U.S. criticizes Tajik election

DUSHANBE, Tajikistan - The United States said that the Tajik presidential election, won by incumbent Imomali Rakhmonov with 96 percent of the vote, was marred by irregularities such as multiple voting.

It urged the Tajik government to meet its commitments to the OSCE (Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe) when it holds parliamentary elections next February.

"There were reports of widespread multiple voting, a lack of transparency in the balloting process and a media blackout of [opposition candidate Davlat] Usmon's refusal to run in the election," a State Department statement said.

"The United States urged the Government of Tajikistan to take tangible steps to conduct parliamentary elections in a manner consistent with its OSCE commitments," it added.

The OSCE, one of the leading election monitoring organizations in Europe, declined to send observers to elections in the impoverished Central Asian country and former Soviet republic because of flaws in the preparations for voting.

Georgia restricts visa issuance

TBILISI, Georgia - Georgia has stopped issuing visas for citizens of 21 nations to prevent suspected militants from traveling to Russia's breakaway region of Chechnya to fight alongside rebels.

Lt. Gen. Valery Chkheidze, chief of the Georgian Border Guards, said the move was in response to a request from the Russian government. It applies to Arab and other Islamic nations whose nationals could be "potential mercenary fighters." The list includes Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan, Iraq, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bosnia-Herzegovina.

Georgia is the only country that shares a border with Chechnya. Russian forces invaded the region in September, intent on quashing Islamic militants who twice invaded neighboring Dagestan and are blamed for a series of apartment bombings in Moscow and two other Russian cities.

West urged to seek ties with regions

TALLINN, Estonia - Estonian Prime Minister Mart Laar said the West should seek closer ties with Russia's regions as the best way to foster political and economic change in Russia.

The leader in the pro-West, pro-market former Soviet Baltic republic said dealing almost exclusively with Moscow ignores regions that are more enthusiastic about economic and political reforms than the Kremlin.

"Forget only Moscow, forget the good czar," Laar said. "Russia's not Moscow. The West needs to realize this. It needs to create contacts with the regions, to help them develop."

Latvia convicts ex-Soviet troops

RIGA, Latvia - A court convicted 10 former Soviet officers for trying to overthrow the government in 1991, when Latvia still was part of the Soviet Union, the Baltic News Service reported.

The soldiers, from a special forces OMON unit, were charged with taking part in an attack on a government building on Jan. 20, 1991. Four people, including a high school student and a journalist, were killed.

The court gave suspended sentences - from one to four years - to seven of the men and decided not to impose any sanction on the other three, the news agency reported.

The officers pleaded innocent, arguing they fired their weapons only in self defense during a nighttime shootout around the building, the news agency said.