Date: Wed, 18 Oct 2000 18:14:22 +0300 (BEAUT)
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Subject: CENTRAL ASIA: IRIN News Briefs [2001018]
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CENTRAL ASIA: IRIN News Briefs, 18 October

CONTENTS:

IRAN: UNHCR announces Afghan repatriation figures
IRAN: More than 18,000 illegal aliens arrested in six months
AFGHANISTAN: Russia and US discuss "terrorist threat"
AFGHANISTAN: Iranian aid reaches Afghan drought victims in north
UZBEKISTAN: Turkish leader ends visit 

IRAN: UNHCR announces Afghan repatriation figures

Public information spokesman for UNHCR in Tehran, Mohammad Nouri, told
IRIN on Wednesday that up to 14 October, the total number of returning
Afghans under the joint repatriation programme with the Iranian government
had reached 108,685. 

Parallel to the UNHCR organised repatriation convoys, the Iranian interior
ministry was facilitating the spontaneous return of Afghans.  "To date, a
total of 23,961 Afghan individuals have spontaneously returned to their
homeland," Nouri said. He emphasised that UNHCR "makes sure these people
are returning entirely of their own free will and are fully informed that
such returns are not assisted". 

IRAN: More than 18,000 illegal aliens arrested in six months

Iranian police have arrested more than 18,000 people living in the country
illegally over the past six months, according to a recent report by the
state news agency IRNA.  During the same period more than 27,000 people
were repatriated from Iran, which is trying to cope with over one million
illegal foreign nationals. 

Iran and the United Nations recently agreed to extend their joint
voluntary repatriation programmes for Afghans - which was due to end in
October - for an additional three months.  The Iranian authorities believe
some 1.4 million Afghans are in the country illegally, and officials blame
the refugee wave for an increase in unemployment, crime, as well as drug
trafficking and consumption, the report said. 

AFGHANISTAN: Russia and US discuss "terrorist threat" 

The Russian-US group on countering the "terrorist threat" from Afghanistan
held a second session in Moscow on 17 and 18 October. In a report by the
Russian news agency Interfax on Tuesday, the two sides held talks on the
situation on the Afghan-Tajik border, including the smuggling of firearms
and narcotics.  They were also due to discuss developments such as the
recent terrorist act on a US warship in Yemen. 

Russia and the Central Asian republics are concerned by the latest
military advances of Afghanistan's ruling Taliban movement which controls
95 percent of the country's territory.  Russia maintains troops in
Tajikistan, next door to Afghanistan, to secure the border against
incursions by militants and drug smugglers. 

AFGHANISTAN: Iranian aid reaches Afghan drought victims in north

Afghanistan's ruling Taliban movement said on Tuesday it had received the
first convoy of humanitarian aid from neighbouring Iran for
drought-stricken people in the northern Afghan province of Herat. 

According to a report by the 'Voice of Shariat' radio, the convoy was made
up of 37 vehicles carrying 37 mt of food, 500 blankets and 150 tents,
estimated at some US $200,000. The aid was handed over to the head of the
northwestern zone's foreign ministry department in the presence of the
Iranian general consul.  The humanitarian aid from Iran was a result of an
agreement reached between an Iranian Red Crescent delegation and the
northwestern zone authorities, the report said. Iran does not officially
recognise the Taliban government. 

UZBEKISTAN: Turkish leader ends visit

Turkish President Ahmet Necdet Sezer ended his official visit to
Uzbekistan on Tuesday, the Turkish Anatolia news agency reported.  The
president, who is on a four-nation tour of the Central Asian
Turkic-speaking countries, is eager to reaffirm Turkey's regional
interests in the area and is also set to visit Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan
and Kyrgyzstan. 

Earlier Sezer said "further improvement of relations with Turkish
republics in Central Asia in the fields of policy, economy, culture and
security will make an important contribution to efforts to provide peace,
stability and prosperity in the region". Meanwhile, Uzbek President Islam
Karimov stressed the importance of Uzbek-Turkish relations, saying Turkey
was an "important and reliable partner" "We are ready to develop our
relations in all fields," Anatolia quoted him as saying. 

The two presidents reportedly signed five agreements, including two on
military cooperation and the rest relating to education, economic
cooperation and security. 

[ENDS]

[IRIN-Asia: Tel: +254 2 622147 Fax: +254 2 622129 e-mail:
irin-cea@ocha.unon.org ]


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