Wednesday Morning Coffee

Matthew Cordell - April 30, 2008 - 10:59 am

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>><!--top1-->Georgia<!--top1End--> - <!--top1Content-->Russia has accused Georgia of amassing 1,500 soldiers in the upper Kodori gorge and threatened to retaliate if Georgia uses force in Abkhazi. Russia also stated that it is increasing its force levels in Abkhazi and South Ossetia. Georgia denies that it is building up troops and called the Russian action a pure provocation. EU foreign policy minister Javier Solana urged restraint during a meeting with Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov. <!--top1ContentEnd-->Russia has kept a peacekeeping force in Abkhazia and South Ossetia since the 1990s, when the regions broke away from Tbilisi and formed links with Moscow. There are around 2,000 Russians posted in Abkhazia and about 1,000 in South Ossetia.

>><!--top2-->India<!--top2End--> - <!--top2Content-->President Ahmadenijad met with India's Prime Minister Manmohan Singh yesterday in an attempt to seal a $7.6 billion pipeline deal, under the strenuous objection of the U.S. The pipeline would be completed by 2012 and would initially transport 60 million cubic meters of gas a day to Pakistan and India. <!--top2ContentEnd-->The U.S. had suggested that India instead use Ahmadenijad's visit to press Iran to stop nuclear enrichment. India responded that it didn't need any "guidance" in bilateral relations.

>><!--top3-->Turkey<!--top3End--> - <!--top3Content-->Turkey's parliament has approved legislation that softens penalties the EU has criticized for limiting free speech. Since 2003, Article 301 of the penal code has been used to prosecute hundreds, including Nobel Prize winner Orhan Pamuk, for "insulting Turkishness." Critics contend that the softening didn't go far enough; insulting the Turkish nation still carries a two-year penalty.<!--top3ContentEnd-->

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