rferl--2020-08-23--Zelenskiy Says Fresh Election In Belarus With Observers Would Calm Political Crisis

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy says that , if he were in Belarusian President Alyaksandr Lukashenka ’ s place , he would call fresh elections in one month with international observers present .
`` Let 's imagine that I am confident about myself , I am confident in the people ’ s vote , that I am a confident person .
How can I calm everyone down ? ''
Zelenskiy said .
`` I would definitely say : ‘ In one month there will be a new vote .
And I am running for the new election .
Whoever wants to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ He added that he would invite in `` all international observers . ''
Euronews released excerpts of the interview on August 23 ahead of the broadcast of the full interview on August 25 .
The Ukrainian leader 's remarks came after the European Union and other Western countries said they did not recognize the result of an August 9 presidential election giving Lukashenka 80 percent of the vote .
Svyatlana Tsikhanouskaya , the main opposition candidate , has claimed that she was the true winner .
She has since departed for Lithuania , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ amid mass protests in Minsk and other cities .
Zelenskiy said any candidate should be allowed to run in a repeat election .
`` I ’ d tell the people of Belarus : 'Please , elect whoever you want , ' '' he said .
`` And after that result , there would be no more questions .
I 'm convinced about it . ''
It would be a way to avoid bloodshed , he said and would `` be fair and would make history . ''

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy says that, if he were in Belarusian President Alyaksandr Lukashenka’s place, he would call fresh elections in one month with international observers present.
"Let's imagine that I am confident about myself, I am confident in the people’s vote, that I am a confident person. How can I calm everyone down?" Zelenskiy said.
"I would definitely say: ‘In one month there will be a new vote. And I am running for the new election. Whoever wants to run -- go ahead!'"
He added that he would invite in "all international observers."
Euronews released excerpts of the interview on August 23 ahead of the broadcast of the full interview on August 25.
The Ukrainian leader's remarks came after the European Union and other Western countries said they did not recognize the result of an August 9 presidential election giving Lukashenka 80 percent of the vote.
Svyatlana Tsikhanouskaya, the main opposition candidate, has claimed that she was the true winner. She has since departed for Lithuania, saying she fears for her safety, amid mass protests in Minsk and other cities.
Zelenskiy said any candidate should be allowed to run in a repeat election.
"I’d tell the people of Belarus: 'Please, elect whoever you want,'" he said. "And after that result, there would be no more questions. I'm convinced about it."
It would be a way to avoid bloodshed, he said and would "be fair and would make history."
Based on reporting by Euronews


rferl--2020-08-23--Former Ukrainian Prime Minister Tymoshenko Tests Positive For Coronavirus

Former Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko has tested positive for the coronavirus and is in serious condition with a fever , her party 's spokeswoman said on August 23 .
Marina Soroka , a spokeswoman for the Fatherland Party , confirmed that the 59-year-old Tymoshenko is ill , saying on Facebook , “ Yes , unfortunately , it ’ s correct , ” adding that she is `` fighting '' with a temperature of 39 degrees .
She did not say whether Tymoshenko had been hospitalized .
Tymoshenko is the first high-profile Ukrainian politician known to have contracted COVID-19 .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ infections this week .
On August 22 the country reported a 24-hour total of 2,328 new cases , bringing the total since the pandemic began to 107,379 , including 2,313 deaths , according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University .
Tymoshenko rose to prominence as co-leader of Ukraine 's Orange Revolution in 2004 amid widespread protests against corruption and election rigging .
Tymoshenko ran for president in 2010 and lost to Russian-backed Viktor Yanukovych and was imprisoned from 2011 to 2014 on abuse-of-office charges that the international community widely condemned as politically @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in early 2014 after Yanukovych was toppled in a popular uprising that put Ukraine on a path toward closer ties with the European Union and the United States .
Based on reporting by Reuters and dpa

Former Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko has tested positive for the coronavirus and is in serious condition with a fever, her party's spokeswoman said on August 23.
Marina Soroka, a spokeswoman for the Fatherland Party, confirmed that the 59-year-old Tymoshenko is ill, saying on Facebook, “Yes, unfortunately, it’s correct,” adding that she is "fighting" with a temperature of 39 degrees. She did not say whether Tymoshenko had been hospitalized.
Tymoshenko is the first high-profile Ukrainian politician known to have contracted COVID-19.
Ukraine experienced a sharp rise in coronavirus infections this week. On August 22 the country reported a 24-hour total of 2,328 new cases, bringing the total since the pandemic began to 107,379, including 2,313 deaths, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University.
Tymoshenko rose to prominence as co-leader of Ukraine's Orange Revolution in 2004 amid widespread protests against corruption and election rigging.
Tymoshenko ran for president in 2010 and lost to Russian-backed Viktor Yanukovych and was imprisoned from 2011 to 2014 on abuse-of-office charges that the international community widely condemned as politically motivated.
She was freed from prison in early 2014 after Yanukovych was toppled in a popular uprising that put Ukraine on a path toward closer ties with the European Union and the United States.
Based on reporting by Reuters and dpa


rferl--2020-08-23--Kremlin Critic Navalny Was Under Surveillance During Trip To Siberia, Says Report

Kremlin critic Aleksei Navalny , who is being treated in a German hospital after a suspected poisoning , was under surveillance by Russian federal security agents during his recent trip to Siberia , according to a Russian newspaper report .
Officers with Russia 's Federal Security Service ( FSB ) monitored Navalny ’ s movements , the newspaper Moskovsky Komsomolets said , citing information from sources in Russian security agencies .
The surveillance involved plainclothes officers and CCTV cameras , the newspaper said .
The report provides details about where he stayed , what he and his associates ate , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ newspaper said it was significant that in Tomsk his entourage stayed in a hotel , where they rented more rooms than they required and Navalny did not stay in the room that was registered in his name .
`` The scale of surveillance does not surprise me at all .
We were perfectly aware of it before , '' Navalny spokeswoman Kira Yarmysh said on Twitter on August 23 .
`` What is surprising about the report is that they did not hesitate to tell everyone about it . ''
Yarmysh said on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ was poisoned when he drank tea purchased at the Tomsk airport .
Jaka Bizilj , founder of the Cinema for Peace Foundation , which arranged Navalny 's evacuation flight out of Russia , was quoted by the Bild newspaper as saying he believes Russian opposition leader will survive the `` poison attack '' but not without consequences to his health .
`` From my point of view , the crucial question is whether he will survive this unscathed and continue to play his role , '' Bizilj told the German tabloid in a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ If he survives this unscathed , which we all hope , he will surely still be out of the political arena for at least a month or two . ''
In apparent response rumors swirling around Navalny 's condition , Yarmysh urged everyone to ignore any statements and media reports unless it comes from her or doctors .
`` Verified information about Alexei 's condition can only come from the doctors of the hospital or from me .
At the moment , there are no new details about Alexei 's health , '' @ @ @ @ @ @ @ We ask everyone to be patient and not react to false messages .
As soon as verified information appears , we will immediately let you know , '' Yarmysh said .
German police on August 23 beefed up security at the hospital in Berlin where Navalny is being treated .
Social-media posts showed police increasing their presence around the hospital .
Navalny has been classified as a guest of German Chancellor Angela Merkel as a means to ensure that he receives the best possible police protection , according to German state broadcaster ZDF @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to Germany from the Siberian city of Omsk in the ambulance aircraft arranged by the Cinema for Peace Foundation .
He has been in an induced coma since he fell ill on August 20 during a flight from the Siberian city of Tomsk to Moscow .
The plane was forced to make an emergency landing in Omsk when Navalny became ill .
The hospital said in a statement that it would provide an update about his condition and further treatment once tests have been completed and after consulting with his family .
Leonid @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , said on August 23 that businessman and philanthropist Boris Zimin and his family 's fund paid for Navalny 's flight to Germany .
`` What seemed almost impossible yesterday morning , when Omsk categorically refused to give permission for transportation , is now behind us , '' Volkov said .
`` Both the doctors of the Charite clinic and the doctors of the intensive-care aviation supported the decision on transportation and recognized it as correct for Aleksei 's health , '' Volkov wrote in Facebook .
The flight would not have been @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the work and the help of a huge number of people , many of whom spent 48 sleepless hours from Thursday morning to Saturday morning . ''
Volkov thanked Boris Zimin , the Zimin family fund , the German government , and Merkel for providing international support .
According to Volkov , it is too early to make predictions about Navalny 's health .
The evacuation flight followed a daylong battle by Navalny 's family and supporters to get Russian authorities to agree to allow him to go to the West for what @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , and transparent treatment .
The Russian doctors treating him had refused for hours to allow him to leave , arguing that he was not fit to travel .
With reporting by Current Time , Moskovsky Komsomolets , Reuters , dpa , and the Washington Post

The Charite hospital treating gravely ill Russian opposition leader Aleksei Navalny since he was medically airlifted to Germany two days earlier says that its tests indicate he was "poisoned."
Navalny "is in an intensive-care unit and is still in an induced coma," it said on August 24, adding that his health "is serious but there is currently no acute danger to his life."
The staunch anti-corruption campaigner and critic of President Vladimir Putin fell ill on August 20 during a flight from the Siberian city of Tomsk to Moscow.
The plane made an emergency landing in Omsk, where doctors put him into an induced coma.
"The clinical findings indicate intoxication by a substance from the group of active substances called cholinesterase inhibitors," a statement by the Charite hospital said.
Cholinesterase inhibitors, also known as anti-cholinesterase, are a broad range of chemicals that are found in several drugs but also in some pesticides and nerve agents.
Russian doctors who treated Navalny contradicted the German colleagues' statement, saying on August 24 that they did not detect the toxin cited in the Charite hospital tests.
The Omsk regional Health Ministry said on August 22 that caffeine and alcohol were found in Navalny's urine, but "no convulsive or synthetic poisons were detected."
Interfax quoted Aleksandr Sabayev, the chief of toxicology at the Omsk hospital where Navany was treated, as saying after news of the German findings that "when Navalny was admitted for treatment, tests for an extensive range of narcotic and synthetic substances, psychedelics, and medicinal substances, including cholinesterase inhibitors, were conducted and the result was negative."
Sabayev said the Kremlin foe did not display "a clinical pattern characteristic of a poisoning by cholinesterase inhibitors."
The management of the Omsk hospital said it will look into why the results of their tests differed from the German test results.
Anatoly Kalinichenko, the hospital's deputy head, told Russian news agency TASS on August 24: "Of course, we will look into this. At the moment, I am not ready to answer this question [about the difference in the test results]. I am at a loss myself."
Colleagues and supporters of Navalny have said he might have been poisoned when he drank tea purchased at the Tomsk airport.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel on August 24 called on Moscow to fully investigate the suspected poisoning and hold those responsible accountable.
"In view of the prominent role of Mr. Navalny in the political opposition in Russia, the authorities there are now urgently called upon to investigate this act down to the last detail -- and in full transparency," she said in a joint statement with Foreign Minister Heiko Maas.
Those responsible "must be identified and held accountable," the statement added.
EU foreign-policy chief Josep Borrell issued a similar statement, saying: "It is imperative that the Russian authorities initiate an independent and transparent investigation on the poisoning of Mr Navalny without delay."
"The European Union strongly condemns what seems to be an attempt on Mr Navalny’s life," he said, adding that "those responsible must be held to account."
Earlier, Merkel's spokesman Steffen Seibert told reporters in Berlin that "protection is necessary" for Navalny because poisoning was suspected as "extensive" testing continued.
"The suspicion is...that somebody poisoned Mr. Navalny -- that somebody seriously poisoned Mr. Navalny -- which, unfortunately, there are some examples of in recent Russian history. So the world takes this suspicion very seriously," Seibert said.
Dirk Wiese, the German government's coordinator for Eastern European affairs, told public broadcaster ZDF that German police had been posted as guards outside of Navalny's hospital room as a precaution.
"The circumstances of what led to Aleksei Navalny's critical condition haven't yet been clarified," Wiese said.
Social-media posts on August 24 also showed police increasing their presence around the hospital.
Doctors at the hospital in Omsk initially refused to allow Navalny to be transferred to Germany, saying he was not in a fit state to be transported for treatment.
Navalny was flown via commercial air ambulance from Omsk to Berlin on August 22 after a day of insistence by Russian doctors that he was too ill to fly.
Navalny's wife had suggested medical treatment in Germany for her husband -- who had previously been attacked with a chemical that left permanent eye damage and had a bout of suspected poisoning in Russian custody in the past -- would be more reliable, effective, and transparent.
Earlier on August 24, the head doctor of the Omsk hospital denied that medical personnel there had come under outside pressure from authorities.
"We treated the patient and we saved him. There was no interference in the treatment of the patient and there could not be any," Aleksandr Murakhovsky, the head doctor at Omsk Emergency Hospital No. 1, said on August 24.
"The patient had a personal doctor, all decisions were made in a collegial manner, and every consultation involved up to 10 doctors from various institutions," Murakhovsky said.
When questioned about why law enforcement officers were present at the Omsk hospital, Murakhovsky said he could not say who it was and could not "say they were doing something."
Navalny's allies had accused doctors of holding up his medical evacuation to Germany.
Infographic: A Timeline Of Russian Poisoning Cases
According to a Russian newspaper report, Navalny had been under surveillance by Russian federal security agents during his recent trip to Siberia.
Officers with Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) monitored Navalny's movements, the newspaper Moskovsky Komsomolets reported, citing information from sources in Russian security agencies. The surveillance involved plainclothes officers and CCTV cameras, the newspaper said.
The European Union has demanded "a swift, independent, and transparent investigation" and justice in the suspected poisoning.
Navalny, who has exposed rampant corruption at the highest levels in Russia, has suffered physical attacks in the past.
He endured chemical burns to one of his eyes in 2017 after he was assaulted with antiseptic dye.
In July 2019, Navalny was given a 30-day jail term after calling for unauthorized protests. During that jail sentence, he was taken to a hospital with severe swelling of the face and a rash, and later alleged he was poisoned.
He has been jailed several times in recent years, barred from running for president, and had a bid to run for Moscow mayor blocked.
With reporting by Current Time, Moskovsky Komsomolets, Reuters, dpa, and The Washington Post


rferl--2020-08-23--Massive Rally In Belarus Calls For End Of Lukashenka's Rule

MINSK -- A sea of protesters packed the streets of Minsk on August 23 for a massive rally against the disputed reelection of President Alyaksandr Lukashenka and a postelection crackdown amid a heavy security presence in the Belarusian capital and fresh warnings from the army .
The crowd , estimated at more than 100,000 people , filled the city center for what was billed as the March of New Belarus as protests entered a 15th day in the Eastern European country of 9.5 million .
The mass of protesters gathered on Independence Square , waving white and red Belarusian flags @ @ @ @ @ @ @ red stripes .
Protesters chanted `` Leave ! ''
and “ Get out !
” as they called for Lukashenka to step down after 26 years of authoritarian rule .
Large protests were also held in other cities including Brest and Hrodno , as well as outside the country in Lithuania , where a 30-kilometer human chain was formed from Vilnius to the border with Belarus .
Users of network operators had problems connecting to the internet , in another attempt by authorities to clamp down on information .
By evening , people @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , in the latest instance of protesters trying to end their mobilization peacefully .
The Ministry of Interior said no one was detained .
After the protest largely ended , a video posted on Telegram showed Lukashenka in a helicopter flying over the city .
`` They fled like rats , '' said the authoritarian leader , who was seen stepping off the helicopter at the presidential palace wearing a bulletproof vest and carrying a rifle .
Lukashenka has ordered the military into full combat readiness , raising the prospect that the army @ @ @ @ @ @ @ suppress unprecedented street protests .
Describing the protesters as `` fascists , '' the Defense Ministry said in a statement that the memorials , specifically those dedicated to victims of World War II , must not be desecrated .
The ministry warned against any violation of peace and order in such places , writing in all capital letters , `` You will have the army to deal with now , not the police . ''
The statement came as army personnel were spotted being transported into Minsk in military transporters , just a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ take “ stringent measures ” against what he described as foreign-backed plans for a `` color revolution '' in the country .
Protests have been taking place on the streets of Belarus since Lukashenka , in power since 1994 , was declared the winner of the August 9 poll by a landslide .
More than 7,000 have been detained and hundreds beaten by police .
The EU and the United States have criticized the vote and condemned the postelection crackdown .
Svyatlana Tsikhanouskaya , the opposition candidate who left for Lithuania after the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 60 to 70 percent of the vote , said on August 22 that Belarusians must `` struggle for their rights '' and not be distracted by Lukashenka ’ s claims that the country was under military threat .
`` We are people of Belarus and we are a majority and we will not step away .
We are not afraid of them any more , '' she told AFP news agency from Lithuania , where she fled following the election .
Tsikhanouskaya will meet on August 24 with U.S. Deputy Secretary of State @ @ @ @ @ @ @ United States and Europe deepen their diplomatic involvement to end the crisis .
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on August 23 accused Belarusian opposition members who left Belarus of seeking `` bloodshed , '' according to the RIA-Novosti news agency .
He added that Moscow was calling for the launch of a genuinely broad national dialogue in Belarus and said Russia would accept any decision of the Belarusian authorities with regard to dialogue with the opposition .
But he said the Belarusian people `` will decide for themselves how to get out of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ there are `` clear signs of a normalization '' in Belarus , and a proposal on constitutional reform was `` a quite promising path . ''
The opposition this week established a coordination council to negotiate the transition of power , in a move Belarusian authorities have described as an attempt to illegally seize power .
Meanwhile , the Nasha Niva media site said the body of Mikita Kryutsov was found in a forest near Minsk with signs of multiple beatings .
He was reported missing after taking part in protests in Minsk @ @ @ @ @ @ @ two people have been confirmed killed in the postelection protests .
With reporting by Current Time , Belsat , AP , Reuters , and AFP

MINSK -- A sea of protesters packed the streets of Minsk on August 23 for a massive rally against the disputed reelection of President Alyaksandr Lukashenka and a postelection crackdown amid a heavy security presence in the Belarusian capital and fresh warnings from the army.
The crowd, estimated at more than 100,000 people, filled the city center for what was billed as the March of New Belarus as protests entered a 15th day in the Eastern European country of 9.5 million.
The mass of protesters gathered on Independence Square, waving white and red Belarusian flags and unfurling long banners with white and red stripes.
Protesters chanted "Leave!" and “Get out!” as they called for Lukashenka to step down after 26 years of authoritarian rule.
Large protests were also held in other cities including Brest and Hrodno, as well as outside the country in Lithuania, where a 30-kilometer human chain was formed from Vilnius to the border with Belarus.
Users of network operators had problems connecting to the internet, in another attempt by authorities to clamp down on information.
By evening, people began dispersing without clashes with riot police, in the latest instance of protesters trying to end their mobilization peacefully.
The Ministry of Interior said no one was detained.
After the protest largely ended, a video posted on Telegram showed Lukashenka in a helicopter flying over the city.
"They fled like rats," said the authoritarian leader, who was seen stepping off the helicopter at the presidential palace wearing a bulletproof vest and carrying a rifle.
Lukashenka has ordered the military into full combat readiness, raising the prospect that the army may unleash a much-feared bloody crackdown to suppress unprecedented street protests.
Describing the protesters as "fascists," the Defense Ministry said in a statement that the memorials, specifically those dedicated to victims of World War II, must not be desecrated. The ministry warned against any violation of peace and order in such places, writing in all capital letters, "You will have the army to deal with now, not the police."
The statement came as army personnel were spotted being transported into Minsk in military transporters, just a day after Lukashenka ordered the military to take “stringent measures” against what he described as foreign-backed plans for a "color revolution" in the country.
Protests have been taking place on the streets of Belarus since Lukashenka, in power since 1994, was declared the winner of the August 9 poll by a landslide. More than 7,000 have been detained and hundreds beaten by police. The EU and the United States have criticized the vote and condemned the postelection crackdown.
Svyatlana Tsikhanouskaya, the opposition candidate who left for Lithuania after the election and claimed to have won from 60 to 70 percent of the vote, said on August 22 that Belarusians must "struggle for their rights" and not be distracted by Lukashenka’s claims that the country was under military threat.
"We are people of Belarus and we are a majority and we will not step away. We are not afraid of them any more," she told AFP news agency from Lithuania, where she fled following the election.
Tsikhanouskaya will meet on August 24 with U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Stephen Biegun in Lithuania, as the United States and Europe deepen their diplomatic involvement to end the crisis.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on August 23 accused Belarusian opposition members who left Belarus of seeking "bloodshed," according to the RIA-Novosti news agency.
He added that Moscow was calling for the launch of a genuinely broad national dialogue in Belarus and said Russia would accept any decision of the Belarusian authorities with regard to dialogue with the opposition.
Crisis In Belarus Read our coverage as Belarusian strongman Alyaksandr Lukashenka continues his brutal crackdown on NGOs, activists, and independent media following the August 2020 presidential election.
But he said the Belarusian people "will decide for themselves how to get out of this situation."
He also said there are "clear signs of a normalization" in Belarus, and a proposal on constitutional reform was "a quite promising path."
The opposition this week established a coordination council to negotiate the transition of power, in a move Belarusian authorities have described as an attempt to illegally seize power.
Meanwhile, the Nasha Niva media site said the body of Mikita Kryutsov was found in a forest near Minsk with signs of multiple beatings. He was reported missing after taking part in protests in Minsk on August 12.
So far, two people have been confirmed killed in the postelection protests.
With reporting by Current Time, Belsat, AP, Reuters, and AFP


rferl--2020-08-24--Taliban Delegation In Pakistan To Talk Afghan Peace

A Taliban political team arrived in Pakistan on August 24 amid ongoing efforts to start negotiations between the Afghan government and the militants .
The talks , envisaged under a landmark peace agreement signed in February between Washington and the Taliban , had been expected to start earlier this month but were stymied by a series of delays .
The militants ' delegation , headed by Taliban political chief Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar , will discuss with Pakistan ’ s leaders the “ recent developments in Afghanistan ’ s peace process , ” according to a tweet by Suhail Shaheen @ @ @ @ @ @ @ office .
Shaheen added that the “ relaxation and facilitation of people ’ s movement and trade between the two neighboring countries ” will also be on the agenda .
The visit comes a day after the Taliban chief announced a beefed up negotiating team that includes nearly half of the Taliban leadership council and has the power to set agendas , decide strategy , and even sign agreements with the Kabul government .
That Taliban team is headed by the militants ' chief negotiator , Sher Mohammad Abbas Stanikzai .
Pakistan earlier @ @ @ @ @ @ @ against a number of outlawed groups , including the Taliban .
The sanctions restrict travel , freeze assets , limit fundraising , and outlaw weapons sales .
The UN has allowed travel for the purpose of peace negotiations but for a limited number of Taliban figures .
Baradar , who is on the sanctions list , spent eight years in jail in Pakistan until his release in 2018 .
Baradar and U.S. peace envoy Zalmay Khalilzad , who negotiated the U.S.-Taliban deal , signed the agreement on February 29 .
The Afghan government @ @ @ @ @ @ @ prisoner releases .
Kabul wants the Taliban to free 22 Afghan commandos they hold captive while the Taliban demand the release of a final 320 Taliban prisoners held in Afghan jails .
The release of the remaining prisoners was approved by a traditional Afghan council or Loya Jirga called by Afghan President Ashraf Ghani earlier this month but the government later said the Taliban were still holding Afghan soldiers and halted freeing the Taliban .
With reporting by AP and AFP

A Taliban political team arrived in Pakistan on August 24 amid ongoing efforts to start negotiations between the Afghan government and the militants.
The talks, envisaged under a landmark peace agreement signed in February between Washington and the Taliban, had been expected to start earlier this month but were stymied by a series of delays.
The militants' delegation, headed by Taliban political chief Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, will discuss with Pakistan’s leaders the “recent developments in Afghanistan’s peace process,” according to a tweet by Suhail Shaheen, the spokesman for the Taliban political office.
Shaheen added that the “relaxation and facilitation of people’s movement and trade between the two neighboring countries” will also be on the agenda.
The visit comes a day after the Taliban chief announced a beefed up negotiating team that includes nearly half of the Taliban leadership council and has the power to set agendas, decide strategy, and even sign agreements with the Kabul government.
That Taliban team is headed by the militants' chief negotiator, Sher Mohammad Abbas Stanikzai.
Pakistan earlier gave the go-ahead to implement UN sanctions against a number of outlawed groups, including the Taliban.
The sanctions restrict travel, freeze assets, limit fundraising, and outlaw weapons sales. The UN has allowed travel for the purpose of peace negotiations but for a limited number of Taliban figures.
Baradar, who is on the sanctions list, spent eight years in jail in Pakistan until his release in 2018.
Baradar and U.S. peace envoy Zalmay Khalilzad, who negotiated the U.S.-Taliban deal, signed the agreement on February 29.
The Afghan government and the Taliban are deadlocked over outstanding prisoner releases. Kabul wants the Taliban to free 22 Afghan commandos they hold captive while the Taliban demand the release of a final 320 Taliban prisoners held in Afghan jails.
The release of the remaining prisoners was approved by a traditional Afghan council or Loya Jirga called by Afghan President Ashraf Ghani earlier this month but the government later said the Taliban were still holding Afghan soldiers and halted freeing the Taliban.
With reporting by AP and AFP


rferl--2020-08-24--Pompeo In Israel At Start Of Mideast Tour

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has arrived in Israel at the start of a five-day Middle East tour focused on the Jewish state 's normalizing of ties with the United Arab Emirates ( U.A.E . )
and pushing other Arab states to follow suit .
Pompeo met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at his office in Jerusalem and the two were expected to discuss the recently announced historic agreement between Israel and the U.A.E.
, brokered by Washington .
Israel and the U.A.E .
announced on August 13 they were establishing full diplomatic relations in a U.S.-brokered deal @ @ @ @ @ @ @ its plans to annex parts of the occupied West Bank .
The deal makes the U.A.E .
the first Gulf Arab state to establish full diplomatic ties and only the third Arab nation to have active diplomatic relations with Israel .
The move was hailed by several Gulf states but slammed by Iran , Turkey , and the Palestinians .
Besides Israel , Pompeo is due to visit the U.A.E.
, Bahrain , Oman , Qatar , and Sudan , according to unidentified diplomats .
Pompeo 's agenda also will include security challenges @ @ @ @ @ @ @ region , said sources quoted by Reuters .
In Qatar , Pompeo plans to meet with members of the Talban to discuss peace talks between the militant group and the Afghan government that are key to the withdrawal of U.S. forces from Afghanistan .
U.S. President Donald Trump ’ s senior adviser and son-in-law , Jared Kushner , plans a separate trip to the Middle East , the AP said , quoting diplomats .
Kushner plans to leave later in the week for Israel , Bahrain , Oman , Saudi Arabia , and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ United States formally launched the process of activating the Iran nuclear deal 's `` snapback '' mechanism aimed at reimposing UN sanctions on Iran , citing Iranian violations of the deal .
Pompeo on August 20 submitted a letter to the president of the UN Security Council notifying him of Iran 's `` significant '' noncompliance with the terms of the landmark accord .
The move followed the failure of a U.S.-sponsored resolution calling for an extension to an arms embargo on Iran in the Security Council .
The United States and its @ @ @ @ @ @ @ approach .
Some members of the Security Council have questioned the U.S. right to trigger the snapback since Washington withdrew from the nuclear deal more than two years ago and reimposed unilateral sanctions .
With reporting by AP and Reuters

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has started a five-day Middle East tour, saying he hopes to see other Arab states following the United Arab Emirates (U.A.E.) and normalizing relations with Israel.
Speaking in Jerusalem on August 24 following talks with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Pompeo said it would "not only increase Middle East stability, but it will improve the lives for the people of their own countries as well."
Israel and the U.A.E. announced on August 13 they were establishing full diplomatic relations in a U.S.-brokered deal that included an Israeli pledge to suspend its plans to annex parts of the occupied West Bank.
The deal makes the U.A.E. the first Gulf Arab state to establish full diplomatic ties and only the third Arab nation to have active diplomatic relations with Israel.
The move was hailed by several Gulf states but slammed by Iran, Turkey, and the Palestinians.
After Israel, Pompeo is due to visit the U.A.E., Bahrain, Oman, Qatar, and Sudan, according to unidentified diplomats.
Besides the agreement between Israel and the U.A.E., Pompeo's agenda will include security challenges posed by Iran and China in the region, said sources quoted by Reuters.
Pompeo's agenda also will include security challenges posed by Iran and China in the region, said sources quoted by Reuters.
In Qatar, Pompeo plans to meet with members of the Talban to discuss peace talks between the militant group and the Afghan government that are key to the withdrawal of U.S. forces from Afghanistan.
U.S. President Donald Trump’s senior adviser and son-in-law, Jared Kushner, plans a separate trip to the Middle East, the AP said, quoting diplomats. Kushner plans to leave later in the week for Israel, Bahrain, Oman, Saudi Arabia, and Morocco.
The trips come after the United States formally launched the process of activating the Iran nuclear deal's "snapback" mechanism aimed at reimposing UN sanctions on Iran, citing Iranian violations of the deal.
Pompeo on August 20 submitted a letter to the president of the UN Security Council notifying him of Iran's "significant" noncompliance with the terms of the landmark accord. The move followed the failure of a U.S.-sponsored resolution calling for an extension to an arms embargo on Iran in the Security Council.
The United States and its European allies have sparred over the U.S. approach. Some members of the Security Council have questioned the U.S. right to trigger the snapback since Washington withdrew from the nuclear deal more than two years ago and reimposed unilateral sanctions.
In Jerusalem, both Pompeo and Netanyahu criticized the lack of international support for the U.S. push for the restoration of UN sanctions.
"We are determined to use every tool that we have to ensure [Iran] can't get access to high-end weapon systems," the U.S. secretary of state said. "The rest of the world should join us."
With reporting by AP, BBC, and Reuters


rferl--2020-08-24--Police Detain Opposition Coordinators In Belarus

MINSK -- Authorities in Belarus have detained two members of opposition leader Svyatlana Tsikhanouskaya 's Coordination Council outside of a tractor factory in Minsk .
Meanwhile , the state-run BelSAT news agency reports that another member of the opposition Coordination Council , attorney Liliya Vlasova , was summoned to the headquarters of the Belarusian Investigative Committee headquarters in Minsk on August 24 for questioning .
The Coordination Council says Volha Kovalkova , a top aide of Tsikhanouskaya , and strike organizer Syarhey Dyleuski were detained early on August 24 and accused of attempting to organize an unauthorized protest rally at @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
The 30-year-old Dyleuski is a worker at the tractor factory whose outspoken criticism of President Alyaksandr Lukashenka has attracted international media attention as well as pressure from Belarusian police .
Kovalkova 's associate Dzyanis Sadouski told RFE/RL that police informed the Coordination Council that the two were detained as part of an `` administrative '' case against them , and that they would most likely be fined .
Their detentions come a day after more than 100,000 demonstrators packed the streets of the Belarusian capital on August 23 in a mass rally @ @ @ @ @ @ @ than two weeks of protests against an official presidential election tally that showed Lukashenka winning reelection by a landslide .
The protests have been growing in size amid a brutal postelection crackdown by Belarusian authorities and a heavy security presence in Minsk , with fresh warnings being issued to protesters during the weekend by the Belarusian army .
Dyleuski has said he started going through the giant MTZ factory 's workshops to call for a strike after he witnessed injuries sustained by demonstrators who say they were tortured in police custody .
Hundreds @ @ @ @ @ @ @ new elections and the release of political prisoners -- turning Dyleuski into the leader of a strike movement that has become a major challenge to Lukashenka ’ s grip on power .
On August 21 , Dyleuski and Tsikhanouskaya 's lawyer Maksim Znak had been summoned to the headquarters of the Belarusian Investigative Committee as part of a criminal case in which the opposition Coordination Council is accused of attempting to illegally seize power .
That move came after Znak on August 21 filed a complaint with the Belarusian Supreme Court calling for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ widespread allegations that the vote count was fraudulent .
Lukashenka has ordered the military into full combat readiness , raising the prospect that the army may unleash a much-feared bloody crackdown to suppress the unprecedented wave of street protests across the country .
During the weekend , Lukashenka also said he would start closing factories on August 24 where there have been protests from workers who had previously formed his base of political support .
`` If a factory is not working then let 's put a lock on its gate from Monday @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Russian RIA-Novosti news agency quoted Lukashenka as saying on August 22 .
`` People will calm down and we will decide whom to invite [ to work ] next . ''
Lukashenka also expressed confidence that the Russia-led Collective Security Treaty Organization ( CSTO ) would support him in any confrontation that he has with protest organizers in Belarus .
In neighboring Lithuania , the exiled Tsikhanouskaya was due to meet on August 24 with U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Stephen Biegun to discuss ways towards a peaceful resolution to the disputed presidential @ @ @ @ @ @ @ TV , Reuters , AP , TASS , Interfax , and The New York Times

MINSK -- Authorities in Belarus have stepped up detentions of prominent protest organizers and summoned others ahead of efforts to punish high-profile opposition leaders and dull weeks of unprecedented unrest.
The latest crackdown follows a weekend that saw signs that five-term President Alyaksandr Lukashenka was increasingly determined to stay in power despite public anger that drew at least 100,000 antigovernment demonstrators in Minsk on August 23.
Nobel Prize-winning writer Svetlana Alexievich, 72, became the latest member of a council for an exiled presidential challenger who insists this month's election was rigged to be targeted in the crackdown.
The ailing Alexievich said after the August 9 vote that "the authorities have declared war on their people."
She has now been summoned to appear before Belarus's Investigative Committee on August 26 as a witness in a criminal case on the establishment of Svyatlana Tsikhanouskaya's seven-member Coordination Council, a spokesman for the council said.
An aide for a disqualified presidential hopeful, Viktar Babaryka, who was jailed before the election, told RFE/RL that Alexievich's health had prevented her from taking part in the council's work.
However, she was said to be in contact with the group.
The authorities detained two members of Tsikhanouskaya's Coordination Council outside of a tractor factory in Minsk earlier on August 24.
The Coordination Council says Volha Kovalkova, a top aide of Tsikhanouskaya, and strike organizer Syarhey Dyleuski were detained early on August 24 and accused of attempting to organize an unauthorized protest rally at the Minsk Tractor Works (MTZ).
The 30-year-old Dyleuski is a worker at the tractor factory, whose outspoken criticism of President Alyaksandr Lukashenka has attracted international media attention as well as pressure from Belarusian police.
Kovalkova's associate, Dzyanis Sadouski, told RFE/RL that police informed the Coordination Council that the two were detained as part of an "administrative" case against them, and that they would most likely be fined.
Another member of the opposition Coordination Council, attorney Lilia Vlasova, was summoned to Investigative Committee headquarters on August 24 for questioning.
Mass Protests
Their detentions come a day after more than 100,000 demonstrators packed the streets of the Belarusian capital on August 23 in a mass rally against Lukashenka -- the latest in more than two weeks of protests against an official presidential election tally that showed Lukashenka winning reelection by a landslide.
The protests have been growing in size amid a brutal postelection crackdown by Belarusian authorities and a heavy security presence in Minsk, with fresh warnings being issued to protesters during the weekend by the Belarusian army.
Dyleuski has said he started going through the giant MTZ factory's workshops to call for a strike after he witnessed injuries sustained by demonstrators who say they were tortured in police custody.
Hundreds of workers have joined Dyleuski to demand new elections and the release of political prisoners -- turning Dyleuski into the leader of a strike movement that has become a major challenge to Lukashenka’s grip on power.
On August 21, Dyleuski and Tsikhanouskaya's lawyer Maksim Znak had been summoned to the headquarters of the Belarusian Investigative Committee as part of a criminal case in which the opposition Coordination Council is accused of attempting to illegally seize power.
That move came after Znak on August 21 filed a complaint with the Belarusian Supreme Court calling for the election results be ruled invalid amid widespread allegations that the vote count was fraudulent.
Lukashenka has ordered the military into full combat readiness, raising the prospect that the army may unleash a much-feared bloody crackdown to suppress the unprecedented wave of street protests across the country.
Crisis In Belarus Read our coverage as Belarusian strongman Alyaksandr Lukashenka continues his brutal crackdown on NGOs, activists, and independent media following the August 2020 presidential election.
During the weekend, Lukashenka also said he would start closing factories on August 24 where there have been protests from workers who had previously formed his base of political support.
"If a factory is not working then let's put a lock on its gate from Monday, let's stop it," the Russian RIA Novosti news agency quoted Lukashenka as saying on August 22. "People will calm down and we will decide whom to invite [to work] next."
Lukashenka also expressed confidence that the Russia-led Collective Security Treaty Organization would support him in any confrontation that he has with protest organizers in Belarus.
In neighboring Lithuania, where Tsikhanouskaya fled after the presidential election, the opposition leader met on August 24 with U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Stephen Biegun.
"She is a very impressive person and I can see why she is so popular in her country," Biegun said after the talks in Vilnius. "The purpose of the meeting was to listen, to hear what the thinking is of the Belarusian people, and to see what they are doing to obtain the right to self-determination," he added.
Biegun insisted that the United States "cannot and will not decide the course of events in Belarus," saying this was "the right of the Belarusian people."
The United States and the European Union have dismissed the Belarusian election as neither free nor fair and urged the authorities to engage in dialogue with the opposition.
Also on August 24, German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said Lukashenka "must, after this further weekend full of protests that we have seen, recognize the reality on the streets of his country but also the reality in the heads of the people in this country."
"So once again, our urgent call is not to use force and to uphold the rights of demonstrators," Maas said at a joint news conference with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba in Kyiv.
With reporting by Current Time, Reuters, AP, TASS, Interfax, The New York Times, and AFP


rferl--2020-08-24--Iran Confirms Blast At Natanz Nuclear Facility Was 'Sabotage'

Iran 's Atomic Energy Organization said an explosion at the country ’ s main nuclear facility in July was caused by sabotage .
`` The explosion at Natanz nuclear facility was a result of sabotage operations .
Security authorities will reveal in due time the reason behind the blast , '' spokesman Behrouz Kamalvandi told state TV channel Al-Alam on August 23 .
Iran said after the July 2 incident that the cause of the blast had been determined , but it declined to release details due to security concerns .
There has been speculation of possible sabotage as Iranian @ @ @ @ @ @ @ sought to downplay the extent of the damage .
Some analysts have suggested that Israel or the United States could have been behind the blast as part of a shadow war aimed at setting back Tehran 's nuclear activities .
In his comments , Kamalvandi did not say whether the sabotage was internal or external .
In late July , Javad Karimi Qodusi , a member of the National Security and Foreign Policy Committee of Iran ’ s parliament , said the blast at the nuclear complex was caused by a “ security @ @ @ @ @ @ @ could have been a cyberattack .
The incident at Natanz was one of several fires and blasts hitting Iranian infrastructure in recent months , including a June 25 explosion at a gas-storage facility near the Parchin military base east of Tehran .
An image released in the aftermath of the Natanz incident and satellite images released abroad showed significant damage -- including ripped-out doors , scorch marks , and a collapsed roof -- at a building where centrifuges were assembled .
Natanz is Iran ’ s main uranium-enrichment center located some 250 kilometers @ @ @ @ @ @ @ facilities built under some 7.6 meters of concrete to offer protection from air strikes .
Inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency ( IAEA ) have been visiting Natanz to monitor uranium-enrichment activities since Tehran and world powers signed a nuclear agreement in 2015 .
Iran resumed uranium enrichment at Natanz in September 2019 in response to the United States withdrawing from the international nuclear deal that gave Iran relief from sanctions in exchange for curbs on its nuclear program .
The IAEA says Iran enriches uranium to about 4.5 percent purity , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , but far below weapons-grade levels of 90 percent .
With reporting by AFP and Reuters

A former top FBI counterintelligence agent pleaded guilty to charges related to his work for notorious Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska, changing his plea after federal prosecutors filed new, reduced charges of conspiring to violate U.S. sanctions on Russia by working for the billionaire industrialist.
The move by Charles McGonigal, made on August 15 before a federal judge in New York City, ends a prosecution that had stunned the FBI, where McGonigal had investigated Russian influence operations for years while climbing the bureau’s ranks.
The 55-year-old also still faces a separate set of foreign agent charges in Washington, D.C., related to work he did for Albanian officials.
McGonigal, who retired as head counterintelligence in the FBI's New York bureau in 2018, was originally indicted in January by a grand jury on more serious charges of money laundering and violating U.S. sanctions.
Prosecutors alleged that McGonigal and a former Russian diplomat with whom he was associated, were paid more than $200,000 to do work for Deripaska, a wealthy Russian metals tycoon who has long been seen as a Kremlin insider. Deripaska was hit with sanctions by the U.S. Treasury Department in 2018.
U.S. authorities said McGonigal was hired to dig up negative information on Vladimir Potanin, a rival oligarch to Deripaska. McGonigal and the former diplomat, Sergei Shestakov, also worked to try and get Deripaska removed from U.S. sanctions lists.
Shestakov has pleaded not guilty to the more serious charges than had been originally filed against McGonigal.
They "attempted to conceal Deripaska's involvement by, among other means, not directly naming Deripaska in electronic communications, using shell companies as counterparties in the contract that outlined the services to be performed, using a forged signature on that contract, and using the same shell companies to send and receive payment from Deripaska," the Justice Department said in a press release after McGonigal entered his plea.
McGonigal could receive up to five years in prison when he is sentenced in December.
The separate case filed in Washington, D.C., by federal prosecutors centers on work McGonigal allegedly did on behalf of a former Albanian intelligence officer, for which he was paid $225,000.
McGonigal also allegedly lied to the FBI about his contacts with foreign nationals and foreign travel while he was still employed by the bureau.
Deripaska also faces charges of violating U.S. sanctions through real estate deals and a complicated scheme under which he allegedly arranged for his girlfriend to travel to the United States to give birth to two of their children.


rferl--2020-08-23--German Government Says Navalny 'Likely' Poisoned, Protection Necessary

The German government says it is `` fairly likely '' that Kremlin critic Aleksei Navalny was poisoned in Russia and that he needs personal protection while he is being treated at a Berlin hospital .
Navalny was flown to Germany on August 22 from Siberia , where he fell ill on a domestic Russian flight with what Russian doctors said was a metabolic disorder .
Navalny 's aides have said they think Navalny was poisoned when he drank a cup of tea that he 'd bought at the Tomsk airport before boarding a plane that was bound for Moscow .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ Omsk after Navalny became ill during the flight .
`` We are dealing with a patient who , it is fairly likely , was poisoned , '' Chancellor Angela Merkel 's spokesman , Steffen Seibert , told reporters in Berlin .
`` The suspicion is ... that somebody poisoned Mr. Navalny -- that somebody seriously poisoned Mr. Navalny -- which , unfortunately , there are some examples of in recent Russian history .
So the world takes this suspicion very seriously , '' Seibert said on August 24 .
`` Because there is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , protection is necessary , '' Seibert said .
The Omsk regional Health Ministry , where Navalny was initially treated , said on August 22 that caffeine and alcohol were found in Navalny 's urine , but `` no convulsive or synthetic poisons were detected . ''
Dirk Wiese , the German government 's coordinator for Eastern European affairs , told public broadcaster ZDF that the Russian opposition leader remains in critical but stable condition at Berlin 's Charite hospital .
Wiese said German police have been posted as guards outside of Navalny @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Social-media posts on August 24 also showed police increasing their presence around the hospital .
“ The circumstances of what led to Aleksei Navalny 's critical condition have n't yet been clarified , ” Wiese said .
Doctors at the hospital in Omsk initially refused to allow Navalny to be transferred to Germany , saying he was not in a fit state to be transported for treatment .
Navalny was flown to Berlin on August 22 on a plane chartered by a German nongovernmental organization after a daylong battle by Navalny 's family @ @ @ @ @ @ @ agree to allow him to go to the West .
Merkel extended an offer of treatment in Germany , saying news of Navalny 's condition had `` truly upset me . ''
Earlier on August 24 , the head doctor of the Omsk hospital denied that medical personnel there had come under outside pressure from authorities .
`` We treated the patient and we saved him .
There was no interference in the treatment of the patient and there could not be any , '' Murakhovsky told a news conference in Omsk on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a personal doctor , all decisions were made in a collegial manner , and every consultation involved up to 10 doctors from various institutions , '' Murakhovsky said .
When questioned about why law enforcement officers were present at the Omsk hospital , Murakhovsky said he could not say who it was and could not `` say they were doing something . ''
Navalny 's allies had accused doctors of holding up his medical evacuation to Germany .
But the deputy chief of the Omsk hospital , Anatoly Kalinichenko , said on August @ @ @ @ @ @ @ life .
`` We saved a life , stabilized [ his condition ] , conducted a wide diagnostic search , arrived at , in our opinion , a correct diagnosis which allowed us to stabilize him and , per the relatives ’ wishes , got the patient to the condition when we decided that we could relatively safely allow to transport him , '' Kalinichenko said .
`` I did not coordinate a single diagnosis with anyone , '' Kalinichenko said .
`` There was no pressure . ''
Jaka Bizilj , founder @ @ @ @ @ @ @ which arranged Navalny 's evacuation flight out of Russia , was quoted by Bild newspaper as saying he thinks the Russian opposition leader will survive the `` poison attack '' but not without consequences to his health .
`` From my point of view , the crucial question is whether he will survive this unscathed and continue to play his role , '' Bizilj told the German tabloid in a video interview on August 23 .
`` If he survives this unscathed , which we all hope , he will surely still be @ @ @ @ @ @ @ least a month or two . ''
Navalny spokeswoman Kira Yarmysh said earlier that she thinks the politician was poisoned when he drank tea purchased at the Tomsk airport before he boarded the plane bound for Moscow .
According to a Russian newspaper report , Navalny had been under surveillance by Russian federal security agents during his recent trip to Siberia .
Officers with Russia 's Federal Security Service ( FSB ) monitored Navalny ’ s movements , the newspaper Moskovsky Komsomolets reported , citing information from sources in Russian security agencies .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ cameras , the newspaper said .
With reporting by Current Time , Moskovsky Komsomolets , Reuters , dpa , and The Washington Post


rferl--2020-08-24--Armenian Military Officer Taken Into Azerbaijani Custody

YEREVAN -- An Armenian soldier has been taken into the custody of Azerbaijani forces under disputed circumstances in an area where both the rival Transcaucasus states maintain heavy troop presences .
The Armenian Defense Ministry said the junior officer , Gurgen Alaverdian , had lost his way due to `` extremely unfavorable weather conditions '' as he was preparing to inspect an Armenian front-line position late on August 22 .
The ministry did not say whether Alaverdian was near the Armenian-Azerbaijani border or the `` line of contact '' around Nagorno-Karabakh , Azerbaijan 's breakaway region populated mostly by ethnic @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Armenian account , saying its troops deployed in the Goranboy district north of Nagorno-Karabakh captured Alaverdian while fighting back an Armenian commando attack early on August 23 .
Armenia and Azerbaijan conduct occasional exchanges of individuals in their respective custodies but long-running diplomatic talks have been largely stalled for over a year .
Days of deadly fighting that included artillery fire along a remote northern section of the Armenian-Azerbaijani border in mid-July alarmed the international community and stoked deep national resentments in both countries .
It was the most serious bloodshed in at @ @ @ @ @ @ @ incidents since a 1994 cease-fire ended major fighting that killed around 30,000 people but failed to resolve the dispute over Nagorno-Karabakh 's fate .

YEREVAN -- An Armenian soldier has been taken into the custody of Azerbaijani forces under disputed circumstances in an area where both the rival Transcaucasus states maintain heavy troop presences.
The Armenian Defense Ministry said the junior officer, Gurgen Alaverdian, had lost his way due to "extremely unfavorable weather conditions" as he was preparing to inspect an Armenian front-line position late on August 22.
The ministry did not say whether Alaverdian was near the Armenian-Azerbaijani border or the "line of contact" around Nagorno-Karabakh, Azerbaijan's breakaway region populated mostly by ethnic Armenians.
The Azerbaijani military disputed the Armenian account, saying its troops deployed in the Goranboy district north of Nagorno-Karabakh captured Alaverdian while fighting back an Armenian commando attack early on August 23.
Armenia and Azerbaijan conduct occasional exchanges of individuals in their respective custodies but long-running diplomatic talks have been largely stalled for over a year.
Days of deadly fighting that included artillery fire along a remote northern section of the Armenian-Azerbaijani border in mid-July alarmed the international community and stoked deep national resentments in both countries.
It was the most serious bloodshed in at least four years in a history of incidents since a 1994 cease-fire ended major fighting that killed around 30,000 people but failed to resolve the dispute over Nagorno-Karabakh's fate.


rferl--2020-08-24--IAEA Chief Arrives In Iran Amid Inspections Standoff

The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency ( IAEA ) has arrived in Iran for a visit aimed at improving cooperation on the country 's nuclear activities .
IAEA Director-General Rafael Grossi is scheduled to hold talks with high-level Iranian officials over the next two days , including President Hassan Rohani and Ali Akbar Salehi , head of Iran 's Atomic Energy Organization .
It is Grossi 's first trip to Iran since taking over the IAEA leadership eight months ago and comes amid a mounting standoff between the Vienna-based UN agency and Tehran over access to two sites @ @ @ @ @ @ @ with the United States pressing for reimposing UN nuclear-related sanctions against Tehran .
`` My objective is that my meetings in Tehran will lead to concrete progress in addressing the outstanding questions that the Agency has related to safeguards in Iran and , in particular , to resolve the issue of access , '' Grossi said ahead of his trip .
The IAEA 's board of governors passed a rare resolution in June calling on Iran to provide access to two sites where nuclear activities may have taken place in the past .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ kind since 2012 , demanded that Iran `` fully cooperate '' and `` satisfy the agency 's requests without any further delay , '' including by providing `` prompt '' access to the two sites in order to clarify whether undeclared nuclear activity took place there during the early 2000s .
At the time , Grossi accused Iran of denying access to the two locations for six months , and said that for almost a year `` it has not engaged in substantive discussions to clarify our questions related to possible undeclared nuclear @ @ @ @ @ @ @ maintains the IAEA has no legal basis to inspect the sites in question .
The IAEA-Iran standoff comes with the United States pressing for reimposing UN sanctions lifted as part of a 2015 nuclear deal between Tehran and world powers .
Washington exited the agreement more than two years ago and reimposed unilateral sanctions on Iran .
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo last week formally launched the monthlong process of activating the nuclear accord 's `` snapback '' mechanism aimed at reimposing UN sanctions on Iran , citing Iranian violations of the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ opposition at the Security Council , where other members have questioned the United States ' right to do it since Washington withdrew from the nuclear pact .
The United States claims it remains a `` participant '' in the accord because it was listed as such in the UN resolution that enshrined it .

A polytechnic school in Russia’s Tatarstan, a region some 900 kilometers east of Moscow, is using manufacturing facilities that are part of a nearby special economic zone to assemble Iranian attack drones and are increasingly turning to underage students as laborers, many of whom often work in exploitative conditions.
The revelations at Alabuga Polytechnic University raise troubling implications about the lengths that Russian authorities are going to in order to boost the war effort and how the advanced Iranian weaponry -- which is increasingly used to bombard Ukrainian cities and has only recently begun to be manufactured inside Russia -- could contribute to escalating tensions and rising civilian casualties.
The use of underage students as drone factory workers and the details of the manufacturing facilities were first reported by Russian independent media outlets Protokol and Razvorot, which published a series of investigations in July.
Since then, RFE/RL’s Idel.Realities has spoken with students who describe grueling working conditions and interviewed dozens of parents whose children have been enrolled at Alabuga Polytechnic University -- some as young at 15 -- who say that their children were forced to work exceedingly long hours, often without proper breaks or meals, and under hostile conditions that have deeply affected their mental health.
“My son enrolled and 2 1/2 months later he called for me to take him away,” Zhanna, who asked to be identified only by her first name to protect against reprisals for speaking about the operation, told RFE/RL. “He said to me on the phone, ‘Come and get me or I’ll die,’ so I picked him up immediately.”
Zhanna, who asked that her underage son’s name also not be used, says that she sent him from Nizhny Novgorod to study at Alabuga Polytechnic University in 2022 because of its reputation as a leading technical institution inside Russia.
The school offered students -- often between the ages of 15-18 -- an opportunity to get vocational training as part of a dual program that combines a classroom education with practical work experience. Students were also promised an opportunity to work and earn a locally competitive salary of up to 70,000 rubles ($700) a month as part of the work experience program that could further their career growth.
Live Briefing: Russia's Invasion Of Ukraine RFE/RL's Live Briefing gives you all of the latest developments on Russia's full-scale invasion, Kyiv's counteroffensive, Western military aid, global reaction, and the plight of civilians. For all of RFE/RL's coverage of the war in Ukraine, click here.
But, instead, those enrolled were encouraged and in some cases pressured into working at the drone facility, where the salaries of the mostly underage laborers are contingent on meeting tough production quotas.
“This is a textbook definition of what constitutes exploitation,” Sergei Podsytnik, an investigative journalist at Protokol who worked on the series of reports, told RFE/RL. “[Students] assemble drones, with the work taking priority over their studies.”
The pressure to fulfill these quotas has allegedly led to strenuous back-to-back days -- with some shifts lasting up to 15 hours -- with little time for sleep or adequate sustenance. Overtime work is often unpaid, further highlighting potential labor violations. Exhausted students also reported not always meeting their quotas, which led to them not earning the salary initially promised by the school. Many students came from disadvantaged backgrounds and relied on their earnings to cover costs for tuition, room, and board and would send the remainder home.
Other parents, such as Marina, said she decided to take her daughter out of the program when she discovered that she was working in apparent unsafe conditions and that staff from the school had instructed students not to tell their parents about the drone assembly work.
“This was the last straw for me,” Marina, who also asked for her identity to be concealed, told RFE/RL. “This is a dangerous production process that involves dangerous chemicals. They also forbid the kids from telling everything to their parents.”
RFE/RL sent multiple requests for comment to various staff and administrators at Alabuga Polytechnic University but received no replies.
Making Iranian Drones In Russia
The complicated and concerning dynamic at Alabuga Polytechnic University stems from growing military cooperation between Iran and Russia that has accelerated since Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
Iran has said it provided drones to Russia before the start of the war, but not since. However, U.S. intelligence officials have warned for months of continued deliveries and deepening cooperation between Moscow and Tehran, saying the two sides were exploring how to set up a manufacturing plant for Iranian drones inside Russia.
According to The Wall Street Journal, an Iranian delegation visited Yelabuga in Tatarstan on January 5, touring a potential site for such a factory at the Alabuga special economic zone close to Alabuga Polytechnic University. U.S. officials released satellite images in April of the plant being built.
Russia already possesses an array of unarmed aerial vehicles, or UAVs, which are used mainly for surveillance and artillery spotting, but has turned increasingly to Tehran for attack drones.
After being forced to abandon Ukrainian territory that its troops captured in the early stretches of the war, Moscow shifted to a strategy of relentless air assaults on Ukrainian cities. These attacks often rely on a combination of cruise missiles and self-detonating drones packed with explosives to knock out electricity and running water for the civilian population in Ukraine.
So far, Iran has provided Russia mostly with so-called "suicide" drones, known as the Shahed-136, that contain a modest amount of explosives that can detonate when the drones crash into targets, military experts say.
In acquiring its own domestic assembly line, Russia could dramatically increase its stockpile of the relatively inexpensive but highly destructive weapons systems.
WATCH: Russia has resorted to using Shahed-136 drones from Iran in its war on Ukraine. Ukraine says it's already downed many of the drones, which work by slamming into their intended target, laden with explosives. Ordinary Ukrainians say they can already recognize the sound of the drones, which use two-stroke engines like lawnmowers or motorbikes. Iran has denied supplying the drones to Russia.
The arrangement also offers substantial economic and political benefits for Iran, which has sought to portray itself as neutral in the Ukraine war. The appearance of Iranian-made drones over Ukrainian cities, however, has triggered threats of new economic sanctions from the West. The United States, the European Union, and the United Kingdom have also all issued rules in recent months designed to cut off the flow of drone components to Russia and Iran.
The Washington Post reported in November 2022, citing unnamed U.S. intelligence officials, that the agreement to deliver Iranian drone schematics and materials for manufacture in Russia resulted from Iranian leaders believing that the arrangement would allow Tehran to avert new sanctions.
Foreign Recruitment And Patriotic Education
Alabuga Polytechnic University is formally not a college. All of its students are officially enrolled at nearby Yelabuga Polytechnic College, with the Alabuga institution existing on paper as a specialized program for students looking to break into high-tech industries.
Currently, about 1,000 students are studying at Alabuga Polytechnic University, with several hundred of them -- most of whom are between the ages of 15 and 17 -- involved in assembling the Iranian drones.
In addition to the work on the drones, there are other signs that point to blurred lines in Russia between the education system and the country’s military amid the war in Ukraine.
According to current and former Alabuga Polytechnic University students, team-building and organized extracurricular activities through the school often take on a “patriotic” character that may be designed to expose students to official government narratives of international events or echo talking points from state television.
Organized paintball games have become a mainstay for students, especially first-year arrivals, in which they are encouraged to compete against one another and then play together against more experienced outside players. Teachers and administration officials regularly refer to paintball as being part of a “patriotic” education needed to complement the technical aspect of their studies.
In one instance, a group of new students competed in paintball as Soviet soldiers against outside players who were dressed as troops from Nazi Germany in a capture-the-flag competition meant to simulate the World War II battle of Stalingrad. According to one student, the Nazi flag contained the compass symbol used by the NATO military alliance instead of the swastika used by Nazi Germany.
Other instances of political teachings from staff are more direct. In a recording obtained by RFE/RL from June 16, a senior administrator can be heard telling the teenagers that NATO launched a hybrid war against Russia back in 2011 and that it has slowly become more overt. The man then goes on to tell students that their hard work and exceeding long days at the drone factory are part of a nationwide struggle against the West and that their patriotism will be rewarded.
Several students and parents identified the man in the recording as Timur Shagivaleev, the director-general of the special economic zone where Alabuga Polytechnic University and the drone factory operate.
Shagivaleev did not respond to RFE/RL’s request for comment.
The man in the recording then goes on to tell students not to take holidays and to continue working “even if it's mom's birthday,” before ending his speech with, “Long live our great country.”
WATCH: Amid a new wave of Russian drone attacks on Ukraine, analysts in Kyiv are gaining useful intelligence from a collection of downed Russian aerial weapons. They have been studying the remains of Iranian Shahed drones and Russian Kinzhal missiles, among others.
Multiple current and former students told RFE/RL that students who work in the drone factory are often praised by staff, while those who have refused or asked to be reassigned due to the high workload are often publicly shamed. In some instances -- according to recordings heard by RFE/RL -- staff even encourage students to bully others who are not deemed “patriotic” enough.
According to Protokol and Razvorot’s investigations, Alabuga Polytechnic University has also turned toward recruiting foreign students to enroll. The majority of them come from African countries, but also from Central Asia and Azerbaijan, where they are promised “world class” salaries as part of the dual-track world experience program.
However, these foreign students are then given low-skill and menial tasks around the campus and the special economic zone, such as janitorial work, and are also paid lower salaries than initially promised.
Written by Reid Standish based on reporting by RFE/RL’s Idel.Realities


rferl--2020-08-24--Prominent Bashkir Activist Sentenced To Nine Years In Russian Prison

SAMARA , Russia -- A Russian military court has sentenced a prominent opposition activist from the Bashkortostan region to nine years in a high-security prison on extremism charges .
The court in the city of Samara also banned the activist , Airat Dilmukhametov , from administering websites for three years in a case he has rejected as politically motivated .
Dilmukhametov , who was arrested in March 2019 , was convicted of issuing public calls to violate Russia 's territorial integrity .
The charge stems from a video statement he made in 2018 urging the creation of a `` real @ @ @ @ @ @ @ rights given to ethnic republics and regions .
Debates over ethnic rights and regional autonomy are especially sensitive in Bashkortostan -- with its sizable populations of Tatars , Bashkirs , and ethnic Russians -- particularly since President Vladimir Putin ordered an end to the ability of it and Russia 's 80-plus regions , territories , and republics to mandate regional language instruction in schools .
Dilmukhametov was also found guilty of making public calls for extremism and supporting terrorism .
Those charges are linked to his criticism of regional authorities for incarcerating several @ @ @ @ @ @ @ banned Islamic group and his public statements about a conflict between local residents and workers from Chechnya in the village of Temas .
Dilmukhametov maintained his innocence in his last address to the court on August 24 .
His mother , who attended the hearing , called the ruling `` unfair '' and said her son was `` not guilty of anything . ''
`` How can a person be blamed if he has been fighting for democracy , freedom , [ and ] for the happiness of his native republic for many @ @ @ @ @ @ @ The Moscow-based human rights group Memorial has recognized Dilmukhametov as a prisoner of conscience .
Dilmukhametov 's lawyer , Aleksei Zakharov , has told RFE/RL that the case against his client was fabricated by Russia 's Federal Security Service ( FSB ) .
The Supreme Court of the Russian Republic of Bashkortostan recently banned a group , called Bashqort , which for years has promoted Bashkir language and culture as well as equal rights for ethnic Bashkirs .

SAMARA, Russia -- A Russian military court has sentenced a prominent opposition activist from the Bashkortostan region to nine years in a high-security prison on extremism charges.
The court in the city of Samara also banned the activist, Airat Dilmukhametov, from administering websites for three years in a case he has rejected as politically motivated.
Dilmukhametov, who was arrested in March 2019, was convicted of issuing public calls to violate Russia's territorial integrity.
The charge stems from a video statement he made in 2018 urging the creation of a "real" federation in Russia with more autonomous rights given to ethnic republics and regions.
Debates over ethnic rights and regional autonomy are especially sensitive in Bashkortostan -- with its sizable populations of Tatars, Bashkirs, and ethnic Russians -- particularly since President Vladimir Putin ordered an end to the ability of it and Russia's 80-plus regions, territories, and republics to mandate regional language instruction in schools.
Dilmukhametov was also found guilty of making public calls for extremism and supporting terrorism.
Those charges are linked to his criticism of regional authorities for incarcerating several Bashkirs on charges of belonging to a banned Islamic group and his public statements about a conflict between local residents and workers from Chechnya in the village of Temas.
Dilmukhametov maintained his innocence in his last address to the court on August 24.
His mother, who attended the hearing, called the ruling "unfair" and said her son was "not guilty of anything."
"How can a person be blamed if he has been fighting for democracy, freedom, [and] for the happiness of his native republic for many years?" Agilyash Dilmukhametova said.
The Moscow-based human rights group Memorial has recognized Dilmukhametov as a prisoner of conscience.
Dilmukhametov's lawyer, Aleksei Zakharov, has told RFE/RL that the case against his client was fabricated by Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB).
The Supreme Court of the Russian Republic of Bashkortostan recently banned a group, called Bashqort, which for years has promoted Bashkir language and culture as well as equal rights for ethnic Bashkirs.


rferl--2020-08-24--Afghan Operation Fails To Nab Ex-Soccer Chief Accused Of Sexual Abuse

An Afghan operation to apprehend the fugitive former head of the national soccer federation has reportedly failed after a standoff with armed locals in northeastern Afghanistan .
Keramuddin Karim has been evading an Afghan arrest warrant issued last year over sexual abuse and other criminal charges stemming from allegations by female soccer players spanning a period of five years .
It is seen by many Afghans and outsiders as a test of the central government 's ability and willingness to defend the rule of law and punish serious offenses against women in the war-torn country of 37 million people .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ Province , Mohammad Amin Sedighi , told RFE/RL that the standoff on August 23 in the provincial capital of Bazarak between Interior Ministry forces and around 200 mostly armed residents lasted about 2 1/2 hours .
Provincial forces also were called to the scene .
A provincial security source who requested anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the operation publicly told RFE/RL that the operation ended in failure .
There were no reports of casualties .
The 58-year-old Karim is believed to be living in Bazarak , where he was governor @ @ @ @ @ @ @ wield outsized power .
He was banned for life last year and fined 1 million Swiss francs ( $ 1.1 million ) by international soccer 's governing body , FIFA -- the maximum penalty under FIFA 's code of ethics .
But rights activists and foreign observers have praised the courage of the women who came forward to testify against the influential Patricia Gossman , associate Asia director for Human Rights Watch ( HRW ) , called Karim 's case `` a litmus test for the [ Afghan ] government '' and said @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Karim be brought to justice .
`` The problem is that the paradigm in Afghanistan is that these strongmen , these warlords and so on , have their own militias who protect them , and they operate , really , outside the law , '' Gossman said .
`` This has been the case for some time , and it 's just true that powerful officials just routinely evade justice , whether for human rights abuses or for corruption . ''
She suggested President Ashraf Ghani 's administration should be held accountable by @ @ @ @ @ @ @ have raised the Karim case with them in the past .
Gossman said the message it sent to Afghans is that their government `` is unwilling or unable to protect them . ''
`` If [ the Afghan government ] can not even arrest Keramuddin Karim , how can it claim to be able to defend all the so-called gains since 2001 ? ''
Ghani is currently preparing for long-awaited peace talks with the fundamentalist Taliban group that has been waging a nearly two-decade armed insurgency against the UN-backed government in Kabul and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Gossman noted that few senior Afghan officials have been held criminally responsible for abuses .
`` This should have been the one to break the pattern .
It was so clear : he was indicted , people testified , the attorney general said they were willing to prosecute the case .
But in the end , if the police ca n't even arrest him , because the local militia is more powerful , then all the structures put in place are n't enough , because that political will is missing . ''

The education of girls and women is universally accepted in more than 200 countries and territories, including nearly 50 Muslim-majority nations.
But Afghanistan’s hard-line Islamist Taliban rulers have banned teenage girls from attending school after the sixth grade since they returned to power two years ago. The ban was extended in December to women in universities.
Countless protests by Afghans inside the country, pressure from the international community, and lobbying by Muslim scholars and clerics have failed to convince the fundamentalist Taliban leaders to reopen schools.
Experts are divided over whether the ban is rooted in how the Taliban’s interpretation of Islam is shaped by conservative Pashtun tribal customs and cultural practices or if it is prompted by how senior Taliban ideologues interpret Islamic teachings.
Most Taliban leaders are ethnic Pashtun, Sunni Muslim clerics. Many were educated in Deobandi madrasahs in neighboring Pakistan. Deobandism emerged as a puritanical Islamic revivalist movement in 19-century British Colonial India. Based on the Sunni Hanafi school of jurisprudence, it is a prominent strain among Islamists in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Tribal Influences
Sami Yousafzai, a veteran Afghan journalist and commentator, argues that the Taliban restrictions against women are linked to social customs and cultural practices in eastern and southern Afghanistan.
Most Taliban leaders come from various Pashtun rural tribal communities in these regions bordering Pakistan.
"They believe that a woman's place is either inside a house or in a grave," Yousafzai said of the basic Taliban belief influenced by the status of women in the families of clerics and religious leaders in these Pashtun regions.
“Women living in the households of the current Taliban policymakers were never educated and never left their homes,” said Yousafzai, who has tracked the Islamist group since it emerged as a ragtag militia in the southern Afghan province of Kandahar in late 1994. “These women never performed any government or nongovernmental jobs.”
Yousafzai says the Taliban backs policies shaped by this worldview by leaning on Islamic teachings supporting such ideas. He says Taliban leaders rely on sayings attributed to the Prophet Muhammad that discourage women from leaving their homes.
“Their primary belief is that pubescent girls should not leave home under any circumstance,” he said. “This is why they view women leaving home for education or work as engaging in moral corruption.”
In Afghanistan, a Muslim nation of some 40 million people, activists and rights advocates accuse the Taliban of implementing "gender apartheid" by denying women education, work, freedom of movement, and deciding how they can appear in public.
Most Muslims agree that Islam allows women to get an education. Yet the Taliban publicly says that it will allow girls access to education only after ensuring complete gender segregation and other unspecified conditions.
Almost all Afghan secondary schools were gender segregated and universities imposed a strict separation between men and women after the Taliban takeover.
Yousafzai says in conservative and traditional Muslim societies around the world, some clerics also favor restrictions on women's education, work, and their role in public life. But the governments in those countries usually oppose or limit such ideas.
In recent years, Saudi Arabia -- one of the most conservative Sunni Muslim nations -- has allowed women to drive and granted them freedom of movement without a male guardian. These steps are part of a reform and modernity drive by Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman.
The Taliban ban on education has invited universal condemnation from Muslims globally.
“The Taliban's ban on women's education is not rooted in [the Islamic] Shari’a law but rather reflects cultural biases that contradict the teachings of Islam,” said Salam al-Marayati, president of the Muslim Public Affairs Council in the United States.
He said that contrary to Taliban practices, “Islam emphasizes the importance of seeking knowledge and encourages all individuals, regardless of gender, to acquire an education.”
Historical Conflict
But Islamic scholars and those who have attempted to convince the Taliban about reopening girls schools offer a different explanation.
John Mohammad Butt, an Islamic scholar and former BBC broadcaster who is the only Westerner to graduate from India’s Darul Uloom Deoband, argues that the Taliban's policy on girls' education is not tribal but shaped by the century-old conflict over modern education.
“The problem is that girls' education in Afghanistan -- indeed, contemporary education in general -- has generally been introduced in Afghanistan in line with a secular agenda,” he said.
In the 1920s, a coalition of conservative clerics and tribal and community leaders deposed reformist King Amanullah Khan. He wanted to modernize Afghanistan along Turkish leader Kamal Ataturk's secular lines and championed modern education and rights for women.
This opposition to modernity and secularism continued, and conservative clerics opposed women's education and work. It became a key part of the Islamist opposition to the pro-Soviet Afghan communist governments after the April 1978 military coup that ended the Afghan monarchy. The mujahedin accused the communists of spreading immorality by promoting women’s education and empowerment.
“This has led to particular wariness on the part of conservative circles in Afghanistan with regard to girls' education,” Butt said.
'Deep Ideological Conviction'
Obaidullah Baheer, a political science lecturer at the American University of Afghanistan, became part of an effort to rescind the ban by talking to the Taliban last year.
But he says the effort failed because “the ban is a matter of deep ideological conviction” for the current supreme leader of the Taliban, Mullah Haibatullah Akhundzada.
Baheer says that the most prominent Taliban leaders have studied in Pakistani madrasahs and were thus disconnected from village and tribal life.
“They have been indoctrinated by the Deobandi school of thought so that they now enforce the strictest version of Islam on the Afghan population,” he said.
He argues that the ban on girls’ schools is a deliberate policy championed by Akhundzada, who he says has endorsed Taliban Chief Justice Abdul Hakim Haqqani's Arabic language book The Islamic Emirate And Its System. In this book, Haqqani supports a fringe Islamic opinion of preferring the choice of one of the Prophet Muhammad's wives, Sawdah Bint Zam'ah, who chose to stay at home until her death.
Baheer says Haqqani ignores his other wives and other female companions that played an active role in many sectors of society and how they served as students and teachers for men.
“This fringe opinion is not held by all Taliban leaders but is one that the current absolute sovereign, the Taliban emir, seems to be convinced of,” he said.
Butt says that even Haqqani has acknowledged the principle that if there is something that women need to act upon, then that is also something that women need to learn about.
“I hope the Taliban authorities will come to realize in the not-too-distant future that education for women will make Afghan women into better Muslims,” he says. “It will enable them to make a stronger contribution to the well-being of their country.”
Two years after grappling with the issue, Western diplomats appear to be encouraging Afghan conservative and clerical circles to find ways to end the ban.
Tom West, the U.S. special representative for Afghanistan, recently tweeted that Afghan women must be educated and contribute to the economy to help their country stand on its own two feet.
“If change to policies is made, it will be because Afghans have asked for it, not a result of foreign requests,” he wrote.


rferl--2020-08-24--Austria, Russia Expel Diplomats In 'Economic Spying' Case

Austria has announced the expulsion of a Russian diplomat reported to be involved in economic espionage .
Russia hit back , announcing that a diplomat with the Austrian Embassy in Moscow had been declared persona non grata .
The Austrian Foreign Ministry said a diplomat at the Russian Embassy in Vienna was being ordered to leave because of behavior that was not compatible with the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations .
The ministry did not provide further details , but the Austrian daily newspaper Kronen Zeitung reported the Russian diplomat had spied with the help of an Austrian citizen at @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Russian Embassy to Vienna said on its website that it was `` appalled by the unfounded decision of the Austrian authorities , which is damaging to constructive Russian-Austrian relations . ''
The Russian Foreign Ministry later announced the expulsion of an Austrian diplomat , saying the decision was `` based on the principle of reciprocity . ''
In 2018 , Austria declined to join the majority of EU countries that expelled Russian envoys over the poisoning of former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter in Britain .
Based on reporting by AP @ @ @ @ @

Austria has announced the expulsion of a Russian diplomat reported to be involved in economic espionage.
Russia hit back, announcing that a diplomat with the Austrian Embassy in Moscow had been declared persona non grata.
The Austrian Foreign Ministry said a diplomat at the Russian Embassy in Vienna was being ordered to leave because of behavior that was not compatible with the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations.
The ministry did not provide further details, but the Austrian daily newspaper Kronen Zeitung reported the Russian diplomat had spied with the help of an Austrian citizen at a technology company for years.
The Russian Embassy to Vienna said on its website that it was "appalled by the unfounded decision of the Austrian authorities, which is damaging to constructive Russian-Austrian relations."
The Russian Foreign Ministry later announced the expulsion of an Austrian diplomat, saying the decision was "based on the principle of reciprocity."
In 2018, Austria declined to join the majority of EU countries that expelled Russian envoys over the poisoning of former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter in Britain.
Based on reporting by AP, AFP, and Reuters


rferl--2020-08-24--On Mideast Tour, Pompeo Hopes For Normalized Israel-Arab Ties

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has started a five-day Middle East tour , saying he hopes to see other Arab states following the United Arab Emirates ( U.A.E . )
and normalizing relations with Israel .
Speaking in Jerusalem on August 24 following talks with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu , Pompeo said it would `` not only increase Middle East stability , but it will improve the lives for the people of their own countries as well . ''
Israel and the U.A.E .
announced on August 13 they were establishing full diplomatic relations in a U.S.-brokered deal that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ plans to annex parts of the occupied West Bank .
The deal makes the U.A.E .
the first Gulf Arab state to establish full diplomatic ties and only the third Arab nation to have active diplomatic relations with Israel .
The move was hailed by several Gulf states but slammed by Iran , Turkey , and the Palestinians .
After Israel , Pompeo is due to visit the U.A.E.
, Bahrain , Oman , Qatar , and Sudan , according to unidentified diplomats .
Besides the agreement between Israel and the U.A.E.
, @ @ @ @ @ @ @ posed by Iran and China in the region , said sources quoted by Reuters .
Pompeo 's agenda also will include security challenges posed by Iran and China in the region , said sources quoted by Reuters .
In Qatar , Pompeo plans to meet with members of the Talban to discuss peace talks between the militant group and the Afghan government that are key to the withdrawal of U.S. forces from Afghanistan .
U.S. President Donald Trump ’ s senior adviser and son-in-law , Jared Kushner , plans a separate trip to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , quoting diplomats .
Kushner plans to leave later in the week for Israel , Bahrain , Oman , Saudi Arabia , and Morocco .
The trips come after the United States formally launched the process of activating the Iran nuclear deal 's `` snapback '' mechanism aimed at reimposing UN sanctions on Iran , citing Iranian violations of the deal .
Pompeo on August 20 submitted a letter to the president of the UN Security Council notifying him of Iran 's `` significant '' noncompliance with the terms of the landmark accord @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a U.S.-sponsored resolution calling for an extension to an arms embargo on Iran in the Security Council .
The United States and its European allies have sparred over the U.S. approach .
Some members of the Security Council have questioned the U.S. right to trigger the snapback since Washington withdrew from the nuclear deal more than two years ago and reimposed unilateral sanctions .
In Jerusalem , both Pompeo and Netanyahu criticized the lack of international support for the U.S. push for the restoration of UN sanctions .
`` We are determined to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ensure [ Iran ] ca n't get access to high-end weapon systems , '' the U.S. secretary of state said .
`` The rest of the world should join us . ''
With reporting by AP , BBC , and Reuters