092901

Vol. 3, No. 40, September 29, 2001

FOREIGN MINISTER YERLAN IDRISSOV

DISCUSSES FIGHT AGAINST TERRORISM WITH

SECRETARY OF STATE COLIN POWELL

On September 28, 2001, during a working visit to the Unites States Foreign Minister Yerlan Idrissov met Secretary of State Colin Powell to discuss the development of the situation in the world in the wake of the recent terrorist attacks on the U.S., the situation in Afghanistan as well as the U.S.- planned actions to fight the international terrorism. Both officials agreed there was a need for the international community to join efforts in the fight against this evil.

Secretary Powell said he was grateful to President Nazarbayev for the support and readiness for a practical interaction in this matter. He informed about the U.S. approaches to the issue of terrorism, as well as about ongoing consultations with various nations.

Minister Idrissov praised the U.S. intentions to prepare the balanced, long term and targeted counter-terrorism measures and their readiness to closely cooperate with the international community within the coalition currently being assembled.

Kazakhstan's diplomat informed Secretary Powell about the upcoming meeting of the heads of state of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence-building measures in Asia (CICA), scheduled for November 8-10, 2001 in Almaty. He stressed the importance of a joint response to the new threats that will be on the agenda of the summit.

On behalf of President Nazarbayev Mr. Idrissov invited Secretary Powell to visit Kazakhstan, possibly during the summit, which would provide an opportunity for further exchange of opinions with the participants of the Almaty meeting.

The idea to convene the CICA was first introduced at the UN General Assembly in October, 1992 by President Nursultan Nazarbayev, who said its aim was to renew attempts, unsuccessful in the past, to create an effective and universal structure ensuring security on Asian continent, where, unlike other regions of the world, such a mechanism has not yet been established.

Currently, there are 16 members of the CICA process, including Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, China, Mongolia, Egypt, India, Iran, Israel, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Palestine, Russia, Tadjikistan, Turkey, and Uzbekistan.

The United States, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Lebanon, Malaysia, Ukraine, Vietnam, Thailand are the observers in the CICA, where the UN, OSCE, and the League of Arab States also have their representatives.

During their meeting Messrs. Idrissov and Powell also discussed bilateral cooperation in various spheres and reconfirmed mutual desire for deepening the bilateral dialogue on all levels.

Separately, Mr. Idrissov met Christina Rocca, Assistant Secretary of State for South Asia, and John Wolf, Assistant Secretary of State for nonproliferation. They discussed regional security, humanitarian aspects of the situation in Afghanistan as well as prospects of further strengthening bilateral cooperation in nonproliferation area.

The U.S. officials expressed readiness to allocate additional financial resources to strengthening the borders in Central Asia within the Central Asia Security Initiative program, launched in 2000.

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News Bulletin of the Embassy of the Republic of Kazakhstan

(Compiled from own sources and various agencies' reports)

Contact persons: Roman Vassilenko, Aibek Nurbalin

Tel.: (202) 232- 5488 ext. 104, 115

Fax: (202) 232- 5845