to strengthen nuclear non-proliferation on the one hand and the strategic stability in the world on the other," Ivanov said...."

Russia Today 7/17/99 AFP "...Residents of a south Russian village were fleeing their homes in droves Friday after a mystery infection killed three people and sent 72 others to hospital within days, the NTV television channel said..... Doctors are still at a loss as to the cause of the infection, but said it could be meningitis or a previously unknown form of encephalitis, possibly caused by ticks, said Vladimir Usatkin of Rostov's central hospital...."

Russia Today 7/14/99 AFP "...A leading Russian scientist's offices here have been searched by police amid an investigation into espionage for exposing nuclear pollution, officials said Tuesday. Vladimir Soyfer, 69, who works in affiliation with Moscow's Kurchatov nuclear institute, was searched by the Federal Security Service on July 3. He was researching pollution in Russia's Pacific Ocean coastline, a scene of nuclear waste dumping by the locally-based Pacific Fleet...."

Agence France Press 7/3/99 "... Russia has declared a US military attaché in Moscow "persona non grata" and ordered him to leave the country this week, the Washington Times reported Friday, citing US military sources. Lieutenant Colonel Pete Hoffman, the assistant army attaché, was notified last week by the Russian Foreign Ministry of the expulsion order, the report said. ....The Times cited a source as saying Hoffman may have been singled out because he was part of the US team in Helsinki that negotiated an agreement on the role of Russian forces in the peacekeeping operations in Kosovo....."

Russia Today AFP "...President Boris Yeltsin singled out regional conflicts Friday as a threat to Russia in an address to senior defense officials. Yeltsin also called for ratification of the START II strategic arms reduction treaty and negotiations on START III, which would provide for further cuts in the strategic arsenals of Russia and the United States, according to deputy....."

Anchorage Daily News 7/1/99 Barry Renfrew "...A conspiracy to snatch Lenin's body from his Red Square tomb and bury it in the middle of the night so Boris Yeltsin can stay in power? It sounds like the plot of a cheap thriller. But such is the feverish scenario sweeping Russia's media and political circles, amid speculation that Yeltsin is looking for ways to outlaw the Communist Party - his biggest rival. Ordinary Russians are worried that their country is edging toward yet another crisis. "Moscow ... is filled with alarming rumors and expectations about an unconstitutional course of events," said Andrei Piontkovsky, a political analyst. Exactly how Lenin's burial would lead to banning the Communists or help Yeltsin stay in power isn't clear, but nobody seems to be worrying about that. The Communists and others agree a burial would signal the start of an offensive to outlaw what is still the largest political party in Russia....."

New York Times 7/3/99 Eric Schmitt "...The United States and its NATO allies have blocked Russia from flying hundreds of troops into Kovoso this weekend, before details of Russia's role in the NATO peacekeeping force could be worked out, Administration officials said Friday. In the last 48 hours, Russia asked Hungary, Romania and Bulgaria for use of their airspace to fly 10 planeloads of peacekeepers on Sunday into Pristina, the provincial capital, the officials said. ..."

AP 7/4/99 "...The appearance of Russian bombers over the Atlantic Ocean for the first time in years coincides with new efforts by Moscow to stop its once enormous military from disintegrating. .... The government, alarmed about the state of the military, has promised to boost spending on security to 28.5 percent of the budget - $6.7 billion - compared to a proposed U.S. defense budget of $280 billion. Originally, the government had called for spending $5.1 billion on security. However, it is not clear that even the higher amount can stem the deterioration of the once-feared Russian military. While the appearance of two bombers near Iceland during exercises last week alarmed some Western governments, the planes reflected Russia's military decline. They were TU-95 Bears, a 40-year-old propeller plane based on 1950s technology...."

Russia Today 7/13/99 Reuters "...The Post, in a front-page story on Monday, quoted experts as saying the package that was originally intended to help Russians through the winter came too late and really was not needed in the first place. It also said that the U.S. food is now undercutting the Russian commodities markets. But the USDA backed the package, saying the food is reaching Russia at a perfect time after grain bins were getting low and that the country did in fact need food after an extremely poor harvest depleted supplies and the devaluation of the ruble made imports too expensive.... "

Conservative News Service 7/13/99 Patrick Goodenough "...Vaccines for smallpox, one of the most contagious killer diseases known to mankind, are in short supply worldwide, yet stocks of the live virus still exist, and smallpox could potentially one day be used as a lethal biological weapon. But the World Health Organization says there is "no evidence" any unauthorized party has access to the virus, and that resources should not be diverted from countering existing health threats to making more vaccine which will probably never be needed..... While 60 million doses of vaccine against a disease officially stamped out two decades ago may seem reasonable, smallpox is no ordinary virus. Uncontrolled, exponential spread of the disease could affect 100 million people in an outbreak originally triggered by 100 cases, experts have warned. The former head of the largest biological warfare production centers in the then Soviet Union described to a British newspaper last March the ramifications of an inoculated terrorist unleashing smallpox into the cabin of an airliner about to land at JFK Airport. "By the time the aircraft landed in New York, each passenger would have become a biological weapon," said Ken Alibeck, who fled to the West in the early 1990s. "From there, they might leave to travel all over the United States, to Detroit, to Florida, each one a new focus for the disease." "The incubation period of smallpox is two to 14 days, so before people realized they had been infected, they would be infecting other people. The hospitals would be overwhelmed." ..."

Washington Times 7/12/99 James Hackett "...On June 18, The Washington Times ran an item in its "Inside the Ring" section quoting Pentagon intelligence sources as saying that Russia had tested in April a high-altitude weapon that fires an electromagnetic pulse, or EMP. It added that the Pentagon is concerned about this Russian EMP weapon, which may be part of Moscow's anti-satellite (ASAT) development program. Electromagnetic pulses are high-intensity energy generated by nuclear explosions or special EMP generators. An EMP is similar to a bolt of lightning - a brief but intense surge of electric energy that can cause damaging overloads in solid-state electronics. An EMP burst caused by a nuclear explosion in space could instantly disable all satellites in sight, and ground stations as well. A generated EMP pulse would have less power and shorter range, but still could burn out the electronics of a satellite or anything else at which it is directed..... Russia's military leaders have made their top priority the production and deployment of the new Topol-M intercontinental ballistic missile. In space, the military has asked the Duma to deorbit the Mir space station and use the money to help pay for a new fleet of military satellites. Even with 130 satellites still in orbit, most performing military missions, Russia's generals want new and improved spacecraft, especially spy satellites...."

American Spectator 7/99 Kenneth Timmerman "...When he unveiled the $600 million Nuclear Cities Initiative last September in Vienna at a joint press conference with Russian Minister of Atomic Energy Yevgeni Adamov, Energy Secretary Bill Richardson praised the Russians for their willingness to open ten previously closed nuclear cities. "This is a Russian-led effort to 'rightsize' their nuclear complex and use the valuable skills of their scientists and engineers to promote economic development and new enterprises--to turn the scientific and technological expertise that resides in their premier weapons facilities toward peaceful uses," Richardson said. "I can not emphasize enough how important it is to us all that economic hardship not drive Russian nuclear weapons scientists into employment in places like Iran and North Korea." But that was not what the Russians promised at all, according to a GAO audit. The GAO's own investigators were denied entry to Sarov (formerly known as Azarmas-16, one of Russia's two nuclear weapons design institutes) earlier this year. In a meeting with the auditors outside the closed city, Sarov officials acknowledged that "it will be difficult to attract commercial partners to a city located behind a fence." Meanwhile, the collapse of the Russian banking system has ruled out any support from Russian private companies to defense conversion, the original goal of the U.S. programs. U.S. officials in Moscow warned the auditors that "care should be taken in transferring funds to any project in Russia lest the money be swallowed up in a bankrupt financial institution."...."

www.stratfor.com 7/17/99 "...1655 GMT, 990717 - Are Russian Security Forces Again Acting Without Presidential Approval? Chechen Security Minister Turpal-Ali Atgeriyev was released from Moscow's Matrosskaya Tishina prison on the afternoon of July 17, a day after his surprise arrest at Moscow's Vnukovo airport. Atgeriyev, who was in Moscow to prepare for upcoming talks between Russian President Boris Yeltsin and his Chechen counterpart Aslan Maskhadov, was arrested by Russian Interior Ministry troops for his alleged role in the January 1996 attack by Chechen rebels on the Dagestani town of Kizlyar, which left some 13 Chechens and 20 Russian troops dead. ....Atgeriyev's arrest will certainly put a damper on negotiations between Chechnya and Russia, as he must have traveled to Moscow with at least a tacit guarantee of safe passage. From the Chechen point of view, Atgeriyev had diplomatic immunity. Maskhadov must now think twice about leaving Chechnya, particularly to venture to Moscow. As for Russia, it has placed the 17,000 interior ministry troops surrounding Chechnya on high alert against possible retaliatory strikes by Chechen forces...."

Russia Today 7/20/99 Reuters "...Russia should work to overcome the anti-Western public sentiment that burst out after NATO began bombing Yugoslavia, Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov said in an interview to be published on Tuesday. But in the interview, with the popular tabloid Komsomolskaya Pravda, he made clear his country is still angry at NATO and suspicious of the motives behind the bombings. In a sign nerves are still raw in Moscow more than a month after the air campaign's end, Ivanov said NATO had created a false image of humanitarian crisis in Kosovo as a ploy to subvert the United Nations and extend its military reach...."

Russia Today 7/21/99 Jane's, RFE/RL "...The report by British security experts appears in the latest edition of Jane's Sentinel, issued by the respected Jane's publishing group. The report says members of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), created in 1991, have shown a determination to come to terms with the Soviet legacy and reshape their national destinies. But it says Russia has tried to assume the mantle of the former Soviet Union in terms of economic, political, and military power and seems set to try to reassert its influence again over the entire CIS region. The report finds that Russia has sought to retain "regional hegemony," or at least to exclude other powers -- such as the U.S. and Turkey -- and has also sought to elevate its own national interests over those of the CIS...."The crux of it is around the Caspian Sea. We've already seen the reaction Kazakhstan has had to the fact the Russians are still trying to use the Baikonur (space facility), as if it belonged to them, refusing to pay rent for it. We are seeing it in the way they are trying to exert influence over Azerbaijan, particularly by backing Armenia. We are seeing it in the way they are dealing with Ossetia, Ingushetia and also Dagestan. They are clamping down on anything that sniffs at all of being any independence movement whatsoever." ..."

Evans-Novak Political Report 7/20/99 Rowland Evans and Robert Novak "...Russian movement in Kosovo is worrying the White House far more than the Pentagon admits: 1) Key officials both in Kosovo and the U.S. fear that the Russians will concoct a liaison with Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic that could put NATO in the position of choosing between military confrontation or backing down.... 4) The appearance of Russian military independence from President Boris Yeltsin and the foreign office further aggravates possible crises ahead. Moscow knows that faced with crisis, Clinton would pull all the stops to prevent an altercation between NATO and Russia...."

Sunday Times of London 7/25/99 Matthew Campbell "...AMERICAN officials believe Russia may have stolen some of the nation's most sensitive military secrets, including weapons guidance systems and naval intelligence codes, in a concerted espionage offensive that investigators have called operation Moonlight Maze. The intelligence heist, that could cause damage to America in excess of that caused by Chinese espionage in nuclear laboratories, involved computer hacking over the past six months. This was so sophisticated and well co-ordinated that security experts trying to build ramparts against further incursions believe America may be losing the world's first "cyber war". Investigators suspect Russia is behind the series of "hits" against American computer systems since January. In one case, a technician trying to track a computer intruder watched in amazement as a secret document from a naval facility was "hijacked" to Moscow from under his nose..... Besides military computer systems, private research and development institutes have been plundered in the same operation. Such institutes are reluctant to discuss losses, which experts claim may amount to hundreds of millions of dollars..... Dozens of infiltrations ensued at other military facilities and even at the Pentagon in Washington. When research laboratories also reported incursions using the internet technique, officials realised that a "cyber invasion" was under way..... Even top secret military installations whose expertise is intelligence security have been breached. At the Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command (Spawar), a unit in San Diego, California, that specialises in safeguarding naval intelligence codes, Ron Broersma, an engineer, was alerted to the problem when a computer print job took an unusually long time...."

http://www.softwar.net/ss27.html 7/26/99 "...Russia is deploying a new series of nuclear tipped missiles with warheads designed with the aid of US supercomputers. The new Russian SS-X-27 missile is being moved directly into deployment with an advanced 550 kiloton nuclear warhead made by the Arzamas-16 nuclear design bureau. Russian Atomic energy officials (MINATOM) admitted in early 1997 that an IBM super-computer was purchased from Europe by MINATOM in late 1996 for $7 million. The IBM super-computer was transferred directly to the nuclear weapons center in Arzamas-16. In addition, MINATOM official admitted that that Silicon Graphics, Inc., sold four computers to Chelyabinsk-70, another Russian weapons facility in the fall of 1996 for $650,000 each

Los Angeles Times 7/25/99 Helga Graham "...Relations between Russia and the West have dissipated dangerously since the end of the Cold War. Kosovo is largely symptom, not cause. This matters. A democratic, reasonably cooperative Russia is Europe's single most important security issue. Yet Russia--with its Weimar Republic socioeconomic collapse, its powerful mafia and its deteriorating nuclear and nuclear-alert systems--remains singularly suspended from the new European security structure, embodied by an expanding NATO. This semi-detached, inferior status is likely to make Russia act bearishly, say Moscow watchers. The dangers are obvious. Like the Versailles Treaty after World War I, the post-Cold War NATO expansion, anathematized by Russians of all classes, could all too easily become a scapegoat for Russia's ills and a catalyst for the resurgence of a neo-fascism-communism....Russia officially backs the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe--including Russia, the U.S., Canada and all European countries--as the main frame for European security. "But with Duma and presidential elections pending, nothing will happen," said a senior Russian diplomat. Time is running out, as the relatively accommodating Yeltsin stumbles slowly into the sunset....."

Chicago Tribune 7/29/99 Michael McGuire "...If Russia's generals begin to see an inflow of cash to modernize the nation's impoverished armed forces, some will toss an ironic salute to President Clinton and thank the bombing campaign in Yugoslavia. "Generals have told me that we must build a monument to Clinton because the campaign over Kosovo drastically changed political attitudes here," said Alexander Zhylin, one of Russia's top military analysts. "Now there is no more opposition to the idea that Russia should restore its military potential."..."

Russia Today AFP 8/2/99 "...US Defense Secretary William Cohen on Sunday promised Georgian President Eduard Shevardnadze six helicopters to help patrol the former Soviet republic's borders. Georgia has had to see to its own security since the recent withdrawal of Russian border guards...."

Russia Today 8/2/99 Reuters "...Russian security chiefs met on Saturday to discuss a new civil defense doctrine, which will be presented to President Boris Yeltsin in a month, news agencies said. RIA news agency quoted Security Council Secretary Vladimir Putin as saying Russia was not likely to face a direct military attack, but recent war in the Balkans showed Moscow should be prepared for the possibility of getting caught up in a conflict...."

Fox News 8/3/99 AP "...Twenty people have been infected with anthrax in the Central Asian nation of Kyrgyzstan, and more than 250 others have been exposed to the disease, a news agency reported Tuesday. Earlier, Kyrgyz authorities had said that 700 workers were involved in butchering cattle that were sick with anthrax. But Health Ministry officials now say 270 people had contact with the infected meat, Interfax reported. ..."

Washington Post 8/8/99 Daniel Williams "...Helicopter gunships fired rockets into mountainous rebel redoubts. Refugees streamed from remote villages. Bearded Islamic guerrillas crept along steep ridges, rocket-propelled grenades at the ready. The scenes were reminiscent of Russia's unhappy war in Chechnya, a rebellious province that has been independent in all but name since Russian troops pulled out three years ago. But they took place over the weekend in Dagestan, another troubled Russian province that borders Chechnya...."

Reuters/AFP 8/3/99 "... Russian President Boris Yeltsin told Colombia's government Monday his government is ready to supply helicopters to Colombia's army and air force under a agreement the two countries signedin 1996, a statement here said. In a letter to President Andres Pastrana, Yeltsin said Russian state agencies would guarantee the aircrafts' maintenance and provide training for Colombian pilots and mechanics. Russia already has provided 10 transport helicopters under the bilateral agreement, the letter said...."

Reuters 8/6/99 "...Russia's former prime minister Yevgeny Primakov, sacked by President Boris Yeltsin in May, holds the key to the coming parliamentary election, an opinion survey showed on Thursday. The findings came as Moscow's powerful mayor, Yuri Luzhkov, tried to persuade Primakov to join a newly formed coalition uniting Luzhkov's centrist Fatherland party and the All Russia group of regional leaders. The survey, conducted by the VTSIOM polling organization, showed support for Fatherland in December's poll would jump from 16 percent to 28 percent if Primakov joined the party. If Primakov threw in his lot with the Communist Party, the largest party in the current State Duma lower house of parliament, support for Luzhkov's party would slip to 12 percent. Backing for the Communists would rise from 34 percent to 40 percent....."

Washington Post 8/6/99 Daniel Williams "...Primakov remains Russia's most popular politician almost three months after President Boris Yeltsin ousted him from the prime minister's post on the grounds that he had failed to get the economy moving. Observers noted at the time that Yeltsin was probably also reacting to Primakov's increasing popularity and independence. Now Primakov is being avidly courted by a new electoral coalition sponsored by Moscow's powerful mayor, Yuri Luzhkov. Polls show that Primakov would lead the coalition to parliamentary victory should he choose to head it in the December balloting...."

Reuters / RussiaToday 8/6/99 "...Russia has awarded medals to all the officers and men who took part in the surprise dash for Kosovo's Pristina airport in June, the military newspaper Krasnaya Zvezda reported on Friday. About 200 Russian paratroopers based in Bosnia caught NATO napping and lifted the spirits of Russia's demoralized armed forces by crossing into Serbia in a convoy and then racing to the main airport in Kosovo ahead of alliance peacekeepers...."

Stratfor.com 8/5/99 "...0145 GMT, 990803 - At a joint press conference in Tbilisi, U.S. Secretary of Defense William Cohen announced that the U.S. will give six Bell UH-1 "Iroquois" helicopters to Georgia for use in protecting Georgia's borders. The helicopters are provided under a $3 million dollar "Helicopter Contract" signed between the U.S. and Georgia, in which the U.S. agrees to provide training to Georgian pilots in the U.S. and extends funds to Georgia to pay for the helicopters. Additionally, the U.S. is supplying four non-functional helicopters to be used for spare parts. These weapons are far from front line NATO standard...."

Reuters 8/7/99 "...The U.S. Coast Guard said Friday that one of its ships had been involved in an incident with a Russian trawler accused of fishing for pollock in U.S. waters....On board the Gissar were between 32 and 37 metric tons of pollock, Coast Guard officials said. But instead of being allowed to escort the Gissar to the nearest Alaska port, standard procedure in such cases, the Hamilton was surrounded by more than a dozen Russian fishing vessels preventing further enforcement action, Wetherell said. Up to 19 fishing vessels blockaded the Hamilton, he said...."

Defense Daily 8/5/99 Vago Muradian "...Despite Pentagon invitations that British Aerospace and Germany's DaimlerChrysler Aerospace [DCX] consider unions with leading U.S. firms, executives on both sides of the Atlantic are growing increasingly convinced that the prospects of a successful deal are dim in the face of political, diplomatic and export control hurdles, according to senior government and industry sources.... Defense globalization, and shaping policies that balance security concerns with economic necessity, has been a focus of the Pentagon leadership for more than a year, since DoD disclosed its opposition to the planned $11.6 billion merger between Lockheed Martin [LMT] and Northrop Grumman [NOC]. Soon after the Pentagon and Justice Department concerns with the deal became public on March 9, 1998, Lord Simpson, the chief executive of Britain's GEC, expressed interest in buying Northrop Grumman should the deal fail.....Deputy Defense Secretary John Hamre and Pentagon acquisition chief Jacques Gansler initially were cool toward the notion of defense globalization, over security questions. But over the year, both have expressed growing support for major transnational deals involving U.S. contractors. The Pentagon leadership also has commissioned several studies on globalization, and a Defense Science Board panel on the topic last week submitted a draft version of its recommendations to Gansler....The recent DSB study on globalization recommends that the U.S. government focus its attention on protecting systems, with less attention on the parts that go into them. The ability to move U.S. technologies across worldwide operations remains a key issue that has been raised by both DASA Chief Executive Manfred Bischoff and Weston during their meetings with Hamre..."

Russia Today 8/10/99 Reuters "... Islamist guerrillas declared Russia's Dagestan province an independent state on Tuesday and called for a holy war of liberation amid Russia's worst security crisis since the war with breakaway Chechnya. Chechen-backed Islamist guerrillas took control of another village overnight, bringing them within two km (one mile) of Botlikh, the main town in the mountain valley where fighting has raged since they seized several villages over the weekend. Russian security officials gathered in Moscow and made optimistic noises..."

Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel 8/8/99 John Hall "...Serbian people feel its sting as Albanians return Now comes ethnic cleansing in reverse. Human Rights Watch reports that more than 164,000 Serbs have fled Kosovo, along with "significant" numbers of Gypsies, to escape the revenge of Kosovar Albanians. Since there were only 180,000 Serbs in Kosovo before this all began, it looks as if the cleansing has been fairly complete. The Kosovo Liberation Army, defenders of the Albanian majority, have now occupied most civil offices and have become a de facto government under the semi-approving gaze of NATO..."

UPI 8/10/99 Two unidentified jets, reportedly a Su-25 and a MiG fighter, entered Georgian airspace from Russia and bombed a village in the former Soviet republic, wounding at least three people. The Georgian government said (Tuesday) it was outraged by Monday's attack and sent a strong note of protest to Russia, demanding an investigation of the incident, which Moscow claims it has no knowledge of. ..."

UPI 8/10/99 Martin Sieff "...The Islamic nationalist rising in Dagestan in the Russian Caucasus confronts President Boris Yeltsin and his new Prime Minister Vladimir Putin with a crisis that threatens to dwarf the Chechnya war, leading analysts warn. "The Russian government has predicted that it will close down the revolt in Dagestan in two weeks," said Paul Goble, former chief State Department analyst on Soviet nationalities in the Bush administration. "But it made the same prediction about the 1994 Chechnya war and that assessment will prove as erroneous now as it did then." Goble is now deputy director of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. He spoke in a private capacity. More than 100,000 people were killed in Chechnya during 11/2 years of fighting from December 1994 to the summer of 1996 before Russia recognized its inability to crush that fierce Muslim mountain people. But the Dagestan uprising threatens to be even worse because it is deeply religious as well as nationalistic and could engulf many other Muslim peoples within the sprawling Russian federation. "The Dagestan explosion is going to tap into Islamic passions as well as nationalist ones," Goble said. "That will make it far more difficult for the Russians to contain it." The Shura of Dagestan, an Islamic council, declared independence at a meeting last weekend in a mountain town and declared an Islamic state. They also declared a jihad, or holy war, and called on the neighboring Chechens to support their struggle for independence...."

Russia Today 8/11/99 AFP "...Acting premier Vladimir Putin on Tuesday warned he would restore "order and discipline" to the tiny republic of Dagestan, where Islamists declared independence after an incursion by fighters from the neighboring breakaway republic of Chechnya. Putin, plucked to head the government on Monday, told his first cabinet meeting he would give top priority to resolving the latest crisis in Russia's troubled Caucasus. "We are facing the emergence of mass terror on Russia's southern border," he said, after meeting President Boris Yeltsin. Putin -- former head of the Russian security services -- vowed to restore "order and discipline" in the region. "The situation in Dagestan will return to normal within a week and a half to two weeks," he said...."

AP FoxNews 8/10/99 "...A group of Tajik militants has taken hostages in neighboring Kyrgyzstan, leading Kyrgyz authorities to evacuate nearly 1,000 civilians and send elite police units to block the militants, Kyrgyz officials said Tuesday. About 20 gunmen from neighboring Tajikistan infiltrated the former Soviet Central Asian republic of Kyrgyzstan earlier this month. Last week, they seized the district administration chief, the regional security chief and two Defense Ministry officials who went to the northern Batken region to negotiate with them, Kyrgyz authorities said.

About 200 police officers have been sent to the region, said Bolot Dzhanuzakov, head of the presidential administration's defense department. Intercepted radio messages between the militants showed that the four seized officials were alive and were being held hostage, Dzhanuzakov said. ..."

Agence France Presse 8/12/99 "...Former Russian premier Yevgeny Primakov has agreed to lead a new political party formed by powerful Moscow mayor Yury Luzhkov and senior regional governors, Interfax reported on Thursday.

The news agency cited Saint Petersburg governor Vladimir Yakovlev, who is a member of the new election bloc, as saying that Primakov would make the formal announcement on Thursday. Primakov has been courted by Luzhkov and his allies to head the new bloc, called All Russia-Fatherland. The centrist group whose formation has been opposed by the Kremlin hopes to win a majority in Decembers parliamentary polls. Primakov remains one of the most popular politicians in Russia despite being sacked from the government in May...."

Investor's Business Daily 8/11/99 Brian Mitchell and David Sanders "...Peter Grinenko knew how to play the game. He was in business in Russia before the fall of the Soviet Union. Before that, he was a cop in New York City and an investigator for the FBI, specializing in crimes by Russian nationals. In 1996, Grinenko met Paul Tatum at the luxury hotel Tatum had built in Moscow. He told Tatum, ''I suggest you leave because you're not playing the game right. They're going to hurt you.'' Months later, Tatum was dead -machine- gunned outside a subway stop near his hotel, the suspected victim of a dispute with a Russian partner. Tatum was a fearless, flamboyant businessman from Oklahoma. He once called Russia ''an entrepreneur's heaven.'' That dream died with him, as the West was forced to face the problem of widespread corruption in many ex-communist states in Eastern Europe. Many Westerners expected that when the Soviet system fell apart in Russia, a democratic capitalist system would fall neatly into place - with a little funding from Russia's new Western friends. That didn't happen, and some analysts say the funding has actually hurt. Billions of dollars in loans have propped up an unproductive socialist monetary system in Russia....The hope is that democratic and economic progress will keep Russian nuclear know-how at home and prevent the return of communism. But has U.S. aid helped democratic and economic progress? No, critics say. ....''There really still is very much an embedded culture of corruption,'' said Lucinda Low of Transparency International USA. ''The attitudes are evident. You see them in employees. You see them in partners. You see the attitudes in government officials.'' .....To combat corruption abroad, the Clinton administration is pushing enforcement of the Antibribery Convention ratified last year by the Senate. Others doubt the treaty will make much difference. The culture in the former Soviet bloc has to change first. ''For 70 years you had enforced atheism on the people, and all the basis for personal morality and thus honesty and integrity was forcefully extracted from that society,'' Rohrabacher said. ''When that happens, it takes a while to re-establish that moral basis for the success of any society,'' he said...."

Boston Herald 8/10/99 "...Boris Yeltsin has appointed a new prime minister for the fifth time in 17 months, a clear sign that Russia has not found a road to either political stability or economic progress. This Kremlin instability provides new evidence that further economic aid to Russia will be money down a rathole. The new prime minister is Vladimir Putin, head of Russia's spy agency. He has no experience in economics and little in politics. Already in Moscow the free-wheeling press is speculating about a possible coup when Yeltsin's term as president expires next year. ..."

Washington Times 8/13/99 Bill Gertz Rowan Scarborough "...Pentagon officials say the White House National Security Council staff is seeking to let the Russian government off the hook for violating the Biological Weapons Convention. Gary Samore, the NSC staff proliferation specialist, last month tried to water down a sentence in the annual U.S. government arms control compliance report. This year's secret compliance report will repeat the judgment from last year that ``certain elements of the former Soviet biological weapons program continue'' in violation of the 1972 convention... Elisa Harris, another pro-Moscow proliferation official on the NSC staff, then tried to add a sentence that said there is no intelligence to confirm the judgment - language that critics opposed as undermining the compliance process nailing Moscow's illegal biological warfare program. The Pentagon also learned some startling information as the result of a recent inspection in Russia that revealed how Moscow is violating another agreement: the Chemical Weapons Convention. Inspectors working for the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons found a cache of high-technology poison gas arms that were not declared by Russia as required under the treaty. They included a bunker-penetrating guided bomb that spreads a semipersisent nerve gas and a ``flechette'' cluster bomb containing chemical agents spread by metal shards designed to penetrate chemical protective gear...."

Wall Street Journal 8/13/99 Richard Pipes "...How one longs for some good news from Russia. Alas, the news that comes our way from there conveys nothing but a picture of deepening political and economic crisis, of still more pervasive corruption and more vicious intrigues. Of course, "news" does not cover all that is happening for it concentrates on events rather than processes. And there are processes under way that offer hope: The habits of freedom and enterprise are steadily gaining ground, especially among the young. But they have not yet found proper institutional expression and hence their future is uncertain. To make matters worse, two new crises--one in the Caucasus, the other in the Kremlin--dim the country's prospects even more....."

The Edinburgh Scotsman 8/15/99 Alice Lagnado in Moscow and Alastair Jamieson "...RUSSIA launched all-out war against Islamic separatists in the Caucasus yesterday, prompting fears that President Yeltsin could declare a state of emergency to postpone forthcoming presidential elections. A huge military offensive began in Dagestan, three days after rebel fighters declared the disputed territory an independent Islamic state. The United States expressed concern about events and NATO said it was monitoring military developments closely. But there was growing concern that Mr Yeltsin may seek to alter his powers to declare an indefinite state of emergency and extend his grip on power by delaying crucial elections later this year and next. Vladimir Putin, the Russian prime minister designate, said yesterday that troops could bomb Chechnya in their efforts to defeat Islamic rebels in neighbouring Dagestan. The announcement, which signals Moscow's preparation for major conflict, came as federal forces began an offensive to drive the rebels out of the southern republic....Russian officials said that the rebels had seized seven of the 32 districts in Dagestan. They also claimed that the rebels had lost 200 men and suffered more than 300 wounded...."

The Associated Press 8/15/99 Arsen Malayev "...- Russian warplanes and paratroopers attacked rebel positions Sunday, trying to dislodge Islamic militants holding villages in the Caucasus Mountains. Russia's offensive is concentrated just a few miles from the republic of Dagestan's rugged border with Chechnya, and the Interior Ministry said it bombed guerrilla points just inside Chechnya on Saturday. Russian officials have said the standoff could spread to Chechnya and ignite a wider war. Chechnya, which denies any connection to the rebels, responded Sunday by declaring a state of emergency, beefing up border posts, putting troops on combat alert and imposing a partial curfew. ..."

Associated Press 2/14/98 "...U.S. scientists want a sample of a new form of anthrax developed in Russia that may be able to elude the vaccine shots American troops soon will get. The organism - the first known genetically engineered potential biological warfare threat - is an altered form of anthrax, a disease that normally afflicts animals such as cattle and sheep, but can cause severe illness and death in humans who inhale large doses. "This is a Trojan horse," said Col. Arthur Friedlander, chief of the Bacteriology Division at the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases in Frederick, Md. "This is coming in as anthrax, but it's got other bullets in it - different bullets." ....."

MSNBC Web Site 8/16/99 Brett Davis "...Could the first lengthy stay on board the International Space Station be made by an all-Russian crew? NASA officials and outside advisers are concerned about the training reportedly being given to a Russian contingency crew that may make an emergency mission to dock the next station component to the parts already in orbit. THE SERVICE MODULE, scheduled to be launched late this year, is supposed to be attached by an automated docking system. In case that doesn't work, Russia is training a two-person contingency crew and a backup crew to go into orbit and dock it manually. It is supposed to be a limited mission, but according to NASA officials the contingency crews seem to be getting training that should be reserved for the first long-term station crew, which isn't scheduled to fly to the station until next March at the earliest The contingency crews are apparently taking up the long-term crew's time in the Hydrolab, the Russian water-filled tank that simulates space conditions....."

Christian Science Monitor 8/18/99 Fred Weir "...Out of Russia's fractured political scene a Dream Team has emerged, an election coalition of leaders with the charisma, ideas, and organizational clout to unite the foundering country and lead it into the next century. Or so they're saying. Russia's most popular politician, former Prime Minister Yevgeny Primakov, declared Aug. 17 that he is joining forces with the Fatherland movement of ambitious Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov and All Russia, an alliance of powerful governors...."

AFP 8/18/99 "...Islamic insurgents beat back a fierce Russian assault on one of their strongholds in Dagestan on Wednesday as Moscow's defense ministers toured the strife-torn republic to assess damage from the 12-day guerrilla war. After the failed raid on Tando, one of several villages in Dagestan now under the gunmen's command, Russian defense sources conceded in private that fighting in the southern Russian province may drag on for months -- and not days as had been promised. Interior ministry officials in the Dagestani capital said eight Russian soldiers were killed and 20 injured ..."

Bbc 8/19/99 "...Russian warplanes pounded the Dagestan village of Tando on Thursday as they tried to root out Muslim rebels who have declared independence in the republic. A Russian military spokesman said two guerrilla bases had been destroyed and 50 fighters killed. The heavy raids came after Moscow announced it was stepping up its campaign to root out the rebels. The guerrillas, said to have come from neighbouring Chechnya, declared independence in Dagestan 12 days ago...."

The American Spectator Online 8/20/99 R Emmett Tyrell Jr. "....[Russia] Its strategic arms are still very dangerous. Its army is unhappy. Since the Clinton Administration's glorious conquest of Kosovo the Russian population has moved from friendliness toward America to sullen hostility and a growing sense that its problems issue from Washington.... The eastern European countries that Russia held as satellites until the late 1980's now prosper. They are democratic and progressive. Russia's economy is threadbare and its prospects for a democratic future are in doubt..... Since the collapse of Communism, the Russian gross domestic product has declined annually, except for a brief and paltry resurgence in 1997. Its unemployment rate reaches towards 25 percent. As many as 40 million Russians earn less that $30 a month. The average life expectancy of a Russian male does not extend beyond his fifties. Corruption and violence dominate society. Surely one explanation for this decline could be the horrifying loss of life experienced in war and under Communism, when anyone suffering a flicker of independent intelligence might find himself shipped off to hard labor or death in the Gulag. Another explanation for Russia's failure is that the same class that dominated Russia under Communism stayed in power. These men were not merely socialists; they were socialists in the purest form. They were thieves. When there was nothing left for them to steal from ordinary Russians they began to steal from the state. By the late 1970's they were stealing from their own bureaucracies. When Communism collapsed in the 1980's these kleptocrats stayed in power. When privatization took over, the former Communists took over the privatized assets and continued to steal.....The West bears an onerous responsibility for this condition, particularly the Clinton Administration. It has continued to extend loans to corrupt leaders despite the evidence that those loans were being pilfered by the kleptocrats. Clintonites such as Strobe Talbot at State and Lawrence Summers at Treasury have refused to adjust their aid policies to corrupt Russians despite wide knowledge that the aid was merely enriching the Russian kleptocracy...."

Chicago Tribune 8/19/99 "...Imagine this. Russians will have a real political choice that is neither Boris Yeltsin nor the Communists in their coming elections. What a refreshing change for the citizens of this fledgling democracy. Former Prime Minister Yevgeny Primakov has made this possible by casting his lot with the formidable coalition forged by Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov and a group of powerful regional governors. With the popular Primakov on board, overnight the Fatherland-All Russia coalition becomes the dominant political power as the nation gears up for parliamentary elections in December and a presidential race next summer...."

http://www.chinatimes.com/english/epolitic/88082007.htm 8/21/99 "...Mainland China and Russia are moving closer to forming a political and military alliance to challenge the United States and the West, a Russian defector to the United States said on Thursday. The West should be alarmed by such an alliance, which will likely be realized in the next few months and have dramatic consequences for world civilization that cannot be overestimated, claimed Col. Stanislav Lunev, the highest ranking Russian military officer ever to defect to the United States. He wrote in an analysis on the internet that one of the military ramifications of intelligence cooperation between Russia and Red China may have been mainland China's provocation against Taiwan in 1996 when it fired missiles across the Taiwan Straits precisely at a time when the U.S. Navy had no ships nearby. Reports are that Communist Chinese intelligence did not have its own information on global U.S. ship deployments but had received this information from Moscow. Similarly, Lunev said, Communist Chinese development of the warhead known as the W-88, reportedly stolen from the United States by Chinese operatives, may actually have been given to Beijing by the Russians, who had acquired this technology some years ago...."

Stratfor.com 8/20/99 "...Swiss authorities had frozen approximately US $66.6 million of accounts belonging to Russian oligarch Boris Berezovsky, the Swiss weekly Facts reported August 19. Dominique Reymond, a spokesman for the Swiss public prosecutor's office, confirmed that some accounts have been frozen at the request of Russian prosecutors, but refused to comment on who held the accounts and the amounts in them...."

Russia Today AFP 8/17/99 "....Islamic radicals may "execute" Russian Premier Vladimir Putin in retaliation for the Russian offensive against rebel insurgents in the Russian republic of Dagestan, a spokesman told AFP Monday. Magomed Tagayev, spokesman for the commander-in-chief of the rebel insurgents, Shamil Basayev, made the threat from Grozny, the capital of the breakaway Russian republic of Chechnya. "An inquiry has been opened on the activities of the Prime Minister in Dagestan and if the Sharia court condemns Putin, he will be executed in any part of the world by the Khalif Unit," he said....."

NewsMax.com 8/18/99 Col. Stanislav Lunev "... when the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, ideological differences became less important. As a result, Russia and China began to restore their military-intelligence ties. The Russians moved quickly to strengthen these ties in the late summer of 1992 and sent Yivgeni Primakov, special envoy of Russian intelligence (and former director of the SVR--the successor agency to the KGB) to Beijing to sign a top-secret intelligence agreement with China. The purpose of the agreement was to officially reaffirm the cooperation that had been interrupted during the Cultural Revolution. According to a Washington Times report (10/21/92), this secret treaty involved the Russian Military Strategic Intelligence (GRU) and the Foreign Intelligence (SVR). These two agencies are coordinating operations with the Military Intelligence Directorate of the Chinese People's Liberation Army. Concerning the treaty, the Times report noted the "anxiety of unnamed American officials" who were troubled by "Russia's and China's efforts in conducting intelligence activities against the U.S. and other Western countries, first of all, in collecting information about modern advanced technologies." Russian and Chinese intelligence have, then, been combining their efforts again to penetrate America's military industrial complex, especially to gather information on advanced weaponry, and are pooling their best available intelligence. For example, since the Chinese have a shortage of information on spy satellites and electronic intelligence, the Russian GRU and SVR help provide them with this information. In return, the Russians receive Chinese intelligence gathered from Chinese "agents-of-influence" contacts in the U.S. and other Western countries. One of the military ramifications of this cooperation may have been China's provocation against Taiwan in 1996 when it fired missiles across the Taiwan Straight precisely at a time when the U.S. Navy had no ships nearby. Reports are that Chinese intelligence did not have its own information on global U.S. ship deployments but had received this information from Moscow. Similarly, Chinese development of the warhead known as the W-88, reportedly stolen from the U.S. by Chinese operatives, may actually have been given to the Chinese by the Russians, who had acquired this technology some years before...."

Stratfor.com 8/20/99 "….2328 GMT, 990820 Russian May Be Seeking to Change Status Quo in Kosovo Prime Minister Vladimir Putin recently affirmed that Russian forces "will cooperate with NATO," but added the caveat that, "We have our geopolitical interests and we will stand up for them." Statements made on August 20 by Russian defense and foreign ministries suggest that Russian participation in K-FOR may no longer match Putin s vision of Russia s "geopolitical interests." At a press conference today, Russia s Foreign Ministry envoy to the former Yugoslavia Boris Mayorsky warned that Russia could pull out of KFOR if its exercises "take such a character that it would become unacceptable for Russia to be associated with such activities." Defense Ministry chief of international cooperation Leonid Ivashoy said, "NATO s scenario" for the development of peacekeeping operations is a "dangerous prospect." Ivashoy believes the "dangerous prospect" is NATO s continued ambivalence to Russia s terms for the peacekeeping operation the same terms established for Kosovo by UN Security Council Resolution 1244. Russia has demanded an authentic peacekeeping operation and believes that NATO has implemented a grisly occupation…."

Washington Times 8/20/99 Philip Smucker "…U.N. administrators in Kosovo say a deal worked out with the Kosovo Liberation Army in June by State Department spokesman James P. Rubin is not binding and will undermine U.N. efforts to police the province. KLA leaders are pressing for enforcement of the agreement, struck in the closing days of NATO's bombing campaign over Yugoslavia, which would give members of the ethnic Albanian guerrilla force favorable consideration in recruitment of a civil police force. But NATO and U.N. officials are reluctant to engage the ex-guerrillas because of evidence of KLA participation in a revenge campaign to drive Serbs and Gypsies from their homes and turn over the properties to ethnic Albanians…."

The News Channel 8/19/99 AFP "…Israel has offered Russia assistance from its secret services to help Moscow fight Muslim rebels in Dagestan who have been joined by Jordanian and Palestinian extremists, the daily Vremya reported Thursday. Israeli Foreign Minister David Levy told Russian ambassador Mikhail Bogdanov in Jerusalem that the Mossad was ready to provide information on the rebels, the newspaper said…."

Agence France-Presse 8/22/99 "…Islamic extremists from Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates are fighting with the insurgents in the Russian republic of Dagestan, Russia's interior minister said Sunday. Vladimir Ruchailo said he had information that some of the fighters were from Islamic countries, sent by organisations with "a separatist and terrorist ideology." But he stressed that the presence of the foreign fighters did not reflect the official positions of these countries. The conflict in Dagestan had nothing to do with religion or national characteristics, he said. "It is international terrorism since there is foreign support." Ruchailo said he was in touch with his counterparts in Israel, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and the United States to get information and possibly action from these countries…."

Asociated Press - via canoe.com 8/23/99 Melissa Eddy "…Ethnic Albanians in the town of Orahovac have called on owners of tractors, cars and buses to seal off roads leading into town in protest of the deployment of Russian troops to the area. Mass demonstrations were to begin today in Orahovac, which is in the German-controlled sector in southwestern Kosovo. The area has been patrolled by Dutch peacekeepers for weeks, but Russian troops are to take over soon. Kosovo Albanians don't want Russian peacekeepers in Orahovac, 40 miles southwest of Pristina, because they say Russians collaborated with Serb paramilitaries who swept through the region during the 78-day NATO bombing campaign. Thousands of Kosovo Albanians were forced from their homes and others were killed…."

Wall Street Journal 8/23/99 Paul beckett Michael Allen "…Law-enforcement authorities are investigating whether Bank of New York Co. was one of a chain of banks that were conduits for about $200 million that may have been diverted from loans to Russia made by the International Monetary Fund, people familiar with the matter said. The money was part of more than $20 billion that the IMF has lent to Russia since 1992. The cash in question appears to have passed through three commercial banks in the U.S. and Europe before landing in an offshore account in the Channel Islands that was controlled by a Russian commercial bank, said one official familiar with the investigation. The bank in the Channel Island of Guernsey alerted British authorities, who traced the money back to the IMF, this person said. While it remains unclear what the purpose of the alleged diversions were, the investigation raises the possibility that IMF funds have been illegally siphoned off…."

Stratfor 8/23/99 "…The appointment of Vladimir Putin appears to be another of an endless round of random appointments by Boris Yeltsin. We think it is of greater, more lasting significance. Putin, a lifetime operative for the KGB, currently sits on top of Russia's intelligence apparatus. Unlike the other Yeltsin appointees, he has an institutional base with a distinct, sophisticated agenda. Given the converging crises inside of Russia and Yeltsin s inability to control the situation, we see the appointment of Putin as part of an attempt by the intelligence and defense communities to arrest and reverse the catastrophic slide of Russia into the abyss. Putin may or may not succeed. He has enormous opposition and problems. But his appointment is moving Russia to a different place….. "

WorldNet Daily 8/23/99 J R Nyquist "…Earlier this month the president of Russia, Boris Yeltsin, fired his prime minister for no apparent reason and elevated a career KGB official to the job. The new prime minister, Vladimir Putin, replaced Sergei Stepashin, also a former head of the KGB domestic branch (FSB). As it happens, Stepashin took over from Prime Minister Yevgeny Primakov in May. Primakov had been the head of the Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR), the renamed overseas branch of the KGB. Keeping in mind that the KGB is now called the SVR/FSB, Boris Yeltsin has now appointed three SVR/FSB generals to head the Russian government in the span of a year. Of course, there is no riddle, mystery, or enigma in a police state being governed by chiefs of the secret police. The riddle is in the West's refusal to see Russia as an extension of the old Soviet Union. The mystery is in the West's regard for Russian "democracy." The enigma is in the West's determination to sign treaty after treaty -- despite mounting evidence of repeated Russian cheating. The secretary of state, the president, and the world's leading Russia watchers often ignore Russia's quiet continuation of the Cold War. Russia yet supports its clients in Africa, Afghanistan, and the Middle East. Russia has formed an alliance with China. Russia continues to build nuclear war bunkers, quieter submarines, and road mobile ICBMs. Day by day Russia prepares for World War III and nothing is done on the American side…"

AP 8/24/99 "…Russia and the International Monetary Fund are inching toward a compromise that would allow Russia to receive more IMF loans, a news report said today. The sides are discussing the size of the primary surplus in the 1999 Russian federal budget, the revenue left over when all spending is accounted for apart from debt service. A larger surplus would be good for Russia as it shows the government is collecting more taxes. The IMF's approval of the budget is necessary for Russia to continue receiving funds from a $4.45 billion loan program begun last month with the release of a first installment of $640 million. The rest will be loaned over an 18-month period. The current draft, delivered by the Finance Ministry to the government earlier today, has a target primary surplus of $6.5 billion, or 3.2 percent of the gross domestic product forecast for next year…."

Reuters 8/24/99 "…The Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday that law enforcement officials were probing several major European banks as part of an investigation into the movement of billions of dollars from the former Soviet bloc through the Bank of New York Co. Inc. Citing a "person familiar with the matter," the Journal's online edition said the banks were being investigated in enquiries into the transfer of $4 billion from Russia and Eastern Europe to Bank of New York's London offices during the past year. The Journal said authorities were scrutinizing units of Credit Suisse Group Inc., UBS AG, Dresdner Bank AG, Westdeutsche Landesbank and Banque Internationale a Luxembourg. The banks have not been accused of any crime and they all denied any wrongdoing or did not return calls from the Journal seeking comment, the paper said…."

Reuters 8/24/99 "…Moscow's law enforcement officials maintained a stubborn silence on Monday, four days after it was disclosed U.S. authorities were investigating a suspected multi-billion-dollar Russian money-laundering scheme. The General Prosecutor's office was unavailable for comment on a report in Thursday's New York Times that the Russian mafia may have laundered as much as $10 billion through the Bank of New York since early last year. An Interior Ministry spokeswoman also declined to react to the scandal, the latest in a long line of allegations of rampant crime and corruption which have damaged Russia's image abroad, undermined the economy and raised questions about foreign aid. The deafening silence of Moscow officialdom and the muted reaction of the local media reflect a sense of deja vu in Russia when it comes to the mafia and money laundering…."

The London Times 8/25/99 Michael Binyon "…PRESIDENT YELTSIN and Jiang Zemin, the Chinese leader, will begin a rare summit meeting today that will underline the hostility in Moscow and Beijing to Nato's hegemony in Kosovo and the determination in both capitals to resist Western encroachments in their backyards. Mr Yeltsin flew yesterday to Bishkek, capital of the Central Asian state of Kyrgyzstan, for a meeting of the "Shanghai Five" - a loose alliance of Russia, China and the Central Asian republics of Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. Though regional security, border issues and trade form the bulk of the agenda, the real importance lies in reinforcing the Moscow-Beijing axis, and the growing determination of Russia and China to confront what they see as American world domination. …"

AFP 8/22/99 "…Russian leftist parties on Sunday created a "Stalinist bloc for the USSR" to fight parliamentary elections in November, the Itar-Tass news agency reported. The new coalition wants to scrap the post of Russian president and relaunch the Soviet Union, said one of its leaders Viktor Anpilov. The new group's emblem is a portrait of late communist ruler Josef Stalin against a red star background. Yevgeny Djougashvili, Stalin's grandson, is number three on the bloc's electoral list. …"

Russia Today 8/22/99 AFP "…Leaders of two Russian parties announced Saturday the formation of center-right political coalition to fight upcoming elections, but former premiers Viktor Chernomyrdin and Sergei Stepashin have not got involved, the Interfax agency reported. The leaders -- former deputy premier Anatoly Chubais and Sergei Kirienko, head of Novaya Sila (New Force) -- did not say which other parties were involved…."

Russia Today 8/21/99 AFP "…Storm clouds gathered over US-Russian relations Friday after sharp differences emerged on nuclear disarmament and the Kosovo peacekeeping effort, two pillars of cooperation between Moscow and Washington. Two months to the day after Presidents Boris Yeltsin and Bill Clinton buried the hatchet over the war in Yugoslavia at their Cologne meeting, senior Russian defense and foreign ministry officials made clear there was some lingering frustration with Washington. General Leonid Ivashov, who heads the department of international cooperation at the defense ministry, railed against NATO's handling of KFOR, the Kosovo eacekeeping mission, and flatly asserted that two days of talks in Moscow on nuclear disarmament were a bust. "I, contrary to the diplomats, will be frank," Ivashov told a news conference. "There were no results from the negotiations with the American military delegation."…"

Stratfor.com 8/26/99 "…0015 GMT, 990825 – Russia and China Reinforce Their Strategic Partnership Three high-profile meetings between Russian and Chinese officials this week suggest Moscow and Beijing are fortifying their emerging strategic partnership. They are seeking to challenge U.S. and Japanese efforts to build a Theater Missile Defense, while cementing their own arms sales and military contacts. On August 25, Russian President Boris Yeltsin will meet with his Chinese counterpart, Jiang Zemin, at the Shanghai Five summit in Kyrgyzstan. According to reports, the two leaders plan to address joint U.S. and Japanese efforts to create a Theatre Missile Defense (TMD) in Asia. This week in Beijing, Grigory Berdennikov, director of the Russian Foreign Ministry Department on Security and Disarmament, said Russia and China are "very concerned" about TMD, viewed as a first step towards a U.S. national missile defense. He said Moscow and Beijing consider increased U.S.-Japanese military cooperation as the establishment of a "NATO [-style bloc] in Asia". Berdennikov went on to say Russia and China had "practically a unity of views" on disarmament and security matters. At the top of the Yeltsin-Jiang summit is military-technical cooperation…."

Russia Today 8/21/99 AFP "…Storm clouds gathered over US-Russian relations Friday after sharp differences emerged on nuclear disarmament and the Kosovo peacekeeping effort, two pillars of cooperation between Moscow and Washington. Two months to the day after Presidents Boris Yeltsin and Bill Clinton buried the hatchet over the war in Yugoslavia at their Cologne meeting, senior Russian defense and foreign ministry officials made clear there was some lingering frustration with Washington…."

International Herald Tribune 8/26/99 William Pfaff "…Those who doubt the power of ideas will learn something from a report on the former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe issued by the UN Development Program, the world's largest agency for multilateral development cooperation. The report, possibly the harshest ever issued by a UN authority, says that the Western-led effort to transform the former Soviet bloc's economies by wholesale privatization has plunged more than 100 million people into dire poverty and stripped millions more of any form of economic security. This was done on the advice of the Western community of professional economists in universities, international agencies and governments. True, there were arguments among the professionals for or against ''big bang'' privatization - doing it all at once and leaving the survivors to sink or swim. But few, if any, among the economists argued that the Soviet-style state and its industry should be carefully dismantled in stages, with empirical attention to the consequences, above all the consequences for the public….."

AFP 8/21/99 "…Dagestan, the small Caucasus republic where Russian forces are fighting Moslem separatists, is one of the poorest regions in the Russian federation, and can't even count on its oil reserves to lift it from its economic morass. "Compared with the the rest of Russia, we are lagging behind. Indicators for the standard of living and development are three or four times worse that the Russian average," complained Dagestan's Economic Minister Gamid Shishakhmedov…."

Jerusalem Post 8/22/99 "…Bosnia, Chechnya, Kosovo, and now Dagestan have been making the world painfully aware that the problems of ethnic division are not going to go away easily. New Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin may have declared that he can win the latest conflict in Dagestan in weeks, but it will prove to be a hollow promise - especially since the time span of prime ministers in office under President Boris Yeltsin has been measured in mere months. Russia admitted in recent days that already it is having to think again about how it is going to dislodge the Moslem rebels who have seized mountain villages in the wilds of Dagestan. Yeltsin once admitted that the war in Chechnya had been one of his worst mistakes in office. Yet Russia has lost a staggering 40 soldiers in two weeks of fighting in Dagestan…."

New York Times 8/22/99 Michael Gordon "…If ever there was an example of how hard it is for Russia's liberal politicians to work together, it came today with the implosion of Sergei V. Stepashin's new centrist electoral bloc. Saturday was to have been the day that Stepashin, ousted as Prime Minister by President Boris N. Yeltsin this month, announced that he would be leading the new alliance. It was an attempt to capture the political center by pulling together liberal reformers like Sergei V. Kiriyenko under one banner with power brokers like Viktor S. Chernomyrdin, both men also former prime ministers. Instead, Stepashin surprised much of the country by declaring somewhat bitterly that he had failed to pull together the disparate groups. Later in the day, each of the groups said they would go their own way and form separate coalitions…."

GLOBAL INTELLIGENCE UPDATE 8/25/99 "…A spokesman for rebel leader Shamil Basayev has announced that Dagestani rebel forces will fully withdraw from the Tsumandinsky and Botlikhsky districts to regroup against Russian forces. The announcement comes on the heels of a high-powered Russian offensive. We do not believe that the withdrawal will bring peace to the region; on the contrary, Russia will use the continued presence of the guerrillas as an excuse to maintain its forces in the area and to justify its attempt to regain control over the region….."

8/26/99 Stratfor "…0040 GMT, 990826 Russia - The Chechen National Security Council is scheduled to meet August 25 to discuss the effects of Russian air strikes which are "a direct violation" of the May 12, 1997, Russia-Chechnya treaty, Chechen Deputy Prime Minister Kazbek Makhashev told Interfax news. 2340 GMT, 990825 Russia - Russian fighter jets delivered air strikes in Chechnya August 25. The attacks, confirmed by Chechen officials to ITAR-TASS, were directed on Vedenskiy District of Chechnya at Islamic extremist strongholds. Explosions were also reported in the mountains and foothills of Urus-Martanovskiy District of Chechnya…."

Financial Times 8/26/99 John Thornhill "…New evidence that Gazprom, Russia's richest company, helped finance Media-Most, the country's biggest privately-owned media group, will give added impetus to the government's attempt today to wrest back control of the giant gas monopoly. The government, which retains a 38.37 per cent stake in Gazprom, is trying to strengthen its grip over the company in an effort to corral its media interests and cash flows in the run-up to next year's presidential elections. At an extraordinary meeting today, the government aims to increase its representation on Gazprom's 11-seat board from four to five. It has also been increasing pressure on Rem Vyakhirev to step down as the long-serving chief executive….."

Financial Times 8/26/99 Sa’eda Kilani Charles Clover "…Somewhere in the mountains of northern Dagestan last week Ahmad Ulbi became a martyr. No one in his home city of Zarqa', Jordan, is sure exactly how it happened, maybe it was a bullet, maybe a stray shell. His body has been left in the land where he fell, as a true martyr must be. In a tent outside the Ulbi house in Zarqa' last week, relatives and friends gathered not to offer condolences but rather to congratulate Sheikh Taha Ulbi, Ahmad's father, on the "honourable fate" of his son. The usual black garments that characterise families in mourning were absent. "We might feel bitter because we lost a member of our family but we are happy for him. Martyrdom is what he wanted. .. it is what we all want," stammered Sheikh Taha, surrounded by three nephews, all nodding their heads in consent….The new generation, like Ahmad and his brothers, are engaged in conflicts that stretch in an arc from Kashmir to the Balkans, described as "Islam's bloody borders" by Samuel Huntington, the Harvard political scientist….."

London Times 8/26/99 Michael Binyon "…THE kaleidoscope of Russian politics has suddenly turned to President Yeltsin's disadvantage to form new patterns that favour his opponents and seem to spell electoral disaster for most of his squabbling former prime ministers. Five days of meetings, rallies and negotiations recently have consolidated the formidable centre-left alliance between Yuri Luzhkov, the popular and powerful Mayor of Moscow, and Yevgeni Primakov, the hardline anti-Western former Prime Minister, leaving reformers and Westernisers in disarray…."

Baltimore Sun 8/27/99 Greg Schneider "…Russia apparently cannot afford to launch several new satellites for monitoring U.S. nuclear missile strikes, so the Congressional Budget Office has explored a truly strange gesture of post-Cold War goodwill: Have the United States pay to put six of the satellites in orbit -- "enough to give Russia 24-hour coverage of U.S. missile fields," according to a CBO letter obtained by The Sun. The Aug. 24 letter to Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle, a South Dakota Democrat, weighs the pros and cons of such an action, which would seem to be an odd twist on generations of East-West mistrust. But one expert said there is good reason to take the option seriously. "Their early warning network is in pretty bad shape," said John Pike of the Federation of American Scientists. "My view is, we've got to do something here because it's an accident waiting to happen." …"

Asian Wall Street Journal 8/27/99 "…The emerging Russia-China entente, celebrated again this week at a five-nation meeting in Kyrgyzstan, is like a hologram. Look at it one way, and you see two Eastern giants banding together to promote stability and save the world from U.S. hegemony. Hold it another way, and what emerges is a picture of two big countries -- essentially friendless because they have so little to offer the world in their present states of being -- trying to earn respect by creating fear. Not that Beijing and Moscow don't have different styles of presentation. When Russian President Boris Yeltsin arrived in the Kyrgyz capital of Bishkek this week, he didn't do one of his trademark crazy dances or pretend to conduct a band on unsteady feet. He did, however, give a frisky and frank account of his agenda, telling reporters that after past health problems, "Now I'm in a fighting mood, really ready for combat, especially with Westerners.''

Associated Press 8/27/99 Seth Sutel "…The Bank of New York has fired Lucy Edwards, one of the two executives it had suspended amid allegations that Russian mobsters had used accounts at the bank in a major money laundering operation…. Dow Jones Newswires, quoting sources close the matter, reported that Edwards was fired for alleged gross misconduct, violations of the bank's internal policies, falsification of bank records, and failure to cooperate. So far no one has been charged with any wrongdoing in the affair, in which up to $15 billion was reportedly funneled through the Bank of New York by Russian mobsters. Authorities in the United States, Russia and Britain are investigating. Edwards was a senior official at the bank's London office in charge of Eastern European operations. Her husband, Russian businessman Peter Berlin, reportedly had authority over some of the suspect accounts at the bank. The other Bank of New York official suspended pending the investigation, Natasha Gurfinkel Kagalovsky, is a senior vice president in New York who also supervised the bank's business in Eastern Europe. Law enforcement authorities reportedly are investigating the activities of Ms. Kagalovsky's husband Konstantin, who was Russia's representative to the International Monetary Fund from 1992 to 1995 and later worked as a senior executive at Russia's Menetap bank. He now is vice president of Russian oil giant Yukos…."

Washington Post 8/29/99 "…The dilemma in Russia has been particularly acute because it is a democracy. While President Boris Yeltsin could promise reforms, he could not implement most of them without the support of the Russian Duma -- and the Duma, or legislature, has for the most part fervently wished for the failure of reform and the failure of Mr. Yeltsin. In addition, Russia's nuclear arsenal and its sheer size astraddle two continents has left its officials confident that they will not be abandoned no matter how many promises they break. To complicate the picture further, the amounts that Western governments were willing to offer, while large, were not large enough to be decisive within the Russian political debate. The result has been many broken promises…."

Reuters 9/8/99 "...An upbeat U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Strobe Talbott held arms control talks in Moscow Wednesday, but Russians made clear the going would be tough if Washington pressed for a change to the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile treaty. "I'm going to be concentrating particularly on strategic matters, laying the ground with my colleagues at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for talks that are coming up,'' Talbott told reporters after arriving at Moscow's main international airport. Diplomats said the talks were mainly about the prospects for a START-3 nuclear arms reduction pact and Washington's desire to change the 1972 ABM treaty to allow it to deploy a limited shield against potential rogue missiles. Russia regards the ABM treaty as a cornerstone of international disarmament, and Russian officials have raised the stakes this week by saying Moscow had the technology to develop a missile to breach any U.S. defenses. ..."No anti-missile defense will be able to stop our new missiles,'' Roman Popkovich, chairman of the parliamentary defense committee, told a news conference. "Just let the Americans waste their money.'' ...."

Reuters 9/8/99 "...Russian President Boris Yeltsin told President Clinton Wednesday reports linking him to a corruption scandal through payments made by a Swiss firm were not true, a top U.S. official said. "Yeltsin denied those reports,'' White House National Security Advisor Sandy Berger told reporters...."

Russia Today 9/7/99 Reuters "… Until this week, if you said Russia's Dagestan province could turn into another Chechnya people would call you a scaremonger. Now they just might call you a realist. Two weeks after declaring victory against Chechen-led guerrillas in the impoverished southern region, Russia now seems to have played a bad hand poorly. A new rebel offensive at the weekend took Russian forces by surprise and a certain fatalism has begun to settle in Moscow. …"

Times of London 9/6/99 Giles Whittell "….RUSSIA'S crisis in Dagestan escalated yesterday when a force of 2,000 Islamist rebels seized a string of border villages days after Moscow had declared victory in the region. The incursion came within hours of a major explosion in a Russian garrison town that killed at least 22 and left dozens missing beneath the remains of a military block of flats. As rescue workers mounted a desperate search for survivors in the town of Buynaksk, Russian officials were quick to blame the rebels for the blast, which left 53 injured survivors in hospital. Meanwhile, evidence emerged that among those ultimately responsible may be Osama bin Laden, the FBI's chief suspect in the bombings of America's Kenyan and Tanzanian embassies last year. Bin Laden, the Saudi millionaire targeted by US cruise missiles after the embassy bombings, visited a training camp used by the rebels in Chechnya before their incursions into Dagestan began earlier this summer, the Russian Interfax agency reported yesterday. It was the first such claim since White House officials gave warning last month that bin Laden was planning to make Russia's soft underbelly the latest target for his global terrorist campaign against the perceived enemies of Islam…."

World Net Daily 9/6/99 J R Nyquist "…Immediately after the Bolsheviks took power in Russia, they decided to wipe out most of the criminals. This was the "Red Terror" of 1918, in which some 1.5 million people were executed. It was an astonishing experiment in preventing crime through the extermination of anyone with the least criminal background -- excepting the Communist Party members themselves. And according to some accounts, there were many professional criminals within the Communist Party. One prominent example should serve to illustrate. Lenin's trusted lieutenant, Josef Stalin, had been a bank robber for Bolsheviks in the first two decades of this century. In fact, Stalin had no aversion to crime as such. While he was exiled to Vologda Province, it is alleged that Stalin preferred to associate with convicted robbers, gunmen and murderers. Khrushchev remembered Stalin's words about those days: "There were some good guys among the criminals during my exile. I hung around mostly with the criminals. I remember we used to stop at the saloons in town. We'd see who among us had cash, then we'd ... spend it all on alcohol. These criminals were nice, salt-of-the-earth fellows. But there were lots of rats among the political convicts. " …."

Russia Today 9/7/99 AFP "…Some 57 percent of Russians believe forthcoming parliamentary elections will be rigged, an opinion poll published in the Vremya daily showed Tuesday. Twenty-six percent of respondents in the Public Opinion Foundation poll said the December 19 elections could be honest, while 17 percent were without opinion…."

Stratfor.com 9/1/99 "…Kyrgyzstan has asked Russia for help in fighting Islamic guerrillas who are holding approximately 20 hostages near the Tajikistan border. By asking for assistance, the Central Asian republic is effectively signaling the failure to provide regional security. Most significant of all, this is a region where the U.S. has been actively cultivating military allies…… The Kyrgyz defense ministry on August 31 requested Russian military help with fighting Islamic rebels in the south. Kyrgyz Deputy Prime Minister Boris Silayev and Defense Minister Esen Topoyev met Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin in Moscow to ask for Russia's assistance. Putin agreed to provide Kyrgyzstan with military and technical support, but ruled out deployment of Russian troops. Russian Defense Minister Igor Sergeyev said August 31 that he would consider supplying weapons and ammunition, according to ITAR-TASS and other reports. Kyrgyzstan has asked Russia for direct military support as well as technical assistance….. The U.S. military has tried hard to cultivate ties with local militaries in an effort to displace Russia as the more influential power. Troops of the 82nd Airborne Division have held exercises with local forces and Special Forces have trained Central Asian troops in an effort to build up talent for joint operations, primarily peacekeeping. Most recently, officers from the region journeyed to MacDill Air Force Base, Florida to practice command and control of their forces. While local troops are considered adequate, Central Asian units generally need better technology…"

Russia Today 9/1/99 AFP "…Russian President Boris Yeltsin's former bodyguard accused one of the president's allies, billionaire Boris Berezovsky, of asking him to kill the mayor of Moscow, Yury Luzhkov, in an interview Wednesday with an Italian daily. Alexander Korzhakov, a burly ex-KGB general, made the claims in the Corriere della Sera, in which he also added to earlier allegations that Yeltsin and his daughters had deposited money in a large number of bank accounts…"

Washington Post 8/29/99 "…The dilemma in Russia has been particularly acute because it is a democracy. While President Boris Yeltsin could promise reforms, he could not implement most of them without the support of the Russian Duma -- and the Duma, or legislature, has for the most part fervently wished for the failure of reform and the failure of Mr. Yeltsin. In addition, Russia's nuclear arsenal and its sheer size astraddle two continents has left its officials confident that they will not be abandoned no matter how many promises they break. To complicate the picture further, the amounts that Western governments were willing to offer, while large, were not large enough to be decisive within the Russian political debate. The result has been many broken promises…."

China Times 8/29/99 AFP "…Chinese President Jiang Zemin stressed "global multi-polarization" at a meeting with Russian Vice-Prime Minister Ilya Klebanov here Saturday, the Xinhua news agency said. He said China and Russia, as close neighbors and permanent members of the United Nations Security Council, had to strive to "establish a just and rational new political and economic order" in the world, the state-run news agency reported. The report said Jiang emphasised that "at this historical moment of the turning of the century, peace and development are the major themes and the world is moving toward multi-polarization which is irrevocable." "China and Russia are developing a strategic cooperative partnership of long-term stability, good-neighborliness, mutually-beneficial cooperation, equality, and mutual trust," it said. The reference to a "multi-polar world" is diplomatic code among Russian and Asian leaders for opposing US influence….."

Capitol Hill Blue 12/1997 "….Less than a month after the State Department barred him from entering the country, a Ukrainian businessman attended a 1995 reception for President Clinton and Vice President Al Gore at a Miami fund-raiser, according to interviews and documents released Thursday. Vadim Z. Rabinovich, who until 1995 worked for a company linked by the CIA to Russian organized crime, was one of 125 people invited to the reception….. In a letter released Thursday, the State Department told the House Rules Committee that it had revoked Rabinovich's visa on Aug. 23 after determining that he might not be eligible to enter the country…..The State Department did not say why it believed Rabinovich might not be eligible for a visa. But the decision was made just 13 days after the State Department barred entry to Rabinovich's business associate, Grigori Loutchansky, on the belief he might commit a crime once in the United States, the State Department has previously told Congress. Loutchansky's Vienna-based company, Nordex, has been linked by the CIA in congressional testimony to Russian organized crime, an allegation Loutchansky has denied through his American lawyer. Loutchansky himself dined with Clinton and Gore at a 1994 fund-raiser and sought a visa in 1995 because he had been invited to attend a Democratic National Committee fund-raiser….."

South China Morning Post 830/99 "…Moscow will sell advanced SU-30-MKK fighter jets to the mainland as part of an arms deal worth US$2 billion (HK$15.5 billion), one of the largest defence contracts won by Russia in recent years, Interfax news agency reported yesterday. The agency quoted sources close to Deputy Prime Minister Ilya Klebanov as saying that the deal was reached in Beijing following meetings of a Russia-Chinese commission for economic co-operation at the weekend. A number of civilian and military agreements were signed following the talks held on Saturday between mainland officials and the Russian delegation led by Mr Klebanov, the agency said. …"

LA Times 8/28/99 Karen Wright "….It was a victimless crime, and it didn't make many headlines. Only someone who spends hours a day with her nose pressed against a computer screen would have noticed when, earlier this summer, a researcher formerly at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory was found by federal watchdogs to have fabricated information on the health effects of electromagnetic fields. EMFs, as they're known, are shrouds of ambient energy that surround computers, power lines and ordinary household appliances like auras. In the past decade, they have been accused of causing maladies ranging from miscarriage to depression. In 1992, in two provocative and widely read reports, biochemist Robert P. Liburdy claimed to show how EMFs might trigger the rampant cell division that leads to cancer. According to the federal Office of Research Integrity, he manipulated some of the key data supporting his argument; some he outright made up. …."

Russia Today 8/30/99 Reuters "…Russian troops backed by helicopter gunships laid siege to two villages in Dagestan on Sunday to flush out suspected Islamic guerrillas in the mountainous North Caucasus region. In a report from the regional capital Makhachkala, Interfax news agency said there were casualties on both sides and key positions around the villages of Karamakhi and Chabanmakhi had been occupied by Interior Ministry forces. Government forces turned their attention to the two villages this week after a force of Moslem rebels from neighboring Chechnya were driven out of other villages in the area, ending a two-week siege. …"

Apple daily (Hong Kong) 8/31/99 "…The Apple daily reported that Russian Chinese language radio broadcast confirmed that China has bought two new destroyers built in north Russia that will be active in their fleet by early next year. One ship has already been water tested. Testing and training has begun. The destroyers are equipped with SS-N-22 guided missiles that travel at 1.2 to 1.4 mach. It is possible the missiles will be a new improved model. The ship is a modern destroyer and is meant to be able to menace aircraft carriers…."

Russia Today 8/31/99 Reuters "….Prime Minister Vladimir Putin vowed on Monday that Moscow would maintain its nuclear arsenal to protect Russia, a day after the country celebrated its 50th anniversary of the first atomic test. "(Nuclear weapons) remain fundamental for the country's security, a guarantee for keeping peace in modern geopolitical conditions," Putin, whose country is the second largest nuclear power, was quoted as saying by Russia's Interfax news agency. "The development and improvement of the nuclear arsenal is one of the most important demands for our government... ..."

The Scotsman 8/31/99 Stuart Nicolson "…WHILE the West has amply demonstrated the devastating power of its state-of-the-art military capability in conflicts from the Gulf war to Kosovo, Russia has been forced to watch from the sidelines. But now the Russians are offering firm evidence that, while their economy may be in tatters, they can still compete in the global arms race.Spectators at the recent Moscow Air Show were treated to the first public demonstration of the Sukhoi S37 - a fighter with a radical design that sets its apart from anything else in the skies today….."

Defense News 8/30/98 Douglas Barrie Simon Saradzhyan "…The Russian Air Force is upgrading elements of its air-launched strategic weapons arsenal, with programs under way on two missile systems to be fielded within the next three years. Senior Russian Air Force officials confirmed that upgrade programs are being carried out on both the Kh-55 cruise missile (NATO code name AS-15 Kent), and the Kh-22 supersonic missile (NATO code name AS-4 Kitchen). The Kh-55 is a subsonic long-range cruise missile, presently fitted only with a nuclear warhead. Without refurbishment, the missile is approaching the end of its service life. The Kh-22 is of an older vintage, although both nuclear and conventional warhead derivatives of this missile were developed. "We can't remain on the level we had back in the 1980s without moving forward. Therefore we are taking into account the new requirements," said one top-level Russian Air Force officer. The program is expected to be completed "in the next two to three years," he said….."

Russia Today AFP 9/5/99 "…Rescue teams pulled at least 15 bodies and more than 70 injured people from the rubble fearing that dozens more could still be buried in the debris. Islamic rebels, battling for the region's independence from Russia, are suspected in the attack. MAKHACHKALA, Russia, Sep 6, 1999 -- (Agence France Presse)..."

AP 9/5/99 Nabi Abdulayev "….Rescue workers and frantic relatives searched for survivors Sunday after a bomb destroyed a five-story building housing the families of Russian army officers, leaving at least 17 dead and 97 injured. Hours after the blast Saturday night in the southern republic of Dagestan, hundreds of Islamic fighters crossed the border from neighboring Chechnya and seized four villages. Russian officials blamed the bomb attack on Islamic militants, who have been battling federal forces in the region for the past month...."

The Associated Press, via News Plus 9/5/99 Nabi Abdulayev "…Hundreds of Islamic insurgents launched a new offensive in southern Russia Sunday, just hours after a bomb smashed a building housing Russian military families, leaving at least 30 dead and 110 injured. Russian officials blamed the Saturday night bomb attack on the militants. Rescue workers and neighbors scoured the piles of concrete and metal for survivors of the bombing, calling out names of people believed buried below….."

Stratfor.com 9/3/99 "… 0145 GMT, 990903 – Uzbekistan Rethinks Its Ties to Moscow Facing the threat of Islamic extremists from neighboring Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan appears to be rethinking its March, 1999 decision to cut security ties with its former guarantor, Russia. Uzbekistan has worked closely with NATO in recent years, but the hostage situation and insurgency in Kyrgyzstan is forcing it to turn away from the West and back towards Moscow. …"

London Times 9/8/99 David Lister James Bone "….BRITISH and American investigators are examining the role of an alleged second Russian mafia boss over possible involvement in money-laundering through the Bank of New York. Investigators are understood to be looking at links to Grigori Lutchansky, whose company, Nordex, has been described by the CIA as "an organisation associated with Russian criminal activity". Mr Lutchansky's name surfaced in earlier money-laundering investigations which may have links to the Bank of New York affair, in which billions of dollars of Russian money are alleged to have been laundered. …. Nordex, which has since moved out of Vienna, is also alleged to have been involved in the smuggling of nuclear weapons and by the mid-1990s reportedly controlled about 60 businesses in the former Soviet Union and another 40 companies in the West….."

Russia Today 9/8/99 Kosomol'skaya Pravda "….Komsomolka sources in the FSB and the Interior Ministry reported that special troop reservists are being mobilized in utter secrecy. Mobilization is being performed under the pretext of the escalating situation in the Northern Caucasus. But in reality, there are apprehensions that these detachments may be thrown into the political war which would follow if the President resigns from office before the end of his term and presidential elections are conducted simultaneously with the Duma elections in December. …."

AP 9/8/99 "….Hundreds were feared buried in the rubble after a blast tore through a block of flats on the outskirts of Moscow early Thursday, an Emergencies Ministry spokeswoman said. "Sixteen people have been pulled out alive, among them six children. There are about 300 people buried. Seventy-two apartments collapsed, so that's how they count - multiplying by three,'' the spokeswoman said by telephone. She said apartments above two of the six entrances to the nine-story block of flats at number 19 Guryanov street in the southeast of Moscow had collapsed. Sixty ambulances were on the scene and five rescue teams were working to recover victims….."

Interfax 9/16/99 "….Several dozen police officers have surrounded the Moscow headquarters of Russian oil transportation company Transneft. They are only allowing company employees into the building. The police control the territory and courtyards adjacent to the office, but they have not closed off traffic on Bolshaya Polyanka street. Semyon Vainshtok, Transneft's newly appointed president, is located inside the building. Vainshtok was appointed president on Monday by First Deputy Prime Minister Nikolai Aksyonenko. …."

Agence France-Presse, via News Plus 9/14/99 "....Republicans in Congress took aim at Russia, the IMF and the Clinton administration Tuesday in a debate on nuclear non-proliferation issues and a vast Russian money-laundering scandal. "The Clinton administration's Russia policy is the greatest US foreign policy failure since Vietnam," charged House majority leader Republican Richard Armey. "I intend to organize comprehensive hearings to address the US policy with Russia," Armey said. Congress will also hold hearings on accusations that top Moscow officials took part in a multibillion-dollar money-laundering scheme involving IMF funds, Armey said. Earlier the House of Representatives approved a bill that would impose sanctions on Russia for aiding Iran's nuclear program. Armey said the measure would prevent Russian groups from helping Iran develop ballistic missiles. The vote comes just days after the Central Intelligence Agency released a report that said Iran, Iraq and North Korea could test intercontinental missiles capable of hitting the United States by 2010. "The stated purpose of the Clinton-Gore policy was to help Russia become a peaceful and productive free market," he said. "Instead Russia has become a looted and bankrupt zone of nuclearized anarchy." ...."

New York Times 9/15/99 Michael Gordon "....With two apartment buildings leveled by explosions in recent days, many Russians are afraid to go into their apartments at night. But many people from the Caucasus are now afraid to leave theirs. Literally overnight, the city's thousands of dark-complexioned natives of Dagestan, Chechnya, Ingushetia and other regions of the Caucasus Mountains, Muslim or Christian, have become suspects -- and potential scapegoats -- in Russia's reaction to the suspected bombings. Fearful of encountering the bullying police or suspicious neighbors, they only venture outside for quick trips to buy food. Shut in, they work their phones, talking to other friends, ferreting out facts and rumors about the authorities' plans to deal with its undesirables. But even staying inside is no guarantee of security. Aishat, a 39-year-old Chechen, thought she was safe until a rap on her door Tuesday morning. A handsome woman with a genial manner, Aishat had brought her two young sons to Moscow to escape the turmoil in Chechnya. Now the Moscow police demanded to see her official residency permit. When she was unable to produce one, they gave her three days to come up with the documents or leave town. "No Chechen would have have carried out these bombings," said Aishat, who allowed only her first name to be used. "Whoever did this made our situation much, much worse." ...."

Russia Today 9/15/99 AFP "....Moscow was in the grip of the tightest security clampdown in 20 years Tuesday, as extra police were drafted into the city and army foot patrols in a stepped-up fight against an unprecedented terror campaign. Hotels, apartment blocks, business premises, warehouses and cellars were inspected by police who continued to hunt two suspects in connection with a brace of bomb attacks which have left more than 200 Muscovites dead. President Boris Yeltsin ordered the security operation on Monday after a bomb demolished a block of flats, killing 118 people, an act the Kremlin chief said was part of a "terrorist war" being waged against the nation. The security blanket is the tightest in Moscow since it hosted the 1980 Olympic Games. Tons of explosives, dozens of weapons and ammunition were confiscated in the first hours of a security regime imposed after blasts demolished two Moscow apartment blocks, killing more than 200 people since Thursday. Moscow's 14,500-strong police force and 9,500 interior ministry personnel have been tasked with ensuring heightened public safety in a capital still reeling from the deadly attacks, which the authorities have linked to Chechnya-based Islamic extremists battling in Dagestan. ...."

Russia Today 9/15/99 AFP "....Russia announced plans Tuesday to strike back at "terrorist" Chechnya for its alleged involvement in an unprecedented wave of bombings that have left over 270 dead in two weeks. Branding the breakaway Russian republic a "huge terrorist camp," Prime Minister Vladimir Putin proposed a series of measures to seal off the territory from the rest of Russia and to wipe out Islamist rebels operating there. "It's time to recognize that this terrorist disease has become Russia's national problem," Putin said in an address to the State Duma lower house of parliament. He said Russia was ready to attack "terrorist bases" in Chechnya and destroy them if Chechen leaders refused to hand over Islamist commanders who have been wreaking havoc in Dagestan over the past five weeks. Chechen rebels, led by warlord Shamil Basayev, launched a drive last month to set up an Islamic state in the northern Caucasus encompassing Dagestan and Chechnya...."

The Philadelphia Inquirer 9/2/99 David Montgomery Knight Ridder News Service "....The war unfolding in Russia'a northern Caucasus republic of Dagestan is bing waged by a well-trained international Islamic force of more the 10,000, apparently supported by fugitive Saudi millionaire Osama bin Laden, military and antiterrorism experts say. A top antiterrorism adviser to the U.S. Congress said the insurrection was supported by islamic militants in several countries, including Afghanistan, Pakistan and Sudan, and appeared to be heavily financed by bin Laden, accused by the United States of orchestrating the U.S. embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania last year. "They're thinking about starting the whole Caucasus aflame," said Yossef Bodansky, director of the Task Force on Terrorism and unconventional Warfare for the House of Representative. "It's a nasty bunch." On Wednesday, Russian Interior minister Vladimir Rushailo told FBI Director Louis J. Freeh by telephone that bin Laden was behind the Dagestan offensive....."

Russia Today 9/9/99 "....At least 16 people were killed and 140 feared buried in rubble on Thursday after a blast tore through a riverside block of flats on the outskirts of Moscow as residents slept in their beds. An Emergencies Ministry spokeswoman told Reuters 115 people had been hurt and 47 of them taken to hospital after being dragged from the destroyed nine-story building - now just a yawning hole in a line of apartments. "The bodies of 16 people have now been recovered," Emergencies Minister Sergei Shoigu told Russian television. "Unfortunately, the prognosis is very, very sad." The ministry spokeswoman said 202 people had lived in the apartments destroyed. "The latest figure for those missing is 140, but it is difficult to say," she said....."

Washington Post Foreign Service 9/9/99 David Hoffman "....Alexei Yablokov was driving down a dark country road one night this summer, headed for his weekend cottage with his treasured white Opel jammed full of food and books, when suddenly car thieves tried to run him off the road. They rammed his car and shouted, but Yablokov sped faster. After a harrowing chase -- at one point the thieves jumped onto his hood -- the white-bearded environmentalist made it safely to the cottage and called police. But even a career spent challenging Russian authorities on nuclear-waste policy and other such issues had not prepared Yablokov for what happened next. When he went to press charges, he recalled, "It was explained to us that one of the attackers is the 'little son' of one of the tycoons of criminal business" in the region. "They nervously asked me, 'Do you have to? It's not especially serious! Let's look at it as hooliganism,' " he said. "Nothing happened. They caught [the assailants] that night, and then they let them go." Yablokov's experience is a small illustration of one of the most startling failures of post-Soviet Russia: the inability to build a state based on the rule of law. Russia has yet to replace the over-arching Soviet police state with a new system, and the outcome has been a frenzied, dangerous free-for-all. ...."

BBC 9/9/99 "....The US Federal Bureau of Investigation has offered to help Russia fight international terrorism, reports from Moscow say. It includes assistance in eliminating Websites set up by Islamic militants fighting in the southern republic of Dagestan. During a telephone conversation with the head of the FBI, Louis Freeh, Russian Interior Minister Vladimir Rushaylo accused the militant Saudi millionaire, Osama bin Laden, of giving financial support to the rebels. Meanwhile, Russian forces fighting in Dagestan say they have started to take back territory seized by the rebels....."

BBC 9/9/99 "....The blast that killed at least 32 people at an apartment block in Moscow was caused by a powerful explosive, Russian security officials say. More than 150 people were hurt in the explosion at the nine-storey building in the south-east of the city. After visiting the site, the mayor of Moscow, Yuri Luzhkov, said on Thursday that a terrorist act appeared to be the most likely cause. "If it is confirmed that this is a terrorist act, and everything is leading that way, we shall have to acknowledge that the echo of war in Dagestan is sounding in Moscow," he said. A preliminary investigation suggested a "industrial explosive device" or "a large amount of pyrotechnic devices" were to blame, Russia's Federal Security Service said. It said the explosive power was equivalent to 300-400kg of TNT. Initial suggestions that a gas leak might have been responsible have been ruled out. If confirmed as a bomb, it would be the third such attack in Russia in the past 10 days. A blast in a shopping centre in central Moscow last week killed one person. And at the weekend, a car-bomb attack killed scores in an apartment block in the southern Dagestan region, where Russian forces are fighting Islamic guerrillas....."

http://www.stratfor.com/CIS/commentary/c9909092100.htm 9/10/99 Stratfor "...A Russian air force plane was downed September 9 over central Dagestan. Initial reports blamed the incident on the Islamic militants. If those claims are accurate, the rebels may have surface-to-air missiles (SAMs) at their disposal. Rebel possession of either man-portable or fixed SAMs could force Russia to change its tactics on the ground and significantly alter its strategy. The aircraft, a low-flying SU-25 used for ground attacks, was near the Russian-held town of Buinaksk when it went down. The pilot ejected and was safely rescued. Reports vary as to the cause of the crash. The Russian Military Press Center reported that Islamic rebels shot the plane down. The United Federal Forces' Grouping in Dagestan said the plane crashed as the result of an accident. Russian air force officials said they were conducting an investigation into the cause of the plane crash. Several Russian helicopters and planes have been destroyed by rebels during the clash, but most of those were sitting on the field at the time and were destroyed with ground-to-ground missiles or gunfire. Those few destroyed in the sky were shot down with gunfire. If the SU-25 was downed by a SAM, it would be a significant development in the ongoing conflict. Rebel possession of SAMs has been suspected, but not verified. ...."

Bloomberg 9/10/99 Natalia Olynec "....Russian investigators found traces of explosive materials they say may be evidence a bomb caused the blast that destroyed an apartment block in southeast Moscow, killing at least 65 people. Authorities said 73 people, including 15 children, were hospitalized and 157 people treated for minor injuries. As many as 100 may remain trapped beneath the rubble, officials said. The blast occurred in the Petchatniki district and destroyed 72 apartments in a nine-story building. Federal Security Service investigators said they suspect a bomb with as much as 400 kilograms of TNT was planted in a first-floor store, and have made sketches of several suspects, said Vasiliy Stavitsky, deputy spokesman for the Federal Security Service. ``Unfortunately in the internet and other media there is information on how to build explosives which can be used by terrorists,'' he said on Russian channel NTV. Hundreds of firefighters, rescue workers, police, and Federal Security Service officers sifted through concrete and broken pipes for survivors....."

Russia Today 9/10/99 AFP "...Russia battled on two fronts against Islamic rebels in Dagestan Thursday as government forces intensified efforts to drive out insurgents, amid reports of heavy losses on both sides. Military commanders hurled infantry and armor against the rebel stronghold of Gamiyakh in western Dagestan as army and interior ministry forces sought to push back rebels closing in on the strategic transport hub of Khasavyurt. In central Dagestan, federal troops again failed to suppress an Islamist insurrection, pulling out of the rebel bastion of Karamakhy where both sides were said to have suffered heavy losses, officials told AFP. In western Dagestan, military commanders ordered a pause in the barrage by helicopter gunships and heavy artillery early afternoon as ground troops backed by armored vehicles advanced on the district of Gamiyakh. Federal troops suffered "very heavy losses" late Wednesday in a failed bid to retake Gamiyakh, located at the base of the strategic height of Eku-Tyube where Russian forces gained a foothold Wednesday. Official figures put Russian losses in the clashes at 10 dead and around 50 for the rebel side....."

Stratfor 9/10/99 "....Most of the Western media greeted the 80th anniversary of the Bolshevik Revolution last Friday with commentary on how the Russian Communist Party is gradually fading into insignificance. Articles spoke of small gatherings of "elderly demonstrators nostalgic for their youth," and of the Communist Party's dwindling support base. Yet according to the latest public opinion poll, Communist Party leader Gennady Zyuganov would win the first round of voting if presidential elections were held today, and the margin of his prospective second round loss to First Deputy Premier Boris Nemtsov has shrunk by over half. Amid a storm of scandals engulfing his administration, Russian President Boris Yeltsin has long been suspected of being personally involved in illegal activity. ......The Russian officials, their family members and friends under investigation now number nearly 800. Moreover, investigators are reportedly uncovering links between the scandals, effectively painting the whole Yeltsin administration as one boundless kleptocracy.......Assuming Yeltsin has no desire or intention to submit himself for prosecution, he has three options before next year s presidential election. He can flee the country a risk with no guarantees, considering the Russian security services..... Alternately, he could attempt to affect the election of a sympathetic successor who might theoretically protect him once his immunity ends.....Unable to flee or to ensure his security through a loyal successor, Yeltsin is left only with "extra-constitutional" measures with which to attempt to save himself. His political foes have already warned that Yeltsin could attempt to use the conflict in Dagestan or bombings in Moscow as justification for declaring a state of emergency and indefinitely postponing the December Duma and/or the May presidential elections. ....."

BBC Worldwide Monitoring 9/9/99 Segodnya', Moscow "...Excerpts from report by the Russian newspaper 'Segodnya' on 8th September Vladimir Shchurov, head of the Far East department of the Russian Academy of Sciences Institute of Oceanography ocean acoustics laboratory, is suspected by the Federal Security Service FSS of supplying China with dual-purpose technologies . The scientist was first arrested on 1st September at customs while attempting to export an acoustical instrument to the People's Republic of China. This instrument, several representatives of the Maritime Territory FSS administration claim, can identify on the basis of acoustics even the noiseless Russian submarines which have been a considerable headache to NATO sound technicians. And five days later, on 6th September, customs officials searched Shchurov's laboratory and removed computers and diskettes containing information. Now the worst-case scenario could involve criminal proceedings being brought against Vladimir Shchurov under article 189, which stipulates punishment for the illegal export of dual-purpose technologies. If the scientist's culpability is proved he faces at least a fine and at most several years in prison. The scientist himself is inclined to suspect that in the conflict that has arisen the Russian special services are in fact working in the interests of his foreign competitors. "I would rather not say this, but our science is in a lamentable state," Vladimir Shchurov told your 'Segodnya' correspondent. "We are the only laboratory left in Russia to be using unique Russian technology. And there are no consumers of our scientific output in Russia. And the contract with China enabled us to continue research, to supply new equipment for the laboratory, and to attract promising young specialists. We have achieved colossal results. I believe that all our problems have arisen now because they are trying to drive us out of the world scientific market."....."

AP Wire 9/10/99 "....Thieves disabled a nuclear submarine in Russia's Northern Fleet by pilfering vital equipment, a newspaper reported Friday. The Pantera nuclear-powered submarine, based near the city of Murmansk on the Kola Peninsula, was stripped of a filtration powder needed to clean air inside its hull, said the business daily Kommersant. The sub's crew would have suffocated if the theft hadn't been discovered, the newspaper reported. ``The crew was really lucky,'' it said. One of the submarine's officers and an accomplice allegedly emptied 59 filtration cartridges of the powder, which contains the precious metal palladium, and replaced it with ordinary coal. The suspects allegedly sold the powder for $9,000, and the damage to the submarine was estimated at $85,600, Kommersant said. ...."

AFP 9/10/99 "...Russian forces recaptured this village in western Dagestan on Friday, pushing back Islamic rebels who were still holding on to six villages after six days of bloody fighting. "The village of Gamiyakh has been completely liberated. It has been returned to civilian authorities," said a spokesman at the interior ministry in Khasavyurt, the largest city in western Dagestan. In the Chechen capital of Grozny, the rebel command's press center confirmed its forces had abandoned Gamiyakh "for strategic reasons." But the 2,000 Chechen rebels who crossed into western Dagestan on Sunday still maintained their hold on six villages in western Dagestan, Russian sources said. The rebels led by warlord and former Chechen prime minister Shamil Basayev and Jordanian-born Khattab are seeking to restore a 19th century Islamic state that encompassed Chechnya and Dagestan....."

Washington Post 9/11/99 Vernon Loeb "....A naturalized U.S. citizen from Belarus and his Russian partner were charged yesterday in Chicago with attempting to purchase and smuggle sensitive U.S.-made avionics to an unidentified customer in Russia. The avionics, used to warn fighter pilots that their aircraft have been illuminated by enemy radar, are manufactured by an American company and approved for export only to Japan and Taiwan, prompting U.S. officials to speculate that the ultimate buyer in the scheme may have been China. There's no concrete evidence, but based on everything we've seen, the Chinese government is the ultimate buyer here," said Pat Jones, a Customs Service spokesman in Washington. Peter M. Leitner, a senior strategic trade adviser at the Defense Threat Reduction Agency, said Russian buyers of avionics made specifically for Japan and Taiwan "suggests they've got either a Chinese or a North Korean customer. That's pretty clear, and that's pretty disturbing." Neither Japan nor Taiwan, Leitner said, "poses a threat to Russia." ....."

AP 9/12/99 "....An explosion damaged an apartment building early Monday in Moscow and dozens of rescue workers were called to the scene, according to a Russian press report. The Interfax News Agency said the blast hit an eight-story apartment building, but there was no immediate report of casualties. ...."

Associated Press 9/12/99 Barry Renfrew "...Interfax News Agency said eight bodies had been pulled from the wreckage. Police could not immediately confirm the report of casualties. More than 30 ambulances and fire engines were at the scene of the blast along with special rescue squads. Sniffer dogs were checking the rubble for possible survivors. Stunned local people, many in their nightclothes, stood on the street staring at the wreckage of the building. Smoke enveloped the remains of the building, and firefighters extinguished flames in the rubble. ...."

Russia Today 9/13/99 Sophie Lambroschini ".... Russian bombs are falling on Chechen villages once again. Relations between Moscow and Grozny are brittle, and the conflict that gave Chechnya de facto independence is on the brink of starting again. Last weekend, the Russian military began air strikes against Chechen villages. RFE/RL's correspondent in Grozny, Khasin Raduyev, reports that bombs have hit at least four districts in Chechnya. One raid hit a mosque and shops in the town of Zama-Yurt, killing 26 civilians. Russia says it is aiming to destroy terrorist hide-outs...."

AFP 9/13/99 ".... President Boris Yeltsin said Monday that "the terrorists have declared war on us, the Russian people" in a nationwide televised address. "We are living under a growing terrorist threat. This means that we must unite all forces in society and in government to repel the enemy from within," he said. Yeltsin spoke after a bomb attack at a Moscow apartment block left at least 36 dead, the fourth bombing to terrorize Russia in 14 days. The president earlier ordered a series of security measures in major cities and at various strategic locations to halt the wave of unprecedented bomb attacks on residential blocks in Russia. ...."

Reuters 9/13/99 "....A Russian newspaper said on Monday a Chechen-led band composed mainly of ethnic Slavs was behind a series of explosions in Moscow and southern Russia which has so far claimed nearly 200 lives. The article in Novaya Gazeta, which gave no source, appeared on the day an explosion, the second in a week, ripped through an apartment block in southern Moscow, killing at least 34 people. No one has claimed responsibility for the incidents. Monday had already been designated a day of mourning for 150 people killed in two similarly big blasts - one in Moscow last Thursday and another earlier this month in the southern region of Dagestan - and a smaller explosion in Moscow on August 31. ....Novaya Gazeta said Chechen warlords had decided to mount the bombing campaign after their Islamic guerrillas failed to drive Russian troops from Dagestan, where fighting is still raging. .....In a front-page article entitled "We know who carried out this bloody raid", the weekly said Jordanian-born Khattab, a close ally of Chechen warlord Shamil Basayev, had sworn on the Koran - the Moslems' holy book - to pay each participant in the bombing campaign up to $50,000....."

Russia Today 9/13/99 AFP "... Moscow and Washington will join forces against alleged terrorist Osama bin Laden, accused by Russia of bankrolling Moslem insurgents in Dagestan and US public enemy number one, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said Sunday. "We have information that bin Laden's people are involved in the events taking place in Dagestan and Chechnya," said Putin on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum in Auckland. "We know that his people are active on the ground. Our American partners are also worried by this," the Russian premier said in comments broadcast on RTR television here. "In this respect we have a common enemy -- international terrorism," said the premier, adding that Russian enjoyed "very good contacts between the security services and law enforcement agencies" in the United States. Bin Laden is accused of masterminding the twin bombings of the US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania of 13 months ago and the US government has offered $5 million for information leading to his arrest. ...."

Russia Today 9/14/99 Retuers "...The United States and Russia, spurred by the third deadly explosion in 10 days in Russian apartment blocks, vowed on Monday to fight terrorism together. The promise came from U.S. Defense Secretary William Cohen and Russian Defense Minister Igor Sergeyev only hours after a bomb shattered an eight-story block on the outskirts of Moscow, killing at least 56 people. "This is a cowardly and callous act of terrorism in which innocent people have been killed in wanton disregard of the lives of people who are non-combatants," Cohen said in a strong statement issued during a meeting with Sergeyev. Cohen, on a two-day visit to Russia to discuss arms control and other issues, reiterated an earlier pledge by presidents Bill Clinton and Boris Yeltsin to cooperate against terrorism. "We are prepared to work together with you to share whatever information we can, to share whatever abilities we have, in this effort to wage an effective fight against terrorism." ....The two men also signed a landmark agreement for officers of both countries to staff a "Y2K" joint missile launch warning center in the United States as the new millennium dawns on January 1. The Y2K center will operate at U.S. Space Command headquarters in Colorado between late December and early January, using U.S. spy satellites and computers to reassure both countries if year 2000 computer bugs in Russia mistakenly signal a missile launch somewhere in the world. Russia and the United States have thousands of long-range nuclear missiles and officials on both sides are anxious to avoid an unlikely but potentially disastrous mistake...."

Reuters via Russia Today 9/14/99 "....Rescuers on Tuesday combed through the rubble of a Moscow apartment block for survivors of a bomb blast that killed more than 90 people, the second such devastating attack in the capital in four days. Russia's Itar-Tass news agency, monitored by the BBC, said 93 bodies had been pulled out of the debris left by the blast, which occurred on Monday morning.....But Russian news agencies quoted First Deputy Prime Minister Nikolai Aksyonenko as saying suspects were already in detention for the apartment and mall blasts. "There is a ring of suspects, there are concrete people who have been identified and detained," RIA news agency quoted Aksyonenko as saying after a meeting on fighting terrorism. Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov later said two men had been detained....."

The Associated Press, via News Plus 9/15/99 "….An explosion shattered a large apartment building Thursday in a southern Russian city, leaving at least six people dead and 28 others injured, officials said. The Interfax news agency said a truck exploded next to a nine-story apartment building in the city of Volgadonsk near Russia's volatile northern Caucasus region. The Interior Ministry said the blast brought down part of the building, but it was unable to confirm the cause of the explosion. Firefighters were fighting a blaze engulfing the bottom two floors of the building as rescue workers searched for survivors, officials said. The blast Thursday came after a series of suspected terrorist attacks in Russia during the past two weeks….."

Associated Press 9/16/99 "….The White House has urged President Clinton's brothers-in-law to abandon a business deal in the former Soviet republic of Georgia, after an opponent of Georgian President Eduard Shevardnadze tried to use that deal for his own political advantage. Sandy Berger, Clinton's national security adviser, told Hugh and Tony Rodham earlier this month that their efforts to establish walnut and tea processing businesses in western Georgia were ``being misrepresented as somehow reflecting a change in U.S. policy,'' White House spokesman Joe Lockhart said Thursday. ``Mr. Berger ... suggested that, all things considered, that they should withdraw from this,'' Lockhart said. The Rodhams, brothers of first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton, spent eight days in Georgia in late August, looking into investments in Batumi, capital of the Ajaria region. …."

AFP 9/17/99 "….Russia's deadly wave of terrorism unleashed its fury Thursday onto this sleepy town of 200,000 inhabitants in the south, shocking residents after a truck bomb killed 17 and left over 260 injured. The explosion at 6:00 a.m. (0200 GMT) tore the facade off an eight-storey building and was heard 20 kilometers (12 miles) away in the nearby town of Tsemlyansk. "We right away thought that it was a bomb," said Lyuda, who lives not far from the damaged building at 35, Oktyabrskoye Shosse….."

New York Times 9/17/99 Steven Lee Myers "….Secretary of State Madeleine K. Albright criticized on Thursday Russia's leaders for failing to combat corruption, but defended the Administration's policy of supporting aid to Russia. "We have made clear that we will not support further multilateral assistance to Russia unless fully adequate safeguards are in place," Ms. Albright said, in some of the Administration's sharpest remarks since an international investigation of money-laundering allegations surfaced last month. "And we have always kept a close eye on our bilateral aid." …"

Stratfor.com 9/17/99 "….China’s offer of military cooperation with Turkmenistan will demonstrate the Russia’s and China’s faculties to share power in Central Asia. Russia will have to accommodate its new partner as China assumes an uncharacteristic role in the region. Because of the potential benefit of economic and military relations with Turkmenistan, both China and Russia may discover the destructive role of self-interest in their attempted "multi-polar" world. During his seven-day visit to China, Turkmen Defense Minister Batyr Sardzhayev met with Prime Minister Zhu Rongji, Defense Minister Col. Gen. Chi Haotian, and PLA Chief of General Staff Fu Quanyou. This was the first such visit to China by the Turkmen defense minister since the two nations established diplomatic ties seven years ago. Chi declared his recent meeting with the Turkmen defense minister the "most important event in the history of military relations between China and Turkmenistan." …..Turkmenistan is also on China’s ten-year schedule for gas importation. If reserve estimates are correct, Turkmenistan will soon be the third largest gas exporter in the world behind Russia and Iran. China is essentially liberating Turkmenistan from the rigid monopoly of Russia’s state-owned Gazprom, which has forbidden the westward transport of Turkmen gas and oil….."

Russia Today 9/17/99 Reuters "....An explosive device went off at an apartment door of a block of flats in St. Petersburg killing two people and injuring four, an Emergencies Ministry officer at the scene said on Friday. But the officer said the blast, which damaged three apartments, did not immediately appear to be linked to recent bomb explosions in Moscow and southern Russia, in which 300 people were killed. "It now looks like an explosive device equivalent to three or four kg (6.6 or nine pounds) of TNT," the officer said. "But I would not describe it as a terrorist act, at least nothing like the Moscow blasts." An Emergencies Ministry duty officer in St Petersburg first said the blast, which occurred at 11:30 p.m. (1939 GMT), on Thursday had been caused by a gas leak. There have been four bomb explosions in Russia since August 31 - two in Moscow, another in the north Caucasus town of Buinaksk and one in the southern town of Volgodonsk. ...."

Russia Today 9/17/99 Reuters ".....Russian businessman Boris Berezovsky, who has built up strong links with the North Caucasus, said on Thursday a campaign of bombings, believed to be by Chechen Moslem radicals, would last a long time. The latest blast came on Thursday morning in the southern Russian town of Volgodonsk, killing at least 17 people. It followed a Monday blast at a Moscow block of flats in which 118 were killed. Last week a similar bomb at another Moscow apartment block killed 94. "I think it (the bombing) will go on for a long time," Berezovsky was quoted by RIA news agency as telling a news conference. "The Rubicon has been crossed, the fighters have nothing to lose and we have nothing with which to oppose them," he said. ...."

Reuters 9/17/99 "....Russian military, fresh from battling Islamic rebels in the southern region of Dagestan, is preparing a major military operation against its neighbor, the breakaway province of Chechnya, RIA news agency said Friday. Officials would not comment on the agency report, which revived memories of Russia's ill-fated 1994-96 military campaign to quell Chechnya's independence bid. Tens of thousands of people, mostly civilians, died during that conflict. Military analysts said the Russian army appeared to be building up forces on the Chechen border after a series of bomb blasts this month in Moscow and southern Russia killed some 300 people. Officials have blamed the Chechens for the attacks. But the military analysts said they doubted Russia's cash-strapped armed forces could afford another big onslaught. ...."

Yahoo daily news 9/17/99 Greg Myre AP "....Police have detained more than 11,000 suspects as part of a massive security sweep prompted by the wave of terrorist attacks in Russia, the interior minister claimed today. About 30 of those rounded up are suspected of involvement in the bombings that have claimed about 300 lives this month, according to Russian officials. The vast majority were detained for completely unrelated reasons after police began randomly stopping people on subways, in markets and at apartment buildings to check identity documents and search for clues in the bombings. Meanwhile, a small explosive device blew up in an apartment building in St. Petersburg, killing two people and injuring three. The Thursday night blast was the sixth fatal bombing in Russia in less than three weeks...."

The St. Petersburg Times 9/17/99 Sergei Markov "....IN Russia, discussions of the money-laundering scandal that is now unraveling in the world media are gradually coming to nothing. The theme itself has already disappeared from the front pages of Russian papers. This is no accident - the Russian elite doesn't want to see what stands behind the unfolding scandal. It doesn't have the courage to understand what's happening. There are a few different variations as to what lays behind the allegations. The first version blames the pre-presidential election battle. By this logic, the Luzhkov-Primakov gang are trying to deal a death blow to the Kremlin by putting Western media outlets to the same use the KGB used to put local media when it wanted to create an ideological diversion......The second version has it that the presidential race in the United States is to blame. Ostensibly, the U.S. Republican party wants to discredit the Democratic administration, accusing President Bill Clinton and Democratic presidential candidate Al Gore of facilitating the creation of a criminal regime in Russia at U.S. taxpayer expense.....The third version finds a conspiracy among international financial circles that is enlisting newspapers in efforts to recover money the international community lost when Russia defaulted on its loans and GKOs in August 1998. .....These three versions are united by one simple idea entertained by the Russian elite: The elite, for the most part, is guilty of nothing and that the whole scandal is a conspiracy....."

Washington Post 9/18/99 David Hoffman "....Fury over the carnage caused by four bombings in two weeks and fear of further attacks are pushing Russia to the verge of renewed warfare in Chechnya, as popular and political pressure grows for retaliation against separatist forces blamed for the explosions. The bombings, which have killed 294 people, have led political leaders to all but renounce the 1996 cease-fire agreement with Chechnya, which has been the staging point for guerrilla raids into neighboring Dagestan. The military is preparing more cross-border bombing runs, and troops are being shipped to Dagestan. As public outrage has become white hot, authorities have rounded up thousands of ethnic Chechens and many other people with dark skin, who are thought to be from Russia's Caucasus region, on the streets of Moscow. Russians, meanwhile, are organizing security around apartment buildings. "If there are one or two more explosions - God save us from it - then probably there will be anti-Chechen pogroms. I think it is conceivable," said Igor Mintusov, a sociologist at the political consulting agency Nikkolo M. He compared the effect of the bombings to Russians' profound shock during last year's ruble crash...."

9/17/99 AP Allen Baker "....U.S. fighter jets were sent to confront a pair of Russian bombers caught on radar headed toward the Alaska coast Thursday, Air Force officials said Friday. Both bombers turned before crossing into U.S. airspace and about 90 miles from the approaching fighters, according to officials at Alaska's Elmendorf Air Force Base and the North American Aerospace Defense Command in Colorado Springs, Colo. The Soviet Union regularly tested U.S. air defenses by flying toward Alaska during the Cold War, but this was the first time the Air Force has documented it happening since March 1993. ``What ever they were doing, NORAD is protecting the air sovereignty of North America,'' said Air Force spokesman Maj. Les Kodlick, who is based at Elmendorf. He said the planes were positively identified as Russian bombers, but he wouldn't speculate on a reason for their flight pattern...."

Telegraph (UK) 9/14/99 Marcus Warren "...THE Russian authorities claimed yesterday to have pieced together a detailed picture of the terrorist gang behind the two recent bomb attacks on blocks of flats in Moscow. Police disclosed what they said was the real name of the man who rented floorspace in both properties and arrested two suspects allegedly contaminated by traces of the explosive used in the blasts. All three were natives of the North Caucasus. Moscow has blamed a series of huge explosions, which have killed almost 300 people in less than a fortnight, on Islamic extremists based in the rebel republic of Chechnya. However, a new and worrying link with another region has also emerged..... According to the police, some of those involved in the campaign may have been recruited from an Islamic seminary hundreds of miles away from the North Caucasus in the Russian republic of Tatarstan half way between Moscow and the Urals. From there they allegedly travelled to Chechnya to enrol in what Russian sources have described as a terrorist university run by the Arab guerrilla leader "Khatab", it was claimed. If confirmed, the connection with Tatarstan would suggest that religious extremists are moving into regions where Islam is not considered a potent force...."

Chicago Tribune 9/19/99 Tom Hundley "....Behgjet Pacolli, a man of humble roots in Kosovo, today is an immensely wealthy construction magnate who finds himself at the center of the rapidly expanding Russian money laundering and corruption scandals. His company has done more than $300 million worth of business with Russia over the last decade, but prosecutors in Moscow and Switzerland say the colorful capitalist gave back millions in the form of bribes and payoffs to members of President Boris Yeltsin's family and inner circle. He is accused of buying yachts for Yeltsin and his close associates, covering credit card expenses for the Russian leader and his two daughters, and laundering money through Bank of New York accounts held by Yeltsin's cronies. "It's all a big joke," Pacolli says of the allegations with a dismissive wave of his hand. "Today, the joke is not understood, but in a little while you will get it." If substantiated, these transfers could link some of Yeltsin's closest advisers with the investigation of Russian money laundering now under way at the Bank of New York...."

Russia Today 9/19/99 AFP "...Some 30,000 Russian federal troops have massed at the border between Dagestan and Chechnya, equipped with armored vehicles and Russian artillery, the military press service told Russian television Sunday. The troop movements came as Russian warplanes and artillery continued to pound Chechen villages along the Dagestani border overnight Saturday, the Chechen interior ministry information service in Grozny said. ...."

BBC Worldwide Monitoring 9/18/99 RIA News Agency "...The image of the world order in the 21st century will largely depend on how relations between Russia and China will shape up in the 21st century, Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs Igor Ivanov stated during the Russia and China on the Turn of the Millennium hearings held at the State Duma on 16th September to mark the 50th anniversary of the formation of the PRC and the establishment of diplomatic relations between our states. As the minister pointed out, a strategic course which makes it possible to ensure further headway of Russian-Chinese cooperation in all the spheres was worked out in the past years and is being successfully translated into life. The present-day state and directions of the deepening of our countries' cooperation find expression in the formula "equal trustful partnership aimed at strategic interaction in the 21st century" . ...."

United Press International 9/19/99 "….Russian warplanes Sunday pounded Dagestani rebel targets inside Chechnya while some 30,000 Russian ground troops massed on the border of the breakaway republic. Russian airstrikes hit four guerrilla tent camps, five outposts and 21 vehicles on the Chechnya-Dagestan border, Russian news agency Itar- Tass reported. Russian military officials said the raids killed or wounded at least 140 gunmen preparing another attack on Dagestan, where Islamic militants are fighting Russian forces to create an independent state….."

The Pioneer, via News Plus 9/20/99 "…..Like the earlier blasts in Russia since September 3, the one in Golgodonsk on Thursday bears the stamp of fundamentalist Islamic terrorists. The hand of the latter is further suggested by reports that an a certain Dagestani Liberation Army has owned responsibility for the earlier blasts. Russia, which is unused to this kind of terrorism, is understandably rattled; the blasts, including Thursday s one, has so far claimed 277 lives. Besides, this might have been just the beginning. According to a report by the State-run Voice of Russia radio, the notorious terrorist Osama bin Laden, is shifting his base from Afghanistan to the Caucasus to set up centres in North Caucasus for training Islamic fundamentalists in terrorist activities. He reportedly wants to make forays into Muslim dominated areas, stoke Islamic fundamentalism in the Central Asian states of Khyrgizia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, and finally incorporate the entire area in a new Islamic State…."

The St. Petersburg Times 9/21/99 "...RUSSIANS have spent the past few days trying to put behind them the string of devastating bombings that have left 230 people dead in Moscow and Volgodonsk. And their government has helped - by packing up survivors, putting forth an inexorable single versiya and razing the Moscow explosion sites. On Saturday, the bombed-out shell of the apartment block on Ul. Guryanova was destroyed in a controlled implosion, reducing to rubble the remains of the building and irreparably burying beneath it any remaining traces of evidence - just 10 days after the explosion. Workers at Kashirskoye Shosse, meanwhile, began clearing rubble from the site as early as Sept. 13 - the day it was destroyed. Dumping everything from blood-covered bricks to furniture to family mementos in a nearby lot, emergency workers left the remains of the leveled building to be freely picked over by scavengers. So much for forensics. Whatever evidence managed to be collected in the impossibly short span of time between the bombings and subsequent cleanup efforts is all that will ever exist in the two Moscow incidents. In the Oklahoma City bombing, five weeks of intensive search efforts passed before the building was imploded. In Moscow, untold traces of chemical residue, fingerprints, technical fragments, or hair and DNA samples that were present at the sites, are now irrevocably lost. ..."

Washington Post 9/21/99 Barry Schweid AP "....Russia's opposition is blocking a U.S. plan to resume weapons inspections in Iraq, the Clinton administration said Tuesday amid strenuous lobbying efforts by Secretary of State Madeleine Albright. The U.N. Security Council is considering a British-Dutch resolution to send inspectors back to Iraq after a nine-month lapse to search for nuclear, chemical and biological weapons ingredients. Any one of the five permanent members of the Security Council - Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States - can veto the resolution. Among the five, Russia, China and France are holding out. France was described as moving in the U.S. direction, but Prime Minister Lionel Jospin said negotiations were at an impasse, and British Foreign Secretary Robin Cook told reporters Tuesday night: "We are not there yet." "It doesn't help to speculate," Cook said. And Albright, meeting with the British minister, said, "We are working very hard to regain the consensus" the council once had on sending U.N. inspectors in search of weapons material in Iraq...."

Russia Today News 9/21/99 Reuters "....Swiss investigators believe they have uncovered links between alleged multi-billion dollar Russian money laundering and a separate case involving claims of bribes paid to Kremlin officials. Geneva investigating magistrate Daniel Devaud told Reuters on Monday his team had detected ties between bank accounts in the Bank of New York case and accounts frozen in Switzerland as part of a Swiss probe into alleged kickbacks to the Kremlin by construction company Mabetex. "I fear this investigation will widen," he said. "It is very clear to us that there are links between certain accounts frozen in the affair in Switzerland and the Bank of New York case." ...."

http://www.abcnews.go.com/sections/world/DailyNews/russiabanking990922.html 9/22/99 "....Federal investigators are working hard to "uncover the full story" behind an alleged scheme by the Russian mob to launder as much as $15 billion through the Bank of New York, a top Justice Department official told Congress today. .....FBI and Justice Department prosecutors are probing allegations that Russian businessmen, gangsters and senior officials may have illegally funneled money - including billions of dollars in funds possibly diverted from International Monetary Fund aid - through the Bank of New York. .... The International Monetary Fund has disbursed some $20 billion to Russia since 1992....... In July 1999, the IMF approved a 17-month lending plan, under which $4.5 billion will be disbursed to Russia. The first portion, $640 million, was disbursed shortly after the loan program was approved. Russian officials had hoped the next installment of that loan, $640 million, would pass the IMF board by the end of September. James Wolfensohn, president of the World Bank, says there is no evidence that World Bank loans made to Russia have been misused. Audits of 30 of the 34 investment projects have been completed......A $625 million U.S. aid package for Russia was announced last November after Russia endured one of its worst harvests, coupled with a severe financial crisis. The package included 1.7 million metric tons of wheat, 500,000 tons of corn, 300,000 tons of soybean meal, 200,000 tons of soybeans, 120,000 tons of beef, 100,000 tons of rice and 50,000 tons of pork. Other U.S. aid came in the form of medical supplies, clothing and tents. ....."

MSNBC 9/23/99 Reuters "....Russian warplanes bombed the airport at Grozny, capital of the breakaway Chechnya republic, on Thursday and destroyed an aircraft, the deputy chief of the airport said. In Moscow, a spokesman for the Russian air force confirmed the attack, which took place at 12:10 p.m. (4:10 a.m. ET). HE SAID the Russian warplanes also attacked arms depots at the airport and a radar station believed to have been used by Chechen guerrillas to track Russian aircraft. Other targets included a fuel dump, an oil-processing plant and an electrical sub-station in a Grozny suburb, Interfax news agency said. It was not immediately known what damage was done...."

Washington Times 9/21/99 Donald Devine "... There is nothing more potentially threatening than a Russian-Chinese alliance aimed at the United States. The Nixon Center's Peter Rodman believes there now is such a "rapprochement at our expense" aimed at an American dominance they think "should be knocked down a peg or two." While the alliance has not yet solidified, it is strong enough to have provoked a recent major intelligence review from CIA Director George J. Tenet. As The Washington Times' Bill Gertz and Rowan Scarborough have reported, this was prompted by the "growing relations between Moscow and Beijing after the two found common ground in opposing NATO's war in the Balkans." Russia has now sold 40 new top-of-the-line Su30 fighters to China, following 76 modern Su27s, four Kilo submarines, six S-300 air defense systems and - most ominously - two Sovremenny class destroyers with SSN-22 Sunburn anti-ship missiles. A fully operational alliance would have 4 million troops and 20,000 nuclear warheads. While both land armies are relatively weak technologically, its missiles could destroy the United States, which has absolutely no defense against them. This threat is predominantly from Russia....."

Russia Today 9/22/99 Izvestiya "....The idea of liquidating Chechen terrorists emerged in the Kremlin administration about a year ago. However, at that time, the attitude of the Russian society towards Chechen militants was not as unanimously negative as it is now. Thus, official powers wanted to perform the operation in such a way that it would look like they were not involved.....".

Reuters via Moscow Times 9/22/99 "....Six reputed members of a Russian organized crime ring, accused of terrorizing business owners to extort money, have pleaded guilty to federal racketeering charges, prosecutors said. All six face the possibility of life in prison as a result of their guilty pleas, which were entered last week into a U.S. federal court in Brooklyn, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of New York said Monday. The six were members of the Gufield-Kutsenko Brigade, led by alleged ringleader Dmitry Gufield, who pleaded guilty to four felonies, including arson, extortion conspiracy and kidnapping in aid of racketeering, prosecutors said...."

The Indian Express, via News Plus 9/21/99 "...Russia's army said on Monday it would use any means necessary to destroy Islamic guerrilla camps in Chechnya blamed for a bloody wave of bomb attacks. "We cannot and do not have the right to rule out any form or means of action to fulfil the main mission of liquidating terrorist formations on Russian territory, including their bases," Colonel-General Valery Manilov told a news conference. "We have carried out and will continue to carry out air strikes. These strikes are, I stress, not against Chechnya...The strikes are being taken against concrete, reconnoitred sites like bases, depots, camps, columns of terrorists," reports Reuters. Manilov, deputy head of the armed forces' general staff, said air strikes against targets were "sufficiently effective" for now and had caused relatively few casualties among the people of Chechnya. Chechen officials have said many civilians have died in air raids which Russian warplanes launched over the weekend..... Manilov, speaking after bomb blasts in Russian cities killed nearly 300 people this month, said Russia faced further threats from Islamic fighters in Chechnya who he said had received financial backing and training from foreign states. ...."

Associated Press 9/20/99 Nick Wadhams "....Russian investigators who visited the United States were shown material suggesting that Russian businesses laundered money through the Bank of New York, the deputy head of the country's main intelligence service reportedly said today. Viktor Ivanov, deputy head of the Federal Security Service, also said the FBI had compiled evidence of illegal capital movement from Russia even before media reports of laundering up to $10 billion began surfacing last month, the Russian news agencies Interfax and ITAR-Tass reported. His comments appeared to contradict Prime Minister Vladimir Putin's declaration earlier in the day that "fortunately, media reports of Russian money laundering have not been confirmed.'' The report gave no details of the money-laundering evidence that Ivanov reportedly said Russian officials were shown in the United States last week, when they met with their American counterparts to investigate the allegations. Interfax quoted Ivanov as saying FBI agents would come to Moscow to further the inquiry. His statement also contradicted his own comment last week in Washington that "U.S. law enforcement agencies did not show any documents that could confirm reports on the Bank of New York case.'' ...."

USA Today 9/20/99 Thomas Fogarty "....Congress wades into the Russian money-laundering scandal this week as representatives of two New York banks and a top federal law enforcement official testify before the House Banking Committee. Bank of New York chief Thomas Renyi and Republic National Bank lawyer Anne Vitale are scheduled to testify Wednesday, the second day of a two-day hearing. Also testifying is Assistant Attorney General James Robinson, head of the Justice Department's criminal division. Criminal investigators are looking into charges that accounts at the banks were used to launder - that is, make to appear legitimate - money from Russia that might have been derived from illegal activities. The banks are cooperating with the investigation. Committee Chairman Jim Leach, R-Iowa, says the hearings this week will focus on corruption in Russia, not possible lapses by the American banks or the International Monetary Fund. According to investigators, well-connected insiders may have looted billions in IMF loan proceeds intended to meet government debts and stabilize the Russian economy. "The key issue to me is whether there is a culture of corruption in Russia, and then, what does the West do about it," Leach says....."

Toronto Sun 9/20/99 Matthew Fisher ".... It is a wonder and a disgrace that anyone at the Washington-based IMF or in the Clinton White House is surprised by allegations that senior officials in Moscow stole between US$10 billion and US$15 billion and stashed it in the West. As Bill Clinton, John Major, Helmut Kohl and Jean Chretien were slapping Boris Yeltsin on the back in the lavish, renovated state rooms of the Kremlin a couple of years ago, congratulating the Russian president for having transformed his country into a market economy and democracy, and doing everything they could to encourage Yeltsin's countrymen to re-elect him, the plundering of Russia was already proceeding at a fantastic pace. Even VIPs travelling to Moscow for just one or two days in a cocoon of bodyguards and advisers could have got a sense of what was going wrong there if they had wanted to. Sweeping into the capital in high speed motorcades, they would have to be blind not to notice that although Russia always has a begging bowl out, there are far more top-of-the-line Mercedes-Benz and BMW sedans on the road than in any western city except, perhaps, Beverly Hills....."

Ft Worth Star-Telegram/The Washington Post 9/12/99 David Ignatius "....Yes, the administration concedes, things in Russia haven't worked out as the West had hoped: The country is weak and demoralized; its resources have been plundered by corrupt oligarchs and outright thieves; and now, it appears, its crooks have been using our banks to hide their money...... But privately, some of the people who have been intimately involved in framing our Russia policy concede that they'd like to do some things over again. Here's my list of those misjudgments, drawn from conversations with policy-makers and Russians who were on the receiving end: (1) The Clinton administration should have been warier about the short-term scheme that the Russians adopted to finance their budget deficit..... (2) The administration should have pushed harder to stop Yeltsin's "reformers" from embracing a 1996 privatization scheme known as "loans for shares.".... (3) The administration should have allied directly with the Russian people, rather than with Yeltsin and his reformers and the corrupt oligarchs who stood behind them. ..... (4) The administration should have been more honest. Perhaps it was inevitable that Russia's transition to a market economy would produce a generation of robber barons. But we didn't have to embrace them quite so enthusiastically. We didn't have to call Boris Yeltsin another Abraham Lincoln, as Clinton did. And we didn't have to watch quite so idly as supposed capitalists looted Russia's wealth. Truth, in the end, is America's most powerful weapon....."

Russia Today Reuters 9/21/99 "....The Republican-controlled U.S. Congress begins a series of hearings on corruption in Russia on Tuesday, thrusting the subject into the American presidential campaign just as such domestic political issues as tax cuts and gun control are fading. Political and foreign-affairs analysts said the hearings, which will begin in the House Banking Committee and center on money-laundering allegations, are really intended as a vehicle for attacking the Clinton administration's Russia policies. The prime target in congressional Republicans' sights is Vice President Al Gore, the leading Democratic presidential candidate, who played a key role in the administration's Russia policy, having co-chaired a bilateral commission with former Russian Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin and his successors. Republicans have seized on reports of massive Russian money laundering through the Bank of New York and on intelligence information that Russian companies have circumvented nuclear nonproliferation agreements by selling weapons technology to Iran as evidence that U.S. policies in Russia have failed....."

San Diego Union-Tribune 9/20/99 "....Start with the Russian economy. The free-market "shock therapy" that transformed the former Communist economies of Poland and the Czech Republic largely failed in Russia, mostly because it was never properly or fully implemented. Privatization of what was, under the Soviets, the all-encompassing state sector of the economy has been badly botched. Instead of democratic capitalism, Russians got what they call Mafia capitalism. Corrupt oligarchs and criminal syndicates grow rich, while half of all Russians subsist in dire poverty. As for democracy, Russia's version so far has been chaotic and sometimes brass-knuckled. Boris Yeltsin has been elected president twice, and Russia has a freely elected parliament, the Duma. But Yeltsin is seriously ill and increasingly erratic. In the Duma, democratic reformers are outnumbered by neo-Communists and overzealous nationalists. Not much constructive work gets done. The recent spate of terrorist bombings threatens to destabilize further a Russia already reeling from successive economic and political shocks. As if all this were not bad enough, there is mounting evidence of vast corruption in Russia's management of Western economic and financial aid. An estimated $10 billion or more of the international aid intended to bolster's Russia's stumbling economy and stabilize the ruble apparently has been siphoned off by corrupt officials and well-connected oligarchs. In short, Russia is mired in a mess of truly dangerous proportions. For things to be going this badly in a country stretching across 11 time zones and possessing 20,000 nuclear weapons obviously must be a matter of profound international concern....."

Russia Today (Agence France Presse) 9/21/99 "....The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has linked Russian officials close to President Boris Yeltsin to the Bank of New York money laundering scandal, the New York Times reported Tuesday. The FBI team looking into the money laundering scheme has discovered transactions involving Leonid Dyachenko, the husband of Yeltsin's younger daughter, Tatyana, as well as Pavel Borodin, the head of Yeltsin's property management team, senior Clinton administration officials told the newspaper. U.S. federal officials would not say if Yeltsin's son-in-law had an account at the Bank of New York or if he channeled money through accounts of a company called Benex, the Times reported. But the amount of money that both Dyachenko and Borodin moved through the Bank of New York was "substantial," officials told the Times, giving few other details. As soon as the Borodin and Dyachenko bank transactions were discovered, the U.S. Justice Department told the senior Clinton officials that they should no longer say that there is no evidence of official Russian involvement in the scandal, according to the Times....."

Fox News Online 9/21/99 Marcy Gordon AP "...Congress is examining what may be the biggest money-laundering scheme ever in this country, allegedly involving Russian gangsters illegally channeling billions of dollars through the Bank of New York. After weeks of speculation, a top Russian intelligence official said Monday that U.S. investigators have material suggesting Russian businesses laundered money through the big American bank. No one has been charged in the alleged scheme, which became public in news reports on Aug. 19. U.S. investigators have not commented publicly on the case, in which as much as $10 billion allegedly was funneled through the Bank of New York, the 15th-largest U.S. bank. Two high-level executives of the bank's Eastern European division, Natasha Gurfinkel Kagalovsky and Lucy Edwards, were suspended, and Ms. Edwards was subsequently fired for alleged falsification of bank records and failure to cooperate with internal investigators. The two have denied any wrongdoing. The issue has become a political flashpoint between Washington and Moscow and prompted Republican leaders to denounce the Clinton administration's policy of supporting aid to Russia. Today, the Swiss government announced that Swiss banks have frozen $16.8 million in accounts suspected to be linked to the case. A 1998 law requires banks to take such action and report to the government when they have well-founded suspicions of money laundering. ...."

Associated Press 9/21/99 Marcy Gordon "....The Clinton administration told Congress today that the United States must continue to support Russia or risk being branded as "scapegoats'' for Russia's failure. But in the wake of what may be the biggest money-laundering scheme in U.S. history, Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers said the administration will propose to strengthen laws and make it tougher for foreigners to clean ill-gotten gains through American banks. Summers was the leadoff witness as Congress opened the first of a series of inquiries into allegations that Russian gangsters illegally channeled billions of dollars through the Bank of New York. The administration backs continued support for Russia in spite of these allegations because "to quarantine, contain or write off Russia as too corrupt would ill serve our national interest,'' Summers told the House Banking Committee....."

The Hindu, via News Plus 9/25/99 "…. The five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council, at the request of Russia, called for greater international cooperation in stopping violence and capturing terrorists. ``We consider it vital to strengthen, under the auspices of the United Nations, international cooperation to fight terrorism in all its forms,'' they said in a statement yesterday. The cooperation would aim at preventing and suppressing terrorist acts, the Foreign Ministers of the five powers said. Ms. Madeleine Albright of the U.S., Mr. Igor Ivanov of Russia, Mr. Robin Cook of Britain, Hubert Vedrine of France and Mr. Tang Jiaxuan of China pledged to deny safe haven or asylum to those ''who plan, finance or commit terrorist acts.'' …."

The Hindu, via News Plus 9/24/99 "….At least 3,000 people fled their homes in Chechnya as Russian jets pounded new rebel targets in the break- away region in a bid to cut off supply lines to Islamic rebels in neighbouring Dagestan, radio `Ekho Moskvy' said today. Over 2000 Chechens have crossed into neighbouring Ingushetia alone, seeking refuge against the intensive Russian bombardment aimed at breaking the stranglehold of the rebels over Dagestan, it said. Some 2,000 rebels crossed over to Dagestan on August 7 to create an Islamic Republic there, forcing authorities to appeal to Russia for help…."

The Washington Post 9/24/99 "….For close to 10 years, the IMF has been saying that Russia deserves support because it is sincerely pursuing reform. During that time, the Russians have misled the IMF about economic data and misused IMF resources. Poverty and corruption have reached alarming levels, and the government's failure to collect taxes continues to eat away at its ability to run the country ….."

newmax.com 9/24/99 Col Stanislav Lunev "….There are many strange aspects to American-Russian relations. Like the enabler of an addicted friend, the US will once again provide Russia with another money fix. No matter that prior US credit, loans, and other funds vanished before our eyes to mysteriously reappear in Western banks in the private accounts of so-called new Russians. As approved by the International Monetary Fund this present loan of $4.5 billion will come by way of credits from the World Bank, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, and other Western financial institutions. And this latest score by Russia will likely vanish just as quickly. But while being showered with billions from the US taxpayer, the Russian Federation (RF) continues to intensify its intelligence operations against the US as well as against US friends and allies. This espionage activity, according to some US officials, has already reached Cold War levels. The Russian spy business has become so aggressive that last spring, for the first time since the collapse of the USSR, US officials had to expel a Russian intelligence officer who was working undercover at the United Nations and engaged in accessing classified US documents. It was the second incident of Russian spying to surface in six months. In the first incident a Russian officer, though not officially expelled, was denied re-entry to the US while away on vacation……"

AP 9/25/99 Martin Crutsinger "….The United States and its wealthy allies told Russian authorities on Saturday there was a ``critical need'' for that country to attack corruption and money laundering. Financial leaders from the world's seven largest industrial countries saw encouraging signs that the global economy was beginning to stabilize after nearly two years of severe financial turmoil. In an 11-page joint statement, they cautioned, however, that ``a number of challenges remain'' including a widening trade deficit in the United States…."

AFP 9/25/99 "….The head of the Russian air force on Saturday accused US NATO pilots of regularly violating international conventions by flying too close to Russian air space. "NATO aeroplanes are flying well within the 50-kilometre (32-mile) limit set down by international conventions," the commander-in-chief of the Russian air force, Anatoly Kornukov, said, quoted by Russian news agencies. Fifteen to 25 reconnaissance planes fly too close to Russian air space every day, he said….."

St. Louis Post Dispatch - Associated Press 9/25/99 "…."After bitterly denouncing the West for air and missile attacks on terrorists and rogue states, Russia is using similar tactics against Islamic militants who have been blamed for a string of attacks." "Russian commanders have studied recent U.S. and Western attacks against suspected terrorist bases in Afghanistan and other places and are using the examples to mount air attacks against Chechnya, analysts say." …."

New York Post 9/26/99 David Bar-Illan "….

Agence France-Presse, via News Plus 9/25/99 "….President Boris Yeltsin is not implicated in the "Kremlingate" scandal in which he and members of his family and entourage allegedly accepted bribes for lucrative Kremlin refurbishment contracts, suspended chief prosecutor Yuri Skuratov said Saturday. "There is no evidence linking the president to anything at all," Skuratov said, quoted by the Interfax news agency. "But the other suspects should be looked into closely, if necessary in a formal inquiry," he added. …."

AP Larry Neumeister 10/5/99 "...Federal prosecutors say $7 billion from Russia was illegally funneled through accounts at the Bank of New York in one of the largest money laundering cases in U.S. history, according to a criminal indictment unsealed Tuesday. Three individuals and three companies were charged with channelling the money - believed to have ties to the Russian mafia - in the first criminal charges to be brought in the case. The charges were contained in a three-count indictment filed under seal in U.S. District Court in Manhattan on Sept. 16. Peter Berlin, 44, Lucy Edwards, 41, - a former vice president at the Bank of New York - and Aleksey Volkov, 34, as well as Benex International Co. Inc., Becs International L.L.C. and Torfinex Corp. were named as defendants. The Bank of New York, the nation's 15th-largest bank, was not named in the indictments...... Lewis Schiliro, an FBI assistant director in charge of the New York office, said the FBI is primarily focused on determining the origin of the funds and tracing the path of transactions through accounts at the Bank of New York. ...."

Freeper NDCorup adds 10/6/99 "....In the Lufthansa theft at JFK airport Lou Shiliro was in charge of the investigation. It is reported that Shiliro is now in charge of the N.Y. FBI thanks to Clinton. There were No arrests, No money recovered, and the witnesses are all dead. Sal Reale was in charge of Security at JFK airport and was Gotti's bagman at Mena. Phillip Shiliro, (Lou Shiliro's son) works for Waxman. It's noted that Lou Shiliro controls the Flt. 800 evidence......"

Agence France Presse Henry Meyer 10/6/99 "....Moscow's invasion of the secessionist republic of Chechnya will at best drag Russia into a long and costly conflict, even if troops keep within the "security zone" they now occupy in the north of the territory, analysts warned on Wednesday. At worst, the relative success so far of the Russian advance into Chechnya -- the first time Moscow has invaded the republic since a brutal 1994-1996 civil war that cost 80,000 lives -- could tempt the military top brass into a dangerous push deeper into the region, they said. "Until now Moscow was preparing for a Lebanon-style situation," said Alexander Pikayev, a defense expert at the Carnegie Endowment, in reference to Israel's 21-year-old occupation of a buffer zone in south Lebanon. "But now there is a debate whether to stop at the current position or continue south to Grozny," the capital of the fiercely independent Caucasus republic, he said....."

Associated Press 10/6/99 Anna Dolgov "....The Russian government plans to change its policy toward the news media and stifle "aggression'' by the press, the head of the country's recently established media ministry said Wednesday. With parliamentary and presidential elections looming, Russian liberals have been worried that the government would curb media freedom. The worries grew this summer after the creation of the ministry to oversee the press. "The information policy of the state as regards the mass media should be changed,'' Media Minister Mikhail Lesin said Wednesday, according to the ITAR-Tass news agency. "There is much aggression in the activities of the mass media now. This is the result of ill-considered policy toward the mass media.'' .....He didn't specify what the new policy would be, but indicated there were too many media outlets. He invited a meeting of regional governors to "set the ball rolling'' on dealing with the problem. Since it was formed in July, the new ministry - formally called the Ministry for Press, Broadcast and Mass Media - has made ominous statements about the need to protect the state from the press. ...."

Washington Post 10/5/99 Sharon LaFraniere "....Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said today that Russia intends to resettle tens of thousands of Chechen refugees in parts of Chechnya controlled by Russian troops--the strongest indication to date that Moscow intends to split the small republic in two. Putin made the comments as Russian troops battled Chechen fighters 25 miles north of Chechnya's capital of Grozny. Chechen military sources reported heavy fighting as Russian troops pressed to control flat terrain along the Terek River and to drive the Chechens toward mountains to the south. Putin's plan would create a new order in Chechnya, with Russian troops protecting refugees in part of the republic, apparently in the north. The rest of the republic would remain under separatist Chechen control. Although Moscow has not acknowledged it, Chechnya effectively won independence from Russia three years ago after a war that has been described as one of President Boris Yeltsin's biggest mistakes....."

World Tribune 10/5/99 "....Jordan's influential Chechen community has urged the Arab and Muslim world to stop Russia's offensive against the autonomous republic. The Jordanian Society for the Support of Chechnya, in a letter to U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan, urged Arab and Muslim leaders to "move quickly to stop the Russian aggression against the people of Chechnya, who are now facing genocide because of its commitment to the Islamic ideology." The group also called on the international community for an "immediate and effective intervention to end the continuous Russian onslaught against the people of Chechnya." There are an estimated 40,000 Chechens in Jordan and many of them hold senior positions in the security forces and intelligence departments. Russian intelligence sources said the Jordanian community has funnelled funds to support the Islamic fundamentalists in the Russian republic....."

Russia Today 10/5/99 Nezavisimaya Gazeta ("Independent Newspaper") "....The daily wrote that the 1996 scandal concerning the export of super-computers to Russia is now being reopened in America. It unfolds simultaneously with the scandal about money-laundering in Russia. Recently, the chief investigator on supplies of super-computers to Russia, Mr.Fernandes, was in Russia. The objective of his visit was not announced officially, but it could be a continuation of the same investigation - the author supposed. According to the agreements of 1996, the Silicon Graphics company was to supply powerful computers to the Russian nuclear centers VNIIEF and to the Institute for Technical Physics in Chelyabinsk-70. These contracts were found suspicious by the Republican Party in America, because they allegedly served the purpose of development of the next genera- tion of nuclear weapons in Russia. Thus, Vice-President Al Gore may become the target of new political scandal, because he was the main proponent of the contracts within the Gore-Chernomyrdin commission. Now he may be charged again with passing strategic computer equipment to Russia. . The allegations are absurd, the daily wrote, because the supplied computers have hundreds of times slower than the ones that are used in the American Defense Ministry. In Russia the computers from Silicon Graphics were used for modelling radiation pollution of soils and for statistical analysis of nuclear wrecks consequences. ...."

Russia Today and Others 10/5-6/99 AFP ".....US oil major Chevron will pour $3 billion over four years into Kazakhstan, where it has a 45-percent stake in the giant Tenghiz oil field, the company's regional general manager said on Wednesday. The investment will be used to drill more exploration and appraisal wells at the western Kazakh field, upgrade processing facilities and build new ones. "We continue to invest in Kazakhstan because Kazakhstan's potential is really unmatched," Nick Zana told 400 oil executives attending the Kazakhstan International Oil and Gas Exhibition (KIOGE) and conference here. "The risks in our view are manageable and most importantly the political leadership understands the needs of private business." ....."

BBC 10/7/00 "....The scandal may even involve IMF loans to Russia The investigations of United States prosecutors into one of the biggest money-laundering cases in American history are likely to widen into a worldwide probe. Switzerland and Russia have signalled their readiness to co-operate in the investigations. The Russian mafia is said to have illegally channelled billions of dollars through accounts at the Bank of New York. A federal grand jury in Manhattan indicted a former executive at the bank, Lucy Edwards, her husband, Peter Berlin and another man, Aleksiy Volkov. They are charged with conspiring to transmit funds and receive deposits illegally. Some $7bn in accounts at the Bank of New York is said to be involved....US Justice Department representatives have met with a key Swiss prosecutor, Bernard Bertossa, to discuss co-operation in the case, an American official said. Correspondents say the talks could lead to a formal US request for judicial assistance. But Mr Bertossa was quoted in the Geneva daily Le Temps as saying that his staff faced an "overdose" because it was already investigating six major alleged money-laundering cases involving Russia and other former Soviet republics....."

WASHINGTON TIMES 10/7/99 Bill Gertz ".....Russia informed the United States yesterday it will violate an international conventional arms agreement by sending more ground forces to southern Russia in the ongoing battle against Chechen rebels, U.S. and Russian officials said. Moscow invoked the "supreme national interest" provisions of the 1990 Conventional Forces in Europe (CFE) agreement in notifying the United States and other countries of the action. The CFE treaty limits the number of tanks, artillery pieces, aircraft and other non-nuclear arms that can be deployed in Europe. The move is a sign that Russia plans to step up its military operations against the Islamic rebels in southern Russia. The Russians made the notification at the 30-nation Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) in Vienna, Austria. A senior Senate aide said the move casts doubt on Moscow's arms-control obligations and raises questions about whether Russia will abide by other agreements such as the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty being debated in the Senate. "Our people in Vienna were instructed today to inform the OSCE that in order to curtail the activities of terrorists in Chechnya we have deployed a concentration of forces exceeding the limits of the Vienna document," Russian Embassy spokesman Mikhail Shurgalin told The Washington Times....."

Russia Today AFP 10/7/99 "....Russian military chiefs have operational plans to storm the Chechen capital Grozny, in what would mark a huge escalation of the week-old invasion of the rebel republic, Izvestia daily reported Thursday. The Russian general staff has "operational plans and a detailed timetable of movement of troops to Grozny and even of the storming of the city," the newspaper said, citing no sources. Defense Minister Igor Sergeyev on Wednesday refused to rule out that Russian troops might cross the key Terek river that now separates federal forces from Grozny. ...."

Russia Today AFP 10/7/99 "....Moscow's military thrust into the breakaway republic of Chechnya has presented the IMF with an unwelcome dilemma: should it risk a repeat of 1994-1996, when critics say its loans helped finance the brutal Russian-Chechen war? Top Russian finance officials Wednesday painted a dark economic picture should the International Monetary Fund suspend its 17-month $4.5 billion program, delayed after allegations that earlier loans had been misused...."

AP Wire 10/7/99 Ruslan Musayev "...Russian ground troops today appeared to have halted their advance into Chechnya along the river that separates the northern plains from the more treacherous mountain terrain in the south of the rebel republic. Meanwhile, commanders in the loosely organized Chechen armed forces were mobilizing volunteers in their mostly deserted capital, Grozny. The commanders, who were supervising the distribution of uniforms and weapons, said they were expecting battles that would be as fierce as the 1994-96 war with Russia. ``We consider this the second stage of the same war,'' said a Chechen commander who gave his name only as Col. Elbiev. ....."

UPI 109/5/99 "....A senior Russian general Tuesday issued a stern warning that changes to the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty by the United States, which is seeking to build a new missile defense system, could threaten the destruction of major international arms agreements and cause the nuclear powers to become ``unpredictable.'' In an interview published on the front page of Russia's Nezavisimaya Gazeta on Tuesday, Gen. Vladimir Yakovlev, Russia's strategic missile forces chief, warned that implementation by the United States of a new defense system would lead to the scrapping of international agreements and a new arms race. Yakovlev accused the U.S. of moving to undermine the ABM treaty, which he called the basis for START and START-II nuclear arms reduction treaties, and a whole range of other strategic agreements. Yakovlev said: ``If the U.S. scraps the 1972 AMB treaty, they will be to blame for disrupting the process of limiting nuclear weapons. All agreements signed or in preparation -- namely START-I, START-II and consultations on START-III -- will be threatened.'' ``Russia and the United States will become unpredictable to each other,'' the general warned....."

ITAR-TASS News Agency 10/5/99 Anatoly Yurkin "...A Russian lawmaker has called for increasing defense spending next year to purchase more effective aircraft for units serving in the North Caucasus. The military budget for 2000 should be revised in connection with the recent events in Chechnya, Nikolai Bezborodov, deputy chairman of the defense committee at the State Duma lower chamber of parliament, told Itar-Tass on Tuesday. Bezborodov was commenting on the loss of two federal planes (Su-24 and Su-25) while on reconnaissance missions over the Chechen territory. "Scientists and production experts have developed Su-39, a new attack aircraft, specially intended for combat tasks in adverse conditions," he told Tass. ....."

Washington Post 10/6/99 Robert O'Harrow Jr "....Federal prosecutors today unsealed the indictment of three people and three companies in connection with a sprawling probe of more than $7 billion in suspicious money transfers from Russia through accounts at the Bank of New York..... Although authorities are a long way from determining who sent the money -- or proving those transfers violated U.S. money-laundering laws -- they hope the charges announced today will spur some of the key figures to cooperate with the investigation...... Named in the indictment are Lucy Edwards, a former bank vice president who was fired in August; her husband, Peter Berlin, a Russian native (and now U.S. citizen) who authorities believe is the central figure in the case; and Aleksey Volkov, a business associate of Berlin's. The document also names three companies -- Benex International Co., Becs International L.L.C. and Torfinex Corp. -- that sources said held the accounts that handled most of the transactions. The indictment charges that Edwards, Berlin and Volkov "conspired to illegally transmit funds and receive deposits" through the Benex and Becs accounts, officials said. It also charges the individuals and the companies with conducting an "illegal money transmitting business," as well as with "engaging in an illegal banking operation" by receiving deposits without proper state or federal authorization, officials said. ...."

Washington Post 10/6/99 David Hoffman "...Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said today that Russian troops have now occupied the northernmost third of Chechnya, but he declared that the military operation in the separatist southern region is not yet over. Speaking to a group of prominent legislators and former prime ministers, Putin indicated that the goal of the advance into Chechnya is significantly more ambitious than the one announced two weeks ago of creating a security zone around Chechen territory to prevent Islamic guerrillas based there from infiltrating neighboring Russian regions. Now, Putin said, Russian troops are trying to establish a security zone within Chechnya from which to press a full-scale campaign against the guerrillas. "This is just one stage in this operation," Putin said. "But the ultimate aim is to fully destroy terrorists and their bases throughout Chechen territory." ...."

New York Times 10/4/99 Michael Wines "...The first president of democratic Belarus, Stanislav Shushkevich, said in an interview that the government appeared to have resorted to state terrorism: "The regime has gone along the path of eliminating the leaders against whom it can't open even an artificial criminal case." If the president of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko, is behind the disappearances -- as opponents insist, many Westerners suspect and the government blandly denies -- it would be a disturbing turn for a tough ruler who has until now merely beaten and jailed his opponents. ...."www.stratfor.com 10/4/99 "....In Russia, as expected, reform has completely collapsed...... The problem is simply this: Everyone in the current elite is tainted with the regime's corruption. Even Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, the former KGB man and FSB head, is intimately tied to the oligarchs. The situation in Russia is unsustainable. No nation can be in the condition that Russia finds itself without a cataclysmic political readjustment. The only question now is how it will come. The public debate in Russia today is between two factions. First, there are the oligarchs who used reform to steal for themselves fantastic amounts of money and who are now engaged in brutal battles with each other and everyone else. Then there are the old Gorbachevites, like Putin, who started the whole process. The old KGB hands were the first to realize that the Soviet Union was falling behind the West and that it needed Western technology and investment to catch up. Gorbachev's policy was to encourage that investment in the context of the Soviet regime. When the regime collapsed, the distinction between liberals and Gorbachevites disappeared......In other words, electoral politics in Russia now all lead back to the same place: the KGB and the oligarchs to whom they are intimately connected. The central question here is whether this faction can survive. To put it simply, it is either this faction or a revolution. We are increasingly of the opinion that Russia is in a pre-revolutionary state, which might well be as cataclysmic as 1917. We simply do not see how Russia's corrupt and collapsing institutions can sustain themselves in the face of almost universal bitter contempt and hostility from virtually every segment of society......"

USA TODAY (AP) 10/1/99 "....Ending a long-standing conflict over the illegal sale of high-performance IBM computers to Russia, visiting U.S. Energy Secretary Bill Richardson on Friday inaugurated a civilian computer center that would use them. Russia bought the 16 computers in 1996 for nuclear weapons research, bypassing U.S. export regulations. Under U.S. policy, the computers required licenses for export to military and nuclear installations. In the following years, the United States tried to persuade the Russian government either to return the computers or have them officially dedicated to civilian research. Moscow eventually agreed to incorporate the computers into a civilian computer center located in Sarov, a city that is home to a major nuclear research laboratory and nuclear weapons production center. The city, which was called Arzamas-16 during Soviet times, is the equivalent to Los Alamos National Laboratory. The computer center is intended to help Russian researchers find civilian jobs as Sarov converts from weapons research to peaceful work......"

The Associated Press, via News Plus 10/4/99 Ruslan Musayev,"...Russian tanks and infantry thrust deeper into Chechnya on Monday to create a security zone around the rebel republic, as jets and artillery pounded the insurgents by air and by land. At least four regions in eastern Chechnya were hit by rocket fire, and two areas of central Chechnya were bombed, the territory's Deputy Prime Minister Kazbek Makhashev said. Chechen forces shot down a Russian Su-25 warplane, killing the pilot, said Col. Islam Khasukhanov, deputy chief of the general staff, according to the Interfax news agency. He said the plane was downed by a Stinger missile near Urus-Martan, about 15 miles southwest of Grozny, the capital of the breakaway republic....."

Washington Post 10/4/99 Daniel Williams ".....The Russian military has launched an air and ground offensive along the Chechen frontier, and warplanes have been attacking oil depots, power stations, roads and bridges deeper inside Chechnya as part of a strategy to contain guerrilla forces that invaded Dagestan last month with the stated aim of creating an Islamic republic there. The guerrillas, led by a resolute commander named Shamil Basayev, are part of the same rebel force that outmaneuvered, embarrassed and defeated Russian troops in Chechnya in 1996, leaving the territory nominally under Russian rule but virtually independent. Massed artillery was a main component of Russian battlefield tactics in that brutal two-year war and appears to be again in the present conflict. In western Chechnya, and here in the east as well, artillery and rocket barrages seem to have mainly a psychological goal--to keep guerrillas in the area off balance and to upset and intimidate their supporters....."

Russia Today AFP "....Russian forces said Friday they had seized control of a key Chechen rebel stronghold after a day of ferocious fighting west of the separatist capital Grozny. Fierce battles continued on Chechnya's western front as Grozny claimed six weeks of Russian attacks had left more than 2,000 Chechen civilians dead....."

New York Times 10/15/99 Carlotta Gall "....Bursts of automatic gunfire rang out in central Grozny on Wednesday, followed by an ear-splitting volley from a heavy machine gun. People were running on the street, while fighters and armed men rushed toward the gunfire. In broad daylight, on a main street in the center of town, an armed gang was trying to kidnap a local journalist. With a burst of machine-gun fire, government commandos shot out the wheels of the gunmen's jeep and wounded the driver, just as the gunmen were forcing their hostage into the car. Kidnapping, the scourge of the Chechen republic since the last war with Russia ended in 1996, has not ceased, even when attentions are turning to a renewed war. The Chechen government has fought a losing battle against the kidnapping gangs that have targeted foreign journalists and aid workers, as well as ordinary Chechens. The Chechen leadership has long been criticized for failing to stop the increase in crime, and this incident illustrated the brazenness of the kidnappers and their disdain for the government forces. ...."

The Economist 10/9/99 "....AT LEAST until recently, the main enemy of Islamic terrorism seemed to be the United States. However diverse and quarrelsome its practitioners, they knew what they hated most: the global policeman whom they accused of propping up Israel, starving the Iraqis and undermining the Muslim way of life with an insidiously attractive culture. Anti-Americanism, after all, has been a common thread in a series of spectacular acts of violence over the past decade. They include the bombing of the World Trade Centre in New York in February 1993; the explosion that killed 19 American soldiers at a base in Saudi Arabia in June 1996; and the deadly blasts at the American embassies in Kenya and Tanzania in August 1998. In many of the more recent attacks it has suffered, the United States has discerned the hand of Osama bin Laden, the Saudi-born co-ordinator of an international network of militant Muslims. In February last year, he and his sympathisers in Egypt, Pakistan and Bangladesh issued a statement declaring that "to kill the Americans and their allies-civilian and military-is an individual duty for every Muslim who can do it." Such blood-curdling talk was inevitably seized on by believers in the "clash of civilisations" described by Samuel Huntington, a Harvard professor who said in 1993 that cultural or religious fault-lines were the most likely source of conflict in the post-cold-war world. ...."

WorldNetDaily.com 10/11/99 J R Nyquist "..... An American businessman in Moscow, the managing director of Matrix Technologies, recently described conditions in the Russian capital. He said the city is heavily patrolled by police and army units. Vehicles are routinely searched, papers are inspected, civil rights are violated. But Moscow's police are not simply looking for terrorists. They are also looking for "military-aged individuals" and persons with medical experience. These are being taken for military training as part of a "general preparation for war." We know that the Russian military began to expand its manpower base in April, during the crisis in Kosovo. At that time nearly 170,000 new recruits were called up in a special Russian military draft. There were also reports that between 80,000 and 100,000 volunteers were recruited to fight NATO in the Balkans. Throughout Russia, as well as other former Soviet republics, there have been rumors that hundreds of thousands of convicts have been offered amnesty in exchange for military service. If you examine the naval and marine exercises of the past six months (especially in the context of the mobilization of Russia's Black Sea Fleet), one cannot escape the suspicion that naval and marine reserves have also been mobilized....."

World Trubune.com 10/11/99 "....Russia plans to deploy a second batch of its new Topol-M nuclear missiles in the first half of December. "A second Strategic Rocket Forces regiment equipped with land-based Topol-M intercontinental ballistic missiles will assume full combat readiness in the first half of December this year," deputy Defense Minister Col.-Gen. Alexander Kosovan told a news conference. The RIA news agency quoted Kosovan, deputy defense minister in charge of military construction and housing, as saying that the first 10 Topol-M missiles were installed in their silos last December. The Topol-M, known to the West as the SS-27, is slated to become the backbone of Russia's nuclear deterrent. Russian officials said last month that Moscow had eight years at most to replace its aging nuclear arsenal before most of it becomes obsolete. ...."

CNN Russia Defense Doctrine: Western Global Monopoly Seen as New Threat of Next Decade 10/15/99 "…

JEANNE MESERVE, CNN ANCHOR: Russian military planners are presenting a draft outline of what threats they see in the coming decade. Although the army is battling insurgences to the south, this new document perceives another enemy coming from the West, as Moscow bureau chief Jill Dougherty reports…..ALEXEY ARBATOV, MEMBER OF PARLIAMENT: One of the principal dangers to the world's stability presently stems from attempts at gaining global monopoly, at gaining position of monopoly in the world. DOUGHERTY: Although it doesn't specifically name the United States or NATO, the implication is clear. It's Kosovo, not the Caucasus, they're focused on. The Kosovo conflict convinced Russia's military that without nuclear weapons, Russia would simply be ignored by the West…."

UPI 10/9/99 "....Russia, the United States, Norway and Ukraine launched a commercial satellite Sunday from a sea-borne platform in the Pacific Ocean on the equator. The ocean blastoff was the first of its kind, the Russian Itar-Tass news agency reported. The international spacecraft rocketed from its floating platform at 3:28 GMT at 154 degrees west longitude on the equator and carried a U.S. broadcasting satellite into a geo-stationary orbit, Russian mission control said......"

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPcap/1999-10/12/039r-101299-idx.html 10/12/99 David Hoffman "....Prime Minister Vladimir Putin today all but rejected calls for negotiations with Chechnya in response to appeals from Chechen President Aslan Maskhadov as Russian artillery and bombs continued to rain down on the separatist region. Putin, responding to Maskhadov's weekend appeals for peace talks, told reporters that Chechnya must first "extradite" guerrilla commander Shamil Basayev, whom Russia has called an "international terrorist." Maskhadov had offered a peace plan under which he promised to crack down on warlords in the breakaway region after Russian troops pull out, and he suggested reviving negotiations on a Russian-Chechen peace accord. "I view it in a positive light, but I would change the priorities," Putin said in response to Maskhadov's proposal, insisting Basayev must be turned over first. "Give us the men whose hands and arms are stained with blood and we will be prepared for full-scale talks." ...."

NewsMax 10/12/99 Joseph Douglass, Jr. ".....Over the past few months, the story of Russian money laundering, whose Bank of New York operation was the first to surface, has expanded as additional tidbits of information have become available. The amounts of money grew from $4 billion to well over $10 billion. The involvement of additional banks from New York to London to Switzerland added more fuel to the fire. Eventually, this concern over penetration reached so many banks that specific banks were no longer news. Rather, the issue became Russian penetration of many banks around the world....... The process of moving money from the shadows to legal structures is magnifying the corruption by an order of magnitude. 15 to 20% of this money is now in the stock market and having serious influence. While in the past, the principal crime organizations were Sicilian, Japanese, Chinese, and Latin American, the main problem today is Russian. Illegal drugs play the lead role. This is no longer just a problem of heroin and cocaine but also one of synthetics legally produced, particularly by companies with excess production capacities, e.g. Bulgarian pharmaceutical companies. Drug crime in Europe has gone from 15,000 crimes in 1995 to 185,000 in 1997. Prostitution, blackmail, and murder are all coupled in and part of the operations. Organized crime in Russia now controls over 40,000 business, 85% of the banks, and 20% of the Duma. It is only a short time before organized crime will control the police forces all over the world and major businesses. They will also use politicians to expand their stealing potential, and will control the international financial markets. His closing remark was most sobering: "This problem can no longer be defeated with legal means."....".

BBC 10/12/99 Robert Parsons ".....Fear and hatred in Moscow The trauma of September blasts left the people feeling vulnerable and scared. Sleep is not a release anymore. Some cannot rest at all. They prowl the spaces between the blocks of flats or stare from their balconies through the mist - on the lookout for anything unusual in the flat contours of the night. The more practical are forming neighbourhood watch committees - self-help schemes that reflect both their insecurity and distrust of the regular police...."

The Times 10/12/99 Fiona Fleck David Lister ".....According to Western law enforcement officials, Lev Chernoi and his brothers Mikhail and David are suspected of a range of criminal activities, including drug trafficking, prostitution, racketeering and theft. According to one Western intelligence report, the Chernoi brothers are linked to the "Yaponchik" organised crime group in Russia formerly controlled by Vyacheslav Ivankov, known as the "godfather" of the Russian mafia, who is currently serving a jail sentence in the United States ...."

AFP 10/12/99 "....Chechen guerrillas are preparing strikes against Russian nuclear installations and are engaging in hit-and-run attacks on federal forces in Chechnya, defense officials said Tuesday. Chechen warlord Salman Raduyev is "preparing a series of terrorist acts in Russia, mainly nuclear sites," a defense ministry spokesman told AFP. Raduyev "has set up small commando groups of up to 15 people, of mainly Slav origin, a ruse which would make it easier for Grozny's forces to infiltrate Russia," the official said. He did not elaborate on the basis for the claim...."

AFP 10/12/99 "....China on Tuesday expressed "understanding and support," for Russia's military offensive in Chechnya, saying that the region's troubles were a purely internal matter. "With regard to the efforts of the Russian government to safeguard its national unification, territorial integrity and social stability, the Chinese side would like to express our understanding and support," foreign ministry spokeswoman Zhang Qiyue told a news conference. "The Chinese side believes that the issue of Chechnya is the internal matter of Russia," she added. It was the first official Chinese reaction to Moscow's mililtary campaign in Chechnya, which has left at least 700 people dead....."

Reuters 10/12/99 Martin Nesirky "....Russia has published a new draft military doctrine that retains the right to use nuclear weapons first, but defence experts said on Monday the main surprise was its strikingly anti-Western tone. President Boris Yeltsin approved the last doctrine in 1993, after the military reluctantly put down a parliamentary revolt. It was never published in full, but excerpts on nuclear policy and intervention abroad caused a stir in the West at the time. The Defence Ministry newspaper Krasnaya Zvezda published the new draft in full at the weekend, and it is already grabbing the attention of Russian and Western military analysts. It also means new NATO Secretary-General George Robertson will have his work cut out. He wants to convince Moscow NATO is not a threat. ...."

AP 10/8/99 Nick Wadhams ".....Russia wants to move ahead on ratification of the START II nuclear arms reduction treaty with the United States, but remains reluctant to revise an agreement on missile defense, President Boris Yeltsin said in a letter Friday. In the letter to Japanese Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi, Yeltsin said Russia was making ''considerable efforts'' for the prompt ratification of START II, which has been stalled in the Russian parliament, according to presidential spokesman Dmitry Yakushkin. ....."

London Times 10/14/99 Giles Whittell "....RUSSIA is considering a new military doctrine that for the first time would enable it to launch nuclear strikes anywhere in the world. Experts fear the document, which has a "first use" clause on strategic nuclear weapons, could deepen the chill in Nato-Russian relations and bring back a Soviet-style reliance on the nuclear deterrent. The draft doctrine, submitted this week for ratification by the Duma, contains a thinly veiled attack on Nato and the dominating global reach it showed in the crisis in Kosovo, in which Russia was effectively ignored until 200 of its troops forced their way into Pristina airport. "International security can only be guaranteed in the framework of a multipolar world," the doctrine states in an implicit rejection of the "unipolar" model under American leadership that Moscow accuses of marginalising Russian influence and interests. One Moscow defence analyst said of the doctrine: "Now there is nothing to prevent Russia from using nuclear weapons against any country in any war." ..."

RFE/RL 10/15/99 Tuck Wesolowsky "….Three times Russian President Boris Yeltsin has tried to fire his prosecutor general, who has been investigating allegations of corruption at the highest levels of the Kremlin. And three times the Russian leader has failed. Yesterday, the upper house of parliament, the Federation Council, again refused to sack suspended General Prosecutor Yurii Skuratov. Under Russian law, only the Federation Council, made up of regional governors, has the authority to dismiss the prosecutor general. Anatol Lieven, a Russian expert at the International Institute for Strategic Studies in London, told our correspondent the vote is a further sign of Yeltsin's slipping popularity….."

RUSSIA TODAY 10/15/99 AFP "….Chechnya appealed to the United Nations on Thursday to press Russia to halt its offensive in the rebel republic, demanding sanctions against Moscow and even the dispatch of a peacekeeping force. "The UN and Europe must put pressure on Moscow to cease their aggression against Chechnya," Akhiat Idiguyov, responsible for international relations in the Chechen parliament in Grozny, told AFP. If Moscow refuses, "the international community must adopt sanctions against Russia, and not continue to grant credits, which is immoral," he said….."

BBC 10/16/99 Jonathan Charles "…."For the first time since the collapse of communism, the Russian military is be given a massive increase in funding. Even though the Russian economy is in poor shape, the armed forces are getting another billion dollars to fight the war in Chechnya. Critics claim that the money may have to come from loans granted by the International Monetary Fund which are supposed to help the economy. "They need much more helicopters and helicopters is one of the worst problems in Russian army…."

Russia Today 10/17/99 Reuters "....Chechen fighters shot at a convoy of what appeared to be Russian military vehicles from a village just outside the breakaway region's capital Grozny, a Reuters correspondent said on Saturday. Russian officials denied any military operations had taken place near the settlement, saying that their forces spent the day consolidating their lines and transporting ammunition. The settlement lies on a ridge separating the strategically important River Terek from Grozny....."

China Times 10/18/99 AFP "....In a confidential proposal, the United States is offering to help Russia complete a key radar site in Siberia if Moscow agrees to renegotiate a landmark missile defense treaty, reports said Sunday. Quoting US and Russian officials, the New York Times said the administration of President Bill Clinton was offering to help Russia complete the missile tracking facility in Mishelevka, near Irkutsk. "We've raised with them a number of cooperative activities to show that we see this as a threat that affects both countries," a senior administration official told the Washington Post....."

Foreign Affairs News NY Times Carlotta Gall 10/17/99 "....Among the ranks of fierce-looking Chechen fighters, with their grenades and spare magazines strapped to their chests, there is a man who stands out as especially fearsome. His black hair snakes to his shoulders, he goes by the single name of Khattab, and even among Chechens -- let alone his Russian foes -- he is both hated and revered. Khattab is an Arab, a self-declared Islamic warrior, who has come to Chechnya to fight the Russians he first battled in Afghanistan after the Soviet army occupation in 1979. ....Accused of leading incursions into Chechnya's neighboring Russian republic, Dagestan, and of being behind apartment bombings that killed 300 in Russia, he has come to symbolize for the Kremlin, and for some in the West, their worst fears about Islamic extremism and terrorism. The Russian authorities put out a warrant for his arrest with Interpol after the August incursions into Dagestan and the September bombings. Although they have produced little evidence to back the charge, they have also linked his name with that of Osama bin Laden, the Arab commander based in Afghanistan who is accused by the United States of masterminding the bombings of U.S. Embassies in Kenya and Tanzania last year. ...."

Washington Post 10/18/99 Sharon LaFraniere "....The figure at the center of the storm over alleged Kremlin corruption is a quiet hulk of a man, little known to the Russian public, in the seemingly banal job of supervising supplies and property. Few would assume that he might know the secrets of President Boris Yeltsin's family finances or pose any threat to Yeltsin's regime. Yet from a plain brick office building with a scruffy entrance, Pavel Borodin manages a multibillion dollar empire of breathtaking scope, encompassing 200 state-owned businesses, palaces, planes and other assets. A survivor of countless staff upheavals, he is one of few in the Kremlin who answers directly to Yeltsin, via the pale yellow phone that sits on the right side of his desk. Borodin's press secretary suggests, without too much exaggeration, that Borodin is second only to Yeltsin in his ability to "pull the levers of power." And levers he has: As the chief dispenser of perks, he hands out the dachas once enjoyed by the Soviet elite, the Mercedes-Benzes that race down the VIP lane of Moscow's streets, the vacations at the state-owned resorts, and much more...."

Agence France Presse 10/18/99 ".....Hundreds of Russian soldiers backed up by tanks on Monday entered the outskirts of Grozny, capital of the separatist Chechen republic, for the first time since the two sides' brutal 1994-96 war. "They can see Grozny and take straight shots at it," a senior Russian general told AFP from the main Russian military base in Mozdok, North Ossetia. No fighting in the capital was reported. The troops advanced to the village of Pervomayskaya, located only 15 kilometers (nine miles) west of the city center....."

New York Post Online 10/19/99 "....Just why the Clinton administration feels it necessary to bribe Moscow for permission to defend America from third-world ballistic-missile threats is something of a mystery - but this appears to be the gist of Washington's offer of millions to help Russia to build an anti-missile radar of its own. The world has changed utterly since the United States and the Soviet Union agreed in 1972 not to build comprehensive anti-ballistic missile systems. For one thing, the Soviet Union no longer exists. For another, the technology needed to construct an effective shield does....... There's nothing intrinsically wrong with helping Russia out with its own missile defense - always assuming that the dough isn't skimmed off- but dangling it as a quid quo pro is ridiculous. If the threat to America warrants the deployment of an anti-missile system in the first place, then it should be built, no matter what Russia may think...."

United Press International 10/19/99 "....A senior State Department official told a House panel Tuesday that, while there have been flaws in U.S. policy toward Russia over the past seven years, Congress could play a role in addressing the situation by fully funding President Clinton's foreign aid budget for fiscal 2000. The Clinton administration should have pushed harder for the Russian Duma to pass money laundering laws, Deputy Secretary of State Strobe Talbott told the House International Relations Committee in the latest in a series of hearings related to Russian corruption and Washington's approach to Moscow. Talbott, Washington's senior point man on Russia, added, ``I think that with regard to our technical assistance to Russia, exchange programs working with grassroots organizations, helping them develop civil society institutions, helping them manage the transition both to democracy and to a market economy -- we should have done more.'' Overall, though, Talbott said the problem wasn't with the administration's goals -- such as promotion of democracy and limiting nuclear proliferation -- it was with some of the execution....."

Washington Post 10/20/99 David Hoffman "....Russia today poured cold water on the idea of receiving help from the United States to complete a Siberian missile-tracking radar station in exchange for agreement on changes to the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty. In a brief statement, the Foreign Ministry said "there are no grounds" for American newspaper reports about the U.S. offer of assistance that were published on Sunday...."

New York Times 10/18/99 Stephen Kinzer ".....Ever since five new nations emerged in Central Asia from the ruins of the Soviet Union, there have been warnings that the region was ripe for Islamic insurrection and insurgency. This summer, just such an insurgency erupted in Kyrgyzstan, the smallest and most democratic country in the region. In mid-August a band of about 1,000 religious fighters marched from bases in neighboring Tajikistan, which has been torn by civil conflict for years, across the mountain passes into Kyrgyz territory. They captured a swath of land and 13 hostages, including a Kyrgyz general and four Japanese geologists.....Kyrgyz leaders feel caught in a trap. They cannot afford to upset their Japanese benefactors, but they fear that inaction will give Islamic militancy a foothold in the heart of Central Asia. "This is a very serious threat, and we need to approach it soberly and clearly," said Askar Aitmatov, the chief foreign affairs adviser to President Akayev. "We are apparently only one component of a larger plot. It is the principal political challenge of Central Asia now. "The ideal of these people is an Islamic regime, Islamic rule in all Islamic states. In a situation of general economic crisis and hardship, they may bring under their banner those who are dissatisfied and made desperate by the situation." ...."

Washington Post 10/22/99 Daniel Williams "....A salvo of rockets slammed into the capital of Chechnya today, hitting the city's bustling main market and a maternity hospital and killing scores of civilians, reports from the breakaway region said, as the Russian military appeared to step up its assault on the city. ..."

Russia Today Reuters 10/22/99 "....Residents in the Chechen capital Grozny spent Thursday night in fear and mourning after an apparent Russian rocket attack killed dozens in a crowded market. Russia's Defense Ministry on Friday denied any involvement in a rocket attack on a crowded market in the Chechen capital Grozny on Thursday which killed dozens of people and wounded many more. "We categorically reject this information (that Russia is to blame for Thursday's attack) and we have nothing more to add," a ministry spokesman told Reuters. ...."

Russia Today 10/22/99 AFP "....The Moscow representative of Chechen President Aslan Maskhadov was in police custody in Moscow Friday after being arrested for carrying illegal weapons, the television station TV Center reported. Mayrbek Vachagayev was detained Thursday in his car, in which officers found "a pistol, Islamists literature and maps of Chechnya showing Russian military positions," a police official said on the television. Vachagayev was placed in preventive detention for three days, he said....."

Washington Times 10/22/99 Bill Gertz Rowan Scarborough "..... The Pentagon has given its blessing to a ballistics conference that will feature as one of its international speakers a specialist from the Baltic State Technical University -- one of several Russian companies sanctioned last year for selling missile technology to Iran. President Clinton imposed U.S. economic sanctions on the university and several other Russian entities in July. The university in St. Petersburg was penalized for helping Iranian missile scientists learn rocket-motor technology and training. Apparently, the mild sanctions prevent BSTU from buying or selling goods in the United States but do not keep the State Department from issuing visas to its officials. The university was once the Soviet Union's premier missile development and training center. The National Defense Industrial Association, a private group hosting the conference next month, was surprised to learn from us yesterday that Baltic State's V.F. Zakhrenkov will speak Nov. 16 as part of a presentation on "interior ballistics.".....Charles Wilkins, an NDIA spokesman, said his organization was not aware that Baltic State Technical University is "under sanctions."....."

AP-Washington Post 10/20/99 Tom Raum "....."There still remains doubt that Russia has completely dismantled the old Soviet program," Kenneth Alibek, who defected to the United States in 1992, told a House Armed Services Committee hearing. Alibek, who was deputy director of the Soviet's civilian biological weapons program, said Russia still has at least three plants capable of producing biological weapons...... U.S. government experts on biological and chemical weapons didn't shed much light on what might be going on in Russia. But Hans Mark, director of the Pentagon's Chemical and Biological Defense Program, told the panel that "the chemical and biological weapons threat is potentially increasing in diversity and frequency." More than 20 countries may now have biological weapons capability, Mark said......Moscow had no fewer than 70 "different agents in biological weapons," including new strains of smallpox and plague, Alibek said. ....."

UPI 10/20/99 "....Russia successfully test-launched a RS-18 Stiletto intercontinental ballistic missile from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Wednesday, according to Defense Ministry sources. The missile, known as an SS-19 under Western classification, flew across eastern Russia, hitting its designated target at Kura, a remote area of the Kamchatka peninsula, in Russia's Far East. Over the past few months, Russia has stepped up the number of missiles it test-launches, although a launch of a missile from Baikonur is rare...."

House Floor Speech 10/18/99 Congressman Curt Weldon "....Let me say at the outset, Mr. Speaker, I think we made a fundamental mistake in 1991. The Russia that people were so excited to throw off communism, they were so happy to finally be able to have the opportunity to enjoy the kind of democracy and free market capitalism that they saw us enjoying in the West. And in those first few months we were so excited with the leadership provided by Boris Yeltsin. And all of us were solidly behind him at the time, that I think we forgot one very important and basic notion, that Russia's success as a democracy was not dependent upon one man. It was not going to depend upon Boris Yeltsin, but rather we should have focused on upon helping Russia establish the institutions of a democracy that would last beyond one person. ....... But the most recent poll that I see, provided by one of our think tanks here in Washington, showed Yeltsin's acceptance rate in Russia at 2 percent. Now that leaves us as a country that has been Russia's closest partner in this new experiment in democracy as a country that has totally reinforced Yeltsin at the expense of the support for other institutions inside of Russia. And therefore, with Yeltsin's popularity plummeting at 2 percent, it is no surprise that the Russian people, and the Russian Duma and the Federation Council see America as an equal partner to the problems that Boris Yeltsin has brought to Russia, the problems of the threat of billions of dollars of IMF money, the problem of the misappropriation of dollars that were supposed to go to help stabilize Russia's economy and help create a middle class, the problems of a Russia that has not had control of its technology and has allowed proliferation to occur on an ongoing basis...... Because for the previous 5 and 6 years, Duma Members had seen billions and billions of dollars go into Russia that were designed and supposedly earmarked to help Russian people, and time and time again, they saw those dollars simply flow through the system, through the oligarchs running the banking system in Moscow, many of whom were Yeltsin's friends and back out the other side. Where were the dollars going? To U.S. bank accounts, to U.S. real estate investments, to Swiss bank accounts, to the Russian people in some cases who were former leaders of the Communist party and the KGB who had offshore accounts. In fact, there are reports being investigated today that Boris Yeltsin himself and his family had secret bank accounts where they have stashed significant amounts of money for his retirement days. So it was no surprise, Mr. Speaker, that the Russian leaders said, we do not want any more, we do not want any more of your money. With those thoughts in mind, and realizing that if we did not get additional IMF dollars into Russia, their economy would collapse, I traveled to Moscow and I took with me eight points. Because I was convinced that if I could convince the Duma to accept a new direction in dealing with Russia, that perhaps we could bring some discipline and some new direction for the way that Russia was moving. To my surprise, the Duma deputies that I met with and worked with representing various factions agreed to all eight points. Mr. Speaker, last week I submitted those eight points in the form of legislation...... I have introduced it and it is out now, H.R. 3027, for those Members who would like to become cosponsors. The eight principles lay out a new direction in terms of our relationship with Russia, both monetarily and in terms of dealing with them on issues of transparency....."

The Moscow Times 10/23/99 "….So the U.S. attorney general comes to town for a high-level meeting on fighting crime - and, at the insistence of the Russians, of fighting terrorism. Asked about the war in Chechnya, which is supposed to be about fighting terrorism, she is evasive, and instead talks about the "good working relationship" she has developed with Prime Minister Vladimir Putin. That's good enough for the Russian authorities, who cry victory and insist the war has Western support ….."

Reuters via Yahoo 10/23/99 ".....A Russian mechanized column advanced to positions inside western Chechnya and blocked off the last road leading in and out of the rebel region overnight, a Reuters journalist said Saturday. Reuters television cameraman Arbi Tosuyev said at least 19 Russian tanks and armoured vehicles had occupied positions on the main highway into neighboring Ingushetia. Infantry had dug trenches in fields previously filled with refugees that fled fighting in the breakaway region....."

Associated Press 10/23/99 "....A sophisticated Russian criminal ring has been clearing out bank accounts in several countries - including the United States - by tampering with ATM machines in Moscow in a scam that has mainly targeted foreigners. The full extent of the fraud is not yet known, but authorities believe hundreds of thousands of dollars have been stolen by a well-organized criminal group that may have insider connections at Russian banks. ....."

Washington Post 10/23/99 Daniel Williams ".... A military spokesman said today that Russian forces were responsible for the bombing of a market in Grozny, the capital of Chechnya, that killed scores of people on Thursday. But the official said the market was an arms bazaar and that the victims were merchants selling weapons to the region's separatist guerrillas...."

Foxnews 10/22/99 "....The United States scrambled to impress its message of restraint on Russia over its military advance in Chechnya Friday, with officials saying they feared the operation could turn into a full-scale ground war. The White House said it was troubled by a "tragic'' rocket strike that killed and wounded scores of people in a market in the Chechen capital Grozny and urged Russia to pursue a political solution. Officials said Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, in Kenya on a tour of African nations, was in the process of calling Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov to set out U.S. concerns. She was expected to issue a statement later. ....."

Agence France-Presse 10/29/99 "….The US State Department said Friday it was looking into the seizure by Russia's secret service of a computer and documents from the Moscow apartment of an American nuclear security expert. "We do not know the reason for this event," spokesman James Rubin told reporters, referring to the case of Joshua Handler, a Princeton University specialist in nuclear radiation and security. "We have approached the foreign ministry ... to try to get more details about the case (but) we have no reason to believe that Mr. Handler's movement is being restricted in terms of leaving Russia," Rubin said….."

Washington Post 10/30/99 Daniel Williams "…..Early this morning, hundreds of Chechens who have fled to Ingushetia stood in a drizzle, awaiting relatives trapped inside Chechnya, for the scheduled 6 a.m. opening of the border. Then the hour was changed to 9 a.m. At about 10, a Russian-manned loudspeaker at the barbed-wired crossing blared that the border, which was closed a week ago, would not reopen. The voice blamed Ingushetia, a tiny, impoverished Russian republic to Chechnya's west, for failing to set up a proper regime of passport control and auto inspection. "Dear citizens. The Russian armed forces are ready to open the border and permit people to pass into Ingushetia. But for fault of the Ingush government, this can not happen today. . . . Avoid provocative acts and remain calm. Return home." ….."

Chicago Tribune 10/28/99 Colin McMahon "….The piercing coverage of the 1994-96 war in Chechnya, which startled Russians and fueled demands for a truce, seems forgotten today. Instead, most coverage of the conflict, particularly on television, accepts at face value the government's line. Some of it borders on jingoistic. Russian reporters who may be interested in independent reporting are hampered by the danger of being kidnapped should they travel to Chechnya and by their own government's concerted efforts to control all information. On top of that, most Russians support the military's deepening push into Chechnya. They prefer today's news coverage to the bad news of 1994-96. Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, a potential candidate for Russia's presidency next year, has seen his ratings soar thanks to the war….."

Boston Globe 10/28/99 Jeff Jacoby "…. Let us call it by its real name. What Russia is committing in Chechnya is the mass murder of civilians. Moscow's propagandists speak of creating a ''security zone'' and of targeting ''terrorist bases,'' but these are euphemisms. Russia is butchering Chechens by the thousands and driving them from their homes by the tens of thousands. And not only is the West failing to rise up against this bloodbath, it is actively helping to finance it……. To prevent the world from being deluded by those crafty Chechens, Putin's forces have taken the precaution of bombing TV stations, radio towers, and telephone facilities, along with such other ''military'' targets as hospitals, buses, and bridges…..Nothing about the apartment bombings resembles the modus operandi of the Chechens who have been fighting to free their homeland of Russian domination….."

The St. Petersburg Times 10/29/99 Natalya Shulyakovskaya "…..Alexander Korzhakov, a one-time bodyguard and confidant of President Boris Yeltsin who has since fallen out with him, said Wednesday that he believes the terrorist bombings that have swept Russia into panic and war were orchestrated by Russian intelligence at the bidding of a dark Krem lin faction that includes tycoon Bo ris Berezovsky. Korzhakov said he believes the Krem lin needed the attacks because it needed the renewed war in Chech nya. He said the war was conjured up as part of a drive to establish emergency rule and postpone presidential elections….."

Washington Times 10/29/99 Bill Gertz and Rowan Scarborough ".... Pentagon intelligence agencies detected Russia's use of ballistic missiles last week against the Chechen capital of Grozny in what is turning out to be a bloody terror campaign by Moscow against Chechnya. No administration spokesman, however, has conceded knowing about the missile attacks. U.S. Defense Support Program satellites, which monitor missile launches around the world, spotted and tracked two Russian short-range ballistic missile launches from the Russian city of Mozdok some 60 miles northeast of Grozny. The missiles are believed by intelligence analysts to have been SS-21s, which have a range of between 47 and 75 miles...... "

Richmond Times-Dispatch 10/29;/99 Judith Ingram ".... The assassination of Armenia's prime minister in the assault on Parliament was the latest convulsion of violence to grip the former republics of the Soviet Union as increasingly radical fringe groups take up arms. In some republics, the violence has erupted between governments and religious movements; in others, bloody conflicts have arisen between political opponents. Hopes that democracy would flourish across the former Soviet Union are threatened by growing political polarization. Many radical groups have taken root in the economic desperation that has gripped much of the region since the Soviet collapse in 1991....."

London Times 10/28/99 Giles Whittell "….TO LOUD applause from Russia's Communists, Aleksandr Lukashenko, the hardline Soviet-style leader of Belarus, denounced the International Monetary Fund yesterday as a "pack of swindlers" and urged Russia to sell its missiles instead of seeking foreign loans. Mr Lukashenko, who has long advocated a reunion of Russia and Belarus, earned a warm reception from the Duma's Communist faction during a 45-minute speech in which he appeared to try to force Moscow's hand on the question of reunion and offered a novel way out of Russia's financial troubles. "Why should Russia be on its knees before the IMF, begging for $600 million," he demanded, "when one Russian S-300 strategic missile system is worth $550 million? Why not just sell two of them?" …."

BBC Online 9/28/99 "….Kazakhstan has imposed a ban on Russian space missions using its Baikonur launch pad after a Russian rocket crashed on Wednesday. The Russian Proton-K booster rocket veered out of control nearly four minutes after its launch, the Kazakh Emergencies Ministry said. A ministry spokesman said the rocket had crashed about 25km (16 miles) north-east of the town of Atasu, and nearly 300km (180 miles) south of the regional centre Karaganda. It is not known whether rocket fragments caused any damage on the ground...."

WND 10/28/99 JR Nyquist "….. Today, as never before, there is danger of a nuclear war with Russia. This threat is explained in a new book by former CIA analyst Peter Vincent Pry. Published under the title "War Scare," Pry's book says that the danger of nuclear war is increasing rather than decreasing. Many of us think of the Cuban missile crisis as the moment when Russia and America came closest to exchanging nuclear blows. Not true, says Pry. "Unknown to the general public, and little known to U.S. policy makers, the world has been undergoing an extended crisis," explains the CIA veteran. This crisis is born out of the Russian general staff's view that "nuclear world war may be imminent." Pry is challenging received wisdom, and that is a hazardous thing to do. Having worked at the CIA for 10 years he understands what few others understand. In 1990 Pry wrote a two-volume work on the subject of nuclear war strategy, entitled, "The Strategic Nuclear Balance." Pry's scholarship shows that nuclear war is not only survivable, but winnable. Nuclear weapons are special tools which can be used to disarm an enemy with a lightning blow. The speed which with these weapons function presents a real challenge to America, because an attack can happen in a matter of minutes. Russia is pointing thousands of these weapons at America right now. Pry knows that nuclear weapons can be used in a way that avoids major collateral damage. He knows that these weapons would not destroy the earth. In all of this knowledge he is faced with an uphill battle against the ignorance of his countrymen. Most Americans think nuclear war is crazy. They imagine that nobody would start such a war. According to Pry, most Americans are dead wrong….."

Christian Science Monitor 10/28/99 Justin Brown "….Relations between the White House and the Kremlin are becoming more tenuous with each Russian military advance into the lawless republic of Chechnya. US officials were relatively silent a month ago at the start of the operation, which is aimed at crushing Islamic rebels. But since fighting drove more than 170,000 residents from their homes, and a rocket attack on a market killed more than 100 people, US officials have labeled the offensive "deplorable and ominous." President Clinton and Secretary of State Madeleine Albright have at least 10 times directly urged Russian officials to stop fighting and start peace talks with the Chechens, an administration official says. The rift in relations threatens to isolate Russia internationally while it faces parliamentary elections, economic turmoil, and uncertainty about its nuclear defenses….."

Baltimore Sun 10/27/99 Tom Bowman "….When midnight strikes on Dec. 31, U.S. and Russian military officers will be sitting side-by-side at Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado, trying to ensure that the gremlins of Y2K don't spur an accidental launch of nuclear weapons. They hope to dispel fears that a year 2000 computer glitch will blind Russia's early-warning system or send the false signal that Washington has launched a missile, leading to the ultimate nightmare: a decision by Moscow to counterattack. ..."

Washington Post 10/27/99 Dan Morgan Michael Dobbs "....When Russian American businessman Leonard Blavatnik acquired a major stake in Russia's largest oil field in 1997, it was a coup that showed he could maneuver in the rugged business climes of the former Soviet Union. But that was only step one. In the last two years, Blavatnik has demonstrated that he can also play the Washington game, as he fights to nail down nearly $500 million in U.S.-backed credits critical to his Russian venture. In moves that reveal how Washington has become a second front in the rough-and-tumble world of Russia's new capitalism, Blavatnik and his companies have made thousands of dollars in political contributions, hired a Washington lobbyist and employed a U.S. public relations firm to help plead their case. The U.S. Export-Import Bank is in the final stages of approving the loans, the first major American assistance for a Russian enterprise since last year's collapse of the ruble. ....."

Fort Worth Star-Telegram 10/26/99 Barry Renfrew "….Russia is dismissing growing international criticism of its military offensive in Chechnya and the soaring civilian casualties with a single word: Kosovo. Just as it took a leaf from NATO's campaign against Yugoslavia to fight the war, Moscow is now using Kosovo to reject criticism of its own actions. Moscow's offensive is seen by many Russians as payback time for the Chechens and the West. Western calls for an end to the fighting in Chechnya are making the war more popular among Russians, who opposed NATO's campaign and now accuse the West of flagrant hypocrisy, analysts said….."

Drudge; Washington Post 10/26/99 David Hoffman "…..The Russian military on Monday hurled fighting words at the United States over her pursuit to create and implement a national anti-ballistic missile system, Tuesday's WASHINGTON POST is reporting. POSTIE David Hoffman writes that Russia's first deputy defense minister Nikolai Mikhailov "told reporters that 'our arsenal has such technical capabilities' to 'overcome' any antimissile defenses. 'This technology can realistically be used and will be used if the United States pushes us toward it.'" …."

foxnews.com 10/25/99 Barry Renfrew AP "….Russia is dismissing growing international criticism of its military offensive in Chechnya and the soaring civilian casualties with a single word: Kosovo. Just as it took a leaf from NATO's campaign against Yugoslavia to fight the war, Moscow is now using Kosovo to reject criticism of its own actions. Moscow's offensive is seen by many Russians as payback time for the Chechens and the West…… "The West has lost its moral superiority for Russians after bombing Yugoslavia,'' said Alexander Pikayev, a military analyst at the Carnegie Foundation's Moscow office. "Whatever the West says, ordinary Russians will immediately accuse it of hypocrisy and double standards.'' …."

10/25/99 AFP "….Moscow in its first official explanation of explosions in Grozny that killed at least 137 people said Sunday that the blasts were caused by a "non-military" Russian operation in Chechnya. General Valery Manilov, the deputy chief of staff, was cited by Interfax news agency as saying that "as a result of the non-military operation, two competing (Chechen) gangs had an altercation." The Chechen gunfight, Manilov said, took place near a large arms storage sight. The battle then sparked the explosion, which was the direct aim of the Russian operation, he added….."

Boston Globe 10/26/99 Robert Bruce ware "….The West has failed to appreciate deep-seated insecurities resulting from Russia's long-term frustrations with Chechnya, insecurities that are driving its present campaign and that can only be increased by Western criticism. The West has also failed to consider the ways in which the present conflict differs from that which ended in 1996, and it has failed fully to recognize its own interests in the conflict. We must remember that Russia already has shown restraint. It is responding to two invasions of the Russian province of Dagestan in August and September, waged with the intent of separating Dagestan from Russia and establishing an Islamic state. The invasions were fiercely resisted by the Dagestanis, who firmly wished to remain with Russia. The invasions were mounted by Chechen field commanders from bases in Chechnya where guerrillas from Central Asia, the Middle East, Northern Africa, and Eastern Europe were trained with funds from supporters in the Persian Gulf, Pakistan, and Afghanistan. After repelling the first invasion, Russian troops showed restraint when they refrained from pursuing the insurgents into Chechnya. Nor did they cross into Chechnya when they repelled the second invasion. But when Chechen commanders announced a tripartite military campaign against Dagestan, of which the August and September invasions were merely components of the first phase, they left Russia with little choice….."

International Herald Tribune 10/28/99 Jim Hoagland Washington Post "….Three times in the past seven months a national government has gone to war against its population, etching in blood its sovereign ''right'' to kill as many of its people as it sees fit. Serbia and Indonesia were halted by international outrage and reaction. Kosovo and East Timor were detached from their control and taken over by the United Nations. A doctrine of humanitarian intervention seemed to sink roots. But Chechnya shows that it is still two steps forward and one back. Russia pursues a rain of death on a defenseless regional capital without important foreign constraint or meaningful criticism……"

BBC 10/26/99 "….The Russian Government is reported to have offered a $1m reward for the murder of Chechen warlord Shamil Basayev. General Gennady Troshev, commander of federal forces in Dagestan, told the Interfax news agency that whoever handed over the rebel leader's body would receive the reward, whether they were Chechen or Russian special forces. "That bandit needs to be liquidated. He has caused too much trouble both to Russia and to his own people," General Troshev is quoted as saying...."

Reuters 10/26/99 "…..U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Strobe Talbott is to hold talks with Russian officials in Moscow Wednesday on the problem of Nagorno-Karabakh and the thorny issue of arms control, Russian news agencies said Tuesday. ….. Interfax news agency said Talbott was expected to hold talks with Deputy Foreign Minister Grigory Berdennikov, who last week headed the Russian delegation in the latest round of arms control talks with U.S. negotiators in Moscow. Those talks appear to have failed to close the gap between the two sides. Washington is seeking modifications to the ABM treaty because of a potential nuclear threat to its security from so-called "rogue'' states like Iran or North Korea. Moscow says it is exaggerating such risks….."

Russia Today 10/26/99 Reuters "….Russian forces pushed closer to the Chechen capital Grozny on Tuesday but commanders played down talk of storming the city, saying their main aim was to root out Islamic rebels fighting Moscow's rule in the region. One top commander said in a newspaper interview that Russia was offering a $1 million bounty for the head of Shamil Basayev, one of the rebel leaders whose forces have twice invaded neighboring Dagestan in the past few months. Lieutenant-General Gennady Troshev also told the Moskovsky Komsomolyets the month-long military campaign in Chechnya would continue for as long as needed to crush the rebels, whom Moscow also accuses of causing several bomb blasts in Russian cities….."

Wall Street Journal 10/27/99 ".....The Russian army and air force have already killed thousands of civilians in Chechnya and are gearing up to level what is left of the republic's capital, Grozny. But this doesn't seem to perturb Western leaders bent on "cooperating" with the Kremlin. The much-abhorred East Timor bloodletting was a mere trickle by comparison. To get a sense of how surreal the policy of "engagement" with Russia has become, consider the little-noticed conference on combating international crime and money laundering held in Moscow this week and featuring Attorney General Janet Reno and her counterparts from the other G-8 nations...."

Independent (UK) 11/3/99 Damien Pearse "….Four engineers were starved of food and water, repeatedly beaten with gun butts and decapitated with a large knife after being kidnapped by an armed gang while working in Chechnya, an inquest heard today. Darren Hickey, 26, Rudolf Petschi, 42, Peter Kennedy, 46, and Stanley Shaw, 58, were abducted from a house near Grozny where they had been working to install a telecommunication system...."

Reuters 11/3/99 "…..NATO Secretary-General Lord George Robertson said in an article for a Russian newspaper on Wednesday that the military alliance was concerned over Russia's campaign in Chechnya and Moscow's new military doctrine. But he said the alliance wanted to thaw ties with Russia, which Moscow largely froze after NATO's air strikes against Yugoslavia this year, and which have also been hurt by the alliance's expansion to include former communist states. "Chechnya, too, is a point of common concern," Robertson said in the article written for the daily Nezavisimaya Gazeta. "Clearly every state has a right - and a duty - to combat terrorism. But we should never stop asking: does the end really justify the means being applied?" ….."

International Herald Tribune 11/11/99 William Pfaff ".... The events in Berlin 10 years ago were foreseeable more than three decades before the Wall fell. They were forecast by the East Berlin workers' uprising of 1953, and by the Hungarian revolt and Polish mutiny of 1956, and the Prague ''Spring'' of 1968. Each event was a demonstration that the Soviet ''empire'' in Central Europe had failed to take root. Successful empires win converts. Some of its subjects join the rulers' side because that seems where successful careers will be made. Most do so because the ideas and values of the imperial power undermine those of the conquered society, and inspire emulation.

In Europe's successful empires, young intellectuals, scholars, artists and, eventually, aspirant politicians longed to go to Oxford, Paris, Leiden or Lisbon, and often did. ....There were Central European intellectuals who believed in communism and Moscow's revolutionary glamour while they struggled to install communism in their own countries. After the Soviet army and intelligence services took over that job, and control of their countries as a result, they became cynical functionaries or went into exile....... This failure of Soviet civilization to ''take'' inside its empire meant that the empire rested on bayonets and eventually had to fail. ...."

9/10/98 US Law Enforcement Initiatives Relative to Official Corruption within the Russian Federation "…..Thomas J Kneir Deputy Assistant Director Criminal Investigative Division Federal Bureau of Investigation U.S. House of Representatives General Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee of the House Banking and Financial Services Committee …..The FBI has been involved in several sensitive joint criminal investigations with the MVD and FSB which involve the possible corruption of Russian officials. Initiated based upon the likelihood of violations of U.S. law, these investigations have been very revealing regarding the scope and level of this problem…….. "This particular investigation revealed a pattern of criminal activity which is consistent with other, similar fraudulent schemes originating within the Russian Federation. That is, the utilization of front companies in order to establish a facade of legitimacy, the exchange or transfer of large amounts of cash, the fraudulent manipulation of banking and business records, the opulent lifestyles displayed by the principals, the involvement of corrupt government or commercial individuals, the fear of violent retribution for cooperation with the authorities, and almost always a suggestion of the use of "enforcers" at some level. The GOLDEN ADA investigation has recently gathered additional momentum with the arrest of KOZLENOK in Athens by Greek authorities. He has been extradited to Moscow where he remains in custody and where this investigation continues to be pursued by theMVD and the Procurator's office. We understand that additional Russian subjects, including former high-level government officials, are also under investigation. Its ultimate outcome however is far from certain despite the best efforts of the MVD and Procurators office since this investigation remains vulnerable to high level political pressure." …."

Agence France Presse 11/6/99 "….South American drug lords, the Italian Mafia and Russian criminal gangs are believed to be laundering money through Liechtenstein, often with the help of influential politicians, judges or financial executives, the German magazine Der Spiegel reported in its latest edition. Basing its report on information from the German intelligence service, the BND, the magazine said that drug cartels in particular were in regular contact with a former government member who in turn relied on a network of senior figures in the small EU country's political, judicial and financial elite….."

US News and World Report 8/3/98 "The Looting of Russia: An FBI agent and an honest Moscow cop stop the plundering of the national treasury" …"…Golden ADA had become a potential political scandal, with implications for the United States and the rest of the world. Boris Yeltsin was up for re-election, and the opinion polls showed him trailing the Communist candidate. "What if this turned into Russia's Watergate?" [Joe] Davidson [FBI agent] wondered. Yeltsin's top aides already were mired in scandal; if his inner circle were tied to Golden ADA, it could throw the election to the Communists. In Washington, Justice Department officials briefed the staffs of the National Security Council and Vice President Gore, who was then deeply involved in U.S.-Russian relations. Davidson remembers feeling uneasy. "We were worried about political interference," he says….. Davidson thought the FBI-Moscow team had a chance to blow the case wide open. But then came some very bad news. Davidson's supervisor was on the phone. "What do you know about the IRS raiding Golden ADA tomorrow?" his boss asked. Davidson was aghast. Without consulting him, prosecutors had given approval to the IRS to seize the company's assets. This meant the end of the criminal case. Kozlenok already had fled; with tax agents on their trail, other Golden ADA figures were not likely to stick around. The wiretaps would be useless….."

St. Petersburg (RU) Times 11/5/99 Simon Saradzhyan "….General Vladimir Shamanov is one of the leading Russian commanders waging war in Chechnya - and to hear him tell it, elected officials best not hinder the army this time around. Shamanov, commander of the western group of forces in Chechnya, was quoted in Nezavisimaya Gazeta on Thursday as saying if "politicians" intercede in the fighting and "prevent" the military from achieving victory, then infuriated officers will leave the army en masse. "Some even believe the country will be driven to the brink of civil war" if that happens, he was quoted as saying. In any case, he said, "There will be a powerful exodus of officers of various ranks, including generals, from the armed forces, because the officers corps may not survive another slap in the face."….."

fox news 11/7/99 Reuters "…. Russian guns and warplanes blasted towns near Grozny Sunday as Chechnya's leader appealed to President Clinton to help end the ''criminal'' onslaught for which Russian leaders should be put on trial. Reuters correspondent Alkha Tosuyev said two planes bombed the village of Gekhi, 10 miles south of Grozny, the regional capital, killing four people and injuring 11. At least 10 houses were destroyed in the attack. Russian guns shelled the outskirts of Grozny and warplanes bombed areas to the south, west and east of the city forcing residents to join the thousands scrambling to leave for the relative safety of neighboring Ingushetia……"

Washington Post 11/5/99 "..... IT SEEMS THE Russians not only supported Slobodan Milosevic during his dirty war in Kosovo; they took lessons from him too. Now they are following a Milosevic strategy, destroying the rebellious province of Chechnya in the name of pacifying it. They bomb villages and towns from afar, creating tens of thousands of refugees. Then they open and close borders seemingly at random, so that desperate, displaced people crush each other at crossing choke points...."

Independent News 11/8/99 Patrick Cockburn "…. Russian forces showered Chechen cities and towns with bombs and shells yesterday, forcing civilians to flee the war-shattered republic by the thousands. More than 200,000 people have now escaped into the neighbouring republic of Ingushetia, according to authorities there. One Interfax news agency correspondent said the Russian forces had advanced on the Tersk ridge that overlooks Grozny, and were shelling the outskirts of the Chechen capital from there....."

Stratfor 11/6/99 "….The silent coup that left the Russian military in control of Russia's national security policy has broken into the open, apparently the result of a desperate gamble by members of the Kremlin "Family." According to the Russian newspaper Moskovsky Komsomolets, presidential chief of staff Alexander Voloshin and his deputy Sergei Prikhodko provoked the crisis on Nov. 3 when they told military commanders to prepare for negotiations with Chechen President Aslan Maskhadov….."

Russia Today AFP 11/6/99 "....Russian army commanders have threatened to resign if the Kremlin opens up negotiations with Chechen leaders to end the violence in the breakaway republic, the daily Moskovsky Komsomolets reported Friday, quoting sources close to the presidency. So loud was the generals' protest against the US-urged negotiations that it prompted President Boris Yeltsin to abruptly cut short his Black Sea holiday on Wednesday and return to Moscow, the sources said. "Army chief of staff Anatoly Kvashnin is ready to step down and he's not the only one. There's also a long list of generals who are fighting on the ground in Chechnya," the paper reported......"

Reuters 10/29/99 "… Former Prime Minister Yevgeny Primakov defended Russia's invasion of its breakaway province of Chechnya while distancing himself from his old boss, President Boris Yeltsin, who ordered the campaign. "We believe, and in this I think Russian society fully agrees, that terrorism should be liquidated," Primakov, the leader of the powerful Fatherland-All Russia political party, told reporters. ..."

Worldnetdaily 11/4/99 J R Nyquist "….Last Thursday in Vladivostok, after watching Russian war exercises in the Sea of Japan, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said, "The (Russian) government has undertaken to rebuild and strengthen the military might of the state in response to both external and internal threats." For the last two months the Kremlin has been mobilizing soldiers and distributing 21st century weapons to its military. This buildup includes the transfer of 500 AS-15 Kent cruise missiles from Ukraine to Russia along with 11 strategic bombers. It includes the coming unification of Russia with Belarus. In recent months Russia has conducted an unprecedented series of missile tests and all-arms military exercises. But aside from these war preparations, Prime Minister Putin also mentioned an "internal threat." What internal threat does he mean? Because of the bombings in Moscow, and last summer's Islamic incursion into Dagestan, Russia has been mobilizing troops and personnel of the Interior Ministry and the secret police. In other words, the events of last summer have presented the Kremlin with a chance to reinforce an existing police state with fresh reserves of strength. Are you surprised to hear "democratic Russia" referred to as a police state? …."

Long Island Newsday 11/3/99 Roy Gutman "….As Russian forces pounded Chechen targets and again blocked the flight of thousands of displaced civilians, President Bill Clinton yesterday signaled a "hands-off" attitude by publicly accepting that Russia will act in the rebellious province according to its own assessment of its security interests. During a 50-minute meeting with newly named Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, Clinton cautioned that continued attacks that result in civilian casualties will adversely affect Russia's reputation in world public opinion. But he did not threaten any sanctions, a senior administration official said. "Russia is dealing with a situation in Chechnya which it considers fundamental to its territorial integrity and national security," the official told reporters when asked whether any sanctions were being considered. "And Russia is going to take actions in that situation that are consistent with its own assessment of its security interests." He said Clinton urged Putin to "look at the civilian casualties," start a political dialogue with Chechen rebels in order to achieve a political solution and address the immediate humanitarian crisis…."

Times of London 11/5/99 James Bone David Lister "….A confidential witness told the New York State Banking Department last year that a company set up as part of an alleged money-laundering scheme by Russian bankers was also being used to make what were described as "contributions". He identified the company as Whalesdon Financial Company, with account 826.416.310.333.01 at the Bank of Liechtenstein. Whalesdon was "used for what was coded as contributions to American contacts - Washington and so on", the witness told investigators. "The code name was contributions. To me it's [a] bribe."….According to documents in the British Virgin Islands Whalesdon Financial Company was registered on May 25, 1992, but was struck off on November 1, 1995, after failing to pay its licence fee to the Registry of Companies. No details of shareholders or directors are given for the company, which is registered to an address in Road Town, Tortola….."

Washington Post 11/5/99 Daniel Williams "….Russian troops permitted large numbers of refugees to move out of the breakaway region of Chechnya today, easing a 12-day border blockade that stranded thousands and left them at the mercy of bombings, disease and hunger. Reports from neighboring Ingushetia, a tiny Russian republic that is the main refugee destination, said thousands of men, women and children were still awaiting entry...."

Washington Post 11/4/99 Daniel Williams "….-Russian forces intend to regain control of Chechnya, but will not storm the capital of the breakaway region, Defense Minister Igor Sergeyev said today. He said the military would drive guerrilla defenders from Grozny with bombs, artillery and rockets. Sergeyev's remarks highlighted the Russian government's seemingly contradictory objectives: to reclaim Chechnya, which has been essentially independent for three years, and to avoid heavy casualties. In the first Chechen war from 1994-96, the Russians assaulted Grozny in armored vehicles and suffered heavy losses. They were driven out of the city in a bloody rebel counteroffensive that broke Russia's will to hold onto the southern region, where Islamic guerrillas seek to establish an independent state. …."

Stratfor 11/4/99 "….The explosion of a second Russian rocket in Kazakstan, while only a short-term obstacle to Russian space projects, may have important side effects. It creates an opportunity for Russia to turn to China for increased cooperation in space, with important technological ramifications. Strategically, this affords Russia the opportunity to strengthen a budding alliance with China - while simultaneously keeping a foothold in Kazakstan….."

UK Independent 11/4/99 Patrick Cockburn Katherine Butler "….Russia will take over the whole of Chechnya, Marshal Igor Sergeyev, the Russian Defence Minister, said yesterday, as the Red Cross in Moscow warned of a "catastrophic" refugee crisis. The minister brushed aside international pleas for a diplomatic solution and said President Boris Yeltsin, who has broken off a holiday to return to Moscow, fully supported the operation to finish the job Russian forces failed to do in the 1994-1996 Chechen war. ..."

Chicago Tribune 11/18/99 Andrew Kramer "….Nikolai Birillo was trained to end the world, not clean it up. Birillo, a vice admiral in the Russian navy, ran patrols on nuclear submarines for 23 years, carrying missiles and torpedoes tipped with atomic warheads. Now he sits on a cleanup committee that receives handouts from the United States and Norway to dismantle the subs in an environmentally friendly manner at Arkhangelsk, less than 200 miles south of the Arctic Circle. It's a role Birillo seems reluctant to play. "We aren't technically backward," he said, bristling when asked about the foreign aid that's being provided because Russia is too poor to pay for the work itself….."

Reuters 11/18/99 Paul Taylor "….After a defiant display by President Boris Yeltsin, Russia yielded to massive Western pressure at a European security summit Thursday and accepted for the first time an international political role in Chechnya. Yeltsin flew home to Moscow ahead of schedule after telling Western leaders they had no right to criticize Russia's war against "bandits and killers" in the rebel Caucasian republic. Shortly after he left, Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov reversed seven weeks of stonewalling and agreed to invite the chairman of the 54-nation Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe to Chechnya, ..."

AP 11/18/99 "….The Kremlin and a Swiss bank have denied a report by a Russian newspaper that claimed it had proof of a foreign bank account held by President Boris Yeltsin. Corruption allegations against Yeltsin and his administration have been swirling for months, though no senior officials have been charged with any wrongdoing. The Russian newspaper Versiya alleged on Wednesday that the Russian president controlled an account at Banca del Gottardo in Switzerland….."

Reuters 11/17/99 Andrei Shukshin "….The chief of Russia's air force, angered by Western criticism of the Chechnya offensive, sternly reminded the West Wednesday that his nuclear-armed nation was no Iraq or Yugoslavia and should not be messed with. "Just to remind them -- Russia is not Iraq, nor is it Yugoslavia. There you have it. We will deal decisively with any interference. Let them not think we are totally impotent," Colonel-General Anatoly Kornukov told a news conference. …."

New York Times 11/15/99 Jane Perlez "…. For the Clinton administration, the war in Chechnya has become an issue of how to balance Washington's strategic concerns about arms control and spreading of nuclear weapons with issues of human rights. Over all, the White House is trying to prevent the crisis in Chechnya from turning already cool relations with Moscow into a deep chill. The Russian defense minister, Igor Sergeyev, harshly criticized Washington on Friday and accused the United States of supporting the Chechen rebels...."

Associated Press 11/15/99 Andrew Kramer "…..Russia will ask Western commercial banks to write off $12 billion in Soviet-era debt because the country can't afford to pay, the finance minister said Monday. Russia has been saying for months that it will not be able to pay off its huge foreign debt, and has missed a number of foreign debt payments in the past year. But Finance Minister Mikhail Kasyanov's comment marked the first time Russian officials have cited an exact figure...."

World Net Daily 11/15/99 JR Nyquist "…. The greatest danger facing America is a possible nuclear attack from Russia. This danger is not something imaginary. Russian nuclear missiles can reach America in about 30 minutes, reducing America's cities to rubble. Unlike Russia, America has no anti-ballistic missile defenses and no national shelter system. Furthermore, political changes in Russia have not reduced the danger of nuclear war. According to former CIA analyst Peter Vincent Pry, there has been a five-fold increase in nuclear war scares since the collapse of Communism. What accounts for the increased danger? We have to look at Russia with an eye to previous defector warnings about Kremlin strategy. Americans need to reconsider the importance of KGB defector Anatoliy Golitsyn, who predicted the collapse of the Soviet Union several years before it happened. Golitsyn's 1984 book, "New Lies for Old," alleged that the coming Soviet collapse would be orchestrated by the KGB in order to disarm the West. Gen. Jan Sejna, a high ranking Czech defector, made a similar claim in his 1982 book, "We Will Bury You." In 1967 Sejna learned of a plan to fake the collapse of the Warsaw Pact. This plan hoped to advance the arms control process, encourage Western disarmament, and alter the balance of power in Russia's favor. …."

World Net Daily 11/15/99 JR Nyquist "…. Having explained the technique of deceptive mobilization, it is now time to list ten indicators of Russian military preparations for nuclear war:

1. Significant troop mobilizations in response to a fabricated crisis;

2. An increase in missile tests, to assure the readiness and accuracy of the Strategic Rocket Forces;

3. An increase in prohibited underground nuclear tests;

4. An increase in war exercises of all service branches;

5. Significant troop mobilizations in satellite or allied countries, especially China, North Korea, Iraq or Serbia;

6. Any attempt to create a unified nuclear command;

7. Efforts to extend the range of fighter-bomber formations by upgrading them with extra fuel tanks and in-flight refueling capability;

8. An increase in high-level meetings between government and military leaders;

9. Misleading official statements about the military readiness of the armed forces;

10. The sudden distribution of a new generation of conventional weapons to the armed forces….."

World Net Daily 11/15/99 JR Nyquist "…. Therefore, the ten key economic indicators of Russian war preparations are:

1. The unusual stockpiling of nonferrous and rare metals;

2. Significant cutbacks in petroleum exports for increased military consumption and/or stockpiling;

3. Large government purchases of gold;

4. A large increase in food imports (above normal domestic consumption);

5. Large imports of agricultural machinery;

6. The creation of hardened underground sites for the relocation of war factories;

7. The sudden closing of heavy industrial plants or key scientific centers involved in aerospace research;

8. An increase in shipping assets operating along the Volga and Caspian waterways;

9. A sharp increase in rail traffic in the Ural Mountains and Far East regions;

10. A sudden rise in domestic energy consumption….."

Washington Times 6/16/99 Bill Gertz "….A group of 12 Republican senators is calling on President Clinton to refuse to sign an amended arms-control treaty with Russia this week unless Moscow halts "indiscriminate" military attacks in Chechnya. "Russia's conduct in Chechnya constitutes a brutal assault on the core values of the [Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe]," the senators wrote in a Nov. 10 letter to Mr. Clinton. "The indiscriminate attacks of Russian military forces against the Chechen people are akin to atrocities committed by Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic in Kosovo."

INSIGHT Magazine 12/6/99 J Michael Waller "…. The Clinton-Gore team has been paying Russia to cull its nuclear stockpile. But the GAO says Russia is using the money to develop new weapons systems…… instead of lessening the possibility of nuclear conflict between the United States and Russia, some experts in both countries argue, both President Clinton and Russian President Yeltsin have edged the world closer to the nuclear brink. And Vice President Al Gore has been the enthusiastic facilitator through the much-touted Gore-Chernomyrdin commission meetings. . . . . Russia soon will wield "the constant threat of employing strategic nuclear weapons first," Russian military thinker Col. Lev Valkov recently wrote. "It is a precarious, dangerous deterrence that threatens the entire world."……. . . Paying for the dismantlement of obsolete Russian weapons of mass destruction while looking askance as the Kremlin replaces them with more modern -- and more lethal -- weapons, the Clinton-Gore team has presided over a policy divorced from reality. The reality is that the Russian general staff has heaved any notion of cooperation with the United States in favor of intense suspicion and a new doctrine that, for the first time, has made nuclear warfare a real option….."

Worldnetdaily 11/12/99 Bill Gertz Rowan Scarborough "….. Outrage is growing inside the Pentagon over the refusal of the Clinton administration and private peace groups to condemn ongoing Russian ballistic missile attacks against the Chechen capital of Grozny. We reported earlier [October 29] in this space how Pentagon satellites tracked two short-range missiles that hit a crowded market and a nearby maternity ward Oct. 21, killing 143 persons. Now comes word that the Pentagon has tracked 61 Russian short-range ballistic-missile attacks on Chechnya since Sept. 30 when Russian military forces began large-scale military attacks on Chechen rebels…..Strobe Talbott, the deputy secretary of state, has been briefed on the missile attacks but has done nothing and said nothing to the Russians to stop it. "Why isn't he saying anything to the Russians to stop this atrocious outrage?'' the official said.

AFP 11/13/99 "….Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin confirmed Friday that he will run for president in elections due next June, the Interfax news agency reported. "I was already asked the question when I was appointed prime minister (on August 9) and I responded in the affirmative," he told journalists. "As you know, I never go back on my word." Putin, virtually unknown to the public at large when he became premier, has since surged to the head of opinion polls, largely due to his stand as a "hawk" on the conflict in Chechnya, where federal troops are fighting Islamic separatists. …."

London Times 11/9/99 Ben Macintyre "…. The United States accused Russia yesterday of failing to abide by the Geneva Conventions regulating the conduct of war in its continuing offensive in Chechnya. "It is our judgment that, with respect to the indiscriminate use of force against civilians, [Russia's] current conduct is not in keeping with these commitments," James Rubin, the State Department spokesman, said. "The indiscriminate use of force and the impact of escalation on innocent civilians is a matter of deep concern to us," he added. Mr Rubin stopped short of stating outright that Russia had violated its commitments under the Geneva Convention….."

South China Morning Post 11/13/99 Reuters "….Prime Minister Vladimir Putin declared yesterday that Russia's flag was again flying over a key Chechen town as Moscow came under renewed Western pressure to halt its seven-week offensive against the rebel region. Cranking up the diplomatic tension, Defence Minister Igor Sergeyev accused the United States of stirring up the Chechen conflict, while in Helsinki, Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov rejected an offer from the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) to help end the fighting…"

FoxNews.com 11/12/99 Reuters "….Russia may fly nuclear-capable strategic bombers to Cuba and Vietnam next year, a Russian air force spokesman said Friday. The latest edition of the weekly military newspaper Nezavisimoye Voyennoye Obozreniye quoted the head of long-range aviation forces, Mikhail Oparin, as saying such missions were planned and would greatly surprise NATO….."

New York Times 11/14/99 Vladimir Putin "…. "When President Clinton and I met in Oslo earlier this month, we discussed the situation in Chechnya. Accounts of that conversation in the American media, understandably, emphasized the president's warnings about the impact of Russia's military operations. Because we value our relations with the United States and care about Americans' perception of us, I want to explain our actions in" clear terms. To do so, I ask you to put aside for a moment the dramatic news reports from the Caucasus and imagine something more placid: ordinary New Yorkers or Washingtonians, asleep in their homes. Then, in a flash, hundreds perish in explosions at the Watergate, or at an apartment complex on Manhattan's West Side. Thousands are injured, some horribly disfigured. Panic engulfs a neighborhood, then a nation. Russians do not have to imagine such a calamity. More than 300 of our citizens in Moscow and elsewhere suffered that fate earlier this year when bombs detonated by terrorists demolished five apartment blocks. Consider another unthinkable scenario. A long simmering dispute between one of your states and your federal government causes political unrest in that state. Armed militias arise, similar to those found in your states of Montana and Idaho. Eventually, they are assisted by foreign adventurers with their own agenda who use that troubled region as a base to launch violent raids against a neighboring state. Lives and property are destroyed - as a means of expanding the chaos……."

Russia Journal 11/29/99 Gregory Feifer "……Former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev met with members of his Social Democratic Party - which aims to create a political organization that would unify Russia's like-minded parties - to discuss the group's principles and outline its way forward. But while Gorbachev enjoyed full support during the meeting, his exchanges with party members reflected tensions between differing notions of the future party's idealism, the legacy it inherits and its immediate plans…."

AP 11/27/99 "….Michel Camdessus said future funding for Russia should depend on the country's ability to fulfill economic commitments given to the IMF earlier in the year, the private news agency Europa Press reported…..But, Camdessus added, IMF help also depended on the goodwill of the international community, ``and it is very clear that this war (in Chechnya) has given Russia a very negative image internationally.'' …."

South China Morning Post 11/27/99 "…. The Russian air force may be planning to use powerful "vacuum", or fuel air, bombs in Chechnya for the first time in the war. These explode above ground but exert enough pressure to kill everybody above and below ground over a wide area. As the Russians stepped up their military campaign, forces yesterday pounded the west side of Grozny in what soldiers described as the fiercest shelling yet. Chechen authorities had the grim task of looking for casualties after hundreds of rockets screamed in overnight…."

THE TORONTO SUN from KDN 11/23/99 Lorrie Goldstein "…..Fortunately, the Canadian Security Intelligence Service document that was stolen when a CSIS analyst went to a Leafs hockey game and left her briefcase in the back seat of her vehicle, has been recovered. Apparently, it was a crucial briefing note meant to explain to Canadian politicians why they and NATO are now standing idly by while the Russians continue to blow the hell out of Chechnya, as opposed to why they went into Kosovo against Yugoslavia with guns blazing……"

Wall Street Journal Europe 11/23/99 Ken Weisbrode "….The European Security Charter issued by 54 leaders last week in Istanbul amounted to a remarkable break with the past. It was equally momentous for the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), the sponsor of the conference, whose role has greatly expanded in recent years. For the first time since the Treaty of Westphalia in 1648, the states of Europe have declared openly the right to intervene in one another's "internal" affairs for humanitarian reasons. Even though application of this principle to ongoing territorial conflicts, namely the one in Chechnya, was diluted or postponed out of deference to Russian concerns, the principle itself warrants a second thought……And is it not additionally ironic that the nation which first proposed a European Conference on Security and Cooperation -- the Soviet Union --should fall victim to the forces unleashed at Helsinki and then produce a poor stepchild, Russia, that should become the object of unanimous scolding by those very nations that profited most by her predecessor's demise? Is the West not overdoing things just a bit?….."

Free Congress Foundation/Washington Times 11/23/99 Paul M. Weyrich and William S. Lind "….the Russian army in Chechnya is fighting for us, too, and for everyone who does not want to live under the oppression of Islam. Since the seventh century, Islam has been a bitter enemy of Christendom, and indeed of everyone who does not believe that Mohammed was a prophet of God. Areas such as Egypt, North Africa, and the Near East were once solidly Christian, and they fell not to Islam's teaching but to its sword. Egyptians and other Middle Easterners who still hold to their older Christian faith today suffer brutal oppression. For about three hundred years, as the power of the Islamic Ottoman Empire waned, Islam was in retreat. But over roughly the last thirty years, it has resumed the offensive, expanding outward in every direction: down both coasts of Africa (in Islamic Sudan, black Christians are sold as slaves and some have been crucified; in Nigeria, Islamics have sealed Christians in their churches and set them on fire, burning whole congregations to death), east into Southeast Asia (much of the violence in Indonesia, including the destruction in East Timor, has been Moslems against Christians), and, most ominously, north into Europe. With American aid, two new Islamic states have been created in the Balkans, Bosnia and Kosovo. All across the southern frontier of Christian Russia, Islam is pressing inward. The current fighting in Chechnya began when Chechen Islamic militants attacked Russian Dagestan. In strategic terms, Russia's war is a defensive one….."

New York Times 11/25/99 William Safire "…..The Yeltsin "family" and its new K.G.B. front man, Vladimir Putin, came up with a plan to regain popularity in the coming elections: Use foreign funds to build up the army and -- under the pretext of anti-terrorism -- exterminate the militant Chechens. So far, it's working. The Russian generals, humiliated by the independence forces five years ago, are using new tactics that inflict civilian casualties with missiles and artillery. Controlled media show victories, not 200,000 pitiful Chechen refugees or Russian body bags. The Yeltsin-Putin party's popularity is soaring….."

TASS 11/24/99 Boris Zaitsev "…. A special British company completes preparations in London to deliver valuables to Moscow, handed over here to the Russian side on Tuesday evening. Itar-Tass learnt from reliable sources that valuables which are closely guarded, will be dispatched to Moscow over the next few days and then shown to the public at large……. Big uncut diamonds, rare coins of tsarist mintage, jewellery of gold and platinum and other valuables worth 12.5 million U.S. dollars, taken from Russian state reserves to the United States by the Golden ADA company, were returned in compliance with a Russian-American agreement…."

Interfax Russian News 11/24/99 "…. Precious metals and stones worth $12.5 million confiscated from the American Golden Ada company are returning to Moscow on Wednesday, Interfax was told at the State Reserves of Precious Metals and Stones…… In 1994 the now non-existent Russian State Committee for Precious Metals signed an agreement with Golden Ada concerning the sale and processing of gold and diamonds from its reserves. The committee delivered 87.7 thousand carats of uncut diamonds worth$ 88.7 million to the Russian Zvezda Urala company fully owned by Golden Ada. The diamonds were supposed to be cut in the U.S. and returned to Russia but the precious stones were not returned….."

Interfax Russian News 11/17/99 "…. The main witnesses in the Mabetex case, most notably Kremlin property manager Pavel Borodin, will be questioned in the near future, the Russian Prosecutor General's investigator for particularly important cases, Ruslan Tamayev, told Interfax on Wednesday. "Everyone involved in this criminal case will certainly be questioned. This investigation has a lot of questions," Tamayev said. Journalist Oleg Lurye has been asked to testify on November 18 in connection with his article in the Versiya newspaper. Lurye's article was accompanied by copies of documents from alleged Yeltsin accounts with the Gottardo Bank in Switzerland. "We would like him to speak in detail. Moreover, he wrote that he was ready to assist the investigation," he said. Asked whether Russian President Boris Yeltsin might be summoned, Tamayev said that "the law applies to everyone. If necessary,[ Yeltsin] will be questioned too." …."

The Moscow Times Jen Tracy 11/19/99 "…..A journalist who wrote an article saying President Boris Yeltsin and a top aide had bank accounts abroad was questioned Thursday by prosecutors investigating suspected Kremlin corruption. Oleg Lurye, who works for the Versiya newsweekly, was questioned by Ruslan Tamayev, the prosecutor in charge of the investigation. In an article published Wednesday, Lurye claimed that he had proof - in the form of documents from a Swiss bank - that Yeltsin and Kremlin property manager Pavel Borodin held accounts in Switzerland's Banca del Gottardo bank. The article printed what the paper said were copies of account documents with the two men's signatures on them….."

THIEVES IN POWER Vitaly Denisov Rossiisky Izbiratel, No. 25-26, October 1999, p. 2 10/19/99 "….AN INTERVIEW WITH ALEXANDXER KULIKOV, CHAIRMAN OF THE DUMA INTERFACTION ANTI-CORRUPTION COMMISSION WHICH RECENTLY RETURNED FROM THE UNITED STATES. HE SAYS THE COMMISSION HAS EVIDENCE AGAINST NIKOLAI AKSENENKO, WHO SHOULD BE SUSPENDED FROM OFFICE. HOWEVER, A REAL BATTLE AGAINST CORRUPTION IN RUSSIA IS IMPOSSIBLE UNDER THE PRESENT GOVERNMENT.

Question: Did you hear anything new concerning the matter which is known in the West as Russiagate?

Question: You claim that some of the money we received from the IMF was embezzled, right? Can you name any specific people?

Answer: Our commission studied information on over one hundred instances of embezzlement committed by top officials. Who are they? They are the people everyone knows: Chubais, Chernomyrdin, the Family and its relatives. I'm saying this as Duma deputy, the chairman of the relevant commission, and simply as a Russian citizen. We also promoted investigations into the activities of other "heroes": Gaidar, Nemtsov, and Kirienko. The Duma commission is investigating corruption in the Krasnodar Territory. Just don't ask us why these persons are not in jail: this is not our field. Let the law enforcement agencies handle this aspect.

Question: Do you trust law enforcement agencies?

Answer: Do I look so naive?

….Question: What is your Commission doing now?

Answer: We recently completed a study of corruption-related documents in the Komi Republic. Investigations are underway into the matters related to Mabetex, Bank of New York, the Tver Region, Kemerovo and fourteen regions of the Russian Federation. We've already compiled and analyzed all materials on Senior Deputy Prime Minister Nikolai Aksenenko, which we have forwarded to the General Prosecutor's Office. We are also working on a letter to Prime Minister Vladimir Putin recommending that Aksenenko be relieved of his duties, at least provisionally, pending results of the investigation.

……Question: We are talking about one of the key figures in the Russian corridors of power. What then must be happening in the lower echelons of the executive powers?

Answer: Corruption is everywhere. I'll even venture to name a figure: 70% of all Russian officials - from the local government upwards - are corrupt….."

Anastasia Prokofiyeva Agence France Presse; International news 10/13/99 "…. Russian senators Wednesday dismissed a third attempt by President Boris Yeltsin to sack the country's top law officer, sidelined this year after launching a probe into Kremlin graft. The prosecutor, who faces criminal charges for alleged abuse of office, has branded the video a set-up. In a defiant address before 150 governors and regional chiefs in the chamber, Skuratov said that firing him was "in the president's and his family's personal interest." "Either we put a halt to this sea of corruption, or the Federation Council follows the path of corrupt Kremlin officials," he added. Skuratov was dismissed after he launched an investigation into the Mabetex corruption scandal involving senior Kremlin officials….."

Agence France Presse 9/13/99 "…. One million dollars that passed through the personal Swiss bank account of a high-ranking Kremlin official was transferred to a nonexistent Hungarian company, Corriere della Sera reported Monday. The sum was deposited by Bexhet Pacolli, the Kosovar Albanian contractor suspected of bribing Russian officials to win a lucrative bid to refurbish the Kremlin, the paper alleged. En route, it went from Pacolli's personal account in the Bahamas to an account codenamed "Dean," allegedly opened by Pavel Borodin, the Kremlin property manager suspected of taking Pacolli's bribes. Pacolli, who at first said the transfer was meant for Russian President Boris Yeltsin, later told the paper the money in fact went to a Hungarian vendor, Trinlo. Another Italian paper reported the money went to a Virgin Islands-based company called Trinco…."

Boston Globe 11/20/99 Brian Whitmore "….As US officials condemn Russia's military campaign in Chechnya, are American taxpayers about to unwittingly help bankroll it? Russia is waging war to destroy Islamic militants in its restive Caucasus region. Like all wars, this one costs money - as much as $2 billion so far. So where does a cash-strapped, debt-ridden country like Russia, which has trouble paying its teachers and doctors, get the money? While rising oil prices have put billions of additional dollars in Russia's coffers, Moscow is still largely dependent on foreign lenders. It is currently awaiting a total of more than $1.1 billion in credits, $640 million from the International Monetary Fund, and $495 million from the US Export-Import Bank….."

Excite News 11/30/99 Gail Appleson "….A former employee in the Bank of New York Co. Inc.'s Eastern European division was arrested Tuesday on federal charges that she allegedly lied to authorities during the government's probe of possible Russian money laundering, prosecutors said. Svetlana Kudryavtsev, who had been an international banking associate, was charged in Manhattan federal court with making several false statements during an interview with FBI agents as part of the investigation. Kudryavtsev, 49, was arrested at her home in Brooklyn and was released after posting a $30,000 personal recognizance bond. Kudryavtsev was fired by the bank in August after banking officials alleged she refused to cooperate with an internal investigation into accounts at the bank. …."

Fox News 12/4/99 "….U.S.-sponsored Radio Liberty reported Saturday that Russian troops descending on the Chechen capital Grozny had massacred a column of some 40 refugees fleeing the city. Andrei Babitsky, a correspondent for Russian-language Radio Liberty, quoted eyewitnesses as saying masked Russian troops had opened fire at close range on the column of refugees. In a conflict that has seen large numbers of civilian casualties from artillery and air strikes, it was the first report of such a large-scale massacre by troops on the ground. ..."

Washington Post 12/4/99 Steven Mufson "….The International Monetary Fund held back a $640 million loan installment for Russia yesterday in a move that many economists and Russian officials interpreted as a reaction to political pressure from European nations upset about the war in Chechnya. After IMF Managing Director Michel Camdessus met with senior Kremlin economic adviser Alexander Livshits yesterday, IMF spokesman Thomas Dawson cited Russia's failure to enact economic reforms as the reason for delaying the payment..."

Fox News Online 12/3/99 Yuri Bagrov AP "….Up to 250 Russian soldiers were killed early today when their unit was surrounded and overrun by Chechen insurgents in heavy fighting, according to an official. Ali Dudarov, deputy interior minister of the republic of Ingushetia, said that Russian officers told him that the unit was attacked near the Chechen town of Urus-Martan, 12 miles southwest of the capital Grozny. He said some 200 soldiers were killed in the attack and 50 more who had been taken prisoner were executed by having their throats slit. …."

New York Post 11/19/99 Neil Travis "…. Poor, decent Al Gore is going to regret the day he started being a bagman for the Democratic Party. The veep's fund-raising--particularly among foreign interests--could eventually doom his own presidential bid. We're not talking just Buddhist monks here. Last month, I reported that federal authorities were secretly looking into a proposed Export-Import Bank loan guarantee of some $500 million to Russian oil company Tyumen. The suggestion was that Ex-Im, headed by former New York Democratic fund-raiser and Clinton appointee James Harmon, might be under party pressure to grant the extremely risky guarantee. I reported the widespread rumors about Russian money being laundered through local banks and that some of it was then channeled to the 1996 Clinton-Gore campaign. (Gore was somehting of a point man with Russian entrepreneurs at the time.) Since then, the potential scandal has grown, with lawmakers from both sides of the fence getting involved. New York Democratic Rep. Carolyn Maloney, for example, has just written the GOP's Jim Leach, chairman of the House Banking Committee, asking him to use his influence to delay the Ex-Im's loan-guarantee approval. ….."

Agence France Press 11/20/99 "…. The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) summit in Istanbul which was dominated by the Russian military offensive in Chechnya, revealed deteriorating US-Russian relations, according to political analysts here. Relations between Washington and Russia were already cooler since the NATO intervention in Kosovo at the start of the year, but have now reached "a new low," according to David Kramer, a Russian specialist at the Carnegie Endowment. "(Since Kosovo) once again US-Russia relations have reached a new low. They continue to deteriorate. I have a pessimistic view of the effect of the OSCE summit on the situation in Chechnya," Kramer said. The OSCE summit, he said "won't accomplish anything and, in fact, the situation in Chechnya will get worse." Added to the Chechnya problem is an "accumulation of issues," according to Kramer. The "accumulation" includes NATO expansion, lack of agreement over Iraq, accusations of Russian technology transfer to Iran and new accusations over Russia and the International Monetary Fund (IMF). …."

NY TIMES 11/20/99 "….More than 60 Russian SS-21 missiles and scores of Scuds have ripped into the civilian populace in the capital of Chechnya, as the Red Army seeks vengeance for its humiliating defeat by independence-minded guerrillas five years ago. This time the generals calling the shots have Russian public opinion on their side. Chechen terrorists struck into a neighboring state loyal to Russia and are also widely believed to be behind murderous bombings in Russian cities. The average Russian wants to get even. Russian generals have seized on this popular sentiment to demand more money and more recruits. The generals' lust to use scarce resources to rebuild Russia's military might comes at a propitious moment for them: one month from now, elections to parliament take place. …."

Stratfor 11/19/99 "….. Russia is striking an increasingly confrontational stance toward the West. President Boris Yeltsin s abrupt departure from the Istanbul summit on Nov. 18 is only the most visible part of a foreign policy that is overtly building tension. The Russian military is playing a dominant role: openly criticizing the West, defying it in Chechnya and carrying out high-profile missile tests. This is the Russian card the West fears most, played to force the world to deal with Moscow on Moscow s terms. …."

New York Times 11/19/99 Judith Miller "…. Russia has suggested for the first time that it might support a weapons inspection system for Iraq that would be acceptable to Western nations if Washington gave Moscow a free hand in Chechnya, administration officials said Thursday. The proposed link was contained in an informal document that Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov gave Secretary of State Madeleine Albright during a meeting Wednesday of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, in Istanbul. Administration officials seemed eager Thursday to reject even the possibility of such a deal. After restating Russian demands for changes in U.S. policy toward Iraq, the two-page paper asked the Clinton administration to agree not to raise Russia's military actions against Chechnya in the U.N. Security Council, which the paper stated "is unacceptable to us." Russia could then offer progress on Iraq, the paper suggested, saying, "We are ready to instruct the Russian representative to the Security Council to be flexible on Iraq." ….."

Associated Press Terence Hunt 11/19/99 "….With reservations about Russian troops in Chechnya, President Clinton joined world leaders Friday in signing a treaty restricting the number of tanks, planes and artillery of nearly every major army across Europe. However, Clinton said he would not ask the Senate to ratify the agreement until Moscow reduces its forces in Chechnya, now in excess of agreed limits. ``We must have confidence that there will be real compliance,'' Clinton said. The treaty was signed on the closing day of the 54-nation summit of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. Leaders also updated the OSCE's charter to strengthen the organization's role in human rights monitoring, conflict prevention and mediation, and post-war reconstruction…."

Reuters – UPI 12/6/99 Maria Eismont "…..Russia's military issued an ultimatum on Monday that warned all Chechens to leave their capital Grozny within five days or die, provoking a new exodus of terrified refugees. Scores of people made their way down this narrow road from Grozny after reading the Russian warning in leaflets distributed as troops closed in on both the capital and two other key towns leading to it….."

NewsMax.com 12/6/99 "…..The world watches as Russia wages war to reclaim control of its breakaway province of Chechnya. Is that all its military is up to there? A writer for a respected independent newspaper published daily in Moscow recently raised that question and came up with a horrifying prospect: Chechnya could be a real-life proving ground for a nightmarish new Russian super-bomb designed to exterminate - like rats in a cellar - enemy troops dug in to defend cities. Should that fail to dislodge Muslim rebel forces now holed up in subterranean bunkers beneath Grozny, the capital city, even-more awesome weapons of mass destruction await them, according to the article in the Moscow Times….."

Associated Press -- Yahoo News 12/14/99 Vladimir Isachenkov ".....Russia launched a new strategic missile Tuesday and used the occasion to warn the West against criticizing its campaign in the breakaway republic of Chechnya. Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, who witnessed the test, said Russia ``will use all diplomatic and military-political levers in its disposal,'' to confront Western opposition. Putin's comments came in a speech to military officers at the Plesetsk launch pad in northwestern Russia, after the successful test-firing of a Topol-M intercontinental ballistic missile. The missile was launched from Plesetsk and flew across Russia, hitting its target on the Kamchatka peninsula, some 3,400 miles to the east. ``The diplomatic levers are clear, and as for military ones, Tuesday's successful launch of the Topol-M intercontinental ballistic missile is one of them,'' Putin said, according to Russian news agencies. ....."

Drudge Report 12/14/99 "…. Russia on Tuesday launched a new intercontinental ballistic missile that flew across Russia and hit a target 3,400 miles away. Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin used the occasion to tell the West that Russia "will use all diplomatic and military-political levers in its disposal" to counter criticism of its military attacks on Chechnya. Elsewhere, China is considering buying a third Project 636 Russian submarine, a military-industry official told ITAR-TASS on Tuesday. …."

NewsMax 12/14/99 "…. Still furious over United States criticism of Russia's war in Chechnya, President Boris Yeltsin has placed his most deadly intercontinental nuclear missiles on "combat alert." The Moscow bureau of the London Express is reporting that, on his orders, 10 of Russia's newest, most sophisticated weapons - capable of striking the United States - have been deployed in full readiness. This unprecedented dramatic warning has Western observers nervous about the possibility of an inadvertent launch at a time when it is known that Russia's missiles are not fully reprogrammed to avert all millennium-year computer failures. …."

WorldNetDaily 12/13/99 J R Nyquist "…. Russian President Boris Yeltsin, speaking in Beijing on Thursday, reminded President Bill Clinton that Russia has a large nuclear arsenal. This simple fact, of course, should never be mentioned publicly. Yeltsin's obvious breach of etiquette, therefore, sent shock waves through the West. Typical of the American reaction, the Dow Jones Newswires carried a column by Jim Murphy that began by quoting lines from the "Solipsist's Love Song." Murphy then admitted that he wanted to talk about "the sodden, perhaps evil, and increasingly demented president of Russia." But Murphy couldn't write about Yeltsin "because it's too depressing." Like most Americans, Murphy doesn't have a bomb shelter. President Clinton, on the other hand, reacted by saying that Yeltsin's statement should not be taken seriously. This made everything better, of course, because we can go on pretending that Russia isn't a threat. However, Clinton did take offense at being accused of a memory lapse. Therefore, regarding the existence of Russia's nuclear arsenal, Clinton said, "I haven't forgotten that." Clinton, of course, has a bomb shelter….."

Electronic Telegraph 12/14/99 ben Aris "…. RUSSIAN troops began storming Grozny yesterday, according to a Chechen rebel report on the internet that was denied by the Defence Ministry in Moscow. Movladi Udugov, a rebel spokesman, said federal forces had launched attacks on Grozny's eastern suburbs at dawn and battles were under way in at least three areas around the capital, including at Khankala airport, which the Russians held for only a few hours on Monday. He said: "The storming of the Chechen capital is under way practically at full scale." Up to 40,000 civilians remain in the city under almost continual shelling, according to Chechen sources. Shudin Taisumov, one of a handful of refugees who escaped from Grozny yesterday, said: "The ones who are left are doomed," said . "I had nothing to eat, not even canned pickles. I was terrified to go to the bathroom."…."

The Associated Press 12/13/99 "….Russian lawmakers today put off voting on the START II nuclear arms treaty, once again dashing prospects that it might be ratified any time soon. Leaders in parliament's lower house, the State Duma, said last week that they planned to debate START II during a special session today, which was also expected to include ratification of a union treaty with Belarus. The move raised the possibility that the Communists and their hard-line allies who dominate parliament might drop their resistance to the treaty. Russia and the United States both signed the agreement in 1993, and the U.S. Senate ratified it in 1996. …."

Bangkok Post 12/13/99 "….. President Boris Yeltsin's outburst about Russian nuclear power during his visit to Beijing last week was unnecessary, uncalled-for and unhelpful. It remains unclear just what point the Russian leader was trying to make. He was clearly irritated by several days of criticism from just about the whole world over his Chechnya policy. But that just adds to the concern over Mr Yeltsin's thoughtless and disturbing remark. ……Mr Yeltsin was in China at the time, getting the only support in the world for Chechnya from a new friend, President Jiang Zemin. The informal Russian-China summit went extremely well for both countries. Mr Yeltsin was obviously happy, clearly at home in the company of Mr Jiang. The Chinese support for this brutal and violent Chechnya operation may have caused him to speak before thinking. ….."

Russia Today 12/12/99 AFP "….U.S. President Bill Clinton said Saturday that the security breach by a Russian diplomat bugging the State Department "won't happen again" and should not harm relations with Moscow. "I certainly wish it hadn't happened, but I think they learned something about this. I think now they'll figure out this technology and it won't happen again," he said in a radio interview with CBS News. Stanislav Borisev Gusev, who worked at the Russian embassy in Washington, was caught spying and ordered to leave the United States Wednesday in 10 days after he was caught eavesdropping on sensitive State Department meetings. ….."

Stratfor 12/10/99 "…. Russian President Boris Yeltsin and Chinese President Jiang Zemin met Dec. 9 for a hasty and informal summit. While the Russian government and media focused on the two countries' strategic partnership and on China's backing for Russian actions in Chechnya, the Chinese state media highlighted the border agreements inked at the meeting. The differing media coverage reflects the fundamental difference in emphasis both nations place on the meeting. Russia appears desperate for China's support, to demonstrate to the United States that it is still a great power. China, while maintaining some distance from Russia's tactical concerns, is also demonstrating clearly to the United States that a Sino-Russian bloc remains an option. …."

CNSNews.com 12/13/99 Rich Galen "…. * Remember how the White House howled in protest that our newest and bestest friends - the Russians and the Chinese - might be offended by calling them "rivals" instead of "strategic partners"? * Now, it turns out, one of our "strategic partners" - Russia -had a bug planted in a conference room on the seventh floor of the State Department. The seventh floor is the floor on which Secretary Madeline Albright has her offices. If you were a "strategic partner" of the US and you wanted to plant a bug in the State Department building, the seventh floor would be the optimal place. * Democratic Senator John Jerry of Massachusetts and GOP Senator John Kyl both said, under questioning by CNN's Wolf Blitzer that they believe whoever installed that device is still there. A mole is working in the State Department in a high enough position to have access to that seventh floor. Test. Test. Check-One-Two….."

The Regan Exchange 12/10/99 Mary Mostert "…. In his seven year history, Bill Clinton has bombed a lot of countries. However, none of them have been nations with nuclear arsenals. Yeltsin is just reminding his buddy in Washington that he shouldn't think about making the situation in Russia an exception, in spite of the treatment his troops in Kosovo have received at the hands of the NATO occupiers. What is troubling, at least to me, is that Yeltsin would make the statement about his nuclear arsenal in the context in which he made it. Is he concerned about Clinton's instability? Or is he afraid that the Kosovo situation will embolden Clinton to try a few bombing raids against Russia, if he thinks it might help the Democrats win the election next year? Or, are BOTH Yeltsin and Clinton becoming mentally unstable enough to consider nuclear weapons - especially after the use, by American bombers, of depleted uranium missiles and anti-personnel cluster bombs dropped in school yards against Yugoslavia? Certainly Yeltsin is probably getting increasingly alarmed at the situation in Kosovo, where Clinton and NATO agreed to the sovereignty of Yugoslavia over Kosovo, and during the current occupation have totally ignored Yugoslavian sovereignty over Kosovo and Resolution 1244 to the extent that it has approved and aided the ethnic cleansing of Kosovo of all non-Albanian minorities, changed the currency to the German mark and physically turned over factories and other property owned by the Serbs to Albanians from Albania……."

BBC 12/10/99 Ian Pannell "…..Ten years after the Cold War was officially laid to rest, relations between the West and Russia have become increasingly fractious. Both the Kosovo and Chechen conflicts of 1999 illustrate that relations continue to be dominated by strategic differences. For some 50 years the Cold War defined western policy towards Russia. It may not have been a safe world but relations became codified and predictable. ……Between 1992 and 1997 more than $30bn was given to Russia for radical economic reforms and the cash is still being ploughed in. Most has come through International Monetary Fund and World Bank loans and rescheduled debt, the rest through various bilateral aid projects. Yet since 1992 Gross Domestic Product has fallen by nearly 50% and Industrial Output by nearly 60%. Even allowing for margins of error, the statistics make grim reading. Since 1991 the average standard of living has fallen by more than half, with wages down and a third of the country living below the poverty line. …"

NewsMax 12/10/99 "….Boris Yeltsin flaunts Russia's nuclear arsenal while visiting Communist China's rulers in Beijing. What's really going on? The answers range from sobering to downright scary. The picture being carried out of Beijing by international television coverage shows a seemingly out-of-control Russian president. One moment he is displayed barely being able to stagger, stand or sit. The next, he is furiously brandishing his nation's still-mighty nuclear weapons at the United States……What's going on beneath is even more disturbing: • Yeltsin is outraged that President Clinton would have the temerity to lecture him, as he indeed did this week, about waging war against Islamic rebels in Chechnya. • That's Russia's internal business and none of Clinton's, Yeltsin bristles, and he seems to have the military and much of his own people with him on that. • Clinton's admonitions about Chechnya and his own military intervention via NATO in the civil war in Yugoslavia are, to Yeltsin, all part of a menacing new United States policy of involvement beyond its own traditional spheres of legitimate interest. • Russia's war in Chechnya is drawing increasing criticism in the international community. That presents major problems for Yeltsin and he resents it deeply. • Already, the European Union is talking of imposing sanctions on Russia, which needs every scrap of trade to keep its foundering economy from sinking. • Resentment about Chechnya is prompting pressure within Congress to cut off U.S. financial assistance to Russia, another crusher for Yeltsin. • There are growing concerns among Yeltsin's political opponents that he may have sown the dragon's teeth in Chechnya that will produce a monster problem for Russia among the millions of resentful Muslims within its borders and in neighboring states. ….."

XINHUA/via Drudge 12/10/99 "…..Another regiment of the Russian Strategic Rocket Force equipped with 10 advanced Topol-M intercontinental ballistic missiles was put on combat duty Friday, said a top Russian military official. The regiment began its combat duty at 3 p.m. Moscow time and it is the second strategic rocketry regiment deployed at Tatishchevo, the Saratov region, said Colonel General Vladimir Yakovlev, commander-in-chief of the Russian Strategic Rocket Force, at a ceremony in Tatischevo. Officials from the Russian Defense Ministry, the government and the presidential administration also attended the Friday ceremony The first such regiment of the Tatischevo division has been staying in the Saratov region since December of 1998, said the Russian Strategic Rocket Forces Press Service. …."

BBC 12/8/99 ".....President Boris Yeltsin and Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko have signed a treaty to create a formal confederation between the two countries. Under the treaty, the two countries will create a High Council consisting of their presidents, prime ministers and parliamentary speakers - although it is not clear what powers this body will have. The agreement also proposes the eventual merger of the two countries' currencies, but does not set any time frame....."

Reuters 12/9/99 "....Russian President Boris Yeltsin, on a trip to China, flaunted Russia's nuclear missiles in an angry reply. "Clinton permitted himself to put pressure on Russia,'' he told reporters in his trademark slow, deliberate growl. "It seems...he has forgotten Russia has a full arsenal of nuclear weapons. He has forgotten about that. Therefore he decided to play with his muscles, as they say.'' In Washington, Clinton responded: "I haven't forgotten that. You know, I didn't think he'd forgotten America was a great power when he disagreed with what I did in Kosovo.'' Prime Minister Vladimir Putin tried to soften the remarks, saying he was certain neither president wanted to harm ties......"

Reuters 12/9/99 "....President Boris Yeltsin, in a stunning outburst, reminded President Clinton on Thursday that Russia possessed a "full nuclear arsenal'' and would not be lectured on its military assault on Chechnya. Swiftly after Yeltsin's comments in Beijing, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin scrambled to issue an assurance that Moscow and Washington enjoyed "very good relations.'' But Clinton poked back at Yeltsin, saying he was obliged to speak out about a Russian offensive he believed was wrong. ...... "It seems he has for a minute, for a second, for half a minute, forgotten that Russia has a full arsenal of nuclear weapons. He has forgotten about that. Therefore he decided to play with his muscles, as they say,'' Yeltsin said. The comments were shown on television repeatedly in Moscow Thursday......"

Freeper sneakypete 12/9/99 "....I would NOT recommend [Moscow] it for a family trip. Men traveling alone won't have any problems as long as they keep in mind the absolute fact that you ain't NEVER been to a truely foreign place untill you've been to Russia. You have to really pay attention to common sense while there,and anybody who thinks that just because he is a American citizen it gives him some kind of "special protection" is a fool. There is no such thing as "law" in Russia for either Russians or for tourists. As long as you stay in the "tourist" areas of Moscow during the day time you won't have any trouble at all. These areas are under the total control of the Russian "mafiya",and common street hoodlums know better than to fool with tourists in these areas. The "connected" boys will "take them out" if they endanger the tourist dollars.

If you are stupid enough to go outside the tourist areas alone after dark,you are probably too stupid to live,and the gene pool may be better without your participation. Do NOT think your US "street smarts" will transfer to Russia! Also don't be confused enough to actually believe the police will help or protect you. They are more likely to beat and rob you than they are to protect you. This seems to be much truer in St.Petersburg than Moscow,though......

It must also be said that if you go to a city other than Moscow or St.Pete,the danger is reduced a great amount.Even then you have to be careful about crossing the local police or criminal elite if you go out to bars drinking. These people will take you out in a minute if you cross them,and nothing will ever be done to them. NEVER go bar-hopping at night without a trusted "local" with you! Having a "nose for trouble" is almost a genetic survival trait for Russians now,and it would pay you to follow the lead of your local friends. Russians are the friendliest people I have ever met in my life,but the police/criminal element in Moscow and St.Pete has to be seen to be believed....."

TASS 12/7/99 Alexander Shashkov and Mikhail Alandarenko "....A controversial Russian businessman, who might be called to witness in the murder case of his American partner, said on Tuesday he was planing to run for the presidency in mid-2000. Umar Dzhabrailov, first deputy director general of the posh hotel Radisson-Slavyanskaya in central Moscow, told a news conference that he was not going to bypass Moscow's powerful mayor, Yuri Luzhkov, in putting himself forward as a candidate for the presidency....... Asked about whether he would sue Sergei Dorenko, a TV presenter who had accused Luzhkov and him of complicity in murdering of Paul Tatum, an American co-owner of the Radisson-Slavyanskaya, he said that, unlike Luzhkov, he would not file a suit against the anchor because "there is no necessity in doing so". As for a statement by a lawyer for the Tatum family who said he wanted to question him as an witness in the murder case, he said he had not received any official request about it so far. Tatum, who owned 51 per cent of the hotel's stock, was shot dead in Moscow in November 1996, but the police have found neither the perpetrators nor the organisers of the crime......"

The Moscow Times; No. 1848 11/30/99 Jen Tracy ".....Relatives of American businessman Paul Tatum - gunned down in Moscow in 1996 in an apparent contract hit - have filed a lawsuit against Moscow Mayor Yury Luzhkov, accusing him of protecting the killers and blocking the investigation. The Arizona-based law firm Kimerer & LaVelle filed the suit Friday saying Luzhkov "was responsible for effectuating the murder of Paul Tatum ... and illegally confiscating Tatum's property in Russia," Michael Kimerer, head of the firm, said in a statement issued in Phoenix. The lawsuit emphasizes that Tatum's greatest adversary was the Moscow City Property Committee. "Paul Tatum," Kimerer said, "was gunned down on the streets of Moscow on Nov. 3, 1996 after publicly denouncing Yury Luzhkov's actions in confiscating the Radisson Slavjanskaya, a premier Western-style hotel in Moscow worth millions of dollars." The lawsuit is the latest in a recent series of twists to the three-year-old murder case........"

Freeper Deb 12/9/99 ".....This case has been written about extensively in the European press and conservative magazines. It was a case of the Russian mafia against an American businessman. In '96 I was in Moscow. During the Russian elections all Americans were advised to move to the Radisson (called the American hotel) because it's the only safe hotel in the city. All the networks have a common production facility there and whenever you see a report from Moscow, it's filmed at the Radisson production studio. Leaving the building one afternoon, a caravan of black SUVs and limos came screaming around the corner and slammed to a stop in front of the door. Twenty or 30 guys in cammoflage with Uzis jump out of the cars and take up positions around the caravan as a pleasant-looking, portly man gets out of a limo and enters the building. The group covered him till he was inside, then they followed him. It was pretty exciting. We found out later the portly man was an American businessman named Paul Tatum. He had built the hotel in partnership with the Russians and when the hotel became a huge money-maker (no miracle, since it was the only hotel that doesn't turn off the hot water over the weekend), the Russians wanted complete control and demanded he give it to them. The day we saw him was the day after a Russian mafia hitman nearly beat to death Tatum's secretary as a warning. Being a good ole boy from Oklahoma he thought he could engage in a legal battle and probably win. Not in Russia. Over a year or so, they threatened him, intimidated him, tried to lock him out of his office suite and finally, they killed him. All American businessmen who thought Russia would be a great financial growth area, are coming home in droves. The Russians are corrupt and deadly and the mafia is better armed than the military......"

Washington Post 12/9/99 Daniel Williams "....Russian troops seized a key rebel stronghold today in their drive to capture Grozny, the captial of Chechnya. The Russian military showed no signs of easing the offensive, despite a blast of international criticism over its ultimatum that residents flee Grozny or face intensified bombardment. Russian officials said their forces ousted separatist rebels from Urus-Martan, a center of Islamic militancy 12 miles southwest of Grozny. The town had been battered by heavy air and artillery bombardments for several weeks. Russian television broadcast pictures of Russian tanks moving through a city in flames. Houses were destroyed, markets smashed, and bodies littered courtyards. The streets were abandoned. ...."

Associated Press 12/8/99 AP "....Just three days after being discharged from the hospital, President Boris Yeltsin arrived in China Thursday to seek support for Russia's military campaign in Chechnya and help in countering U.S. global influence. A pale Yeltsin, arm-in-arm with his wife Naina, leaned heavily on the rails of the stairs while leaving his plane. After a few hours' rest, Yeltsin was to begin the first of several meetings with Chinese President Jiang Zemin. Perhaps out of concern for Yeltsin's health, most of the meetings were to take place within the secluded grounds of the state guest house, rather than in the Communist Party's leadership compound downtown....."

Associated Press 12/8/99 "....Major world powers and several Islamic states have condemned Russia's campaign against Chechnya, but none are threatening sanctions or other measures against Moscow. Russia, which is threatening to destroy the Chechen capital if its rebel government doesn't admit defeat, still has a huge army of concern to its immediate neighbors. Few countries are willing to anger Moscow's government or add to its fragility, especially at a time many are seeking better economic ties with Russia. ...."

12/8/99 Novye Izvestia ".....The Arizona county court has decided to subpoena Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov in connection with the case of the murder of American businessman Paul Tatum three years ago in Moscow. Kimerrer and Lavelle, the law firm which represents Tatum's family, has circulated copies of the court decision to the media. The court also approved accusations against the Moscow Property Committee, the department that deals with property management issues in Moscow. At the same time, the Moscow authorities have flatly refused to accept any accusations of Luzhkov's implication in the case. ....."

The Associated Press 12/3/99 "....Moscow's mayor has no plans to go to the United States to face a civil lawsuit claiming he protected the killers of an Oklahoma businessman who was gunned down in 1996, a news agency reported. Relatives of Paul Tatum, who ran a business center at the Radisson-Slavyanskaya hotel in Moscow, recently filed a lawsuit in Arizona charging that Mayor Yuri Luzhkov protected the killers and blocked the investigation into the killing. Asked if he would travel to the United States for the hearings, Luzhkov replied: "Do you think I have gone mad or something?" the Interfax news agency reported....."

11/27/96 Sergei Mitrofanov. Nezavisimaya gazeta THE NEWS OF THE WEEK; The Russian Federation; Crime; VOLUME XLVIII, NO. 44; Pg. 16 ".....One of the co-owners of the capital's Radisson Slavyanskaya Hotel, 41-year-old American businessman Paul Tatum, was murdered Sunday [Nov. 3] in Moscow. At about 5 p.m. an unidentified criminal opened fire with an assault rifle in the underground passageway next to the Kiev Train Station. The mortally wounded entrepreneur was taken to City Hospital No. 71, where he died approximately an hour later from 11 gunshot wounds. It will be recalled that in the days just preceding, and during the recent visit to Moscow by US Vice-President Albert Gore in the framework of the Gore-Chernomyrdin joint Russian-American commission, the news media carried a whole series of scandalous and sensational articles. The gist of them was that the plush world-class Radisson Slavyanskaya Hotel had lately been acquiring increasing notoriety as a place where criminal Chechen groups had built their nest. It had gotten to the point that people had started calling the Slavyanskaya Hotel the "Radisson Chechenskaya." Thanks to American knowhow and investments, the Radisson Slavyanskaya had become a super-profitable enterprise whose existence in Moscow without appropriate "protection" was becoming dangerous....."

Stratfor 12/7/99 ".... 1702 GMT, 991207 Afghanistan/Russia/Chechnya - Taliban religious authorities urged Dec. 6 all Muslims to pray that Chechens defeat Russian forces. They claimed the world's major powers and the United Nations are "silent" about the issue. 1429 GMT, 991207 China/Russia/Chechnya/United States - China said Dec. 7 that it backs Russia's actions in Chechnya and called the issue "purely Russia's internal affair." Meanwhile, U.S. President Bill Clinton said Dec. 6 that Russia will pay a heavy price for its invasion and he deplored the ultimatum to Grozny that its inhabitants flee or perish....."

New York Times 12/8/99 Celestine Bohlen "….Russian officials on Tuesday reacted angrily to Western condemnation of Moscow's military tactics in Chechnya, warning that threats to impose sanctions or interrupt aid are unacceptable. Several officials insisted that Russia is already feeling the effects of the West's criticism through the International Monetary Fund's decision in the past week to once again postpone delivery of a $640-million credit. "It is clear that in this case, political considerations were crucial in the decision-making," said First Deputy Prime Minister Victor Khristenko. "The IMF's status as a non-political organization is in question." …."

THE NEW YORK TIMES 12/8/99 "….The International Monetary Fund explained on Tuesday that it was continuing to delay a $640-million loan payment to Russia, because Moscow had failed to meet the necessary economic benchmarks. The managing director of the fund, Michel Camdessus, cited five reform goals the Russians had not met, including the parliament's failure to adopt certain bankruptcy laws or to increase the rate of cash collection for electricity, heating, natural gas and rail-freight services. Senior Clinton administration officials said although the delay was justified on economic grounds, efforts to protest Moscow's campaign against Chechnya loomed over the loan process. The administration felt increasing pressure to come forward with more direct condemnation of Moscow. European foreign ministers said on Monday that they would seek ways to block loans from international financial organizations. ….."

Chinatimes 12/10/99 AFP "…..Russian leader Boris Yeltsin Thursday warned US President Bill Clinton his country still had nuclear weapons and would not bow to US pressure over its military offensive in Chechnya. "It seems Mr. Clinton has forgotten Russia is a great power that possesses a full nuclear arsenal ... we aren't afraid at all of Clinton's anti-Russian position," Yeltsin said after an informal summit with Chinese President Jiang Zemin. "I want to tell President Clinton that he alone cannot dictate how the world should live, work and play. It is us who will dictate," he said through the English translation of a Russian official. Clinton has warned Russia it will pay a high price for the way it is waging war in the rebel republic of Chechnya, in particular its disregard for civilian lives. ….."

AP 12/16/99 Ruslan Musayev "....Russian tanks and armored personnel carriers stormed into the Chechen capital of Grozny on Wednesday but were beaten back in bitter street fighting by Chechen defenders firing rocket-propelled grenades. The bodies of several dead Russian soldiers were seen sprawled around the burning wrecks of their vehicles in Minutka Square after the attack was stopped Wednesday evening. It was the first time Russian armored forces had tried to move into Grozny since federal troops encircled the city last month - an indication that Russian commanders were stepping up their efforts to capture it. ...."

St Peterburg Times 12/15/99 Jen Tracy ".....: Internet service providers across Russia are helping the main KGB successor agencies to read private e-mails and other Internet traffic, as part of an ambitious internal espionage program called SORM-2. "SORM implementation is in full force and I suspect that all [Internet service] providers have at least begun the process and many have completed it," said Yury Vdovin, vice chairman of the St. Petersburg-based Citizens' Watch human rights group. "None of the providers will talk about it, though," Vdovin added. "They are all afraid." ...."

New York Times 12/16/99 Samuel Huntington "....As Russian armies surround, bombard and flatten Grozny, only one party has a chance of winning this conflict, and only because it cannot lose: the Chechen fighters. Either they will halt the Russian offensive and create a stalemate, or they will retreat into the mountains and come back to fight another day. The losers? They include the Chechen civilians trapped in this brutal conflict; Russia, which continues to fight a war it cannot win, and, if it tries to affect the war's outcome, the United States. Indeed, the Chechnya war underscores the limits on the ability of great powers like Russia and the United States to shape the outcome of local conflicts going on in the world. ...."

AFP via Drudge 1/8/00 "…. Russia's interim president, Vladimir Putin, was expelled from West Germany at the end of the 1970s for suspected espionage, the German newspaper Saechsische Zeitung claimed Saturday. Quoting German intelligence sources, the report said Putin had arrived in Bonn in 1975 officially as a correspondent of TASS, the official Soviet news agency. Meanwhile, an official dealing with archives on former East Germany said the communist East German government had decorated Putin in 1988 for services as a KGB agent….."

Associated Press 1/7/00 "….The United States should abandon all public criticism of the Russian war against separatist rebels in Chechnya and instead use private channels to air its concerns, a Russian lawmaker said Friday. Alexei Arbatov, a member of the liberal Yabloko Party, said the more Russia is pressured by the Clinton administration to negotiate a political settlement, the less likely Moscow is to follow Washington's advice. Arbatov, whose party won just under 6 percent of the vote in recent parliamentary elections, spoke to a gathering sponsored by the Atlantic Council, a pro-NATO group. ..."

London Times 12/28/99 Simon Saradzhyan "….THE already sluggish advance of Russian troops towards the heart of Grozny slowed yesterday as infantry and armoured vehicles ran into minefields planted by Chechen fighters who have vowed to fight to the last man for their capital. A Russian Defence Ministry spokesman admitted the push was being hampered by minefields and fierce defensive fire, adding that Chechen fighters had planted tanks of poisonous chemicals such as chlorine and ammonia throughout the city, to be exploded in the event of a Russian attack. ... "

BBC 12/24/99 "….Russian Defence Minister Igor Sergeyev has arrived in Kosovo after calling for the return of Yugoslav forces to the province to protect Serbs living there. Mr Sergeyev made his remarks after a meeting with President Slobodan Milosevic in Belgrade, at which he denounced trade restrictions on Yugoslavia. A statement carried by the Tanjug news agency following the meeting made it clear Moscow shared Belgrade's concern that the Serb minority is not protected in Kosovo from revenge attacks by Albanians. ... "

Russia Today 12/27/99 "….A representative of the Al Quade terrorist organization led by Osama Bin Laden has made new threats of major terrorist acts. In a statement released shortly before Christmas, the group's military adviser, Nasir Ahmed Mujahed, directly threatened the U.S. for its stance with regard to Afghanistan, Russia for its military operation in Chechnya, and India for its occupation of the northern provinces of Jammu and Kashmir "All possible actions will be taken against America, Russia and India. They will become the victims of the fire they themselves have lit. Those Muslims who will cease the jihad will be accused of collaboration with America," the statement says….."

AP newswire 12/27/99 "….The Russian Defense Ministry put a satellite into orbit Monday night from the Plesetsk cosmodrome in northwest Russia. The military satellite Kosmos-2368 is to be used ``in the interests of Russia's defense ministry,'' according to a Defense Ministry statement cited by news agencies. No further details were given. The satellite was launched on a Molnia-M rocket, which can launch about 2 tons of cargo, the Interfax news agency reported. …"1284916 Posted on 12/27/99 15:11:07 PST by feroz

Sydney Morning Herald 12/28/99 Agencies "….Russian warplanes have begun to drop powerful incendiary bombs in southern Chechnya to destroy "terrorist bases", a source at federal military headquarters said yesterday, cited by Interfax news agency. Bombs of 250 and 500 kilograms, which release a large cloud of inflammable gas before igniting it, are being dropped in "scarcely populated areas", in the mountainous south of the rebel republic, Interfax said. The bombs, said the military source, are being used to destroy "guerrilla bases and caves where rebels are hiding".... "

Washington Post 12/27/99 "….Vasili Mitrokhin, a former KGB archivist who hand-copied thousands of top secret Soviet intelligence documents and smuggled them out of KGB headquarters in his sock, startled the world in September when he revealed in his recent book, "The Sword and the Shield," that Soviet intelligence operatives had arms caches buried all over the United States. ut it was Stanislav Lunev, a colonel with Soviet military intelligence (GRU), who first disclosed in 1998--with far less public notice--the existence of buried Soviet arms caches in "Through the Eyes of the Enemy," a book he wrote with former National Security Agency officer Ira Winkler. Lunev defected to the United States in 1992, at about the same time Mitrokhin defected to Britain, and is now in the federal witness protection program. "Though most Americans don't realize it, America is already penetrated by Russian military intelligence to the extent that arms caches lie in wait for us by Russian special forces--or Spetznatz," Lunev and Winkler write in the book.

New York Times 1/8/00 Michael Gordon "…..Confronted with fierce rebel resistance, rising casualties and bad weather, the Russian military announced today that it was suspending its assault on the Chechen capital, Grozny. Lt. Gen. Gennadi N. Troshev, deputy commander of the Russian troops fighting in the separatist region of Chechnya, said the pause was intended to allow the thousands of civilians still trapped in Grozny to escape from the fighting…."

Hindustan Times 1/8/00 Fred Weir "….Moving swiftly to assert fresh priorities, acting President Vladimir Putin has signed a new security doctrine that might radically shift Russia's relations with West and East. The chief of the Kremlin's Consultative Security Council, Sergei Ivanov, told journalists that the 21-page document spells out "radical" changes to the security doctrines of Yeltsin-era Russia. Domestically, the new approach will focus on fighting crime, corruption and terrorism. He said, "The problems of terrorism and organised crime were formerly interpreted as criminal challenges, now they are seen as political ones." …. The new doctrine, which is to be published in the Russian Press next week, reportedly explains Russia's strategy toward Chechnya and other similar internal threats. In foreign policy, the document sets out "a clearer definition of the concept of a multi-polar world and the way Russia will develop its work to safeguard national interests," Mr Ivanov said. …."

The Times of London 1/9/00 John Follain Rome "…. FOR 19 years the motives of the man who shot the Pope have been the subject of claim and counterclaim from investigators unable to prove whether he was part of a huge conspiracy or acted alone. Now Mehmet Ali Agca has lent new weight to the theory that the attempt on John Paul II's life was the result of a Soviet-inspired plot to eliminate the threat he posed to communist rule in eastern Europe….. At the Bulgarians' trial, however, Agca declared he was Jesus Christ and predicted the end of the world. His evidence was deemed worthless and the diplomats were acquitted. In an interview with The Sunday Times last week, Agca spoke of his "torment". He has made a statement to the judge who led the initial investigation, saying the KGB forced him to destroy his credibility as a witness. The judge said he believes Agca acted with Soviet bloc support…… Although his courtroom antics prompted the collapse of the Bulgarians' trial, Agca still maintains that Sofia's secret service, subservient to its counterpart in Moscow, ordered and financed the plot. Imposimato, who worked on the case until 1985, said: "Agca had eight false passports. He had no job but he spent $4,000 a month. He travelled behind the iron curtain without any problems. It's obvious he had Soviet bloc support." The judge has concluded that Yuri Andropov, then head of the KGB and later Soviet leader, wanted the Pope dead because of his opposition to communist rule…."

Telegraph (UK) 1/9/00 Con Coughlin "….Imad Mugniyeh, one of the founder members of Lebanon's radical Hizbollah Muslim militia, and as notorious in the international terrorist world in the Eighties as the Saudi terrorist Osama bin Laden is today, has been identified as responsible for plotting last week's terrorist attack on the Russian Embassy in Beirut. A Lebanese security guard was killed and several others wounded when a lone Palestinian gunmen attacked the embassy with rocket-propelled grenades and heavy machine-gun fire. The Palestinian, Abu Kharub, was shot dead by Lebanese security forces after a running gun battle in the streets of Beirut. A note found on his body read: "I martyred myself for Grozny." …. Now a secret investigation conducted by the Lebanese security forces into the embassy attack has revealed that the Palestinian was trained by a Hizbollah unit set up and headed by Mugniyeh to conduct terrorist operations against foreign targets. In addition to providing detailed operational intelligence on how to attack the embassy, Mugniyeh's unit also provided Abu Kharub with logistical support….. Lebanese officials have learnt that Mugniyeh's plans to participate personally in the attack were dropped after consultations with commanders of Iran's Revolutionary Guards, one of his many paymasters. They advised him not to involve his men in the attack so as not to compromise other terrorist operations involving his organisation….."

Telegraph (UK) 1/9/00 Con Coughlin "….Mugniyeh's re-emergence on the international terrorism stage will come as a surprise to many Western intelligence officials who believed that he had retired from mainstream terrorist activity after the devastating series of attacks he launched against Western interests in the Middle East in the Eighties. Mugniyeh, who is thought to be in his late forties, came to prominence in Beirut when he blew up the American Embassy with a lorry bomb in April 1983. He repeated the tactic the following October when two lorry bombs simultaneously destroyed the United States and French military barracks in the Lebanese capital, killing almost 300 people. During the ensuing years he supervised the kidnapping of foreign nationals living and working in Beirut, including the British hostages John McCarthy and Terry Waite. Throughout the hostage crisis Mugniyeh, who successfully eluded various attempts by American special forces to seize him, worked closely with the Iranians, who were responsible for keeping the American and British hostages captive……"

Telegraph (UK) 1/9/00 Con Coughlin "….Apart from Mugniyeh's involvement in the attack on the Russian Embassy, Lebanese officials have uncovered information that suggests the Hizbollah commander is now involved in assisting the Chechen rebels in their war against the Russian armed forces. Scores of Mugniyeh's fighters have been sent to Chechnya in the past year to help train Chechen fighters in the terrorist techniques that have been employed successfully by Islamic militants in the Middle East. Chechen commanders have also visited Hizbollah's training facilities in Lebanon's Bekaa Valley. There are even suggestions that Mugniyeh has joined forces with bin Laden, who is based in Afghanistan. Bin Laden has been linked to numerous terrorist atrocities, including the 1998 attack on the American Embassy in Nairobi and the 1996 bombing of an American military base in Dhahran….."

Telegraph (UK) 1/9/00 Con Coughlin "….Western intelligence experts are particularly concerned about the prospect of Mugniyeh and bin Laden joining forces to aid the Chechen rebels. So far bin Laden has not been involved directly in the Chechen conflict, mainly because of his ideological and personal differences with the Chechen commanders, who appear to be more inspired by their hatred of the Russians than their devotion to Islam……"

The Hindustan Times 12/11/99 "….Russian President Boris Yeltsin's visit to China and his outbursts against the US are both of considerable political significance. The visit's significance lies in the fact that it has taken place despite Mr Yeltsin's indifferent health and speculation about his grip on power. While it has served to reaffirm the importance of Sino-Russian ties, a noteworthy convergence of views among Russia, China and India on a variety of global issues is also bound to strengthen the perception in certain quarters about the three countries quietly working for establishing a "strategic triangle". The global change in recent years has created an anomalous situation for Russia. Humiliated by its loss of the cold war, near collapse of its economy and territorial dismemberment, Russia has been under tremendous American pressure to forego any claim to superpower status. Russia sees in the NATO's expansion and in Washington's interventionist role in world affairs a design to impose what one analyst calls "mindless hegemony". …."

The ANALYST (Central Asia Caucasus Institute) 1/5/00 Dr Theodore Karasik "….Russian Acting President Vladimir Putin's Chechen campaign has rallied Russian citizens and provided, for the first time, a post-Soviet ideological rationale for the Russian state. Russians are feeling proud again. Putin's Chechen war, emerging nationalism and Andropovian rebirth of the nation have all exploited Russian dissatisfaction with the economy and the instability of the state. They give emboldened wings to Putin's dash for the Russian presidency that proceeds unabated. A sixty percent turnout in last month's elections voted for a new Duma that will likely support Putin's anti-criminal, anti-terrorist campaign for the nation and in Chechnya and will continue the war in the Northern Caucasus despite a potentially bloody conclusion….."

The ANALYST (Central Asia Caucasus Institute) 1/5/00 Dr Theodore Karasik "….BACKGROUND: Vladimir Putin, while head of Russia's domestic intelligence service (FSB), was appointed Secretary of the Russian Security Council in March 1999. He chaired both bodies during the Kosovo conflict and in the period before the Chechen incursion into Dagestan. When Yeltsin decided to sack Prime Minister Sergei Stepashin (9 August) for failure to stop the events in Dagestan, he appointed Putin to be prime minister. At the same time, he declared Putin heir apparent to the presidency. It was an unprecedented move in post-Soviet Russia. On 31 December 1999, Yeltsin resigned and Putin became Acting President. Putin has rallied the Russian populace against Chechen defiance by invoking the notion of discipline favored by former KGB Chief and Soviet leader Yuri Andropov and applied it to the war in the Northern Caucasus. Early on in his leadership of the FSB, Putin began to cloak himself in the mantle of Andropov, who emphasized discipline in the work place and cracked down on corruption in Soviet society. Andropov is now one of the most respected of the former Soviet leaders. By the time he was appointed as Prime Minister, Putin had created a popular image as an Andropov-style, no-nonsense enforcer who vowed to "rub out" the Chechen rebels….."

New York Times 1/6/00 Michael Gordon "….Encircled by Russian forces and subjected to constant bombardment, Chechen rebels in Grozny have begun to lash back, forcing furious firefights on the outskirts of the city. Rebel officials asserted today that they had left their hiding places in Grozny and seized the village of Alkhan-Kala, on the southwestern outskirts of the Chechen capital, according to independent media outlets in Russia….."

The New York Daily News 1/5/00 Lars Erik Nelson "….Imagine if a self-proclaimed Comanche Republic arose in south Texas, began kidnapping people and holding them for ransom, televised the beheadings of its captives and sent terrorists into our biggest cities to blow up apartment buildings. How should we respond? Negotiate, says Sen. John McCain, the Arizona Republican seeking the GOP's 2000 presidential nomination. At least, that's his demand upon the new acting president of Russia, Vladimir Putin, as Putin tries to suppress an uprising in Chechnya...."

The Independent 1/6/00 Helen Womack "….The Independent has obtained a videotape on which a Russian officer, captured by the Chechens, "confesses" that Russian special services committed the Moscow apartment-block bombings that ignited the latest war in Chechnya and propelled Vladimir Putin into the Kremlin. On the video, shot by a Turkish journalist last month before Grozny was finally cut off by Russian forces, the captured Russian identifies himself as Alexei Galtin of the GRU (Russian military intelligence service). The bearded captive acknowledges as his own papers displayed by the Chechens that identify him as a "Senior Lieutenant, Armed Special Services, General Headquarters for Special Forces of the Russian Federation". The Ministry of Defence was checking yesterday whetherthere was indeed such a GRU officer. "Even if he exists, you understand what methods could have been used on him in captivity," said a junior officer, who asked not to be named. …."

Stratfor 1/5/00 "….. Georgian President Eduard Shevardnadze has relaxed his country's policy on Chechnya in what seems to be a move to appease acting President Vladimir Putin of Russia. The Georgian leader is reacting not only to obvious national security concerns, but also to the realization that Putin is more of a threat to Georgia than former President Boris Yeltsin had been. This could lead to a larger shift in Georgian policy aimed at balancing good relations with the West while simultaneously appeasing Putin. Georgia, the West's closest ally in the Caucasus, has consistently refused Russian attempts to gain access to the Georgian border with Chechnya. On Jan. 5, Shevardnadze shifted his stance on Chechnya when he told the Japanese newspaper Asahi that he supports Russia's move to "wipe out the terrorists as quickly as possible, to stop further bloodshed and to save innocent people." Shevardnadze's first concern has not changed: He is afraid that Russia's war against Islamic rebels in the break-away republic of Chechnya will spread to the neighboring Caucasus countries. …."

South China Morning Post 1/5/00 Judith Ingram AP "….Like Boris Yeltsin, the man who handed him power, Vladimir Putin has the opportunity to change the face of Russia. Just as Mr Yeltsin threw wide the doors to reform that Mikhail Gorbachev, the last Soviet president, had opened a crack, so Mr Putin has the chance to drive home democratic and market reforms that Mr Yeltsin was unable to realise. First Mr Putin must win presidential elections expected to be held on March 26. He is the firm favourite because many Russians see him as a strong leader who can clean up the corruption and disorder that bedevil the country. While Mr Putin has benefited from his strong handling of the war in Chechnya, he has yet to outline any detailed plans for what he would do as leader of the world's largest country - something he is slowly trying to remedy….."

Stratfor 1/3/00 "….Russia's acting president, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, has already begun to reshape the informed and influential inner circle of Kremlin advisors. Appointed president on Dec. 31 upon the resignation of Boris Yeltsin, Putin dismissed five Kremlin officials on Jan. 3. Instead of protecting Yeltsin's closest advisers - as many Western observers expected - Putin is going to systematically dislodge them. Among the five dismissed was Tatyana Dyachenko, Yeltsin's daughter and closest confidante. She had held the vague position of image advisor in the Kremlin, which gave her full access to the president and to other top Kremlin officials. She has been well known for her influence on her father and for her close connections to oligarchs and Family members such as media and oil magnate Boris Berezovsky. Although Putin granted Yeltsin immunity from criminal prosecution, Dyachenko is currently under investigation in several corruption cases and is not protected under her father's immunity agreement. The others dismissed were presidential spokesman Dmitri Yakushkin and three top officials of the presidential administration: Vladimir Shevchenko, Valery Semyonchenko and Vladimir Makarov. Makarov was a former KGB officer who was Yeltsin's chief of personnel policy. Both Shevchenko and Semyonchenko had served on Yeltsin's staff since the beginning of his presidency in 1991. Most recently, Shevchenko was chief of protocol and Semyonchenko was chief of the president's office. All three traveled with the president often and were in position to know all the closed-door dealings of the Family. Putin named both Shevchenko and Semyonchenko to the lesser position of general advisor….."

Reuters Limited 1/4/00 Paul Goble "….Vladimir Putin's latest justification for Moscow's campaign in Chechnya -- to "bring about the end of the breakup of Russia" -- raises some disturbing questions about the kind of policies he may try to pursue as acting president of the Russian Federation. During a visit to Russian-controlled portions of Chechnya on New Year's Day, Putin told Russian soldiers that their campaign against the Chechens was "not simply about restoring honor and dignity to the country." Rather, he continued, "it is about how to bring about the end of the breakup of Russia." Most immediately, these remarks call into question the claims Putin and his supporters have made in the past about this conflict. Until this weekend, he had insisted that the conflict was about extirpating "extremists" and "terrorists," goals which many Western leaders have found difficult to oppose even when they are appalled by the way in Russian forces have conducted themselves. By shifting grounds so quickly and completely, Putin unintentionally has invited those governments to reexamine both his earlier claims about the conflict and their response to it. And he has equally unintentionally raised questions on only his second day in office as to how reliable a partner he may be in any negotiations with Western governments….."

Stratfor 1/6/00 A Pole "…. Responding to a recent shift in Georgia's Chechnya policy, the United States acted quickly to retain its influence over Georgia, its closest ally in the Caucasus. Previously, Georgia staunchly refused to help Russia in its fight against Chechen rebels. Recent developments, however, suggest that Georgia has softened its policy in order to appease new acting President Vladimir Putin. In reply, the United States quickly announced it will provide more than $120 million in aid to Georgia. The U.S. ambassador to Georgia, Kenneth Yalowitz, made public the offer of aid Jan. 6 in a statement to journalists in Georgia's capital, Tbilisi. He said that the funds were primarily intended to develop public services, improve budget control and help Georgia protect its borders, especially in light of the war in Chechnya….."

AP 1/7/00 Yuri Bagrov "….Russian artillery bombarded the southern Chechen town of Vedeno today, trying to break the rebels' grip on their main stronghold in the mountains. The assault in the south came as Russia's efforts to take Chechnya's capital, Grozny, appeared to be stalled by bad weather and tough rebel resistance. Lt.-Col. Konstantin Kukharenko, a military spokesman, said the army's eastern group had brought nearly all its artillery to bear on Vedeno...."

CBS News Online 1/6/00 AP "….Russian forces claimed to have killed about 140 Chechen fighters in street fighting in Grozny on Thursday and stopped a series of rebel counterattacks in the shattered city. Russian efforts to take the Chechen capital appear to be bogged down, with the rebels mounting stiff resistance and pushing federal forces back in some areas. The Russian military command said Thursday the Chechens launched three counterattacks this week, but they had been defeated. …."

Salon 1/6/00 Fiona Morgan "…..As the world celebrated the turn of the millennium, Russia celebrated a change in political leadership. On Dec. 31, Boris Yeltsin startled the world by stepping down from the presidency and passing the mantle to a relative unknown: then-Prime Minister Vladimir Putin. Since the announcement, observers and journalists have speculated as to whether this man, a former head of the KGB, will bring desperately needed economic leadership to Russia -- and at what cost to democracy……The war against the breakaway region of Chechnya has shown to be a major factor in Putin's incredibly high 75 percent approval rating. Already bitterly devastated by the collapse of the Soviet Union, Russians lost a war with Chechen insurrectionists in 1996 -- at a cost of up to 100,000 Chechen lives -- which made Chechnya a de facto, but not legal, independent state. The staunchly separatist region, which lies between the Black Sea and Caspian Sea, is predominantly Muslim, and has had a long history of anti-Russian sedition since the time of the czars….."

American Partisan 1/6/00 Linda A. Prussen-Razzano "….On December 31, 1999, as part of the world partied and the other hunkered down, fearing the worst and praying for the best, a peculiar event took place across the globe. No, it was not revellers collapsing from inebriation, twins being born on either side of the calendar year, or Hillary Clinton being met with boos and cheers of "Monica, Monica" at the Washington, D.C. self-worship fest; it was, specifically, the launching of Russian Scud missiles against Grozny, the last remaining rebel hold-out in the Russian providence of Chechnya……. Interestingly, on December 31, 1999, Russia launched Scud missiles against Chechnya during the latest round of engagements. We know that Russia launched at least three Scud missiles because the Pentagon detected them during their joint Y2K United States-Russian Surveillance. Russian military officials, who presumably had access to this data, assured the United States that these launches were not related to Y2K. Why is this interesting? It's interesting because these Scud launches are the first of their kind to be launched in the latest campaign. It's interesting because Russian military officials were reportedly also monitoring our screens for unexpected launch detections. It's interesting because, in theory, anyway, the Russian military officials could confirm exactly what our system detected when the Scuds were launched……"

Toronto Sun 1/6/00 George Jonas "…."Happy new century, my dears," said Russian president Boris Yeltsin before shuffling off the world's stage on the last day of 1999. In a speech that might have come out of the pages of a Russian novel, Yeltsin begged his people's forgiveness. He apologized, as he put it, "for the fact that I was not able to justify the hopes of some people who believed we would be able to move forward in one swoop from a grey, totalitarian and stagnant past to a bright, rich and civilized future." "I believed it myself," Yeltsin added. "But it did not work out like that." …."

Telegraph (UK) 1/9/00 Marcus Warren "….RUSSIA'S acting president, Vladimir Putin, struggled to reassert his authority yesterday as his military campaign in Chechnya threatened to turn from a vote-winner into an electoral liability. Relieved of command: General Troshev no longer heads the Russian military campaign against Chechnya What had appeared to be a triumphant march towards victory for Mr Putin in March's presidential elections has begun to look much less sure-footed after the army's attack on Grozny was suspended and two generals relieved of their command on Friday night….."

Russia Journal 1/24/2000 Col. Vladimir Mukhin "….As relations with its Western neighbors deteriorates, Russia seeks to tighten bonds with its Eastern neighbors - through the sale of advanced weapons.. As anti-Russian rhetoric rises among the United States and its Western partners, Moscow's military policy is increasingly concerned with finding new strategic partners in Asia. Signs of this are recent visits to Russia by Iranian national security High Council Secretary Hassan Rouhani and by Chinese Defense Minister Ji Haotian. Though not top-ranking figures in their countries, the two visitors were met in Moscow at the highest level. More important, they were assured that contacts with their countries, including military contacts, would be developed. Both Iran and China are Russia's neighbors, both have authoritarian, undemocratic regimes, and both are currently going through an economic upturn that could bring Moscow the money it needs to overcome its own economic crisis. In return, Russia would supply the weapons and technology that Iran and China want, and that the United States and other democratic and developed countries don't want them to have. …."

Russia Today 1/23/2000 Reuters "….The European Union, whose foreign ministers are due to discuss relations with Russia on Monday, is steering increasingly clear of imposing sanctions on Moscow over its military campaign in Chechnya. EU officials said on Friday the ministers would fine-tune plans to punish Moscow by withholding some economic cooperation but did not want to jeopardize relations with Vladimir Putin, the man they expect to become president, by imposing sanctions. "We face a real dilemma. Russia has unfortunately made clear it is going to continue the war but we must think about the consequences of any action we take," one EU official said. …."

Russia Today 1/23/2000 Reuters "….A recent U.S. pledge to donate 500,000 tonnes of U.S. food to feed the needy in Russia may be enough to meet the country's food aid needs this year, a senior U.S. Agriculture Department official said Thursday. "It's conceivable," said Patrick Steel, associate administrator of the USDA's Foreign Agricultural Service, when asked if it was possible that Russia may not need any more food from the United States this year. "Food needs aside, I think the economy is improving fairly dramatically because of oil revenues," he told Reuters. "We want to see how the Russian economy progresses before we move additional commodities into that market." …."

Interfax 1/23/2000 "….Georgian and Russian interior ministers Kakha Targamadze and Vladimir Rushailo signed a memorandum on cooperation in combatting terrorism and extremism in Tbilisi on Sunday, the Georgian Interior Ministry press center has told Interfax. Targamadze told the press that cooperation with the Russian colleagues is "developing successfully" and that the sides are ready to fulfil all of the assumed commitments. He also said that the Georgian and Russian interior ministries in the past two years have been actively cooperating in combatting crime….."

New York Times 1/21/2000 Celestine Bohlen "….After four months of war in the north Caucasus, serious doubts have been raised about the Russian military's official death count -- by the media, by experts, by soldiers' families and by Russian soldiers themselves, who have taken to yelling out higher death tolls to reporters visiting sites of recent battles. At this sensitive phase in the latest Chechen war, when popular support is being tested by the letdown that comes from a delayed but still anticipated victory, new voices are joining the usual chorus of skeptics challenging the truth of Moscow's accounts of the war. Aleksandr V. Rutskoi, a hawkish former Soviet general who as Russia's vice president, lead a mutiny against the Kremlin in 1993, said that "judging by what is happening there, the losses are much greater" than reported….."

World Net Daily 1/21/2000 Jon Dougherty "…Moscow has said it would sell its latest, most technologically advanced fighter plane to the Chinese government -- the Su-37 -- as part of Russia's continuing effort to forge economic, political, and especially military ties with Beijing. According to a report from the American Foreign Policy Council, Russia currently is hammering out a deal to sell an undisclosed number of the new jets, although not committing to buying any itself. The latest warplane deal comes on the heels of a previous one last fall in which Moscow agreed to sell China $2 billion worth of advanced Su-30MKK fighters….. The United States is currently developing a similar aircraft, using a modified F-15 platform, but, like the Russian plane, it is still undergoing flight tests. However, the Russian fighter began flying in 1996, and it is believed to be more advanced than the U.S. jet…..Russia first publicly displayed the aircraft Aug. 1, 1999. According to the engineers at the Sukhoi Design Bureau, the plane has no equivalent in other air forces, and is "the first plane of the 21st century." ….."

The St. Petersburg Times 1/21/2000 Pavel Felgenhauer "….FOR many months Russian acting President Vladimir Putin and other leading officials have insisted that they were forced to invade Chechnya because Russia was attacked. However, last week former Russian prime minister Sergei Stepashin exposed this claim as a nicely prepared official cover story. The official line from authorities was that the war "to wipe out terrorists" started after several provocations against Russia, including an attack on Dagestan led by Chechen warlord Shamil Basayev and the bombings of apartment buildings which resulted in the deaths of 300 people. Then last week Stepashin announced in an interview with Nezavisimaya Gazeta that Russian authorities had actually decided to invade Chechnya many months before Basayev's "unprovoked aggression" in March 1999. Stepashin says that a full-scale invasion of Chechnya by Russian troops was planned for August-September 1999. Stepashin also says that after the decision to invade Chechnya was made, he personally visited the Caucasian region to oversee the preparations of troops for the attack….."

Reuters 1/23/2000 Peter Graff "…. Russia hammered Chechen rebel positions in mountain gorges and in the shattered capital Grozny Sunday, making little headway in a grueling week-long drive to storm the city.Despite severe winter weather, Russian warplanes and helicopters flew more than 100 sorties over Chechen targets, Interfax reported from Russian headquarters in Mozdok, outside Chechnya.It quoted military status reports as saying heavy fighting was under way in the city…"

The Russia Journal 1/17/2000 Mikhail Delyagin "…. The secret of Vladimir Putin's phenomenal political success is quite simple: He took the two warring clans of Boris Berezovsky and Anatoly Chubais - which together have decisive control over much of Russia's public life - and united them behind him. Today, this union is bringing an obscure former KGB officer to power, a strongman whose activities gave rise to legends of crimes that were kept to a whisper in Yeltsin's Russia. Analyzing Putin's actions, what comes through is how he is quickly and successfully building unlimited personal power. As always in Russia, a key element is control over the security ministries, which has gone, it seems, to the loyal head of the Emergency Situations Ministry, Sergei Shoigu……. The second element in Putin's speedily built personal power system is control over the media. The Russian political scientist Sergei Markov has labeled this a "manipulative democracy" - a situation in which the state uses democratic institutions to achieve its aims…."

The Russia Journal 1/17/2000 Michael Hath "…. As the United States swings into a presidential election campaign and Russia continues to duck serious structural reforms, it now looks increasingly possible that Moscow may not get any IMF credits at all this year. On the back of corruption scandals in Russia and U.S. Vice President and Democratic presidential hopeful Al Gore's close involvement in the Clinton administration's policy toward the country, U.S. Republicans are making Russia a major campaign issue. "Republican presidential candidates are taking a stand against extending credit to Russia," said Ben Slay of PlanEcon, a Washington-based think tank. "[The Republicans' attitude] might change after elections, but they are making engagement with Russia a campaign issue, so nothing will change until after November." …"

Times of India 1/23/2000 "…..Russia's acting President Vladimir Putin on Saturday replaced a top commander overseeing the offensive in Chechnya, the head of the 2,50,000 Interior Ministry troops. No reason for the reshuffle was given. Col. Gen. Vyacheslav Tikhomirov, who was a commander with the Defence Ministry during the 1994-96 Chechnya war, was named to replace Col. Gen. Vyacheslav Ovchinnikov, said Putin's press service...."

St. Louis Post Dispatch 1/22/2000 Harry Levins "Military Matters" "…. Imagine that nature pits you against a grizzly bear. The bear comes equipped with big teeth and sharp claws. You come equipped with small teeth and dull fingernails. So you reach for a rifle. That's asymmetric warfare. Instead of fighting on the enemy's terms, you fight on your own. The Chechen rebels insist on waging asymmetric warfare against the Russian army. The Russian army seems to be stunned, just as it was stunned in Chechnya in 1994-96 - and just as its predecessor, the Soviet army, was stunned in the 1980s when the Afghans insisted on waging asymmetric warfare. You'd think that by now, somebody would have learned a lesson. And maybe somebody has. The U.S. Army is finally getting around to putting a dose of asymmetry in its own combat training……"

Inside China Today 1/20/2000 AFP "…. Russia and China said they had cemented ties Tuesday in a Kremlin meeting between acting President Vladimir Putin and China's Defense Minister Chi Haotian. Putin and Chi held 40 minutes of talks after strategic negotiations between Russian and Chinese defense ministry officials on Monday. Kremlin aides refused to divulge details of the talks but trumpeted them as a success. "All questions which are beneficial to China-Russia relations were discussed," said Kremlin foreign policy advisory Sergei Prikhodko. "The strategic partnership between Russia and China is firmly heading into the 21st century." He added that the new president of Russia, to be elected on March 26, would make a state visit to China one of his first missions…. The Chinese team reasserted its support of Russia's military campaign in Chechnya, Prikhodko said….."

Orlando Sentinel 1/20/2000 Charley Reese "…. It's too bad American officials -- and American journalists, for that matter -- were never as concerned about the lives of Serb and Iraqi civilians as they apparently are about the lives of Chechens. I don't suppose it is necessary to point out that, after the United States rudely ignored Russia when it decided to bomb Russia's traditional ally, no Russian gives two flips or one hoot about American advice to go easy in Chechnya. Americans seem to think that as long as it is Americans who are killing people, including children, from 15,000 feet, it isn't an atrocity. But every other country must negotiate all its disputes. Russia has a long way to go to catch up with our bloody record. ….. As for the Russians having more difficulty than expected, I have to ask: expected by whom? Mainly, apparently, by American journalists who are conditioned to the few-casualty air wars that we periodically conduct against defenseless Third World countries. A ground war is always going to produce casualties, and any experienced soldier will tell you that the toughest of all ground wars is trying to root the enemy out of an urban area. The next worst is dealing with guerrillas in a heavily wooded, mountainous region….. At the risk of being repetitious, I should also point out that the war against Chechnya is simply none of our business. As it happens, there are 65 other conflicts going on in the world at this time, and the United States not only has no moral or legal authority to intervene in them, it lacks the competence and the capacity. You can be sure that American politicians, who love to swagger about, bullying little countries, will not attempt to bully Russia -- just as they have not attempted to bully China. After all, both of these countries have teeth. It is, of course, dishonorable and cowardly to bully the weak and to pander to the strong….."

The San Diego Union Tribune 1/10/2000 Jonathan Landay Knight Ridder "…Russia's early-warning system is so decayed that Moscow is unable to detect U.S. intercontinental ballistic missile launches for at least seven hours a day and no longer can spot missiles fired from American submarines at all, U.S. officials and experts say. At most, only four of Russia's 21 early-warning satellites are working, according to experts on Moscow's space program. That gives Russian commanders no more than 17 hours -- and perhaps as little as 12 hours -- of daily coverage of the 550 nuclear-tipped ICBM silos in Colorado, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota and Wyoming...."

Yahoo (Reuters) 1/11/2000 Elaine Monaghan "….A Russian soldier shot by U.S. agents as he crashed around in a vehicle in the embassy compound in Moscow tried to run down two guards and did not stop when guns were drawn, a U.S. spokesman said on Tuesday. State Department spokesman James Rubin told a graphic tale of how agents tried to smash nto a car which was being driven erratically around the compound by Yevgeny Ivanov, 20. Ivanov is recovering in hospital with serious wounds and may face charges of attempted theft when he recovers...."

New York Times 1/11/2000 Celestine Bohlen "….Russia's Acting President Vladimir V. Putin today selected an experienced debt negotiator as his top deputy prime minister and shunted aside two high- ranking government officials closely linked with former President Boris N. Yeltsin, further putting his own stamp on the Kremlin. By choosing Finance Minister Mikhail Kasyanov, 42, for the Russian government's No. 2 position, Mr. Putin also signaled the importance of Russia's relations with its Western creditors -- and dropped a hint about a possible successor as prime minister, if he wins the March 26 presidential elections…"

MSNBC 1/10/00 "..... RUSSIAN POLICE said two soldiers broke into the embassy and were stopped by a U.S. Marine guard, who opened fire, the Interfax news agency reported. The wounded man was identified as Yevgeny Taynakov, 23. A U.S. Embassy spokesman confirmed that an intruder had been wounded, but refused to give details or confirm if the incident was a shooting involving a Marine guard. The man was spotted breaking into and trying to start up an embassy vehicle, which he then crashed, the embassy spokesman said......"

NewsMax.com 1/10/00 "....Did Vladimir Putin find God, or just a better job? The new Russian interim president was expelled from West Germany as a Soviet espionage agent in the late 1970s, during the heat of the Cold War. Tod