Journalists Feared Dead in Afghan Ambush  KABUL (Reuters) - Four journalists including two from Reuters, were missing and feared dead on Tuesday after gunmen forced them from their cars east of Kabul.
Reuters journalists Harry Burton, an Australian television cameraman, and Azizullah Haidari, an Afghan-born photographer, both aged 33, were reported missing after their convoy was stopped by gunmen on Monday near a bridge at Tangi Abrishum some 55 miles east of Kabul in Afghanistan.
Spanish journalist Julio Fuentes of El Mundo and Italian journalist Maria Grazia Cutuli of Corriere della Sera were also missing.
The journalists were traveling in an eight-car convoy from the eastern city of Jalalabad, near the Khyber pass, to Kabul.
Reporters who escaped the ambush said the cars carrying the missing journalists were stopped by gunmen who forced the four journalists from their cars, beat them and hit them with stones.
As other cars in the convoy turned back, gunshots were heard.
A driver at the Kabul bus station said he had been driving from the eastern city of Jalalabad, capital of Nangarhar province, when he saw a body on the road.
He said he had stopped and found three more bodies. None had visible injuries except for one man who appeared to have been beaten about the face, he said. One body was that of a woman.
Italian Foreign Minister Renato Ruggiero said he had received information that the four bodies matched the description of the missing journalists.
The Northern Alliance said 300 troops sent to recover the bodies clashed with unknown fighters on Monday evening, near Sarobi township, some 60 km east of Kabul and site of a hydroelectric plant that supplies power to the capital.
Power to Kabul was cut and the capital was plunged into darkness after the clashes began and had not been restored by Tuesday morning.
GUUAM MFA heads adopted
a joint communique in New-York Media-PRESS: In New-York there was held a meeting of foreign ministers, heads of the delegations of Azerbaijan, Georgia, Moldova, Uzbekistan and Ukraine at the 56th session of the UNO General Assembly, where the participants discussed the activity and development of the GUUAM union.
The delegations heads have discussed the realization of the agreements achieved by presidents of the GUUAM states at the Yalta summit (6-7 June this year) and stated for further activization of the joint efforts for their full-scale realization, marked the progress in the process of making the institute for multilateral cooperation within the frameworks of GUUAM. The ministers underscored the necessity of soonest completion of the agreement regarding the projects on temporary envision on GUUAM Information Office and on the Observer’s status in GUUAM, expressed the GUUAM states’ readiness to initiate the agreement on GUUAM free trade zone on November 28th in Tbilisi with further and soonest signing.
Touching the actual problem of the world policy, the heads of delegations were unanimous in the necessity of all-lateral struggle against terrorism, marked the connection of terrorism with aggressive separatism, extremism, organized crime, illegal drugs circulation and illegal trade of weapons.
The ministries underlined the necessity of the Agreement on common armed forces in Europe for a new architecture of Europe’s security. They condemned any actions directed against sovereignty and territorial integrity of their states, including aggression and any forms of illegal use of armed forces. In this relation, the GUUAM ministries expressed their anxiety with the lack of progress in settlement of the conflicts in Pridnestrovye, Nagorny Karabakh, Abkhazia, and also the situation in Georgia.
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Russia should not "force" Azerbaijan to increase oil volumes to pump
SOCAR has refuted the information spread by mass-media that Azerbaijan and Russia had not agreed on prolongation of the intergovernmental agreement on Azeri oil transit via the Baku-Novorossysk pipeline.
As it was reminded in the State Oil Company, the intergovernmental came into force in 1997 for the period of 10 years. It reads that five years later after the signing each side (SOCAR and "Transneft") may announce prolongation of the joint work for 10 more years. "Thus, until December 31st 2002 we can prolong the document. The agreement is still valid till 2007".
Touching the regular statements of the Russian side that in 2002 SOCAR must pump via "the northern" route 4 mln tones, the interlocutor of Media Press informed that as it was planned, next year the company intends to transport through the pipeline 2,5 mln tones of oil; about 725 ths tones in the first quarter. "But this figure can be changed, it depends on situation",- it was said SOCAR.
"The intergovernmental agreement was signed in 1996, when the Baku-Supsa pipeline did not exist, and all Azeri oil was exported via the route of Baku-Novorossiysk. Now, when the AIOC oil is transported via "the western" pipeline (Baku-Supsa), SOCAR has no those planned 5 mln tones of oil (the total volume of SOCAR and AIOC). To pump 5 mln tones a year via "the northern" route, we have to leave our oil refineries and cut the volumes needed for domestic market. We produce about 9 mln tones of crude a year. So, the Russian side should not insist on increasing of volumes which would bring huge losses to SOCAR",- resumed the representative of the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan.
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Agenda of a jubilee
session to be held
in Moscow is defined
At a jubilee session of the CIS heads to be held on November 30 in Moscow and devoted to the 10th anniversary of the Commonwealth, the presidents will exchange their opinions regarding the materials on the analytical report “CIS activity results for the period of 10 years and perspective tasks”.
It was informed by “Novosti” RNA in the Moscow office of the CIS Executive Committee.
One of the most important issues of the agenda will be discussion of the provision on organization of joint antiterrorist activities in the territory of the CIS states.
The states leaders will discuss the project of the Convention on standards of democratic elections, election rights and CIS citizens’ freedom.
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S.Abiyev to take part at a session of CIS defense ministers
On November 21st next session of the Board of CIS Defense Ministers will take place in Moscow under the chairmanship of RF military department head, Sergey Ivanov.
As the Trend news agency has learnt from informed sources, the forthcoming session will become the 40th and be held in the threshold of a next CIS summit and 10th anniversary of the Commonwealth of Independent States.
It is expected that the Board of Defense Ministries will discuss a wide range of issues related to the antiterrorist activity in CIS in the military sphere. Head of the AZ military department Safar Abiyev is supposed to present Azerbaijan at the Board of Defense Ministries session.
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