Pubdate: Mon,  7 Oct 2002
Source: Associated Press (Wire)
Copyright: 2002 Associated Press
Author: Judith Ingram, Associated Press Writer

EX-SOVIET LEADERS AGREE ON CRIME

CHISINAU, Moldova - Russian President Vladimir Putin and the leaders of 10 
other former Soviet republics met Monday to agree on ways to improve joint 
crime-fighting, including strengthening borders and combatting the illegal 
drug trade.

On the eve of the summit of the Commonwealth of Independent States, Putin 
held bilateral meetings with seven of his counterparts.

In the most closely watched meeting, he and Georgian President Eduard 
Shevardnadze called a time-out in a venomous dispute over alleged Georgian 
aid to Chechen rebels. Putin said he had received a pledge that Georgia 
would no longer hold up extradition of a group of Chechens who are wanted 
in Russia, and the two agreed that their border guards should increase 
cooperation, up to joint patrols, to prevent rebel incursions.

Asked Monday if Russia was still planning to unleash its own air strikes on 
Georgian territory as Putin had threatened in September, the Russian leader 
said, "Those declarations, I hope, will not be realized if yesterday's 
agreement with the Georgian president is put into practice."

"There are no obstacles to putting into practice what we agreed," he said.

Sunday's meeting between the two leaders was their first since a war of 
words broke out this summer over the presence of Chechen rebels and other 
militants in northern Georgia, on the Russian border. The quarrel, years in 
the making, came to a head after a group of dozens of alleged Chechen 
rebels broke through the border and battled Russian border guards, killing 
eight.

Putin and his subordinates had threatened the strikes, saying that Russia 
had a right to act in self-defense. But Shevardnadze's aides accused Moscow 
of using the anti-terrorist campaign as a ruse to destabilize its southern 
neighbor.

Monday's summit was equally as friendly, with a few hours of formal 
meetings capped by a visit to the Cricova wine cellars in the outskirts of 
Chisinau. The formal agenda included discussions of the joint fight against 
terrorism, separatism and drugs, and the informal program was to include 
greetings to Putin, who was celebrating his 50th birthday.

The meeting was also expected to hammer out a common position on Iraq and 
consider the creation of an anti-terrorist center in Central Asia.

While it is nominally a group of equals, the 11-year-old Commonwealth is 
also an instrument of Russian policy in the former Soviet region. Moscow is 
working particularly to win back influence in Central Asia, where the 
United States has stationed troops as part of the anti-terrorist campaign 
and significantly increased economic aid.

The ITAR-Tass news agency reported that Russia is seeking agreement to a 
policy of no direct or indirect involvement by Commonwealth states in a 
possible U.S.-led military operation against Iraq.

The Commonwealth was formed to coordinate cooperation between the countries 
emerging when the Soviet Union dissolved in 1991 and to prevent the anarchy 
that many top officials feared.

Turkmen President Saparmurat Niyazov was the only no-show at the summit. 
His Central Asian nation has declared a policy of strict neutrality and it 
regularly skips Commonwealth meetings.
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