Joint forces approved for Central Asia

By Vladimir Radyuhin

MOSCOW, MAY 25. Russia and three other former Soviet republics today approved the creation of a joint rapid-reaction force to fight the growing threat of Islamic militant groups in Central Asia.

The decision was taken at a summit of member-states of the Collective Security Treaty in Yerevan, capital of Armenia, on Friday. As envisioned, the rapid-reaction force will comprise a battalion from each of the four participants Russia, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Kazakhstan - amounting to a total of about 1,700 men. The battalions would be deployed in their respective states, except the Russian force which will be formed on the basis of its 201st division stationed in Tajikistan, but will all be subordinate to a joint headquarters based in Kyrgyzia. All paperwork must be completed by August 1, clearing the way for the establishment of the rapid-reaction force before the end of the year, the RIA Novosti news agency reported from Yerevan.

The other two members of the Collective Security Treaty - Belarus and Armenia - will later also form regional joint forces with Russia along what was described as strategic directions - the East European one and the Trans-Caucasian one.

The decision to build regional security setups is a major victory for Moscow in its efforts to revive the Collective Security Treaty, which nearly fell apart in 1999, when Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan and Georgia refused to extend their membership in the pact.

To encourage further defence integration of collective security member-states, Russia has announced that it will sell them arms at cut-rate prices - the same as are effective for the Russian army.

The collective security summit has also approved a statement on combating terrorism in Central Asia.

``We will continue to jointly rebuff attempts to disrupt peace and tranquility in Central Asia, the statement said. ...We reiterate the readiness of our countries for close cooperation with the international community in defusing the hotbed of tension in Afghanistan and facilitating political settlement of the Afghan conflict under U.N. auspices. We call on all states to implement the 1333 Security Council resolution of December 19, 2000.''

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