Kazakhstan’s leader sacks his son-in-law after last week’s deadly clashes

Kazakhstan’s leader sacks his son-in-law after last week’s deadly clashes

Asia-Plus

DUSHANBE, December 23, 2011, Asia-Plus — Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev said on Thursday he would fire his son-in-law from the top job at the sovereign wealth fund, accusing its oil and gas unit of mishandling a strike that erupted into deadly clashes, international media outlets report.

Reuters reports Kazakh leader’s surprise arrival in the western oil-producing region of Mangistau coincided with growing international pressure to investigate the violence on December 16-17, which killed at least 16 people and wounded 110.

Kazakh state television showed President Nazarbayev in the regional capital Aktau saying he had replaced the heads of state oil and gas firm KazMunaiGas and its London-listed subsidiary KazMunaiGas Exploration Production.

He said the management of KazMunaiGas had failed to implement his order to resolve a labor dispute that has been simmering since thousands of oil workers downed tools in May.

“The workers’ demands were in general justified,” he told a gathering of local officials and members of the public in Aktau.  “The employer should not have forgotten that these are our citizens. They have not fallen from the Moon.  They should have listened to them and, as much as it is possible, supported them.  To my regret, this was not done.”

The Kazakh president announced that Timur Kulibayev had lost his job at Samruk Kazyna, Kazakhstan’s $80bn sovereign wealth fund.  “I am dismissing Timur Kulibayev who heads Samruk-Kazyna,” he said in remarks broadcast on state TV.

Experts note that Timur Kulibayev, who is married to Nazarbayev’s middle daughter Dinara, is seen as one of the closest people to Nazarbayev.

Billionaire Kulibayev, one of the country’s most influential people, runs the sovereign wealth fund Samruk-Kazyna, which owns KazMunaiGas.

Reuters says that a shrewd businessman who rarely speaks in public, Kulibayev is ranked Kazakhstan’s third-richest man by Forbes magazine, with a fortune of $1.3 billion.  He has played down the idea of political ambitions, saying he is more concerned with business.

He is also chairman of the board of KazMunaiGas and a board member at Russian gas export monopoly Gazprom.

In a major reshuffle of oil sector management, Nazarbayev replaced the chief executive of KazMunaiGas – Bolat Akchulakov, a Kulibayev appointee in the job for less than three months – and installed Deputy Oil and Gas Minister Lyazzat Kiinov.

KazMunaiGas EP also said its chief executive, Askar Balzhanov, had resigned and been replaced by Alik Aidarbayev, managing director of KazMunaiGas and board chairman at KMG EP.

Meanwhile, the BBC reported on Thursday that Kazakhstan has asked the UN to help investigate violence that left 16 dead in an oil town last week.

Clashes between striking workers and police in the western town of Zhanaozen last Friday led the government to declare a state of emergency.

The authorities promise a transparent inquiry into the worst violence in the Central Asian country’s recent history.

The governor of the region and the local boss of the state oil firm have reportedly been sacked.

Eyewitnesses say police fired on unarmed protesters, who have been protesting for months, in the town of 90,000.

But police say they were forced to defend themselves.  A 20-day curfew is in effect until January 5.

The invitation to the UN came after Kazakhstan’s prosecutor general Askhat Daulbayev met the UN human rights envoy for Central Asia, Armen Harutyunyan, on Wednesday in the capital Astana.

Human rights groups have expressed concern over the treatment of protesters.  New York-based Human Rights Watch urged the authorities to investigate immediately allegations of torture and ill-treatment of detainees following the violence in Zhanaozen and to hold those responsible accountable.  It condemned the death of a 50-year-old man in Zhanaozen from injuries it said were sustained in police custody.

Uzbekistan Blames Tajikistan for Suffering Rail Shortages

[The Uzbek side makes this idiotic charge, based on Tajik railway's inability to absorb traffic for Qurghon Teppa through Dushanbe.  It is unclear from press reports why Tajik railways cannot accommodate this increase in traffic through Dushanbe.  I read somewhere that the problem was that it was necessary to offload from trains onto trucks to make the changeover.  The problem remains one of outdated Soviet-era tracks and equipment, in addition to unreasonable expectations from the Uzbek govt.]  

Uzbekistan accuses Tajikistan of Khatlon rail problems

Payrav Chorshanbiyev

DUSHANBE, December 23, 2011, Asia-Plus  — Freight cars bound for Tajik Khatlon province are being suck in Uzbekistan because Tajikistan refuses to receive them, O’zbekiston Temir Yollari (Uzbek state rail company) told REGNUM in an interview, commenting on Tajik MPs’ appeal to their Uzbek colleagues over the Khatlon rail problems.

According to the Uzbek state rail company, 327 freight cars bound for Tajik Khatlon province are being stuck in Uzbekistan.

O’zbekiston Temir Yollari reportedly claims that the Tajik side has not rendered any assistance so far to resolve the problem.

We will recall that the bridge on the train track between the Uzbek towns of Ghalaba and Amuzang was damaged overnight on November 16-17 that caused rail traffic between Termez in Uzbekistan and the Tajik city of Qurghon Teppa to be shut down.

Tajik Railways wrote to O’zbekiston Temir Yollari as early as November 17 proposing assistance to resume rail traffic between Termez and Qurghon Teppa as soon as possible.

Uzbek rail authorities have redirected Khatlon-bound trains to Dushanbe and the Dushanbe railway station is currently receiving passenger trains bound for the south of the country.  But the Dushanbe railway station is not able to receive the Khatlon-bound freight cars and organize further delivery of cargo into Khatlon, the Tajik rail authorities noted.  They informed their Uzbek colleagues of these problems on November 22.

Radio Liberty’s Tajik Service reported on December 14 that the head of the UN’s World Food Program (WFP) office in Tajikistan says Uzbekistan’s decision to block rail traffic to Tajikistan threatens to create severe food shortages.

The WFP’s Alzira Ferreira told RFE/RL on December 13 that even food being sent to Tajikistan as humanitarian aid is not reaching its destination due to the Uzbek authorities’ refusal to allow trains bound for Tajikistan to pass through Uzbekistan.  Ferreira said there are 23 trains with food stocks organized by the WFP waiting to make the last part of their journey into Tajikistan.

The WFP regularly provides aid to some 500,000 people and 2,000 schools located mainly in Tajikistan’s southern Khatlon region.

Ferreira said food prices in Tajikistan are rising due to the shortages caused by the blockade of rail traffic and an increasing number of Tajiks are unable to afford basic goods.

In its appeal to Uzbek MPs adopted on December 16, the Majlisi Namoyandagon (Tajikistan’s lower chamber of parliament) notes that two regions of Tajikistan – Khatlon and Gorno Badakhshan – have remained in blockade for nearly a month as Khatlon-bound freight cars have still been stuck in Uzbekistan.  “Autumn sowing campaign as well as construction of schools and hospitals in these regions have been delayed and the delay in delivery of humanitarian aid to the mentioned regions evokes serious concern.”

The blockade of the rail traffic into southern Tajikistan has also impeded the passage of nonmilitary cargo to Afghanistan for international forces, the appeal said, noting that foreign companies operating in Khatlon and Gorno Badakhshan are also bearing losses, the appeal said.

Russian industry rocked by Kolskaya rig tragedy

[Does this accident demonstrate the real dangers of  drilling rigs in arctic waters?  How safe could it be towing these rigs through waters as they are cleared by icebreakers?]

Vladimir Afanasiev 

Rescue: an unidentified survivor from the Kolskaya jack-up is evacuated from the Magadan icebreaker to a helicopter in the Okhotsk Sea

Image courtesy of EPA/SCANPIX

Inquiry to begin as country faces up to worst ever incident in its offshore sector

THE authorities in Russia are trying to come to grips with the worst tragedy ever to hit the country’s offshore industry, with 53 personnel presumed dead after the state-owned jack-up drilling rig Kolskaya capsized and sank during a storm in the Okhotsk Sea last weekend.

 

As Upstream went to press, 16 people were confirmed dead but the death toll seemed certain to rise, with 37 crew members still listed as missing. Only 14 people were initially rescued out of the 67-strong crew on board at the time of the sinking. Lifeboats have been recovered but with no-one on board. The authorities said the rig, which was under tow, suffered a rapid water ingress during the storm, sinking in less than an hour. Kolskaya was on its way to Sakhalin Island, before a planned mobilisation to Vietnam. It was being towed by the tug Neftegaz-55 and the icebreaker Magadan, having recently completed an exploration well for Gazprom on the West Kamchatka block off eastern Russia.

The 1985-built rig was operated by Arcticmorneftegazrazvedka, a company headquartered in Murmansk and controlled by state-owned oil company Zarubezhneft.

One of the survivors, identified by Russian television as Sergey Grauman, said strong waves smashed portholes in the dining room and destroyed equipment.

Salvage of the jack-up is understood to be out of the question, despite suggestions that some personnel had been trapped inside the rig, as it sank in water depths of more than 1000 metres.

Gazprom has been quick to distance itself from the tragedy, saying the rig had completed its job on the West Kamchatka block and was thus the sole responsibility of Arcticmorneftegazrazvedka. Industry analysts in Moscow noted that the rig was being towed with the excess personnel on board and beyond the end of the ice-free safe navigation season in the region.

The list of people who were on board the rig was published by-Moscow daily Komsomolskaya Pravda and included drillers, assistant drillers and geologists, in addition to support personnel.

Arcticmorneftegazrazvedka said that the rig move met “the highest requirements” of safe navigation. It added that the jack-up was in a “good technical condition” and that it had been renovated in 2011 under the supervision of two classification societies – Norway’s DNV and the Russian Register of Shipping. However, relatives of those missing in the accident have openly accused Arcticmorneftegazrazvedka of pushing rig captain Aleksandr Kozlov, who is among the missing, to lead the unit into harsh waters.

Kozlov’s wife, Lyudmila Kozlova, was reported as saying in Murmansk that her husband had even submitted his resignation as a protest against the planned trip. The authorities said a full investigation is to be carried out.

Turkmenistan – Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov and Vladimir Putin start talks

President of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov, who arrived in Moscow on a working visit, is currently talking with Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin. The meeting is held at the government residence in Novo-Ogaryovo, outside Moscow.

Exchanging greetings, Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov and Vladimir Putin, both nominated as presidential candidates in their countries, sincerely wished each other success in the 2012 elections.

As the Moscow correspondent of Turkmenistan.ru reports, the meeting is attended by members of the Turkmen government delegation – Vice Premier and Foreign Minister Rashid Meredov, Deputy Prime Ministers Khodjamukhammet Muhammedov Baymyrat Hojamuhammedov and Nazarguly Shagulyev, as well as Ambassador of Turkmenistan in Russia Halnazar Agakhanov.

The Russian delegation consists of First Deputy Prime Minister Viktor Zubkov, Energy Minister Sergei Shmatko, Deputy Head of the Executive Office of the Government Yuri Ushakov, Chairman of OAO “Gazprom” Alexei Miller, Russian Ambassador in Turkmenistan Alexander Blokhin.

It is expected that the sides will discuss a wide range of bilateral cooperation in the trade and economic sphere and the fuel and energy sector, in the field of culture and education, as well as cooperation within the CIS, where Turkmenistan will preside in 2012.

10,000 Troops Leave Afghanistan, While Thousands of Iraq Vets Prepare to Take their Place

[SEE: Returning From Iraq, Soldiers Find Themselves On Turnaround To Afghanistan]

10,000 U.S. troops leave Afghanistan

Detroit Free Press

In this July 14 file photo, U.S. soldiers board a U.S. military plane as they leave Afghanistan. The United States is not alone in pulling combat troops off the Afghan battlefield. More than a dozen other countries have drawdown plans that will shrink the foreign military footprint in Afghanistan. / By Musadeq Sadeq, AP

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Obama’s order to withdraw 10,000 American troops from Afghanistan this year has been accomplished, a little more than a week before the year-end deadline, military officials said Thursday.

The drawdown is the first step in the plan to wind down the war, transition security to Afghan forces and end the combat role for international troops by the end of 2014.

TTP Successfully Launch Massive Attack On Mullzai Fort

One security official killed, 19 missing in South Waziristan

By Iftikhar Firdous

Militants attack fort of the security forces near Mullazai area, 20km north of the district of Tank. PHOTO: AFP/ FILE

PESHAWAR: Militants killed one security official and reportedly kidnapped 19 in an attack on security forces in the Mullazai area north of the Tank district near the South Waziristan tribal area on Friday.

The Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan have claimed responsibility for the attack.

According to sources, the incident took place at around 2:30 am.

“The men were from the Frontier Constabulary,” an official said while confirming that 19 people were missing who were “probably taken captive” he said.

The exact number of militants could not be determined. The attack was launched on Mullzai Fort, a guarded fortress used to bombard militant hideouts with artillery shelling during operations, which confirmed that a large number of people must have attacked the secure installation.

Sources also said that the initial number of FC personnel missing after the attack was 23 but seven of them had returned back safely.

The Frontier Constabulary, part of the security forces usually placed in the frontier region areas, monitor zones between the tribal and the settled areas. There were no casualties of militants reported.

A search operation was subsequently launched and a large number of security personnel were deployed in the area, however there are chances that the men were taken to the tribal areas.

The Pakistani Taliban “Tigers” Fight Back In Tank

[The many lies about the TTP come back to haunt the Pak Army.

--If there are units of this strength functioning in  Tank, then it exposes the previous S. Waziristan "operation"  as another sham.

--This disproves recent news reports that the TTP is fizzling-out.  It is as strong as it needs to be to stage these psycho-dramas with the Pak Army.  These attacks, like the cross-border attacks in Mohmand, are soap operas staged for publicity stunts.  The situation recently got out of hand, when Afghans and other Northern Alliance sources started changing the script, resulting in the grievous miscalculation at the Salala Border Check Post.  Indian/Afghan TTP assets undoubtedly provoked the incident, by firing upon the Afghans from near the Pak outpost.  Whenever other players start reading from different scripts, then accidents like that happen.]

Pakistani Taliban attack fort, kidnap 15 soldiers

AP

- File Photo

DERA ISMAIL KHAN: Pakistani Taliban fighters attacked a paramilitary fort in northwestern Pakistan on Friday, killing one soldier and kidnapping 15 others, police said.

The brazen attack was followed by a statement to media in which the militants said they would kill the abducted troops.

Armed with assault rifles, at least 35 militants targeted the Frontier Corps fort in Tank district before dawn, said local police Chief Ejad Abid. The militants burned down buildings and captured a significant amount of weapons, he said.

One soldier was killed and two were wounded in the fighting, said Abid.

Another 15 are still missing and believed to have been kidnapped, he said.

Pakistani Taliban spokesman Ehsanullah Ehsan claimed responsibility for the attack in a phone call to The Associated Press and said it was carried out to avenge the death of a local Taliban commander. He claimed 30 soldiers were kidnapped.

But another Taliban commander who said he carried out the attack, Asmatullah Shaheen, told the AP that he had 15 soldiers in his custody.

Some others managed to escape after the militants captured them, he said.

Abid, the police chief, said at least 22 soldiers were missing originally, but seven managed to return.

Shaheen said the militant commander being avenged, Taj Gul, was killed in a US drone strike in October in South Waziristan, an important sanctuary for the Pakistani Taliban next to Tank.

The militants attacked the Pakistani soldiers in response because of the country’s alliance with the US, he said.

Ehsan, the Taliban spokesman, said the militants have no intention of bargaining for the kidnapped soldiers’ release and intend to kill them.

”We are going to cut these soldiers into pieces one by one, and we will send these pieces to their commanders,” said Ehsan.

MQM Figurehead Pushing Pakistani Revolution from London

[For those who have trouble remembering what MQM is all about, here is a little reminder, from your friends at Jang (SEE: Eyewitness: Karachi ).] 

Peaceful revolution knocking on Pakistan’s door: Altaf Hussain

Speaking during a rally in Multan, Hussain says “flood” of the people cannot be stopped now.PHOTO: FILE

MULTAN: Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) chief Altaf Hussain on Friday said that the support the people of Multan have shown to the party signifies that a “peaceful revolution” is “knocking on Pakistan’s door.”

In a telephonic address, Hussain said that the “flood” of the people cannot be stopped now.

He said that the people who talk about revolution and claim to bring it must know that in the past the MQM has “slapped” politicians and fuedals on the forums of National Assembly and Senate.

Hussain proclaimed that today’s [Friday] rally is the biggest rally in the history of Multan and that it highlights Multan’s citizens’ love for MQM. He added, “Such love was seen in history for Quaid-e-Azam and Liaquat Ali.”

Backing his statement, he said that the Quaid was truthful and so is MQM.

The MQM chief said that Multan, “the city of Saints,” has “hammered another nail in the casket of feudals.”

He said that a negative propaganda was being planned in order to drive away the support that the people of Multan give to the MQM so that the feudals could “enslave” them.

Hussain reiterated the need for a Seraiki province in the region and repeated, “Make provinces, save Pakistan.”

He showed satisfaction over the demarcation of Southern Punjab and said that a “province for the underprivileged” should be made.

Speaking about his rally, the MQM chief also said that “Such peaceful processions could not be witnessed again in any other party’s rally.”

CENTCOM Chief Cancels Scheduled Pakistani Briefing

US Central Command briefing to Pakistan on NATO attack cancelled

By Reuters

News that General Mattis’ visit to Pakistan has been cancelled came a day after the US released its inquiry report. PHOTO: WIKIPEDIA

ISLAMABAD: A briefing by the head of the US Central Command to Pakistani officials on a November 26 cross-border Nato air attack that killed 24 Pakistani soldiers and severely strained ties with Washington has been cancelled, a Pakistani official said on Friday.       

News that General James N Mattis’ visit to Pakistan has been cancelled came a day after the United States announced that its investigation into the attack found both American and Pakistani forces were to blame for the border incident.

According to the investigation report, a lack of trust and series of miscommunications contributed to the events that took place on November 26.

On the other hand, Pakistan has rejected the US inquiry report.

“Pakistan’s army does not agree with the findings of the US/Nato inquiry as being reported in the media. The inquiry report is short on facts,” the military said in a short statement.

“A detailed response will be given as and when the formal report is received,” it said.

Grim Results of two “Al-CIA-da” bombings in Syria

Grim Results of two “Al-CIA-da” bombings in Syria, posted with vodpod

Scores of dead and wounded in two suicide bombings in Damascus

Scores of dead and wounded in two suicide bombings in Damascus

The sound of explosions this morning in the Syrian capital of Damascus, al-Manar correspondent reported that the first explosion targeted a building near the General Intelligence Department Roundabout “Kafar Souseh” while the second bombing targeted a security branches near the Hotel “Carlton” in the capital. Syrian television and declared that “the two terrorist attacks occurred in Damascus, one aimed at the General Intelligence Department and other branches of one security and initial investigations indicate that it acts of al Qaeda.” The Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal Miqdad that more than thirty people were killed and wounded more than a hundred others in the blasts, which targeted the Damascus this morning. Mekdad said to reporters at the site of one of the attacks “has been more than thirty people dead and more than a hundred wounded, and in the explosions in the day.” ”In the first day of the arrival of Arab observers. It is the first gift from terrorism and al Qaeda, but we will facilitate the task to the farthest extent of the Arab League.” He Mekdad that “terrorism wanted to be the first day of the observers in Damascus tragic day, but the Syrian people will face a killing machine supported by the Europeans and the Americans and some Arab parties.” The Syrian state television announced that “a number of civilian and military martyrs” killed in the bombings, which targeted the Friday morning security headquarters in Damascus. The television said that “a number of military martyrs and civilians were killed in two terrorist attacks carried out by suicide bombers and car bombs targeted the headquarters of General Intelligence Department and one of the security branches” of Syria. The news agency said Syria, “SANA” that “initial investigations indicate the involvement of al-Qaeda to these blasts.”

The “Al-CIA-da” Killing Machine Has Begun Its Work In Syria

More than 30 dead in Damascus bombings

An image grab taken from Syrian state TV shows Syrians ispecting a burnt car at the site of a suicide attack in a security service base in Damascus (AFP PHOTO/SYRIAN TV)

DAMASCUS: More than 30 people were killed in twin suicide bombings against security service buildings in Damascus on Friday, Syrian Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal Meqdad said.

“There are more than 30 dead and more than 100 wounded in today’s two attacks,” Meqdad told reporters at one of the bomb sites.

“On the first day after the arrival of the Arab observers, this is the gift we get from the terrorists and Al-Qaeda,” he added, referring to an Arab League mission intended to oversee a plan to end nine months of bloodshed.

“But we are going to do all we can to facilitate the Arab League mission,” Meqdad added.

“The terrorists wanted the first day of the observer mission in Damascus to be a tragic day but the Syrian people will stand strong in the face of the killing machine supported by the Europeans, the Americans and some Arab countries,” he said alluding to Western support for the opposition.

He was accompanied to the bomb site by League assistant secretary general Samir Seif al-Yazal, head of the observer mission’s advance team which arrived on Thursday.

“We are going to press on with our work,” Yazal told reporters.

“We have started today, and tomorrow (Saturday) we will meet (Foreign Minister) Walid Muallem.”

Yazal offered his condolences to the families of the victims of the bombings. “What has happened is regrettable but the important thing is that everyone stay calm,” he said.

- AFP/ms/cc